OUR BLESSED HOPE

In John 5:44-47, Jesus said to the Jewish religious leaders of the day - 

"How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

Between the time that The Law and all the prophecies about The Messiah were written and the time Jesus arrived, many individuals in history claimed to be The Anointed One of God; The Messiah; The Savior. Every one of these claims failed to be supported.

However, Jesus Christ of Nazareth not only backed up His own words as He spoke them, but fulfilled His prophetic Word spoken years earlier through the prophets by fulfilling everything written about The Christ.

Here in this confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus attempts to hold a mirror up to them physically, mentally, socially, culturally and spiritually. 

Christ's question from the start - "How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?  - speaks directly to their issue - pride. Belief or the lack thereof in The Messiah was not the only deficit in view for these religious leaders. They held what was considered a socially, culturally, and spiritually lofty position in society in order to obtain praise and glory from humanity. This is what mattered - since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God.

With this in mind, Jesus points out - that which you place your hope in has the right to accuse you also. Thank the Lord, Christ is not our accuser. Jesus is our Savior. The Accuser for every believer in Christ is Satan.

The accuser for the Pharisees and Jewish leaders was the very person that brought Israel the Law and regulations of life - Moses. Because Moses spoke of The Christ, Jesus re-emphasized the point that their condition was not only a lack of belief in Him concerning the Messianic Prophesies, but the deceptive manipulation of the priestly role which was driven by pride. 

But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

The Pharisees willfully designed a scheme that would benefit their position in life without the real essence of God involved. They "corrupted [their] wisdom because of [their] splendor" (Eze. 28:17)

My plea to us all today is not make this mistake. Do not overlook the Promises of God and possibly miss a visitation by Him in order to receive the glorification of men for your position in life. 

Believe in Christ Jesus only, because He was the one who claimed - "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) - and He proved this claim by His life, teachings, miracles, death, resurrection and ascension. Not only put your belief in the right person, Christ Jesus, but place your trust, faith-walk, praise and position in life in The Savior because He is our supreme happy expectation everyday, Our Blessed Hope (Titus 2:13).  

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