John's Evidence for Jesus

John explicitly designed his gospel to convince men and women of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:30-31). The Greek term for bearing witness or testifying occurs more than fifty times in the book. This Gospel is just filled with testimony that Jesus is the Christ of God. Once we have established its authenticity and reliability (see page 8) we can examine this evidence with confidence.

The testimony of John begins immediately. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). There can be no doubt in John's mind who Jesus is. He couples His personal testimony with that of many others. John the Baptist, who came "to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe" (1:7) is presented as one who points to Jesus as God's Son. He identifies Jesus as the Messiah of Isaiah's prophecy by proclaiming Jesus as "the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" (1:29). He further announced that he was not the Christ, but when told that Jesus was gaining momentum and popularity said "He must increase, but I must decrease" (3:30). John understood who he was not and thus understand who Jesus is: the Son of God.

Others witness to these same truths. Philip says Jesus is the One of whom Moses and the prophets wrote (1:45). Nicodemus acknowledges that no one can do what Jesus does except God is with Him (3:2). Peter states that only Jesus has the "words of eternal life" (6:68). After the resurrection the eleven disciples confidently state their belief that "By this we believe that You came forth from God" (16:30). Thus we see that the people who knew Jesus best, who walked and talked with Him, saw His works and heard His teaching accept that no mere human could do what He did. They were convinced, and left their convincing testimony.

But John records more than human confirmation of Christ's deity. He tells us of Jesus' works. These works, Jesus said, prove He came from the Father. "But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish; the very works that I do bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me." (John 5:36-37). The signs and wonders Jesus did (among them raising the dead, 11:39ff) verified that He was who He claimed to be. God would never allow such miracle working power to fall into the hands of a charlatan. God was with Jesus, giving Him this awesome power, so that all would believe His claims of deity. "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." (John 10:37-38).

The signs and wonders had their desired effect. "And many of the people believed in Him, and said, 'When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?'" (John 7:31). Please note that the fact of Jesus' signs was never questioned. Even if His enemies admitted He did genuine miracles (see 9:16; 11:47-48). Again we emphasize: God would not allow an impostor to do what Jesus did. These signs and wonders stand as undeniable proof of Jesus' deity.

This is particularly striking when we examine what Jesus said. In John 8:58 He boldly states, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). That this was an open claim to deity is indicated by 8:59: "Then they took up stones to throw at Him." The religious leaders of Jesus' day knew exactly what He meant when He took the divine name to Himself. In John 10:33 again they want to stone Jesus. Why? "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." Jesus never denies it _ thus implicitly agreeing with their charge. In John 5:22-23 Jesus states that He is to be honored as the Father: "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." Such language is not surprising, coming from One who receives worship from men (John 9:38).

Any remaining doubt is surely removed by the testimony of an empty tomb. John goes to great lengths to show us just how certain we may be that the tomb was empty. He tells us the stone was removed (20:1). How did that happen? Who rolled that heavy stone away while Roman soldiers guarded the tomb? Mary Magdalene finds the tomb unoccupied (20:1), as do Peter and John (20:2-4). That John is an eyewitness to these things is shown by his testimony that the grave clothes were neatly folded up and put aside (20:6-7). This body was not stolen. How could it be with Roman guards watching the tomb? Even if we admit that someone did break into the tomb one must ask if they would remove the grave clothes and take the time to fold them up? John goes on from the empty tomb to record four different appearances of Jesus. There is no doubt that He is risen. This resurrection proves decisively who Jesus is: the Son of God.

John's Gospel does such a wonderful job of building our faith. We invite you to read this Gospel and watch carefully for the continued testimony to Jesus' deity. Let this evidence push you forward to its logical conclusion: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God!