Jesus Christ is always on trial. People consider Him and His claims. They evaluate Him and decide whether to accept or reject Him—especially His claim to be the Son of God (see John 5:18). And yet, while He is tried in the court of popular opinion every day, Jesus is also the judge.
Jesus said, “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:26-27).
The end of John 5 is like a courtroom scene, with Jesus as both the judge and the one on trial. The word witness shows up eight times in this passage. Like a lawyer, Jesus brought in three witnesses, because Jewish Law said, “by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15).
The first witness was the worker: John the Baptist. Jesus presented John as His first witness, saying, “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth” (John 5:31-33).
John the Baptist saw Jesus grow up. He spent time with Jesus. It was John who said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Jesus’ second witness was His works. Speaking to the Jewish leaders, He said, “But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:36).
More than thirty of Jesus’ miracles are recorded in the Gospels. And He said, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him” (John 10:37-38).
Jesus’ third witness was the Word—the prophecies in the Scripture. “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of me.… You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:37, 39).
The Old Testament Scriptures painted the picture of what the Messiah would be like—through more than 300 descriptions—which was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the subject of all those Scriptures. He is the one Moses wrote about, the one the prophets identified, the one pictured in those Psalms.
Together, the three witnesses that Jesus brought are unmistakable. His hearers were skeptical, but what Jesus did, what John the Baptist said, and the prophecies pointing to Jesus combined to create a very powerful statement about who He is.
Now, here’s your challenge. Go to the Old Testament—the writings of Moses, the prophets, the Psalms—and search for predictions of Jesus Christ. For instance, Moses said in Deuteronomy, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (18:15). Go find those places that predict Jesus—it’s a fascinating study.
Studying the Bible will not bring you to heaven, but it will bring heaven to your soul. It’ll get you back on track, nourishing and feeding your soul.
It will point you to Jesus. And knowing Jesus will bring you to heaven.
