Tag: The Son

Lifted Up

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John 8:26-30 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spoke to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. As he spoke these words, many believed on him. 

While continuing the discourse with the Jews, Jesus said that He had many things to say and to judge them of: but that the Father that sent Him is true; and He spoke to them those things which He has heard of the Father. (John 8:14, 16, 18, 26). The Jews didn’t understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

Jesus explained to them that when they have lifted up (crucified, John 3:14; 12:34) the Son of Man, then by His resurrection and ascension shall they know that He is the light of the world, the Son of God.

He did nothing of Himself; but as His Father taught Him; we learn from Christ’s Union with the Father the following: The Son can do nothing of Himself (John 5:17, 19, 30; 8:18, 28); Christ did not seek His own will, but the will of the Father (John 5:30; 6:38); He didn’t seek His own glory (John 8:50, 54); His doctrine was not His, but the Father that sent Him (John 7:16; 8:26, 38); Christ always did those things that please the Father (John 8:29); He came from God, not of Himself (John 8:42; 16:28); He did not speak of Himself, but the Father commanded Him what to speak (John 10:25, 37-38; 14:10-11).

Witnesses to Jesus

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John 5:30-38 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that bears witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witness of me is true. You sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that you might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent him you believe not. 

The Son can do nothing of Himself (John 5:17,19, 30; 8:18, 28); He seeks not His own will, but the will of the Father (John 6:38); His doctrine is not His, but the Father’s who sent Him (John 7:16; 8:26,38).John 5:31

‘If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.’ For a witness to be legally true and acceptable there must be two or three witnesses (Deut. 17:6).

‘Another that bear witness of me’ this refers to the Father (John 7:28; 8:26; Mat. 3:17; 17:5). He did not here refer to John the Baptist who also witnessed of Him (John 5:33-35), but to the Father and the works which are greater witnesses than John (John 5:36-38).

John the Baptist ‘was a burning and a shining light’ which was a common rabbinic idiom for a famous man; the Jews rejoiced in him for a season, thus did they believed John to be a prophet. A prophet cannot lie, so why didn’t they believe what John said of Christ (John 1:29)?

‘You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape.’ – You Jews here today have never heard the Father’s voice as did Israel at Sinai (Deut. 5:22-33 and others in Mat. 3:17; 17:5); nor have you seen His shape as men in other ages have seen His physical form (Gen. 18:1-8; 32:24-30; Exo. 24:9-11; Jos. 5:13-15; Jdg. 6:11-23; 13:3-23; etc). This proves that God has both a voice and a bodily shape.

Behold, the Lamb of God

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John 1:29-34  The next day John see Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptize with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 

John the Baptist saw Christ and proclaimed “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” This is the first New Testament prophecy fulfilled in John. Lamb of God is a symbol of Christ, mentioned thirty-two times (Isa. 53:7; John 1:36; Acts 8:32; 1Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:6-13; 6:1, 16; 7:9-17; 12:11; 13:8; 14:1-10; 15:3; Rev. 17:14; 19:7-9; 21:9-27; 22:1-3). The Greek word for taketh away is airo, which means to bear in the sense of removing sin; doing away with the guilt and punishment (1Pet. 2:24; Psa. 103:12; 1Jn. 3:5). The Greek word for sin is hamartia, which means missing the mark; always in a moral sense – a sin, whether by omission or commission, in thought, word, or deed. Christ came to teach men how to shoot straight – to hit the moral bull’s eye every time (Tit. 2:11-14; 1Jn. 2:1-2, 29; 3:9; 5:1-4, 5:18).

‘For he was before me’ – Christ lived before John as the second person of the Trinity “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” Micah 5:2 (See also Isa. 9:6-7; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 1:8.) John did not know Jesus, but he did know the Father who sent Jesus (v33). The Greek word for manifest is phaneroo, which means to bring to light. Here, it means to introduce the Messiah to Israel (John 1:11; Matt. 15:24).

John bare record, the Greek word martureo means bearing witness. There was seven witnesses to the Messiah: The Father (John 5:30-38; 8:13-18); the Son (John 5:17-27; 8:14; 18:37); the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:13-15); the written Word (John 1:45; 5:38, 46); Divine works (John 5:17, 36; 10:25; 14:11; 15:24); John the Baptist (John 1:7,32-34; 5:33-35); and the Disciples (John 15:27; 19:35; 21:24).

The Greek word for abode is meno which means abide, dwell, remain. Occurs 41 times in John and only 12 times in the other gospels.

‘He that sent me’ is a clear reference to the Trinity. The Son he did not know; the Father he did know; and the Spirit he saw coming from the Father upon the Son (Matt. 3:16-17; Lk.3:22). The Greek word for see is eidon which means to see; not only the mere act of looking but the actual perception of the object. Thus, not only have the Father and Son been seen with human eyes as separate and distinct persons at the same time and place (Dan. 7:9-14; Acts 7:55; Rev. 5:7; 7:10), but the Holy Spirit as a separate person from both the Father and the Son has been seen.

‘Spirit descending, and remaining on him’ is a fulfilment of Isaiah 11:2; 42:1; 61:1 and recorded in Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:10 and Luke 3:22. Christ is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Lk. 3:16; 24:49; John 7:37-39; 15:16-17, 26; Acts 1:4-8; 11:16).