True Witnesses All

by DICKSON, R. | Category: N/a | Apr 2002

When the Lord Jesus drove out the money-changers from the Temple with a scourge of cords, as described in John chapter 2, He must have made enemies of the Jewish leaders. They demanded to know what His authority was for this strong action. His answer in John 2:19, referring to His subsequent death and resurrection, probably puzzled more than enraged them at the time. It was, however, to be used out of context against Him by His accusers at His trial (Mat.26:61). Repeatedly His words were twisted, His actions misconstrued and His kindness reciprocated with hatred. So much so that when the wonderful healing by Jesus of the man at Bethesda's pool became public knowledge, the fact that it had happened on a Sabbath caused the Jewish leaders to persecute Him (John 5:16). When He spoke of God as His Father, their hatred deepened to such an extent that His murder became their desire (5:18). The Lord Jesus was aware of this (John 7:1), as were at least some people 'in the know' in Jerusalem (7:25), prompting Him to keep a low profile for some time (7:10). Then, on the last day of the feast of tabernacles, He revealed Himself and made a marvellous all-embracing appeal: '"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink"' (7:37). In so doing, He was putting Himself in a dangerous position, but it was not His time to be delivered up to death. What an opportunity this was for right-thinking Jews to imitate Nicodemus (John 3), and go to Him, hear His words, and recognize Him as the Christ.

Instead, those Jews waited and waited until a moment would come when they could pounce. They thought that moment had come when the Lord cried out to all who would hear, '"I am the light of the world"' (John 8:12), the '"I am ..."' statement indicating clearly His Jehovah God identity (compare with Ex.3:14 and 6:2). So they went on the offensive: '"Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid"' (8:13) they exclaimed. They thought they had caught Him out this time. Had they remembered His earlier statement in John 5:31 when He said '"If I testify about myself my testimony is not valid?"' Did they now feel the Lord was contradicting Himself when He asserted He was 'the light of the world', but gave no supporting authority? 'Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going"' (8:14).

The Lord Jesus had no confidence in the corroboration of human witness. He had declared in John 5:31-40 that His Father and the Scriptures had borne testimony as to who He was and the works that He did, rather than proclaim His own personal authority. He rested on God His Father's witness and the Old Testament Scriptures of which He said, '"These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life"' (5:39,40). Without the shadow of a doubt, the Pharisees had been storing up any possible word or deed which they could use to discredit Him and make Him out to be a fraud.

We can be equally certain, however, that the Lord knew exactly what was in their heart and mind: 'He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man' (John 2:25). He was not caught off guard, nor had He contradicted Himself in elaborating: '"Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid"' (John 8:14). His words in John 5:31, spoken following the healing of the man by Bethesda's pool, demonstrated that even though God was His Father and He was co-equal with the Father, He had not come to earth to act in independence of will from the Father: even as Son of God He was subject to His Father. Thus He claimed that the corroborating witness of the Father and the Scriptures underpinned His words and His acts. In no sense was the Lord saying that His witness was not true out of modesty or due to lack of impartiality. The emphasis in John 5 is on the fact that as a Son He obeyed the will of the Father (see John 5:30).

When we reach the '"I am ..."' statement of John 8, we have revealed in glorious self-utterance the Lord's deity, even as Son, co-equal with the Father. He then refutes the Pharisees' objection to His bearing witness to Himself because His '"I am ..."' statement is coupled with the Father's witness (John 8:18) and has equal validity with the Father's. He and the Father were One (John 10:30). We may suggest, therefore, that as the Jews' desire to kill Him increases, so there is a progression in the basis of the authority for His actions and words, from the obedient Son, subject to the Father and in accordance with the Scriptures (John 5), to His Self-witness as equal in the Godhead with the Father (John 8).

Between John 5:31 and John 8:12-14 there is no contradiction and no shifting of ground. He was both perfect Man and holy God in John 5 and John 8, identifying different facets of His character: subjection in the former and His deity as Jehovah the Son shining brightly in the latter. Remarkably, again in John 8:29 the Lord Jesus shows that even as Jehovah the Son His overriding desire was to please His Father: '"I always do what pleases him."'

The Lord 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever' (Heb. 13:8). Despite the fact that the Jews who wished Him dead had their way, the witness to His unique Person was further ratified in a manner of which they had no conception. It is again John who tells us that '... there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one' (1 John 5:8 RV): that is, the Holy Spirit, the water of the Lord's baptism and the shedding of His blood at Calvary are at perfect oneness in their testimony. In addition to the witness of Father and Son, which has already been emphasized, this verse draws attention to the witness of the Holy Spirit. So we have the three persons of the Godhead in unison revealing that Jesus Christ came forth from the Father, was baptized in water in anticipation of His death and resurrection, and shed His blood unto remission of sins to everyone who believes on Him (Acts 10:43). True witnesses all!

Biblical quotations from the NIV

DICKSON, R. | Apr 2002
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