Ep. 262. John 5 | These Bear Witness

EPISODE 262

THESE BEAR WITNESS: JOHN 5

As we have recorded these episodes this year, I have come to find a deep love for John Chapter 5. I am especially struck by Jesus's conversation with his followers about those things that bear witness about him. Jesus says, "If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true." Of course, Jesus is referring to the Jewish practice of having two or three witnesses to verify any testimony. But Jesus adds four others to the conversation who bear witness about the truth of Jesus.

John the Baptist bore witness about Jesus. We've already seen that early in the book of John. John the Baptist testified that Jesus was the Messiah and that Jesus was "the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world."

The works that Jesus did bore witness to who he was. Remember in Matthew 8 that Jesus healing the sick and demon-oppressed was to fulfill Isaiah 53. Jesus proved over and over by the works he was doing that he was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies. In fact, the crowds said, "We have never seen anyone do these things."

God the Father bore witness about Jesus. God spoke audibly from heaven three times to bear witness about who Christ was: once at the baptism, once at the Mount of Transfiguration, and again the week before Jesus was crucified.

Finally, the Scriptures bear witness about Jesus. The Scriptures testified to where the Messiah would be born, where he would be raised, the miracles he would perform, and every detail of the death he would die.

The Jews required two witnesses to validate a statement legally. Including Jesus's testimony about himself, there are five witnesses to the truth about who Jesus is. That's more than enough to prove that Jesus is the promised Savior.

ADDITIONAL READING: John 19:7; John 10:33; John 12:49; John 8:28; 1 John 2:23; John 3:36; Romans 2:6-10; 1 John 2:22-23; Luke 16:29-31