Five-Fold Witness of Christ

V. STREIFLING | Proclamation! Contributor |

In John 5, Jesus had just healed the invalid at Bethesda on the Sabbath, telling him “Arise, take up your bed and walk.” Because the man obeyed the command of his Healer, the Jews were enraged for he had broken the Sabbath command which said, “You shall carry no load on the Sabbath”, and when they learned Jesus had commanded this, they immediately accosted Him for causing the Sabbath to be broken. Jesus then gave a five-fold witness in defense of who He really is, including 1. His witness; 2. John the Baptist; 3. The witness of the Father; 4. His miracles; and 5. The Scriptures, “for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me, yet you won’t come to me that you can have eternal life” (5:39).

1. Jesus’ Witness of Himself

Jesus began saying He only does what His Father tells Him to do, and just as the Father had life in Himself, so too Jesus the Son has life in Himself. Thus in 5:17+18 the Jews set to stone Him, not only for breaking the Sabbath, but for calling Himself the Son of God, thus making Himself equal with God. Christ underscored this by stating, “The Father Himself judges no one at all, but has committed all judging to the Son, in order that all men should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father, and he who does not honor the Son, neither honors the Father who sent Him” (vs 22-27).

Then after giving incredible witness of Himself, Jesus showed He only began listing his credentials by saying, “If only I bear witness of myself, my witness is not valid (complete)…” (vs 31), “for the  Scripture says, ‘Out of the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses all things will be established.’ ” Thus, while His witness of Himself was true, yet Jesus’ witness of itself was not sufficient or a valid witness. It had to be upheld by other witnesses. Yet here in John 5, He stated that He would come in glory, and He as both King and Judge would raise all the dead. But this wasn’t the only place where He witnessed of who He was. He did this throughout the Gospels.

All of these witnesses to which Jesus appealed in John 5, His own witness, John the Baptist, God the Father, Jesus’ miracles, and the Scriptures indeed testified to His true deity and messiahship.  

In Jn 2:18-22 He told the Jews that He would raise His dead body after they killed Him. In ch. 4 He told the Samaritan woman that He would give the Holy Spirit as living water to whomever asks. In ch. 6, whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood has everlasting life, and in 10:10 He promised to give the more abundant life, saying in vs 17+18 He had power to lay His life down, and to take it up again, affirming, “I and my Father are One,” thus claiming equal essence with God. Again the Jews took up stones to stone Him. Similarly, in 8:24, 28 & 58 Jesus thrice claimed to be “I AM,” so the Jews sought to kill Him; and in 13:19 He told His disciples, “I’ve told you this before it happens, so when it happens you’ll know that I AM”. These claims were direct allusions to Isaiah 43:13; 45:21 and 46:9+10 where YHWH claimed to be “I AM” on these bases. Ultimately, after His death, Jesus showed His resurrected body, validating all His claims. In this He demonstrated that His witness of Himself was indeed true.

2. John the Baptist’s Witness of Christ

Jesus said John had come in the ‘spirit and power of Elijah’, of Malachai 3:1 & 4:5. (Mt 11:10-14). Of Christ, John declared he was unworthy to loose His sandals, that Christ was the Judge of all, and He was above Elijah the prophet, and He was the fulfillment of Isa 40:3-5, which spoke of Jehovah God. In John 1 he declared Jesus the Lamb of God and the Son of God, and he told His disciples to follow Jesus.

In Jn 3:20-36 again John witnessed of Jesus, saying He was ordained from heaven (Yhwh); He is the bridegroom who must increase; He comes from above, and is above all; He is sent from God and does the works of God; He is the Son of God—loved by the Father; He has all things in His hands—ie. His care and authority; whoever believes in Him is sealed by God who is true and has eternal life; but whoever does not believe in Him, will receive the wrath of God.

It was because of John’s recognition of Jesus for Who He really is that, when Jesus came to John for baptism, John insisted that instead, he needed to be baptized by Christ. John recognized Jesus was the Lamb without spot, without any sin, without any sinfulness in Him—holy, just and perfect!

3. The Witness of the Father

In 1 Jn 5:6-9 we read of ‘the witness of God’ which is greater than the witness of man. Thus Jesus’ appeal to the witness of God His Father was to a witness that could not be repudiated. This witness of God began at Jesus’ birth where He is “Emmanuel” (‘with us is the God’— ‘ho Theos’, Mt 1:23).

In Lk 2:11, Hebrew translations call Him “Jehovah the Messiah” while His name ‘Yeshuah’ means “Yehweh is salvation”. Heb 1:5+6 tells that at His birth, the Father commanded all God’s angels to worship Jesus—worship that’s due to God alone, Who says in Isa 42:8, “My glory I will not share with another”.

At Jesus’ baptism, God spoke, “This is My beloved Son…”, repeating this at Jesus’ transfiguration. Of this 1 Pet 1:17 says, “He received from God the Father, glory and honor” as God acknowledged Christ. Then as Jesus prayed to the Father in John 12 the Father responded audibly. Jesus prayed to God, “glorify me with the glory I shared with you before the worlds were”, which the Father did at His resurrection and ascension to the Father’s right hand. Here He stated, “Sit at my right hand ‘till I make your enemies your footstool,” fulfilling the prophecy of Jehovah speaking to “Ha Adon” (Ps 68:18; 110:1)—a Hebrew expression limited to Jehovah God. In Ps 16:8 Christ is YHWH before the Father’s face, and seated at His right hand (Acts 2:22-33). Only because Christ was true deity by nature, and thus Almighty God, could He share the Father’s throne as Jehovah.

The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him, thus also being ‘the witness of the Father’. In 21:23 & 22:5 God and the Lamb are the light and glory of the city. In 21:22, God and the Lamb are its temple. In 17:14 Jesus, the Lamb, is ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’, showing He as King is Jehovah God Almighty in 15:3. Since John 5:22 shows He is the only Judge, and Mt 25 He as the Judge is the King, then too in Rev 16:5-7 as the Judge, Jesus is the Lord God Almighty “Who is and was, and is to come”—Who also is Almighty God in Rev 1. My! What a powerful witness Jesus called on, when citing the witness of His Father in John 5!

4. The Witness of Jesus’ Miracles

Then Jesus cited His miracles which bore witness to Whom He really was. He showed His power over material matter when turning water to wine or feeding the multitudes. He showed His power over other’s vision when passing unseen through crowds, or His disciples’ eyes were withheld from seeing Him. He displayed His power over sicknesses such as leprosy, palsies, paralysis, lameness; and His power over disorders including being blind from birth, deafness and dumbness, and even a 12 year flow of blood which stopped.

Christ showed His power over nature when a net was filled with fish; or He walked on water or He calmed the storm; even when He caused the fig tree to be dried up. But there was creative power in His multiplication of loaves and fishes, in the restoration of the withered hand, and the healing of Malcus’ ear at the garden arrest. There He demonstrated His power over His enemies by speaking His name, “I AM,” causing them to fall backward to the ground (Jn 18:4-6). This power extended over the devil and demons as He rebuked them and cast them out of people—sometimes multitudes of them (Mt 4:23+24; 8:28-34).

In this five-fold witness, Jesus’ appeal was beyond refutation. The more one searches the Scriptures, the more he discovers the depths of these witnesses cannot be fathomed. 

Jesus also demonstrated His power over distance, healing a nobleman’s son from one day’s journey, the Cananite’s daughter from Phoenicia, and calling Lazarus from the tomb. Here, too, He wonderfully showed His power over death, not only raising Jairus’ daughter or a widow’s son at Nain, but Lazarus who had been dead for four days and was already stinking. Yet most magnificent of all, Jesus raised His own dead body from the tomb (Jn 2:18-22), claiming power to lay His life down and take it up (Jn10:17+18). He promised to do the same for all who believe in Him (5:26-29). In this Jesus also showed His power over hell, as these resurrections delivered the awakened ones’ souls from Hades, or sheol. Acts 2:27+31 states Jesus’ soul was not left in Hades. Paul tells us when Jesus ascended from Hades, He delivered its captives as well (Eph 4:8-11; Heb 12:22+23).

Finally, Jesus had power to confer God’s power to others, giving the Holy Spirit to His disciples so they had power over diseases and demons. They received power to forgive sins, heal the sick and raise the dead. They were given power to confer the Holy Spirit to others (Acts 8:14-18; 19:1-6).

Anyone who carefully considers Jesus’ miracles and His power which they demonstrated can be left with nothing else but a profound conviction of His true deity, being God by nature, especially when He knew men’s thoughts, revealing the secrets of their hearts, as only God can do.

5. Witness of the Scriptures

To Jesus’ Messiahship

Just as Jesus told the Jews they must believe He was “I AM” in order to be saved (Jn 8:24) so too He stressed that the very scriptures they were searching testified of Him, to whom people must come if they were to gain eternal life (Jn 5:39), as the Bible profusely foretold Him as the Messiah. The “Alpha Course” speaker Nicky Gumble speaks of over 300 references to Jesus’ messiaship, and Herbert Lockier’s “All the Messianic Prophecies…” details these as well. It’s outstanding that these cover all the areas of His life here on earth, as well as His ascension to heaven and priesthood for us there.

He was to be the seed of the woman, of Abraham, Isaac—(not his half-brothers), Jacob, and Judah as well as descendant of King David and heir to his throne. He was to be both Son of God and Son of man.

The time of His birth was foretold as well as the miracle of His virgin birth. He would be born in Bethlehem, yet because of the massacre of the infants he would come from Egypt and be raised in Nazareth—yet His ministry beginning from His home in Capernaum was foretold.

Of His messianic work we were told He would introduce a New Covenant, preach the gospel, die for men’s sins and bring us peace with God. He would unite God’s people, call gentiles into the kingdom of God, destroy the works of the devil and bring in everlasting righteousness. He was to be the ‘prophet like Moses’, the High priest after the order of Melchizedek, the Chief cornerstone, and yet He would be the ‘stone of stumbling’ for Israel who would make Him the suffering servant. Many events in His ministry were also foretold such as His Galilean ministry, appearing in the second temple, working of miracles, relieving suffering and sorrows, His forerunner John the Baptist and His messianic zeal. Scriptures foretold that His ministry was to be anointed by the Spirit of Yhwh, and His own would ultimately reject Him.

Of special note were the many prophecies of His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. These included His triumphal entry and being sold for 30 pieces of silver that were returned and used to buy a potters field after He was betrayed by His friend, whose office would be taken by another. He would be silent before His accusers who hated Him without cause, plucked His beard, smote Him, mocked Him and spat upon Him. His vicarious suffering was foretold, as were His being crucified with sinners, His hands and feet being pierced as well as His side, He would be given vinegar to drink, and pray for His enemies who would also gamble for His garments. While no bones would be broken, He would suffer separation from God, crying out ‘My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me’. He was to be buried with the rich and be preserved from decay for His resurrection from hades and the grave, leading captivity captive. And after His ascension, He would be seated at His Father’s right hand where He would be our great high priest, having blotted out all our transgressions with His own blood.

All of these details and many more were predicted of Jesus’ Messiahship. Yet the Scriptures testified of Him in other ways as well.

To Jesus’ Deity

While Jesus’ deity was well attested by John the Baptist and the Father’s own witness (above), by comparing the New Testament Scriptures with the Old, we see virtually boundless testimony to the fact that Jesus of the New Testament was indeed the Jehovah God of the Old. God the Father makes this fact so clear saying to Christ, “Your throne, O God (ho Theos) is forever” and “You in the beginning, O YHWH, laid the foundations of the Earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands” (Heb 1:8- 10). The Greek ‘ho Theos’ which identifies Jesus as God appears about 20 times in the NT, while the anarthrous ‘Theos’ which speaks of Him as God by nature is also used. In Col 2:9 Paul says of Christ, “In Him is all the fullness of Deity dwelling, in bodily form” so that every aspect of deity, such as omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, eternalness, immutability and creativity are all resident in Christ who is God by nature dwelling in bodily form.

Thus, many OT texts citing Jehovah as creator are defined by the NT showing Jesus as creator. Likewise many OT references to Jehovah as Savior are shown fulfilled in Jesus as Savior. Many OT texts showing Jehovah as King, Judge, I AM, Almighty God, the Rock, Lord of Hosts, Good Shepherd, beginning and ending, and the One who always is are defined by the NT where it is Jesus who is the King, the Judge, I AM, Almighty God, the Rock, Lord of Hosts, Good Shepherd, beginning and ending, the One who always is, etc.

An interesting variation of this is seen in the Hebrew expression “Ha Adon” where the article ‘ha’ precedes ‘Adon’ which Gesenius Hebrew Grammar shows limits the application to Jehovah God.

Here Jehovah’s Witnesses emphasize this to restore the name ‘Jehovah’ into their bibles. Yet the exciting reality is that in each of these, the NT application is seen fulfilled in Christ, as in Malachai where He is ‘Ha Adon’ who suddenly comes to His temple as the ‘messenger of the Covenant’, that is fulfilled when Jesus cleansed the temple. Even the plural of this expression, ‘Ha Adon Adonim’ (the Lord of Lords) who is Jehovah in the OT, is fulfilled in the NT by Jesus who is “King of kings and Lord of lords” in Revelation.

All of these witnesses to which Jesus appealed in John 5, His own witness, John the Baptist, God the Father, Jesus’ miracles, and the Scriptures indeed testified to His true deity and messiahship. In this five-fold witness, Jesus’ appeal was beyond refutation. The more one searches the Scriptures, the more he discovers the depths of these witnesses cannot be fathomed. For nearly 2000 years the leaders of the Christian church have not yet fathomed it all, while those who’ve questioned this testimony have in time, even as this writer, found the preponderance of the evidence is all on one side, and when carefully studied, it answers the questions or objections fully and completely.

Thus we must also heed Jesus’ warning to the Jews in John 8, “If you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins”. We must believe in Jesus for who He really is for Biblical salvation. Paul says in Romans 10:9-13, “If you confess Jesus is LORD (Heb. ‘Ha Adon’), and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved…for whoever calls upon the name of YHWH shall be saved”. Yet, the apostle warned that there would come others who would preach another Jesus different from the real Jesus whom they preached, as well as another gospel. Therefore we today must still stand guard in defense of the truth of who Jesus is—even as He defended this truth. We must defend the faith once and for all time delivered to the saints. †