The Proof
The Proof
1 John 5:1-12
The Bible is plain enough, and clear enough, that a child can understand it. The life and teaching of Jesus are written in plain language. For the most part, even the letters of Paul are clear and simple. And a lot of preachers go very little further when they “open the Scripture.” They read a text and explicate (fancy word for “explain”). They expound and apply and appeal for a response. Throughout my life, most of the preaching I’ve heard has been that sort - read, explain, appeal. I was taught that sermons should be comprehensible to a 12-year-old, and I preached that way for many years. We did our best to simplify, dare I say, dumb down, the Bible to make it easy and somehow comfortable. I want you to read and study your Bible. I don’t want you to be frightened away by deep theological concepts or obscure readings. I don’t want you confused. Just read it and enjoy the reading. Enjoy the time in God’s word. You don’t need a theological education to understand what you are reading.
But, having said all that, I have found that there is often a “deep magic” to the Scripture. Sometimes, our translations don’t really do justice to the original. As I study, and I do have an advantage, I often see things that suddenly take on a deeper or grander meaning. The Bible is not a level plain; it has mountains and valleys, both in meaning and in value. Not everything is equally important, but some things are far more exciting than they appear at first glance. My goal in preaching is not just to explain what you are reading, but to show you the Matterhorns and the Grand Canyons of the Word. I want you to stand on the rim with me and gaze into the depths; to stand in the foothills and wonder at the mighty peaks. Just as one might travel the world to see the Seven Wonders, so I want you to travel into the Bible with me and see the wonders you might otherwise miss.
And this letter of John holds some of those wonders.
John makes this seemingly obvious statement: Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Simple. But at the same time, a deeply profound statement. You see, we have a rather small view of the word Christ, almost as if it where Jesus’ surname, so you know which Jesus we’re talking about. But Christ is a mightily powerful title.
It is the Greek way of saying Messiah. But Messiah does not just mean “anointed one,” as we have been taught. When Aaron was made the high priest, way back in Exodus, he was washed and clothed in new robes; sacrifices were made for his purification; and then he was anointed with a special perfumed oil. The high priest was a messiah, an anointed one. When Israel demanded a king, God chose Saul to be the king over Israel, and then David when Saul failed. Messiah also means chosen one. Then the last judge Samuel anointed them, so the kings were messiahs. Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah were chosen by God – Isaiah in his throne room vision, and Jeremiah from his conception. God says, “I have chosen you,” for a special mission.”
When Judah fell to the Babylonians and were exiled, messiah began to take on a new meaning. And that special meaning would take hold and grow deeper as the centuries passed – from Babylon to Persia to Greece to Rome, with each succeeding oppressor the Messiah became an almost legendary hope. Messiah took on the added meaning of deliverer. He would be almost divine in nature, leading a host of angels in a great battle to free Israel from the enemies and create a new Davidic “golden age.” He would be prophet, priest, and king, all rolled into one who would come to set the people free. The ultimate expression of that hope is found in Daniel 7:13-14, in the figure of a Son of Man who would establish an everlasting kingdom, be given a divine throne, and be worthy of worship.
So, when John makes such a statement – Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God – The litmus test is plain: Jesus is the Son of Man, Son of God, come in the flesh, to be Prophet, Priest, and King, and is worthy of worship. Therefore, the child of God will pledge allegiance to him and live by his rule and command. If you believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah come in the flesh, you have been born of God. If you hesitate, or add conditions, then you are not.
Then, as a child of God, born by the blood of Christ, and a lover of God, you will, by nature, love the child of God. And whoever loves the father (the begetter) loves the begotten (the child). John here destroys the myth of “only believe.” Faith becomes allegiance, and allegiance entails obedience. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and obeying his commands. Remember, in the gospels, when the lawyers asked Jesus which was the greatest law? Do you remember Jesus’ answer? Matthew, Mark, and Luke render it slightly different, but Luke’s rendition is comprehensive: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Lk 10:27). Your first allegiance is to God, to love God with the totality of your being: heart, soul, mind, and strength. John has said it before: your love for God must overflow as love for your fellow man.
Jesus said that love is evidenced by obedience: “If you love me, keep my commands” (Jn 14:15). Belief is not evidence of love. Satan believes; he does not love. Satan believes; he does not obey. Obedience to Christ is evidence of love for Christ, and the command of Christ is that we love one another.
Now, is that a hard thing? We sometimes encounter people we think are difficult to love. But that reveals that we are thinking of the wrong sort of love. We think we have to like people, or know people, in order to love them. Liking people is not the same thing. You can love with a divine love even people you don’t like, even people you don’t know. If Jesus commanded it, there must even be a way to love an enemy, to love someone who hates you and wishes you harm. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:30). John reflects, And his commands are not burdensome ... How is that?
Because, in Christ, we no longer view things the way the world does. ... for all who are born of God are victorious over the world. Here’s more “deep magic.” Your Bible probably uses the word overcome – Everyone born of God overcomes the world. But the root word means victor, and this form means victorious. As in, you won the battle. You were in the fight of your life and you won. You are victorious. As a child of God, one born of God through Christ, you are victorious. And this victory not just overcomes the world, but is victorious over the world. Two forms of the same word linked together – your victory is victorious. Do you recall what repetition means in Greek? Emphasis. Here, what John is telling us is that our victory is total, complete, absolute. As when Paul told the Romans that we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37), using a word that means super-victorious. We don’t live in defeat, anxiety and fear. We can’t live that way. Our faith in Christ, our allegiance to Christ, has made us victorious. Because our allegiance is to Jesus, the Son of the Living God, we live victoriously. How many times have I used that word? Do you get the point, yet? But you are not victorious in your own strength. You did not win the battle alone. You won it through Jesus Christ and by his power in you. It’s not you; it’s him.
Now, John tells us who Jesus is, what it means that Jesus is the Christ. This is the one who came by water and by blood ... Martin Luther and John Calvin related this to the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side. More recent commentators suggest that this is the water of purification and the blood of sacrifice - the baptism and death of Christ. In that vein, Adam Clarke comments that John is comparing Jesus with Moses and Aaron. Moses led Israel through water to inaugurate a nation. Jesus was baptized to inaugurate a kingdom. Aaron approached the Holy of Holies through the blood of sacrifice. Jesus opened the Most Holy Place by the perfect sacrifice of his own blood. Jesus thus fulfills both the role of deliverer and the role of high priest. Jesus did not lead through water only as Moses did, nor did he lead through blood only as Aaron did. Recall what I said at the beginning about the meaning of Messiah. John is again declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God come in the flesh.
People often ask how we know that Jesus is the Christ. How do we know that Jesus is the Son of God? John asserts here that there are witnesses. There is the testimony at his baptism. John calls it the witness of the water. What happened at Jesus’ baptism? Matthew records, As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:16-17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22). The Holy Spirit testifies and the water testifies. John adds the witness of the blood. What happened when Jesus died on the cross? When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Mt 27:54: Mk 15:39).
But notice, if you will, that John’s witnesses are present tense. The Spirit testifies, is testifying. The water testifies, is testifying. The blood is testifying. The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit, writes Paul, that we are God’s children (Ro 8:16). The blood of Jesus still saves today. It is not merely historical; the blood and water still witness to us of God’s love for us and of God’s grace and power to save. Paul, again: I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2). The proof is right in front of you.
I was called up for jury duty on several occasions. Two times, I had to sit through pre-trial instructions regarding evidence. In a civil case, the standard is the preponderance of evidence. If there is more evidence for than against, we decide for. In a criminal trial, the standard is beyond reasonable doubt. The evidence has to be sufficient to prove the guilt or innocence beyond reasonable doubt. But as we hear the evidence, we accept the testimony of the witnesses. We gladly accept, John says, the witness of people. Doris Kearns Goodwin writes a history about Abraham Lincoln, and we believe her. So, Luke, a gentile believer, writes a history of Jesus, how do we respond? Often with doubt. The Holy Spirit testifies, and how do we respond? Often with doubt. But which is more reliable: Matthew, who walked with Jesus and heard what he taught, or Doris Goodwin, who searches historical documents to write what she learns from someone else? The eye-witness, of course. If we are so willing to accept human testimony, we should be even more willing to receive God’s own testimony, revealed to us in the Scripture and through the witness of the Holy Spirit.
Or, are you calling God a liar? This is now the second time John has raised this concern. The first time was back in chapter 1 – if we claim that we have not sinned, we make [God] out to be a liar and his word is not in us. Now, if we deny God’s own testimony, if we refuse to believe what God has told us, we are making God out to be a liar. Our disbelief is one side of the same coin. If God is true, and speaking truth, then we ought to believe and respond to that truth. But disbelief, or unbelief, is suggesting that God is lying to us. That is a problem, don’t you think?
John closes by saying, Here’s the evidence. Here’s the proof. God has given us eternal life through his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus’ resurrection is the proof that death has been conquered for us. Paul called Jesus the first-fruit from the dead. Jesus showed that he had power over life and death by raising Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, and the widow’s son. God’s own love sent Jesus to be our Savior – God so loved the world, John wrote, that whoever believes in the Son has eternal life (Jn 3:16). Jesus announced that he had come to bring life, a full and complete sort of life (Jn 10:10). The witness is life itself. And whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Simply stated, if you are born of God, you are a child of God. And if you are a child of God, you have life in God. We hear Romans 6:23 quoted a lot – The wages of sin is death, but there’s more to that sentence: but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God come in the flesh, you have the gift of eternal life. It is yours through allegiance, through obedience to the command of Christ. Take God’s free gift. Take it today. Turn to Jesus.