Christ’s Witnesses, P3: God the Father

“And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form [His majesty and greatness—what He is like]. You do not have His word (Scripture) abiding in you[actually living in your hearts and minds], because you do not believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 5:37-38, AMP)

Calling your father to the stand might seem like a weak defense. In most cases where a father is involved in their son’s life, they love him and see the best in him. We’ve all grown up and had a parent gas us up when we’re down. They say we’re smart, or beautiful, or creative, or awesome, and the common response is, “You HAVE to say that. You’re the parent.” 

And yes, our parents can have rose-colored glasses when it comes to our abilities or aptitudes. But they also know us better than most people. A good parent has been there for it all. They’ve seen every report card, every dance recital and soccer game; they’re there for every skinned knee, birthday, and hard knock. So a good parent would know your character, your history, and be an advocate for you. 

This goes a hundred-fold for God the Father, who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and sovereign. There’s nothing He doesn’t see. There’s nothing He doesn’t witness. And there’s nothing about all of creation that He didn’t first ordain. So where some people might think calling your father to the stand is a weak testimony, God the Father is the ultimate witness. 

And Jesus uses Him as the third source to prove His deity to the Pharisees in John 5. First, He used the physical witness of John the Baptist, someone the Pharisees knew and approved of. Then, He pointed to the work of His ministry– the miracles, healings, and supernatural encounters that not only revealed His awesome power but also spoke to the spiritual need of the people. 

Then He speaks about the Father that sent Him. This is the God who the Pharisees haven’t seen or heard from a first person perspective. They have no real grasp of His majesty or His wonder. And yet, they still believed in Him. God Himself might be an invisible witness, but the very fact that these religious leaders put their life’s work into the Jewish system of beliefs shows that they believed Him nonetheless. 

And there was a powerful, physical manifestation of God confirming Jesus as Christ. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, He came up out of the water and the Holy Spirit visibly descended as a dove to land on Jesus and God’s voice audibly spoke from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17).

That should have been confirmation enough. All speculation should have ended there. But for the Pharisees, everything Jesus taught and displayed to the people threatened their power and influence, so they continued to have run-ins and disagreements with Jesus until the cross. 

The Pharisees couldn’t believe God’s testimony of Jesus being His Son and the Messiah because they were blinded by their want for power and importance above God. For all their “knowledge” of the scripture, they were blind to its Truth. Instead, they used it as leverage to corruptly manipulate for themselves more influence with the people of Israel. Even Jesus says, “You do not have His word abiding in you, because you do not believe in Him whom He has sent” (verse 38).

It is the same for us. The Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), meaning it is the very words of God to us. It is quite literally God speaking to us; confirming Truth to us. To believe God’s Word is to believe God Himself, and trust His testimony written in black and white for us. Through that Word, God not only confirms Jesus’ Godship, He gives Christians assurances of our being adopted into His salvation. He confirms us as being saved by His grace.

If we believe God, we will believe His Son. If we believe His Word, we believe Him. God is just as invisible to us today as He was to the Pharisees, and they had the added benefit of Jesus in the flesh. We will not know the wonder of His person, the beauty of His presence, or the breadth of His power–not until we stand before Him when this life is over. We won’t see or understand Him in His fullness until the race before us is completely run. 

All we have is Him. All we have is His word and promise to us. He is the ultimate and most compelling witness we have to Jesus’ Godship and our sonship. God’s testimony is the one thing that should mean everything to us. It should speak louder than any man we know, any book we’ve read, and any spectacle we’ve seen. 

God the Father is the testimony we should stake our lives on. He is the final word we should believe and follow. We may not be able to see Him, but we should trust Him nonetheless. We may not be able to feel Him, but we should build our lives on Him and lean on Him. 

He knows us through and through. He was there for every moment we’ve ever lived, more closely than any earthly parent we could have. He was there at the beginning, when it was only Him, His Son, His Spirit, and the dark. 

He physically spoke to the authenticity of His Son, Jesus, that day when He was baptized in the Jordan. He may have said it once, and once is all it should have taken. Believe Him, friends. It’s the best witness we have.