Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus drops a bomb here: the very one they're counting on for salvation, Moses, is actually their accuser. Their misplaced trust in Moses' writings without believing in Jesus means Moses himself, through his own divinely inspired words, is testifying against them.
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus has just healed a man on the Sabbath and the Jewish leaders are furious, accusing Him of breaking the Law. Jesus defends His actions by explaining His divine authority and relationship with the Father, but these leaders still refuse to believe Him. He tells them that if they truly believed Moses, they would recognize that Moses himself wrote about Jesus, meaning their rejection of Jesus is actually a rejection of Moses’s own testimony.
Jesus drops a bombshell: the very one the Jewish leaders trusted for salvation is actually their accuser. How can someone they revered become their condemnation?
Jesus confronts the religious elite who are rejecting Him. They've accused Him of breaking the Sabbath and God's Law, but Jesus turns the tables.
The Charge from Moses
Instead of bringing charges himself, Jesus points to Moses, their revered lawgiver. The irony is sharp: they claim to follow Moses, but their disbelief in Jesus is a direct violation of Moses’ own writings. Moses wrote about the coming Messiah, foretold His arrival, and commanded people to listen to Him.
By rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting the very foundation of Moses' testimony about the Messiah. Their supposed faithfulness to Moses actually highlights their rebellion against God's plan revealed through him.
They placed their ultimate hope in Moses and his Law. But Jesus reveals that this misplaced trust makes them vulnerable, not secure.
The religious leaders of Jesus' day had built their entire spiritual security on their adherence to the Law of Moses. They saw themselves as righteous because they followed its commands and rituals.
The Danger of Misplaced Hope
Jesus exposes the fatal flaw in their thinking. Their 'hope' in Moses wasn't in understanding and obeying his entire message, especially the parts pointing to the Messiah. Instead, they clung to the Law as a shield against anyone who challenged their status quo, including Jesus.
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This is why Moses becomes their accuser. Their reliance on him, severed from faith in the Messiah he predicted, becomes evidence of their deep-seated disobedience. True hope in Moses means believing all that God revealed through him, which ultimately leads to Christ.
Understand the original words
katēgoreō · Greek Verb
To bring a charge or condemn, specifically used in a legal sense. Here, it refers to the role of the Law (as embodied by Moses) in revealing sin and exposing the unrepentant.
Mōusēs · Greek Noun
The foundational lawgiver of Israel, representing the Law, the Pentateuch, and the covenantal witness that points forward to the Messiah.
elpis · Greek Noun
An expectation or confident anticipation of a future good, particularly related to salvation and the promises of God. It is anchored in the character of God and His revealed word.
Jesus' words cut to the heart of the religious leaders' misplaced trust. They clung to Moses' law and writings for salvation, yet by rejecting Jesus—the Messiah Moses foretold—they were actually condemned by Moses himself.
c. 1446 BC
Moses receives the Law
Moses receives the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law from God on Mount Sinai, establishing the covenant and religious framework for Israel.
c. 1400 BC
Moses writes the Pentateuch
Moses, as divinely inspired, records the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), which contain prophecies about the coming Messiah and the commands to obey Him.
Late 1st century BC - Early 1st century AD
Jewish Expectation of Messiah
The Jewish people widely anticipate the coming of a Messiah who would deliver them from Roman oppression and restore Israel's glory.
c. AD 28-30— this verse
Jesus' Ministry in Judea
Jesus begins His public ministry, performing miracles and teaching about the Kingdom of God, but faces increasing opposition from religious leaders.
c. AD 30-33
Jesus' Trial and Crucifixion
Jesus is arrested, tried, and crucified in Jerusalem. His resurrection follows, but many of the Jewish leaders reject His claims.
This passage is a foundational promise from Moses himself about a coming prophet like him, which Jesus clearly alludes to as a direct indictment against those who refuse to believe in Him. Moses' own words condemn their disbelief.
John 5:39Jesus directly challenges the religious leaders to examine the Scriptures (which include Moses' writings), showing that their own scriptures testify about Him, making their disbelief a rejection of Moses as well as Jesus.
Luke 16:29-31In this parable, Jesus illustrates that even a message from the dead, backed by the authority of Moses and the Prophets, wouldn't convince those who refused to listen to scripture. This highlights the hardened hearts Jesus is addressing.
John 5:46Jesus explicitly states that if they had truly believed Moses' writings, they would believe Jesus, as Moses wrote about Him. This directly connects their rejection of Jesus to a failure to understand or believe Moses.
barnesJohn 5:45: "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust."
Do not think that I will accuse you - Do not suppose that I intend to follow your example. They had accused Jesus of breaking the law of God, John 5:16 . He says that he will not imitate their example, though he implies that he might accuse them. To the Father - To God. There is one that accuseth you - Moses might be said to accuse or reprove them. He wrote of the Messia…
bensonJohn 5:45: "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust."
John 5:45 . Do not think that I only will accuse you to the Father — Our Lord proceeds to caution them against supposing, “that in rejecting him they sinned against no person but him, and that he alone would accuse them to the Father for their infidelity; for that Moses, in whose laws they trusted to have salvation, was likewise dishonoured by it, inasmuch as he wrote of…
Jesus drops a bomb here: the very one they're counting on for salvation, Moses, is actually their accuser. Their misplaced trust in Moses' writings without believing in Jesus means Moses himself, through his own divinely inspired words, is testifying against them.
Jesus has just healed a man on the Sabbath and the Jewish leaders are furious, accusing Him of breaking the Law. Jesus defends His actions by explaining His divine authority and relationship with the Father, but these leaders still refuse to believe Him. He tells them that if they truly believed Moses, they would recognize that Moses himself wrote about Jesus, meaning their rejection of Jesus is actually a rejection of Moses’s own testimony.
Jesus has just healed a man on the Sabbath and the Jewish leaders are furious, accusing Him of breaking the Law. Jesus defends His actions by explaining His divine authority and relationship with the Father, but these leaders still refuse to believe Him. He tells them that if they truly believed Moses, they would recognize that Moses himself wrote about Jesus, meaning their rejection of Jesus is actually a rejection of Moses’s own testimony.
"Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope." — Jesus drops a bomb here: the very one they're counting on for salvation, Moses, is actually their accuser. Their misplaced trust in Moses' writings without believing in Jesus means Moses himself, thr…
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Last reviewed October 2026