Testify
I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.
John 8:17
Here we see Jesus stating that the Father testifies about him. I was thinking about what it means to have another testify on your behalf versus testifying about yourself. A story came to mind that illustrates the mechanism perfectly.
I had just graduated high school and was in the middle of an idyllic road trip to Canada with one of my best friends, Alex. I think we were somewhere in Oregon when we saw a lone convenience store/taco shop combo-type establishment right off the highway. That was a no-brainer since we were hungry, so we pulled off the highway and sauntered in. A guy was standing behind the counter, looking jovial and ready to greet some customers. I shot him with my brightest, “Hey, how are you?” hoping to control the first impression right off the bat. For those of you who don’t know, I walk with a walker, and my speech is a little better than a mouth full of rocks. My face contorts itself randomly, giving a kaleidoscope effect to those trying to read my face. As you can imagine, first impressions are rarely my friend.
This poor guy had no idea what I said, as his practiced greeting melted into a nervous smile and a nod, he was clearly in uncharted waters. So I stood next to Alex and ordered a burrito with all the forced confidence and positivity I could muster. Again, not a clue, Alex translated. Understand that at this stage of my life, I was fairly insecure about the whole thing and was trying to figure out how to do the palsy thing while desperately not wanting anything to do with it. I always hated being the curve ball in someone’s day.
I found a table in the corner and removed myself from the awkward mess, leaving Alex on damage control. I proceeded to have my little pity party while listening to the conversation Alex struck up with this guy. They were talking about the highlights and plans of our road trip. At some point, the guy subtly gestured at me and said,” It’s really good of you to take him with you. You’re his caregiver, right?” My heart sank, but Alex came through in a big way. He proceeded to explain that I’m an ordinary guy with cerebral palsy, that we’re best friends and equals, business partners even. The guy came over, and the three of us talked for quite a while. We ended up having a fantastic time together.
Alex testified to my equality with him and leveraged his own validity to change our new friend’s perspective of me. So now, Alex and I are on equal footing! It’s pretty annoying to try to convince someone you are their equal when they don’t think so. So when Jesus says that the Father testifies about him, he’s saying the Father is granting his own validity to Jesus, so the Jews would see him on par with the Father. Likewise, when we are face to face with our maker, Jesus will testify about us, securing our validity forever.
Thanks, Alex
Jonathan Duncan
Safe Danger
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
“After centuries of study, just 200 years ago, we were finally able to come up with a mathematical representation for the very first thing God created. Einstein came on the scene and he actually demonstrated that light acted as both a particle and a wave, and he said that that discovery was the only truly revolutionary thing he ever did. Let there be light. It took two words and one moment for light to enter into human history, and it has taken us millennia of time to barely scratch the surface of understanding that first thing that God called into existence.”
In John One verses four and five, he would say... " In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The light of Jesus brought community to the marginalized and healing to the sick. It brought hospitality to the foreigner. It brought prominence to women, food to the hungry, and deliverance to the oppressed.
Obedience does nothing to help us earn or keep eternal life, sin does nothing to cause us to lose it or prove we never had it. The reason God doesn’t want us to sin is because sin damages us. You see, sin doesn’t stop God from loving us, nor does it stop God from doing everything He can to rescue us from the devastating and destructive consequences of sin (darkness). Sin definitely doesn’t prove that we were never His son or daughter to begin with.
If you really understand grace, and if you really understand God, and if you really understand God’s love for you, and after understanding all this, you really want to go sin, then you are free to do it but also reap the destructive consequences. He loves us that much.
Mark Battterson said, “Jesus didn’t die to make us safe… but dangerous…” Faithfulness isn’t holding the fort. It’s storming the gates of hell with the light and love of Jesus Christ knowing that we’re safe with him. His light in us causes change, causes us to take risks, maybe risk everything for him, knowing that we are safe and protected by his love and grace.
Father, I thank you today that your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We thank you that your presence 2000 years ago pierced through a very dark world and the darkness of our world still today does not overcome your light, your grace, your peace, your joy. God, I pray today that we would see your light, that it would illuminate the way ahead and that it would warm our souls and our hearts.
Deb Hill
Illuminated Living
Series: Light in the Darkness | Text: John 8:12-30
Speaker: Pastors Ryan Paulson & Esteban Tapia
September 3, 2023: On Sunday, Pastors Ryan Paulson and Esteban Tapia began the third season of messages in our Gospel of John series, Light in the Darkness. The first sermon message in the new series is entitled Illuminated Living. We hope you'll enjoy studying this next section of the Scriptures with us.
