When Jesus walked upon this earth, He was a reliable witness who came to give us an understanding of Himself and of the Father. I John 5:20 tells us this, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."

Those who question the reliability of Jesus and also His deity are rejecting the truth of God’s Word while calling God a liar (I John 5:9-12).

Also when choosing a witness, will His testimony be relevant to the case? A witness must see and hear things relevant to the case under consideration. The presentation of non-related information makes no contribution to the case. A witness who does not have pertinent information helpful to the case should not be chosen. When God commissioned His Son to come down to the earth, He was chosen with great purpose. He came to reveal the Father to this lost and dying world. He came as "the express image of his person" (Hebrews 1:3). We who are victims of sin needed a witness to come who could identify not only with the Father but also with us. Christ Jesus came as our Priest. The Latin word for priest is pontifex which means, "bridge builder." He also is our mediator or go-between with the Father.

Christ Jesus in His relevancy connects us back to the Father, in the sense that He is touched by the feelings of our infirmities. It is as though Jesus is showing God how we feel and then showing us how God feels.

When Christ said that He did what He saw and heard His Father do, He was doing what the Father would have done in healing the impotent man. In this sense He was standing as a witness against the Jewish authorities. They did not have the love of God as He did. His witness of God certainly revealed the Father and was relevant to the will of the Father that sent Him.

The third requirement of a good witness is that His testimony be remembered. It was said that on an average, that during every thirty-two seconds of testimony that President Clinton gave in the Monica Lewinsky hearings that He said, "I do not remember." It is vital that testimony be remembered and not forgotten to insure that there be a complete witness to the case. Christ when witnessing the attributes of the Father, left out nothing. He said and declared everything within the scope of the Father’s will. He was able to say that He had finished the works of the one who sent Him. Every miracle that was performed illustrated some aspect of the Father’s will. Certainly the raising of the impotent man, who was in misery for thirty-eight years, testifies to this.

II. THE CHARACTER OF THE WITNESS vv. 31-42

Apart from the evidence, there is no greater importance to the case than the character of the witness. Can anyone attest to and agree to the good character of the witness? Does he have those who have observed the pattern of his life and recognizes his good characteristics? His good character must be supported by others.

Just as Bethesda had five porches which gave witness to all the sick and suffering, who lay underneath its protection, the Lord has five witnesses to all that He is. In verse 31, Christ acquiesces to the arguments of His opponents that His witness alone (without other witnesses) is not true.

But He goes on to remind them that another, His Father, witnesses to the validity of His claims (vv. 32-37). Other witnesses cited are John the Baptist (v. 33), His miracles (v. 36), the Scriptures (v. 39), and Moses (v. 46) (Ryrie). He goes on to claim in chapter 8:14 that His witness is indeed true. In fact, His witness was true; but legally there had to be two or three to agree to qualify as a bonafide witness.

As a testimony, God wants us to be witnesses. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The use of the word witness here is one of the strongest uses of the word in the Bible. The word here means that you will deliverance even if it means death, what you have seen, heard, or do know. Can we be observed and be known to have that kind of witness, to take a stand on the recommendation of others? In our daily activities do we witness the radiance of God as John did? "He was a burning and a shining light; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light" (v. 35).

The first Light that John was compared to was a burning oil lamp. To me that pictures his consistency. He was a faithful unchanging witness. Too many are unlike John today in that there is no consistency. They are nothing more than shooting stars. They shine brightly for just a few moments of time and then go out. They pop into your churches "blazing a trail" having you to think that they will make some of the greatest church members ever, only to fizzle out.

The second word is phos, which is translated "light" from which we get our word photograph from photo (dative case) and grapho, "write" - writing by light. This teaches us that John was to be seen as a good witness who also witnessed on behalf of Jesus.

The Heavenly Father and John the Baptist validated the truthfulness that Jesus is God. The miracles also witnessed that Jesus is God. A chief Pharisee, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews had acknowledged, "for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him" (John 3:2).

Another strong witness is the Scriptures. The Scripture declare the fullness of Christ as being very God (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:15, 19).

The Jewish authorities would not humble themselves and believe the very Scriptures that they worshipped. The Scriptures revealed Christ, but they would not come to Christ. Proudly they would receive someone coming in their own name, but not Christ coming in His Father’s name. Even today people are quite willing to accept most any tinsel counterfeit of the real thing, but avoid the unadulterated truth as though it were the plague. It is becoming more and more difficult for a pastor with old time Bible convictions to be called as the pastor. There are so many demands and requirements on the pastor to only tickle their ears. II Timothy 4:3-4 says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

The fifth witness listed is Moses. Christ said in verse 46, "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me." The Jews were so proudly bound to their own tradition that they would not even accept the witness of Moses.

There was great character in all five of the witnesses mentioned. May we be challenged to have the character of a worthy witness.

III. THE CONTRIBUTION BY THE WITNESSES vv. 43-47

As simple as it may sound, the main purpose of a witness is for him to make a contribution to the case. He e is contributing what he knows to support the outcome for the purpose of bringing about a fair judgment. His contribution will be measured by what truth he can recall and reveal. He will not be honored as a silent witness. He must speak out.

Spiritually, we need to be worthy witnesses as we tell sinners the gospel. As gospel witnesses we need to faithfully reveal to this world the truth concerning the death, burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross so that all may come to Him.

There are those who teach only of being witnesses in your style of living. This has been called "lifestyle evangelism". The proponents of this philosophy of witnessing say that your lifestyle shows that you are a Christian. On the other end of the spectrum there are those who say the important thing is getting the gospel out regardless of your testimony. Neither of these positions are correct.

The Bible gives the correct requirements of the witness. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5:13-16 we are taught that both "confrontational" and "lifestyle" are necessary for a correct witness.