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-47Pray
Witnesses
Pray
Whenever our reputable news organizations realize the story they are reporting seems too outrageous to be true, they try to find an “eyewitness” to collaborate the story.
Someone who saw the events of the story.
Someone who can confirm the reports because they saw it.
We have come to expect eyewitness accounts in many ways.
When a hurricane is about to make landfall, don’t we expect to see some insane Weather Channel person standing in the wind?
If there is a structure fire, don’t we expect the TV news to have a crew there?
Even when there is an accident on the interstates, we are given images from the traffic cams to confirm that traffic is indeed a mess.
Witnesses are important to establish truth, aren’t they?
Now, imagine with me for a moment that you are in ancient Israel, somewhere around 32 A.D. And you start to hear stories of a man who is healing people.
He has been said to make blind people see, lame people walk, and lepers clean.
Are you skeptical?
You should be.
These are fantastic, even unbelievable stories.
If I heard those stories, I would want to hear from one of those who had been healed, wouldn’t you?
In fact, I would probably want to hear from more than 1 of those.
According to - “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed.
Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
So not just 1 witness, but at least 2 and better 3 witnesses are needed to establish a charge.
And what if you also hear that this man is claiming to be the Son of God?
What if you hear that He is claiming to have come directly from heaven?
What kind of witness would it take to confirm these claims?
It’s not like any human can SEE that these are true.
What kind of witness can confirm these claims?
John records 4 such witnesses in the verses I read a moment ago.
Once again, I am preaching through the Gospel according to John.
It is the weird one of the 4 Gospels in our Bible.
While Matthew, Mark, and Luke record the life of Jesus in an sequential, orderly way, John is writing with a different purpose.
He is still recording the life of Jesus, but not necessarily in a sequential way.
He tells us that his purpose is different in
-31The whole point of this Gospel is to convince us to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised Hope of Israel.
And, that by believing in Him, we might have life.
So, each and every passage points us back to Jesus and asks the simple question, “Do you now believe?”
As we come to this passage at the end of Chapter 5, we need to remember what comes before.
We saw the story of the man being healed at the pool at Bethesda on the Sabbath day.
The Jewish leaders started to come out against Jesus because it happened on the Sabbath.
Last week, we saw that Jesus’ response pointed back to His Father.
Jesus wanted everyone to know that He was at work revealing the Father.
The Father is revealed as Jesus joins in the Father’s work.
He is revealed as Jesus gives life instead of judgement and as Jesus gives life instead of death.
But when Jesus says He is revealing the Father, why should we believe Him? Today, we will see 4 witnesses that confirm Jesus is truly the Son of God.
The 1st witness to Jesus is the Father Himself.
Witnesses
The whole point of this Gospel is to convince us to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised Hope of Israel.
And, that by believing in Him, we might have life.
So, each and every passage points us back to Jesus and asks the simple question, “Do you now believe?”
As we come to this passage at the end of Chapter 5, we need to remember what comes before.
We saw the story of the man being healed at the pool at Bethesda on the Sabbath day.
The Jewish leaders started to come out against Jesus because it happened on the Sabbath.
Last week, we saw that Jesus’ response pointed back to His Father.
Jesus wanted everyone to know that He was at work revealing the Father.
The Father is revealed as Jesus joins in the Father’s work.
He is revealed as Jesus gives life instead of judgement and as Jesus gives life instead of death.
But when Jesus says He is revealing the Father, why should we believe Him? Today, we will see 4 witnesses that confirm Jesus is truly the Son of God.
The 1st witness to Jesus is the Father Himself.
1. -32John5:37-38The Father is witness
-32John5:37-38The Father is witness
John5:37-38The Father is witness
The Father is witness
1.1.
As Jesus expounds on His work, he makes it clear that He cannot do anything unless it is the will of the Father.
But Jesus says He knows that He cannot be a witness for Himself, yet He knows of a witness that bears testimony about Him and that this witness’ testimony is true.
And there is only one person in the entire universe that we can guarantee to be always truthful.
And that person is God Himself, or as Jesus is talking about here, His Father God.
1.2.
Now this feels a little bit like circular logic, but you have to put yourself back in the ancient world.
Today, we talk more about Jesus as the person who saves.
We pray in the name of Jesus.
We remember Jesus on the cross.
And we remember the empty tomb of Jesus.
But in the 1st Century it wasn’t that way.
Jesus’ message was growing, but to a Jew, God was the one who provided all.
So, for Jesus to say that God was the one who is the witness would be radical.
It would be almost heretical.
The Jewish leaders would certainly not like that Jesus said He knew both God’s witness and that the witness was true.
In their eyes, Jesus would be saying He knows as much as God.
And they would have been very angry at such a claim.
The 1st witness of Jesus is God the Father and the 2nd is John the Baptist.
-35John the Baptist is a witness
John the Baptist is a witness
2.1.
If you recall, back in chapter 1 the Jews had sent messengers to inquire of John the Baptist why he was doing the things he was doing.
He replied that he was not the Christ, but there was one coming whose sandals he was not worthy to untie.
And the next day, John saw Jesus and called Him, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
They asked John if he were the Christ and he replied, in essence, but pointing them to the true Christ, Jesus of Nazareth.
2.2.
Now Jesus reminds the Jews that they had inquired of John who witnessed to the truth.
John had told them that Jesus was the one.
And they thought that was a good message for a time.
They rejoiced in the bright light of John’s message until Herod killed him.
The Jews had asked for, and received, a human witness, but they were not satisfied with the testimony of John.
2.3.
And it is quite possible that the testimony of John was not enough to testify to Christ.
After all, Jesus goes on in the following verses to talk about another witness.
The 1st witness of Jesus is God the Father, the 2nd is john the Baptist, and the 3rd is the works.
:36The works are witness
The works are witness
3.1.
The very works Jesus is doing are an indication that He is indeed from God.
After all, who but an agent of God can make the lame walk?
The blind see?
The lepers be cleansed?
The works testify that Jesus is from God.
They testify that He is indeed the Christ.
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