We’ve all watched enough courtroom television shows, or
perhaps had some personal experiences, to know that when a person is put on
trial for something, the defendant is allowed to give his defense to the
charges, and then witnesses are summoned to provide supporting evidence for
each side. In the end, the judge and jury have to determine which side has the
most supporting evidence, and cast a final verdict on the matter. Well, the
Lord Jesus is not in a courtroom in this passage, but He has been accused of a
terrible crime. Going back to the beginning of Chapter 5, when He healed the
lame and helpless man by the pool, He was accused of violating the Sabbath. His
defense, in response to that charge, was that it is impossible for God to
violate the Sabbath, therefore it is impossible for Him to violate the Sabbath
since God is His Father, and He is the Son, and therefore also God. This entire
section of John’s Gospel is rich in Trinitarian teaching about how the one true
God of the universe exists in the person of Father, of Son, and (less explicit
here), of Holy Spirit; not three gods, but one God, eternally existent in three
persons of equal deity. Of course, this hardly got Jesus off the hook of the
allegations of Sabbath breaking. It merely added another charge against Him,
namely that of blasphemy, for the Jewish officials understood clearly that by
claiming God as His Father, and claiming to be the Son of God, He was making
Himself out to be equal with God. In response to this charge, Jesus spoke of
how He did nothing on His own accord, but only and exclusively the will of His
Father, who had given Him the power to have life in Himself and to bestow it as
He so desired, and the authority to act as judge of entire human race. They say
Jesus blasphemed, and it would be blasphemy indeed, if it wasn’t true. But is
it true? That is the question. And you are the jury. You must decide, based on
the evidence supplied by the witnesses, if Jesus truly is who He claims to be.
And if He is, then we are compelled to make a personal response of faith,
devotion, worship, obedience, and service to Him as Lord. If He isn’t, then we
can just write Him off as a lunatic lawbreaker. So, which will it be?
The Law that God had given to Israel through Moses specified that
a fact has to be established on the basis of multiple witnesses. Concerning
capital offenses, of which both Sabbath breaking and blasphemy both were,
Deuteronomy 17:6 said that the conviction must be based “on the evidence of two
witnesses or three witnesses” (cf. Numbers 35:30). But even on any other
charge, Deuteronomy 19:15 said, “A single witness shall not rise up against a
man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the
evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.” Jesus does not
violate God’s Law in any point at any time, and this is no exception. He admits
in verse 31, “If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.” Well, Jesus
is testifying about Himself, so does that mean He is lying? And if He is lying,
then can we claim Him to be the sinless Son of God? Actually, what Jesus is
saying here is that, if He alone testifies
about Himself, the people have no reason to believe Him. His testimony about
Himself is not valid unless it is corroborated by other evidence from other
witnesses. He is saying that He would not expect anyone to regard His claims as
true simply on the basis of His own testimony about Himself. So, He says
matter-of-factly, “There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the
testimony which He gives about Me is true.” Who is this other witness? Well,
Jesus goes on to describe the witnesses who testify to to His claims and His
identity, and we will hear the testimony of each of them as we examine this
text.
I. The witness of John the Baptist
When Jesus speaks of this “other witness,” undoubtedly the
minds of His accusers went immediately to John the Baptist. Perhaps some of us
thought that is who He had in mind as well. After all, we read in John 1:7 that
John the Baptist “came as a witness, to testify about the Light (Jesus), so
that all might believe through him.” And these religious officials have “sent
to John.” Jesus is referring to the events described in John 1:19-28 when the
Pharisees had sent a delegation of priests and Levites from Jerusalem to inquire about his identity and
his ministry. And when they sent this delegation to John, Jesus says that “he
has testified to the truth.” John had told the delegation that he was not the
Christ, but was the one that Isaiah had foretold of as the voice that cried out
in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. He told them of another One,
whom they did not know, “the thong of whose sandal,” John said that he was “not
worthy to untie.”
John’s ministry was unique. He was the first prophet to come
announcing God’s Word to Israel
in 400 years. John 1:8 says of him, “He was not the Light, but he came to
testify about the Light.” Of course, that Light is Jesus. John 1:4-5 says of
the Lord Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” No, John was
not the Light, but Jesus says that he was “the lamp.” Lamps do not create
light, but they bear light. They hold up light so that all can see it. And John
did that in his ministry. The light that others saw in John’s ministry was not
his own, it was the Light of Jesus, that John was lifting up for all to see.
Jesus says that John was the lamp that was burning and shining.” The Greek
wording here might be translated, “He was the lamp that was ignited and gave light.”[1] He
was a man on fire, and he had been set on fire by God Himself, to burn and
shine as a witness for Christ. When God sets a man on fire, the world will come
to watch him burn. They did that by the multitude as John burned and shined.
But Jesus expresses the sad reality of their interest in John: they were
“willing to rejoice” in his light, but it was only “for a while.” Sometimes
when a preacher’s message starts stepping on too many toes, we say that he’s
“gone from preachin’ to meddlin’.” And John had done that. He was calling the
Jews to repent and be baptized, but Jews did not believe they needed baptism or
that they needed to be made right with God. Jews only practiced baptism on
Gentiles who converted to Judaism. But here was John saying that everyone,
including the Jews, needed to get right with God. He denounced the hypocrisy of
the Jewish leaders, and even called out King Herod for his immorality (which
ultimately led to his execution). And when John went from preachin’ to
meddlin’, the interest of the people began to wane and they turned away from
the light that burned and shined in this lamp set ablaze by God. If they had
heeded John’s testimony, then they might have been saved. And it was not too
late! In verse 34 Jesus reminds them of John’s testimony, not because He needs
the testimony of John to validate him, but because they need to hear and heed
what they heard John saying in order to be saved!
But Jesus says here that John was not His only witness. He
says here that there is a testimony that is greater than the witness of John.
II. The Witness of God the Father
If you’ve ever had to apply for a job and were required to
supply a list of references, you know that most of the time they tell you not
to include your family members. The assumption is that, of course, your family
members are only going to say good things about you even if they aren’t true,
because they want you to get the job. You have to supply impartial references, who will tell the truth about you, even if
the truth means that you won’t get the job. Now, here Jesus says, “There is
another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives
about Me is true” (v32). But this “another” is not John the Baptist. He is
greater than John. So who could it be? After all Jesus said, “Among those born
of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew
11:11). “Those born of women” seems to pretty accurately describe the entire
human race, with the exception of Adam and Eve. So if John is the greatest
human, but Jesus has a witness, a testifier, a reference (if you will) who is
greater than John, then this witness must not be human. And He is not. In verse
37, Jesus says that “the Father who sent Me Has testified of Me.” Now, we might
protest and say, “You can’t list your Dad as a reference!” But here’s the
thing: what is the charge? The charge is blasphemy because Jesus has claimed
God as His Father, thus equating Himself with God. Now, if that is not true,
then God is most certainly not going
to add His testimony to that. God has declared, “I will not give my glory to
another” (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11). We are told in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man,
that He should lie;” and in Titus 1:2 we read that God “cannot lie;” and
Hebrews 6:18 says that it is “impossible for God to lie.” So if God validates
the testimony of Jesus, then that testimony is true. So, how is it that God the
Father has testified to the claims of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?
First and foremost, there was a direct testimony given at
the baptism of Jesus. In one of the great Trinitarian texts of Scripture, in
Matthew 3, as God the Son emerged from the baptismal waters, God the Holy
Spirit descended visibly upon Him in the form of a dove, and God the Father
spoke from heaven audibly declaring, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” So, there, that one scene, the entire Triune Godhead is on display as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are manifested publicly. Again, later at the Mount
of Transfiguration, the Father will speak from heaven and declare, “This is My
beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him” (Matt 17:15; Mk 9:7;
cf. 2 Peter 1:17). But this particular group of Jewish leaders to whom Jesus is
speaking now could plead, “We were not there! We never heard such an utterance
from heaven!” And so Jesus speaks of other ways that the Father has testified
of Him.
He speaks first of the works which He does (v36b). Jesus
says that these works were given to Him by the Father to accomplish. So, in the
doing of them, the Father is testifying through Him. The works proclaim that
Jesus has been sent by His Father to do His will. This was obvious to those who
could suspend their prejudice against Jesus. Even Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee
and in party with these leaders who are opposing Jesus in the present context,
could say as he came to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these
signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). In John 7:31, we read
that a large crowd of people were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not
perform more signs that those which
this man has, will He?” Jesus spoke of the testimony of these works repeatedly,
saying in John 10, “The works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of
Me. … If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do
them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and
understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (10:25, 37-38).
Everything that Jesus did was evidence of the Father’s testimony of His as the
divine Son of God. The Gospels record at least three dozen supernatural
miracles performed by Jesus, and John tells us that there were “many other
signs Jesus also performed … which are not written” (20:30). Of course, the
ultimate work that the Father gave to Jesus to accomplish was the work of
redemption which was finalized in His substitutionary death on the cross for
our sins, and His glorious resurrection. But until that event occurred, all of
Jesus’ other miracles were signs pointing to this ultimate work that He would
do on behalf of all humanity.[2]
When John the Baptist wondered if Jesus was truly the Promised One who was to
come, Jesus said to take word back to him that “the blind receive sight, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and
the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt 11:3-5); and all of these were
fulfillments of the prophecies that had been made about the Messiah, as well as
signposts pointing to the glorious salvation that He would make available to
all humanity through His death and resurrection. The Father was testifying of
Jesus Christ through these works that He performed.
But notice that Jesus also says that the Father testified of
Him through His word. Jesus says in verse 39 that the Scriptures testify of
Him. Now, no one in history has ever more fastidious about the study of the
Scriptures than the Pharisees and their peers in ancient Israel . They
devoted vast portions of their waking hours every day to the study of the
Scriptures, and Jesus acknowledges that they “search the Scriptures.” But their
approach to the Scriptures was all wrong. They believed that by their effort in
reading, studying, and memorizing the Scriptures, that they were earning favor
with God and eternal life, merely by the physical exercise of it. The esteemed
Rabbi Hillel claimed that the more one studied the Law, the more life one would
have, and that if a man gains for himself
the words of the Law, he will gain
for himself life in the world to come.[3]
But Jesus says here that they were missing the point. For all their study of
the Scriptures, they completely missed the fact that they were pointing to Him
all along in the words of prophecy, in the typological images, in the events of
redemptive history, and in the provisions for salvation found within the Law. If
they would only come to Him, as the Scriptures testified of Him, then they
would find life in Him. But He says “you are unwilling to come to Me so that
you may have life.”
Thus, there is a fourfold indictment against the unbelieving
religious leaders in verse 37: (1) They have not heard the voice of God at any
time. They did not hear His voice announcing His approval of the Lord Jesus at
His baptism; nor have they heard His voice speaking through the Scriptures. (2)
They have not seen His form. They might protest and say that no one could see
the form of God. That had been true for the most part through all of history,
but it all changed when Jesus came on the scene. John 1:18 says, “No one has
seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father,
He has explained Him.”
When Jesus spoke with His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion, He said, “If
you had known Me, you have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and
have seen Him. … He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:7-9). But
when these religious leaders looked at Jesus, they didn’t see God in Him.
Therefore, they never saw the form of God at all, because the only place He can
be seen is in Jesus. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6 that God has shone in our
hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (3) They do not
have His word abiding in them. For all their time spent studying the
Scriptures, the word has not taken root in their hearts. If it had, they would
have seen the Scriptures pointing to Christ as the divine, promised Messiah who
had come to save them. But they didn’t. (4) Jesus says in v42, “You do not have
the love of God in yourselves.” They would claim to love God more devoutly than
anyone in the world, but it is lip service, because Jesus has come, not in His
own name, but in the name of His Father, and they have not received Him.
Ironic, considering that multitudes turned in belief to any one of dozens of
false Messiahs who came to Israel in their own name and making boastful claims
of themselves, telling the people only what they wanted to hear. So the tables
are turned. It began as an indictment against Jesus for Sabbath-breaking and
blasphemy, but He has responded with testimony to vindicate Himself. Now, He
has now turned the incident into an indictment against unbelieving Israel , which
could be broadened to include the entire unbelieving world. The evidence of
these indictments is simple: “You do not believe Him whom He sent.” If they
would hear the voice of God testifying through the words and works of Jesus,
and see God in Christ, and allow the Scriptures to take root in their hearts,
they would turn to Him in faith and repentance and be saved.
Jesus has already announced that there is coming a day of
judgment, when He will exercise the authority given to Him by His Father to
judge the entire human race. And He warns here, “Do not think that I will
accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have
set your hope.” They had set their hope on Moses as the deliverer of the Law
and the mediator of the covenant God established with Israel . But
Jesus says that Moses will testify against them, and he will be their chief
accuser on that day of judgment, because ultimately, though they claimed to
regard the writings of Moses, they did not truly believe them. The entire Old
Testament was pointing the way forward to Jesus, and He says, “If you believed
Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe
his writings, how will you believe My words?”
What then is the verdict on the matter? Is Jesus who He
claims to be? Well, we have seen in this text that it is not He alone who
testifies of Himself. John the Baptist has testified of Him, but even more
significantly, God the Father has testified of Jesus through His word, through
the works of Jesus, and in the words of Hebrews 1:1, “in many portions and in
many ways.” So who is He? He is God-incarnate, the supreme and almighty God of
the universe, who became a man and lived a life of perfect righteousness, died
to redeem us from sin by bearing our sins in His body on the cross, and
conquering sin, death, and hell through His resurrection from the dead, which
provided additional testimony to His identity and His mission of redemption.
The question for every human being therefore is: Do you believe in Him? Not
just in a historical, intellectual sense, but have you received Him? Have you
come to Him? These are the words that Jesus uses in His indictment of His
critics in this passage: believe, receive, come to. To believe in Jesus, or
receive Him, or come to Him, means to turn to Him in faith as your only hope of
life eternal and abundant. It is to receive Him as the life-giving Savior who
rescues you from your sin. It is to come to Him in total abandon of all your
other beliefs and practices in which you trust to make you right before God.
Hope is found in Him and in Him alone.
If you do not believe in Him in this way, then you are like
these who opposed Him in our text today. The indictments fall on you as well.
You have not heard the voice of God, nor beheld His form in the person of
Christ, nor do His word or His love abide in you. And yet, you will stand
before Him as your righteous judge when you step into eternity. What hope will
you have? You have not only rejected Him, but you have rejected the testimony
of Moses, of John the Baptist, and even that of God the Father Himself. And the
outcome will be condemnation and eternal separation from God, when the offer of
life, free, abundant, and eternal was extended to you by Jesus Christ. There is
still hope while you have life and breath, but the hope is found only in Jesus,
so come to Him; receive Him; believe in Him. Trust Him as Lord and Savior by
faith, not blind faith mind you, but faith that rests confidently on His own
word, that of His Father, and that of a multitude of witnesses, including those
of us here whose lives have been transformed by His grace.
And remember, if you have turned to Jesus and received Him
as Lord and Savior, that you too are called to be His witness. You are the
living proof of His power to save sinners. May His love and His word abide in
you as you walk through this fallen world, pointing the way to Christ that others
may know the joy of His salvation.
