CrossView Community Church

Pastor Caleb Eckerd · CrossView Community Church

Some of the most powerful stories of our time are not invented. They are told. A person sits down, looks at the camera, and simply bears witness to what actually happened. That is why documentaries and biographies stay with us. The best stories are the ones that played out in real life.

John 5 ends with testimony. Jesus is speaking to religious leaders who are tired of Him—tired of His Sabbath healings, tired of His claims, tired of having to deal with Him at all. He does not owe them an explanation. Truth does not need a defense. And still He gives them one.

He points to four witnesses already sitting in the chair: John the Baptist, the Father, the Scriptures, and Moses. Then He names the barriers that keep people from coming to Him even when the evidence is in front of them.

Four Witnesses Already Speaking

Jesus begins where the Law they loved already stood. A single self-claim was not enough. Two or three witnesses were required. So He does not argue as if His word were weak. He shows that He is already meeting the standard they claim to honor.

John the Baptist pointed and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” That is not a vague compliment. That is a public identification of the Messiah.

The Father testified at Jesus’ baptism: the heavens opened, the Spirit descended, and a voice said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The works Jesus was doing were the same kind of works the Father has been doing since creation. The works themselves bear witness that the Father sent Him.

The Scriptures bear witness about Him. The Messiah was promised long before Bethlehem—born of a virgin, born in David’s city, arriving in meekness. Moses wrote of Him. Moses himself is a type of Christ: not a second Messiah, but a foreshadowing of the One who would come to deliver God’s people.

Jesus spends nearly a chapter explaining Himself to people He knows will eventually seek His death. That is not insecurity. That is compassion.

1. We Must Be Compassionate Convincers

If the aim of the church is that people would see Jesus clearly, then we must be compassionate convincers. Jesus met people where they were. He used language and witnesses they should have recognized. He did not withhold the truth, and He did not weaponize it.

Compassionate convincing also means removing obstacles in our own lives that make Jesus harder to believe. Small weekly habits can either open a window or pull the shade. If someone examined the way you spend money, use time, speak to people, and forgive, would they get a clearer picture of Jesus—or would they conclude there is little difference between your life and the life of someone who does not follow Him?

The way we live should make following Jesus more convincing, not less.

Jesus did not need to prove Himself. He still took the time. Followers of Jesus do the same: we tell the truth with grace, and we live in a way that does not contradict the message.

2. Good Things Can Be a Barrier to Ultimate Belief

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. — John 5:39–40

The Pharisees were bookworms. If anyone should have recognized the Messiah, it was them. They had the text. They missed the Person the text was about.

For them, Scripture had become a system of control—rules they could master in order to produce their own righteousness. That has never been the way of salvation. It has always been by faith. Those who lived before Jesus trusted the Messiah who was coming. We trust the Messiah who has come and will come again.

Good things become dangerous when they take the place of the ultimate thing. Moral values can make us feel like contributing, upright people. A general belief that “God is out there, evil has been defeated, and I don’t have much to worry about” can sit right next to a heart that has never trusted Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

We do the same thing when we read ourselves onto every page of Scripture. We become David with the sling. We become the faithful marchers around Jericho. We write ourselves as the hero. But in those stories we are more often the frightened people on the edge of the ravine, wondering how the giant will ever fall. God makes the walls come down. God delivers. If we insist on being the main character, we will miss what God is actually doing—and we will put up a barrier to real belief.

3. Pride Is Belief’s Greatest Barrier

How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? — John 5:44

After all the witnesses, they still do not see it. Jesus names the reason. They want glory from one another more than they want glory from God.

Pride says, “I am good enough.” Pride compares and concludes, “I am better than that person, so I must be doing fine.” Pride says, “If I work a little harder, I can carry this.”

Pride is carrying more than you can carry. Picture a new waiter stacking one more plate than the arm can hold. The veteran knows the limit. The proud keep adding until guacamole, queso, and sizzling fajitas hit the floor. There is not enough personal righteousness to bear the weight of our sin. Only Christ can carry that.

Pride is not always grit in the eye—something that immediately burns and waters. It is more like a contact lens. You can wear it for a long time without noticing. Vision slowly skews. Damage accumulates. Josiah Queen puts it well: the funny thing about pride is that it is with you all your life, and the moment you think it is not, it has gotten in your eye.

A Word for This Week

Be compassionate convincers. Speak the gospel with grace and peace. The truth is already loud enough; we do not have to make ourselves the point.

Watch the good things that want to become ultimate things—Bible knowledge without coming to Jesus, morality without mercy, spirituality without the cross.

Ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit and to rid you of pride. Do not only hear the Word. Act on it.

We are also asking the Lord to provide a space we can call our own—a place to gather beyond Sunday morning—and the resources to steward it well. Would you pray with us for that in the months ahead?

Father, open our hearts to receive the truth. Make us doers and not hearers only. Fill us with Your Spirit, take pride from our eyes, and help us point people to Jesus. Amen.

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Read John 5:30–47 this week. If you missed the gathering, listen to the full message on the church podcast.