Witnesses to Jesus

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, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from people. ⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” – John 5:30-47 ESV

The book of John is often called the Gospel of “love”, but the word “witness” is a key word in John’s gospel as well; it is used forty-seven times. In this section we read today, we hear it used is a specific way and we need to understand what it means but also the context that Jesus used it in.

What is your definition or concept of to “bear witness”?

When looking up the meaning on the internet some common definitions appear: provide evidence for, give testimony in court of law. Now knowing from last week that the atmosphere is very similar to a courtroom interrogation, it makes sense. Jesus did bear witness to Himself, but just like in our court of law, you can’t be a witness to yourself. He knew they would not accept it, so He called in three other witnesses.

First witness

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. – John 5:30-35 ESV

The first one brought to attention was John the Baptist, whom the religious leaders had interrogated carefully early in chapter one. In fact, at the very end of Jesus ministry, our Lord pointed the rulers back to the witness of John the Baptist (Matt. 21:23–27). John the Baptist knew who Jesus was and faithfully declared what he knew to the people of Israel. John told the people that Jesus was the Lord (John 1:23), the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36), and the Son of God (John 1:34).

Verse 31 can bring a bit of confusion when we just read it out of context. It is almost like Jesus is telling them that He cannot be believed. This discussion of his witness will be repeated many times in chapters to come. As indicated earlier, in the legal sense of “valid” as evidence for trial. One who testifies about himself needs supporting witnesses to validate his testimony. The Biblical law required two witnesses for testimony to be legally valid (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). Jesus was just indicating that they would need more than just Him testifying.

Verse 35  indicates that John was a “burning and a shining lamp” (Jesus is the Light, John 8:12), and the Jewish people were excited about his ministry. However, their enthusiasm cooled, and nobody lifted a finger to try to deliver John when he was arrested by Herod. The leaders looked on John as a “local celebrity”, but they did not want to receive his message of repentance. The publicans and sinners accepted John’s message and were converted, but the religious leaders refused to submit.

Whenever God raises up a spiritual leader who commands attention, there is always the danger of attracting people who want to bask in his popularity but not submit to his authority.

Can you describe a movement or situation where a lot of people rally behind some one or something, but did not abide in the precepts?

A similar “mixed multitude” followed Moses and Israel out of Egypt, people who were impressed with the miracles but not yielded to the Lord. The prophets and apostles, as well as the great leaders in church history, all had to put up with shallow people who followed the crowd but refused to obey the truth. We have them in churches today.

The Second Witness

Our Lord’s second witness was the witness of His own miracles.

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. – John 5:36 ESV

You will remember that John selected seven of these “signs” to include in his gospel as proof that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus made it clear that His works were the works of the Father. Even Nicodemus had to admit that our Lord’s miracles identified Him as “sent from God”.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” – John 3:2 ESV

There are seven popular miracles documented in the book of John:

1. Changing water into wine in John 2:1-11
2. Healing the royal official’s son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54
3. Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-18
4. Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14
5. Jesus’ walk on water in John 6:16-24
6. Healing the man born blind in John 9:1-7
7. Raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45

It is usually not implied but there is one more miracle that is not included, which would be 8, and that is the resurrection of Jesus. This is typically omitted because it was done outside of himself; to Him.

We know from reading the Bible, that Jesus was not the only one performing miracles. The Bible also records miracles performed by ordinary men, such as Moses, Elijah, and Paul.

Do these miracles prove that they are also sent of God?

³ How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, ⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. – Hebrews 2:3-4 ESV

It does indicate the sent of God, but the difference between them and Jesus was that none of these men ever claimed to be the very Son of God. No servant of God able to perform God’s mighty works would ever claim to be God Himself. The fact that Jesus made this claim, backed up by His mighty works and perfect life, is evidence that His claim is true.

Jesus indicated that the Father gave Him a specific ministry to finish while He was here on earth. He was not only on a divine timetable, but He followed a divine agenda. He had specific works to accomplish in the Father’s will.

The Third Witness

The third witness is the Word of the Father.

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, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from people. ⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” – John 5:30-47 ESV

The Jewish people highly revered the written Word of God, particularly the law that was given through Moses. Moses heard God’s voice and saw God’s glory, but we have that same voice and glory in the inspired Word of God. The Old Testament Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ, yet the people who received and preserved that Word were blind to their own Messiah. They held on to the scriptures and did not realize what the scriptures were pointing to was right in front of them. In verse 46, it is heart wrenching where he pleads that they don’t realize who is standing before them. “I am He”.

For one thing, verse 37 indicates that they did not permit that Word to generate faith in their hearts. Verse 39 is likely a statement of fact and not a command and could be rendered: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life” The Jewish scribes sought to know the Word of God, but they did not know the God of the Word! They counted the very letters of the text, but they missed the spiritual truths that the text contained.

It’s a heart thing

So, there was something wrong with the minds of these Jewish leaders: they did not see Christ in their own Scriptures.

Why do you think it was not obvious to them that Jesus was who their scriptures pointed to?

There was also something wrong with their wills: they would not trust in the Savior. Because they did not have the Word in their hearts, they did not want Christ in their hearts. They were religious and self-righteous, but they were not saved.  Does this sound familiar? Can you relate to the challenges of these leaders?

These leaders had a third problem, and this was the lack of love in their hearts.

But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. – John 5:42

This means the experience of God’s love for them as well as their expression of love for God. They claimed to love God, but their attitude toward Jesus Christ proved that their love was counterfeit.

Do you know of some examples, either of yourself or others that mapped out the same situation of claiming to love God but not aligned with Jesus?

Their attitude toward God’s Word hindered their faith, but so also did their attitude toward themselves and one another. The Pharisees enjoyed being honored by men, and they did not seek for the honor that comes from God alone. They were giving their report card to the audience. The scary situation was that they did not honor the Son because He did not honor them! Because they rejected the true Son of God who came in the Father’s name, they would one day accept a false messiah, the Antichrist, who would come in his own name .

If we reject that which is true, we will ultimately receive that which is false. – Warren Wiersbe

Our Lord closed this penetrating sermon by warning the Jewish leaders that Moses, whom they honored, would be their judge, not their savior. The very Scriptures that they used to defend their religion would one day bear witness against them. The Jews knew what Moses wrote, but they did not really believe what he wrote. It is one thing to have the Word in our hands or our heads, but quite another thing to have it in our hearts.

Have you had any personal experiences or seasons of your life when you had the Word in your hands or head, but quite another in you heart?

Jesus is the Word made flesh, and the written Word bears witness to the Incarnate Word.

The witness of John the Baptist, the witness of the divine miracles, and the witness of the Word of God all unite to declare that Jesus Christ is indeed one with the Father and the very Son of God.

Our Lord was not intimidated by the accusations of the religious leaders. If you check a harmony of the Gospels, you will see that after the events recorded in John 5, Jesus deliberately violated the Sabbath again! He permitted His disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath, and He healed a man with a withered hand. These events probably took place in Galilee, but the news would certainly reach the leaders in Jerusalem and Judea.

The healing of the man on the Sabbath will come up again in John chapter 7. The leaders would persist in protecting tradition instead of understanding truth. But before we judge them, perhaps we ought to examine our own lives and churches. Are we permitting religious tradition to blind us to the truth of God’s Word? Are we so involved in “Bible study” that we fail to see Jesus Christ in the Word? Does our knowledge of the Bible give us a “big head” or a “burning heart”?

Bibliography

• Wiersbe, Warren. (2007). The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament. David C. Cook.
• Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
• Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
• The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.