Passage Read: John 5-6
Meditation Verses: 6:63-66
Thought
There were many "disciples" who followed Jesus. They considered themselves His followers and students. They liked many of His teachings and of course liked to see the miracles, especially if they themselves benefited from them. But they followed from their own curiosity, from fleshly reasons. They were not converted by the Spirit. The proof was not in the following, but in the believing and acceptance of God's Word, through the Scriptures and through Jesus. Multiple times in these two chapters, Jesus says that those who do not believe the Scriptures, and in particular Moses, cannot believe Jesus, and those who don't believe Jesus' words do not believe the Scriptures. There were many in the crowds who considered themselves wise in the Scriptures and full of understanding of them, but knowing what the Scriptures teach and believing what they teach are two different things. Many experts in the Law refused to believe in Jesus, which means they didn't believe the Scriptures they thought they knew so well. Those who believe in Jesus must also believe all the Scriptures teach; those who do not believe the Scriptures also do not believe Jesus, no matter what they say. Moses and Jesus are not in conflict with each other, but rather belief in the one leads to belief in the other. They are untied in testimony and purpose.
Application
Anyone who claims to believe in Jesus but refuses to believe the rest of God's Word does not actually believe in Jesus. And anyone who claims to believe in the Scriptures but doesn't believe in Jesus does not really believe the Scriptures! It's as simple as that. I do not truly believe in Jesus if I refuse to believe something God has recorded in the Scriptures. I may not understand it; it may confuse or confound me, but the only right response is to accept it as true and keep walking with Jesus. If I refuse to believe that thing, I do not actually believe in Jesus, and I'll show it one day by abandoning Him. Of all the people who claim to believe in Jesus, I can discern who does and who doesn't (including myself!) by how they treat the Scriptures. And belief shows ultimately in how I live, in how much I obey. Not everyone who says they believe in Jesus actually does, and it's not really so hard to figure out who does and who doesn't.