“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost [sinner], Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

(1 Timothy 1:16)

Trial lawyers know the importance of evidence and the value of a witness. But things get challenging when a witness has something to gain by testifying one way or the other.

The “Hearsay Rule” says that statements made out of court by a witness can’t be admissible in court if they are being used to prove the truth of the matter asserted by the statement. This is a convoluted way of saying out-of-court statements can’t be trusted because they can’t be cross-examined in court. 

There are a number of exceptions to the “Hearsay Rule” and one of them is an admission by an opponent called a “statement against interest.” In other words, when someone on the other side of the case makes a statement that admits the weakness of his own case and the strength of the other.

For example, if a major corporation is being sued for dumping chemicals into a river and the CEO of the corporation admits (out of court) he ordered the dumping, he has made a “statement against interest.” Since his statement harms his side of the case it carries more weight and can be used in court.

Now let’s pretend you were trying to prove the validity of  the resurrection of Jesus and the inauguration of God's kingdom in a court of law. Who would be the best witness for such a case? Whose testimony would carry the most weight?

Some say that the Bible was written by Christians who had a vested interest in Christianity being true. I think there are good answers for that, not least of which is the fact that the apostles and early Christians lost a great deal for their convictions. But, for the sake of argument, let's grant this criticism. A more credible witness would be an enemy of the Christian faith, one who actively opposed and publicly denounced the movement.

Can you think of anyone who would fit this description?

In a court of law, Saul of Tarsus would be the most valuable witness for lending credibility to the good news of the King. A good trial lawyer would put an eyewitness like Saul, a former enemy turned ally (Gal. 1:13; Phil. 3:4ff), on the stand and let him sing his song to the jury over and over again. Saul was willing to change his mind and it cost him dearly. He was severely persecuted for “switching sides” which gave him credibility as a witness for the truth. 

And how did God use Paul in the book of Acts? In every place, He was in a position to share his testimony publicly. When Paul was eventually arrested and put on trial in front of a string of government officials, none of the charges for treason or rebellion stuck. But he used this ready audience not simply to defend his innocence but as a platform to promote the message of good news. Paul was a key witness. (Acts 1:8; 9:15)

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Tim. 1:12ff)

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

(John 11:25)

There is a story about the Buddha encountering a woman whose infant son had tragically died. She continued to carry her baby’s lifeless body around with her because she could not bear to let him go. She went to the Buddha seeking consolation concerning the problem of her grief. The Buddha said, “Go to every household in the village and ask each family whether or not they have lost someone to death. When you have done this, return to me.” The woman did this and returned to the Buddha. The Buddha asked, “Did you encounter anyone who has not suffered the pain of death?” The woman answered, “No” and finally gave her baby’s corpse up for burial.

Compare that to the story of Jesus encountering the death of Lazarus in John chapter 11. In John 11, Jesus hears of his friend’s sickness in Bethany but deliberately waits two days to travel there saying, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (v.4) Jesus knew his friend had died but described his death only as a temporary “sleep” from which He could awaken him (v.11). His purpose in resurrecting Lazarus was to cause faith in His disciples (v.15).

Jesus arrived at Bethany to find a common funeral scene, grieving family members and a sealed tomb. Jesus wept (v.35). He wept knowing Lazarus was already dead and knowing He would bring him back to life in moments. He wept because knowing the end of the story doesn't mean you can't cry at the sad parts. And death is the worst part of the story. Jesus had had enough. Death, the enemy of God’s creation, had claimed yet another victim. He commanded the stone be taken away and commanded Lazarus to “come out” of the tomb and the prison of death (v.43) and he did!

Compare the story of the Buddha with the story of Jesus in John 11. The difference is titanic! One says to accept suffering and death as facts of life and to make our peace with them. Jesus, disgusted with death, says that He is the resurrection and the life and that we can overcome death through Him.

Death is an unnatural, evil thing. God created us in His image to live, not to die. Death was the result of the twisting of God’s good creation caused by sin (Gen. 3-5). Death is not a release, it is a prison, an enemy, a tyrant. The Psalmist says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psa. 116:15)  because in death, the separation between God and His redeemed has finally ended.

But that's not the end of the story. Sin is what gives death its stinging power. Jesus, the great conqueror of death, took away that power (1 Cor. 15:54-57). Because of Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection, death is no longer what it used to be. He lifted the curse from Genesis 3 by taking it upon Himself so we could live (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 3:18). But now, being raised from the dead, Jesus says to suffering Christians, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Rev. 1:17-18) His resurrection power lives within all those who follow Him by faith (Eph. 1:19-20).

Jesus helps us fit our pain of loss into a story that makes sense and has a happy ending. Eventually, God will make all things right in the last act of the play when He sends His Son back to remove all evil and eradicate death once and for all! (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 20:14)

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

(John 13:1)

During Jesus’ ministry He had been indicating to His followers for some time that His “hour” had not yet come (Jn. 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20). This climactic, divinely appointed “hour” was, of course, the hour of His death, the “hour” to which God’s redemptive efforts had been pointing since Genesis 3. This was the hour of the Son’s glorification (12:23), the hour for Him to be “lifted up” to “draw all men” to Himself (12:32). 

Jesus would “depart out of this world” to return to the Father. John’s use of the word “world” refers to the mass of lost humanity (1:10), the very “world” the Father loved so much that He would ransom it with the life of His only Son (3:16-17; Mk. 10:45). God’s love for the world is manifest in His aim to draw the lost out of it and unto Himself. 

Those who are drawn out of the world become something new and distinct from the world. The world has its “own” and Jesus has His “own” (15:19). Those who belong to the world are those who hate and reject Jesus (15:18-25). Those who belong to Jesus are His disciples, the people of God, who would eventually be called His church. He prayed for our protection and unity and future glory (17:9-26). For though He left the world and went to the Father, we who believe in Him must remain until the “hour” of our departure comes (2 Tim. 4:6). 

Jesus had loved His own all along but in John 13, in these final moments of His life, John says, “He loved them to the end.” 

There are a few different ways to understand John’s wording here. The ESV, NASB, RSV and NKJV all render John 13:1, “he loved them to the end.” If “to the end” [eis telos] is to be understood temporally, we might say, “He continued to love them to the very end of His life.” But “to the end” could also mean “utterly” or “to the uttermost,” hence the NIV’s paraphrase, “He showed them the full extent of His love.”

Either way, Jesus’ love for His own is such that it extends beyond the very limits of our imagination. In John 13, He exhibits His ultimate, self-sacrificing love by washing the feet of His disciples, which was really done in anticipation of His greatest act of love, His sacrificial death on the cross. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn. 15:13)

Jesus loves us to the very end and to the uttermost. In the cross, we see the full extent of love and it cannot be calculated. God gives us the full measure of that fathomless love in His Son. We can never experience a more soul-satisfying love than what we have in Christ. 

Grounded firmly in the rich soil of this love we could seek to explore its every dimension for 10,000 years and not exhaust it in the least. God’s love can be known but its infinite nature is such that it surpasses knowledge (Eph. 3:17-19). Even though we can’t fully appreciate the depth of God’s love we joyfully and gratefully try.