The Healing at the Pool
If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. John 5:46 · Berean Standard Bible
Jesus says that if they truly believed Moses, they would believe Him too, because Moses wrote about Jesus.
The writings of Moses, which these leaders dedicated their entire lives to studying, point directly to Jesus. Believing one should naturally lead to believing the other.
Jesus makes the connection clear: Moses and Jesus are not in competition. Moses' writings are the road that leads straight to Jesus.
The Bible has always been one story, and it has always been pointing to Jesus. If you truly understand what Moses wrote, you will find Jesus on every page.
Jesus draws a direct line between believing Moses and believing Himself: 'he wrote about Me' (peri gar emou ekeinos egrapsen). This claim that Moses' writings contain testimony about Jesus is foundational to the Christian reading of the Pentateuch as Christological witness.
Specific Mosaic texts understood as pointing to Jesus include Genesis 3:15 (the seed of the woman), Genesis 49:10 (Shiloh), Numbers 24:17 (the star from Jacob), and Deuteronomy 18:15 (the prophet like Moses).
Jesus makes the explicit claim that Moses wrote about Him, establishing the Christological reading of the Torah.
Jesus connects the dots that His opponents refuse to see: Moses, the author they revere above all others, wrote about the very person standing before them. Believing Moses and believing Jesus are not separate acts of faith but one continuous response to God's revelation.
44How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
45Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope.
46If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.
47But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
Read all of John 5 — A man who has been an invalid for thirty-eight years is told to pick up his mat and walk. The Pharisees are more concerned about the day of the week.
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