John 5:45, "Do not suppose*~ that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses [the Law, especially the Ten Commandments], in whom you have placed your hope."
Whatever a person “supposes” about the world is how he sees life and reality. It thus becomes critical that his suppositions are true. Regardless of how sincere a person is, it does not change reality. To “suppose” something contrary to Jesus’ teaching is not a good idea. How absurd to believe something not true.
Jesus was constantly correcting the beliefs of His generation so they could understand Him and reality. They thought Jesus was accusing them, but they supposed Moses was their defender and intercessor as he had been on earth, as when they sinned in the incident over the worship of the golden calf. (Ex 32:30-32). However, the next two verses indicate Jesus was talking about the law that Moses wrote, not Moses personally.
This was an offensive confrontation against their pride of being faithful followers of Moses’ law, which they attempted to obey to the letter, even adding more rules of their own, just to make sure. The truth was that Moses would be their accuser, not their defender; for “he wrote of me” (5:46), but they had refused to believe both Moses and Jesus. Moses revealed the depth of their guilt, which Jesus promised to forgive.
John the Baptist had pointed out Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The majority of his hearers turned a deaf ear, refusing to understand what this meant. Their worldview did not need another sacrifice for their sins, since they thought they were good enough, and were proud about keeping the Ten Commandments. However, they missed three great truths about the law:
First, they exaggerated the commands and twisted their meaning so they could feel like they were obeying them. Their pride in their legalistic strictness and rigid rules gave them a false sense of approval.
Secondly, they failed to understand that one act of disobedience to a command cannot be offset by a hundred acts of obedience. Naively many today, as well, believe that their “good” will outweigh their “bad,” thus gaining their acceptance before God. James wrote, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws” (James 2:10). If you lie once, you are a liar (9th command) forever.
Thirdly, they missed the entire purpose of the law, which was not a means of gaining approval, since no one could obey them. Rather the law was to reveal their failure as sinful people to live up to God’s standard, pointing to their desperate need of a means of forgiveness outside of themselves. Paul wrote, “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24). The law [Moses] accuses us of our transgressions, so that we would flee to the Lamb of God, Jesus, for our forgiveness. Can you say, "Thank you, Jesus."
Psalms 86:5NLT, “O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”
For a year's daily devotional of these Bible studies, order a copy of the book Truths to Live By at Branches Publications for your copy.
Whatever a person “supposes” about the world is how he sees life and reality. It thus becomes critical that his suppositions are true. Regardless of how sincere a person is, it does not change reality. To “suppose” something contrary to Jesus’ teaching is not a good idea. How absurd to believe something not true.
Jesus was constantly correcting the beliefs of His generation so they could understand Him and reality. They thought Jesus was accusing them, but they supposed Moses was their defender and intercessor as he had been on earth, as when they sinned in the incident over the worship of the golden calf. (Ex 32:30-32). However, the next two verses indicate Jesus was talking about the law that Moses wrote, not Moses personally.
This was an offensive confrontation against their pride of being faithful followers of Moses’ law, which they attempted to obey to the letter, even adding more rules of their own, just to make sure. The truth was that Moses would be their accuser, not their defender; for “he wrote of me” (5:46), but they had refused to believe both Moses and Jesus. Moses revealed the depth of their guilt, which Jesus promised to forgive.
John the Baptist had pointed out Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The majority of his hearers turned a deaf ear, refusing to understand what this meant. Their worldview did not need another sacrifice for their sins, since they thought they were good enough, and were proud about keeping the Ten Commandments. However, they missed three great truths about the law:
First, they exaggerated the commands and twisted their meaning so they could feel like they were obeying them. Their pride in their legalistic strictness and rigid rules gave them a false sense of approval.
Secondly, they failed to understand that one act of disobedience to a command cannot be offset by a hundred acts of obedience. Naively many today, as well, believe that their “good” will outweigh their “bad,” thus gaining their acceptance before God. James wrote, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws” (James 2:10). If you lie once, you are a liar (9th command) forever.
Thirdly, they missed the entire purpose of the law, which was not a means of gaining approval, since no one could obey them. Rather the law was to reveal their failure as sinful people to live up to God’s standard, pointing to their desperate need of a means of forgiveness outside of themselves. Paul wrote, “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24). The law [Moses] accuses us of our transgressions, so that we would flee to the Lamb of God, Jesus, for our forgiveness. Can you say, "Thank you, Jesus."
Psalms 86:5NLT, “O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”
For a year's daily devotional of these Bible studies, order a copy of the book Truths to Live By at Branches Publications for your copy.
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