44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.”
Previously, we had seen that Jesus had hidden himself from the crowd. We don’t have any way of determining when he said this. However, it is evident that this was most likely a public declaration made while he was teaching during Passover week.
This isn’t a quiet talk he had with his disciples. Since he cried out (Greek krazo, meaning to scream[1]), he is trying to get people’s attention. He wants them to know who he is and make no mistake about it. People have been vacillating in their beliefs. He is now standing up and saying this is who I am, and I want you to know this because in a few days from now, I will be killed, then raised and you better remember this.
What he is saying here is something that troubles many Christians when they come to Jesus and believe in him. This is especially true of people who have believed in God but had no or only a cursory knowledge of Jesus. This idea of believing in Jesus sometimes seems to conflict with what they should believe about God. How does faith in God and faith in Jesus work together? Some people are rightly confused because God is declared to be one in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (ESV). They have believed on Jesus, but they can’t quite bridge the feeling that doing so is somehow disobeying God.
This passage should be very reassuring to us. Believing in Jesus is believing in God. How could Jesus say this if he himself were not God? How could he say that see him is the same as seeing the Father who sent him? The concept of the Trinity is indeed hard to grasp. Yet Jesus will state this even more ephatically to his disciples when they ask him to show them the Father (John 14:6-10). Peter must have had people ask him about this as well since he put it this way: “Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:21 NIV).
Two times, Jesus repeats that he has been sent, alluding to the Father. So far in the Book of John, Jesus has clearly spoken twenty times that God the Father has sent him. Altogether, he says this twenty-nine times in John. Since he is talking to Jews, he must make this clear to them. The concept of the Trinity is a mystery that is hidden in the Old Testament. So John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, records these multiple affirmations from Jesus.
46 “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”
This is the last time in the Book of John where Jesus is identified with light. Every one of the twenty-four uses of light in the Book, it is referring to Jesus. This is the last time it is used. It is if Jesus is making this one last appeal to the people to recognize the light because it will soon be snuffed out. He has already said that the light will not be with them much longer (John 12:35).
Even though the light will be snuffed out from the world, belief in Jesus will not extinguish the light but will become light in us. This is the light that we are to keep burning and displayed to the world. Though the world will not see Jesus as the light, he made it clear that the light will be visible through us. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt 5:14 ESV). When we believe in Jesus, we can’t hide the light. It will be made know. This goes to show that people who claim to believe in Jesus are not saved if there has been no change in their lives.
47 “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”
This is a very serious statement from Jesus. It reminds me that the words of Jesus are known to many people who are not Christians. A lot of people have heard bits and pieces of God’s word (and all of God’s word is Jesus’ word). They can probably quote a bit of a verse here or there. For instance, “Blessed are the poor.” People who watch sports can probably quote part of John 3:16. But Jesus clearly is telling us that there must be more than hearing his word – an auditory reception of soundwaves and recognition in the brain. Jesus is speaking plainly about keeping his words. So, if you had a choice of selecting some of Jesus’ words that must be kept in order not to be judged, which would you pick?
Jesus tells us how important it is to believe in him. Only in the Book of John does he use the words, “believe in me.” He says this seven times. Three times he says “believe in him” referring to himself. It is one of these that makes it clear that the words we need to keep is believing in Jesus. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18 ESV). That is scary for anyone who has read John 3:16. That is enough to convict them on the last day. To anyone who might complain that they never knew any of Jesus’ words, there is still no excuse as Scripture says:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Ps 19:1-4 NIV)
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Rom 1:20 NIV)
When it comes to witnessing, that doesn’t mean we can quote John 3:16 and then run away. We need to do what Jesus did. He repeated over and over again what we need to do to be saved. He said it in one way then another. We need to do all we can to ensure that they not only hear Jesus’ words but understand them. Then of course, the Holy Spirit is the one that opens their minds and hearts to receive the word. We just need to be diligent to do our part.
This is important because Jesus makes it clear that there will be a day of judgment for each person. We’ve covered what one must believe but there are many who ignore this because they don’t believe there will be a judgment. Jesus’ words about a judgment are clear. Paul’s words about a judgment are clear. Peter’s words are clear about a judgment. As much as we help people understand that they must believe in Jesus, they also need to be warned that there is an eternal consequence for not believing in Jesus.
49 “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
The authority of Jesus is sometimes a struggle for people to understand. When we say that Jesus is equal with God, then they assume that it means Jesus and the Father have the same position of authority or that they are the same person. They point to 1 Corinthians 15:28, “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (ESV). Their argument is basically that God would not put everything under his own feet (vs 25). They do not understand the Trinity and they don’t understand that in the structure of the Trinity, the Son is a willingly subordinate to the Father. They don’t recognize that the Trinity is three persons in one. Of course, they argue this from the standpoint that the word Trinity is not in the Bible, so they reject good theological study that reveals the Trinity in the Bible. Frankly, their rejection of this doctrine exposes their disbelieve in Jesus and leaves them in eternal jeopardy.
Again, if anyone is having trouble believing Jesus, he points us back to the Father. Jesus and the Father speak the same things because Jesus is careful to preach exactly what the Father wants. The Father commands us to listen to Jesus. What is one command of the Father? It is “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matt 17:5 ESV). It is repetitive, listen to Jesus, his words are the words of eternal life, the words come from the Father, there is no other source of eternal life than the Father’s commands. So, if you are going to obey God, then you must listen to Jesus and he says, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24 NIV). It all comes back to believing Jesus.
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