Uncovering the Real Jesus: The Testimony of Five Followers – John 1

As any baby can attest…There is NOTHING LIKE A CHANGE!

“You can’t deny a changed life!” That was the beginning of Pastor Jim Brown’s (Goshen, Indiana) blog a few weeks ago. It read: “On Christmas Eve we gave people a chance to tell how Jesus came through for them in the past year. We gave them a chance to tell their story. One by one they stood in all three services and gave a testimony of how Jesus came through for them…I never tire of hearing the stories of God’s ability to do the impossible in people’s lives. Each story built upon the next and as I stood listening on the stage I was reminded of this passage in Revelation 12:11 they “overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” … As the stories were shared something happened in the room, everyone realized that others were dealing with the same stuff that they were walking through. And it offered them hope for their current life situation. We wrapped up our time by giving others a chance to trust in the same God that was spoken about by the individuals. Even as I gave the invitation and looked around the room I was once again blown away as over 50 people made a decision to follow Jesus.

Why did they come? Because people shared what they KNEW OF JESUS in their own lives! Here is a resolution worth having – to know Jesus in all His fullness. Paul said it long ago. “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2 (NIV).

Paul wanted to know Jesus in depth, to really understand what He was like in life, and what He was like in death. This year I want to explore this topic, off and on, and break the series over the year. Periodically we will come back to it. This is just the first installment, taken from the pen of the Apostle John. It was clearly John’s purpose to report Who Jesus is:

John 20:30 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

John wrote, in addition to the “Seven I AMs of Jesus, a list of seven life changing works Jesus accomplished in His earth ministry that spoke of Who He is:

1. Water into Wine (2:1-11): He can change ME!
2. Long distance healing (4:46-54): He wants my TRUST!
3. Lame man at Bethesda (5:1-11): He remembers when all forget.
4. Loaves and Fishes (6:6-13): His resources are inexhaustible.
5. Storm on the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21): His strength is unlimited.
6. The man born blind healed (9:1-7): He opens light to the darkness of man.
7. The raising of Lazarus (11:1-45): He brings LIFE from death.

He wrote what is called “A Defense of Jesus Christ.” What a funny way to look at the Gospel of John. After all, how do you defend Jesus? I suppose it is like defending a roaring lion, you LET HIM OUT and He will show His power to anyone who encounters Him. There are days I feel that if the church would but stick to the script, the power of Jesus would return and renew her! At the same time, I confess I do not know the power of God. At any rate, it is well worth the time exploring six early testimonies of Jesus in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John.

Key Principle: You cannot easily deny a changed life!

1: The Testimony of John the Baptizer (John 1:6-34):

The first testimony is from the one that was charged by God to be the announcer of Messiah. He was a type of Elijah, a preceding messenger spoken of in Malachi at the end of the canon of Hebrew Scriptures. The Hebrew Scriptures ended with a message of God’s coming correction of Israel. Malachi warned in about 400 BCE that the sequence would be a messenger would come, then the Lord would come in judgment to His people in the Temple:

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. 2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness. 4 “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.” In the following chapter Malachi wrote: 4:5“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6“He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

When John opened his Gospel, the other three were already being used in the church. His testimonies were selected, but he began with John the Baptizer and said:

John 1:6 “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.…23 He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”… 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ 31 “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” 32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

I will not do justice to the passage in all its detail, except to highlight what DESCRIPTION OF JESUS can be ascertained by John the Baptizer’s testimony. Here is what the Elijah like forerunner of the Messiah said about him:

1. Jesus is the light (1:7a).
2. People need to believe Jesus (1:7b).
3. John was to prepare the roadway for Jesus’ message (1:23).
4. Jesus is the Lamb of God who was destined to deal with man’s sin (1:29).
5. Jesus outranked the prophet that John was called to be (1:30).
6. The truth became clear to John at the baptism of Jesus (1:31-32).
7. Jesus is the Son of God (1:34)

John the baptizer’s testimony then, was that Jesus came with a purpose (to deal with sin as a lamb does) and was a higher rank than John. John was a prophet, but Jesus is the Son of God.

That’s it. First man, first testimony, first chapter – Jesus came to be the lamb and save the lost. No long build up –it is right out of the gate. John didn’t mince words. Jewish leaders questioning him knew how lambs save – by death. Jesus was graphic later on that He came to deal with the problem of eternal separation from God – the horror of HELL.

Listen to how Bill Hybels described what Hell might feel like: “The bottomless pit…conjures up dreamlike feelings of falling away — falling, falling, falling. You’ve all had dreams like that; where when you woke your heart was beating because you were falling. Picture in your mind hanging over a precipice — and God is hanging onto you — and you’re hanging onto him. “And you decide you don’t need him anymore. So you let go. But the moment you let go you know you made a mistake. You’re falling, and every moment you fall further and further away from the only source of help and truth and love — and you realize you made a mistake and you can’t get back up — and you fall further and faster and further and faster into spiritual oblivion — and you know you’re going the wrong direction — and you’d give anything to go back, but you can’t. And you fall, and you fall, and you fall, and you fall …“How long? Forever. And all the while you’re falling you’re saying, ‘I’m further now; I’m further. I’m further from the only source of hope, truth, and love.’ “In hell there is never the bliss of annihilation. You’d give anything for annihilation, but it’s unavailable — only the conscious continuation of emotional anguish, physical anguish, relational anguish, and spiritual anguish … forever.” (http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/thessalonians). Out of the gate, John the Apostle offered the testimony of John the Baptizer that Jesus came as the solution to this problem – Jesus saves us from our lost state.

2 and 3: The Testimonies of Andrew and Simon Peter (John 1:40-42):

The second and third testimonies of John’s Gospel are that of Andrew and Simon Peter. We will consider them together because of their brevity. Both were Bethsaida boys who worked for the “Zebedee and Sons Fishing Co. Inc.” and were living in Capernaum, a few miles west along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where the company relocated after the “paganization” of Bethsaida under Herod Philip the tetrarch. Both were following John the Baptizer when Jesus came to be baptized. Andrew believed in Jesus first and then got Simon to follow. Look at the brief first exchange:

John 1:40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Note the description of Jesus:

1.       Simon said: “He is Messiah” (anointed one). The literal translation of the word, messiah is “anointed” – the ritual of consecrating by pouring oil upon someone or something. (cp 1 Sam. 10:1-2). It is used throughout the Jewish Bible in reference to a wide variety of individuals and objects; for example, a Jewish king, (1 Kings 1:39) Jewish priests, (Lev. 4:3) and prophets, (Isa. 61:1) the Jewish Temple and its utensils, (Ex. 40:9-11) offerings like on the unleavened bread, (Num. 6:15).

2.       Jesus held the key to Simon’s future. He told him what his life would be about, and what he would be called – a rock or a foundation.

Andrew’s testimony was that Jesus was the anointed one. Simon’s testimony was that Jesus was the One who held his future firmly in His grasp. Jesus knows where He is taking us, and what He desires for us to become!

Even a cursory study of Simon Peter’s life will show him to have been an impetuous and expressive man. I doubt that he could grasp at that hour what Jesus was going to do to his life – how could he? He had no idea how he would become a foundation to something that would change people all over the world today. We don’t have the ability to really understand God’s most important work:

Gerald Sittser, a professor of religion and philosophy at Whitworth College wrote an article in Discipleship Journal where he told about a terrible trial he endured. On September 27, 1991, he prayed — as he often did — for God to protect and bless his family. Something went terribly wrong. Later that afternoon, a drunk driver lost control of his car and smashed into the Sittsers’ minivan. Sittser’s wife Lynda; his daughter Diana Jane; and his mother, who was visiting for the weekend, were all killed in the collision. Sittser writes: “To this day I have been unable to understand what made that day different. What prevented my prayers from getting through to God? Did I commit some unpardonable sin? Did I fail to say the right words? Did God suddenly turn against me? Why, I have asked myself a thousand times, did my prayer go unanswered?” He still cannot understand why this terrible tragedy struck him, but he does understand that what happened was NOT retribution from God. He explained, “There is more to life than meets the eye … God works things out for good. … We view unanswered prayer from our limited vision. But God is doing something so great that only faith can grasp it, wait for it, and pray for it.” Gerald L. Sittser from Discipleship Journal, Jan/Feb 2001, p. 26. Remember, Jesus is especially separated for God’s purpose – that is Andrew’s testimony. Jesus alone knows where He is taking us, and what He desires for us to become! That was Simon’s testimony.

4: The Testimony of Philip (John 1:43-45):

Philip was called by Jesus and promptly shared what he saw in Jesus with Nathaniel (also called Bartholomew). The short exchange clearly shows what Philip believed he found in Jesus:

John 1:43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

To Andrew, from his own words, Jesus was the Promised One. He was the One of whom the Law and the Prophets spoke. He was a fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel to bring a Savior.

Some Messianic prophecies were so framed as to preclude their fulfillment by anyone living after the first century CE. When Jacob said in Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.” The name “Shiloh” is a title of the Messiah. The prophecy defines Judah’s tribe as the chief tribe in Israel, in particular providing their kings, until Messiah would come. The prophecy’s fulfillment had to take place 70 CE when the legal line departed from Judah. In 1000 BCE, King David was promised by God, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (2 Samuel 7:13). In 720 BCE Isaiah prophesied: “There shall come forth a rod out of the stump of Jesse (David’s father), and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1). The Branch was to grow out of the cut down tree – from the stump. He was even connected to the Davidic root – a claim that required records destroyed in 70 CE! There are still hundreds of other prophecies, all of which were fulfilled by Jesus Christ: His virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14); His birth in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); His sacrificial death (Isaiah 53:5); His crucifixion (Psalm 22:14-18); His bodily resurrection (Psalm 16:10); and many others. All of these unite in their witness that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31). No rational conclusion seems possible except that Jesus is all He claims – Messiah, Savior, Lord and God. (liberally adapted from Dr. Henry Morris).

Not only religious men have seen the significance of Jesus: “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history”. ~ H.G. Wells

To Philip, Jesus was God’s literal Word fulfilled. Jesus was a marker that God keeps His Word and His Word can be trusted. It is worth remembering when we look forward to the days ahead.

Several years ago Johnny Carson had Billy Graham as a guest on The Tonight Show. At one point there was a lull in the conversation and Johnny said, “You know what, Billy? I bet if Jesus ever came back to earth, we’d do Him in again!” Billy Graham leaned forward in his seat, and said, “In the Bible we read that Jesus WILL someday return to earth again. The first time He came in love. The next time, He’ll come in power. And no one will do Him in!” (sermon central illustrations).

5: The Testimony of Nathanael (John 1:46-50):

Nathanael questioned the idea that Messiah came from the nearby hovel of Nazareth, a hill just south of his home town at Cana, and a much smaller village. Yet, after meeting Jesus, his doubts evaporated.

John 1:46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

Nathanael’s testimony was simple:

1.       Based on what you have shared with me, ‘You are the Son of God!’ (1:49a).

2.       You are the King of Israel (1:49b).

Jesus had established a relationship with Nathanael based on the time at the fig tree. Whether this was time “back in school” as some scholars suggest, or it was a reference to a private request of Nathanael known only to God – it was a relationship still. Nathanael’s objections were overcome and he was changed by the relationship with Jesus.

Les and Leslie Parrot share in their book Relationships this thought: “Recently a pioneering band of researchers studied the age-old mystery of what makes people happy. Their answer is not what you might expect. What appears consistently at the top of the charts is not success, wealth, achievement, good looks, or any of those enviable assets. The clear winner is relationships. Close ones”. They add: “Nothing reaches so deeply into human personality, tugs so tightly, as relationship. Why? For one reason, it is only in the context of connection with others that our deepest needs can be met. Whether we like it or not, each of us has an unshakable dependence on others. Nathanael found in his relationship to Jesus all that he truly needed to make some stark conclusions. Jesus was the RIGHTFUL RULER of the country and of HIS HEART. He changed his life because of that exchange. He surrendered his future to the One worthy of such a sacrifice.

6: Jesus’ testimony of Himself (John 1:51):

Jesus spoke on His own behalf to Nathanael. He simply said this:

1: 51 And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus Christ, the condescension of divinity, and the exaltation of humanity. (Phillips Brooks) opened His mouth and made clear what we should anticipate from Him. He would connect Heaven and earth. He would come and go. I like the way Peter Larson said it: “Despite our efforts to keep him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: “a virgin’s womb and an empty tomb“. Jesus entered our world through a door marked: “No Entrance” and left through a door marked “No Exit.”. Henry Morris reminds: The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth. Men and women, we must ever recall that “The message of Christ is not Christianity. The message of Christ is Christ. (Gary Amirault). Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand (S.D. Gordon).

Philip Schaff, the historian said it this way: “Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”

The early testimonies were that Jesus, though in rank greater than a prophet of the Living God, came to save us by offering Himself. He was separated by God for this purpose. He has a destiny for His followers that only God knows. He marked God’s literal keeping of His promises to His people. He wins heart by confronting us directly. When we truly encounter a relationship with Him we will understand that He is our rightful ruler to whom we should surrender. His very name is SALVATION. In the end the testimonies are powerful because you cannot easily deny a changed life!