"If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" (John 5:46-47).Jesus' words are pretty easy to understand. If a person refuses to believe the Scripture, nothing else will persuade them. Many have looked to Jesus' words for comfort and guidance without ever trusting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. So may argue he was a prophet. Some might say he was a good teacher. Other might think him to be an eccentric revolutionary.
However, his audience understood who Jesus claimed to be. John reports, "This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18). In other words, Jesus was claim to be God. Jesus states, "But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me" (John 5:36). The meaning is plain-- Jesus is saying that the miracles he performed prove who he is.
Disbelief persists because the heart is unwilling to believe, not because it lacks the ability. Jesus said that people hated him because they loved the darkness. The reason people reject the Scriptures is because they point to Christ. To affirm that we believe Scripture, and yet to refuse to submit to Christ is nonsense. If we truly believe Scripture, we will keep Christ's words. If we are truly trusting Christ, then we will begin to see how Moses and the other authors of Scripture point us to Christ. As we follow their lead, we will grow in love of the Lord and our obedience to him. We don't really believe the Scriptures unless we are walking in faithful obedience.
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