Last 5 Days
The testimony of life
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
This is the testimony that we believe in. What is this testimony that John is writing about that we should believe in? The testimony is this, that eternal life is in the Son of God – Jesus Christ, and that when we believe in Jesus Christ, we will have life.
What is it that we should believe about Jesus Christ? In today’s passage, John tells us three testimonies that agree: the water and the blood and the Spirit. There are several different interpretations to the references of “water and blood”, and they are not in complete agreement. While we do not have time to talk about the different possibilities, one which I thought might be a better interpretation tells us this. John wrote that Jesus Christ came by water and blood. Water, could refer to Jesus’ baptism, during which He was made known as the beloved Son of God, or it could refer to his birth. John was probably trying to help his readers understand that Jesus had come in flesh, but he was not made divine at his baptism. He was still very much man. Blood, refers to Jesus’ death on the cross, and Jesus, in his flesh died on the cross. Jesus, who was fully man from birth to death, died but rose again, and had in his death and resurrection won over the eternity of death. His blood had overcome the sin and death of this world. In his victory, he has life! The Holy Spirit, who is the truth, testifies of this.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you believe that Jesus Christ died and was resurrected? Do you believe that Jesus was fully man and fully God? When we believe that Jesus is only fully man, we question his divinity. When we believe that Jesus is only fully God, we question his compassion. To deny him of either is believing in a gospel that is half-true. Our understanding of who Christ is, is central to our belief.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, gives us life abundant. When we believe in him, we have the eternal life promised. When we believe in him, we have the compassion of Jesus, who is able to empathise with our weaknesses, interceding for us at the right hand of God. Dear friends, this promise of eternal life had been given to us, would you have it? Would you share the good news?
