Because of the Strength of Eyewitness Testimony

As we continue our series on Enjoying Life in His name….I just wanted to review where we are…

Our first message in this series… Enjoying Life in His name Because God Became Flesh helped us rejoice in the deity of Christ, and rejoice in God taking on human flesh, and how we are to respond to the light of life, and marvel at the glory of God.

Our second message….Enjoying Life in His Name because the Messiah is Jesus helped us consider Who John the Baptist was and How he pointed to the Messiah and prepared the way of the Messiah…

This message today builds on those first two messaged, and also sets the tone for a theme that is woven through the rest of the book of John.

That theme is the importance of eyewitness testimony.

People throughout history have valued and needed and sought eyewitness testimony to find out what is true, what really happened, and what they should trust and believe. the strength of eyewitness testimony

Think about it from a modern sense…think about the recommendations feature on Facebook….I see it used all the time…you basically crowd source your friends list looking for a new good restaurant, or a good plumber, roofer, electrician, or maybe you are looking for a recommendation for a school curriculum, or a new blender.

• The idea is you want advice and recommendation from someone who has firsthand experience…they are eyewitnesses to how a product performs or how a company operates.

• The other funny thing is how often people recommend things they have never tried…I have read the intro to this book, I think it will be great….I have driven by this place, I heard these folks are pretty good.

• We tend to share our partial experiences…and so at the end of the day…the person asking for the recommendations, has to weigh them, how compelling, detailed, authoritative and personal they are…and then they have to go and check it out for themselves, and make a decision themselves based on the recommendations…and their own research.

That is exactly what the Book of John is doing….He is laying out eyewitness testimony all throughout the book….so that the reader will come and see, and investigate the testimony of Jesus the Messiah and ultimately put their trust in Him, and have life in His name.

Eyewitness testimony is important through the whole bible, we see in Acts…

Acts 10:40–43 ⁴⁰ “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, ⁴¹ not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

John actually uses the phrases witness, testimony, bear witness, testify a lot…They come from the Greek word group martureomai, and marturia…

• The book of John uses this word group more than any other book in the NT…47 times…in fact if you combine all three of the other Gospels usage it adds up to 20 times….and the book of Acts…29 times….so John is big on emphasizing eyewitnesses.

In fact this word group is where we get the word Martyr from….a Martyr is someone who gives their life for a cause…something they were testifying to that was worth giving their life in order to speak up about…and most of the eyewitnesses to Jesus did just that they testified to who He was even as they laid down their lives to do so.

So this list of eyewitnesses, is much more important that a good plumber…it is about the good shepherd…it is about the Testimony of the Messiah and how He offers eternal life in His name.

Eyewitnesses really helps us have confidence in the one we have put our trust in.

So as we study this morning….please turn to John 1:35-51 as we consider this morning…

Enjoying Life in His Name because of the strength of eyewitness testimony

Read John 1:35-51

With our time remaining, let’s look at 3 eyewitness testimonies of the Messiah that strengthen our faith and help us share our faith

The witness of the last OT prophet – John the Baptist (v35-36)

John testified that….

1. 1. Jesus is the Son of God

1. John 1:34 - ³⁴ “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

1. This term emphasizes Jesus Deity…That he is the same nature as God.

Moreover, John testifies that….

1. 1. Jesus is the Lamb of God

1. John 1:29 ²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

1. John 1:35-36 ³⁵Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

It is interesting that we don’t see this title picked up by the disciples of John…but we see John the Baptist emphasize it twice…This directs our minds back to the Passover Lamb that was to be sacrificed each year commemorating the rescue from Egypt. It also directs our mind to the OT sacrificial system provided by God for Israel where lambs and goats were sacrificed as a covering for sin.

It directs my minds back to Isaiah as we see …the lamb of God was to not just to cover the sins of Israel, but to take away the sin of the world.

1. Isaiah 53:5–7 ⁵ But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. ⁶ All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. ⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

1. Isaiah 53:11 ¹¹ As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.

John the Baptist is testifying about Jesus and directing his disciples to Him…

John the Evangelist is setting up the eyewitness testimony of the Apostles…the one’s who were with Jesus, the ones who ate with him, and saw Him taken, and crucified, and also were eye witness to His resurrection….Well this section emphasize the very beginning of their eyewitness testimony.

• The point is you can believe their testimony because they were with Jesus from the very beginning of His public ministry.

As we pointed out, the disciples have a growing Faith…they do not fully understand everything yet…but this is the beginning of their eyewitness account.

The early witness of the disciples (v37-49)

We read that after 2 of Johns disciples hear him talking about Jesus being the Lamb of God…they began to “follow” him…which is really at this point walking behind him…and Jesus asks them what do you seek….I just love this question…What are you looking for…what do you want…They Respond Rabbi…which is a term of honor...it means great one, it emphasize teaching and learning…They want to know where Jesus is staying…They want to spend time with Jesus and learn from Him…and Jesus says, come and see….I don’t think this is because Jesus got a great deal on a hotel and he wants to show them his great accommodations…but rather he is going to teach them about Himself. He is going to bear witness about Himself.

This term come and see is going to be repeated again…and I think it captures the essence of this passage of how these eyewitnesses really give testimony in a way where people are invited to come and investigate who Jesus is for themselves…

• So we have eye witnesses and invitations

So first we see….

1. 1. The testimony of Andrew

1. John 1:40 - ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).

These two men are with Jesus and it is about 4:00pm…so they spend the evening with him.

We do not know who the second man is but presumably it is the author John as authors don’t always like to identify themselves directly.

The second is Andrew…He is Simon Peter’s brother…if you have siblings, how much would you like it if your parents always introduced you with your siblings names as your primary identity so people knew who you were?

Well by the time John wrote this, Peter would have been quite well known after preaching at Pentecost as well as cutting off a persons ear…not to mention His role in denying Christ, but also being reconciled and commissioned by Christ after He was risen…Peter was well know…and Andrew was his brother…but as you read the book of John…you don’t see Andrew seeking glory for himself…instead you see him bringing multiple people to come see Jesus.

And here we see Andrew, after spending the evening with Jesus…the first thing he does is bring his brother to see Jesus…that is a good brother.

But what was he so excited about…he said we have found the Messiah…now Messiah means anointed one. Christ is just the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah….in the OT…someone was anointed by God for a specific task….a King was anointed to rule…. It is very likely that these disciples of John, knew their OT scriptures, and knew of a passage like Psalm 2 which says…

1. Psalm 2:1-2 ¹ Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? ² The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, …

If you read Psalm 2…you see the Lord opposing the rulers of the world, and the Messiah, the anointed in opposition to the earthy rulers as well…

We said the disciples are growing and need to grow in their faith and understanding of who Jesus was….They believe He is the Messiah…the anointed one sent by God…but to do what….They do not yet fully know what the Messiah is going to do….but based on spending time with Jesus…they are convinced He is the messiah. And it is understandable that they would look forward to the Lord opposing the earthly rulers and kings like Rome who are oppressing Israel…but The Messiah is coming to do something even greater…

1. 1. The testimony of Simon Peter

1. ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Now we do not get a lot of info at this point about how Peter responds…so this is a bit less of Peter’s testimony and it is more about Jesus testimony about who Peter is going to be and what Peter is going to do…

• You see Jesus changes Peter’s name….to Cephas which means “Rock”…in Matthew we see this play out in more detail…but the Lord is going to use Peter…

• you see the Lord knows Who these men are and more than that…He knows What they will become…they are going to be His eyewitnesses.

• Their testimony the rock if their confession is what He is going to build His church upon…Jesus is revealing Himself to them, so that they can reveal Him to the world at the proper time.

In the OT a name was often changed by God when he called them for a purpose…Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel…Simon to Cephas (Aramaic) (in Greek it is Peter)…The point is that Peter is called to bear witness to the Messiah…and we see Him doing that powerfully at Pentecost. In Peter’s epistle he states…

1. 2 Peter 1:16 - ¹⁶ 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.

One of the coolest things in this text…is when one person learns of the Messiah…they go and tell someone else that they know…there is something so powerful about bearing witness to someone you know about something that is not just new and exciting, but life changing….

Next we see Phillip come on the scene

1. 1. The testimony of Phillip

1. 43The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

1. ….We have to make an interpretive decision here…who found Phillip…was it Simon Peter or Jesus…Jesus is the one Changing names, and it seems like Jesus is purposing to go and identify these people to be His eyewitnesses.

1. Phillip now is told by Jesus to “follow me”…Phillip doesn’t just follow Him…He goes and tells His friend.

1. Phillip shares with Nathanael…now you may say…I recognize all these names, but who is Nathanael… The most likely suggestion is that Nathanael is the personal name of ‘Bartholomew’ …Bar means son of…so Bartholomew is his family name and Nathanael is His personal name…also Phillip and Bartholomew are often linked together in scripture.

Just as Andrew told Peter they found the Messiah…this time Phillip tells Nathanael, we have found Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote….We have the eye witness testimony of Phillip, but connecting it to the OT scriptures….

This is what people were asking John the Baptist…are you the prophet?...not a Prophet…but THE Prophet…the Prophet that MOSES talked about that is to come….

Moses wrote in Deu….

Deuteronomy 18:15 - ¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

The end of Deu states….

Deuteronomy 34:10–12 ¹⁰ Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, ¹¹ for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, ¹² and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Phillip is saying…The prophet that was promised is here…and He is going to do amazing things….and we get to be a part of it….

everyone jumps on board pretty much right away in the text…but Nathanael is a bit different…

1. 1. The testimony of Nathanael

1. 46Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”

To understand Nathanael’s response…It is important to note that all these men are from Galilee…

• Galilee itself is looked down on by other Israelites…the area they are from is known often in the OT as Galilee of the Gentiles….

• Israelites who lived closer to Jerusalem, to the temple and the religious center of the nation looked down on those who were from Galilee…

• Galilee were basically surrounded by Gentile Pagan cities. As well as Samaria…

• Since the Assyrian conquest these northern regions had a more mixed population.

• There was also a different political administration than Judea…

• They also spoke a different form of Aramaic…Peter was identified by his accent…

• they were also located in a better agricultural and fishing area, so they had more wealth…it is sort of like a Texas oil baron going to NY city and looked down on for his drawl and his lack of knowledge of designer jeans…

That is Galilee…everyone looks down on Galilee…and guess what town is looked down on by Galileans…yep…Nazareth….that is like saying your from a bad town and a bad part of that bad town….

I think back to Isaiah 53….that says…He (the messiah)…was despised and forsaken of men…we did not esteem him….can anything good come out of Nazareth….Come and see…

[if time develop when I first trusted Christ my desire to study apologetics and argue with people…vs just inviting them to come and see Who Jesus is and answer honest and snarky questions with humble Christ-likeness rather than wanting to win and argument.]

Phillip does not argue with Nathanael…he just says Come and See….

• that is exactly what Jesus said to Andrew and John….our God is a relational God…inviting men and woman to come and see who He is…to come and trust Him based on the testimony of scripture and the testimony of these eyewitnesses.

{APPLICATION}: As we think about this…a good question to ask ourselves is…Do we invite men and woman to come and see who Jesus is…or do we tend to argue with people seeking to be right…Phillip invited Nathanael…

Jesus again takes the initiative and as Nathanael approaches says “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit” Well we know Nathanael does not mince words, and does not pretend he likes Nazareth…but Jesus is speaking to Him and saying, you are a genuine Israelite…you are not someone who is duplicitous and deceitful…someone who honors God with their lips alone…

Nathanael is taken back as it seems Jesus has just looked right through Him…and made a core declaration of who he is without ever meeting him….

• and he asks How do you know me…

• Jesus says he saw him by the fig tree before Phillip even came to get him….

• this is too much…Jesus is the one who sees into the heart of man, and also see’s man physically where ever they are….

• Nathanael recognizes this as a demonstration of power, and responds…in a very genuine way…Rabbi, you are the son of God, the king of Israel…

Assuming these men have read their Psalms as we have already seen they are referencing Moses and the Prophets…going back to Psalm 2…we begin to see why Nathanael may have emphasized what He did….Psalm 2:6 says…

1. Ps 2:6 - “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” ⁷ “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ⁸ ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ⁹ ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ” ¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. ¹¹ Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. ¹² Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

As an Israelite…It would be exciting to think about this passage, that the son of God is here, the king of Israel is here and then assume he is going to immediately do some earthen-wear breaking…and Rome is a ugly vase that we should smash….Israel was looking for a political and military ruler…but they were going to receive the suffering servant who came to defeat the great enemy of sin and death that separates us from our God…and separates us from His presence in Heaven.

…and that is why the last witness is most important…you see people are invited to come and see….the invitation and eye witness testimony of others is important…but ultimately each person much wrestle with what the Lord says about Himself…so lastly we turn to…

The witness of the Son of Man (v50-51)

Throughout this whole section…Jesus has been referred to with many names…Lamb of God, Rabbi, Messiah (Christ), The Prophet Moses wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Joseph, Son of God, King of Israel….

But now we get to see the term Jesus chooses to use about himself…He is all that was said about him…but He is so much more…He is the son of Man. That is His fav. Term for himself…it doesn’t carry with it all the man centered view of just an earthly king to defeat Rom…but something much more…

• If the son of God emphasized His deity…Messiah His anointed purpose…the son of man emphasizes His humanity…but even more than just his humanity…His divine rule over humanity…Daniel 7:13 is a passage you can read about the son of Man…the one who is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, from every language, might serve Him…He will have an everlasting dominion…His kingdom will never pass away…

He is the God man ..the only one who can rightly rule and not just rule, but restore the world to their creator.

He chooses to testify about himself by referencing an OT passage…namely the

1. 1. Angels ascending and descending on Jacob’s ladder

Jacob was renamed Israel…and all Israel would revere the Patriarch who the nation is named after…the one who received the Promises of God in the presence of God…Jacob is a big deal…His testimony about God and the promises of God is a big deal…

1. Genesis 28:11–17 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Jacobs staircase emphasized God’s presence. He renames the Place Bethel, the House of God…The angels going up and down indicate the presence of God coming down to earth…and the gateway of heaven where all the families of the earth would be blessed is in sight…this is a big deal….Jesus takes that reference and takes it up another notch…

The angels are now…..

1. 1. Angels ascending and descending on the Son of man

1. John 1:50-51 ⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Nathanael is amazed that Jesus saw him without seeing him…Jesus says that He is going to bear witness to something greater than that…The Word became Flesh and Jesus is the very bridge to Heaven…

God has come down…and made a bridge to heaven through the son of man….instead of man trying to build a tower to heaven on the basis of good works…God has made a bridge, a stairway that we may have life through the person and work of Jesus…the one who came from heaven to make a bridge to heaven…

John the Baptist later testifies further about the one from heaven and His testimony….

1. John 3:31–36 31 “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 “He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

We have eyewitnesses that affirm who Jesus is, what He did, and most importantly His resurrection….

• We are going to walk through the book of John and see the signs and wonders that these eye witnesses were there to experience and record and share with the world….

We may not be eye witnesses, but we are witnesses…

• we believe the eye witnesses and we have the responsibility to share the good news with others…

• we bear witness to the work of God in our lives…How he miraculously rescued us and moved us from death to life…transferred us from darkness into the kingdom of His beloved son…

We are to be strengthened in our faith because of the eye witnesses, and from that place of confidence…we are to be witnesses that share the good news with others.

The Lord is inviting all to come and see and believe in the Son of Man so that they may have life….eternal life…gateway to heaven life…and that life is only in His name.

Lets pray