The Witnesses to Christ

John 5:3147
If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor,
and I know that his testimony about me is valid.

You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony;
but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose
for a time to enjoy his light.

I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me
to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me
has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does
his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures
because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about
me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God
in your hearts. I have come in my Fathers name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else
comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one
another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your
hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you
do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?

T he fifth chapter of John is concerned almost entirely with the question of

how an individual can know God. In the language of theology this is the question of epistemology,
and it has two parts. The first part deals with means. By what means can we know God? What is
the channel by which God reveals himself? The second part deals with verification. Once we are
aware of the channel by which we can know God, by what means can the channel itself be verified?
In other words, how can we know that this means of knowing God can be trusted?

Fortunately, both parts of this question are discussed in John 5. We have looked at the first part
already. The chapter has now brought us to the second part. In the first part of the speech recorded
here, Jesus has declared himself to be equal with God and, consequently, the only one through
whom God can be known. He has claimed to be the giver of life as well as the one who is entrusted
with the final judgment. Put in the terms I have just used, this means that Jesus is himself the
channel by which we can know God and that this is true because he is God. At this point one might
naturally raise the second part of the question. You say that Jesus is God. Well, then, upon what
evidence is such a claim grounded? In the context of Christs speech itself one might ask, Why
should Christs hearers, the Jews, believe such testimony? Why should they consider Jesus
reliable?
 In answer to these questions and in deference to the procedure of Jewish law, which required
two or three witnesses for the establishment of any fact, Jesus now cites three independent
testimonies that reinforce and corroborate his own. They are the testimony of John the Baptist, the
witness of Jesus miracles, and the witness of the Old Testament Scriptures. These supportive
witnesses are important for us simply because they are still valid. They require belief in Christs
claims.

The Fathers Testimony

Before we begin to look at the witness of John the Baptist, the miracles, and the Scriptures in
detail, we need to see something about their nature and therefore why Jesus appeals to them.

The central point is simply that when Jesus appeals to these supplementary witnesses to his
claims, he does not appeal just to facts or circumstances, even less to what just might happen to be
the opinion of some person concerning himself. He actually appeals to the witness of the Father
that is made on his behalf. In other words, just as Jesus is content to seek the will of God in all his
acts and sayings (vv. 1920), so is he content to let God bear witness to his claims. This is why
the testimonies of John the Baptist, Jesus miracles, and the Old Testament Scriptures are
important.

We can see this principle clearly by imagining that a person has come to see us at our home
with the news that our boss has given us a big promotion to that of a vice president in the firm. It
is good news, of course, but it is meaningless unless the messenger has really come from the boss.
If we call the firm and find that they have never heard of this person, then we can dismiss the visit
as some strange practical joke. However, if the messenger really was sent by the boss, then we
know that his offer is genuine. In the same way, the question of whether the supplementary
witnesses to Jesus are really from God or not is important.

This is the point of the verses that begin this section of Christs teaching. These verses say, If
I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid [that is, my witness does not meet the requirements
of the law regarding the two or three witnesses]. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I
know that his testimony about me is valid (vv. 3132).

Who is the other witness? Some scholars have thought that this person is John the Baptist,
primarily because a discussion of his witness follows immediately. This is possible, of course. Yet
everything in the context points to a different conclusion. In the first place, the witness of this verse
is described in the present tenseThere is another who testifies in my favorwhile the witness
of John the Baptist is described as being past. Second, the full form of the expressiontestimony
about mehas the effect of setting the first testimony aside for special notice, while in this
passage Johns testimony is actually placed on a lesser footing. Third, the first two verses seem to
be introductory. For these reasons, it seems wise to view the other witness as God the Father and
to find the witness of the Father expressed in the testimony of John, in the miracles, and in
Scripture. The witness of the Father is referred to explicitly in the citation of each one (vv. 3638).

The point of this is simply that the value of such testimony is to be traced precisely to the fact
that it is the testimony of God. In other words, God the Father has not only sent God the Son,
through whom he may be known. He has, in addition and at the same time, provided other
supplemental witnesses so that people may both know that he has spoken in Christ and have no
excuse for neglecting to put their trust in him.

John the Baptist

The first of the supplemental witnesses cited by Jesus in John 5 is John the Baptist. We have
already looked at John in some detail in previous studies, particularly in relation to his character
as a witness. John was a great witness. He is a pattern for our own witness. Yet he is brought
forward here not simply because he is a witness (in the same way that Christians today might be
witnesses) but because he is a particular type of witness, a prophet.

It might be assumed from Johns rejection of any claim to be identified with the Messiah, with
Elijah, or with the prophet mentioned in John 1:2021 that John the Baptist was also rejecting
the prophetic role itself. But this is unwarranted. It is true that John refused to claim that he was
the prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15, but this is not the same thing as rejecting a prophetic function
entirely. In these denials John was denying any importance of his own. However, it is precisely in
pointing away from himself and to Christ that he emerges most strongly in the prophetic role.

We should note in the first place that as a priest and a Nazarite John was the perfect figure of
the prophet. He was a priest by descent from Zacharias, his father; and he was a Nazarite by choice,
as Samson, Samuel, and many others had been before him (cf. Luke 1:15). It is against the
background of a common recognition of John as a prophet that one can understand the questions
of the delegation that came to him from Jerusalem.

The prophetic nature of Johns mission is indicated also by the statement that John did not
speak on his own accord but rather as one who had been sent by God. This statement is repeated
twice in the fourth Gospel. It is found first in the prologue, where we are told, There was a man
who was sent from God; his name was John (1:6). Later it is found on the lips of John himself in
the statement, I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him (3:28). This latter statement has its
origins in the Old Testament in the words of Malachi: See, I will send my messenger, who will
prepare the way before me (Mal. 3:1; cf. Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; and Luke 7:27).

A third indication of Johns prophetic role is found in Jesus reference to John as a lamp that
burned and gave light (v. 35). This lamp is not a light that shines in its own right (like the sun)
but a lamp that has been kindled from a source outside itself, a kindled light. John is not the
light. Only Jesus is the light. Nevertheless, John is important because he has been kindled by that
light. Having been set on fire by God, he bears witness to Jesus.

What should we make of John the Baptist? He lived long ago. He was just one man. Still, Jesus
says that John lived to verify his claim to be God, that this was his message. Was John right? Is
Jesus God? In answering this question Jesus himself asks you to reckon with Johns testimony.

Miracles

The second supplemental witness appealed to by Jesus is that of his signs or miracles. He calls
them his work. He says, I have a testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that
the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing testifies that the Father has sent me (v.
36).
 What is this work? How are we to think of it as a witness to Jesus Christ? The best answer to
these questions, which we will see in greater detail in the next study, is found in the term that John
most characteristically uses in speaking of Christs miracles. He calls them signs. A sign is a
symbol, a pointer to something signified. It is apparent that a miracle may be a sign by pointing to
the presence of God or to a prophetic figure who has been authorized by God. The miracles do this
in the case of Jesus.

The miracles reveal God. God is seen in the miracles. Thus, the miracles of healing show that
Jesus is the Lord and giver of life. The multiplication of the loaves shows that he is the sustainer
of life. The healing of the blind man shows that he grants physical and spiritual sight. The list can
be extended. Jesus refers to the evidential value of the miracles when he cries, Do not believe me
unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the
miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father (10:37
38).

The Scriptures

The third supplemental witness that Jesus appealed to in support of his claims is the witness of
the Old Testament Scriptures. This is the most important of the three. For of the three witnesses
(the witness of John the Baptist, the signs, and the Scriptures), it is the evidence of the Scriptures
upon which Jesus most fully dwells and in connection with which he most clearly links the witness
of the Father. This witness is not referred to in passing, as is the witness of the signs. Nor is it
overshadowed by others, as is the case with the witness of John the Baptist. Instead, Jesus
concentrates upon this testimony, so much that the verses that deal with it (vv. 3747) emerge as
one of the most significant summaries of the importance of Scripture in the Gospel.

Jesus declares, The Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never
heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one
he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal
life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes
are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not
believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say? (vv. 3740, 4547).

In this teaching Jesus claims that the Old Testament Scriptures are from God and are fulfilled
in him, that the unbelieving Jews have perverted the Old Testament and misunderstood it (just as
many do today), and that the Old Testament itself will accuse those who refuse to believe in it.

Gods Signpost

We are going to come back to this subject in a subsequent study, but before we do we need to
see one important point of Christs teaching that bears directly upon the subject we are considering.
What is the primary purpose of Scripture? Is it to record the history of Gods dealings with men?
It does record such history, but that is not its primary function. Is it to reveal certain truths to men?
Does the word truth seem to make this the right answer? Although it does reveal truths, this is
not its primary function either. The primary purpose of Scripture is to point men and women to
Christ. It is true that it uses a variety of means to do this. History is one of them; the communication
of truth, particularly about Gods nature and about mans sin, is another. But the primary purpose
is to point men to Christ.

Have the Scriptures done that for you? Have you given them a chance? I can tell you on the
authority of the Word of God that there will be no real knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ without
them. And without him there will be no real knowledge of the Father.

The Scriptures, too, are a signpost. Suppose, as John Stott suggests in one of his books, that
you and your family are determined to go on a picnic. You pick your spot and start driving toward
it. At last you come to a sign that contains the name of the picnic grounds. What do you do now?
Do you immediately stop the car and get out and have your picnic around the signpost? Of course
not! You follow the sign to the grounds themselves and have your picnic there. In the same way,
God gave the Scriptures so that you and I, sinners that we are, might come to Christ in whom we
have a true knowledge of the Father.

A Demanding Revelation

The divine testimony to the person of Jesus Christ is centered upon three great supplementary
witnesses: the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of the signs, and the witness of the
Scriptures. The Baptists witness is that of a prophet and thus of the prophetic word. The witness
of the signs is that of the acted word. The final and most important witness is that of the Scriptures,
which are the written word. All three witnesses involve the direct and supernatural activity of God
and hence may be described as aspects of the Fathers own testimony to the person and teaching
of the Son.

But where does that leave us? Can we look at these witnesses to Jesus Christ and then simply
disregard them, as though they had nothing to say to us personally? Or will we listen to them and
heed them as that evidence of Gods testimony in history that has permanent validity? Clearly, if
the witnesses are what Jesus declares them to be, then they must be heeded and we must commit
our lives to Jesus. What will you say to God in that day when you stand before him? Will you say,
I did not know about Jesus? What nonsense! Will you say, I did know about him, but I was not
convinced by the evidence? How shallow! Have you ever examined it? Is it not better to say, I
have examined the witnesses and have believed all that they have told me about him; therefore, I
come to you not on my own merits but on the merits of Christ, my Savior?
1

1
Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John : An expositional commentary (Pbk. ed.) (403). Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker Books.