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John 5:30-47
Jesus at this point as done more than enough to validate who he is.
As we have seen in chapter 5 he has also made several claims that He and the Father are one.
What is the overarching theme of the gospel of John?
So that we may believe.
And what is our key verse?
Turn with me to John 5 and we are going to see Jesus give a defense, an argument, to help go towards that main goal of belief.
Picture with me we are in a court room.
Jesus has been making all these claims, he is God, he was sent here to redeem his people.
And you get this sense that the people while not probably audibly but in their hearts are shouting out, Prove it!
Prove you are those things!
And so Jesus is on trail.
He is standing before the judge, the jury and his accusers.
He is defending himself, no lawyer necessary.
And he is going to lay out his defense.
And this is of first most importance.
Let me ask you this, if Jesus were not God, what would the problems be?
There is no Christian faith.
If this is not true it all falls apart.
Paul talks about this in 1 Cor 15
This has to be true or we have nothing.
And so it is important and necessary and so we begin to see Jesus unravel his case.
First up, he solidifies his claim.
Once again, I am God, I don’t do this on my own, I don’t do this because I’m seeking frivolous justice, I and the father are one, He has sent me, I will obey him, I will do his will, I will judge as he judges.
Woah, what a second.
What a strange way to begin your defense, what I am saying is not true?
This is the weirdest defense I have ever seen.
Your right, this is not true.
No, thats not what he is saying.
He is saying if I alone bore witness, this is not true.
Does Jesus did the validation of anyone else to be truth?
Does Jesus need anyone to acknowledge him for him to be Jesus?
No.
But, he is playing their game, he knows his audience and he is going to play by their “rules”
Jewish law required witness to validate what was being said.
Anyone could say anything, but it was not considered true unless someone came along and gave it the thumbs up.
So okay, you want witnesses?
Let’s bring on the witnesses.
Witness #1: John the Baptist
There was a man, John, who bore witness of me and you accepted him, you believed him.
You wanted to hear from him and even requested to hear from him.
Notice Jesus refers to him in past tense, at this point he is probably imprisoned or may even be dead.
But this man came you all accepted him.
Why?
What did John proclaim?
A messiah was coming.
And you all got excited about it!
You all wanted that, you couldn’t wait, John tell us more, tell us about this Messiah that is coming!
We want to hear all that you have to say!
John was a burning and shining lamp.
That is a powerful statement coming from the light of the world.
John was a lamp showing the path, showing the way.
And they believed him.
It was only after Jesus came that they turned against John, why?
Because the Messiah was not what they were hoping for.
He wasn’t the conquering king they wanted.
He didn’t defeat all there enemies and establish his throne in Israel.
Instead he turned over money tables and healed the blind, the lame and sick.
John the Baptist bore witness of who Jesus was.
Witness #2: The Works of Jesus
So far Jesus has laid out a very unconventional defense.
He first acknowledged maybe what he said isn’t true, now he is trying to defend himself using himself.
Jesus says look, the things I have done are much more validating than anything John has said.
John said I was the healer, but you have seen me heal.
John has said I am the life giver, but you have seen me change lives.
John said I was the Messiah, but one day you will see me defeat death and deliver my people.
The only thing more powerful than someones claim about something is to see it for yourself.
I believe he can dunk.
You have seen him dunk.
He made the whole gym go crazy with his dunk.
I believe she can do a back handspring.
You have seen her do a back handspring.
She perfected the back handspring.
Thats cool, thats awesome, but once you and I see him dunk or see her do a back handspring, now we believe.
Now it is validated.
Its not that I didn’t believe you, it’s not that I didn’t think they can do it, but now I have seen with my own eyes, there is no doubt at all.
John said all these things about Jesus, but now they have seen what he can do, there is no doubt.
Witness #3: God the Father
Not only does John and my actions tell of who I am, but the one who sent me also boldly declares who I am.
You have never heard his voice or seen him in any sort of form, but he is there and is testifying to who I am and what I am doing.
Witness #4: The Words of Scripture
He is playing to his audience here.
He knows the Jews and he knows how they love their scriptures and they love to hang their hat on how they love their scriptures.
They know them inside and out but they miss the point.
I heard this example one time and it fits this so well.
Have you ever been on top of an observation tower before?
Like really high up?
I have been on top of one in Chicago, in Houston, the Space Needle in Seattle.
But probably my favorite is in New York City.
In the middle of Manhattan is a beautiful, sleek building called Freedom tower, one world trade center, its the tallest building in the US and was almost $4 billion to build.
You can go to the top of it, i have done it a couple times its really cool.
You get to the top and the blinds come up and you can see for miles and miles.
On a nice day you can see all of each of the five boroughs.
You can see lady liberty, just a little speck in the water.
You can see Ellis Island, the Jersey Coast.
Out in the distance you see Connecticut.
This massive metropolis and you can see it all.
Its amazing, breathtaking.
Imagine you are up there and the guy next too you says to you, what a nice window this is.
I mean look at it, its perfectly clear with just the right amount of tint to protect your eyes from the sun.
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