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Turn with me in your Bibles to 
John's gospel. We're in John chapter eight. John chapter eight. Our focus 
will be verses 13 to 20, but I want to read beginning in verse 
one. So John chapter eight, beginning in verse one. But Jesus went 
to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning, He 
came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him, and 
He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees 
brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had 
set her in the midst, they said to Him, Teacher, this woman was 
caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded 
us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? They said, 
testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse 
him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his 
finger as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking 
Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, He who is without 
sin among you, let Him throw a stone at her first. And again 
He stooped down and wrote on the ground. And those who heard 
it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, 
beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left 
alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had 
raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to 
her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned 
you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus 
said to her, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Then 
Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world. 
He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light 
of life. The Pharisees therefore said 
to him, you bear witness of yourself. Your witness is not true. Jesus 
answered and said to them, even if I bear witness of myself, 
my witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I 
am going. But you do not know where I come 
from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh. 
I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, my judgment 
is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who 
sent me. It is also written in your law 
that the testimony of two men is true. I am one who bears witness 
of myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness of me. 
Then they said to him, where is your father? Jesus answered, 
you know, neither me nor my father. If you had known me, you would 
have known my father also. These words, Jesus spoke in the 
treasury as he taught in the temple and no one laid hands 
on him for his hour had not yet come. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our God and Father, we thank 
you for this beautiful day. We thank you for the Lord's Day, 
the blessed privilege that we have to gather in your house 
with your people and to worship you in spirit and in truth. We 
pray now that the ministry of the Holy Spirit would be present 
and powerful among us. We pray that you would guide 
us and lead us and again cause us to reflect upon the person 
and the work of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for any 
who are dead in their trespasses and sins, that today would be 
the day of salvation, that you would awaken them by the power 
of the Spirit, that you would cause them to be born again, 
grant them the graces of faith and repentance, that they may 
close with our Lord Jesus Christ. Forgive us of all of our sin 
now, cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lamb, and help us 
now to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ 
our Lord. And it's in his name that we 
pray, amen. Well, just to remind us of the 
context, remember in chapter 7, they covered the Feast of 
Tabernacles. That was a seven-day feast where 
Jesus was at Jerusalem, he was in the temple, and he was teaching 
there. And the things that he's consistently confronted about 
are his identity and his authority. Well, at the cessation or end 
of the feast, everybody went home. Jesus went over to the 
Mount of Olives. Likely, he visited with his friends, 
Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, who lived in Bethany. And then early 
the next morning, he comes back to the temple. And so we see 
him in John's gospel, John chapter 8. He's teaching specifically 
with the religious leaders in present, or they are present. 
And so they, again, put him in a position where he must defend 
his authority, he must defend his identity. And he does that. 
And at the end of that particular section, then, he goes more on 
the offensive. And in the next section, God 
willing, next week, we will see him point out the danger of rejecting 
the Son of God. And then he goes on to indicate 
the freedom for those who believe in the Son of God, and then the 
chapter ends essentially with them wanting to stone him, because 
though he has presented his identity, though he has spoken of his work, 
they've not believed, they've not received, and as a result, 
they think he's a blasphemer, and so they take up stones to 
try and crush him. to try and destroy him. So this 
morning, I want to focus first on the testimony of the Lord 
in verses 13 to 18. And then secondly, the rebuke 
of the Pharisees by the Lord in verses 19 and 20. Remember 
last time we saw verse 12, Jesus spoke to them again saying, I 
am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk 
in darkness, but have the light of life. He reveals something 
of his identity. He's the light of the world. 
He uses that convention, I am. that does remind us of Exodus 
3.14 and the identification of Yahweh in the burning bush. But 
not only his identity, but his mission. He is the light of the 
world, not just to Jews, but to Gentiles as well. This goes 
back to the prophet Isaiah, chapters 42 and 49. where it speaks concerning 
the Messiah, the one that will come to save his people from 
their sins. It's too small a thing for that 
Messiah simply to go after the lost tribes of Jacob, but God 
will grant him or give him to be a light under the Gentiles. And so he says that in this context. And that brings us to the Pharisees 
in verse 13. Notice their response. The Pharisees 
therefore said to him, you bear witness of yourself, your witness 
is not true. Now, we have to ask the question, 
why wouldn't his witness be true? We can never expect the truth 
from anybody, ever, on their own behalf. They're not in a 
court. He doesn't need witnesses. The 
fact that he is saying these particular things is no cause 
for them to immediately conclude that what he is saying isn't 
true. This is like so many in our own day. Well, the Bible 
is fake. It's filled with contradictions. It's all about lies. It really 
doesn't resonate. Well, why? Because you said so? Because you're the authority? 
Because you're the judge and jury? The Pharisees are the absolute 
measure of what is and what isn't true? Why can't Jesus' self-identity 
be accurate? Why can't Jesus' self-identity 
be full of truth? Well, Jesus answers their particular 
complaint on his behalf. And he does this with three things. 
He first highlights the truthfulness of his own testimony in verse 
14. He then underscores the unity 
he has with his father in verses 15 and 16. And then he appeals 
to their law in verses 17 and 18. Not their law, his law as 
well. He is in fact the law giver. 
But notice his response. So they say, you bear witness 
of yourself. Your witness is not true. Jesus answered and 
said to them, even if I bear witness of myself, my witness 
is true. Now, there's a bit of a problem 
with this particular verse. If you go back to chapter 5, 
specifically at verse 31, Jesus takes a different tact there, 
and he says, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not 
true. And yet here in John chapter 
8, at verse 14, even if I bear witness of myself, my witness 
is true. I think it's the task of preachers 
to try and solve what appears to be conundrums or enigmas or 
things that look inconsistent. I would simply suggest this for 
consideration. In chapter 5, it was more of 
a formal procedure. they had already voiced the concern 
to put him to death. They had said that he was guilty 
of Sabbath-breaking, which was a capital offense, and they said 
he was guilty of blasphemy, which was indeed a capital offense. 
But in matters that were capital in nature, you had to have witnesses, 
and you had to have those who would testify in terms of the 
formal structure of a court setting. Though it wasn't a court, it 
was more formal in chapter five. And so Jesus there points to 
the witnesses that can confirm or corroborate concerning his 
truthfulness or his veracity. This is more of an informal setting. though I think they are trying 
to put him on trial. We already know that according 
to verse 6. Remember when they brought that 
woman caught in adultery in the very act? Well, if she was caught 
in the very act of adultery, there would have been a willing 
participant in terms of a man, and yet they don't bring him 
because the law of God specified both the man and the woman were 
to be executed. They don't care about the law. 
They don't care about Moses. They don't care about due process. 
They care about themselves. And Jesus was a threat to that. 
If you go back to the beginning of the chapter, notice in verse 
two, now early in the morning, he came again into the temple 
and all the people came to him. It wasn't a difference of theology. 
It was a difference of popularity. He is stealing their thunder. 
They don't like that. They want to exterminate him. 
They want to liquidate him. They want to get rid of him. 
So in this particular instance, Jesus does underscore the veracity 
or truthfulness of his own testimony. He says, even if I bear witness 
of myself, my witness is true. And then he grounds that in his 
identity. In other words, as the Messiah 
of God, as the only begotten Son of the Father, He has this 
authority, He has this power, and it is in union with or by 
virtue of who He is. Look at what He says. Even if 
I bear witness of myself, my witness is true, for I know where 
I came from and where I am going. He came from the Father. He is 
the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 
And He's going to return to the Father. He's already emphasized 
this with them on several occasions. We see it at the Feast of Tabernacles 
in John chapter 7. He tells them that He's going 
to go back to the Father who sent Him. He tells them He came 
from the Father who sent Him. He underscores everything by 
virtue of who he is. His authority is wrapped up in 
his identity as the only begotten son of the Father. And so he 
indicates this to them once again. Now brethren, they just don't 
get it. These people aren't not getting 
it because they haven't been told. If you have heard anything 
in this series on John's gospel, you've heard a repeated emphasis 
on my part to stress that he is the only begotten son of the 
father. He has come from the father and 
he will return to the father after he lays down his life. 
He will rise from the dead and he will ascend back on high. 
So his identity is as the only begotten Son of the Father and 
as the Ascended Lord. So who does he think he is, is 
essentially what they're saying. He is saying, I am the Messiah 
promised in the Old Testament, who has come down from heaven 
for men and for their salvation. But you won't listen. You won't 
receive it. You won't embrace those things that are true of 
Christ. And as the light of the world, 
of course, he speaks truthfulness. As the light of the world, everything 
that he says is accurate. It is consistent. The one man 
who lived on earth, who never told a lie. The one man who lived 
on earth who never engaged in sin. The one man who lived on 
earth who never did anything contrary to that blessed law 
of God Most High is standing in the midst of them. He's already 
given that self-identification that he is, in fact, the light 
of the world. And these men, they stop up their ears. They 
won't listen. They won't receive it. They won't 
go where he is teaching. Don't make that mistake today. The Lord Christ is in fact the 
light of the world. And the Lord Christ is the one 
alone in whom there is salvation. He's going to end this interchange 
with a people who would swear their fidelity to Yahweh of Israel. He will say, if you don't know 
me, which you don't, then you don't know the Father either. 
They have a problem with the sixth commandment, they wanna 
murder Jesus. They have a problem with the seventh commandment 
because when Jesus says, let him who is without sin cast the 
first stone at her, they all left because their consciences 
were convicted. They also have a problem with 
the first commandment. The very Israelites that boasted 
in a knowledge of Yahweh, nevertheless resist and reject the Messiah 
sent from Yahweh that's gonna return back to him. Don't make 
that mistake. Don't, you know, stomp up your 
ears. Don't harden your heart. Don't 
say, oh, no, this can't be true. It is true. Jesus is the light 
of the world. He is, in fact, the Lord God 
of truth. The light of the world is the 
source of all truth. We see that in Psalm 36. For 
with you is the fountain of life. In your light, we see light. 
I think that's sort of in the backdrop to the prologue when 
John is discussing Jesus as the light there. And what do we have? 
Jesus is over the light of nature, and Jesus is over the light of 
supernature. He's over grace. He's over special 
revelation. The light of the world is the 
one eternally begotten Son of the Father, and the light of 
the world is truth incarnate. Turn over to John 14.6. John 
14.6, what he says to his disciples in the upper room. Jesus said 
to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to 
the Father except through me. So I said it's quite in vogue 
today to just disregard Jesus, to just disregard the Bible, 
to just sort of say, well, it has no bearing upon us whatsoever. 
It cannot be true. Again, are you the Pharisee? 
Are you the measure of all that is true and right? Are you the 
arbiter in this world, this cosmos, this universe, as to what is 
and what isn't true in terms of spiritual things, in terms 
of religious matters? No, you're not. The Pharisees 
were not either. And so notice what he goes on 
to say in verse 14. He condemns them, rebukes them, 
reproves them once again, because they're not listening. He says, 
but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You've 
missed it. I've told you, I've come from 
the Father. I will return back to the Father, but you won't 
receive it. You won't listen. It's a rough place to be, isn't 
it? Who are the Pharisees, brethren? They're the religious people 
in first century Israel. These were the people that stood 
and prayed thus for themselves. Thank you, God, that I'm not 
like other men. Thank you, God, that I'm not 
an adulterer. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not a murderer. I'm certainly 
not like these publicans that are over here sort of dirtying 
up your temple. No, I pray twice every day. I fast twice a week. I give of 
tithes of all that I possess. If you were to see those guys, 
you'd think, wow, they're so close to the kingdom. They're 
so holy and righteous and pure. They're absolute reprobate. They 
are God-hating rebels. To reject the son is to reject 
the father. You have to take that message 
home with you today. If you don't have the son, you 
don't have the father. It's another common theme in 
the world today. Well, I'm not a Christian, but 
I am spiritual. I'm not religious, but I do have 
a trust in God. Which God? What God is it? It's an idol of your own making 
if it isn't the true and living God of Holy Scripture, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. We come to the Father through 
the mediation of the Son in the power and presence of the Spirit. 
God is most glorious. And these men, in all of their 
supposed allegiance to Him, are rejecting the Son of His love. 
Now notice, secondly, in terms of the defense of his testimony, 
he argues from the unity that he has with his father. Look 
at verse 15, you judge according to the flesh. He's already condemned 
them for that. Go back to John 7 at the Feast 
of Tabernacles. Notice in verse 24, do not judge 
according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. 
It's all too easy for man to do that, right? It's all too 
easy for Christian man to do that. Proverbs 18, 17 sets down 
due process. The first to plead his cause 
seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. Maybe 
we should do the right thing and listen to both parties before 
we make that decision. If you're reading in the book 
of Kings recently, you'll notice that those two harlots, they 
bring the living child to Solomon. What does Solomon do? Solomon 
exercises wisdom. Solomon ponders, Solomon listens, 
Solomon discovers, and Solomon then renders a particular verdict 
with the wisdom that God had granted him. So when we go back 
to this particular text, he is again rebuking them for this 
mindset. Verse 15, you judge according 
to the flesh. You have no inkling of the divinity 
of the Son of Man, one, because you won't listen to him, two, 
because you're ignorant to your Old Testament scriptures, and 
three, you're so filled with hate, so filled with rebellion, 
so filled with enmity. Again, brethren, that's what 
we need to understand. It's not just simple ignorance 
as to why people don't get it with reference to Jesus. It wasn't 
just that the Pharisees were ignorant. They were ignorant, 
but that wasn't their only problem. They're dead in their trespasses 
and sins. Their minds and hearts are darkened. They've got an evil downward 
bent. That's the problem today as well, 
is why we pray for the Holy Spirit to come during the preaching 
of God's word, so that he can overrule that darkness, so he 
can shine light into the soul, so that he can cause us to reflect 
upon and see the glory of Jesus as the scripture set him forth. 
So these Pharisees are ignorant, but they're dark, they love darkness, 
they hate the light, and we see that happening in this particular 
passage. So he says to them, you judge 
according to the flesh, I judge no one. Now that's a universal 
statement that's contextually, you know, probably modifiable. 
We know that he didn't come specifically into the world to judge it in 
John chapter 3. We know from John chapter 5 that 
he has a role on the day of judgment as the one appointed by the Father 
to render that judgment. In fact, Paul tells us, we'll 
all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account 
of deeds done in the body, whether good or evil. But with reference 
to this particular situation, same sort of thing with the lady 
caught in adultery. They bring this woman that was 
a criminal caught in the act to a man who's not a judge. He 
was not a civil authority. He wasn't even an ecclesiastical 
authority. So that's what he is saying. 
You judge according to the flesh. I'm not judging anybody. I'm 
here teaching and preaching, disclosing my identity, which 
then will explain my authority. But then he goes on to say, But 
if I do judge, my judgment is true. If I do judge, my judgment 
is true. He doesn't judge like they do. He judges in accordance with 
what we find written of him in the prophet Isaiah concerning 
that one who will come as Messiah. His delight is in the fear of 
the Lord. He shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor 
decide by the hearing of his ears. He does it according to 
truth. He does it according to righteousness. He does it objectively. He doesn't do it based on emotion 
or whim or feeling or experience. He does it in a concrete fashion. Incidentally, this is probably 
why Lady Justice has a blindfold on, because Lady Justice is not 
supposed to be a respecter of persons. It shouldn't matter 
that somebody has a lot of money, therefore we let them off. It 
doesn't matter that somebody doesn't have a lot of money, 
therefore we let them off. It matters what is, I know this 
is gonna be controversial, it matters what is right. It matters 
what is true. And that's the nature of our 
blessed savior. So as he's defending himself 
here, he argues with reference to his own faithful testimony, 
but now look at what he does in terms of his unity with the 
father. And the language that he uses here, again, speaks to 
his identity, not simply as the Messiah according to his humanity, 
but as the only begotten Son of God according to his divinity. 
Look at what he says. And yet if I do judge, my judgment 
is true. Look at, for I am not alone, 
but I am with the Father who sent me. I am with the father 
who sent me. What does he mean by that? Now 
there's a sense where we can say as God's people in this present 
evil age, I am with the father. I mean, he didn't send us in 
the manner that he sent the son, but I'm with him. I'm unified. My goals and desires are what 
he has revealed in Holy Scripture. But that's not what Jesus is 
communicating here. Remember, we haven't just fallen 
into John chapter eight. We came first through John chapter 
one. In the beginning was the word 
and the word was with God and the word was God. The word became 
flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory 
as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. 
And then in 118, no one has seen God at any time, but the only 
begotten son who is in the bosom of the father has declared him. Jesus, again, is underscoring 
his divinity before these people. Of course, they know he's man. 
Of course, they could have touched him. They could have felt him. 
They could have pushed him. They can eventually, you know, 
send him to the cross and murder him. But Jesus is the one that 
is revealed to us in John 1. In the beginning was the word, 
the word was with God and the word was God. And then again 
in 118, the son who is in the bosom has declared him. That's what he's underscoring 
here. So verse 16, and yet if I do 
judge, my judgment is true for I am not alone, but I am with 
the father who sent me. Go back to John 3 for just a 
moment. John chapter three, in the King 
James tradition, there is a textual variant that I think we should 
reject, and I think we should read it the way we have it in 
the King James tradition. Notice in John 3, 13, no one 
has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that 
is the son of man, notice, who is in heaven. How is he at the 
same time standing there and in heaven? Well, it's the hypostatic 
union of our blessed savior. For those newcomers, that simply 
means that Jesus is one. There's one person of Christ, 
but Jesus has two natures. Jesus is the word who became 
flesh and dwelt among us. The glory of the Christian message 
is that in the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity 
never ceased being what he always was. He didn't stop being divine. He didn't lay that divinity on 
the back burner. He didn't divest himself of it. 
But never ceasing to be the eternally begotten Son of the Father, He 
takes on our humanity so that He can live for us, so that He 
can die for us, so that He can be raised again for us. So back 
to the passage. When he underscores first his 
own faithful testimony, he now appeals to the fact that he has 
this unity with the Father. I am with the Father. And brethren, 
in light of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, it is impossible 
for him to not be with the Father. There's never a time when he's 
not with the Father. Each of the persons has the whole 
divine essence, and yet the essence undivided. It's not partialed 
out a little bit to Jesus, a little bit to the Father, a little bit 
to the Son. No, in this divine and infinite 
being, there are three persons. the Father, the Son, and the 
Spirit. And so Christ appeals to that 
withness with the Father, again, to underscore his identity, which 
communicates the nature of his authority. They keep asking, 
who are you? Who do you think you are? He 
keeps answering them. They just won't listen. They 
won't receive it. They continue to say no. They 
continue to block up their ears. They continue to say, but you 
being a man, make yourself equal with God. They obviously didn't 
understand the claim with reference to incarnation. But brethren, 
they didn't understand the Old Testament scriptures. People 
have to reckon with the fact that Messiah would be divine. 
When you look at Yahweh said to my Lord, sit at my right hand 
till I make your enemies your footstool. We sang that, Psalm 
110 verse one. One of the most quoted and alluded 
to verses in the entirety of the New Testament. The New Testament 
under the persecution of the unbelieving Jews, the New Testament 
believers then under the persecution of the God-hating Roman Empire, 
what was their battle cry? Yahweh said to my Lord, sit at 
my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. See brethren, 
when it looks like the enemies of God are losing, we can run 
and hide or we can sing psalms of praise knowing that our God 
is in control and that our God will ultimately smash his enemies 
if he doesn't save them first and that's obviously what we 
pray for. But with reference to the nature of the Messiah, 
would he be divine? Yes. Psalm 45 leans that way. Psalm 72 leans that way. Isaiah 
9, 6 and 7. Everlasting Father, Prince of 
Peace. How do you predicate that of 
one who is a Son given unto us? In fact, turn there for just 
a moment to the prophet Isaiah, an announcement of the Incarnation. 
And in that announcement of the Incarnation, we have the information 
that Messiah would be divine. Isaiah 9, 6. Passage very familiar, 
be even more familiar to us in another month or two. Isaiah 
9, 6. Now, notice how it starts. It 
starts 4. So does 5, and so does 4. Basically, 
it's an announcement of blessing to come upon endarkened people. Okay, look at verses 1 and 2. 
Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, 
as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land 
of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the 
way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. The 
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those 
who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a 
light has shined." I mentioned last week in our study in verse 
12 that that's the text that Matthew cites when Jesus embarks 
on his public ministry. In other words, the dawn of the 
messianic kingdom comes first to Galilee of the Gentiles. He 
is in fact the light of the world. He's gonna save the lost tribes 
of Jacob, but he's gonna be a light unto the Gentiles. Now notice, 
how can we have such a wonderful and a positive announcement? 
Notice in verse three, you have multiplied the nation and increased 
its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of harvest, 
as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. In other words, when 
this happens, when this light dawns upon these endarkened peoples 
that are sitting in misery and destruction and pain, it's going 
to be a time of rejoicing. Is that what happens? The gospel 
comes and it causes joy, right? That's why when we sing, we do 
it with happiness. We do it with joyfulness. We 
do it in a celebratory fashion. We're not here singing dirges. 
We're here singing the songs of Zion back to our blessed Christ 
and thrown on the right hand of the Father. So why will there 
be joy? Notice in verse four, four, you 
have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, 
the rod of his oppressor, as in the days of Midian. He's gonna 
deal with the enemies. Notice in verse five, four, every 
warrior's sandal from the noisy battle and garments rolled in 
blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire. They're not 
gonna continue on in battle. There's going to be this peace 
that obtains because of the work of the one announced now in verses 
six and seven. For unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. 
The fact that the government will be upon his shoulder, do 
you wanna trust anybody other than God with that? Because I 
don't. not even for a moment. Do you 
wanna trust anybody other than God with the government on his 
shoulder? I don't. You probably would say, 
yeah, I don't think so either. As good as some of these political 
up-and-comers might be, I don't want them to have absolute authority 
over all things. Well, who is this son? Who is 
this child given? Who is this one that's gonna 
have the government upon his shoulder? Well, it goes on to 
describe. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I don't know how you conclude 
that Messiah isn't going to be divine. I don't know how you 
conclude that from another incarnation passage in Isaiah 5, 2, whose 
goings forth are from of old, even from everlasting. The Christ 
of God, the one sent by the Father, is the only begotten Son of the 
Father, who is always with Him. There is no separation there. 
There is no breach. There's no sort of dissolution. Christ is always with the Father. That's His identity. And again, 
that's where His authority is seen. So back to our text in 
John 8, yet if I do judge my, I am with the father who sent 
me. And then notice his appeal to the law in verses 17 to 18. 
He appeals to the law concerning witness testimony like he does 
in the woman caught in adultery. When he says in verse seven, 
he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her 
first, he's challenging them at the level of the law. The 
Old Testament said there would never be a capital offense or 
a capital execution without witness testimony. In fact, the witness's 
testimony had to be truthful and they had to understand the 
sobriety of their testimony because it would have been them first 
to take up the stones to throw at the guilty party. That invested 
that whole transaction with a great degree of solemnity, right? It's 
not willy nilly, hey, we're gonna just make up these charges and 
we're gonna just have them stick to this guy so we can throw stones 
at him. No, Deuteronomy 19 and the law 
of witnesses there, it's very specific, two or three witnesses, 
that and Deuteronomy chapter 17. But in Deuteronomy 19, there's 
even another emphasis there. It says that if I charge somebody 
falsely, And it turns out that I'm found out to be a false witness 
and it's a capital offense, I could be executed for that. See, brethren, 
when we look at the old covenant law code, it's not barbarism. It's not, you know, everybody 
doing what is right in their own eyes. No, that was a bleak 
time in Israel's history when there wasn't a king. But in terms 
of that law code, what would that do? It would cause you to 
really reflect on whether or not you wanted to voice this 
complaint to the civil judge. Because if you're wrong, if you're 
found out wanting, you're going to be executed. I think that 
would be enough of an impetus for many persons to say, you 
know, I think I'll let this one go. Or, I don't think I'm going 
to try and pursue this because I don't like the ramifications 
should I be found out to be a fake. So now Jesus appeals to the law 
of witnesses in verses 17 and 18. It is also written in your 
law that the testimony of two men is true. Now, he's not suggesting 
that God is a man. He's not saying that. He's simply 
looking at the principle. Two or three witnesses. Two or 
three witnesses is what is necessary. And two or three witnesses, brethren, 
is the validation for what we call today the scientific method. 
You have to have two or three witnesses in order to proceed 
in science. You have to have two or three 
witnesses in order to proceed in a criminal court. You have 
to have two or three witnesses in order to vet and to manifest 
and to demonstrate whether or not we're getting at the truth. 
And so Christ appeals to that law of witnesses. It's written 
in your law. You guys should know this. You study it. You parade yourselves around 
as the knowers of it and even the teachers of it. So it's in 
your law that the testimony of two men is true. Now he applies 
that to him and the father. And again, who could do this 
if they weren't who they said they were? In other words, if 
I said this, brethren, you'd go, oh, okay. Yeah, all right. But you know, the father could 
condemn you too, because you got lots of sin, bro. You got 
lots of issues, man. You got a lot of problems. But 
when Jesus says, I am one who bears witness of myself, and 
the father who sent me bears witness of me, he does again 
what he has done throughout. The self-testimony of the one 
sent by the father. That's his credentials. That's 
his identity. That's the rationale for his 
authority. I am one who testifies. I am the one sent by the Father. 
My testimony is true. But not only that, the Father 
who sent me, His testimony is true. So we've satisfied the 
law of witnesses in this appeal to two or three witnesses. He 
has left them speechless. He has left them shut up. All 
they can then go on to say is, well, where is your father? They 
don't know what to do, brethren. On one hand, it's kind of pathetic. Well, it's not kind of pathetic. 
Let's just be honest. It's really pathetic. I mean, 
when grown men conduct themselves in this kind of a manner, it 
really should cause us all to reflect upon the wisdom of Solomon. 
You know, it's better to be thought a fool by not speaking than opening 
your mouth and confirming that, in fact, you are a fool. There 
is wisdom for the one guy in the room that doesn't speak. 
He may be thinking about a monkey slamming cymbals together, but 
if he doesn't open his mouth, he's counted as the wise man. 
Look at that studious fellow. Look at that wise man. Again, 
he's thinking about a monkey slamming cymbals. It's everybody 
else who opens their mouth that demonstrates, that shows and 
highlights, that validates that they are, in fact, foolish men. 
That's what the Pharisees are doing. Your testimony isn't true. Why not? Again, because you say 
so, and now he appeals to the Father as the confirming witness 
to the things that he is teaching. And 1 John, the epistle of 1 
John, John the Apostle in his epistle picks this up. 1 John 
5, 9 and 10, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of 
God is greater. For this is the witness of God, 
which he has testified of his Son. He who believes in the Son 
of God has the witness in himself. He who does not believe God has 
made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that 
God has given of his Son. It's a pretty strong statement, 
a pretty powerful statement, and perhaps John is musing upon 
this very scene, because this is the direction that Jesus goes. 
So he defends his truthful testimony, and now he rebukes these Pharisees 
when they ask the question. Notice in verse 19, then they 
said to him, where is your father? Now, they knew his earthly father 
was Joseph. In fact, that was the sort of 
complaint about him at various times in the ministry. We know 
his father, he was a carpenter. We know his mother. We know his 
brothers and his sisters. We know them and he's nothing 
special. It could be that, you know, they 
could be trafficking and that sort of a mindset. Again, he's 
already pressed them in terms of his identity and authority 
at the feast. He's doing that here now. But 
I think more likely they're mocking him. I think they're mocking 
him. Where is your father? Let's see 
an appearance. Let him confirm it with a voice 
from heaven. You see, even if the voice from 
heaven came, they would have rejected that. And incidentally, 
a voice from heaven did come twice in the ministry of our 
blessed savior at his baptism and at the Mount of Transfiguration. 
What does the father say on both occasions? This is my beloved 
son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him. So even if these men 
would have been there, they would have said, well, you know, that 
couldn't have been, that was, you know, the disciples, they were playing 
tricks or whatever. You see, when men are sort of 
predisposed against the Savior, they're not gonna listen to him. 
They're not gonna receive what he has to say. And in this particular 
instance, he appeals to his own witness, he appeals to the Father's 
witness, the one he's always with, and so what do they say? 
Well, where is your Father? And we know this is gonna come 
up later in John chapter eight, when they say, our Father, or 
we weren't born of fornication. What are they implying? They're 
implying that Jesus was born of fornication, the virgin birth. They didn't say, wow, that fulfills 
Isaiah 7. That fulfills the prophets. That 
fulfills everything spoken about this blessed one. No, they heard 
that and they concluded that Joseph and Mary were ungodly. Joseph and Mary conceived Jesus 
in fornication. They say that to him later in 
this particular exchange. As I said, he's gonna go on the 
offensive next time. He's gonna press them with the 
claims of rejecting the son. It's in that vein, he says, if 
you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. He 
then highlights the freedom that those have who come to the Savior. Whoever commits sin is what? 
He's a slave of sin, but you come to the Son and the Son shall 
make you free indeed. So these men are wretched. And 
so when they say, where is your father? I suspect they are simply 
mocking him. Now he uses this to his advantage 
in terms of showing them once again, what their problem is. Notice in verse 19. Now, brethren, 
this isn't unloving. You know, there might be that 
take today where you say, well, you know, that's not very kind. 
Why do we think that the truth is not kind? Where did we get 
that? 1 Corinthians 13, love does what? It rejoices in what? Lies, falsehoods? It lies and it's all about deception? No, love rejoices in truth. Do you want your doctor to lie 
to you and tell you that you're perfectly healthy and you've 
got a grapefruit-sized tumor on your brain? I think I'd rather 
the truth, brethren. I think that's the whole sort 
of reason why you go to doctors, right? Oh, you look great. You 
look wonderful. You have a doctor, I can't seem 
to smell anything. Oh, you know, it just happens 
from time to time. Doctor, my eyes are clouding up. I can't 
really see. Well, you know, everything's 
fine. Wouldn't you rather hear the truth? You got a grapefruit-sized 
tumor on your brain? I don't know that that would 
be a happy occasion, but at least you kind of know what you're 
dealing with, why you can't hear, why you can't see, why your judgment 
is off. We have this mindset today that 
truth is so offensive. No, the only thing offensive 
about truth is that we're babies that don't like to hear it. that 
we get easily triggered and easily offended. And we can't believe 
for a moment that anybody would ever tell anybody as great as 
us something that isn't right. That's not really how we should 
function as rational image bearers of the living and true God. We're 
supposed to be adults. Now notice what he does in verse 
19. You know, neither me nor my father. If you had known me, you would 
have known my father also. You see what he's saying there? 
You see why they get upset? We're not validating it. We're 
not saying they're good to get upset. We're not saying right 
for them. But we can understand at a certain 
carnal level from a reprobate mindset when they are told that 
you don't know the God that you swear fidelity to. You don't 
know the God that you grew up hearing about. You don't know 
the God that you celebrate to others that you have an extra 
special keen knowledge of. He says, you know that neither 
know me nor my father. Now, he then goes on to say, 
if you would have known me, then you would know my father. Remember, 
Jesus is with the father. You don't separate father, son, 
and spirit. You get rid of Jesus, you have 
no God. You get rid of Jesus, you have 
no religion. You get rid of Jesus, you have 
no spirituality. You get rid of Jesus, you're 
dead in your sins. He is the alone mediator between 
God and men. And this is what he underscores, 
you know, neither me nor my father, if you had known me, you would 
have known my father also. He underscores not only the fact 
that he is with the father, but he underscores the fact that 
he's the mediator to the father. Seal of Alexandria said if they 
had known the word who shone forth from God the Father and 
who came to be in the flesh for us, according to the divine scripture, 
they would have also known his father. See, brethren, it's not 
that hard. It's not that difficult. What 
did Isaiah say? What does Jesus do? What did 
Micah say? What does Jesus do? What does 
the Father say? What does Jesus do? This inextricable 
link, by virtue of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, in this 
divine and infinite being, there are three persons. Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. You jettison the Son, and you 
say no to Jesus, I'm not a Christian, but I have a relationship with 
God. That is an oxymoron. You cannot have a relationship 
with God apart from Jesus Christ. He says as much in that passage 
in John 14, 6. We've already looked at it. I 
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father 
except through me. And with reference to this identification, 
look at John 14 a bit later. John 14, after verse 6, he has 
to field some questions concerning this. Verse seven, if you had 
known me, you would have known my father also. And from now 
on, you know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, 
show us the father and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said 
to him, have I been with you so long and yet you have not 
known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the 
father. So how can you say, show us the 
father? Do you not believe that I am 
in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak 
to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who 
dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father 
and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the 
works themselves. Now the disciples in the upper 
room are still probably scratching their heads over some of these 
statements, but they're getting it. They're tracking, they're 
listening, they're following. But when we go back to John chapter 
8, that's not true of the Pharisees. That is absolutely positively 
not true. Jesus rebukes them. In verse 
19, you know neither me nor my father. If you had known me, 
you would have known my father also. And then notice how this 
brief section ends. These words Jesus spoke in the 
treasury as he taught in the temple. Now notice, and no one 
laid hands on him for his hour had not yet come. We've seen 
that hour referred to on several occasions. It simply means the 
time of his death. The time when he came to live 
after his life of obedience to the Father, he would go to the 
cross and die. So that hour had not come yet. 
But what can we learn by inference from verse 20? It says, he taught 
these things or spoke in the treasury as he taught in the 
temple. And then notice, and no one laid hands on him. What's 
the implication? They wanted to lay hands on him. 
They wanted to stop him. They wanted to end him. They 
wanted to deliver him up. They didn't want him going from 
place to place through the temple with all these people coming 
to him and him telling them, the only way to the father is 
through me. And those people by grace following, 
those people by grace believing, those people by grace receiving 
the redemptive benefit that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. They 
didn't want that kind of popularity spread, and they certainly didn't 
want this upstart, this man who wasn't trained as a rabbi, this 
man who didn't go to Bible college, he didn't go to seminary, he 
doesn't have a PhD, he's gonna actually stand up to us and tell 
us that we don't know our living and true God? That is precisely 
what he's telling you, and you hate it. and you want to lay 
hands on him, and you want to seize him, you want to drag him 
off, you want to engage in a kangaroo court, and you want to throw 
him up on that cross. That's eventually going to happen, 
but not now. Not now, because his hour had 
not yet come. He is not at the whim, he is 
not at the behest, he is not at the service of the creature. He is God most high and he operates 
according to the divine plan. When Jesus sets his face to go 
to Jerusalem, sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, that 
was the time. When Jesus announces that he 
must be tried, he must be crucified, he must be raised again. These 
aren't possibilities in the mindset of the Messiah. He knows what 
he's going to do. He's going to accomplish it perfectly 
in accordance with the father's plan and he's gonna do it to 
save his people from their sins. So of course they wanted to lay 
hands on him. Of course they wanted to stop 
him. They wanted to neutralize him. Remember in John 10, 18, 
he speaks of his own life there. No one takes it from me, but 
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and 
I have power to take it again. And of course we've appealed 
to it a few times in our studies in John's gospel, what Jesus 
says to Pontius Pilate. In John 19, 10, then Pilate said 
to him, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I 
have power to crucify you? and power to release you. How 
do you think he said that? Probably with every bit of swagger 
a man could muster. Every bit of swagger a man could 
muster. He knew Jesus wasn't guilty. 
He knew the Jews had delivered up because of envy. His own wife 
had a dream that, and she comes out of the bedroom and says, 
don't have anything to do with him. Stay far from him. So when he says this, he's probably 
throwing around his weight, hoping that this prisoner will knuckle 
under. This prisoner will respect the 
authority. This prisoner will say, well, 
yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand what you're saying, and I'll 
fall right into line. Is that what the prisoner says? 
Look what the prisoner says in verse 11. Jesus answered, you 
could have no power at all against me unless it had been given to 
you or given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered 
me to you has the greater sin. Pilate wasn't operating untethered 
from divine control. Again, brethren, we don't live 
in a haphazard world. We don't live in a non-providential 
order. We live in a world governed by 
a sovereign God, a wise God, and that God has a plan, and 
Jesus is going to fulfill that plan. His hour had not yet come, 
and notice in this short section, the stress. Where's the stress, 
or the accent, or where does the emphasis fall in verse 20? The authority of Jesus. That's 
their issue. Who do you think you are? Who 
do you think you are saying what you're saying? You can't testify 
and be taken as true on your own behalf. It's all about his 
authority. So that brief statement, he's teaching in the treasury. No one laid a hand on him. Implication 
is they wanted to, for his hour had not yet come. Where does 
the passage end? The passage ends with the authority 
of Jesus, the very question that those Pharisees continue to assault. Now, in conclusion, we have the 
light of the world. He reveals himself that way in 
John 8. John 8.12, I am the light of the world. He who follows 
me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. We 
see the problem with the world. The world, estranged from God, 
doesn't walk in light. But we see as well the pathway 
for the believer. I am the light of the world. 
He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light 
of life. Now brethren, there's remaining darkness, there's remaining 
corruption. We say with the hymn writer, 
I'm prone to wander, prone to leave the God that I love. But 
our orientation, the trajectory of our life is to follow the 
lamb, to follow the light of the world. And as a result of 
that, we walk in the light. And as well, this should evoke 
from us, living in a world filled with darkness, hearts of compassion 
to proclaim Jesus to every creature under heaven. Because what's 
the hope for mankind today? It's the Lord Christ Most High. 
It's the glory of the Savior. It's the beautiful I Am. It is 
the light of the world. I had a friend this morning remind 
me, not remind me, tell me a text or a quote from a man who wrote 
on prayer. And I'll tell you what that is 
in just a moment. But if you're new here or you're 
sort of new to Christianity, you're sort of thinking about 
this, you hear that word saint tossed around. You know, God, 
please bless the saints. If you've come from sort of a 
Roman Catholic background, as far as you know, the saints are 
a special class of extra special people. That's not how the Bible 
speaks of it. That's not it at all. Saints 
are those who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 
We're not saints because we're good. We're not saints because 
we're extra special. We're not saints because we're 
wise. We're not saints for any other reason than God in his 
grace reached down in the mud, picked us up, gave us life, gave 
us faith, gave us repentance, gave us above all, the savior 
for sinners. That's why we're saints, not 
because we've arrived or achieved or have done something very good. Now, it's in that light that 
I want to read this quote. This fellow Alexander White says, 
A true saint is just a great sinner seeking to taste the love 
of Christ. Amen, Alexander White. The true 
saint is just a great sinner seeking to taste the love of 
Christ. I would bet everybody here conquered 
by sovereign grace says, yeah, that's me. I'm a great sinner, 
but I just want that great savior. May I say to you, if you're not 
a believer, if you're not a Christian this morning, this should be 
your mindset. You're not gonna get to God by 
your performance. You're not going to get to God 
by your moral reform. You're not going to get to God 
by saying, well, I'm not going to keep doing that, and I'm going 
to go ahead and do that. The only getting to God is through 
his Son. The way, the truth, and the life, 
no one comes to the Father except through him. The blessed and 
wondrous news is that he receives sinners unto himself. He says 
back in John 6, all that the Father gives me will come to 
me. And the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast 
out. He is that good. He is that gracious. He is that glorious. He takes 
great sinners and he cleanses them. He washes them, He purifies 
them, and then He gives them a righteousness by which they'll 
one day enter in to the presence of God Almighty, only for the 
works accomplished by the Savior. That's why it's gospel, it's 
good news. See, good advice would be for 
me to tell you, don't keep getting hammered, don't keep smoking 
crack, don't keep visiting prostitutes. That's good advice. Good news 
is that Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save, and 
everyone who looks to Him in faith will be saved. That is 
what we should take from this passage. If you don't know me, 
you don't know the Father. But if you know Him, you know 
the Father. If you know Christ by faith, 
you have everything. Every spiritual blessing in the 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You need justification? He gives 
it. You need sanctification? He gives 
it. You need glorification? He gives 
it. He won it. He earned it. He merited 
it. He did all that for us men and 
for our salvation. So for these Pharisees to say 
to him, your witness isn't true. And for him to say, my witness 
is true. The father corroborates. Moses 
testifies. The prophets testify. David and 
the Psalms testifies. The problem with the Pharisees 
isn't that they haven't heard. The problem with the Pharisees 
is that they won't believe. Don't let that be your problem. 
You've heard. By grace, believe, look unto 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you so very much for the 
teaching of our Savior. We thank you so very much for 
who he is and what he has done on behalf of sinners. And we 
know that even now he's stationed at the right hand of God most 
high. And we look forward again to his return in glory to judge 
the living and the dead. I pray that all of us would be 
prepared to meet him on that day, clothed in his righteousness, 
washed in his blood, and ready by grace to enter in and to hear 
those words, well done, good and faithful servant. We rejoice 
in your loving kindness. We rejoice in the gospel of our 
salvation. And we pray now in the name of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, we'll stand and sing the 
doxology in praise to our God, number 568 in your hymn books. 568, we'll stand as we sing together. ♪ Praise the God of Israel ♪ ♪ Blessings flow 
♪ ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise Him, our 
God, ye heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ The Lord bless you and keep you. 
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 
God in heaven, we thank you that you give peace. We thank you 
that our Lord Jesus has made peace. And we know that in the 
gospel, peace is preached to us. And we pray that your blessing 
would be upon that word as it goes forth today. May it run 
swiftly and be glorified and may a great multitude turn by 
grace unto the true and living God. And we pray this in the 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We may be seated for a 
brief time of meditation.