216 [5:6 8] The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five

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1 216 [5:6 8] The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five We see, then, that Yeshua s personal claim to be the Son of God carried with it an assertion not only of a unique relationship to the Father, but a relationship that in itself required equality in matters of knowledge, sovereignty and eternal existence. And it is clear that His self-realization included an understanding of His unique relationship with the Father, a relationship that involved His pre-incarnate existence with the Father. Thus, confessing Yeshua to be one s Savior surely includes a confession that He is the promised Messiah, that He came in the flesh, and that salvation is possible only through His work in His death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession. Moreover, since He must possess an infinite life in order to offer an infinitely righteous atonement, to deny His deity is likewise to deny His ability to provide eternal salvation for the elect. Such a denial renders eternal salvation impossible and thereby denies the victory that the Scriptures clearly accord to Yeshua. 6-8 This is the One who came by water and blood, Yeshua Messiah; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. John now continues to press the centrality of Yeshua as the only agent of Divine salvation for sinners, by stressing the testimony established for both His incarnation as well as His unique status as the Son of God. In fact, verses 6 11 are seen to be a cohesive unit by the repeated use of the Greek wordgroup μαρτυρέω (martureō), to bear witness, to give testimony, and its related noun, μαρτυρία (marturia), a witness, a testimony. These are found no less than 10 times in vv οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐλθὼν δι ὕδατος καὶ αἵματος, Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι μόνον ἀλλ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι καὶ ἐν τῷ αἵματι καὶ τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν τὸ μαρτυροῦν, ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια. 7 ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, 8 τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν. 9 εἰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαμβάνομεν, ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ θεοῦ μείζων ἐστίν ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι μεμαρτύρηκεν περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. 10 ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἔχει τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ὁ μὴ πιστεύων τῷ θεῷ ψεύστην πεποίηκεν αὐτόν, ὅτι οὐ πεπίστευκεν εἰς τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἣν μεμαρτύρηκεν ὁ θεὸς περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. 11 Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μαρτυρία, ὅτι ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ θεός, καὶ αὕτη ἡ ζωὴ ἐν τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. 6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Yeshua Messiah; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

2 The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five [5:6 8] 217 Having established in the previous verses that salvation from God s wrath against sinners is only possible through the atoning death of Yeshua on their behalf, which alone can satisfy the infinite holiness of the Father, John goes on to establish the fact that the Yeshua to Whom He refers is the incarnate Son of God. And he does this, it would seem, to defeat the arguments of early nascent Gnostic teachings, that is, teachings which were not fully Gnostic in line with the later, more fully developed Gnosticism, but which perhaps were the early beginnings of such errant doctrines. Though conflicting reports are extant regarding Cerinthus, who lived in the late 1st and early 2nd Centuries, it seems clear that he not only taught the two powers heresy, that there was a greater and lesser god, one who created the physical universe and the other who remained entirely separated from the materialistic creation, but that he also taught an adoptionistic view of Yeshua. This view was that Yeshua was born as a common man through the union of Mary and Joseph, but that the divine Messiah ascended upon Him at his baptism. However, before being put to death upon the cross, the divine Messiah abandoned him so that, like his birth, his death was that of a common man. Does John have the teachings of Cerinthus in mind when he emphasizes the indisputable testimony regarding Yeshua in our current text? While some scholars would give an affirmative answer to this question, others deny that such is the case. 1 What does seem to be clear, however, is that even toward the end of the 1st Century when John was writing this epistle, the early beginnings of a Gnostic heretical teaching were extant. As Marshall notes, Certainly it is difficult to find any closer background to the present verse than this particular aspect of the teaching of Cerinthus, although it may be that other heretics shared his teaching at this point. The early church certainly believed that John personally opposed Cerinthus. 2 It may well be, then, that our current pericope is especially directed to those who were teaching such heretical doctrines while at the same time warning the communities of The Way not to be persuaded to believe such errant teachings. This is the One Who came by water and blood, Yeshua Messiah; John speaks of Yeshua Messiah as the One who came (οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐλθὼν), utilizing an aorist participle ho elthōn, which hearkens back to the use of the present participle in the Synoptics, which speaks of the One Who is coming. Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, Are You the Coming One, or do we look for someone else? (Lk 7:19; cf. Matt 11:3) Likewise, after witnessing the miracles which Yeshua did, John the Baptizer refers to Him as the prophet who is coming into the world (ὁ προφήτης ὁ ἐρχόμενος John 6:14; cf. Deut. 18:15 19; Acts 3:22). So also Martha makes this confession regarding Yeshua: Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world (ὁ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐρχόμενος). 1 See Carl B. Smith II, No Longer Jews: The Search for Gnostic Origins (Hendrickson, 2004), pp ; Brown, IJohn, p. 577; Akin, 1John, p I. Howard Marshall, 1John, p. 231.

3 218 [5:6 8] The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five And in the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the crowds hailed Yeshua with the greeting Blessed is the one who comes (ἐρχόμενος, erxomenos) in the name of the Lord (Matt 21:9; Mk 11:9; Lk 13:3; Jn 12:13). Thus, John, who doubtlessly was fully cognizant of these well known expressions, makes a clear statement when he writes of the One Who came, pointing to the definitive point in history when Yeshua came as the incarnate Son of God. John s carefully chosen words emphasize the truth that Yeshua of Nazareth was indeed the coming One, the Messiah prophesied by Israel s prophets, and the very One Who is the hope of Israel 1 and of all mankind. The next phrase, Who came by water and blood, has garnered much discussion among the commentators and theologians. The various understandings of this phrase can be summed up in three varying interpretations. (1) That water and blood refer to baptism and the Lord s Supper (or Eucharist) respectively. That is, the expression points to the two primary ordinances given to the Christian Church. 2 While this view was certainly driven by the later emerging Church, it has little to commend it. Primary in this regard is that while water is clearly associated with baptism in the Apostolic Scriptures, 3 the same is not true that the word blood is associated with the Lord s Table. What is more, the only time the phrase table of the Lord (τραπέζης κυρίου) is found in the Apostolic Scriptures is in 1Cor 10:21, and in this context it clearly refers to the altar of the Temple 4 as opposed to the altars used in pagan temples. What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1Cor 10:19 21) What became the Lord s Table or the Eucharist in the later emerging Christian Church is not, in my view, found in the Apostolic Scriptures themselves. Thus, the view that water and blood in our text refers to the Eucharistic celebration of the Christian Church is an anachronism. (2) A second interpretation of water and blood is that John is referring to the spear thrust into the side of Yeshua as He hung on the cross, by which blood and water came forth, something he describes in his Gospel. 1 Cf. Jer 14:8; 17:13; Acts 28:20. 2 While Westcott incorporates all of the suggested interpretations in his commentary, he does conclude that the sacraments (baptism and the Eucharist) are the final manifestation of the water and blood, 1John, pp. 181f. Luther considers the combination of water and blood to refer to the sacrament of baptism only (cf. Joh. Ed. Huther, 1John in H. A. W Meyer s Commentary on the New Testament [T & T Clark, 1884; reprinted by Hendrickson Pub., 1983], p. 603, n. 2). 3 Matt 3:11, 16; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16; Jn 1:26, 31, 33; 3:23; Acts 1:5; 8:36, 38; 10:47; 11:16. 4 Cp. Ezek 41:22-23; 44:16; Mal 1:7, 12 in which the table that is before the Lord, or the table of the Lord is used to refer to the brazen altar שׁ ל ח ן י הו ה of sacrifice. Note also that in Mal 1:7, 12, the Lxx translates with τράπεζα κυρίου, the same Greek found in 1Cor 10:21.

4 The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five [5:6 8] 219 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. (John 19:34 35) Note Augustine s understanding of the significance of the blood and water which came forth from Yeshua s pierced side, which is that this refers to the sacrament, and thus he combines the previous interpretation and the second: A suggestive word was made use of by the evangelist, in not saying pierced, or wounded His side, or anything else, but opened; that thereby, in a sense, the gate of life might be thrown open, from whence have flowed forth the sacraments of the Church, without which there is no entrance to the life which is the true life. That blood was shed for the remission of sins; that water it is that makes up the health-giving cup, and supplies at once the laver of baptism and water for drinking. 1 But what makes this interpretation, that John in our text is referring to the water and blood which came forth from Yeshua s pierced side, is that in the Gospel account, the words are reversed. Here, in our text, John writes of the water and the blood. But when he records the soldier piercing Yeshua s side at the crucifixion, he reports that blood and water came out. Further, that blood and water came out of Yeshua s pierced side does not seem to provide a convincing testimony or evidence that He was the Son of God. Most clearly it provides clear evidence of His incarnation, i.e., that He is true man and not some aberration as the Gnostic teaching would have one believe. But in an overall sense, this interpretation does not seem to fit the wider context and argument of John in this particular section of his epistle. (3) The third interpretation of the phrase Who came by water and blood is that water refers to the baptism of Yeshua by John, and blood denotes Yeshua s death on the cross. This view, it seems to me, is quite obviously the correct interpretation, not only because the vast majority of commentators, both ancient and modern, hold this view, but primarily because it best fits the immediate context. For John is referring to the testimony by which Yeshua is affirmed to be the Son of God, and in our verse (v. 6), John states It is the Spirit Who testifies. Now this fits perfectly with the understanding that water refers to Yeshua s baptism by John, for when Yeshua came up from the water the Spirit descended upon Him and the very words of the Father were heard: This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased (Matt 3:11). Furthermore, that blood signifies Yeshua s death also fits John s purposes, for Yeshua s baptism initiated His public ministry and His death, which gave way to His resurrection and final ascension conclude His earthly work of obtaining salvation for His people. Further, the fact that the sun was darkened and the earth quaked while Yeshua hung on the cross may be parallel to the work of the Ruach in the creation narrative, for the Genesis record notes at the beginning that the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. The Spirit s activity in creating the material world is seen in His having control of the earth as well. Thus, the Spirit bore witness both at Yeshua s baptism as well as at His crucifixion, so much so that the centurion exclaimed Truly this 1 Augustine, Homilies on the Gospel of John, no. 120.

5 220 [5:6 8] The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five was the Son of God! (Matt 27:54; Mark 15:39). This is the One Who came by water and blood, Yeshua Messiah; John concludes the opening phrase with Yeshua Messiah, which perfectly fits with the use of the aorist participle Who came, as noted above. Yeshua is the Messiah, the promised One of Israel, and the Spirit gives witness to this truth in the water (Yeshua s baptism) and the blood (Yeshua s death on the cross and the phenomena that occurred as He died for His people). not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. Verse 6 ends with a supplementary phrase, which once again appears to be directed particularly at the errant teachings of nascent Gnostism. For those who taught that Yeshua received His divine nature when the Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism would have been satisfied with John s use of water as a fitting symbol for the baptism. And they would have taught that the divine Messiah abandoned Yeshua prior to His crucifixion. But John is not willing to speak only of water but also adds blood, and does so emphatically, by stating that both Yeshua s baptism as well as His death on the cross give testimony to the fact that He lived and died as the Son of God, as Yeshua the true Messiah. Marshall states it well when he writes: As soon as we reduce the death of Jesus to that of a mere man, so soon do we lose the cardinal point of the New Testament doctrine of the atonement, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself; in the last analysis, the doctrine of the atonement means that God himself bears our sins and shows that the final reality in the universe is his sin-bearing, pardoning love, but if Jesus is not the Son of God, his death can no longer bear this significance. So-called theologies, which reduce talk of the incarnation to the status of myth, may be attractive to modern men, but they take away our assurance that God s character is sin-bearing love. 1 It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. Before Yeshua ascended, He promised His disciples that the Father would send the Ruach in Yeshua s Name, Who would bring to their minds all that He had taught them (John 14:26). But He also promised that the Ruach would come to testify of Me. When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. (Jn 15:26 27) This is in concert with Paul s teaching in Rom 8, in which He affirms that the Spirit Who dwells within the believer is the very proof of being a child of God. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. (Rom 8:14 16) 1 Marshall, 1John, p. 233.

6 The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five [5:6 8] 221 Thus, John points to the witness of the Ruach, both in superintending the Apostles as they gave witness to the life of Yeshua and wrote of Him and His teachings in the Apostolic Scriptures, as yet another witness to the authenticating work of the Ruach both at the baptism and death of Yeshua. To this, then is added the personal witness of the Ruach in the life of every believer, for the The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Surely John has well in mind the Torah requirement that on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. (Deut 19:15). It is not only the inner working of the Ruach within the believer that affirms the bedrock of one s faith, that is, that Yeshua is indeed the promised Messiah, the Son of God, by Whom salvation has been secured for all whom He will save. But it is also the historical facts pertaining to the coming of Yeshua as promised by the prophets, the attestation at His baptism that He is, in fact, the Son of God, and that at His death on the cross, the Father made it amply clear to all who were there that the payment for the sins of His people had been fully accomplished and received. Our faith is therefore based, not only upon inner urgings and feelings but also on historically verified facts witnessed by many people and written as an abiding record in the pages of inspired Scripture. 7-8 For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. Those who are reading the KJV or the NKJV may be alarmed that in quoting v. 7 from the NASB, there appears to be some very important words left out. In fact, Erasmus, who compiled the Greek texts for the translators of the KJV, was charged with a severe criticism by Stunica, one of the editors of Ximene s Complutensian Polyglot, that he had left out a significant number of words from the trinitarian verse of 1John 5:7. Erasmus replied that he could find no manuscripts that had the trinitarian statement, namely the words (as found in the KJV and NKJV), For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth. Erasmus promised that he would insert these words if a manuscript could be found that contained them. At length such a copy was found or was made to order! As it now appears, the Greek manuscript had probably been written in Oxford about 1520 by a Franciscan friar named Froy (or Roy), who took the disputed words from the Latin Vulgate. Erasmus stood by his promise and inserted the passage in his third edition (1522), but he indicates in a lengthy footnote his suspicions that the manuscript had been prepared expressly in order to confute him. 1 In fact, only three manuscripts are known to have the expanded text as found in the KJV and NKJV. One is from the 12th Century with the words written in the margin by a 17th Century hand; a 16th Century manuscript of the Complutensian Polyglot Greek text, and a third which is dated to the 14th Century by 1 Bruce Metzger, The Text of the New Testament (Oxford Press, 1992), p. 101.

7 222 [5:9] The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five some, but to the 16th Century by others. In reality, there is entirely insufficient evidence to suggest that these words were in the original epistle written by John. They undoubtedly were inserted at some very late date apparently as a way to affirm the trinitarian position once and for all and to put a stop to the trinitarian debates. But in reality, the text of vv. 7 8 is simply an important and accurate concluding statement and summary of that which John has stated in v. 6. For the three that bear witness are the Spirit, the water and the blood, meaning that the Spirit of God bore witness to the fact that Yeshua, at His baptism as well as at His crucifixion, was indeed the promised Messiah, the Son of God, Yeshua of Nazareth Who was born of a virgin and Who is the incarnate Messiah. Added to this is the current witness and testimony of the indwelling Ruach in the life of every true believer, Who continues to testify of the truth through leading, convicting, comforting, and illuminating the Scriptures for the ongoing growth in faith and in sanctification for the child of God. As Kistemaker notes, John writes that the three are in agreement. He means that all three witnesses say the same thing; before a court of law the factual evidence of Jesus baptism (water) and death (blood) is in complete agreement with the testimony of the Holy Spirit. A person cannot accept either one or two of the witnesses and omit the third. All three stand together. 1 This means that the word of God, inspired by the Ruach HaKodesh, is a trustworthy witness to the very person of Yeshua, including His words and His works. John and the other Apostles not only saw the risen Yeshua, but also were eye witnesses of His miracles, and were borne along by the Ruach so that when they wrote in the Apostolic Scriptures their testimony of Yeshua, it was accurate and as God intended it to be. It is therefore trustworthy and forms the bedrock of our faith. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. It seems very possible that John has in mind the words of Yeshua which he recorded in his Gospel. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish the very works that I do testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me. (Jn 5:32 36) The point John is making in our text is this: it is proper to receive the testimony of men when their testimony agrees, and in this John may be referencing the testimony of John the Baptizer, who came before Yeshua to announce Him and make Him known. Since, then, we receive the testimony of men, how 1 Kistemaker, 1John, p. 354.

8 The First Epistle of John: Chapter Five [5:9] 223 much more ought we to receive the testimony of God, for in Yeshua s miracles, and especially in His resurrection, the work of God is fully manifest and cannot be denied. By the very works of Yeshua, the testimony is settled: He is the Son of God Who came to us in human flesh, Who did all that was necessary to secure the eternal salvation for all those whom the Father had given to Him.