Witness 6: Holy Spirit

John included seven witnesses to prove Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; so that readers of his gospel would believe in Jesus and believing, would have eternal life!

One of the most misunderstood, and often feared, aspects of the Christian life is the role and work of the Holy Spirit.  Maybe it’s the use of the word spirit; the images of scary, spooky ghosts that we conjure up when hearing that word.  Maybe it’s the idea of some nebulous “thing” living within us.  Or maybe the abuse of the Holy Spirit in some circles has caused us to swing too far in the opposite direction, to a point of almost squashing His power and influence.

Whatever the cause, many Christians have been stunted in their spiritual growth, weakened in their ability to influence others, and made largely ineffective in bringing change to a lost world… all because of a lack of understanding and cooperation with the Holy Spirit.  Amazingly, a little bit of simple knowledge can change all that.

Jesus made clear one role of the Holy Spirit:

“When the Counselor comes, the One I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father – He will testify about Me.” (John 15:26)

Testifying about Jesus – leading people into a saving knowledge of Christ and His ministry – this is the work of the Holy Spirit.  Do you doubt Jesus?  Do you wonder if this is real?  Ask the Spirit to help you.  It is His desire and joy to do so.

How does He testify about Jesus?

When you study the life of Jesus, when you contemplate His teachings or try to decide what is true, it is the Spirit that confirms His truth within you.  When you sense that this must be right, that is the work of the Spirit.  When you are convinced deep within yourself (even if you don’t understand how or where that conviction came to you) that is Him at work.

He quietly testifies by confirming the truth: Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God sent to take away the sins of the world.  Listen to the Spirit.  Believe.  Be changed and be blessed!

Witness 5: Scriptures

John included seven witnesses to prove Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; so that readers of his gospel would believe in Jesus and believing, would have eternal life!

You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. (John 5:39)

Anyone who reads the Bible with an open mind will find Jesus is the Messiah.  From the beginning to the end – Genesis to Revelation; creation to culmination – all Scripture speaks of God’s plan to redeem a portion of mankind to live with Him for eternity.  Jesus is the means that makes possible this plan.

In this passage from John’s Gospel, Jesus is discussing with the Jewish religious leaders all the people/things that testify about Him.  In this verse, it is the Bible that testifies.

Remember, in Jesus’ day the Scriptures the religious leaders would “pore over” would be the Old Testament writings (the New Testament had not been written).  One of their key Old Testament figures, and important contributor to Old Testament Scripture, was Moses.  He was revered and his writings – the Pentateuch; first five books in the Bible – were studied regularly and in depth.  So Jesus takes this opportunity to remind the Jewish leaders that Moses wrote about Him.

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.  Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because He wrote about Me.  (John 5:45-46)

A similar statement was made by Jesus (as recorded by Luke) when relating the story of the rich man and Lazarus:

“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them…If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:29,31)

And Jesus was right.  He did rise from the dead, and still many Jewish leaders did not believe!  They refused to believe – they purposefully made that choice – even though their revered Moses and the prophets believed and bore witness to Jesus.

Indeed, all Scripture points to God and to His solution for mankind’s sin problem: Jesus.  Eternal life is in Jesus.  The Scriptures testify that this is true.