39 You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, 40 yet you refuse to come to Me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from men, 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46 If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” REFLECTIONSWritten by Omar DewanFor those of you who don’t know, I work in superannuation regulation. My job is to make sure that superannuation funds are following the rules we’ve set for them. If they don’t abide by the rules, they face pretty severe consequences.The interesting thing about the rules we set is that they’re actually principles. They’re not the “tick-a-box” type of rule. This means that I don’t tell superannuation funds what they need to do to run their business, but I’m more concerned with how they run their business. I’ve worked as a regulator for a while, so I can tell when superannuation funds are technically following the rules we’ve set, but they don’t actually believe in the spirit of the rules and what they are pointing towards – that is, running their business properly and well.Today’s passage from John 5 reminds me of what I face at times in my job, but goes much further. Jesus is rebuking the religious leaders because, while they strictly seem to follow the rules of the Old Testament Scriptures (v 39), they have lost sight of what the Scriptures are ultimately pointing towards: Jesus himself (v 40-44). As we heard yesterday, Jesus is God’s ultimate and perfect testimony of Himself, so it’s no surprise that all the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to him. Because the religious leaders have prioritised rule-keeping and rejected Jesus as God’s revelation, the very Scriptures they said they followed will “accuse” them before the Father (v 45).Today’s passage prompts me to pause and reflect on my own relationship with Jesus. Maybe you can join me in reflecting on these questions as well. Are we cultivating our relationship with Jesus by growing in our knowledge and dependence on Him through both good times and bad times?Have we recognised the only way to be saved from being “accused” before the Father – by believing the Scripture’s testimony and coming to Jesus to have life? Are we following God’s way set out in Scripture by coming to Jesus, or do we treat Scripture just as rules we have to do? If we have come to Jesus, we should be following God’s way as an expression of our trust in Jesus, and to testify of his goodness to others.





























ABOUT THE AUTHOROmar is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.

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