The Witness of Jesus

TJ Girt

The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

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Welcome

My first Sunday morning as a Pastor

Sure feels good

we are going to pick back up in

John after our detour last week

We will be in John 5:31-40.

And if you remember,

We are discussing some hard things that Jesus is saying

we are still in the conversation with the Jews

that occured in resistance or in response

to the healing at the pool of Bethesda

And Jesus has essentially spent what is for

us the past 3 weeks

or up to now

essentially

30 verses proving his equality with God

in power, nature, and authority

in every sense Jesus is telling them that he is God

and because of this

He deserves equal worship and honor

See the Jews spend their entire lives trying to honor God

so, He is saying if you want to Honor God

Honor ME!

and here He is

standing right in front of them

and they are denying it

This reminds me of Romans 1:19–21 “since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.”

And we see that so much today!

Just look outside

How is that an accident

how are we an accident?

we are the most complex organism in the universe

and on top of that we can think and rationalize

and have logic!

yet some believe we evolved from a pile of mush

100 million years ago

God has made His existence evident to us

His creation screams of His glory and

His existence

and they very one that was the agent in which all of this occured

is standing right before them

and they cant see past themselves long enough to recognize it

So please stand as we read God perfect word

Text

John 5:31–40 ““If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. John was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me. The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form. You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.”

Let us pray

Illustration

anyone every seen that show Columbo?

It was a little before my time

but i remember it rather briefly

and I bring this up not because I have some good

punch line or some heart felt story

but I bring it up so that we

we can get this legal

this trial

this courtroom imagery

in our heads

this evidence and testimony

and witnesses type of imagery

See Columbo was a pretty humble guy

detective at least

and he that this uncanny ability to solve these mysteries etc

every time by the end of his show

But he had this catch phrase that he would

typically do

see he would walk out of the room

and then come back

and say

Just one more thing…

and that was typically the thing that was the nail in the proverbial coffin for the suspect

well here, we have Jesus

being accused of all kinds of things

more notably of working on the Sabbath

well, in the famous words of Columbo

Jesus says essentially is going to say

“oh..Just one more thing”

See you may not believe what I say about my self

but how about this

and he introduces 4 witnesses to Himself

and those are our points this morning

The witness of John the Baptist

The witness of His works

The witness of The Father

and the witness of the Scriptures

So, in verse 31 & 32 He starts this off with

John 5:31–32 ““If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.”

Don’t get me wrong

we know that Jesus has the authority

and His testimony is sufficient

we see in John 8:14 (he says) ““Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.”

So his testimony is true

but again He is saying

ok, Ill admit,

if you want to look at this from a legal standpoint

Then yea, if I alone or if the only testimony about me is from me,

then according to the law

is not true or it is not sufficient

but only because I (Jesus) am the only witness

This comes from Duet. 17:6 & 19:15 that say

in a legal case, 2 or more witnesses are needed

to convict a person

so here He is saying that if you all

don’t wish to accept his own testimony

regarding his relationship to God the Father

There are other “very valid” witnesses out there

and the biggest one is the Father himself

as He eludes to in verse 32

now let us remember Brothers and sisters

Without the deity of Jesus Christ

meaning unless he is God

there is no Christian faith

no gospel

and no power to save

our very faith

is based on that fact

our very foundation is planted firmly on

Jesus being God

in perfect unity with the Father

and the Spirit

and that is exactly why the devil

has tried so hard to dismantle it

by feeding lies into the church

Doing everything He can to feed doubt

and chip away at our faith

by trying to discredit Jesus

by feeding into all of these other

false religions

a different Jesus to follow

Because the devil thinks

that if he can throw us off just a little bit

then he will win

Lets think just for a second

Islam has a version of Jesus

with around 1.6 billion muslims in the world

Buddism does as well

with over 500 million followers

Hinduism

with roughly 1.2 to 1.3 billion followers

Those all have their versions of Jesus

Then we must mention

Jehovah witnesses

and Mormonism

and there are so many others

I must also include the modern prosperity Jesus

where if you mail him a check you will be healed

as well as the soft, all inclusive, non judge mental Jesus

See there are so many that have been misled to believe in a different Jesus than the bible portrays

and that is exactly what the devil wants

see if we oppose Jesus (the one presented in scripture, the real one), then we oppose God

if we reject the real Jesus, then we reject God

and if we rebel against Jesus, then we rebel against God

and that is exactly what the devil wants

as he try's to pull as many as he can down into that fiery furnace

and that is exactly what Jesus was trying to prevent then

and what he is trying to prevent now

by showing us the evidence

and all the evidence points to the fact that the

Jesus of the Bible

is the son of God and the true savior of the world

So,

Lets get back on track and back to our trial

it is on that basis that we call our first witness

The Witness of John the Baptist

John 5:33–35 “You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. John was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.”

Remember back in chapter 1

oh about 3-4 months ago

we were introduced to John

we were introduced to him in the prologue

then to his witness in V19 where it says

John 1:19 “This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?””

These are the messengers Jesus is talking about here

were more like investigators actually

they were intrigued by John

remember they thought John may have been

the messiah

and when asked John

he said nope

then they asked are you

Elijah? Nope!

how about the prophet?

Wrong again

And Jesus’ point in reminding them of this

was that he, John, was actually testifying to the truth

testifying to who Jesus was

remember what it was that John was saying

that he was in fact ”a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord”

that he was unworthy even to tie Jesus’s sandals

that Jesus is the “Lamb of God”

“who takes away the sin of the world”

See John knew and testified that Jesus was the messiah

the one the Jews had been waiting for

and the Jews were excited about that

They liked what John was saying

they were welcoming of his message

in verse 35 Jesus even tells them

he was a shining light

they rejoiced in his light

Now Jesus didn’t need the testimony of

John to prove who he was

thats why one verse back in 34 he says

that he doesn’t need human testimony

but they were the ones that needed Johns testimony

because they were the ones that needed to be saved

but when Jesus did not turn out to be the messiah

that they expected

they rejected Him

see instead of riding

on a white horse

he overthrew tables

instead embracing their laws

and legalism

he exposed their hypocrisy

and the Jews, instead of embracing his mercy and

healing on the sabbath

they put him on trial and would ultimately execute him

see just like today, Jesus doesn’t fit the mold

they want, and therefore

they either turn Jesus into who they want him to be

or they they flat out reject Him and His message

But one thing that amazes me about our savior

is that He still gives them grace

just like he is still giving us grace today

See the reason he included Johns witness here is to remind

them of what they had heard

to remind them that John testified that he was the messiah

still giving them, and us, a chance to turn from

rebellion and be saved

Now, as our crescendo of witnesses develops

we are introduced to the next witness of our Lord

The Works of Jesus

John 5:36 ““But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me.”

While Johns testimony was profound

it is nothing compared to the works that Jesus produces

because as our text shows they are directly from the

Father

and again, even Jesus says that John the Baptist was

the greatest among men

But, his testimony cannot match the power of what God is doing

through His son

and this power is seen in his teachings and in His

miracles

Nicodemus was one of these that acknowledged this

remember

John 3:2–3 “Nicodemus came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

exactly!

The miracles and signs produced by Jesus testified

that he is in fact God, that He is sent from the Father

see there is no natural causes for what Jesus could do

we have some pretty good magicians these days

we have a lot of smoking mirrors and a lot of people

parading around thinking they are performing miracles

and in fact they had some back then to

But so far we have seen Jesus

turn water into wine

we have seen Him clear the temple

and disrupt corrupt commerce with no

repercussions

we have seen Him heal the officials son whom was sick many miles away

and we saw him heal the man that had been an invalid for 38 years

which well, started this whole conversation

even John

John 21:25 “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.”

none of these so called magicians or faith healers could do this

they couldn’t get close!

so since there are no natural causes for what He has and can do

then there must be a supernatural explanation

and if anyone should be able to see this it is the jews

Its the most obvious explanation

even the scriptures that we are about to talk about

talk about the fact that the messiah would be marked by miracles and signs given to Him by God

And that is honestly a major factor in the reason He is able to perform these miracles

not only was it because of his compassion and love for those in need

but also because these very miracles attest and prove who He is

which is why he brings to the witness stand His next witness

The Witness of HIS / The Father

John 5:37–38 “The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form. You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent.”

Pulling out the big guns for his 3rd witness

Jesus comes full circle to what we read in V32

lets refresh

John 5:32 “There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.”

God Himself is Jesus’ 3rd witness

And in fact the 2 preceeding and the one coming up next

flow from Him

Yet even though the Father Himself testifies to Jesus

they, the Jews, and many of us today have not heard His voice

at anytime.

and if they or we haven’t heard His voice

then we defenitly have not seen Him

Because God’s voice

God’s character

Gods being

is revealed to us through the one he is bearing witness about

And since they do not acknowledge Christ

they cannot and will not hear or see God

see without Christ we are cut off from God

completely

because of our sin

There is no way that we can atone for the things we have done

much less the things we have thought

see through our own standing or our own good works

we cannot acknowledge God on Sunday then go back to

living for the world the rest of the week

we cannot praise God with the same lips

that speak gossip and insults against our brothers

see this is what is wrong with the modern church today

they do not have revelation from God because they do

not full acknowledge who the son is

they do not fully understand who Christ is because they have made them who they want him to be

not who he truly is

See

we have no way of knowing what God wants for us

apart from his revelation to us

and His revelation to us is found

in Jesus Christ

whom he has sent messengers to proclaim

whom he has sent miracles and works to affirm

and whom he has sent in spirit to convict

Brothers and sisters

the very air in our lungs attest

to the greatness of God

the very fact that we got up this morning

attest to his grace

and all of this is done through the son

So denying who Jesus really is

is denying who God sent to rescue us

denying who Jesus is

is to deny the

very foundation of our hope

and by not believing in the one He sent

as verse 38 says, you do not have his word

in you either

and it is by that very word that we are saved

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The word is Jesus Christ right!

And Jesus Christ is God

and all of these things we have been discussing

point us to that deity

and without him

what are we even doing?

See the Jews and many of today

Reject Jesus even though

he is standing right in front of us

ready and willing to take us in

if only we repent and follow Him

I seem to have a problem finding things in the fridge

and pantry

as I assume most men in here do

I can spot a deer in a pasture going 70 mph down the

road

but for some reason I can never find the ketchup

and that is exactly what was happening to the Jews

as we go into our final point this morning

So far Jesus has given them 3 profound witnesses

and the 4th one is one He knows they know very well

the final witness this morning

The witness of the Scriptures

John 5:39–40 “You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.”

The scriptures would and should have been a very strong witness for Jesus to the scribes and rabbis

If there is anything the rabbis and scribes should be known for

it is the fact that they went through great lengths to

gain understanding and knowledge of the

scriptures

Did you know that by the age of 10 the Jews would have already

learned and memorized the Torah

the first 5 books of the OT

and those aren’t small books either

they carry scripture with them at all times

They have these things called

Phylacteries

and what those are

are a little box they wear during prayer services

on their wrists and on their forehead

in these boxes were specific scriptures

so to say that the Jews valued scriptures

is an understatment

they lived by the scriptures

that is why Jesus told them

you pour over them because you think you have eternal life in them

and if fact they did

but just like that Ketchup in the fridge

they missed it

because within the scriptures

from page 1 to the end

testify that Jesus is the messiah

and the Son of God

See some think the

bible is book of ancient tales

or that it is a book of great moral lessons

some think its a like a drivers manual

that tells you how to navigate life

and while some of this may be true to a superficial extent

that is not the point of the bible nor what it is about

see the bible is the story of the saga of all of

human history

it is a story about our fellowship with God

and how that fellowship with Him

was lost through sin

the bible is also a story of redemption

and grace

and every story has a main character

and the main character within this story is Jesus Christ

See the primary point and purpose of scripture is to point men and women to Christ

And Jesus makes it clear here that the whole

bible tells His story and that they point to Him

After Jesus’ death and resurrection

he joins two of his disciples while walking along the road

these 2 disciples are still dumbstruck that who they thought was the messiah was led to his death on a cross

So Jesus responded with Luke 24:25–27 “He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.”

Jesus wanted them

and He wants us to see that everything that happened to Him

from his suffering, to His death, to His resurrection

had already been spoken about in the scriptures

see the bruised heel of Genesis 3 would crush the serpents head

the rejected stone of Psalm 118:22 would become the cornerstone

and the Lamb led to the slaughter of Isaiah 53 would be the sacrificed Lamb that came to take away the sins of the world

All of these things and so much more point to Christ

as our savior

and to His deity

But as V40 says

John 5:40 “But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.”

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters

the proof is in the pudding

God did not create us to be robots

he did not create us to blindly follow Him

He created us with Logic

with brains

He created us with the ability to reason

the ability to discern

He created all of this in us because he has given us

the resources needed

to find truth

See we cannot be forced to follow God

we cannot be forced Love Him

but we can use our reason, our logic

to see that this world was created perfectly

with design

and that all things point to Him and His son

Today we learned of several witnesses that

testify that Jesus is equal to God

and that life is found in Him

the evidence is there!

the only reason we have for not acknowledging Him

is simply that we are not willing to do so

Just as the Jews were doing all through history and as they are doing in this text

Jesus is there! He is ready to save and His grace is sufficient

So I ask you this morning

where are you?

do your acknowledge that Jesus is the savior of the world

do you acknowledge that God created the heavens and the earth and that he created you as well

if you do then I pray you come to Him

so that You may have life

and have life abundantly

and for those of us that have have come to him

those of us that have fallen at His feet in wonder

and in submission

I pray that we continue to fight the good fight

against the false accusations against Christ

against the world that try's to bend scripture

to preach a different Gospel

stay strong

For we as a church will defined

by our commitment to Christ

Let us Pray!

Invitation

So now as we will enter into a time of invitation

This is a time of prayer and commitment

If you would like to pray with me

or one of our deacons about your salvation

or any other needs

now is the time

also, if you would like to begin the process of

becoming a member here

you can come up front as well

Let us sing

“Jesus Paid it All”

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