The Testimony of Jesus Christ

Jesus came into this world to bring life to people who were dead. Being dead in this sense does not mean that you can’t walk around. Being dead means you can’t see.

And, apart from God’s intervention, man is dead in his trespasses and sins. Blind, dead and under judgement.

This is the testimony. It’s not our testimony. It’s the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John wrote what he wrote, said what he said, and suffered what he suffered because he,

…bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ… (Revelation 1:2)

Ever wonder why witnessing is so hard? Here’s your answer. To be a witness is to testify to the truth about Jesus Christ – often in the face of opposition.

John the Baptist was a witness. He wasn’t the light, but a witness who came to testify of the light that enlightens all men (John 1:7).  That witness resulted in John’s head on a platter.

Jesus came into the world to testify and bear witness to our wickedness and God’s merciful judgement. And so the world was put on trial.

But who wants to be put on trial?

People don’t like being put on trial and we are ready to hammer anyone who calls us to account.

And so, as Christians, we find ourselves in a culture where the testimony of Jesus Christ is likely to get you into trouble.

This is what makes witnessing such a courageous act. Nobody really minds man’s testimony about himself. Our testimony, well-rehearsed and peppered with a few edgy anecdotes, is likely to gain sympathetic jazz hands and comforting hugs from our friends.

But the testimony of Jesus Christ may well land you, jobless, friendless and headless.

It’s no surprise then that there is so much controversy in the Gospel of John. In fact, there are some scholars who reject John’s Gospel because they can’t believe that Jesus would ever have been such a troublemaker, picking fights and stirring people up the way he did.

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires (John 8:44)

You see the problem with testifying, yes?

You and I are witnesses and our testimony is this: Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life: For porn addicts, liars, gossipers, cowards and adulterers. And unless you repent you will perish.

Yes, we have a personal testimony. We have a story to tell – and we should tell it. But the foundation of our witness before the world is to the testimony of Jesus Christ.

It’s His story and we are called to testify what we have seen and heard.

The crippled man in John 5:15 had a pretty ordinary testimony. “That guy over there told me to carry my mat.” But his testimony pointed to Jesus, not his legs. His legs simply bore witness to God’s mercy and redemptive love.

Lazarus did not wind up with a fatwah on his head because he got well (John 12:10-11). His mere existence bore witness to Jesus Christ as the resurrection and the life and so the world wanted that witness dead.

We do not preach ourselves. We preach Christ crucified, Christ alive from the dead, and Christ as Lord over every atom in heaven and on earth.

We proclaim, by word and deed, the crown rights of Jesus over every quark and lepton and we testify and bear witness to His mercy and forgiveness for every sin.

Christ, and not ourselves, is our testimony.