PERFECT VALIDATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Pharisees challenged Him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for Myself; My other witness is the Father, who sent Me.”

Then they asked Him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

John 8:13-14, 17-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Perhaps no other act of God received less validation than the one that meant the most to mankind, Him sending His only Son Jesus to save.

The Israelites sure didn’t have any trouble giving credence to how God created everything. They never questioned how God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could flee the oppression of Pharaoh on dry land on their way to Canaan. They wouldn’t think about not giving God credit for sending manna and quail from the heavens to feed the Israelites on the way to the land He promised them or for the all consuming fire set from heaven when He was called on by Elijah to show the Baal worshipers who the real God was.

God was not only credited but praised for all of these acts and more. And yet, Jesus went through His years, invalidated by those who claimed they believed in God, many of which were the Jewish religious leaders of His day. If you don’t believe that, look at our scripture passage for today as we continue our study of John, Chapter 8:

The Pharisees challenged Him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for Myself; My other witness is the Father, who sent Me.”

While in the temple courts near where the offerings were set, Jesus had just finished proclaiming Himself as the Light of the world, adding that anyone who would follow Him would never walk in darkness. There wasn’t anyone there to vouch for what He was saying and so the Pharisees decided to challenge Him on what He had said:

“Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

Of course, the Pharisees, the acknowledged experts in the law, were using a well known part of the law that covered valid testimony, whether in matters of justice or anything else. The guidance wet like this:

“One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Deuteronomy 19:15

The Pharisees didn’t see any witnesses present to authenticate what Jesus had said and so they automatically ruled his testimony to be unacceptable and unfounded, a finding that Jesus didn’t agree with, saying:

“Even if I testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for Myself; My other witness is the Father, who sent Me.”

Here, Jesus once again tries to truthfully explain His origins. For He was sent from heaven to earth by God the Father and He would soon return from where He came when His earthly life was over. He fully knew this but the Pharisees had no idea. Still Jesus pressed forward by making the case for the truthful nature of His testimony. For He knew the law and its requirement for two or more witnesses, and He met that requirement. He was one witness and God was the other, the One who had sent Him, the same God the Pharisees claimed they believed in. It was nothing short of a perfect validation and still the Pharisees were so close minded that they couldn’t grasp the legitimacy of Jesus’ words, even when they were presented clearly. We know this because they asked Jesus:

“Where is your father?”

To which Jesus replied:

“You do not know Me or My Father. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

Jesus was making it as clear as He could for the Pharisees to understand. He and His Father were one. If you knew one, you would know the other. The Pharisees claimed to know God but they didn’t really know Him. If they did, then they wouldn’t reject Jesus as they did.

Well, the Pharisees probably couldn’t receive a greater slap in the face than being accused of not knowing the God they confessed to serve. They would have surely viewed the words as disrespectful but even more so would have assessed Jesus comparing Himself with God as blasphemy.

By His words, Jesus was placing Himself in danger of retaliation but note what happened for the scriptures tell is that “no one seized Him”.

Jesus was free to continue His ministry.

Why?

It was “because His hour had not yet come.”

Yes, there would be a point when Jesus would be falsely accused, seized, and arrested.

Yes, He would suffer great abuse and persecution before being executed by crucifixion.

All this would happen but in its due time and that time had not yet come. It was not yet the will of the Father for Him to die to save all mankind.

Friends, as we see in today’s message, Jesus is perfectly validated by God His Father and ours. He is who He said He is. It was true in New Testament times and it’s still true today.

Do you believe He is the Truth as He said He was? (John 14:6)

Or are you like the Pharisees, unwilling to place your faith and trust in Jesus as Savior, even with all the evidence perfectly confirming He is everything He said He was?

Your choice is a matter of life and death so I pray you will choose wisely.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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