The Witnesses to Christ (John 5:31–47) — A Sermon by R.C. Sproul

SPROUL: We’ll continue now with our study of the  gospel according to St. John. This morning we’re   in the fifth chapter of that gospel, beginning  at verse thirty-one, reading through verse   forty-seven. John chapter five, verses thirty-one  through forty-seven: “If I bear witness of myself,   my witness is not true. There is another who  bears witness of me, and I know that the witness   which He witnesses of me is true. You’ve sent  to John, and he has born witness to the truth.   Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I  say these things that you may be saved. He was   the burning and shining lamp, and you were  willing for a time to rejoice in his light;   but I have a greater witness than John’s, for the  works which the Father has given me to finish,   the very works that I do, bear witness of me that  the Father has sent me. And the Father Himself,  

who sent me, has testified of me, and you have  neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His   form. But you do not have His word abiding in you  because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You   search the Scriptures, for in them you think  you have eternal life, and these are they,   which testify of me; but you’re not willing  to come to me that you may have life. I do not   receive honor from men, but I know you, that you  do not have the love of God in you. I have come   in my Father’s name, and you do not receive  me; and yet if another comes in his own name,   him you will receive. How can you believe who  receive honor from one another and do not seek   the honor that comes from the only God. Do not  think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There   is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe me,   for He wrote about me. But if you do not believe  his writings, how will you believe my words?”

He who has ears to hear the Word of  God, let them hear it. Let us pray.   Father, as we examine now so briefly this  testimony of Christ, we pray that the full   impact of its truth may pierce our souls,  penetrate between bone and marrow that we   may be changed by this truth. For we ask  these things in the name of Christ, amen. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole  truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you   God?” Everybody in this room knows where those  words originate. Those are the words that are   customarily used in a courtroom in the context of  a trial when people are sworn in, and by swearing   an oath before God, promise that their testimony  will be true and not an exercise in perjury.

The idea of giving true witness in a law court  was so important to Israel in the Old Testament   that when God fashioned the bedrock constitution  of His people, He included in their top ten laws   a law against the bearing of false witness.  In the Old Testament in capital crimes that   were tried at the gate before the judges of the  land, before the death penalty could be given and   a person executed, there had to be at least two  eyewitnesses to the crime who gave testimony, and   their testimony had to agree completely. And there  were strong sanctions in Israel against anyone who   delivered a false witness in a capital crime. That  person was subject himself to the death penalty.   And so great care was taken about how the truth  could be discerned in the context of a trial.

Now the reason I go back over that  background is that this section that   I’ve read this morning has to do with  charges that are being brought against   Jesus by His contemporaries, by the  officials of the Jewish community.   We saw what preceded this particular chapter  in previous weeks, where He was charged with   violating the Sabbath law for ordering a man to  pick up his bed and to walk with it. And so the   language of this text is bathed in the “legalese”  of the Jewish community of the first century. We   need to understand that lest we get confused or  misled by some of the statements that we read. In fact the first one is striking. Jesus said, “If  I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.”   Now how many times in Scripture does Jesus  make statements and pronouncements about His   own mission, about His own work, and about His own  identity? He does it over and over and over again,   and here he says, “If I bear witness to myself,  my witness is not true.” Is He telling us, then,   not to believe Him whenever He declares  who He is or what His mission is?   No, what He is saying here is in the context of  the legal community. He’s saying that legally  

my testimony is not valid in a courtroom unless  it is verified or corroborated by other sources. Last week at the office I had to  sign some documents for the bank,   and there was a place for me to write my name at  the bottom of this official document, and then on   the next section over was a line for somebody  to sign who was a witness to this transaction.   Now suppose I would have signed my name on  the left, as the party of the first part,   as it were; and then on the line that  called for a witness I put my name there   too. That wouldn’t work, would it, because  I can’t bear witness to my own witness.   I need somebody else to confirm that I was the  one, who in fact, had signed on the first line.   I can’t sign the second line, proving that  I was the one that signed the first line.

That’s what Jesus means when He says  here, “If I bear witness of myself,   my witness is not true.” It’s not true in the  sense that it’s not valid in the courtroom.   But He said, “There’s another who bears  witness of me, and I know that the witness   that He witnesses of me is true.” Now here He’s,  of course, referring in the first instance to God   Himself. Then He adds, “You sent me – you have  sent to John, for he has born witness to the   truth. Yet I don’t receive testimony from man;  but I say these things that you might be saved.   He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were  willing, for a time, to rejoice in his light.” Remember when I talked about John the Baptist  that John the Baptist, at this time in Jewish   history, when Jesus was uttering these  words, was more famous than Jesus was.   John had created a national stir when he  appeared, coming out of the wilderness and   baptizing people at the Jordan because John  had restored the office of the Old Testament   prophet to the land after God had been silent  in Israel for four hundred years. So every Jew   in Israel had heard of John the Baptist, and  before his life was snuffed out by the whim   of Herod, he was extremely popular, and Jesus  described him as a burning and shining light.  

It was a light that brought not only illumination,  but also it was a light that brought with it   intense heat. So in contemporary language  we would have to say, “John was hot,” at   this time in the national history. He was a  burning and shining lamp before the people,   and Jesus reminds these leaders of Israel, “There  was a time when you basked in the light of John.” Remember when we started this study of the  gospel of John, in the very first chapter,   we were introduced to John, and we were  told there – what? He was not the light   that lights every man coming into the world,  but his task was to bear witness to the light,   and so here Jesus is saying in the context of  the courtroom, “My primary witness in this world   was John the Baptist. He bore witness to me. He  announced me before you. He’s the one who said,   ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the  sin of the world.’ But you don’t believe him,   even though for a time you basked  in the glory of his light.”

“But I have a greater witness,” He said, “than  John’s. For the works, which the Father has   given me to finish, the very works that I do bear  witness of me, that the Father has sent me. And   the Father Himself, who sent me, has testified  of me.” Let me comment on that briefly. Jesus   does something that was not strange in His  day, but something that we tend to overlook   every time it comes up in the New Testament, and  that is the purpose and function of miracles.   I’ve talked to you about this before because  the biblical purpose of miracles has all but   been eclipsed in the contemporary church. Some  people today look at the biblical miracles,   and they say, “The miracles of the New Testament  prove the existence of God.” No they don’t. The   existence of God is manifest and proven long  before a single miracle ever takes place.   In other words, for a miracle to be recognized  as a miracle presupposes the existence of God   because a miracle, technically and correctly  defined, is a work that only God can do,   such as bringing something out of  nothing and bringing life out of death.

That’s why I, as a voice crying in the wilderness,  have pled with you not to believe that Satan can   do actual miracles. He can perform counterfeit  tricks, but he can’t do what God can do. He can’t   bring something out of nothing, and He can’t  bring life out of death. Those are things that   only God can do, and the significance in  the New Testament for miracle was what the   philosopher John Locke once described as the  crediting of the proposer – that the presence   of miracle authenticates the messenger,  that the messenger has been sent from God. Again, just a couple of chapters earlier  we saw Nicodemus coming at night to Jesus,   and do you remember his opening words? “Good  teacher, we know that you are a teacher sent   from God, or you would not be able to do  the things that you do.” That was sound   reasoning. He understood that it was impossible  to perform miracles unless God was endorsing you.

That’s why you have to be very, very careful  with your understanding of miracle in our day,   because there are people running around this world  who are theological quacks of the worst kind, who   are claiming that they are performing miracles.  And if they really are, then their writings ought   to go in the next chapter, or the next edition of  the New Testament because if they’re really doing   miracles then God is authenticating them as agents  of revelation, which of course He is not doing. So in any case, Jesus here appeals to  His miracles as a corroborative witness   to His claims. “The Father is bearing  witness to me by giving me the power to   perform the miracles that you have seen.  If you won’t believe my words,” He said,   “believe me for my works’ sake. My works ought  to be enough to prove to you that I am the one   that the Father sent.” And again, notice that  He’s not saying that, “By doing my works I am   proving that I am the Son of God.” No. “By doing  the works that I am doing, that only God could do,   evidences God’s authenticating my identity.”  That’s the point that He’s making here.

And then He said, “You have neither heard  His voice at any time nor seen His form,   but you do not have His word abiding in you  because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.”   Now these people obviously had not been  present on the occasion of Jesus’ baptism   because on that occasion the voice from God was  audible. Remember that when the dove came upon   Jesus at His baptism the heavens opened, and  the voice was heard from heaven saying, “This   is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,”  so that God gave audible testimony to His Son. Three times the New Testament tells us, as I’ve  mentioned before, that God speaks audibly; and in   every one of those occasions, what is God saying?  He’s calling attention to the identity of Jesus as   His Son. “This is my Son,” the voice from heaven  says. “Hear Him. Listen to Him.” But even on that   occasion, everyone who was present – or I should  say not everyone who was present – understood   the words, because we are told some thought it  was thunder. That is, to those who did not have  

the ears to hear the voice of God, that voice was  muffled lest they hear; but for those whose hearts   were opened to the things of God, heard distinctly  what the Father had said: “This is my Son.” So so far we have John the  Baptist bearing witness,   we have the miracles of Christ bearing  witness, we have the audible voice of   the Father Himself bearing witness, and if  you don’t mind my repeating another point   that I’ve made a hundred times in here, and  I’ll probably never get tired of saying it,   because I still see the bumper stickers. They’re  still out there. My protest to the contrary – they   fall on deaf ears. I still see them. You know  what they say: “God said it; I believe it;   that settles it.” How arrogant is that? We’re  going to write a new bumper sticker, and what’s   it going to say? “God says it; that settles  it.” It doesn’t matter whether I believe it.   It’s settled long before my assent and long before  I concur with the message. If God Almighty opens   His holy mouth and declares something, we don’t  need another witness. It’s over. It’s settled.

Jesus said, “You have John the Baptist, but I’m  not depending upon human witness. You’ve seen the   miracles – that doesn’t convince you. My God  – my Father – testified from heaven itself,”   but the defense attorney here has a parade  of witnesses to bring before the court,   and He says – listen to this rebuke. Wow! This  is scary. “You do not have His word” – that’s   the Word of God – “abiding in you.” How do  I know that? How does Jesus know? He said,   “because whom He sent you don’t believe. You  search the Scriptures” – do you realize He’s   talking now not to liberals, not to secularists.  He’s talking to card-carrying fundamentalists,   people who wouldn’t think about going to church  without carrying their Bible into church on Sunday   morning, people who would have with them at all  times Baptist air conditioning. Do you know what   Baptist air conditioning is? Presbyterians don’t  understand that. That’s the air currents that are   made by people leafing through their Bibles  during the middle of the thing. That creates   some of – that’s called Baptist air conditioning.  That’s a compliment to the Baptists. The Baptist   people, when they go to church on Sunday morning,  they take their Bible with them. And Jesus said,  

“You people have Bible study every week. You don’t  just have a fifteen-minute daily devotional, but   you search the Scripture. Disciplined students of  the Scripture, because you think that in studying   the Scriptures you have eternal life. How can  you read these Scriptures and not believe in me?” Do you remember on the road to Emmaus after  the resurrection, and Christ fell in with   these two people who were so dejected after the  events in Jerusalem that they’re hanging their   heads and moaning, and Jesus said, “What’s  going on? What’s the matter?” And they said,   “Don’t you know what just went on over there  in Jerusalem?” Jesus says, “Tell me about it.”   They said, “Well this Jesus, we hoped that He was  going to be the Messiah, but they killed Him. Now   some of the women, God-forbid, are suggesting  that He was raised from the dead. But you know   you can’t believe old-wives’ tales like that.”  And what does Jesus say? Beginning with Moses,   and He goes through the entire Old Testament with  these people, who should have known better, and  

explained to them how the Scriptures had testified  to Him again and again.” But when the Messiah that   the Old Testament taught on every page appeared  in the midst of the people, “He came to His own,   and His own received Him not…The light came into  the world, but men preferred the darkness rather   than the light,” and they brought that darkness  with them even when they searched the Scriptures. Now how easy it is for us, two thousand  years removed from that situation,   to look back in a spirit of judgment and  condemnation on those foolish people of   the first century, when we’re in danger  of doing exactly the same thing today. “You were not willing to come to me.”   That’s why they don’t listen to His  voice. They don’t want to come to Him.

I lectured several years ago at a college, and  I was invited to lecture on the existence of God   by a group on campus whose name was the Atheist  Club. So it was a pleasant dialogue. I went to   Romans chapter one and talked about how God had  manifestly, clearly, with no ambiguity, revealed   Himself to every creature, and that that knowledge  gets through to every person; and as much as we   fight and kick against it, we can’t extinguish  that light or obliterate that light. And so we are   left, according to the apostle, without excuse.  Because our problem is not that we don’t know   that God exists. Our problem is that we refuse  to acknowledge the God whom we know to be true. And so I said to those young people who  were assembled there in the Atheist Club,   I said, “I’ll be glad to talk about the  intellectual issues regarding theism with you,   but I want you to know where I’m coming from.  I don’t believe for a moment your struggle with   the existence of God is an intellectual struggle.  Your struggle is a moral problem. You don’t want   to affirm the existence of God because you know  what it’s going to cost you, and so you deny it   because you don’t want it to be true.” Now that  made me very, very popular with that group. They  

keep asking me back every year, and I just  haven’t been able to get it on the calendar. But that’s what Jesus is saying. “You’re  not willing to come to me, that you might   have life. I don’t receive honor from men, but  I know you – that you don’t have the love of God   in you. I came in my Father’s name, and you don’t  receive me. Now if another comes in his own name,   him you will receive.” Look at the art on the  back of the building, how graphically Richard   Seren characterizes the choice of the cross. With  triumph in the background stands Barabbas – the   people’s choice – fulfilling this very prophecy  that Jesus is saying here: “Another will come in   his own name. You’ll embrace him. You’ll believe  him without the benefit of these witnesses.” “How can you believe, who receive honor from one  another and do not seek the honor that comes from   the only God?” Last week somebody asked me, “How  in the world can you get a person who is famous,   who is busy to include time in their schedule  to come and speak for you or come and visit  

you?” I said, “That’s easy. Give them an honor.  Promise them an honorary degree, or give them a   great big monument or plaque, and invite him  to come be part of this presentation.” Jesus   understands human beings. They love to honor one  another, but you refuse to honor the Son of God. “Do not think that I will accuse you to the  Father. There is one who accuses you – Moses,   in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you  would believe me. For he wrote about me.” Boy, is   that a controversial text. Those of you who are  students of theology, biblical studies, you know   that higher critical theories deny that Moses  wrote anything. They say that the Pentateuch was   compiled over many, many centuries by different  editors and redactors and that Moses didn’t have   anything to do with it. But the four authors J,  E, D, and P put it together, and so on. And that,   of course, provoked a crisis, not only with the  credibility of Moses in biblical scholarship,  

but also with the credibility of Jesus. I mean  you ought to see the gymnastics people go through   to get around this text where our Lord Himself  pronounces publicly, “Moses wrote of me.” We have   Jesus’ declaration that Moses wrote, the authority  DeGraaf-Bellhausen theory to the contrary. And the   point is that now they have to say, “Well how  – well Jesus was wrong in what He taught about   earthly things. He couldn’t possibly know the  truth that it wasn’t Moses that did it.” So we   have a whole generation of scholars who don’t  believe Jesus concerning earthly things but do   believe Him concerning heavenly things, the very  thing that He Himself announced as foolishness. So here we have a dominical affirmation of the  authorship of the Pentateuch by the hand of Moses,   and He turns this on His critics. He says, “You  call yourselves the disciples of Moses. You trust   in the teaching of Moses. You exalt the Torah.  It’s Torah this, Torah that – Torah, Torah, Torah.   But you don’t believe it because what Moses was  writing about was me. Don’t you understand when   he described the Tabernacle, he was describing  me? Don’t you understand that when Moses said   in Deuteronomy that there will come another  prophet like unto me, he was referring to me?”  

Jesus is saying. “If you don’t believe his  writings, how are you going to believe mine?” And so when the question of Jesus’ testimony  comes up in the law court, four witnesses   come fourth – John the Baptist, the works of  Jesus, the audible testimony of the Father,   and the testimony of sacred Scripture through  the authorship of Moses. If that’s not enough   to convince people, what is? What’s the end  of this? Well I don’t think the last of this   is heard until we go to the book of Acts where,  when Paul addresses the philosophers at Mars Hill,   at the Areopagus in Athens, and he sees  them worshipping an altar to an unknown God,   Paul makes this comment: He said, “Truly,  these times of ignorance God overlooked,   but now” – do you see the change in  historical circumstances? Paul is saying,   “There was a time when God was forbearing with  your pagan religion and with your ignorance.  

God was long-suffering. He was merciful. He was  patient. He put up with this stuff for a long,   long time; but now God” – listen to this –  “commands all men everywhere to repent.” How   different that is from modern techniques of  evangelism. Essential to modern evangelism is   the invitation. Notice the apostle doesn’t say,  “But now God invites all men to repent,” because   in invitation is something you can decline with  impunity. You know, you send it back. You RSVP,   “I cannot come,” you know. “I bought me a  horse, or a cow. Sorry, I can’t make it.” “God commands all men everywhere to repent  because He has appointed a day in which He   will judge the world in righteousness by the man  whom He has ordained, and He has given assurance   of this to everyone by raising Him from the  dead.” You want more testimony than that? You  

want more evidence than that? You want more  proof than that? You’re not going to get it.   God said, “I’ve made it clear to the whole world  that this is my begotten Son, and the days of   patience and forbearance are over. Now I command  you all to come to Him because I’m going to judge   the whole world through Him, and I have proven  Him to be the judge by raising Him from the dead.” Let us pray. Our Father and our God, we are  so often like those of olden times, who were   stiff-necked, slow of heart to believe all that is  declared to us by Thy Son. We thank you that you   have proven to the world that He is your Son, and  that you are the one who sent Him. Give us hearts   inclined to receive Him that in Him we might  have life. For we ask it in His name, amen.