Witnesses

           If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.  There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved.  John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.  I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.  And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.  You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.  How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.  But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (John 5:31-47)

         John said Jesus was greater than He. Jesus’ works testified that He was no ordinary man. God testified at Jesus’ baptism. The Jews ignored them all. They held Moses and the Scriptures in high esteem but misunderstood or ignored the ways in which they pointed to Jesus. We can’t really blame them. We do the same thing.
      So how do we know what we know? Some people like to claim that we can’t know much of anything for certain. What nourished us yesterday might poison us today. Some go so far as to say that the only things we can know is what we can figure out rationally, like mathematics. We can discover that two plus two equals four. It is the nature of twos to add up to four. Twos cannot add up to three. But how many of us have learned our sums, or our multiplication tables through the discovery process? Most of what we know is known through the testimony of expert witnesses. Parents and teachers tell us that two plus two equals four, and that the circumference of a circle is twice the radius times pi, which is 3.14 or 22/7. We learn that water freezes “at” thirty-two degrees. We learn that the first president of the United States under the Constitution was George Washington in the same way. And how do we learn about the sitting president? Few of us go to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and devote even an hour a day to watching what he does or talk to him.
          Learning through the witness of others is normal for us, but it is just as normal for us to reject information that doesn’t fit with our preconceived notions. God can’t exist because He is not physical, and He is not subject to our investigation. All of that is what one should expect of am omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent spirit. The problem now, as it was in today’s passage, is that an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God doesn’t tend to live down to our expectations. The Jews rejected Jesus because He wasn’t checking off every item in their to do list. He accomplished many of the most significant. But He didn’t defeat Rome and He didn’t set up His kingdom with its capital at Jerusalem.
          So how are we to learn whether or not Jesus is who He said He is? By studying the historical records, not only of His life, death, and resurrection, but of the lives of those who followed Him. I’m not talking about the overblown stories of “Saints” but by following the overall results of those who have followed His way.