Today, we step into one of the most powerful moments in the Gospel of John. A moment where Jesus doesn't simply teach or heal or confront, but where he invites us into a divine courtroom. In John chapter 5, the religious leaders thought they were putting Jesus on trial. But in the verses you're about to hear, Jesus flips the entire scene. He takes the judge's seat, he calls the witnesses, and he reveals the truth about himself and about us. This is not a courtroom of human accusation. This is a courtroom of divine revelation. And every word Jesus speaks draws us deeper into who he is and what he came to do. So take a breath, settle in, and open your heart. Because in today's message, we don't just read the text, we step into the room, we hear the witnesses, and we stand before the one whom Scripture calls Lord of all. Now here's Pastor Harry Barns with today's message.

And in today's message, we're going to be stepping into one of the most sobering and powerful moments in the Gospel of John. John chapter 5 has been building towards a climax, from the miracle at the pool to Jesus' declaration of divine authority, and now to a scene unlike anything we've encountered so far. Today, Jesus brings us into a courtroom. Not a human courtroom with robes and jurors, but a divine courtroom, a place where the Son of God takes the judge's seat, calls his witnesses, and reveals the truth about himself and the truth about every human heart. The religious leaders thought they were putting Jesus on trial, but in this passage, Jesus turns the entire scene around. He is not the accused, he is the judge. He is not defending himself, he is exposing unbelief. So as we begin, I want to invite you to picture yourself stepping into that ancient courtroom, the stone walls, the weight of the law, the witnesses taking the stand, and Christ Himself delivering the verdict. What happens in these verses is not just historical, it is personal because the same witnesses that spoke then still speak to us today. This is the courtroom of the sun, and every word is meant to draw us to truth, to grace, and to life. So with that, let's dive in as we enter the courtroom of the Sun. Now, throughout John chapter 5, we've been slowly climbing toward this moment. We started back at the pool by the sheep gate, where the sacrificial lambs were brought into the city. Jesus, the true Lamb of God, walks through the same gate into a place full of sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people. And out of that whole crowd, he focuses on one man, an invalid, who has no strength, no ability, and no one to help him. Jesus shows great mercy as the sacrificial lamb, gracious, sovereign God providing himself. He gives healing to a man who didn't even ask for it. Many others lay there who could have been healed, but it doesn't heal them. He chooses this one man because it was his sovereign choice to do so. It is this act of mercy that sets the stage for everything that follows. The Pharisees question the man, who healed you? And later Jesus finds him and reveals himself. And then the leaders begin to question Jesus. In our last episode, we watched Jesus answer not by apologizing or explaining himself away, but by clarifying his divine authority. And now, to finish John chapter 5, we step into a new scene. We began with a work, a miracle. Then we move to the explanation, Jesus' claim of divine authority. But now we enter the courtroom where the authority is exercised in judgment. It's as if John has walked us from the crime scene through the questioning and now into the courtroom where the judge takes a seat. And just like so many other times in the gospels, Jesus flips everything on its head. To really feel the weight of what Jesus is about to say, we need to understand how Jewish courts operated in his day. In our modern world, we think in categories like prosecutor, defense attorney, jury, and judge, each with separate roles. But in Jesus' world, the judge carried most of those roles himself. There was no professional prosecutor like we have today. There was no defense attorney assigned to argue your case. There was no jury of peers waiting to be persuaded. In a Jewish courtroom, the judge, he questioned the accused, examined the witnesses, weighed the evidence, exposed falsehood, upheld the law, and delivered the verdict. Now that's crucial. So when we enter John chapter 5, verses 30 to 47, we are stepping into a legal setting, every Jew understood. And remember where we left off last week. Jesus had just said that all authority to judge had been given to him by the Father. It was not a throwaway line. That was the setup. He was saying, I am the one who judges. The Father has entrusted all judgment to me. So now, in this closing section of John chapter 5, he steps into that role. Now many people read these verses as if Jesus is defending himself, but the last sermon has already told us otherwise. He is not on trial. We are. The religious leaders thought they were placing Jesus on trial, accusing him of breaking the Sabbath and making himself equal with God. But Jesus flips the courtroom, he takes the judge's seat, he assumes the prosecutor's role, and he brings forth witnesses, not to defend himself, but to expose their unbelief. So I want you to picture it. You walk into a stone chamber in Jerusalem, torches flickering against the walls, the elders sit in their seats, the air is thick with expectation. In the center stands a man you cannot ignore, a man who sees through every heart, knows every motive, and judges with perfect righteousness. You think he is the accused, but he stands as the judge of all the earth. He calls the court to order. He presents not two, not three, but five witnesses, which every Jew knew what that meant. The case is complete, the testimony is perfect, the verdict is certain. One by one, the witnesses speak. John the Baptist, his mighty works, the Father Himself, the scriptures and Moses. Each voice stacks evidence upon evidence. Each testimony tightens the case until there is no place left for unbelief to stand. So as we walk through these verses today, I want you to enter this courtroom with me, not as spectators looking back at history, but as if you were one of the Pharisees sitting in that chamber. I want you to feel the weight of the evidence, hear the voice of the judge, watch as the Son of God presents perfect testimony and delivers a righteous verdict. Because this is not Jesus trying to clear his name. This is Jesus revealing the truth of who he is, the truth of who we are, and the truth of what unbelief must one day face. This is the courtroom of the Son, and every witness points to one inescapable conclusion. Jesus Christ is the judge, the prosecutor, the true witness, and the one whom Scripture calls Lord of all. So now, church, let's take our seats. The court is now in session. Starting in verse 30, we read, I could do nothing on my own, as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Now here Jesus repeats the theme of divine unity. The Son and the Father share one will, one purpose, one judgment. He is not saying he lacks ability. He is saying I do nothing independently of the Father. Everything he does is in perfect harmony with the Father's will. That's why his judgment is just, because it is the Father's judgment. This ties directly back to the previous section where he said that all judgment has been entrusted to him. The Father has given him all authority because the Son willingly does everything that the Father wills. There is no conflict, no division, no separate agenda, only perfect unity. As I hear, I judge. What he hears from the Father, what he knows of the Father's heart and purposes, he judges accordingly. His judgment is never arbitrary. It is rooted in the will of him who sent him. In other words, the judge of this courtroom judges as God himself. Now, verses thirty-one to thirty-two. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. Now, if Jesus claimed to be the judge and ruler of the world on his own word alone, with no cooperation, he would violate the very law he gave. In Deuteronomy, God Himself established that a single witness shall not suffice. Only in the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall charge be established, Deuteronomy 19 15. No one, not even the Messiah, would be above that standard. So Jesus is not confessing weakness here. He is honoring his own law. He is essentially saying, if I testify alone according to the law, you would be right to question it. But my testimony does not stand alone. There is another who bears witness of me, and his testimony is true. At this point, he has John the Baptist in view, but behind John stands the greater witness, his father. Jesus doesn't need human testimony, but he graciously provides it, entering their courtroom under the very rules he wrote through Moses. The one who gave the law now abides by it to reveal their guilt and his righteousness. And now he calls the first witness to the stand. In verse thirty-three to thirty-five we read, You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you are willing to rejoice for a while in his light. Now the first witness called to the stand is John the Baptist. Jesus reminds him, You sent to John, and they had investigated him, they had respected him, at least for a time. They rejoiced in his light, but only for a while. John was the lamp God lit before the dawn broke. He was never the light, only the lamp. And the lamp pointed directly at Jesus. John's testimony was clear. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world in John 1 29. Rejecting Jesus meant rejecting the prophet they themselves had affirmed as sent from God. John is the prophetic witness, a voice from God that they listened to, then ignored when he pointed to Christ. Jesus doesn't need John's testimony for his own sake. He says, I say these things so that you may be saved. In other words, John's testimony stands not to defend Jesus, but to leave them without excuse. Now the second witness is called in verse 36. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John, for the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. So the second witness is greater than John, the very works of Jesus. Every miracle is divine testimony. The healings, the signs, the wonders, these are not random acts of kindness. They are signs pointing to his identity, healing the lame, giving sight to the blind, cleansing the lepers, feeding the multitudes, raising the dead. These are things only God can do. The works validate the words, the power validates the person. Rejecting Jesus meant denying what God was doing in public view before their own eyes. And now he calls his third witness in verses 37 to 38. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. So now the third witness steps forward, the Father Himself. This is the central witness. In a list of five, the third is the anchor, the centerpiece, the weight-bearing beam. John arranges them like this. John the Baptist is prophetic, his works are miraculous. The Father is heavenly, the scriptures are written, and Moses is covenantal. The Father's witness came at the baptism when he says, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. And through the harmony between Jesus' works and the Father's will, Jesus Jesus' point is cutting. His voice you have never heard. You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. If they truly knew the Father, they would recognize the Son. Their rejection of Jesus proves their spiritual deafness, and more than that, their spiritual deadness. They're not just deaf, they're dead. They have the scriptures, but not the Father's word abiding in them, because they refused the one whom he sent. This is the courtroom equivalent of the judge banging the gavel, the highest authority in existence has testified. Now at this point, the three witnesses would be sufficient to prove his case. But instead he keeps going and calls his fourth witness. So witness number four is the scriptures. This is the tragedy of religious people. They study the Bible and miss the God of the Bible. They search the scriptures, thinking that life is in the text itself, as if eternal life comes by mastering the words. But Jesus says they bear witness about me. The scriptures are not the destination, they are the signpost. They are not the food, they are the menu. They are not the savior, they are the spotlight. Rejecting Jesus meant rejecting the very scriptures they claim to defend. It's like a long-distance relationship where letters have gone back and forth for years. Those letters were meant to prepare you to recognize and embrace the person when you meet face to face. But when the day comes, you look at the person and say, You're not the one. These letters must have meant something else. That's what Israel was doing. The scriptures were written to prepare them to meet Christ. That when he came, they would know him, recognize him, and worship him, not hidden from them, but revealed to them. Yet here he stands, and they refuse. And in verses 41 to 44 we read, I do not receive glory, uh I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If anyone comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? So now Jesus exposes the motives behind their unbelief. The problem is not lack of information, it is a lack of love for God. You do not have the love of God within you, he says. They crave the praise of men, not the glory of God. They will receive another who comes in his own name, but not the one who comes in the Father's name. How can you believe, he says, when you receive glory from one another? If your heart is set on human approval, if you live for likes, applause, and reputation, you will reject the authority of Christ. Unbelief is not just intellectual, it is moral, it is a glory problem, and we want our own. So now he calls the fifth and final witness to show his case is just and the claims are airtight. Verses forty five to forty-seven. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? So now the fifth and final witness takes the stand, Moses. And this is devastating, because Moses was their hero, their lawgiver, their covenant mediator, the foundation of their national and religious identity. They claimed to set their hope on Moses, to believe his writings, to stand on his law. And Jesus says, if you truly believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. From Genesis 3.15, the promised seed, to Genesis 22, the substitute sacrifice, to Deuteronomy 18.15, the prophet like Moses, to the Passover lamb in Exodus 12, to the bronze serpent in Numbers 21. All of it pointed forward to Christ. The Torah, the five books they built their lives upon, were written to prepare them for Jesus. Yet they used Moses to reject the one Moses wrote about. Rejecting Jesus meant rejecting Moses. Their own scriptures became their accuser. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. Their unbelief condemned them. So now, why does it matter that there are five witnesses? So let's pull the legal threads together here. The law required a minimum of two or three witnesses, as we saw in Deuteronomy 19, 15. A single witness shall not suffice, only the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. This was the baseline for truth in ancient Israel. No claim could stand on one man's word. No charge could be brought with fewer than two or three witnesses. No judgment could be made without multiple testimonies. Every Jew listening in John 5 knew this law by heart. So when Jesus begins bringing witnesses, they're thinking, let's see if this teacher meets the standard. But Jesus doesn't just meet the standard, he exceeds it. Jewish legal tradition, the Meshna Sanhedrin, and later rabbinic commentary recognized, two witnesses were valid. Three witnesses were strong. Four or five witnesses equaled complete, perfect, irrefutable testimony. This was something called a do gamura, complete testimony. That meant the case is sealed, the verdict is final, the matter is settled beyond dispute. Judgment can fall without hesitation. Every Pharisee would have understood this instinctively. That's why Jesus doesn't stop at two, he doesn't stop at three, he stacks five. He is giving courtroom testimony, covenant law, and divine verdict, not defense, but condemnation of unbelief. So now another question arises. Why is the father the third witness? Well, in Hebrew rhetoric, when you list five things, the middle one, the third, is the anchor, the centerpiece, the weight-bearing beam. John arranges the witnesses like this. John the Baptist was first. He was the prophetic witness. His works were the second, miraculous witness. The third was the Father. It was the heavenly witness, the centerpiece. And the fourth is the scriptures. And the fifth was Moses, the covenantal witness. So that's not accidental. Jesus places the Father in the center because the Father is the source of all testimony. The Father's word outranks every human and prophetic word. The Father's witness is the highest authority possible. So when Jesus says, the Father whom uh who sent me has himself borne witness about me in verse 37, he is saying, the central, supreme, unquestionable witness is God Himself. This is the courtroom equivalent of the judge slamming the gavel. No rabbi, no counsel, no scribe can argue with the voice of the Father. So, what do the five witnesses cover? By bringing five, Jesus gives the Pharisees and the world every category of divine revelation. Prophetic from John the Baptist, miraculous from his works, heavenly from the Father, scriptural from the scriptures, and covenantal from Moses. There is no category left out, no angle ignored, no voice missing. This is the legal equivalent of God saying, I have spoken through every means heaven and earth have available. You are without excuse. This is not the son scrambling to defend himself. This is the son proving that the rejection is not due to a lack of truth, but due to a lack of love for God. The witnesses stand, the evidence is overwhelming, and the verdict is ready. So let's bring it all together. Although what we've seen in John 5 was not a formal courtroom with robes and gavels, it was a courtroom nonetheless. It was not Jesus on trial, it was not the Pharisees sneaking into some back room for a secret hearing. It was something far higher than that. It was divine in nature. It was Jesus fulfilling and living out the very law he himself had given. It was Jesus calling forth the very witnesses he himself had prepared. It was Jesus standing in the midst of his own people, honoring every dot and every stroke of the law, and leaving his hearers with nothing left to say. And the same is true for us today. We may not may not be standing in that stone chamber in Jerusalem, but we stand under the same word, before the same judge, with the same witnesses still speaking. We also are without excuse. There is no one and nothing we can point to that can justify us apart from Christ Himself. Not our church attendance, not our good intentions, not our religious knowledge, not our attempts to clean ourselves up. The one who has been given all authority now calls us to do one thing trust in him. If we come to him with empty hands, if we stop arguing and start agreeing with his verdict about our sin, he will not pronounce us guilty. He will proclaim us innocent in his righteousness. But if we cling to our excuses, if we justify our wrongs, if we hold to our pride and our love of human glory, then we stand before the judge accused, with no defense, no covering, and no hope. Condemned, not because the evidence was unclear, but because our hearts refused the grace that stood in front of us. Yet hear this our judge is merciful. He does not expose our condemnation to crush us, but to wake us. The law, Paul says, was given as a kind of mediator, a tutor, to show us that we are guilty, so that we would stop pretending we're not and run to the only one who can save. The judge who has every right to condemn is the same Savior who stretches out his hands in grace. He shows us our sin so that we will turn to his cross. He reveals the verdict so that we will seek his mercy. And when we come, when we lay down our excuses and fall at his feet, he does more than forgive us. He restores us to what we were created to be. Men and women who live for his glory and find our deepest joy, our deepest satisfaction in him for all eternity. So as we leave this chapter, don't just hear a courtroom scene from long ago. Hear the voice of the Son of God still speaking today. Come to me, that you may have life. The judge has spoken. The witnesses have testified. Now the question is not whether the case is strong, it is whether we will bow, whether we will believe and live. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the clarity of your word, for the voice of your son that still speaks with power today. We confess that apart from him we have no defense, no righteousness, and no hope. But in Christ, the judge becomes our Savior, and the one who exposes our sin also covers us in grace. Lord, help us to bow before him, not in fear, but in faith. Give us hearts that believe, eyes that see, and lives that respond to the truth we've heard. May the witnesses you have given, John, the works, the scriptures, Moses, and above all you, Father, lead us deeper into worship and deeper into obedience. Draw us to Jesus, the one who says, Come to me, that you may have life. And may we walk in that life with gratitude, humility, and joy from this moment forward. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Now, as we rise from the courtroom of John 5, Jesus doesn't step away from his authority, he carries it forward. And in chapter 6, we're going to see that the same Jesus who judges the perfect, the judges with perfect righteousness, also provides with perfect compassion. The judge becomes the provider. The one who exposes unbelief now feeds a multitude. The one who said, The Son gives life to whom he will will show us how he gives it by sustaining, drawing, keeping, and raising his people. John 6 will take us from the courtroom to the mountainside, from verdict to provision, from judgment to the bread of life. So come ready, because the Jesus who stood in unmatched authority is the same Jesus who satisfies every hungry soul. Now, as always, I want to thank you for joining us today. And I hope this episode has helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you now have a deeper understanding of just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him. If today's episode encouraged you, would you please take a moment to follow the podcast and share it with someone who needs to hear the truth of God's word? Your support helps us spread the gospel and reach more people with the hope of Christ. And I would also love to hear from you how these messages are impacting your hope, how God is speaking to you, or simply a word of encouragement. You can connect with us on Facebook or send us a message anytime using the text us link in the episode description. It's our desire that this ministry be a tool to reach the lost and equip the saints for a life that brings glory to God. God bless, and we'll see you next time on the takeaway.