Sermon Tone Analysis

Exegetical Point: Jesus is endorsed by the Father & JtB, but the religious leaders can’t receive him because they do not know God.

Homiletic Point: Jesus is endorsed by the Father through JtB, his works, and the Scriptures, yet many will not see it.

Intro

Kids, ---------, but lets say you told your friend you were there and they didn’t believe you?

How could you prove it?

You could show a ticket, or a stamp on your hand proving you got in.

You could show a picture of yourself at the show.

You could get another person who was there with you to say they saw you there.

All these different proofs “testify” to the truth that you were at there.

The testimony helps when it is hard to believe the truth.

In our passage today, Jesus talks about 5 testimonies that show he is really the Son of God.

But before we get there let me give you all another example of testimony.

NFTs

Big thing in the online world right now.

Buying artwork, if there is no physical existence of the object you are buying, how do you prove you own it?

Anybody can copy and paste an online artwork, so there could be millions of copies out there, how do you prove you own the rights to that art?

It’s not like you have a real actual painting in your possession that you can bring out to show everybody.

You need a certificate that proves it.

That’s what an NFT is, a proof, a testimony that you are the owner of a particular artwork or other digital asset.

No, I’m not here to give you a lesson on internet jargon, but this idea feeds into what Jesus is talking about.

He’s talking about the way that your prove something to be true.

An NFT is a witness to show you own something.

A certificate of authenticity is meant to be a proof you got a legitimate item.

In a court of Law, evidence is brought to be a witness to the truth, and you can have eyewitnesses to the truth too.

Jesus has been making some pretty wild claims, in chapter 5 and so he is bringing the receipts, to show what are the external proofs of what he is saying.

Recap - Remember this is in light of what’s gone on earlier in chapter 5...

The Miracle - On the sabbath & commands to roll up a mat

The Confrontation - Religious leaders found out and persecuted him.

The Response - Jesus claims divine sonship, giving him the right to do what he’s doing and much more, including judging the world and raising the dead.

Now we’re looking at the second part of that response which answers the implicit question - “It’s all well and good to claim this right, but who certifies it.

Who makes it legitimate?”

Testimony of Jesus (v31-32)

Jesus starts with his own testimony.

Jesus testifies about himself saying that he can’t testify about himself.

He says:

If you take Jesus words very literally - “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true” then you’re left in a logical trap - because if what he says about himself can’t be true, then you’re left with this statement being true, which would in turn then make the premise false.

Follow me?

But here, Jesus isn’t saying that you can’t trust what he says.

Jesus seems to be making reference to a legal testimony.

Particularly to the Law in the book of Deuteronomy.

It says that if you’re going to convict someone of a crime, you need the evidence of two or three witnesses to make a conviction.

The religious leaders want to convict Jesus of blasphemy, and it is as though Jesus is bringing his own counter-witnesses to testify to the truth.

He starts with himself - I can’t put myself in the witness stand.

Generally speaking, if you’re looking for proof of what someone is saying, you can’t just stand up and say “It’s true because I said it is.”

Normally that would be the case.

But here, it’s actually God in human flesh, so he can just stand up and say “It’s true because I say it is”.

When God speaks, reality conforms around His words.

But, Jesus is working in the real world, with real people, and under the structure of the Old Covenant, so he works within the system to prove he’s telling the truth.

He alludes to a surprise witness: “there is another who testifies in my favor”.

Jesus doesn’t say who that is, yet, so we need to read on to find out who it is.

You might think that “other witness” is John the Baptist, but Jesus puts that to bed as he talks about...

Testimony of John The Baptist (v33-35)

You see John the Baptist was a contemporary of Jesus.

They were kind of colleagues.

John came first onto the public preaching circuit, and he was bringing in the crowds.

Even though John rubbed some people up the wrong way, there was a public perception that he was a prophet of God.

And this was true!

As we have seen in the earlier chapters of this book, John the Baptist recognized that his main job was to prepare people for the coming of a greater prophet, the Chosen One.

When Jesus turned up, John didn’t hide it, he said “I testify that this is God’s chosen one!”

It seems that the Jewish leaders had thought to check up on this and see if Jesus was the one the JtB was talking about.

Lets see what Jesu had to say bout that!

Jesus is saying, John backs me up, but I don’t even need that testimony.

I have no need of human testimony.

We know how easy it is to lie.

When you’re caught out doing something wrong.

Or you don’t want to own up to your own failures.

Or maybe you run into someone that you admire and you want to make your life sound more impressive than it really is in order to make them think better of you.

The testimony of humans is faulty: subject to forgetfulness or fear of what will happen if the plain truth is announced.

Jesus has no need to rely on human frailty to prove his legitimacy.

Yet, in this case it is useful.

John is a faithful witness.

His testimony is true.

And while Jesus doesn’t need that testimony, it is helpful for us.

Jesus mentions John;s testimony so “that you might be saved”.

If you listen to what John has to say, truly, you will hear that Jesus has come to take away the sins of the world, and that he is the Messenger of God come to pour out the HS, cleansing us from all our guilt and wickedness.

If you follow John, you will end up with Jesus, and he can save you.

John’s innings was pretty short.

Like fireworks, he burned wonderfully bright, but his time was brief.

Lots of people looked on, and admired John.

Lots heard his message and were baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

It was nice while he was there, but now his light has shone on Christ, and people aren’t interested in the fulfillment of all John had to say.

You might know people like this, or perhaps you are one yourself.

You like many of the ideas of Christianity, and many of the Bible stories bring you comfort.

You like the idea of a loving and gracious God, as well as good morals for society.

But,

When it comes down to it, you’re not all that keen on the other stuff, like submitting to Jesus, calling him Lord and entrusting yourself to him.

You want to dip in your toe, but you don’t want to take the plunge.

The other stuff gives you the warm and fuzzies, but you don’t want to be “too religious”, one of those weirdos who actually give up their lives to serve Jesus.

But here’s the thing - the benefits of Christianity, like the love of God, forgiveness, ethical living, it is all centered on Jesus Christ.

He is the Locus.

He is the nexus of all the strands of the Bible.

If you will not accept Jesus in his entirety you are either making an idol to worship, or you are just straight out rejecting God.

Like those who were happy to see the powerful preaching and spiritual revival that John the Baptizing oversaw, but who are unwilling to accept the end result of His message: Jesus Christ.

Anyway,

As we were saying, Jesus doesn’t need John’s testimony, because he has something better!

Testimony of the Works (v36)

Jesus bring in the next witness, so to speak.

The evidence the Jesus is the Son of God on God’s mission is the works that he was doing.

Remember this whole discussion arises from the incident and the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed a disabled mad.

He couldn’t walk!