Flashback Episode — The Second Witness: John 8:12-20

While reading the gospels and learning about all the different challenges the religious leaders push onto Jesus, at times I have wondered if the religious leaders ever actually challenged Jesus with what we might consider a valid challenge.

In many ways, all the challenges the religious leaders use against Jesus were valid challenges, but when looking at all the places where Jesus’ ministry is challenged, do any of the challenges that are included in the gospels stand apart from the rest?

When answering this question for myself, we don’t need to look any further than the challenge the Pharisees bring to Jesus in our passage for this episode. Interestingly enough, this challenge from these religious leaders is only found in the gospel of John, and in John’s gospel, it is found in chapter 8. While the Pharisee’s challenge begins in verse 13, let’s begin reading with verse 12 to help us get a better context for how these Pharisees try to discredit Jesus. We’ll also be reading this passage using the New Century Version. Starting in verse 12, John tells us that:

¹² Later, Jesus talked to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The person who follows me will never live in darkness but will have the light that gives life.”

¹³ The Pharisees said to Jesus, “When you talk about yourself, you are the only one to say these things are true. We cannot accept what you say.”

Before reading how Jesus responds, of all the challenges the Pharisees bring, this is among the most relevant for those living in the first century and those of us living in every century since.

If it were not for this passage and challenge, we might not even think of this sort of challenge to Jesus’ ministry today, but this type of challenge was very real in the Old Testament and the first century. In the Law of Moses, in order for any testimony to be valid, it must be independently validated by at least one other witness.

In many ways, this is the same in our court system today. Outside of direct confessions, judges and juries must weigh the evidence and testimony of numerous witnesses in order to determine guilt and innocence. This is even truer in cases where capital punishment or jail-time is a potential result.

The Pharisees’ challenge to Jesus is a valid challenge because if Jesus is the only one giving testimony about Himself, then His testimony is not valid. It would be like anyone standing up and claiming to be the messiah. It would simply be their word alone – and because of this, it would not be valid testimony.

But while this is a valid challenge in many ways, let’s read how Jesus responds, starting in verse 14:

¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Yes, I am saying these things about myself, but they are true. I know where I came from and where I am going. But you don’t know where I came from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards. I am not judging anyone. ¹⁶ But when I do judge, I judge truthfully, because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. ¹⁷ Your own law says that when two witnesses say the same thing, you must accept what they say. ¹⁸ I am one of the witnesses who speaks about myself, and the Father who sent me is the other witness.”

¹⁹ They asked, “Where is your father?”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father, too.”

Jesus has a second witness, but what I find fascinating about the second witness Jesus’ uses is that in essence Jesus says God is His second witness.

Not only is this a very bold thing to say, it is completely subjective to each person present. The Pharisees can see and hear Jesus, but are they willing to open their eyes to the Father?

When they ask where Jesus’ Father is, I doubt their intention was to validate Jesus’ words. Instead, it was more likely to find ways to invalidate this second supporting testimony. Seeing the sorts of challenges the Pharisees brought to Jesus prompts me to think that they were excellent persuaders and expert trappers. The religious elite in Jesus’ day used logic as a weapon, and while they weren’t successful using it against Jesus, they were sure they could use it against any second “witness” Jesus had to validate His testimony.

However, Jesus’ Father, or we could simply say God the Father, is a valid witness in Jesus’ ministry. If for nothing else, every time Jesus performed a miracle, and every time He cast out a demon, it was only because God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, was empowering these actions. Without the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ ministry would clearly have been a one-witness ministry, and the Pharisees’ challenge would be valid, but because of the miracles, we can have confidence that God was validating Jesus as a witness and if the Pharisees were willing to admit it – which most weren’t – Jesus did have a second witness in the Father.

The other angle of this discussion is one we really don’t have enough time to unpack in this episode, because it has to do with the hundreds of ways Jesus fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies. The fulfillment of prophecies is a clear third witness for those who are willing to accept this.

Our passage concludes in verse 20 by saying:

²⁰ Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the Temple, near where the money is kept. But no one arrested him, because the right time for him had not yet come.

Part of me wonders if Jesus wasn’t arrested here, not only because the right time had not come, but also because at this point, the Pharisees officially wrote Jesus off. If the Pharisees were unwilling to accept the miracles and healing as signs that God was validating Jesus’ ministry, then there was no way they would accept Old Testament prophecy as a witness either.

The argument the Pharisees used to discredit Jesus is valid, and the argument Jesus uses to counter this challenge is subjective – which I believe Jesus does intentionally.

In other places, Jesus taught that only those who the Father brings to Him will understand who He really is. If the Father doesn’t bring someone to Jesus, to that person, Jesus’ ministry will not look valid because they do not know the Father. To someone who the Father brings to Jesus, Jesus’ ministry will look like the most valid ministry ever in the history of the world, because to this person, not only the Father and Jesus are witnesses, but also history, prophecy, and all the miracles. Even the death and resurrection will be a witness to the person whose eyes are open to what God is teaching.

In this passage, Jesus aligns Himself with God the Father, and looking at the gospel record, we can see how the Father responded and validates Jesus’ ministry. The only thing left for us to do is decide whether we will accept the Father-Son testimony that we have been given in scripture.

As we close out another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will to leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life. If you are undecided about who Jesus is, don’t discredit Him because of what someone else has said. Instead, seek to understand Him for yourself, and only discredit Him if your personal study reveals that you should.

When studying, as I regularly challenge you to do, purposefully and prayerfully study the Bible for yourself to understand both the God of the Bible and about Jesus who came to show us what God is like. The four gospels, which are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are a great place to begin when studying to learn about both God the Father and about Jesus.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him – because, if He created you, which He did, He has an amazing purpose for your life with Him!