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In John chapter five, Jesus lists five witnesses to His true identity as the Son of God and Messiah.  They are:  John the baptist, the works He did (sum total of miracles and ministry); the Father, the Scriptures, and Moses.  This article will focus on the testimony of Moses to the identity of Jesus.  John 5:45-47 states, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.  For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.  But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words.”  Three facts receive emphasis by Jesus.  First, Moses, the Moses whom they had trusted and set their hope upon, is their accuser.  Obviously, they claimed to trust Moses, but in fact, they did not believe him.  Second, the ground of the accusation is stated, “If ye believe Moses, ye would believe me, for he wrote of me.”  Moses wrote of Jesus.  We will examine where later.  Third, Jesus indicts their faith.  Their failure to believe Moses results in their rejection of Jesus’ words.  Unbelief begets unbelief.  “If ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words.”  The writings of Moses are introduced as evidence for the true identity of Jesus.  J. W. McGarvey states, “A more explicit statement that Moses wrote of Jesus could not be framed in human speech” (The Book of Deuteronomy, 280).
Moses Was The Author of the Pentateuch
McGarvey gives a cogent argument showing that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).  In John 7:19, Jesus says, “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?” McGarvey states, “What did he mean by the demand, “Did not Moses give you the law?”  In this question he employs the rhetorical figure erotesis, which is the most emphatic form of making an assertion.  It assumes that neither with the speaker nor with his hearers is any other answer possible but the one implied.  Another example is the demand, “Did I not choose you, the twelve?” (John 6:70).  Another, the well-known words of Paul, “Was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” (I Cor. 1:13).  His demand, then, is the most emphatic assertion possible that, neither with himself nor with his hearers could there be any doubt that Moses gave them the law” (The Book of Deuteronomy, 278).  McGarvey uses Jesus’ statement to refute the biblical critics who denied that Moses authored the Pentateuch.
The Apostles Affirm Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch
The words of Jesus affirming that Moses wrote the law (the Pentateuch) are confirmed in the writings of the apostles.  In Peter’s second sermon recorded in Acts 3:22-24, he quotes Deuteronomy 18:15-19 and applies the prophecy in Deuteronomy to Jesus.  “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.  And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.”  This is a prophetic declaration by Moses that is applied by an apostle of Jesus to Jesus.  The apostle John writes, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  John affirms that Moses wrote the law (the Pentateuch).  Finally, the apostle Paul also affirms the Mosaic authorship of the law.  In Romans 10:5, Paul writes, “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.”  In I Cor. 9:9, Paul declares, “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.  Doth God take care for oxen?  The quotation Paul gives is from Deuteronomy 25:4.
Moses’ Testimony of Jesus
Obviously, Deuteronomy 18:15-19 is a key prophecy given in the writings of Moses about Jesus Christ.  Significant spiritual loss will be suffered by the individual who rejects the authority of the prophet like unto Moses which God would raise up from among the people of Israel.  Since Jesus is that prophet, those who reject Him and receive not His words will be condemned by the justice of God (John 12:48).  There are other statements by Moses in the Pentateuch that apply to Jesus.  In Genesis 3:15, we have the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”  This passage introduces the “seed of the woman” as a vague reference to Jesus.  In the genealogy of Jesus given in Matthew 1, v. 16 states, “And Jacob begat, Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”  The phrase “of whom” is in the feminine gender referring to Mary and not Joseph.  The reason?  Jesus was born of a virgin.  “Behold, a (the, –the definite article appears in the Hebrew, the LXX and the Greek) virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”  Luke describes this miraculous conception in Luke 1:30-35.  Moses records the background to the “seed promise.” Moses states the promises that God made to Abraham in Gen. 12:1-3 and Gen. 15:1-6.  Through Abraham’s seed all nations of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 22:18-written by Moses).  Paul remarks concerning this fact in Gal. 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”  The promise of a Messiah was fulfilled through the birth of Isaac (Gen. 21:1-8; Gal. 4:22-31).  The seed promise was repeated to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4). The Messianic promise was continued through the seed of Isaac by Jacob.  God repeated the seed promise to Jacob, “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:14).  This “seed promise” was fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16).  Moses gives the history of the genealogy of Jesus and that history shows that only one person could be the Messiah–Jesus Christ.  The veracity of Moses was never questioned by Jesus or any of His apostles.  Not only through prophecy, but also through typology, Moses wrote of Jesus.  Consider the mighty deliverance (redemption) of Israel from Egyptian bondage that was commemorated in the Passover (Exodus 12).  The Passover prefigures the deliverance from the bondage of sin (redemption) that Jesus accomplished through the sacrifice of Himself (the lamb of God, John 1:29) for the sin of the world.  Moses wrote of the “bread from heaven” or manna in Exodus 16.  Jesus is the true bread from heaven (John 6:31-35).   Moses wrote about the bronze serpent that was erected (lifted up) in order to provide a means for forgiveness and healing from deadly snake bites (Numbers 21:4-9).  John writes, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).  Later, John records the words of Jesus, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  This he said, signifying what death he should die” (John 12:32-33).  Through typology, Moses wrote of Jesus’ death.
Truly, God made known His ways to Moses (Psa. 103:7).  Moses as a lawgiver prefigured Christ, the lawgiver (Deuteronomy 18:18; Heb. 3:1-6).  Yet, Jesus Christ outranks Moses as a Son outranks a servant.  Even God acknowledges the authority of His Son in comparison to Moses and Elijah at the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-5).  Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets (Matt. 5:17).  Just before His death, Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) and so it was that all things in the law written by Moses and the prophets were fulfilled (Luke 24:44).