The Witness...
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There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
We are studying the Gospel of John. As we learned last week, John the apostle wrote this gospel while he was in Ephesus, somewhere between 60-90 AD, about 30 or more years after Christ was crucified, buried and raised from the dead.
As we also mentioned last week, the Ephesians knew the right doctrine, or teachings. They could spot error, and stopped false teachers. However, their love for Jesus had grown cold. They knew the facts, but lost their love.
John wanted to share about Jesus so they would fall in love with him again. John is unique, and distinct from the other gospel accounts. While Luke and the others were writing so people would know what Jesus did, more of the facts (which are important!!), John spends more time looking at who Jesus is, and why he did or said the things he did. John wanted those who read his gospel (good news) account of Jesus to...
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Believe. or more literally, be continually believing Jesus is Messiah—the one we have needed all along, the answer to our needs for salvation and a loving companion! That we may be believing he is the Son of God—the second person of the Godhead, fully God! And that by believing, knowing fully in our hearts and minds that we would have life, real life as God intended it—full, rich and satisfying—in his name.
Today, we continue our study, looking at .
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Let’s work our way through this.
There was a man
There was a man
The word was here is different from was in . In , “In the beginning was the Word.” There ‘was’ is literally the ‘to be’ verb. It shows us that in the beginning the Word already existed. He is eternal because the Word is God.
Here in , the word ‘was’ is literally ‘to come into being’. It can be used of humans being born, plants being produced, or natural phenomena like cloudiness, storms, earthquakes, thunder or a time of day.
This shows a distinction between the Word, and this man. It shows how the Word is greater than any man. Even if...
Sent from God
Sent from God
Even if a man is sent from God, the Word is still greater than that man. We are going to see that playing out as we continue reading through this gospel of John.
Whose name was John. This is referring to John the baptist. We will see that in the full context of Chapter 1, which is more than we will get through today. John was a great man.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
What makes a man great?
What made John great? It was not worldly wealth. As we see in the other gospels, John did not have much. He wore the worst of clothing, and ate the lowest of foods. He lived in the wilderness, dressed in camels hair and eathing locusts and wild honey! What he had did not make him great. His title or position did not make him great. The religious leaders who had the positions looked down on him.
What made John great was that He was sent by God!
Are you and I great? What do we think would make us great? Things of this world, possessions do not make us great. They will rust, rot, break, and simply not last. They will not give true satisfaction. Titles will fade, and you will be forgotten. What makes us great?
God working in us, and sending us is what makes us great! Wait, were you and I sent like John? If you read through John this week, you may remember
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
I have a message for you, you are great! Because God made you great and sent you! Wow!
Fall in love with Jesus, who made you, brought you into being, and made you great! He sent you! You may, or may not, have a great job, but what makes you great is Jesus in you, Jesus sent you! You may, or may not, have cool possessions, but what make you great is Jesus in you, Jesus sent you! As you go through this week, remember, you are great because he sent you! Hold up your head in pride wherever you are, whatever you are doing because you have been sent by Jesus!
As a witness, to witness, as a witness
As a witness, to witness, as a witness
Let’s read the next two verses together. .
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
As a witness, to witness, as a witness
As a witness, to witness, as a witness
Your bible likely has the word witness two times, and testify, tell about or something similar. Actually, all three are the same root word. Two times it is the noun, and 1 time it is in the verbal form. μαρτυρία
When I said that word, what does it sound like? Martyr. What is a martyr?
“a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion” - Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).
Now, all of a sudden, you may be thinking, oh no, I was sent by God like John!
There was a man - literally, came into being, distinct from “The Word was.”
Sent from God
Came as a witness
to testify/witness concerning that light
Yes, you and I were sent like John. We have been given the greatest privilege in the world, to be martyrs! To be witnesses to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!
so that through him all might believe
John repeats this word for witness three times. Why? Because that is why John came. John himself was not the savior. John himself was not this great person. But he was a witness to the great one! This association of being a witness to the great one is what made him great!
He was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. (repeated; emphasis)
What is a witness? Again, as defined in Webster’s:
1: attestation of a fact or event: TESTIMONY
2: one that gives evidence specifically: one who testifies in a cause or before a judicial tribunal
3: one asked to be present at a transaction so as to be able to testify to its having taken place
4: one who has personal knowledge of something
5 a: something serving as evidence or proof: SIGN
b: public affirmation by word or example of usually religious faith or conviction 〈the heroic witness to divine life—Pilot〉
-Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).
I was thinking about something this week. It is not a new question, but it is a question which comes up often.
How do you know it’s true?
People use this for Christianity, Jesus, the Bible. How do you know it is true?
I started to think about this question, and thought, how do we know anything is true?
How do we know the world is round? How do we know the what a tropical rainforest is like? How do we know what the ocean is like? What about those who have never been to the ocean? How do they know what it is like?
How do we know George Washington was the general of the army in the revolutionary war? How do we know he was the first president? How do we know anything from history?
How do we know about things growing? How do we know anything?
The answer I came up with is witnesses. We know because a witness has told us. That is what books are. They are supposed to be words of a witness.
How powerful is the testimony of a witness? The word of witnesses will bring conviction in a court of law.
Now, not only people are witnesses. Things that happen are witnesses to themselves. If you observe something happening, that is a witness. In fact, Jesus in John declares that the his words, his actions, the miracles he performed were witnesses to who he was. And, the people who saw and heard them became witnesses as well.
How do I know that the Bible is true? Witnesses.
I see the actions. I see first-hand the changes the truth of God’s word can make in me, and in others.
And, I hear the witness, the testimony of those who have been changed. I hear the witness, the testimony, of those who were near to those who gave testimony in the word of God.
How do I know Jesus is true? I hear the witness.
The witness of the change He makes in me.
The witness of those who saw firsthand all he said and did, and recorded it. Witness that would not have stood up if it was false. These gospels were all written within decades of Jesus’ work on earth, his teachings, his miracles, his death, his burial and resurrection. Other people saw and heard what Jesus did. They did not refute the witness of what we have recorded. The witness stood!
I liken this to the cross-examination of the witness in a court of law. The lawyers will try to get the witnesses to contradict themselves. They will try to show the witnesses are false. However, if the witness stands up under cross-examination, the testimony stands. The witness is true! This will effect the outcome of the trial.
The same holds true for all of life. We need to examine the witnesses. We examine the witnesses in our history classes. We find that they are true, because others who lived at that time record the same story. We examine the witness in mathematics. We do the math and see it does work! We examine the witness in science class and confirm the work of those who bore witness, or see the errors (as we did here in previous weeks) and find that their testimony does not stand.
These witnesses like John were studied. They were cross-examined. Their testimony was true, and it has come down through the ages to us.
I know it is true because of the witnesses. And yes, many of the witnesses showed their testimony was true by going all the way to a martyr’s death. They died because their testimony was true. They would not change their story, even under threat of death. They would not change, because it was true, and what they were witnessing to was important!!! It was the true light!
Those saints that went before and were truly martyrs are an inspiration! They knew and loved Jesus, and would not compromise. They knew his presence! They knew the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
We are great because of his work in our lives, and sending us.
However, too often, we don’t feel great. Too often, we do not feel love for Jesus. Too often, we do not feel his presence. Too often, we do not feel the power of the Holy Spirit.
I wonder if we forget the greatness of being sent, we forget his presence, we lose the power because we are not being witnesses?
I was reading a book over the summer where the author pointed out that the promises of the presence of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit are tied to this being sent as witnesses.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus promised to be with us to the very end of the age. He does not leave us. But do we lose the sense of his presence? Could it be that we lose the sense of his presence because we are not being witnesses? Isn’t the promise following the command?
What about the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives.
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:
was thrown in just to remind us about how to respond to people that claim they have figured out that Jesus is coming September 23rd, or whatever date they claim in the future.
But back on point with . When they receive the power of the Spirit they will be witnesses. We have all received the Spirit. The Spirit gives power. But we can also quench the Spirit by not yielding to him. Do we not have the power of the Spirit because we have quenched him and not used the power to witness?
I do not want us to be lacking love for Jesus. I do not want us to lack the feeling of the presence of Christ. I do not want us to lack the power of the Spirit. I want us to do as Paul did in .
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
I want us to know him, and the greatness of all he has and is doing for us! I want us to be filled with the knowledge of his will. That will come as we spend time in the Word. Spend time to know the facts, yes, but more to spend time getting to know him, and fall in love with him again! That is why I am encouraging us all, me included to be reading through John.
Then, with that knowledge that the Spirit gives, I want us to live lives worthy of the Lord and please Him! How can we please him? Obey his commands that are in his word! Love Him! Love each other! Be witnesses! If we do these things, I am convinced from the word of God, and from the witnesses who have gone before that we will know him! We will love him! We will feel his presence! We will know his power in our lives!
However, do not expect to feel his presence, or his power if you quench the Spirit, and disobey his commands. You will be a child, but like many children, you will feel that estrangement that comes with disobedience. John wrote about that in .
I am convinced of better things for us. Let’s continue studying John. Let’s continue asking him to grow us in our understanding and love for him. Let’s ask him for a fresh power from the Spirit, and let’s be witnesses! Let’s share with each other and others the things we are learning, the things we love about Jesus! Because that is what we are to be witnesses to: the Light!
Concerning the light
Concerning the light
We go through our days being witnesses to all kinds of things. Whether we are witnessing about sports, knowledge we have gained, funny things that happen, or whatever, we are constantly giving testimony, witnessing about things we have seen and experienced.
What we need to learn to do is be witnesses about the greatest thing: the Light!
Why does John keep referring to Jesus as Light?
What is the light? Why light?
As I said last week, light is a metaphor for understanding and knowledge.
God created us in his image to have understanding and knowledge. We seek to understand. It starts at age 2, why? why? why? And continues for the rest of our lives. There is this built in yearning for understanding and knowledge. What is the point? What is the purpose? Why?
People seek to fill this with all kinds of things. Ecclesiastes is all about the exploration to find a reason under heaven for life. The point of Ecclesiastes is that if we try to find purpose in work, in pleasure, in learning itself. However, all of those pursuits lead to purposelessness.
However, the True Light! Wow! Jesus gives us true understanding of life. Why are we here? Because God loved us, created us to be his, to glorify him and enjoy him forever! What is my purpose, to know him, and enjoy him and all he has done for me! And does his love and what he gives satisfy? Yes! yes! and yes! My life is not meaningless! My life will not end when this body gives out! I have hope and a future which he has given me! I have a richness in life through him! I can truly enjoy life as I serve him, loving him and loving others with the strength he provides. I can find richness even in the trials of life as I learn to trust him who loves me and cares for me, providing all I truly need, and grace that is sufficient for each trial which is for my good as it proves the genuineness of my faith, and leads to a rich inheritance in eternity with Christ! Wow, have I got something to give witness to!
While the world gives witness to the latest sports, or the latest tech, or the latest cruise or vacation package, I give witness to true love and life! I give witness to the Light that gives understanding, meaning and purpose for life that is not fleeting and dissatisfying. Jesus is truly satisfying, and the life he gives is eternal life!
That is what we are here for, to give witness to Jesus! Let’s focus on that this week. Spend time in John falling in love with the one who loved you, the good shepherd who leads you to good pasture, and laid down his life for you to live!! The one who came to give you abundant, rich and satisfying life!
What is the point? We give witness not just for our own sake, knowing Christ’s presence and the power of the Spirit, but So that all might believe.
That is the focus. Witnessing because have I got the thing for you!! I want you to believe and receive what I have! That is the focus of being a witness. The presence, and power comes with it.
John was great, but he was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. One of the things we will see as we go through John is that the focus is on Jesus; not the witness.
Homework
Read John chapters 1-4 to get a broader context.
Read again. Consider what a witness is. How important is a witness? Consider how we know anything is true? Does it come down to witnesses, either actions which bear witness, or the word of those who have seen and heard?
Memorize . is a key portion of scripture. If we are to bear witness, we need to know who Jesus is. Who is the word? What is the difference between ‘the Word was’ () and ‘There was a man’ ()?
What does it mean that in the word was life? What does it mean that the Word is the light of all mankind? Why does John use that imagery of light?
. What made John great? John had quite a following, even after John died, and well after Jesus was gone, we read about John’s disciples (see in , and ). What made John so great?
Do you realize you are great, like John? Read . What makes you great?
The True Light
Give light to everyone
Was coming into the world
Though in the world, AND world made through Him… world did not recognize/know him
He came to his own, and they did not receive him
BUT to all who did receive him - believed in his name
He gave right to become children of God!
Not born of
natural descent
nor human decision
nor husband’s will
but born of God!