John 2

Chapter 2. Jesus, the Son of GodWe have already seen that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, respectively, present the picture of Christ as the King, the Servant and the Son of Man. True to the special symbols of the four gospels, the soaring eagle represents the Master in His highest aspect as the Son of God. No other was fitted so well to unveil the inmost heart and unfold the divine glory of the Master as he who had leaned on His bosom until he had felt the very throbbings of His heart. Both in his gospel and in his Epistles, we have the very loftiest revealings of the character of Jesus, and the profoundest spiritual truth. It is the heart that best beholds God, and love is the true element of vision. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). Hence, John, the apostle of love, was especially enabled to know and reveal the Son of God. The Eternal Word (John 1:1-2) Four great truths are here taught respecting the primeval glory of Jesus. First, His distinct personality. The Greek word, translated “the same” in the second verse, literally means “He Himself,” and is the strongest distinctive expression in that language. The same strong idea of personality is expressed in the words twice repeated, “with God.” Even before His incarnation, even before there was any creature in the universe, He was a living person, distinct from and yet one with the eternal Father. These passages completely contradict the heretical view of the Trinity entertained by some, that the divine persons are just various aspects of God. In this passage, the Father and the Son are both represented as distinct individuals, as much as any being can be. Deity “The Word was God” (1 John 1:1). The Word possesses all the attributes that God possesses. The ordinary form of expression is more forcible than it is possible to represent in the translation of the Greek tense, the imperfect expresses as far as human language can, “the notion of absolute existence.” This is the great fundamental truth which the Gospel of John develops and unfolds. He simply states it here, and afterwards bears witness to it. Still stronger, if possible, is his statement in the closing words of his epistle (1 John 5:20): “He is the true God and eternal life.” Eternity “In the beginning.” This expression reverts back to Genesis 1:1, and there it means the moment when the created universe came into existence. At this moment John declares Jesus Christ already was, and therefore had been in the previous eternity before any created existence had come into being. It implies His preexistence. This is the truth which the Apostle Paul expresses so forcibly in Colossians 1:17, “He is before all things,” and again, “the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15), literally: “born before the whole creation.” The Word His relation to the Father, as the Image and Revealer of God. This is expressed by the term “the Word.” The Greek term, logos, was a familiar word in philosophical discussion in the days of John, both as understood in these discussions and as the word itself naturally means. It fittingly expresses the truth that Jesus Christ is the great Revealer of the Father, conveying to us God’s highest and kindest thought, and exhibiting to us His nature and character. It is the same truth elsewhere expressed by John himself: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18); and also in the later epistles of the New Testament: “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15); “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3). What a beautiful conception it gives us of the mission of Jesus. An ancient conqueror held in bondage the beautiful wife of his enemy. Again and again the unhappy prince had sent his petition for the return of her whom he loved better than his life. The conqueror sent no written reply, but one day, who should appear at the gates of the prince, but the captive wife herself, bearing this response: “The king has sent me to be myself the answer to your petitions.” She was the personal word that satisfied all his desire as no language could. So in answer to all man’s questionings and cries, and all the heart’s deep needs, God speaks to us. God does not speak to us merely words of truth and promise, but sends the living answer, Jesus Himself, as the one great all-expressive Word, which contains in it the substance of all other words and thoughts. He is to us, not only the realization of God’s purity, power and wisdom, but the expression of God’s love. The Creating Word John 1:3-4This also leads us back to the first chapter of Genesis and the record of creation. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). This was the personal Word, and by Him all things were made. This is amplified by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:16—“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” And if the literal construction of these words is “in Him were all things created,” it would seem to teach that the material universe was really involved in Christ’s own eternal being, and that He is its essential Head; and perhaps His own incarnation is in some sense connected with this thought. The last link in the glorious chain, which unites the universe with the throne, is the person of Jesus, combining of Himself both the Creator and the creation. Christ’s relation to nature is a most practical truth. As the maker of our spirits and the framer of our bodies, He is the true Supply of all the needs that He has created, and the true Restorer of our wrecked holiness and happiness. He is the true Head of every human life, and apart from Him our being is abnormal and must be miserably lost. What an emphasis it gives to His humility to think that He who made all worlds and beings, should lie as an infant on Mary’s bosom. Christ’s Glory in the Old Testament (John 1:4-5; John 1:9-10) These words refer to Christ’s relation to the rational life and reason of man, and God’s manifested Presence in the Old Testament revelations, which He made successfully under the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations. He is “the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9), in the sense of giving reason and intelligence to the human race. And “he was in the world” (John 1:10), not only in the rational nature which He gave to men, but especially in the manifestations of His will which He made to the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets. And yet, with a very few exceptions, “the world did not recognize him” (John 1:10). The very intelligence which He gave to the human mind was prostituted to intellectual pride and idolatrous worship. The successive revelations made to Abraham, Moses and the prophets were all connected with the person of Christ, the great Angel of the Covenant, whom we can trace through all the stages of former dispensations, and He is ever recognized in these revelations as the Son of God. The Incarnate Word John 1:14First we have the nature and fact of the incarnation in the literal translation of the Greek word, “He became flesh.” This denotes true and actual humanity; not merely a body, but also a soul. There were not two distinct persons, however; it was the same person who was the Eternal Word, who became a visible, tangible human being, possessing both natures, but combining them in one person. It is not said He became a man, but He became man; in the widest sense “He is the Son of Man.” The exact meaning of this now becomes more vivid in the light of various heresies which have arisen in the Church. Among these might be mentioned Apollinarianism, which teaches that the divine Word took on a human body, but not a human soul; Nestorianism, which teaches that He had two personalities, both a human and a divine; Eutichianism, which really makes Christ have a third nature through the incarnation; and Gnosticism, which represents His body as simply an illusion and not really belonging to the Christ, and other less noted errors. It is needless to speak concerning the process and method of the mystery of the Incarnation. It is enough for faith to know that the power of the Holy Spirit united the nature of God with the child of Mary in one divine and human personality, which includes humanity in its widest sense and links Him with every race, sex and age, as the real Brother and Head. One of the latest errors, respecting Christ, is that of so-called Christian Science, which denies the existence of matter, and therefore, the physical and material existence of Jesus Christ, regarding Him as merely a principle of rational mind. This is the heresy of which the Apostle John has said, “Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:2-3). Second, the human life of Christ on earth. He “made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). Literally, this means, “He tabernacled among us.” This describes His earthly life, which was as human as His birth, and which constantly manifested not only His humanity, but also His divine glory. There is an allusion here to the Hebrew tabernacle in the wilderness as a type of Jesus in His person and life. Third, the manifested glory of the incarnate Christ. All through His earthly life it is witnessed by the apostles: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). His whole life was a constant testimony of His divinity. The term glory, here applied to Christ’s earthly life, is also an allusion to the glory of God manifested in the tabernacle and temple (Exodus 16:10; Exodus 40:34; Ezekiel 1:28, etc.). The Only Begotten Another term is here introduced for the first time, which we find frequently repeated afterwards in the New Testament: “The only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). This expression denotes the filial relation. The Son is in some ineffable sense the effulgence and offspring of the Father’s life, and yet of equal and co-eternal glory. The term also specifies this relationship as peculiar to Christ, and absolutely without parallel. No other is a son of God in the sense in which He is, except, of course, His people, who through their union with Him are received into the fellowship of His very Sonship. Two other expressions are used to characterize the manifested glory of His life, namely, “grace and truth” (John 1:1-4). These express the two great ideas that run through all the writings of John so constantly, namely, “love and light.” Grace is the expression of God’s love, and truth denotes the light which He came to shed on the destinies of men. Thus the incarnate Word proves His own deity by the constant manifestation of His glory through His gracious words and works, and His marvelous revelation of truth and light through His own teachings and example. The word truth literally means reality, and expresses the idea that, in contrast with the mere types and shadows of the law, Christ is the actual fulfillment of the promises. The Witness of John (John 1:6; John 1:8; John 1:19; John 1:30; John 3:22-34) Next, we have the witness of the great forerunner introduced. His advent is described in impressive language as one sent from God, and yet, in sharp distinction from the glorious person John the Baptist came to identify, he is called “a man” (John 1:6). He was especially called from the priestly line to represent the official witness of Judaism to the Son of God, and to gather up the testimony of all the prophets. In his own last message, he came not to call attention to himself or his work, but for a witness of Christ, the true Light, and not merely that Israel might receive her Messiah, but with a wider scope, that “through him all men might believe” (John 1:7). John’s testimony involves: a. The witness to the preexistence of Christ. “He was before me” (John 1:30). This necessarily implies His divinity, for, humanly speaking, John was born before Jesus. Therefore, if Christ was before Him, He must have had a prior and therefore divine existence. b. Not only His preexistence, but His preeminence. “He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie…. [He] has surpassed me” (John 1:27, John 1:30). John clearly recognizes Him as possessing the divinity and glory of the eternal God. c. John recognizes Him as the Son of God (John 1:34). d. John recognizes Him as the giver of the Holy Spirit—“he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). His relation to the other Person of the Trinity is as definite as to the Father. There could be no higher testimony to the glory of Jesus than to give Him His place of honor in connection with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, through whom the light of revelation had come, and was still to come from God to man. e. John testifies of Jesus, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); thus recognizing His sacrificial work and priestly character as the atoning Savior for lost men. Then, respecting his own ministry, John describes himself as simply a voice, nothing in himself, but simply as a messenger declaring the words of another prior witness of the true object of man’s hope and affections. How beautiful the picture of his humility, and how glorious the vision he brings of Jesus as the eternal Son of God, the Savior of sinful men and the source of the blessed Holy Spirit, through whom we receive the light and life of His great redemption. The Witness of the Holy Spirit (John 1:32) This was the visible descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, in the form of a dove, and was designed to be an open and manifest testimony to His Messiahship and divinity, that no one could gainsay. It was also, as we learn from the other evangelists, accompanied by the voice of God proclaiming, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). To John himself this sign had already been promised as the special token of the Messiah. The voice of God had whispered to him, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). This is ever still the highest testimony that God can give to any of His servants. The same Holy Spirit is the witness of Christianity by His unceasing manifestations of grace and power in the ministry of God’s servants and the lives of His children. The form in which the Holy Spirit came to Christ, as a dove, suggests the ideas of gentleness, peace and love as the special attributes of His life and ministry. The Witness of the First Disciples (John 1:37-49) We have here the testimonies of Christ’s earliest followers. Some of them had already been the disciples of John, and at his testimony they left their former master and followed Jesus. Like all true disciples, they began to testify. The first witness was Andrew, and his testimony was first given to his own brother, Simon. “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41), was his glad message. Simon, in turn, comes also to the Savior, and becomes henceforth His boldest witness; and the next day Philip is called and at once follows the Master, and immediately becomes himself a witness to his friend Nathaniel. “We have found,” he says, “the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Nathaniel’s conservative spirit is disposed to question the ardor of his younger friend, but his doubts only serve to emphasize his own testimony, when a little later he meets the Master himself, and under the searching glance of His omniscient eye, recognizes immediately His divine and Messianic character and exclaims, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (John 1:49). Christ’s Witness to Himself (John 1:50-51) Jesus replies by appropriating to Himself the sublime symbol of Jacob’s ladder, of which, perhaps, Nathaniel at the time had been reading, and representing Himself as the way of access between earth and heaven, through whom henceforth the supernatural and stupendous manifestations of God are to be made known to His people. He adopts in His reply to Nathaniel a new title, “the Son of Man” (John 1:51), which, while it carries with it the sense of divine majesty and His superhuman dignity, chiefly represents Him in His relations to humanity as the Brother, Redeemer and Head of the race, with which He has forever become linked in His incarnation. This may, therefore, be called His own witness to Himself, and it fittingly closes the series of testimonies contained in this wonderful chapter, The Word, the Only Begotten of the Father, the Light, the Life of man, the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Israel, and now, the Son of Man. The Witness of His Works (John 2:1-11) This miracle is recorded only by John, and the closing sentence connects it with the manifestation of His divine power and glory. “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (John 2:11). It was designed, therefore, as a special manifestation of His divine glory. Its deeper spiritual teachings we will afterwards dwell more fully upon. Here it is enough to notice, it is God’s first witness through the works of His beloved Son. His mother seems to have expected some remarkable exhibition of His power, and yet He is most careful to guard Himself from being misunderstood even in His relations to her. His words, “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” (John 2:4), have placed an infinite gulf between the glory of the Son of God and even that blessed woman whom superstition has set up in a place of equal honor. The force of the testimony is enhanced by the statement of its influence on His disciples, for in consequence of this miracle they believed on Him, so that their testimony is really added to the miracle itself. So far as this special miracle is concerned, we may notice, first, the power manifested in this instance over organic matter, where there was no element of life to act spontaneously, and it must therefore have been the direct result of omnipotence. Secondly, the symbolical ideas suggested by the transformation of a lower into a higher substance, foreshadowing the character of His work as bringing the larger and richer blessings of the gospel to take the place of the old dispensation. Thirdly, the tender sympathy with human affections and joys which it suggested, and the great fact that the ministry of Jesus was to be a ministry of love, and to raise His people to all gladness as suggested by the marriage feast. His Second Miracle (John 2:13-17) This instance has already been referred to at length in the other gospels. It is well to link it with the chain of testimony to Christ’s divine character, of which it formed a part. It was the unanswerable token to the officials of Judaism of Christ’s authority over the temple and the institutions of Moses, which they did not attempt to resist or dispute the justice and righteousness of His stern judgment on their abuse of their sacred trust. The Witness of His Own Death and Resurrection (John 2:18-22) The Jews having asked Him for a sign of His authority as a teacher and divine messenger, He gives them a hint in the language of a symbolism which faith might easily understand and this token, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). Their traditional ideas could only interpret His words in their literal sense; but His disciples afterwards remembered that He had thus announced, in the very beginning, His death and resurrection as the supreme evidence of His being the true Messiah, the Son of God. This is still, and ever shall be, God’s highest seal to His beloved Son, and the cornerstone of Christian evidence, declared to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). The Witness of the Common People (John 2:23-25) The miracles already referred to were followed at this time by many similar exhibitions of His power and the result was that large numbers of the people had accepted Him as the Messiah; but that conviction which comes from the evidence of signs can never be fully depended upon; so we read that Jesus did not value greatly the adherence of even this multitude. He did not commit Himself to them, because He knew what was in man; still, their testimony to Him had its place and value. How unsuitable must have been the evidences of His authority and claims. There is undoubtedly an allusion here in the very meaning of the words employed in the superficial character to the faith of the people. It was rather the result of wonder at His astonishing power, than of a personal confidence in, and devotion to Him. The Witness of the Rulers (John 3:1-13) Here we find a leading Rabbi coming to Him, timidly but honestly, and expressing without reserve the confidence of the class he represented in the new Master that had come among them. “We know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2). This is a very strong testimony, and yet the Lord Himself saw in it its essential defect. It wholly lacked a deep spiritual knowledge of Christ and His teachings, and the most essential principles of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, Christ at once ignores the confidence of Nicodemus, and presses him to unfold the true meaning of His work and mission to the wondering Pharisee. We are not told of the immediate result, but we know that a few months later this man was not ashamed to stand up in the very midst of the highest council of the nation and claim for Christ a fair hearing (John 7:50), and still later, to go to the very governor himself with Joseph and claim His body for honorable burial (John 19:39); so that the witness of Nicodemus grew at length to be one of the grandest testimonies which the Lord ever received. John’s Second Testimony to Christ (John 3:25-26) Christ had now become fully established as a teacher, and some of John’s disciples, jealous of their master’s honor, came to him to report and complain about the success of his rival. The spirit of the Baptist shines out again in still more beautiful and heavenly light, as he modestly takes his true place at the feet of the greater Master and bears a still higher testimony to His preeminence. He reminds them that no man is anything in himself and can receive nothing except what is given him from heaven. His position, he again reminds them, is not one of any personal consequence or importance, but simply that of a witness to another in whose glory he is glad to be lost sight of. He is but the friend of the bridegroom and does not come to absorb the attention of the bride, or even the spectators, but simply to wait upon the bridegroom and rejoice in the greater love and honor which He receives. It is necessary, therefore, that the more successful his ministry becomes, the more prominent his Master will be, and the more will he pass out of sight. The very conditions of his ministry are such that “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). Like the morning star, he is the herald of the dawn, and the rising sun buries his light in a brighter effulgence. He then proceeds to give a most distinct and excellent witness to the person and glory of Jesus. a. John declares that Jesus comes from above, and afterwards explains this to be from heaven. b. He says that Jesus is above all, referring not only to His preeminence above all beings, but His sovereign authority over all things. c. John declares that the things which Jesus testifies are not through the witness of another, but are the results of His own direct knowledge; what He has seen and heard, that He testifies. d. He declares that all who receive His testimony thus bear witness that it is true. This must mean, therefore, that His testimony is God’s testimony, and that He is God. The figurative expression, “Has set his seal” (John 3:33), expresses very strongly the faith with which we should receive, the testimony of Christ; not only assenting to it with our mind, but committing our entire being to it by the most solemn acts and sanctions of faith. e. Next, he declares that God has sent Christ, in a special sense not true of any other messenger—“For the one whom God has sent” (John 3:34). Of John it was said that he was a man sent from God; but the meaning here is stronger. This Messenger was sent by God, in a most direct sense, to represent Himself, and the words which He speaks are the very words of God. f. He possesses the Holy Spirit without measure. This is not true or possible of any finite being, and therefore it is an attestation of Christ’s divinity. “God gives [Him] the Spirit without limit” (John 3:34). All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him (Colossians 2:9); all, including both the nature of the Father and the infinite resources of the Holy Spirit. g. John further declares that Christ is the special object of the Father’s love, and that He “has placed everything in his hands” (John 3:35). To Him has been committed the government, the fullness of the divine attributes, and the administration of the whole plan of redemption, and even the judgment of all men in the last days. This is parallel to the expression in Hebrews 1:1-2 : “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things.” h. In consequence of this high commission and investiture of authority and power, He has therefore become the only Savior of sinful men, and their destiny depends upon their reception or rejection of Him: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). Witness of the Samaritans (John 4:28-30) The testimony of these people is the more remarkable because of their traditional prejudice and jealousy with respect to everything Jewish. It is the more emphatic because it was perfectly spontaneous and called forth by no great miracle on the part of Christ or testimony to Him from others, but wholly elicited by the moral and spiritual influence of His presence and character, and His simple conversation with the Samaritan woman and her countrymen. This represents the instinctive testimony of the human heart, and even of the sinful heart to the Savior and the gospel when brought into living contact. There is perhaps no more remarkable or beautiful evidence of the divinity of Jesus than the consciousness He impressed upon this poor woman, as He quietly talked with her, that He was the Searcher and Creator of her heart as well as its Savior. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). The same impression was produced upon the hearts of the rest of the Samaritans: “We no longer believe,” they said, “just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). Something like this is often the result of the first contact of the gospel with heathen hearts, and the same conviction always comes to the converted soul in the moment of its first coming to the real Savior. It knows by evidence which nothing could shake and nothing could add to, that He is indeed the Christ and the divine Christ. Therefore, to every soul that knows the Savior personally, this is the supreme evidence of Christianity, its own personal experience and acquaintance with Jesus. Christ’s Second Galilean Miracle (John 4:46-54) There are some things peculiar about this miracle. In His conversation with the nobleman, the Master implies that there is a danger even that the signs and miracles by which He has already attested His character and commission will prove a snare to those of feeble faith, and that the evidence of the people will be so based upon these, that they will not be able to believe without constant signs. Therefore, in this case, he refuses to go down to Capernaum to heal the dying boy, but requires the father to believe without any evidence, except the naked word of Jesus, that his son is really healed by that simple word. The father’s faith proves equal to the great demand, and he immediately departs, to find to his unutterable joy, his child restored and his servants on their way to meet him with the glad tidings. The faith of this man was a higher testimony, therefore, to Christ than the evidence which had hitherto been based upon His visible miracles. The fact also that this healing was produced without His personal presence, and simply by His naked word, as it traversed the intervening space and commanded the forces of nature and disease to obey His almighty will, enhanced its weight. Christ’s Appeal to the Testimony of His Works (John 5:17-31) This testimony immediately followed one of the mightiest of His miracles, namely, the healing of the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. It had been followed by a bitter persecution on the part of the Jewish rulers, especially on account of Christ’s ignoring the claims of the Sabbath by healing this man on that day. The Lord vindicates His work by the lofty claim that His works are coordinate with His Father’s and of equal authority. The Father works on the Sabbath day by sustaining the material creation, and Christ claims the equal right to work in the spiritual world for the relief of His people. This was Christ’s own highest testimony hitherto to Himself, and they readily understood it to mean the claim of an absolute equality with God. This Jesus fully acknowledges in the discourse which follows. He states that His works are in absolute and uninterrupted unity with the Father and are of equal power and glory, including even the resurrection of the dead, the future judgment and the quickening of the spiritually dead in the present time. In consequence of this He dares to claim what they consider blasphemy, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father (John 5:23). Later in the 36th verse, Christ again applies to the witness of His works. “The very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. Christ’s Appeal to the Witness of John (John 5:32-35) They had already received John as a divine messenger, and now the Lord appeals to their consistency and the necessity of receiving John’s witness concerning Himself, if they were to be consistent. At the same time He bears a very high testimony Himself to John, as “a lamp that burned and gave light” (John 5:35), and adds, “I know that his testimony about me is valid” (John 5:32). At the same time, He does not need the witness of John, but appeals directly to His Father’s testimony and the evidence of His works, only referring to John as a witness, for their sakes, and because they readily received him as one of their own prophets. “Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved” (John 5:34). Christ’s Appeal to His Father’s Witness John 5:36-38In these words Christ appeals to the testimony which the Father had given at His baptism with His own living voice, and thus implies that the fact that they did not receive Him is the strongest evidence that they are not even the people of God, and they do not know the Father’s voice or believe His word. Christ’s Appeal to the Scriptures (John 5:39-47) Their very own Scriptures, He tells them, contain the clearest intimation of His coming and character. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me…. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. (John 5:39, John 5:46) The Mosaic system was a beautiful and instructive type and prophecy of Jesus, and we cannot understand even the institutions and teachings of Moses apart from the gospel. They had wholly misunderstood their own Scriptures, and thus rejecting Christ, even Moses would be a witness against them. Thus we triumphantly sum up the entire series of testimonies by which God has attested His divine character and Messianic claims, and over all might be appropriately recorded the verse already quoted, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). The Testimony of the Multitude (John 6:11-15) This is the testimony of the multitude who had been fed miraculously by the multiplied bread and fishes. This is one of Christ’s most impressive miracles, showing His absolute command over all the laws and forces of nature, and the scale upon which it was wrought was so magnificent that it left the profoundest impression on the multitudes who witnessed it. So much so, indeed, that in the enthusiasm of the moment they impetuously determined to compel Him to become the leader of a great popular movement and allow them to make Him their actual king. Of course, this was but a superficial, and even a selfish movement. He knew their hearts better than they themselves did, and a few days afterwards declared to them, “You are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26). The Greek word in this last sentence denotes the grossest, the most animal satisfaction. They wanted a king that could gratify their earthly desires and give them immunity from laboring and suffering, but had no appreciation of Christ’s higher character and teaching. At the same time, their testimony on this occasion was sincere and spontaneous, as far as they knew themselves, and bears witness to the power of Christ and the influence of His mighty works. The Testimony of Nature (John 6:18-21) This sublime miracle is also recorded by the other evangelists, but here it is added as an emphatic testimony to the omnipotent power of Christ, that the moment He entered the ship, immediately it “reached the shore where they were heading” (John 6:21). Matthew and Mark tell us that the wind also ceased. The elements of nature recognized their Master’s touch, and not only gave Him a pathway upon the stormy waves, but also hushed their voices in instant subservience to His will, and even space and distance were annihilated at His coming, and the little vessel dropped into her haven without a rippling wave or disturbing element. These were both signs as well as miracles, and designed to prepare the hearts of His disciples to understand that power that can work independently of all human means and agencies and can either use or ignore second causes and material things in the fulfillment of His will. The Testimony of Peter (John 6:66-69) The feeding of the five thousand had been followed by the remarkable discussion of the following Sabbath in the synagogue of Capernaum. In this address He had attempted to unfold the deeper meaning of the miracles and to reveal Himself as the true source and sustenance of His people’s life, both for soul and body, under the figure of the Living Bread. These profound and beautiful teachings were met by captious questionings and cavilings on the part of the Pharisees, and at the close of His address the greater portion of His Galilean followers became offended and disgusted, and many of His disciples, we are told, went back and walked no more with Him. For a moment the Master seems to have almost doubted the chosen Twelve; at least, He gave them the opportunity of making their own choice. Turning to them He asks, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” (John 6:67). The question is immediately answered by the impetuous Peter in a noble testimony and confession of Christ, which shows that although they dimly understood as yet the full meaning of His teachings, yet they felt in their deepest hearts that these teachings were the true satisfaction and life of their own hearts, and that He was indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God. This beautiful testimony comprehends both parts of the combined witness which John’s Gospel was intended to unfold, namely, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and there is life through His name. Peter recognizes Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and also the Author of life eternal. The words of His confession are exceedingly positive and emphatic. It is not a mere opinion, but “We believe and know” (John 6:69), he says. Literally, the original means, “We have believed, and have come to know.” It was more than even believing. It had risen to a spiritual consciousness of and acquaintance with Himself, which had rendered doubt henceforth impossible. Thus his identification of Christ as the Messiah is equally explicit, that Christ is the Christ of prophecy and of Jewish expectation. The true reading of the next clause seems to be “the Holy One of God.” This is the form found in the earliest and best manuscripts. This would indicate even more strongly the apostle’s conception of His higher nature, as one who had come to earth unstained by human sin and possessing the essential nature of the infinitely holy God. The Witness of Every Human Conscience (John 7:14-17) Jesus here announces the true touchstone by which His teachings, and all others, may be tested. The proof is in the practice. “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:17). The best way to be convinced of the truth of Christianity is to test it. Any man who will take the simple and holy teachings of Jesus and honestly practice them according to the light that God gives, shall have an answering witness in his own experience which will leave no doubt of their truth. In trying this test, we must, of course, follow the Master’s own directions and begin at the beginning with a life of sincere dependence and simple trust, and then follow it by implicit and loving obedience. He who does this will always find the result in his own inward peace and happiness, and the fruits of lasting blessing in his life and influence. Many of the most remarkable examples of Christian faith and usefulness in the church today have been saved from utter atheism by simply following this direction. This, after all, is the strongest evidence of Christianity. The Testimony of the Common People at Jerusalem (John 7:25-40) The events described in this chapter transpired at Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. Day after day the Savior had abundantly taught in the very midst of His enemies, until the multitudes were amazed at His fearless boldness, and the Pharisees paralyzed and afraid to arrest or hinder Him. His wonderful teaching reached the very depths of many hearts, and set all deeply questioning. Some asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” (John 7:15). “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” (John 7:31). Some said, “He is a good man”; others, “No, he deceives the people” (John 7:12). Even the doubters were impressed with His courage and said, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ?” (John 7:25-26). Many at length dared to say, “Surely this man is the Prophet” (John 7:40), and the Pharisees saw that their hold upon the people was waning, and that His audacious courage and wonderful teachings were winning the hearts of the multitude, and that something must be done instantly, at least to show a consistent front on their part. The Officers Sent to Arrest Him (John 7:32; John 7:44-46) Alarmed at the influence which Christ was gaining and the effects of their own inaction, the Pharisees at length ventured to attempt Christ’s arrest, and sent a body of officers with authority for that purpose. It was while they were lying in wait for Him that Christ delivered the sublime message in the last days of the feast, recorded in John 7:37-39. We can imagine something of the effect of this lofty eloquence and its striking fitness to the occasion. Doubtless there was much added which was not recorded, and filled by the situation with a thousand details of tender and impressive meaning. At least the effect upon the officers was like that of some magic spell. As they listened they forgot all about their purpose in coming, and when they awoke from the spell of His eloquence and found themselves in the presence of the Master, the only excuse they could give for their failure was the admiring testimony, “No one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:46). Christ’s Own Testimony to Himself (John 8:13-30) For the second time the Lord now bears witness to Himself, and appeals to His Father’s witness as confirming it. These two witnesses, He claims, are sufficient, even according to their own law, to establish His authority. Their inability to understand this testimony was no evidence of its failure, but was simply the result of their own ignorance of the Father as well as the Son. All through this chapter the Lord lays bare their absolute blindness of heart, even to the meaning of their own institutions. “If God were your Father,” He says, “you would love me, for I came from God” (John 8:42). “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (John 8:47). Even Abraham, whom they called their father, beheld in the distance His coming day and rejoiced in the prospect of it; but they, who called themselves the children of Abraham, and the children of God, are even trying to kill the very One whom Abraham worshiped and whom God recognized as His dear Son. Their true father, therefore, is neither God nor Abraham, but the devil, who has been a liar and murderer from the beginning, and who is now prompting them in their unbelief and murderous hate toward Him. The Testimony of the Blind Man (John 9:8-33) This miracle was intended to illustrate the special teaching of Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles, that He was the Light of the world. As such, He gives sight to this poor sufferer, and afterwards opens his inner vision to know the truth and to behold His own divine glory. The miracle of his healing was enough to convince the blind man that Jesus was the Son of God; but to the Pharisees it only became another occasion for captiousness and questioning. With his simple common sense, the blind man was enabled to comprehend the doubts of Christ’s enemies and he treated them with undisguised impatience and contempt. When they came to question him he frankly told them the wonderful story of his healing, and added with a decisive confidence, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25). As they question him still more, he sarcastically asks, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” (John 9:27). And then as they heap abuse on him and his Master, he gives way to his utter astonishment at these would-be teachers: Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. (John 9:30-33) The second occasion of his plain speaking led to his expulsion from the synagogue with harshness and cruelty. The Lord Jesus, however, finds him, and now gives him a still deeper revelation of Himself as the Son of God. With the same simple frankness with which he believed before, he now accepts the higher truth, and falling at His feet in reverential worship, he becomes, in a deeper and higher sense, a disciple of the Lord Jesus, whom he has so nobly confessed. Christ’s Third Testimony to Himself (John 10:22-39) This is Christ’s most emphatic and explicit witness. His language is intended to be unequivocal and to claim absolute equality with God. This is rendered indisputable by the interpretation which they put upon His words, and which He did not contradict. They evidently believed Him to mean equality with the Father, and denounced it as blasphemy, and so attempted to stone Him for His profanity. Had they been wrong in this idea, honesty would have compelled Him to contradict or correct them. On the contrary, He repeats more strongly His previous claims and calls upon His Father’s witness, through His works, to the truth of His assumption. He says, Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. (John 10:37-38) The Testimony of the Resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:41-45) This stupendous miracle was God’s most signal testimony to His Son, excepting only Christ’s own resurrection. It was not only a triumph over death, but over the corruption of the grave. It was as stupendous in power as the creation of the human race, and it left no doubt of the divinity of the Christ on every unprejudiced mind. Of course, His enemies were perverted by prejudice and determined to resist the effect of such evidence, and acknowledged, “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him” (John 11:47-48). The Testimony of Caiaphas (John 11:47-52) This was a very remarkable witness by a high priest of the Jewish order, uttered in the ecclesiastical council, the Sanhedrin. We are told that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit and not his own thought or wisdom. He declared that it was expedient “that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one” (John 11:51-52). This extraordinary testimony, summing up, as it did, the whole spirit of prophecy and the essential facts of redemption, is one of the sublime examples of the way in which God can use even wicked men as His instruments. Henceforth it gave a spirit of religious inspiration to the wicked and malicious Pharisees, under cover of which they henceforth prosecuted with double diligence their murderous intent. The Testimony of Mary (John 12:3-7) This was the witness of a loving heart to its Lord, and it was not only the witness of love, but also of the most farsighted and illuminated faith. Mary saw in Him not only her Lord, but also her dying Savior, and anointed His body for burial before the cross and the tomb. She perhaps was the only one of His disciples who really understood the meaning of His life and death. It was therefore accepted by Him with peculiar delight, and the odor of the ointment has filled heaven and earth ever since. The Witness of the Nation to Jesus (John 12:12-19) This popular outburst of patriotic enthusiasm, in which the whole nation was for a time united, was intended as a divine witness to His Messiahship and as a type of the time when He shall be welcomed to the throne of Israel by the race that crucified and rejected Him. The Psalms they sang, the ascriptions they uttered, were all connected with the highest hopes of Judaism and the most sacred and divine worship; and no wonder that the Pharisees were filled with consternation, and exclaimed, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (John 12:19). The Witness of the Gentiles (John 12:20-25) The coming of these Greeks to Jesus represented the reaching out of the heart of the Gentile nations toward God, and the deep hunger in every human heart crying out inarticulately for that which only Christ can satisfy, and the deep need of humanity is here expressed, “We would like to see Jesus” (John 12:21). Not always do they know their own need, but when He is truly lifted up before them, all true hearts recognize and receive Him. To Him, on the eve of His rejection, this incident was a prophecy of the time when He will draw all men unto Him. Even already we have seen this gloriously anticipated, from time to time, in the history of missions, in the strange turning of the heathen heart to the gospel and the crucified Savior when simply and truthfully presented. The savages of Greenland resisted for years all the moral teachings of the Moravian missionaries, but when they began to tell the story of Jesus and read the third chapter of John, their hearts were completely broken down, and the gospel became its own witness to their deeper consciousness. There is something in Jesus that finds a response in the hearts when the barriers of ignorance and prejudice are removed; but there is no more sublime witness to the truth of Christianity than its adaptation to the conscious needs of our lost humanity. The Voice From Heaven (John 12:27-33) This was the third direct witness of the Father’s voice to His Son. The first had been given at His baptism, the second on the Mount of Transfiguration. This was distinctly audible to the people, although perhaps, none of them understood it explicitly. To some it seemed like a peal of thunder, to others an angel’s voice. Jesus declared that it was designed as the Father’s special testimony for their sakes. It is remarkable that this glorious testimony to Jesus followed immediately His own profoundest declaration with reference to His humiliation and sufferings. He had fully recognized and expressed His great mission of suffering death as the essential condition of His ultimate glory. The kernel of wheat must die before it can bring forth fruit, and He must reach His throne by way of the cross; nor He alone, but all His followers too. For a moment He shrinks back from the awful vision and cries out in His shrinking human consciousness, “Father, save me from this hour,” but instantly rises into victory, and adds, “Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27-28), thus accepting the cross and all its shame and consecrating Himself to the great sacrifice. “Father, glorify your name!” Then it is that the testimony of heaven seals His consecration and witnesses to His acceptance, and the voice of God proclaims, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again” (John 12:28). Jesus accepts the testimony and rises to meet it in the lofty assurance of faith and victory. “Now,” He cries, “is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (John 12:31-32). A little later in this chapter (John 12:47-50), Jesus refers again to His Father’s witness and solemnly reminds His hearers that rejection of His message is also the rejection of His Father, and shall be the witness against them in the last day. The Witness of Isaiah (John 12:37-41) The Lord quotes this verse to explain the unbelief of so many of the people, showing them it was simply what Isaiah, the ancient prophet, had foretold, and referring especially to two chapters in which that most illustrious of Judah’s prophets had borne witness of His sufferings and glory. The first quotation is from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, which is the vision of the Messiah’s sufferings and humiliation. The other reference, in John 12:40, is to the sixth chapter of Isaiah and the sublime vision of the heavenly glory contained therein, which the evangelist tells us had special reference to Jesus Himself, and which is manifestly a vision of Jehovah in the midst of all the majesty of His heavenly throne. To ascribe such glory to a mortal would indeed be the height of profanity. Christ’s Own Consciousness (John 13:3) There is a profound, subtle force in this verse. The very humiliation of Jesus and His own voluntariness in it, while, to the outward sense, it might seem to be a contradiction of His preeminence, is the most perfect proof of His real dignity. It was because He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God, that He could so easily sacrifice and abase Himself. True dignity can afford to stoop. False pride, with no intrinsic loftiness, is always trying to lift itself up. One who knows he has an illustrious name is not always trying to proclaim it. Jesus knew that He was divine and could not be misunderstood, therefore He was willing to stoop to the lowest place and set a perfect example of sacrifice and service; and never did He seem so divine to His disciples as when He knelt at their feet in the garb of a servant to wash away their stains. When does He for a moment lose the consciousness of His dignity in all this menial service? “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’” He adds, as He sits down again, “and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet” (John 13:13). And so, like Him, the more fully we realize our divine calling, the more willingly will we take the humblest place, and the less we know of the glory of our sonship, the more will we contend for the honors of earth and preeminence among our brethren. Christ’s Testimony to His Coming Glorification (John 13:31-32) This announcement immediately followed the withdrawal of Judas from the company of the disciples and the presence of the Lord. His retirement lifted a great load from the mind of Jesus, and His spirit rose at once to this joyful utterance. Freely accepting all the consequences of Judas’ betrayal and the cross and all its shame, He declares, “Now is the Son of Man glorified” (John 13:31). His death was to be His glorification as the Son of Man. It was also to bring unutterable glory to God, and it was to be followed by the glorification of Christ Himself, not merely as the Son of Man, but also in His own divine being and nature. Over all the dark and overshadowed valley of the garden and the cross, He sees immediately beyond the glory of His Father and His own eternal exaltation, and “for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Christ’s Discourse at the Passover Table (John 14:1-11) Perhaps there is no higher testimony to the divinity of Christ than the sublime consciousness expressed in these words. For a mortal to utter such language would be offensive and unspeakably profane. No man has ever dared to use such language. The very utterance of it would carry with it its own answer in the manifest consciousness of its extravagance, but in the case of Christ there is no such feeling as we hear Him say, Trust in God; trust also in me…. I am in the Father and the Father is in me…. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him…. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:1, John 14:11,John 14:7, John 14:14) All this is so calm, so free from any idea of assumption, or of having uttered anything extraordinary; such an obvious simplicity and sense of truthfulness and reality pervade it that it bears the irresistible consciousness to every unprejudiced heart of the genuineness of His claims and the loftiness of His character. Even in human character we can always detect the borrowed feathers of pretentiousness, and recognize the natural nobility that sits so easily on lofty spirits and kingly natures. So the portrait of Jesus given in His own words is its own safe witness. The sustained character which He maintains all through this marvelous address is simply superhuman and beyond the power of man’s invention. Not only do we trace in every sentence this divine consciousness of His relation to His Father, but the way in which He reveals Himself as the life and strength of His people, bestowing upon them with kingly bounty His grace, His intercession, His peace, His supernatural power, His spiritual presence in their hearts and the living reality of all this, as it has been experienced and seen in the hearts and lives of millions for more than 50 generations, is to every Christian heart the deepest, most satisfying testimony to the reality and divinity of Jesus. The Witness of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-20; John 14:26; John 16:7-14)The Holy Spirit had already borne witness to the Lord Jesus at His baptism, but here He is introduced as His divine Successor in the consummation of His mediatorial work, and as the perpetual witness through the coming ages to His person, His truth and His glory. He is to be the interpreter of all that Christ has said, and to make real to the faith and consciousness of His people, through divine and inward illumination, that which would otherwise be but an intellectual apprehension. He was to bring the vision as well as the light. He was to bring to their remembrance all things that Christ had already said, and then to lead them into further truths which they were not now able to bear—even opening the vista of the future and showing them things to come. Above all He was to be the special witness of Christ, and testify not of them, nor even of Himself, but personally of Jesus. And even to the world, which could not yet receive Him, He was to bring persuasions as no human arguments or persuasions could come, leading them to see their sin, their Savior, and the necessity of their separation from the world and the powers of evil. His Intercessory Prayer (John 17:5; John 17:8; John 17:23-24) There is no place nor time where the soul is so unfolded spiritually as the hour of solitary prayer, especially in some great crisis of need or suffering. This chapter is the opening of the curtains of the inner sanctuary of Christ’s heart, and the unsealing of the very Holy of Holies itself. Here, above all other places, we may expect the truest and deepest expression of His consciousness, and it is still the same as in His parting words to His disciples. Calmly and sublimely He still takes His exalted and supreme place in His Father’s fellowship, speaks of the glory which He had before the world was, assumes His perfect unity with Him as the very pattern of the oneness of His disciples, and claims the sanctification, preservation and glorification of His people by kingly right, with the majestic and imperative words which none but the equal of God could utter, “Father, I want” (John 17:24). Surely no one can look upon this scene without the deepest conviction of His conscious Deity, and the feeling that to assume such claims and rights and constantly sustain the lofty character to the close, would have been as impossible for a mere man as it would have been profane. His Voluntary Submission to His Enemies (John 18:4-8) This remarkable instance, recorded only by John, bears the strongest testimony to the divine character of Jesus and the perfect voluntariness of His death. The men who came to arrest Him had no power to hurt Him or touch Him without His free consent. A silent look into their faces was enough to paralyze their strength and prostrate them on the ground at His feet, and it was only when He willingly yielded Himself to their hands that they were able to bind Him. Throughout His entire sufferings it was every moment true that man could have no power over Him except it was given from above, and He could truly say, “I lay down my life for the sheep…. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:15, John 10:18). The Testimony of His Baffled Accusers (John 18:19-25; John 18:29-30) In all this record of His trial there was not a single specific charge laid against Him by the Jews, and even when they sent Him to Pilate, they simply assumed that the governor would take their word for it and condemn Him without trial. Their general charge that He was a criminal (John 18:30), and their inability to formulate a single indictment that could stand against the test of Roman law, is the highest testimony of His innocence and blamelessness. Looking in their faces He could appeal to those who heard Him and say, “If I said something wrong… testify as to what is wrong” (John 18:23), and they had no answer but violence and vagueness. Indeed they never had any charge to bring against Him but simply that which was His supremest glory, namely, His claim that He was the Son of God, and it was really for this that He was crucified at last. The Testimony of Pilate (John 18:30; John 19:4; John 19:12; John 19:19) The Roman governor, rinding that they had no charge against Him, refused to take their vague and general demand for His condemnation. He asked explicitly what accusation they brought, and getting no satisfactory reply, he questioned Him personally himself. The result was a deep conviction of Christ’s innocence, which ever afterwards filled his soul, until at last it became a terrible fear and led him into that strange conflict between his own conscience and the mean and selfish desire to please the people, which terminated at length in the Savior’s crucifixion. But up to the close, Pilate’s repeated testimony was borne to the Savior’s innocence, and the inscription which he had placed upon His cross and refused to change was the highest testimony to this conviction. He did not say this is Jesus of Nazareth, a criminal or a pretended king, but literally and unequivocally, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19). The Testimony From the Cross (John 19:23; John 19:28; John 19:36-38) These several passages combine the witness of the prophetical Scriptures to the sufferings of Christ, showing how literally and wonderfully every particular of the ancient picture was fulfilled, thus identifying Him as the true Messiah of Hebrew promise and hope. John’s purpose in recording these minute details is to establish the point which his gospel was designed to prove, namely, that Jesus is the Christ; and so we find him more frequently than any other evangelist, saying, “that the scripture would be fulfilled” (John 19:36). The very parting of His garments, the consuming thirst that parched His tongue, the premature death that exempted Him from the breaking of His limbs, and even the interment of His body in the tomb of the wealthy Joseph, were all fulfillments of scriptural predictions and marks of unmistakable identity. The Testimony of His Resurrection (John 20:11) This, of course, is the supreme evidence of the divinity and Messiahship of Christ. The details which were given by John have, however, a special force. First, there is the evident unexpectedness of it by these simple disciples. None of them seemed to have had the faintest dream of His literal resurrection. Peter and John were both astonished, and Mary Magdalene was so unprepared for it that she did not at first recognize the Lord until He called her very name. This gives enhanced weight to the conclusion which was forced upon them by His actual appearance again. Next we have the explicit details which the narrative gives of the persons and places and the most trifling circumstances connected with His resurrection: the open door, the linen clothes and the burial cloth that was about His head wrapped together in a place by itself. All these points have a very positive weight in the question of evidence, which every judicial mind will fully appreciate. Then we have the explicit testimony of John, that he saw and believed (John 20:8). It was not an afterthought, but the instant and instinctive conviction of his whole mind that the Lord was really risen from the dead. But most conclusive of all is the testimony of Mary, all the stronger because of her perplexity at first and her womanly disappointment at not finding the body, and then her delighted and enraptured surprise when she recognized the Lord Himself, and throwing herself at His feet, she poured out the fullness of her confidence and joy in the one cry, “Rabboni” (John 20:16). All this evidence is confirmed by the subsequent appearance of Christ to His disciples, as narrated in this and the following chapters. The Testimony of Thomas (John 20:24-28) This is perhaps the strongest witness of all from the fact that it has for its background the strongest unbelief, for Thomas had fully determined that he would not be deceived. His very love of the Master had made him afraid of any false hope. He did not expect His resurrection, and he could not bear to have an impostor palmed upon his loving heart. He therefore demanded the most tangible and unmistakable demonstration and received it—even more than he asked. Indeed, after the answer came, he was not only satisfied, but ashamed that he had asked such tokens. He threw himself at the feet of his blessed Master with one inexpressible cry of unquestioning confidence and everlasting consecration, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). The conviction of Thomas ought to be a sufficient answer to every honest doubter. It is to be observed, however, that the evidence which convinced Thomas the most forcibly was not the mere external appearance of Christ, or the physical marks of identity which he expected, but that divine omniscience which had already searched the heart of Thomas. This made him feel that he was in the presence, not only of the Nazarene, but of the all-seeing God. And so, still, the strongest evidence of Christ’s divinity and reality is not outward demonstration, but the contact of the heart with His living presence, through the Holy Spirit, as He reveals to us our sin, reads our inmost soul, and makes Himself known to us in all His grace and glory. The Testimony of This Last Miracle (John 21:1-9) This is in some sense the most remarkable miracle of Christ’s life, for it is the only one performed by Him after His resurrection. It bears a strong resemblance, as we have elsewhere seen, to the first miracle of the catch of fishes three years before, but it is greater in every respect, especially in the spiritual lessons which it teaches us. While the former hinted at their calling to the imperfect service of their early apostleship, this foreshadowed their calling to the victorious service upon which they were now to enter in His resurrection life and power. This glorious miracle was to them an impressive testimony to His reality and identity, and John at once exclaims, as He recognizes the Master, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7). Peter, too, instinctively recognizes Him, and plunges into the sea to hasten to His feet, and afterwards cries, in response to the Master’s searching question, “Lord… you know that I love you” (John 21:15). The Witness of John (John 21:24) The writer of this gospel sums up all his long array of testimony by adding his own witness, and then declaring that volumes more might have been written crowded with unpublished incidents of His grace and power. A Summary of the Above Testimonies All these testimonies to Christ might be summed up under the following heads.

1. The Testimony of His Father This is given publicly at His baptism, and again just before His crucifixion, both times in the hearing of the people. The third time, which John has not recorded, was on the Mount of Transfiguration in the presence of the three disciples. Again and again, Jesus Himself appealed to His Father’s witness as we have seen in the above references. How can we for a moment believe that God would witness thus to an impostor, or to one whose claims were in any respect blasphemous or untrue?
2. The Testimony of Himself This He had a perfect right to give, and constantly repeats it in the simplest and most impressive manner, showing in every case and under the most solemn and difficult circumstances, that this was the deep and true consciousness of His whole being. And this claim He constantly sustained in the most dignified and solemn manner throughout His whole life, not only in His discourses among both friends and enemies, but in the last awful scenes of His trial and agony, in the immediate presence of His Father and in the very hour of death itself. His calm assumption of divinity and its perfect consistency and simplicity is the most divine thing about the portrait of the Lord Jesus, as given by John.
3. The Testimony of Scripture This, too, He applied in the face of His enemies. He claimed to be the Messiah of Moses and the prophets, and based all His teachings upon their own Scriptures. His enemies were never once able to contradict or confound Him. All the details of His sufferings upon the cross are identified by the evangelist with Messianic prophecies, and indeed, it is as true of the gospel as it is of the Apocalypse of John, that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).
4. The Testimony of John the Baptist The witness of former prophets and Scriptures is summed up by the last of the Old Testament messengers, John the Baptist, in his own prophetic witness. Again and again did he declare, as the representative of the Jewish priesthood and the last voice of ancient prophecy, that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and the voice of the common people unanimously testified that “all that John said about this man was true” (John 10:41).
5. The Testimony of His Friends To this we must add the witness of Christ’s disciples and friends. We have in the first chapter of John, the testimony of His earliest followers, Andrew, Simon, Philip and Nathaniel. We have it again in the witness of Nicodemus; the Samaritans; the nobleman of Cana; the blind man healed at Jerusalem; the disciples after His discourse at Capernaum; the multitudes who listened to Him in Jerusalem at the feasts; the faith and love of Mary, who anointed Him; the multitude who hailed Him as their king on His triumphal entry to Jerusalem; the testimony of Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Simon, and John, all combined in the one confession: This is He of whom Moses and the prophets did write—the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God.
6. The Testimony of His Enemies The very officers who came to arrest Him acknowledged His wisdom and wonderful words. Caiaphas in the Sanhedrin confessed His power, and even prophesied His atoning death. His accusers could say nothing against Him, and Pilate publicly vindicated Him, even while he condemned Him.
7. The Testimony of the Holy Spirit We have seen how this witness was borne at His baptism and continually rested upon Him in all His teachings, supporting Him with marvelous wisdom and enabling Him always to meet His disciples and friends with divine love and grace. But after His departure the blessed Comforter was to bear His highest and most impressive testimony to the glorious Master and His work. Ever since His ascension, through His apostles and servants, there has been a succession of testimonies to the person and glory of Jesus.
8. The Testimony of His Works He Himself appealed to this—“The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me… Believe me… or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves” (John 10:25; John 14:11). His first miracle in Cana was intended to show His own glory, and we are told His disciples thereafter believed on Him. We have the record of many glorious miracles in John, every one of them bearing separate witness, as we shall see elsewhere, to some special phases of His work and glory, and proving Him to be recognized by the omnipotence of God as divine. Not only were they works of power, but of the most gracious beneficence and the most tender and thoughtful love; ministering to vast multitudes of the suffering, drying the tear of the mourner, and symbolizing the deepest and most sublime spiritual truths and blessings, they being signs as well as wonders.