41 I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? 45 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?

Jesus pointed to the Divine witness and testimony of who He is. God raised up the prophet John the Baptist to point people to the Messiah. That is how the early group became followers. There were evidences of miracles, the testimony by the Father Himself, the teachings of the Scriptures of the Old Testament also, but Jesus added the testimony of Moses. Moses was the authority for the Jews. He became the figure for the law as God gave it to Moses. Jesus is saying, Moses points to Christ. If you follow Moses and not the one who he is pointing to, Moses’ own testimony rejects you.  

Many leaders then and now risk their lives because they love the approval of the crowd.  In refusing to believe in Him, they faced eternal condemnation - something far more serious than the death.      

Moses is compared to Christ in many ways. Moses, as deliverer of people from bondage into the Promised Land, so is Jesus into the eternal Promised Land. Moses was rescued as a baby in Egypt, so Jesus was rescued by His family going to Egypt. Moses instituted the Passover, under God’s direction, pointed to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, whose blood was shed to give us salvation. Moses struck the rock giving living water. Moses lifted up the snake on the pole to which those dying people must look to be spared. The pictures and types comparing Moses to Jesus are remarkable, but Moses also was pointing to another deliverer to come to his people.      

Jews accepted Moses completely but refused to see how they pointed to Christ and they had an advantage over the rest of the world. Today we have such an advantage over the rest of the world that there is no excuse to reject Jesus. If some reject Jesus, it is not for lack of evidence, but refusal to receive the overwhelming evidence presented in the life and ministry of Christ.   

As believers we reflect over these facts, worship, and thank God for so great a salvation.

Dale