We Speak of What We Know (John 3:31-36)

Topic: We Speak of What We Know

Reading: John 3:31-36

31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth belongs to the earth, and of the earth he speaks; he who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony; 33 he who receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit; 35 the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. 36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.

Introduction and Overview

People speak of what they know and have experienced. We live our lives and the things we hear, see, and do are things that we can talk about with confidence. No-one can say we did not experience something that we know to be true because we were there. We saw. We heard. And we experienced that thing. Imagine for instance that you were one of the thousands of people in the multitude that Jesus fed from a few loaves and fishes. You were there and you saw the miracle, experiencing it first-hand, eating the bread and fish, and watching thousands others do likewise. No-one could say it was not true or did not occur. You were an eyewitness and partaker of the bread and fish. And you could talk confidently and without hesitation that it happened as described in the scriptures. No-one can take that away from you because you are bearing witness to what you saw.

Jesus did the same. He came from the Father. He lived in the spiritual realm before coming to the earth as a babe in a manger. And Jesus speaks and teaches of the things He witnessed and experienced with the Father in the spiritual realms. His words are the words of the Spirit, and no-one can argue that He was wrong because He was there. And yet many people do not listen to the words of Jesus. They reject His words thinking they cannot be true, just as many reject the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

But His words are trustworthy and true. Jesus did not lie or make stuff up. He bore witness to what He saw and experienced, and He spoke of those things to others who can be trusted. The early apostles and disciples spread the word of Jesus and the teachings that lead to life as He taught them. And their words can be trusted because they saw the miraculous deeds. They were there in His presence and saw all that He did and bore testimony to those things. And we can listen to their teachings, written down for us in the Bible, so that we too can be confident of the salvation awaiting those who believe.

Furthermore, when we believe in Jesus and His teachings, He makes it clear to us in no uncertain terms. He shows us that His words are true and reliable. They are the words of the Spirit and He gives us the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the truth and work transformation in our lives. And of course the Holy Spirit is the perfect witness because he speaks the words of truth into our hearts and minds when we seek the truth. The Spirit, like Jesus, bears witness to what he has seen, heard and experienced, in order to teach us and bring us into the kingdom of God.

Key points from reading:

• Jesus came from the Father and speaks of what He knows from first-hand experience.
• Jesus speaks of what He knows and His words are spiritual truths that we need to listen to carefully.
• When we believe what Jesus had to say and seek His truths, there is a blessing and a reward.

Discussion:

Scripture: John 3:31 – Jesus is above all

• God has appointed Jesus as the one who is above all. Jesus came to this earth from the Father and was obedient to all that the Father required of Him. This path that Jesus took was laid out in advance by the Father so that we could receive salvation through faith.
• Humans are of this earth and live in the physical realm. People believe and speak of what they can see, hear, or feel with the senses. And that is naturally the case because we are made to relate to the things around us through our five senses. It is for this reason that so many people struggle with the idea and concepts of faith, or even the idea of God because He cannot be seen or felt in the traditional way. But we all have the capacity to believe with faith. Every person believes and has faith in something. Even atheist have faith in their mistaken belief that God does not exist. Most scientific discoveries began with the faith of the scientist to believe something existed or was possible before they ever made the discovery.
• So, the key to understanding anything really is in faith. We humans speak of what we know and can see or perceive through our senses. We speak of what we know concerning the things of this earth. And we may accept and believe what we are told by others because they are credible witnesses, even though we cannot prove many things for ourselves. For example, we believe the moon on average is 238,855 miles from the earth, even though we have never measured it. There is no tape measure long enough to do so, but someone calculated it somehow, and we readily accept their testimony. We also believe that atoms make up the substance of the universe, even though we have never seen an atom for ourselves. We accept the existence of atoms because some credible people have testified to their existence. Believing all of these things on the basis of the testimony of someone else who is a credible witness is what faith is all about.
• Likewise, Jesus speaks of the things of the spirit and the things of heaven because He came from heaven. Jesus speaks of the things of God and the ways of the Father because He has seen the Father, He was sent by the Father, and He knows what the Father’s will is. Jesus came to provide an example of the Father to us so that we could understand the ways and the will of the Father. He can speak of what He knows because He was there in the presence of God. His witness is credible because He is the Son of God. And we need to listen to Him because He is a credible witness. The words He spoke are the words of God and they will lead us to life with Him and the Father when we listen to Him and believe His words.

Scripture: John 3:32-33 – We speak of what we know

• Jesus came to speak of what He knows, which is the life He came to give to us. As He walked the earth He drew people to Himself to learn and understand the will and the ways of God, as He learned them first-hand in the presence of God. These words He spoke and the teachings He gave were not cleverly devised myths and stories. Every word He spoke have a purpose and a gravity that pointed to the Father and the salvation that was to be ours through faith. He had and gave the teachings of life because Jesus is the life and the light of men.
• But many people did not believe Him then and do not believe Him now. They do not receive His testimony of the things of the spirit and the things of God. Many people choose to reject what He had to say and preferred to remain in the darkness where there is no understanding or truth.
• Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Those who reject Jesus reject the truth, the light of understanding, and the eternal life that is to be received by and through Him. But for those who do believe and who do listen to what Jesus had to say, there is life. When we believe the truth that is in Jesus, we accept that God is true. We believe that God is real and that He will help those who come to Him through Jesus Christ. We believe that the words of God can be trusted and believed on to receive life. And then we can speak of what we know with confidence to others, having learned for ourselves that we can rely on Jesus and God for all things.

Scripture: John 3:34 – Jesus speaks the words of God

• Jesus was sent by the Father to speak the words of God. He came to reveal God the Father to the world. Jesus reflects the glory of the Father to the world and in Him we can see the nature of the Father. The words He spoke were all from the Father to teach us and to bring us to Himself. The Father sent the Son to gather people to Himself so that we could know God and that we could dwell with Him into eternity.
• There are many gifts that God the Father gives to those who believe and who come to Him through Jesus Christ. He gives us freedom from sin, freedom from the law, salvation, grace, mercy, compassion, and help in our day to day lives. Above all of these He gives us His Holy Spirit to live in and among us. The Spirit is given to understand all of the things of God. It is the work of the Spirit to teach, guide, counsel, and protect the people of God. And while He does all of these things, the Holy Spirit is working transformation within us to be able to be made ready to stand in the presence of God. The Holy Spirit gives us the victory over the flesh through the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Spirit we can defeat the passions and desires of the flesh that drive people to sin. His work in us is the work to perfect us for the kingdom of God.
• And the Holy Spirit is not given by measure. One person does not receive more Holy Spirit than another, or vice versa. We all receive the same Holy Spirit to do these works mentioned above in order to change us and bring us into perfection in Jesus Christ. Jesus speaks the words of God and we have to believe and act upon them because He speaks of what He knows, and He knows the Father’s will.

Scripture: John 3:35-36 – All things are in the hand of Jesus

• The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands. All power, all authority, and all judgement are given by the Father into the hands of the Son. All that we are to receive rests upon whether we will listen to the Son, receiving His words, believing what He said, and then acting upon His words. God has given all things into the hands of the Son for our benefit, so that we can come to Him.
• And the choice God has given us is simple. Those who believe in the Son and all that the Father has accomplished in and through Him, will have life. If we have faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, we will live into eternity with Him and with the Father. This is the promise of God and is the promise Jesus conveyed to all people when He walked the earth. And as mentioned earlier, He speaks of what He knows because Jesus came from the Father and heard all that the Father had to say that we could receive life. Those who believe in Him and obey the words and teachings of Jesus have eternal life.
• Those who choose to reject Jesus and the words of life that He spoke will be rejected by the Father. Whoever chooses to obey this world rather than the words of Jesus will suffer the wrath of God. This is the outcome of a faith or lack of faith. The scripture sums up the outcome of all peoples lives clearly when it says in verse 36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.” Do not be like those who reject faith in Jesus Christ and are subject to the wrath of God, which is eternal destruction. Listen to Jesus who speaks of what He knows and whose words are the words of God.

Prayer Points:

• Pray that the Lord will open His words to you as He speaks of what He knows, which are the things of the Spirit.
• Pray that God will give you the Holy Spirit to teach, counsel, and guide you into His kingdom. And believe with all your heart, mind, and soul that God wants you to be with Him and He will show you the way through Jesus Christ.