More Testimonies About Jesus - 240406

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Blair Lemke. Welcome to Let God Speak. Throughout Jesus ministry, he not only spoke profound truths about himself, but also demonstrated his divine authority through miraculous signs. Yet these very acts of love and power led to both acceptance and division among the people. In our Bible study today, we will explore the witness of John the Baptist, the reactions of the crowds, and even the testimony of God the Father to gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus is, the Lamb of God, our Saviour and the promised Messiah. Join us as we uncover the powerful testimonies that continue to draw all people to him. On our panel today, we have Cassie Sollano and John Kosmeier. Welcome. SPEAKER B Thank you. SPEAKER A As always, let's begin with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we ask for your Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into truth as we study your word today. This is our prayer in Jesus name. Amen. SPEAKER B Amen. SPEAKER A Well, today in our Bible study, we will be exploring some of the testimonies in the Bible that reveal the true nature of Jesus. And I want to start our study by looking at a verse here in John chapter 12. And we're going to read here from verse 32. The Bible says, and I, Jesus speaking here, read letters I, if I am lifted up, will draw all peoples to myself. Cassie, why is it significant that Jesus says that he will draw all peoples to himself in this text? SPEAKER C Well, he's referring to here of him being physically lifted up, which is the cross. And this is a declaration of his sacrificial love, which is so powerful that it draws all people. And by all people, he doesn't mean just a certain background or status or any other divide we can think of. It's all people to him. It's a universal call to salvation for all who will respond. SPEAKER A That's very powerful and very true. When we truly understand what Jesus has done for us on the cross, when we get the picture of Christ's sacrificial love, the only response that it naturally can produce in us is to give our lives wholly and completely back to him. Well, we're going to move on here to a few testimonies about Jesus and we're going to explore a passage in John chapter three. So if you'll turn with me to John chapter three, I'm going to read here from verses 25 and 26. The Bible says, then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, rabbi, he who was with you and beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptising and all are coming to him. So we see a dispute over purification and this leads to John the Baptist disciples coming to him, concerned about Jesus growing popularity. John, how does John the Baptist respond to his disciples questions Here the story. SPEAKER B Goes on from verse 27, and he answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. And this is the key part to the answer to the question, he who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. And so John the Baptist demonstrates very clearly about his commitment that he's not at all jealous, but he's just so glad to be the friend of the bridegroom and to declare to others, this here is the person that we've been waiting for for our salvation. And then when he saw Jesus, he said, he is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And so he must increase and I must decrease, showing that it was Christ that they had to elevate, not himself. SPEAKER A It's very easy to see how you could get jealous in this sort of a situation. You were the main thing. People were coming to see John, and then it quickly transitioned to Jesus. And so to see the humility that John shows here is really quite inspiring. And Cassie, I wonder what lesson we can learn about humility before God and before man from the example of John the Baptist here. SPEAKER C Well, we have to notice in this passage the order of things that are described, the increasing of Christ and then the decreasing of self, they're listed in the right order. We cannot of ourselves truly be humble. We can't get rid of our own jealousy. Unless Jesus increases in our lives, he alone can crucify self and remove it from the throne of the heart. Elsewhere, Jesus tells us that without him we cannot transform our lives. I'd like to just jump to John 15 and I'll read verse five which says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. Of course, Satan tries to present John 3:30 in the reverse order. He encourages people to try and decrease first, for example, through works to try and clean their lives before coming to Jesus and then afterwards come to him to increase. But such an attempt is A spiritual impossibility. For only the dominant power of Christ can subdue self. SPEAKER A Absolutely. And, you know, as you pointed out, it's a fruitless endeavour to try to change ourselves without the power of Christ in us. And so that statement, he must increase, I must decrease. There's a really a very powerful lesson for us in that. Now I want to turn to John chapter one. We're going to look here at a testimony that John actually gives about Jesus. And we're going to read John chapter 1, verses 32 through to 36. God's word says this. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and he remained on him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptise with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptises with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God. And he goes on, it says, the next day John stood with two of his disciples and looking at Jesus as he walked, and he said, behold the Lamb of God. What a very interesting testimony here that John gives. And so we see John testifying that Jesus is the Son of God. And then he introduces him in quite an interesting way. John, what does Jesus say? Or what does John say, rather about Jesus? That the. That was interesting that the people perhaps weren't expecting, at the time. SPEAKER B They were expecting that the Messiah was coming as a king. They weren't expecting him to come as the Lamb of God. That takes away the sin of the world. And this is where the disciples had to learn that he was the Messiah that was going to be the Saviour. SPEAKER A Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, when they had in mind this idea of Rome, you know, dominating and this Messiah that would come, that would free them and liberate them from the rule of Rome, it would have been quite interesting for them to hear Jesus described as a Lamb of God. And of course, this links to the sanctuary image of a sacrificial lamb. And it's quite a different picture, so to speak, to a conquering Messiah. Of course, that conquering Messiah would come, but not until after he suffered. So this absolutely would have been quite, quite surprising and interesting and perhaps many of the crowd wouldn't have exactly understood it. But we do see here that there's some interesting statements that take place and I want to jump across to John chapter six. Now we're going to move to John chapter six. And Jesus gives some further insight on his mission, that perhaps the people weren't expecting. And he introduces his mission with some challenging statements. He makes some statements that would have been quite shocking to the crowd. And I want to read. We're going to read John chapter 6, verses 51 onwards, to see how the crowd responded as Jesus began to elaborate on his mission. So John chapter six, verse 51, we read, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. Then the Jews therefore quarrelled among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? They think. They're thinking that this is some sort of literal flesh that they're going to be eating. Some of them understood it this way. And so Jesus responds and answers, of course. But before we move on to that, Cassie, I want to ask you, what did Jesus mean by this statement? It's quite a confronting statement. What was Jesus trying to communicate in this idea of eating the bread of life and eating his flesh and drinking his blood? What was Jesus trying to say? SPEAKER C Well, it was clearly not a literal lesson, as some in the crowd took it. We can read his own explanation of this just now, which says, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Yes. Jesus is communicating a spiritual truth. He identifies himself as the source of eternal life, not earthly life or anything that is temporary. He has spiritual sustenance that we need to get. And he's pointing forward to his body on earth that would be broken and the blood that would be spilled on the cross. We can only live and grow when we accept this sacrifice that he made. That's what he's saying about, you must have this bread that is going to be broken. By fully internalising Jesus sacrifice and presence in our lives, we can have eternal life. SPEAKER A Mm, yeah, absolutely. And it really is very true. We can't live. Just as we need physical bread to survive each day, we need God in our lives to be able to spiritually survive. And so he makes this point and what seems like quite a basic point actually had an interesting reaction in the crowd. Many of Jesus followers said, we're done. We're not going to follow you anymore. And John, can you help us understand why this statement had such an impact on the crowd in this way? SPEAKER B If I can just deviate from the script a little. Aren't we fortunate that we know what the bread and the wine actually ended up being? We now use it as a symbol. And every quarter we celebrate the Lord's Supper, where you actually eat the bread and you drink the wine. And it was indicating that we are becoming part of the family of God and we are continuing to do that by partaking of Christ the way that he wanted. But the people back there, as Jesus was trying to explain this before, Calvary pointed very clearly to the sacrifice that he'd really made and the shedding of his blood and that his body was broken. We are at the receiving end of it. And so we go back and here we discover that they were offended by this. And when you read verse 60 of John chapter 6, and we're reading from the new King James Version, therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, this is a hard saying. Who can understand it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this, he said to them, does this offend you? And then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was, it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh produces nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were, who did not believe and who would betray him. And he said, therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless he has been granted to him by my Father. And from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. And here, Jesus had struggled to open their eyes to what was happening, but they wanted a king. And when they realised that he was not going to be a king in their expectations, then they said, we're out of here, we're gone. And so even today, when you face Jesus and you know that your life has to change, there are people who walk away. And that's sad. And so this is a very sad part of the lesson that we're studying today. SPEAKER A Absolutely. And as we see this, these symbols being used of internalising Jesus, it's, you know, adopting, fully embracing his sacrifice and his mission. This means that we can't compartmentalise Jesus if We are to be a follower of Jesus. It touches every part of our lives, every single part of our lives. And for some, this was too much. It wasn't what they expected, so they turned away. And I find it very interesting that the, you know, these expectations, how expectations can cloud our understanding of who Jesus is. And this is what we see taking place here and now. From a human perspective. It would have been very discouraging and distressing for Jesus, deeply painful for him to see many of his followers choose to turn their backs and to go a different direction. Of course, the approval of the people around us is something that each human naturally desires. And it would be disappointing to see people turn away from the truth. So, Cassie, can you comment on what are some of the lessons that we can learn here based on Jesus commitment to go through to teach truth no matter the cost? SPEAKER C Well, we can learn the importance of being steadfast in spite of rejection and isolation. And Jesus absolutely felt that sting much more than we can imagine when someone rejects us. But we have to remain steadfast, like he did in his mission. He prioritised truth and obedience to his Father's will over the ultimately fleeting approval of others. This example challenges us to stay true to our faith and principles, even when it's difficult or unpopular, which it can be in many situations, trusting that God's purpose is greater than any temporary discomfort we can experience here. SPEAKER A And I really love how the passage goes on here. Despite the rejection that Jesus received by some of the followers there, his closest disciples remained. And Peter responds here with something very profound. And I'm going to read it here in verses 66 and 67, 67, 69, it says, then Peter said to the 12, do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him, lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. And also we have come to believe and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. What a profound and inspiring answer. This is the calibre of Christianity that I aspire to, you know, to stick with Jesus. Of course, Peter has his highs and his lows in his following of Jesus, but this is certainly what I would call a high point in his walk. And what can we learn from this statement as we look at this statement that Peter made? What lessons can we learn? SPEAKER B Well, Peter and the disciples had walked with Jesus now for a couple of years, and they'd seen what he did, they heard him preach, and it came into their understanding that this was his ministry on earth and that they were richly blessed As a result of being with Him. However, there were some things that they didn't understand and this is where they stayed with him anyway. And our faith needs to be the same. We need to have our faith based on what Jesus is and when we hear of what he does and so on, that even though we don't understand everything, we still stay with him. Peter said, where can we go? We can say exactly the same thing ourselves today. SPEAKER A Absolutely. SPEAKER B Where would you go if you left Jesus? You don't. You stay beautiful. SPEAKER A Now, I do want to take a look at another passage here in John chapter 5. And in John chapter 5, Jesus actually mentions that his works also are a testimony of who he is, that the Father sent him. And I want to ask you, Cassie, how do these works that Jesus performed, the miracles and these sorts of things, how do they serve as a testimony of his divine mission? SPEAKER C Well, I'd like to read in John 5, specifically verse 36, which says, 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. Jesus works his miracles, healings, his acts of compassion were clear evidence of his divine authority and connection with the Father. These weren't just random acts of kindness. He wasn't just some person that did nice things. These were all intentional signs pointing to his identity as the Son of God and the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. You can see that in Isaiah 61 and in Luke 4, and it revealed the compassionate character of God. SPEAKER A You know, I think these miracles absolutely speak volumes about who Jesus is and who he came, that he was sent from the Father as he claimed to do. I like how the text goes on and I'm going to read here from verse 37 of chapter 5 because it goes on, it shows us that not only do the works testify of who Jesus is, but the Father himself does so as well. And we read here, the Father himself who sent me has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form. And so we, we see that Jesus appeals not only to his works, but also to the Father who has testified that he is who he claims to be. John, how do we see how. How do we see the Father's voice confirming the testimony of Jesus? SPEAKER B This is where we read in Matthew chapter three what actually happened. And here in verse 16 and 17, when he had been baptised, Jesus came up immediately from the water. And then something spectacular happens. Behold, the heavens were opened. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, lighting upon Jesus head. And then there was a voice which came from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this is where God the Father speaking from heaven, confirmed that this Jesus was the one that had been sent for the salvation of mankind. Amazing. SPEAKER A Absolutely. SPEAKER C Another one of these instances is found in John 12 in verse 28. So I'd just like to read that. It says, father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it again. At a crucial moment when Jesus speaks of his upcoming crucifixion, the Father's voice comes to affirm, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. This declaration reinforces that everything Jesus is doing, including his impending death, is endorsed by his Father. It is part of his glorious plan of redemption. It is this divine thing that everything he has done has been through God's power and will continue to be beautiful. SPEAKER A Now, I want to turn to another testimony here. We're going to go to John chapter seven and there's a bold statement, an invitation that Jesus makes during the Feast of Tabernacles, where he offers living water to anyone who will believe in him. And I want to ask Cassie, what was the significance of this invitation that Jesus made? SPEAKER C Let's just go to John 7, which says, I'll read verses 37 and 38. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Jesus was offering himself a source of spiritual life symbolised by the living water. This was especially significant during the Feast of Tabernacles, which was one of the major Jewish festivals celebrated in the fall after the harvest season. It was a time of great rejoicing and thanksgiving, commemorating God's provision and care for the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt, including his provision of water from the rock on numerous occasions. This is in Exodus 17, verses 1 to 7 in Numbers 22:13. By offering living water, Jesus was positioning himself as the ultimate source of spiritual sustenance, surpassing even the miraculous water that God provided in the wilderness. Just as water was essential for physical survival, Jesus was offering himself as essential for spiritual survival and eternal life. SPEAKER A Again, that absolutely is a very bold statement to connect himself to those miracles in Exodus and to make a claim of his divinity. What an amazing thing. Now, what was the reaction of the crowd, John? SPEAKER B The reaction was like it was before. Therefore, many. Verse 40. Therefore, many from the crowd when they heard this saying, said, truly, this is the prophet. Wow. It's nice to have somebody that believes, isn't it? Others said, this is the Christ. Wow. To think that they were actually Christ, by the way, means the anointed one, which of course happened at his baptism. But some said, will Christ come out of Galilee? It had been forecast that he'd come from Bethlehem, but it also said that he came from and also from Egypt. So you hang onto the little bit that's. That's the real truth. Has not the scripture said the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem where David was. So there was a division among the people because of him. Now, some of them wanted to take him, but no one laid hands on him and so will always live in a divided world. SPEAKER A Yeah. And interestingly, the crowd has this mixed reaction. But then as the text goes on, the passage goes on, we see that the leaders, the religious leaders reject him as well and kind of make fun of the crowd that those that chose to follow him. And, you know, it tells us some quite interesting lessons around, you know, not letting spiritual pride get in the way of our following Jesus right. Now, just to sum up our lesson here, we've covered a lot of ground today. We've looked at, you know, some of these testimonies from John the Baptist, the miracles, the Father's testimony, the crowd's reactions, these sorts of things. What do all these things, Cassie, tell us about Jesus identity? SPEAKER C Well, Jesus ultimately is the Messiah and he is worthy of our faith and devotion. SPEAKER A That's a fantastic place for us to finish. As we've explored the various testimonies about Jesus, from the witness of John the Baptist to the works and words of Christ himself, we've seen a powerful and unified message about who Jesus is, the Lamb of God, the source of eternal life and the fulfilment of God's redemptive plan. These testimonies call us not only to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, but to deepen our personal relationship with Him. The challenge for each of us is to reflect on how we respond to these testimonies. Will we allow the truth of who Jesus is to transform our lives and draw us closer to him? As we continue our journey of faith, let us commit to lifting up Christ in our lives, knowing that he will draw us and others to Himself, just as he has promised. We're glad that you joined us today on Let God Speak. Remember, all past programmes plus teachers notes are available on our website, 3ABNAustralia.org.au. Thank you for joining us. God bless. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.