John 8:13-18 (NIV)
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. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
The trap of the Pharisees had gone terribly wrong, and had snared them instead of Jesus, their intended quarry. So, they decided to try a different tactic: working against Jesus’ identifying Himself as the light of the world.
Of course, they were misusing the Scripture that dealt with the need for two witnesses. That Scripture deals specifically with criminal matters of a very serious nature, in which case two witnesses whose stories agreed in all essentials were necessary before someone could be convicted. It has nothing to do with a declaration of one’s own identity.
But Jesus let the context slide while He addressed the real issue at hand, and, incidentally, the fact that Jesus’ identity truly was firmly established by the only two beings who could legitimately act as witnesses.
Jesu’s first point is that, in matters of identity and origin, His own testimony was valid unless He could be proven to be lying by valid witnesses to the contrary. Jesus knew where He came from better than any competing witnesses possibly could. And considering where He had truly come from, not Nazareth or even Bethlehem, but from the Father’s side in the heavenly realms, and where He was returning to, the exact same place, He was the ONLY one qualified to speak on the matter.
The second point is on judgment. The Pharisees were incorrect in judging Jesus, because they could only judge from a world-based, world-bound perspective, from which many true things seem unlikely, and many more seem completely impossible. Because their only experience were in earthly matters, they were incapable, completely unfit, to judge issues that exist and originate in the heavenly realms. Jesus, on the other hand, had infinite experience in the heavenly realms, since that was where He had come from, so His judgment, His statements about God and about the kingdom of heaven, were intrinsically true.
However, as far as judgment of earthly things, Jesus makes the bold statement that He Himself does not pass judgment on anyone. That may sound strange to many in view of His repeated harsh statements against the Pharisees and teachers of the law. But reading a bit further, Jesus is saying something even more profound. Any judgments that He delivers are not His own opinion. When He pronounces a judgment, He is acting as a prophet, and is, in fact, speaking God’s judgment against those leaders.
With regard to the accusation that Jesus can’t be the only witness of His position in God’s plan, Jesus simply goes back to His foundational argument. There actually are two witnesses that attest to who He is. He is one, and His testimony about Himself must be accepted as valid, unless more credible witnesses can show proof that He is lying. And God Himself is the other witness, as He spoke through the prophets of old about the One whom He would send to deliver His people (John 5:39). Case closed!
Father, anyone who takes the time to get to know Jesus knows that His testimony about Himself is unquestionably true. The problem is that far too many people, both then and now, refuse to get to know Him, believing instead other people, supposedly experts, and their testimony about Him. But many of these so-called experts don’t accept Jesus’ testimony about Himself. Help me to testify with both my words and my life as to who He truly is, so that others can come to truly know Him and believe. Amen.