John 15:27, John, the Eyewitness

//In today’s verse, Jesus lays out the terms for one who is a legitimate witness to Jesus’ ministry. It must be someone who has been with Jesus “from the beginning.” John’s Gospel differs from the other three in many ways, but a person could argue that the most important difference is that the author repeatedly insists that he is an eyewitness to the events he describes.

For whatever reason, this author repeatedly mentions his unique authority as an eyewitness. (I speculate in my book about John’s Gospel that he felt obligated to defend his authority, because of the many places where he disagrees with the Synoptic story.) Scholars continue to argue about who wrote this Gospel, but whoever it was, he insists no less than five times that he witnessed the events he is reporting, and tells the truth.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only –John 1:14

The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. –John 3:33

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. –John 20:30-31

This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. –John 21:24