Our Human Testimony 171124

Bethel Elim Church

Key Text: John 1:1-13 How can you know for sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? An old hymn put it, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.” Fine but that’s really subjective. A Buddhist might say that Buddha lives within his heart. How can you verify such a thing? A critic might say that Jesus is just a legend or myth. Or, maybe the apostles embellished the stories about Him so that what we read is far from the actual truth. Perhaps He was just a great religious teacher who was tragically murdered because of jealous men who felt threatened by Him. If you’ve ever sat on a jury or watched a courtroom drama or followed a trial on the news, you know that having multiple witnesses of reputable character who all say the same thing independently of one another is vital to prove a case. Those who are called on to bear witness in court must swear to tell the truth or be liable for perjury. A true witness is not free to make up their own story; they must report the facts as they witnessed them. If the witnesses are credible people who give consistent witness, the case is pretty secure. But, how do we know that these claims are true? What evidence backs them up? Would they hold up in court? In answer to these questions and in deference to Jewish law, which required at least two or three witnesses to establish any legal matter, Jesus gives a number of witnesses to verify His claims. ‘Testimony’ or ‘witness’ was an important concept to John. In the ‘Bible knowledge commentary’ the writer states: We don’t need to take a blind leap of faith. God has provided adequate testimony that Jesus is the truth. John repeatedly emphasises ‘truth’ in this gospel. Truth is characteristic of God and it is only as we know God that we know truth. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31 God sent John the Baptist in fulfilment of His promise to bear witness to Jesus. Isaiah 40:3 A voice cries “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Malachi 3:1 Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. John was not Jesus’ “key witness” in that he was human. Jesus’ main witness was the Father. But Jesus mentions John because for a while the Jews were flocking out to hear him and Jesus wants them to be saved. If they would have believed John’s testimony that Jesus was the Lamb of God, sent to take away the sins of the world 1:29, they would have been saved. John was a lamp, not the light but he bore witness to the Light. The Jewish leaders were interested in John when he was popular but they never took his message to heart. They were like a bunch of moths who hovered near the lamp while it was burning but flitted back into the darkness after it was extinguished. They should have followed the One to whom John was pointing. The sign is not the destination but points us to somewhere, someone else. Don’t miss the opportunity to be saved when God is speaking His truth to you through His messenger. Today is the day of salvation. The testimony of Jesus by those who witnessed Him varies, but it seems that the closer one got to Jesus, the more convinced they became. - that has not changed.

• The early disciples, Andrew declared Him to be the Messiah.
• Philip said He was the One of whom Moses and the prophets wrote.
• Nathanael confessed Him to be the Son of God, King of Israel
• Martha believed Jesus to be the Christ the Son of God
• Peter believed Jesus to have the words of eternal life and declared Him as the anointed One the son of the living God
• The disciples at the last supper believed that He knew all things and believed that He came from God
• Thomas though sceptical of the other apostles' testimony was convinced by tangible evidence that Jesus was Lord and God.

Testimony of The Masses

• Nicodemus an official of the Sanhedrin council confessed Jesus to be a teacher from God.
• The Samaritan woman at the well confessed Him to be a prophet.
• The villagers that came were convinced that He was the Christ, the saviour of the world.
• The man born blind John 9:17,25 ‘He is a prophet’ ‘One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.’
• Pilate Roman governor who interrogated Jesus stated three times: ‘I find no fault in Him.’

In seeking to produce faith in Jesus, John demonstrates a remarkable objectivity. He does not gloss over the fact that many did not believe in Jesus but presents a fair representation of the human testimony concerning Jesus. Some believed in Jesus, others did not; but note carefully...Those who knew Him best, believed in Him. Those who were ignorant of the facts, were quick to deny Him but even His enemies could not deny the force of His teachings and the power of the miracles. At best they tried to attribute His power to the devil and as a last resort, they felt they had to kill Him. What about us today? What will we do with Jesus? Will we make the effort to learn more about Him? Will we be like many who were quick to draw conclusions before they really knew Him? Jesus made a powerful impression upon those who saw and heard Him. Those who knew Him best were even more impressed to the point of life transformation. They were never the same after meeting Jesus. Let, their testimonies encourage us to consider what further testimony John presents in His gospel about Jesus, the Son of God… that you may believe.