Bearing Witness to the Testimony of Jesus
In the conclusion to John’s gospel, he says this, “This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (John 21:24). In this statement, he uses the same word twice, once as a verb and once as a noun. The verb μαρτυρέω means, “To witness or testify.” The noun μαρτυρία refers to a person who serves as a witness or to the message that a witness gives.
In writing this book, John served as a witness to the truth about Jesus. He wrote down what he saw and heard about Jesus firsthand and God has preserved this for us today so that we may believe the truth about Jesus as well and follow him (John 20:30-31). We follow Jesus by focusing on the truth revealed about him in Scripture.
When we believe the truth about Jesus and follow him throughout life, we may easily become distracted from our responsibility to be a witness for him. For this reason, I want to give you three warnings about what pitfalls to avoid when you have believed the truth about Jesus and go on to follow him.
Avoid sensationalism.
When Jesus summoned Peter to follow him, Peter immediately asked him a question. “Then Peter… said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, what about this man?’” (John 21:20-21). With this question, Peter asked whether the disciple John would also die on a cross or suffer a martyr’s death. “Jesus said to him, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me’” (John 21:22). By saying this, Jesus informed Peter that what happened to John would be irrelevant to Peter.
Though we know that all believers who live a godly lifestyle will suffer to some degree, not all will suffer to the same degree (2 Tim 3:12). It does no good to compare your suffering to the suffering of another believer. We all suffer, but we all suffer differently.
However, this was not a lesson that the disciples learned that day. Instead, they latched onto some sensational news that they thought they had heard. Jesus had said, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:22). Though John had heard correctly (following closely behind Peter and Jesus as they walked along the shore), the other nine disciples (who were apparently following a little bit farther behind) heard something different. “Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die” (John 21:23).
If what they thought they had heard Jesus say was correct, then Jesus would come back from heaven to set up his kingdom on Earth before John would die (thus, within his lifetime). If this were the case, then believers would only need to keep an eye on John to wait for the second coming of Christ. The older John became, the sooner Christ would return.
“Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?’” (John 21:23). Jesus had not connected his return to the timeline of John’s life after all. Instead, he had given Peter a hypothetical scenario. He had said that even if he allowed John to live all the way until his second coming and to never die, while permitting Peter to be captured and crucified, such a dramatic contrast would be irrelevant. It would not make Peter or John better than the other, nor would it make the experience of one somehow unfair.
Unfortunately, people who are following Jesus still latch onto sensational ideas about end times prophecies, the second coming of Christ, and so on. We allow a misunderstanding about something a prophet said in the Old Testament or something an apostle said in the New Testament, and this pulls us away into sensational nonsense that distracts us from our true mission of following the clear teachings of Christ.
Many people promote all sorts of sensationalism, luring people away from their true mission using a verse of Scripture here or a statement from Scripture there. By doing so, they shift believers’ attention away from following Christ towards focusing on some other person, nation, news headline, or current event. Such misunderstandings of Scripture are a great distraction from the truth about Christ.
In the book of prophecy, which John would go on to write, called Revelation, he underscored this very important point when an angel presented him with revelation from God. “Then he said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’ And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’” (Rev 19:9-10).
Even when you study a book like Revelation, which is replete with information about future and end-time events, you need to avoid misunderstanding and being distracted from its intended purpose. The purpose of a book of prophecy like Revelation is to point us to the truth about Jesus, not to enamor us with sensational signs, persons, and events.
Avoid self-promotion.
In the conclusion to this book, the apostle John confirms that he was the one who wrote the book. He mentions this to ensure that people would receive this book as a trustworthy record about Jesus. “This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (John 21:24). By saying, “We know that his testimony is true,” John verifies that other apostles also approved the truth of his report. Furthermore, this statement underscores the truthfulness of this book because it identifies the author as an eyewitness, someone who saw and heard the things he wrote about firsthand.
Even so, John chose never to identify himself by name throughout the entire book. Instead, he identified himself anonymously like this:
- “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23).
- “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by” (John 19:26).
- “Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved” (John 20:2).
- “Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” (John 21:7).
- “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper” (John 21:20).
- “This is the disciple who testifies of these things” (John 21:24).
Throughout this entire book, John chose never to identify himself by name, placing the spotlight entirely on Jesus instead.
To be clear, this does not mean that a believer should never identify himself or herself or should never claim to be the author or producer of the work that he or she has done. This would be an overreaction and a legalistic application of this principle. After all, John would go on to identify himself three times as author in the opening chapter of Revelation (Rev 1:1, 4, 9).
Instead, it is important to understand that whether you serve the Lord anonymously or not, you should serve in such a way that deflects the praise and attention to Jesus Christ and not to yourself.
In fact, John records John the Baptist as saying this at the outset of Christ’s earthly ministry: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). This conveys the proper attitude of humility, dutifully shining the spotlight on Jesus as one who has believed on him and who follows him throughout life.
Avoid speculation.
At the end of John’s gospel, he said this, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen” (John 21:25). Wow, what a fascinating statement! It makes you wonder, “What else did Jesus say and do?”
Statements like this appear elsewhere in the Bible.
- “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Dan 12:9).
- “Truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30).
Statements like these remind us that the Bible doesn’t tell us everything. Nor does it tell everything there is to know. Some things only God knows, but that’s okay. We know what is important and necessary to know, and that’s all that matters. Listen to what Moses told the Israelites in the Old Testament: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut 29:29).
Compare this to what Jesus said to the disciples when he ascended before them to heaven: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:7)
Do you see the parallel concept? Moses told Israel that God knew things that remained a secret to them, but God had revealed to them the things that he expected them to do.
Today, God alone knows the timing and details of his plans. Although he revealed some of those things to us, we still don’t know many things. He does not want us standing around, trying to figure out things like when he’s coming back, who will be the antichrist, what will be the mark of the beast, and so on.
Instead, he wants us to do what John did by writing the Gospel of John and to do what he told the disciples to do at his ascension – go into all the world and preach the gospel.
So while the world may be too small to house a library big enough for scrolls with all the words and actions of Jesus written on them, it is still a very big place. As the world continues to spin today, it continues to be your big responsibility and mine to take the truth about Jesus, which John did write down to the entire world, one person at a time.
- Have you been distracted by people who are teaching sensational things?
- Have you been distracted by promoting yourself?
- Have you been distracted by speculation about obscure and extra-biblical things?
Turn away from these distractions to focus on Jesus himself. Devote your life to following him, by living the way that he taught us to live and telling people the things that he taught us to say. Do you focus on spreading the testimony of Jesus? Or have you become distracted by something else?
Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.