Can I get a witness?
Notes
Transcript
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.
32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.
33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.
34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,
38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
So what does our passage say about God? He is patient and He is compassionate. Even after the Pharisees rejected Jesus miracle and condemned Him wrongly for violating the Sabbath. How does Jesus respond? He responds with truth.
The most staggering truth our passage says about us is how easily we are deceived and how quickly we harden our hearts. As we have studying John chapter 5 have the pharisees believed in Jesus? Look at verse 18
18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
So the obvious answer to my question, did the pharisees believe? No! That leads to the next question. Why didn’t they believe? They hardened their hearts. So Jesus reminds them of 4 witnesses to who He really is. When we get to the end of the list, you will be in awe of how they could ignore such evidence.
Now Jesus is speaking directly to the law here. The law that they trusted in for salvation, what does it say about witnesses? Look at Deuteronomy with me.
6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
So in response to the Pharisees disbelief Jesus isn’t going to offer just 2 witnesses and not just 3 witnesses Jesus is going to offer 4 witnesses. No just a reminder what des the law demand? 2 or 3 and Jesus is about to offer 4. So the first witness is the Father. Look at verse 30 of our passage.
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Let’s review, why did the Pharisees want to kill Jesus?
18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
First because they accused Him of braking the Sabbath, what was Jesus? Response?
17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Jesus said He and the Father are one. Which is the second reason the Pharisees wanted to kill Him, But Jesus argues that He and the Father are one and they are always working. Unlike humans, God does not get tired, He does not need a break. He rested on the seventh day as an example for us. The Sabbath is a gift for us.
Who does Jesus call as the second witness? Look at verse 32
32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.
33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.
Jesus’ second witness he calls upon is John the Baptist. Let’s review some of his statements about Jesus.
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)
25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,
27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’
31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
John the baptist was a witness to the truth and look how Jesus describes him in verse 35 of our text
35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
This verse is past tense. John was a burning light. So at this point King Harod has already beheaded him. And why did king Harod Kill John? Because John spoke the truth to him. If you speak the truth to nonbelievers about their sin they will hate you. Jesus told us the world will hate us because they love their darkness. But I love a point that J. C. Ryle makes about Jesus. He remembers His saints. Stop and ponder that for a minute. Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever felt like no one cares? Jesus does. In our text this we see Jesus remembering His saints. Look at Psalm 56 verse 8
8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?
You are never alone. I have felt a lon, but that is a lie from the enemy. Jesus promised to never leave us nor forsake us. You are never alone. Now un-confessed sin can hinder our walk with Jesus. But remember if you feel distant from God it is you leaving Him. The Good Sheppard doesn’t leave the sheep does He? No the sheep wander off and He finds them.
What is the third witness Jesus calls upon? Look at verse 36
36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
Jesus says His miracles bear witness that He is the Messiah.
18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John,
19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ”
21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.
22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.
What evidence did Jesus give John’s disciples that He is the Messiah? Jesus tells John that He is fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah 35 look at it with me again.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
Hard must those hearts have been which could hear such testimony, and yet remain unmoved! But it only proves the truth of the old saying, - that unbelief does not arise so much from want of evidence, as from want of a will to believe. ~ J.C. Ryle