The Gospel reading from S. John 5:30-47 raises an important question: Why, despite their quality, were the witnesses to Jesus not believed? Or, to put it another way, why did so few people involved in this encounter come to faith in Jesus as a result of the witness’ testimonies?

I wish to consider the tangible witnesses – John the Baptiser, the Scriptures and Moses.

Firstly John the Baptiser: The people had de-powered John. Initially, he had been enthusiastically embraced: John had been described as a beacon; a torch burning brightly illuminating the darkness. Many basked in the light of John for a time – they enjoyed his sermons, were impressed with the way in which he articulated what he wanted to say, approved of the overall tenor of his message, and observed how superior he was to some of the others they had heard. John, in spite of himself and his message, became idolised by the people – the preacher was elevated, whilst the preaching was virtually ignored, robbed of power and purpose. Indeed, it is fair to say that in some ways John was exalted by the crowd to a point where he became competition for the One whom he was witnessing to.

In our own day it is equally important for us to remember that the messenger is very much subordinated to the message. Those who have been raised up by God as clergy and preachers have the responsibility to bring forward His message, not their own. In our Anglican setting, in common with all the other mainline denominations, the Scriptures are clearly and publicly read in their correct context which goes a long way towards guaranteeing that the preaching (which generally expounds the reading) is, to borrow a useful metaphor from our Jewish brethren, kosher. As well as this, a received body of known Anglican doctrine and teaching exists which the majority, although by no means all, Anglican clergy affirm and preach. This then means that when something clearly contrary to the Church’s normal view is heard from the pulpit people are able to question it, not just accept it hook, line and sinker. This contrasts with what has begun to occur in more and more places over the last several years – a situation which I have described as ‘the cult of the pastor’, where a charismatic leader exists and is, literally, worshipped by his group regardless of what he says. He claims legitimacy through describing himself as being ‘anointed’ (although there was generally never any other person other than himself involved in the discernment process) and anyone who dares to question the anointing is either dealt with via church discipline, or perhaps more likely, they are expelled, which can cause problems because often these, generally schismatic, groups bring in extended family units and when someone is thrown out of the church they are also ostracised from their families. Most of the ‘leaders’ (who are not only charismatic, but also often highly manipulative) who perpetuate this kind of behaviour are basically Gnostic in their belief system which means that they claim to receive exclusive, personal special revelation directly from God in the manner of having a ‘hotline’. They also tend to claim that anyone not aligned with them is a heretic, and appear quite happy to apply Scripture inconsistently – to be very hard-line on some issues, yet completely ignore others. The best current example I can think of to illustrate this pattern is the controversial pastor of an independent church, based in Auckland, which has recently received a lot of publicity.

So, to recap, John the Baptiser’s witness to Jesus was sabotaged because the people popularised and idolised him, and paid no attention to the message God was using him to bring. It is always important to bear in mind that the message of God is of the utmost importance, whilst the method of delivery is simply a vehicle used by God for a certain purpose and not to be in any way exalted.

Secondly, what of the testimony of the Scriptures? The Scriptures find their proper purpose in pointing to Christ. But what happened? We see in verse 39 of the reading that those Scriptures that were available were embraced and studied diligently by the people, who had falsely assumed that knowledge was the key to eternal life. But this is not so. Knowing the Bible is not what counts; believing the message and ethos contained within is the important thing because the Bible contains the Word of God and allows us to ascertain godly and wise principles for dealing with all aspects of our lives. There is no doubt in my mind that the Bible is the most important literary collection ever produced and brought together.

However, the Bible’s function of testifying to and pointing towards God is what makes it holy. It is not holy in and of itself, a point which some over-zealous evangelicals have lost sight of in the past as they basically worshipped the Scriptures. It is entirely appropriate to esteem the Bible for its use by God as an important tool in the work of redemption, but not to venerate it. Tragically, in my view, bibliolatry is seldom condemned because often it is confused with faithfulness.

In the passage, those who listened to the witness formed a tight, close knit circle. They were at the very heart of their religious community and were the ultimate authorities in the land. A voice, a witness from outside that circle would not be accepted or received as a word from God, because any such occurrence would destroy the credibility of those in authority – it would turn their minutely detailed belief system on its head. It would also, as the Magnificat emphatically says, ‘put down the mighty from their seat,’ and therefore remove the high-ranking officials from positions of power. It is clear that this possibility is unacceptable. For everyone in the circle’s sake, it is clear that there is no way that Jesus, this upstart from Nazareth, would ever be accepted as one sent by God regardless of what he did. This decision was, then, political – actually, it had very little to do with matters of religion per se at all.

The question asked by the Jewish authorities in this situation was simple – ‘How could any new and fresh word from God come to a people who already possess it so certainly?’ This question can also be paralleled in our own time. Whilst the religious authorities both then and now could not be expected to be so open as to take heed of everything that any stranger claiming to speak in God’s name brings forward, they were and are (at the least) called to give them a fair hearing. Moving to the 21^st century, then, I am certain that if an itinerant preacher or passing wonder-worker arrived in our parish here and claimed to have a word for us then those in authority; our Vicar, Murray, and his Vestry would listen very carefully to what that person had to say – and then by prayer and the tools we have to discern the truth – that is, reference to Scripture, tradition and reason – determine whether the said ‘word’ was authentic or otherwise. To conclude before and not after listening is not only arrogant and foolish; it serves to replace open trust with closed fear and intolerance. When this happens, whether in the church or community, instability, unrest and, at times, even open revolt, often occur. With reference to the passage, by this stage it is quite obvious that the only outcome for Jesus will be arrest and eventual execution.

So, then, we must remember that eternal life and salvation comes from submission to and relationship with God. It cannot be earned or learned. The Scriptures are an important tool used by God in the redemptive process, but they are only holy because of that fact – not through any independent merit they might possess.

And finally Moses: With regard to Moses, parts of the two cases as above are almost fused together. Firstly, the authorities venerated Moses because it was he who had an encounter with God on Mt. Sinai and received the tablets with the Decalogue written upon them by the very finger of God. So, you could say, he was worshipped by association since he had stood in the physical presence of God and lived – everything he did must have been right and good. Indeed, by the time of Jesus the religious extremists, the Pharisees, Sadducees and Teachers of the Law had invented many other laws for the people of Israel to keep. The rationale behind this seemed to be that no one could transgress against the Law of Moses if they were kept well away from it by these other man-made laws which acted, if you will, as a ring-fence around the Mosaic Law. We read elsewhere in the Scriptures what a shambles this created – Divinely-ordained law and man-made law, which were placed by the religious authorities on the same footing, ended up causing chaos and a lingering sense of legalism amongst many Jews, the prime example of which being Saul who enthusiastically persecuted the first Christians because they did not follow the whole of the law as Saul perceived it. You will recall, it took a dramatic encounter with the risen Jesus on the Damascus Road to convince Saul, or Paul as he became, that he had been mistaken in the focus of his zealous harassment and persecution of the followers of Christ.

Secondly with regard to Moses, as in the case of the Scriptures, the prospect of any new understanding took power away from those who interpreted the Torah and so would not be tolerated by those who stood to lose status. There could be no possibility of acknowledging Moses as a witness to Jesus because it would have directly indicated an imperfect reading and understanding of the texts by generations of scholars, not only directly about Moses, but also about the Messiah. The Jews had a very specific understanding about the Messiah who would be a triumphant and strong figure, one to lead them out of domination and subjection to the Romans. In no way did Jesus fit the bill as far as the Jewish authorities and most of the people were concerned.

Christianity is actually very simple, as was the religion of the Jews. It is humanity that corrupted it, introducing new pre-requisites which were never intended by God. As we see here, even in the case of Moses it needs to be remembered that, in the end, humans are the vehicles used by God in His work in the world – he created them to carry his message and do his will. We also see in the actions of the religious authorities the hypocrisy that is spiritual elitism and how certain unscrupulous people may manipulate events to gain, and subsequently, preserve the power over others.

Though many things about the world in which Jesus lived and the world in which we live are different, the passage from S. John 5 could have easily happened just this week. Just like the Jewish religious authorities, there are many within our own society who, for all sorts of reasons, reject any testimony about Jesus. Indeed, there are many who stand to lose power and position if people in society reject the overtly humanistic values and agendas that they are pursuing in favour of moving towards a more holistic outlook based on the way that Jesus lived and taught. The problem is now, because of the generations that have not been brought up within the Christian Church, many in our community are simply unaware of the Gospel or what it teaches. They may have heard of Jesus, or know something of Christmas and Easter, but this knowledge is rudimentary, sketchy at best. In a recent sermon, the Vicar commented about the de-Christianisation of our education system. Basic points of Christianity are deliberately not taught to our children, but the philosophy of Confucius is on the menu. Why? As Murray pointed out there are a number of political reasons, but I think it boils down to this: Many in society have, once again, come to accept the fact that humans are inherently spiritual beings, but because they cannot bear the implications of the teachings of Jesus, they move towards, and actively promote, philosophies that are individually centred such as those of the New Age, tai chi, Confucianism and loads of others.

It is important as never before for God’s people to be his witnesses in this present age. We, here in Devonport, witness to Christ in a number of ways in the community. Parishioners are involved in teaching Bible in Schools; we have an Opportunity Shop where valuable contact occurs; there are groups catering for all ages and categories – kids, young people, women, mums, families, men and seniors; we will also participate in the Devonport Christmas Parade in early December, making sure that people know ‘Jesus is the Reason for the Season’. Indeed, Holy Trinity is the Devonport Community Church. There are many other things that parishioners do in service to Christ using the talents He gave them and in which He delights. This practical witness is very powerful and glorifies Jesus in this community – something for which we should all give thanks. I firmly believe that activities faithfully carried out, as they are here in the parish, are profound in their effect. They are certainly more profound than a supposed show of strength by a menacing group wearing black and marching through the streets.

The up-coming 40 Days of Purpose excites me. It excites me a lot. One of the reasons that I am excited about it is that the themes considered each week put life into its proper context. It will equip us to witness more effectively in many ways. Some of the fruits of the programme will be borne as we talk to those around us, those with whom we have contact. Demonstrating that life has a purpose, and that there is something bigger than ME in life will be a great gift to some people who are struggling. Others will be encouraged that life is not about fatalism, but about a God who loves us and knew us intimately even before we were created, and who guides us day by day. I urge you, even now, to be praying for those who will participate. I also urge you to pray about people who you know who may be looking for something which they haven’t yet found. Ask Jesus to give you the strength and opportunity to invite these people so that they too may, through the grace of God, come to know the joy and peace which comes through a relationship with Him as Lord and Saviour.

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