Let's understand the context¡KJesus has just claimed to be the ¡§Light of the world,¡¨ and His critics are outraged at such audacity. They¡¦d like to yell, ¡§Who do you think you are!¡¨ but He just got finished telling them who He was. His self-disclosure is indeed outrageous if it isn¡¦t true. ¡§We don¡¦t get Jesus on our terms¡¨ (Eugene Peterson).
Jesus counters His critics with more bold claims¡KHe testifies on His own behalf, He asserts authority to judge, and He stands with His Father. This provokes the Pharisees into vigorous opposition.
Have you ever served as a witness in a trial? I was one in a Court Marshall. In the Torah (the Jewish law), in order for any claim to be valid, there needed to be two witnesses (Deut 19:15). But Jesus says He bears witness for Himself. His other witness is God-the-Father, who sent Him, verse 18. Back in 5:37 He claims that the Father bears witness to Him. In the light of His claims no other witness is possible; there¡¦s no other to whom He can appeal. People often claim, ¡§God is my witness.¡¨ Here it is, in fact, absolutely true.
What do we decide about Jesus? We have only 3 options: He was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Son of God. Harvard professor Armand Nicholi writes: ¡§Jesus was either deluded or deliberately attempting to deceive his followers for some ulterior purpose, or he was who he claimed to be.¡¨ C.S. Lewis adds, ¡§Let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about Jesus being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.¡¨ Especially since Jesus claimed to be God; He declared, ¡§I and the Father are one¡Khe who has seen Me has seen the Father¡¨ (John 10:30, 14:9).
The Pharisees insist that Jesus¡¦ witness is not true, verse 13. They cling to a legal technicality. But they¡¦re overlooking one thing: they are turning their backs on God if Jesus is the Messiah. His many witnesses are the prophets of Israel who foretold His coming (and Jesus fulfills messianic prophecy in spades). There is also the witness of His deeds; in 5:36 Jesus mentions how His works verify His Messianic claims and attest to His heavenly origin. Yet the Pharisees do not wish to be convinced.
The word translated ¡§witness¡¨ or ¡§testify¡¨ (depending on your translation) in verse 14 is the Greek ƒÝƒÑƒâƒäƒåƒâƒÕƒçƒzƒnwhere we get our word ¡§martyr¡¨. Many who testified to their faith have paid the ultimate price. Thomas Merton writes, ¡§The martyr is a man who has made a decision strong enough to be proved by death.¡¨
In verse 14 Jesus says that, unlike His critics, He knows His origin and where He is going. This is not opinion; it is fact. He tells them in verse 21 that He will soon be going where they cannot follow--to His Father. One of the great comforts of life is knowing that this world is but a prelude for the world to come in the presence of God. Yet people live as if this were the only life, and when faced with death, they embrace despair. What Jesus offers is a living hope.
We form appraisals from the limits of our knowledge and experience, realizing that there are some things we just cannot know. We make the best judgment, and hope we¡¦re right. This is earth-bound reasoning, yet Jesus isn¡¦t limited by human limitations. What He¡¦s saying in verse 15 is that His critics judge superficially--according to the flesh--but He doesn¡¦t judge anyone that way. His understanding has no limitations. There is more to Jesus than we can construct out of our human resources.
The religious leaders see only Jesus, so they ask in verse 19, ¡§Where is your father?¡¨ In other words, ¡§Bring on another witness.¡¨ They were clearly not with Jesus. They heard Him but were resisting His message and did not accept His divine origin. Jesus¡¦ self-witness would be entirely unacceptable if He were not who He claimed to be. His reply is, in effect, ¡§You¡¦re looking right at Me and yet you don¡¦t see Me. How do you expect to see the Father? You know Him as little as you know Me!¡¨
In verse 20 John pauses to mention that this conversation took place in the area of the Temple where offerings were placed in trumpet-shaped containers, the place where the widow gave her meager gift and was praised by Jesus. Here at the Temple Treasury, the greatest Gift ever given is rejected.
The religious leaders are unconvinced and confused. In the original language, their rhetorical question, ¡§Will he kill himself?¡¨ (22), implies a negative answer. Suicide was unthinkable among Jews. It isn¡¦t a serious consideration, yet they¡¦re totally stumped, unable to comprehend¡Kbecause they lack light. Yet they correctly catch the reference to death. Jesus confronts them in verse 23, explaining why: ¡§You are from below; I am from Above. You are tied to this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you will die in your sins; if you do not believe that I AM the one I claim to be.¡¨
Those questioning Jesus were convinced that they understood God¡¦s plan, and were unwilling to consider that they might be wrong. They were committing spiritual suicide.
Jesus is not only claiming deity, He¡¦s declaring that there can be no neutrality about Who He is. This is a matter of life and death. If we refuse God¡¦s mercy, we cannot go where Jesus is. Anyone who goes to Hell will have to walk past the outstretched arms of Jesus.
Again the critics ask, ¡§Who are you?¡¨ in verse 25. The NRSV captures the vexation of Jesus¡¦ response: ¡§Why do I even speak to you at all?¡¨ It seems a waste of breath, yet He goes on to say that He will have much to say about their unbelief in judgment. What He taught at the beginning of His ministry He is proclaiming now. Those who reject Him will answer for their unbelief. He will return at the End of Days to judge the world according to the Father¡¦s will.
Our Lord¡¦s critics had blocked out any possibility that Jesus had come from God the Father, verse 27. That Jesus was the Messiah wasn¡¦t an option as far as they were concerned. They were close-minded. Reasons for their unbelief may include His preaching peace and not the overthrow of Rome; and His criticism of them, exposing their hypocrisy.
Jesus counters His critics by declaring that His crucifixion will reveal His person and purpose, verse 28. ¡§Lifted up¡¨ was a common way of describing this dreadful form of execution. In 12:32 He states, ¡§When I am lifted up I will draw all people to Myself.¡¨ Jesus came to teach and heal, but above all, He came to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin, to suffer in our behalf. The Apostle Paul later describes Him as our Passover Lamb slain for us. His blood covers our sin and guilt. Professor David Wells of Gordon-Conwell Seminary says that ¡§Christ was not only God in human flesh, but what we see is the God of self-effacing, self-giving, self-sacrificing love.¡¨
In yet another ¡§I AM¡¨ statement, Jesus says in verse 28, ¡§I am the one I claim to be.¡¨ And He explains that He is not acting on His own initiative, but conforming to the Father, who is always with Him. ¡§Jesus does not merely bring his Father¡¦s message; Jesus is the message, He is the Word¡¨ (D. A. Carson). His mission was to do the Father¡¦s will. He does only what pleases the Father.
Jesus was born ¡§under the Law¡¨ in fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. Anglican scholar N.T. Wright notes how ¡§Temple, Torah, and Wisdom have come together in Jesus of Nazareth--Israel¡¦s Messiah, God¡¦s second self, His ¡¥Son¡¦ in the full sense.¡¨
Verse 30 records the result--many came to faith in Jesus. Although the religious leaders were unyielding in their unbelief, others came around and accepted Jesus. When we share our faith, we may be surprised at the openness of people we might consider close-minded. Like our Lord, let¡¦s faithfully witness to the truth of God¡¦s word and to the Word-made-flesh, the great ¡§I AM¡¨!
