“‘How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?’” ( John 5:44 44 How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that `cometh' from the only God ye seek not? –47).

Jesus’ pensive question, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” offers a crucial reason why the Jews rejected Him. Those engaged in seeking “glory from one another” do not humble themselves to believe in Jesus.

The Lord stunned them when He said the one who would accuse them of their rejection of Christ was Moses—the very one in whom they had set their hope. Can you imagine how profoundly shocked and outraged the Jewish leaders must have been? In their minds, it was incomprehensible to think that Moses—whom they proudly affirmed as their leader and teacher (9:28; cf. Matthew 23:2 2 saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat: )—would accuse them before God. But had they truly believed Moses, they would believe Jesus, since Moses wrote about Him.

It should come as no surprise that those who did not believe Moses’ writings would not believe Christ’s words either. If they rejected the truths taught by Moses, whom they revered, they could hardly be expected to accept the teaching of Jesus, whom they reviled. The sobering reality is that those who reject Moses’ teaching about Jesus will face judgment.

Ask Yourself

Jesus was able to interact forcibly with His detractors because He knew them, understood their hearts, and was aware of what blinded them to the truth. If your witness is not as effective as it should be, have you considered that perhaps you’re proclaiming the gospel without stopping to understand the people you’re talking to?

From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.

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