The Proof is in the Testimonies, 1 John 5:6-12

In 8th grade, I wrote a Christmas play for elementary students. In the script, a group of kids traveled back in time to the scene of Jesus’ birth (true, not the most original plot!). I gave it the title, “Eye-Witness Christmas”. Complete with classic bathrobe costumes and refrigerator-box-turned-time-machine, the play climaxed with the actors’ strengthened faith because of what they saw and heard beside the manger. I wouldn’t have been able to articulate it back then, but perhaps part of the reason I was drawn to the idea of eye-witness testimonies, was to emphasize to my heart that my wavering faith could steady itself on Jesus being true rather than on my testimony being radical.

Eye-witnesses attest to what they experience, and although individuals see from various angles and viewpoints, cohesion between them points to truth. John himself was an eye-witness to Jesus’ life, and he opened this book with “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it…” 1 John 1:2. He and the other apostles could be sure about who Jesus was, because God left them with clear evidence. He longs to strengthen our faith by their witness.

 Jesus’ identity is confirmed by three striking testimonies: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Having spent most of the book analyzing our personal lives for evidence of eternal life, 1 John 5:6-12 turns our attention to the One who is the foundation of eternal life. The Spirit, the water, and the blood agree about who Jesus is, like first-hand witnesses. 

The testimony of the Spirit. Across time, the Spirit of God has been invariably testifying about the identity of the Messiah. He prompted prophecy after prophecy about the Messiah’s arrival, describing in scripture what He would be like, what He would accomplish, and how He would suffer. Jesus came and fulfilled His time on earth, and then He returned to His Father. In His physical absence, the Spirit was sent to dwell in His followers to comfort and convict, teach and transform, growing them into Christlikeness. When we confess Christ as personal Savior, it’s evidence of this same Spirit testifying within us to the truth of Jesus. The consistent witness of the Spirit is the reason John says we must “test the spirits” to see whether they’re in alignment with what the Spirit has been saying all along about Christ. 

The testimony of the water. All four Gospels include the baptism of Jesus at the launch of His public ministry. There, the sights and sounds by the water’s edge fulfilled predictions from the prophet Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon the Messiah, the beloved One of God, anointed to bring good news to the people. On-lookers at His baptism could remember these prophecies and realize that Jesus was God’s long-awaited Chosen One. The Bible knowledge Commentary explains that a false belief in the first century claimed “that the divine Christ descended on the man Jesus at His baptism and left Him before His crucifixion.” In other words, Jesus was a mere human, only partially and temporarily inhabited by God, and He could not pay for sinners’ salvation, since He was just a man when He died. This kind of denial that Jesus is God in the flesh is anti-Christ, one of the repeated warnings in this book and the reason we stand on the additional witness of His blood.

The testimony of the blood.  This isn’t the first time we’ve read about blood in 1 John. Back in 1:7, we read that “the blood of Jesus Christ, [God’s] Son, cleanses us from all sin.” And in 2:2, we’re told that “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins.” 

To understand the purpose of Jesus’ bloodshed, we look back to the Old Testament. Animal sacrifices offered on behalf of God’s people depicted and anticipated The Lamb of God who would once and for all be the atoning sacrifice for sin. This Lamb would bear God’s just wrath against sin, removing its penalty and defeating its power for all who would put their trust in His life as their substitutionary payment. What the lambs’ blood could not do in the past, Jesus did, cleansing His followers from the inside out. 

Although our salvation testimonies are each unique works of God, our faith isn’t built on subjective experiences. Faith rests on the historical reality of Jesus, testified to by the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Together, they uphold and unify our individual testimonies as the common ground we share by faith in Christ. As intriguing as time travel may be, the evidence is strong enough without it.

“And this is the testimony, that God us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 1 John 5:11