John 5:46

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

John 5:46 (KJV)

Context

Jesus spoke these words to Jewish leaders who were challenging His authority after He healed a man on the Sabbath. They honored Moses as the great lawgiver, yet they rejected Jesus even though His works and words testified of Him. In the preceding verses, Jesus explained that the Scriptures themselves bear witness of Him (John 5:39), and He now presses the point home: if they truly believed Moses, they would believe Him, because Moses wrote about Him.

Meaning

Jesus’ statement is both an indictment and an invitation. The Jews claimed to follow Moses, but their unbelief in Jesus proved they did not truly receive Moses’ testimony. Moses wrote of Christ in the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Old Testament—through prophecies, symbols, and events that pointed forward to the coming Messiah. To reject Jesus is to reject the very Scriptures they treasured.

Biblical connections

Moses’ writings contain direct messianic prophecies. In Genesis 3:15, God promised that the offspring of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head, foreshadowing Jesus’ victory over sin and Satan. In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses foretold that God would raise up a prophet like him, and the New Testament identifies Jesus as that prophet (Acts 3:22-23). Beyond explicit predictions, the Pentateuch is filled with types and shadows of Christ. The Passover lamb in Exodus 12 prefigures Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8-9) points to Jesus being lifted up on the cross for salvation (John 3:14-15).

Application

This verse calls believers to read the Old Testament with Christ-centered eyes. The entire Bible, from Genesis onward, testifies of Jesus. When we study the Scriptures, we should look for how they reveal God’s plan of redemption through Him. Just as Jesus admonished the Jews for missing Him in Moses’ writings, we are challenged to see that all of Scripture ultimately points to Him as Savior and Messiah. Faith in Jesus is not a departure from the Old Testament but its fulfillment.

Reflection

Do we honor the Bible with our words but miss its central message? The Jews held Moses in high regard, yet their hearts were closed to the One Moses wrote about. True belief in Scripture leads to belief in Christ. As we read the Old Testament, may we recognize that its promises, laws, and ceremonies all find their meaning in Jesus, and may we respond with trusting faith in Him.