Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true.” Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness about 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. You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the witness of two men is true. I am He who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.” So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
John 8:12-30
Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I am saying to the world.” They did not know that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing from Myself, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” As He was speaking these things, many believed in Him.
Introduction
Once again we have an episode of Jesus appealing to the Father as a second witness about Himself. In these verses, it almost sounds vague and non committal, but it resulted in many believing in Him. So why did they believe?
In order to bear witness about anything, one must speak. Jesus asserts that the Father gives testimony about who He is, which means the Father must be speaking to them. He does so through two primary vehicles: Jesus fulfilling prophecy and Jesus performing miracles.
Prophecy
We could attempt to put together an exhaustive list of every prophecy Jesus fulfilled, but I am certain I would miss some. And John does not necessarily focus on the prophecies He fulfills. That is Matthew’s mission as he lays out systematically the ways Jesus is demonstrably the promised Messiah through a series of Old Testament references. Just because John does not focus on fulfillment, though, does not mean he fails to record it. That is because it is not always plainly obvious how Jesus fulfilled prophecy.
For instance, right here in our passage, Jesus tells the people that He speaks from the Father (verse 28). He has taught many new things the people did not previously understand, fulfilling the promise God made in Deuteronomy 18:18 to raise up a prophet like Moses with God’s word in His mouth. That promise had a more immediate fulfillment in Joshua, but pointed to the greater Joshua and the greater Moses in Jesus.
And then He makes a prophecy of His own: they will finally recognize Him after they have killed Him. So far, Jesus has made very few prophecies, and all of them directed toward this immediate reality of His death and resurrection. But it is interesting here that He tells the people they will know who He is when He dies. And that is what we see. When the sky darkens, the earth quakes, the dead come out of their tombs, and the curtain in the Temple tears, the people do indeed know who He is. And then when He is resurrected, He appears before the 500 witnesses, securing their faith.
True prophecy is a testimony from God, because only God can truly know the future. We know this from Isaiah’s trial of the false gods in chapter 41 when the Lord challenges the demon gods of the nations to prophecy and they are unable. Then He doubles down on this in Isaiah 46:10, stating that He and only He is “declaring the end from the beginning.”
That recognition must come with such despair for those who know but remain unrepentant. They have now heard He judges with the righteous judgment and agreement of the Father. And they have now heard that they cannot follow where He is going. The hopelessness and grief they must have felt on that day of recognition was surely as unbearable for them as it was for Judas when he took his own life in the potter’s field.
Signs
What John does focus on is the signs and wonders Jesus performs. And he very intentionally calls them signs. Indeed, John concludes his gospel by telling the reader he has recorded signs specifically “so that you may believe.” (John 20:31)
The miracles Jesus performs are given as testimony from God as to who He is. This same principle was applied by Paul to provide heavenly testimony for his role as an Apostle (2 Corinthians 12:12). It continues to stand as a test today, which is why so many are eager to falsify miraculous deeds.
From false healings to cheap magician’s tricks, men around the world lure unwitting people into following them despite their consistent inability to meet the requirements for an elder. These people might call themselves modern day Apostles (like with the NAR), anointed ones (aka “Messiah”), or prophets. We ought to maintain a discerning and skeptical eye when someone makes these sort of claims, especially when they have a financial benefit tied to your belief.
God continues to speak to us and give testimony of His Son through the holy scriptures and the preaching of faithful men. We are witness to the miraculous power He has worked in each of our lives when He gave us life out of death, renewing our hearts to desire holiness. Let us not forget this wondrous and incredible act of grace, thinking the life of a Christian is mundane. The very angels in heaven rejoice over the renewal of a single sinner (Luke 15:10). We should be a part of that rejoicing by bearing witness alongside the Father about the Son.
May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.
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