Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip one time. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and go to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awakes and nudges his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson replied, “I see millions of stars.” “What does that tell you?” Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Holmes?” Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke: “Watson, you idiot. Someone has stolen our tent!”

And it’s the same kind of exasperation that Jesus has with the Pharisees who for all their knowledge, do not know him and will not believe in him. In their minds, they know everything in God’s Law better and more accurately than anyone else, and yet don’t know enough to see that the very embodiment of God’s Law in the flesh is standing in front of and speaking to them, in the person of Jesus.

The Pharisees and religious leaders are like Watson—intellectual cream of the crop, reasoning, logical, analytical, striving to understand and know and obey God, untangling the truth of God’s law with a fine-tooth comb and ceremonially and traditionally adding layer upon layer of interpretations as to what they thought God was commanding them to do, through His Law. And yet, they still could not see what God was trying to show them again and again, through unparalleled and unprecedented sign after sign, and revelation after revelation, and teaching after teaching in the person of Jesus through his words and his works.

They thought they knew Jesus—outwardly at least—they saw him and heard him. They saw him and heard him up close and personal…They saw miracle after miracle and sign after sign—and never denied the reality of Jesus’ miracles—they couldn’t, they were undeniable—They were able to identify every single sign as true using their deductive reasoning and their senses—their eyes—like Watson.

Yet after seeing Jesus and his signs and hearing Jesus and his teachings about himself and his Father in heaven, they still couldn’t see, or hear Jesus. They couldn’t know Jesus. Because they wouldn’t believe in his words about himself! They had no understanding of Jesus, and no belief in Jesus—and if they truly didn’t understand or know Jesus the Son, neither did they understand or know God his Father—no matter how much they thought they did.

They missed the greater reality that his miraculous signs pointed to, which he even added plain explanation to in his own words about the truth of his person and mission, Son of God, and origin, heaven, in the presence and bosom of God the Father. He is God, the Son of God, whose origin is from God in heaven, who was sent by God in heaven, and whose final destination after accomplishing his mission of redemption is to return to God the Father, in heaven.

And believing that, believing in him, believing his witness and the Father’s witness through his words and through his works is the only way to escape the impending Judgement of the Father and Son, and the Spirit, the Triune God. Otherwise Jesus says you will die in your sin, unless you believe that I’m him!