____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER ____________________________________________________ "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ February 22, 2004 ____________________________________________________ The Witnesses of Jesus by Tom Edwards In John 5:31, Jesus states, "If I alone bear witness of Myself, My testimony is not true." This, of course, does not mean that Jesus would be lying if He were the only one to bear witness of Himself; but it appears He is alluding to the Law of Moses, which mandated a plurality of witnesses in order to establish a testimony as true. For instance: "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness" (Deut. 17:6). Concerning the truthfulness of the Lord's statement(s), however, consider John 8:14: "Jesus answered and said to them, `Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true; for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, or where I am going." In this passage, Jesus is simply stating the fact: His words are true -- even if there were no other witnesses to testify on His behalf to corroborate those words. But while on earth, Jesus did have various witnesses -- and many. Let us give some thought to these: John the Baptist John the Baptist was a harbinger for the Christ. His testimony of the Lord was not based on mere feeling; but, rather, God Himself had given John a sign that would indicate that Jesus truly was the Messiah who was to come. John states: "And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, `He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit" (Jn. 1:33). John witnessed that. He, thus, declares Jesus to be "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (v. 29). Though John was 6 months older than Jesus (in the flesh), John states of Him that "...'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me'" (v. 30). John realized that Jesus had a pre-existence, and that His greatness was so far surpassing that John felt too unfit or unworthy to even untie the thong of the Lord's sandal (Mark 1:7; Jn. 1:27). John knew that Jesus had come from "above" -- from heaven -- and, therefore, "is above all" (Jn. 3:31). So John, that great forerunner for the Lord, knew it was now time for Jesus to "increase," while John would "decrease" (v. 30). In other words, it was time for the announcer to step down and let the One whom he had been announcing to step into the limelight. The apostle John words it this way: "There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light" (Jn. 1:6-8). Though John the Baptist performed no miracles, the miraculous signs that Jesus did would certainly confirm the message that John heralded about the Christ. For example, when Jesus "went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing...many came to Him and were saying, `While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.' And many believed in Him there" (Jn. 10:40-42). The Miracles of Jesus Though John the Baptist clearly and boldly testified of the Christ, Jesus states in John 5:36, "But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me." Just how positive, substantial, and convincing were these works to be? John 10:37,38 answers that: "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." Christ's works, His miracles, would bear witness of Him. It certainly had that kind of impact upon Nicodemus: "this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, `Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him'" (Jn. 3:2). The apostle John writes: "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (Jn. 20:30,31). The miracles truly "said" much on behalf of Jesus Christ. They were a "witness" for Him. God the Father Jesus states in John 5:37, "And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form." Some people, however, did hear the Father's voice, as He bore witness to His Son in a verbal way: "and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, `This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased'" (Matt. 3:17). God the Father made this declaration at the baptism of Jesus. A similar statement (in Matthew 17:5) was also made by the Father at the Lord's transfiguration, which Peter, James, and John had witnessed for themselves: "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, `This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!"' The "listen to Him!" is very significant, since Moses (who represents the Law) and Elijah (who represents the prophets) were also there with Jesus on the mount. For 1,500 years the Jews had the Law and the Prophets of the Mosaical period, but now God wanted people centering their attention on His Son, to follow His instruction. For the Law's purpose was to help men realize their need for Jesus (Gal. 3:24,25; Rom. 3:20; 7:7), of whose coming the prophets foretold; and "...in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Col. 2:9), so Christ, as well as His New Covenant, is certainly far superior to the Law (Old Covenant) and the prophets. Peter refers to this very occasion in 2 Peter 2:16-18, by saying: "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, `This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased' -- and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain." The Apostles This previous passage (2 Peter 2:16-18) also shows that the apostles were witnesses for the Lord: "...we were eyewitnesses of His majesty." The apostle John states, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life -- and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us -- what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 Jn. 1:1-3). This, of course, was all part of the plan of God. Jesus told the apostles, "and you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning" (Jn. 15:27). These men had witnessed the Lord's life, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension; and they taught that to others. Their testimony was often accompanied with miraculous signs: "And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:33). In selecting an apostle to take Judas' place, Peter states, "It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us -- beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us -- one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection" (Acts 1:21,22). The Prophets of God Peter states, "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins" (Acts 10:43). How could the prophets be so sure? Because what they proclaimed had been given to them by God (2 Pet. 1:20,21). Surely, their message shouldn't be considered "secondhand information." As Peter also mentions in Acts 3:18, "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He has thus fulfilled." Because it was the Lord who had revealed these messages to the prophets, they could accept them as if they had been "eye witnesses" to those events. And, actually, we can depend even more on God's word than what our own eyes could ever see. The Multitudes Unless one truly hated the Lord, how could an individual who had seen Jesus perform miracles not joyously tell others about that? John 12:17 states: "And so the multitude who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, were bearing Him witness." Sometimes, even when Jesus did not want certain ones He healed to tell others, the cured could not restrain themselves in being silent. They "had" to tell -- and did so. For instance, after the Lord had "sternly warned" the healed leper to not tell anyone (Mark 1:41-44), "he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news about, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas..." (v. 45). People were seeing things that not only had never been seen before in their day, but in any previous day. In the account of the healing of the congenital blind man in John 9, it is said that "Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing" (vv. 32,33). How could anyone keep silent about such astonishing things as that?! Even the enemies of the Lord could not deny the miracles that Christ performed, so they had to deceitfully come up with some kind of scheme in which they could use His attesting signs against Him. As a result, they falsely charged the Lord by saying, "He casts out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons" (Luke 11:15). But to this, Jesus pointed out their faulty reasoning. There certainly must have been many indivdiuals who had truthfully witnessed about Christ, based on their own encounters with Him and seeing the amazing signs He performed. The Word of God Here's a real irony: To many of the Jewish people, Jesus states, "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me" (Jn. 5:39). They studied the Law and the Prophets that pointed to Christ, but would then reject the very One whom those Scriptures referred to -- and were, therefore, turning their backs on the only One who could give them that abundant life (Jn. 10:10). In addition, Jesus points out to them, "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me" (v. 46). To the two sad travelers on the road to Emmaus, Jesus states: "...'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, `Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day"' (Luke 24:44-46). The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy is one of the evidences toward the authenticity and genuine inspiration of God's word, and about 332 of those prophecies are about Jesus. The Holy Spirit As the time of the Lord's departure drew near, Jesus consoled the apostles by telling them of the "Helper" (NASB) or "Comforter" (KJV) who was to come: "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me" (Jn. 15:26). This "Helper" is the Holy Spirit, who not only revealed God's message to the apostles; but also confirmed the word with miraculous signs through them. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in Acts 2 is a confirmation that Jesus truly did ascend back to the right hand of God, following His death, burial, and resurrection. For Jesus had told the apostles that He must go away (ascend to heaven) in order to send back the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). The Lord's Resurrection The resurrection itself also bore testimony, in a manner of speaking, toward the deity of Christ. Paul writes concerning the Savior: "who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 1:4). After His resurrection, Jesus was witnessed by many people. According to 1 Corinthians 15:6, the Lord had appeared to "more than five hundred brethren at one time...." And for more than five weeks after His resurrection, Jesus remained on the earth, "...having presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them [the apostles] over a period of forty days, and speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). So Jesus is not without witness. Rather, He had many that testified, in various ways, toward His deity. Let us each give our serious attention to their testimonies of Him, accept the truth about Christ that God's word conveys, and show that by our spiritual fidelity. ____________________________________________________ MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST 1022 Myrtle Street Denham Springs, LA 70726 (225) 664-8208 Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM Wednesday: 7:00 PM evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520 e-mail: tedwards@onemain.com web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go ____________________________________________________