John 5:30-38 (ESV)

³⁰ “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³¹ If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ³³ You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, ³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

Jesus continued his discourse with those who were angry with him. Not only were they enraged, but they were also seeking to kill him because he broke the Sabbath and because he made himself equal with God. Jesus let them know that he only did what the Father wanted him to do. To reject Jesus was to reject the Father. He declared, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true,” addressing the Jews through legal terms and concepts. He brought in additional witnesses, as a lawyer would have done in a court. First, Jesus brought in John the Baptist as a witness. John was well-known and actually revered by many of the Jewish people. He came on the scene in a prophet-like manner, and he testified that Jesus was the Lamb sent to take away the sin of the world. Second, Jesus said that even greater than the witness of John the Baptist were the miracles he performed. Miracles were signs authenticating that Jesus was who he claimed to be. Finally, Jesus brought the ultimate witness into court: the Father. The Father spoke at Jesus’ baptism, testifying that Jesus truly was the Son of God. The message from the Father was “Listen to the Son!”

We have the testimony of Jesus, the witness of John the Baptist, the signs he performed, the voice of the Father, and the view of the author. All declare that Jesus is who he said he was. He is the second person of the Triune God. Those who reject Jesus reject God. In our culture, people can justify bearing false witness in a court of law. They lie about what they did or didn’t do, what they did or didn’t experience, or they refrain from giving all the information about which they are questioned. But God considers bearing false witness a very serious crime. Do you believe the testimony of Jesus and his witnesses? If so, then choose again this day to live your life according to his words. Anyone and everyone who chooses to follow Jesus, trusting in his righteousness and not their own, will never regret that decision. Jesus is true, and so is his teaching. As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”