That Settles It

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (John 17:24, NIV 1984).

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So, they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matthew 19:4–6, NIV 1984).

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26–27, NIV 1984).

“Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (Jonah 8:56–58, NIV 1984).

Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” (Mark 12:24–27, NIV 1984).

[Jesus] answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:39–41, NIV).

“Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” (John 8:14–18, NIV 1984).

My Musings – What is it that makes a testimony valid?

First, did the one providing the testimony witness the events that they are testifying about? Jesus was with the Father “before the creation of the world.” Thus, He was there to witness the making of “male and female” (Adam and Eve), the coming of the flood that “destroyed them all” (except Noah and his family), the promise of “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” the call of Moses at “the [burning] bush,” and Jonah spending “three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish.” To name but a few.

Second, is the one providing the testimony reliable, credible, and trustworthy? He is the Son of the living God. “In fact, for this reason [He] was born, and for this [He] came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to [Him].” (John 18:37, NIV 1984).

Third, is there any corroboration of the testimony? Jesus said, “my [corroborating] witness is the Father, who sent me.” The LORD God Almighty. Can’t get any better corroboration than that.

My Advice – Satan is doing his level worst to undermine the veracity of Jesus’ testimony. To make His testimony not seem credible (“a worldwide flood, a fish swallowing a man, doesn’t science negate a creator — come on, who can believe that!?”). But who you going to believe? “A liar and the father of lies” or “the way, the truth and the life?” An old bumper sticker says, “Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it.” It really should say “Jesus said it, that settles it.” Whether I believe it or not. But I think I’ll believe what Jesus said (which includes all the verses quoted above). I’d advise you do the same.