These Three Witnesses
- Reading Time: 9 minutes
“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
here is truly something to be said of the deep symbolism and the interconnectedness that exist in this Book we call, “The Holy Bible.” 2 Testaments, 66 books, and 40 individual writers; penned across the span of over 1,500 years. The work of one and a half millennia, and yet it reads so beautifully as though the work of one Author. It can not be lightly said that this Book, unlike any other before or after it, stands as the greatest literary work ever scribed. Between the 66 books of this Holy Book, there exist nearly 63,000 cross-references! Each one, a thread in a rich tapestry of typifications, prophecies, and allegorical symbols. This is the story of just three of those symbols.
A visualisation of all the cross-references in the Bible
Credit: Chris Harrison | Bible Viz
Credit: “Pyramids of Giza during a Nile flooding” (1882)
Early in the morning, at the crack of dawn, Pharaoh went down to the Nile (possibly to offer up a sacrifice to the gods). Waiting for him there were Moses and Aaron. At the command of Moses, Aaron lifted up his staff and struck the waters of the Nile. In the face of Pharaoh and all his servants, the entire River Nile, its streams, and ponds were turned to blood. Egypt’s greatest pride—its fish, so beloved that even the Israelites in the wilderness cried with nostalgia for them—all died (Numbers 11:5). Finally, as though a boast over Egypt’s false river gods, Hapi and Osiris, the Nile began to smell and rot. For seven days (God’s number of perfection), the River Nile was turned to blood. However, beyond the plagues, Pharaoh, and even beyond Egypt, lies a much greater story. A story of sin, grace, redemption, and love. A symbolic revelation. A deeper mystery, hidden within the Bible, waiting to be discovered. For it is the glory of God to hide a mystery, and the glory of kings to discover that same mystery (Proverbs 25:2).
“Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4 NKJV) Were it not for the Author of these words, one would almost consider them to be a harsh reprimand. And yet, on the contrary, He obliges His mother’s request. At His command, six stone water jars were filled to the brim with water by the servants. In awe, they drew the water from the jars, for it was no longer water but wine. In Cana, at a wedding banquet of all places, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, performed His first public miracle and ushered in the beginning of His ministry. A faint connection begins to now unfold between these two Jewish messiahs. The first, called to save God’s chosen people, the Israelites, from the captivity of Egypt and the brutal hand of Pharaoh. The second, called to save all of God’s chosen people, Jew and Gentile, from the captivity of sin and the brutal hand of spiritual death. By the first, the waters of the Nile were turned to blood. By the second, the water at the wedding was turned to wine—His blood. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17 KJV)
Credit: “The Wedding at Cana” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1860)
Tumah and taharah. Impurity and purity. The sacred and holy ritualistic foundation of ancient Judaistic Torah—the law of Moses. Put forth in the Torah, are the exact and austere rules by which a man or woman was made tumah (impure) or taharah (pure). Anything, from contact with certain animals, the dead, bodily fluids, or even a woman who had recently given birth could make one impure. A man or woman made tumah, or impure, by touching any unclean object, was required by Levitical law to wash their clothes and bathe in water. By immersion into a mikveh, a special Jewish bath for ritualistic purification, a man or woman would be made taharah, pure. According to the Torah, the Priests, entering into the temple for service, were required to wash their hands and feet with water. By Levitical Law, the High Priest on Yom Kippur (the holiest day of the year in Judaistic culture) was required to bathe five times in a mikveh and wash his hands and feet ten times. So strict were these purification laws, that even the Pharisees were furious at Jesus and his disciples “for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” (Matthew 15:2 ESV) Every law, every clause, and every caveat was severely enforced—down to the very last point. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10 NKJV)
Again, and again and again. Seven times, Naaman dipped himself into the Jordan River at the instruction of the prophet Elisha. As Naaman washed the seventh time in the river, he was cleansed of his leprosy. To all of ancient Israel, water was a profound symbol of purification and cleansing. It is this understanding that makes the turning of water into wine at the wedding celebration that much more remarkable and symbolic. For the six water jars were in fact, “after the manner of the purifying of the Jews” (John 2:6 KJV). Jesus Christ, perfectly omniscient, chose these six stone jars for a reason; revealing to us a deeper mystery beyond what the human eye could ever see. These six stone jars were an even deeper symbol—six, the number of man, and stone, a symbol of the covenant of Moses, the Law. Through Jesus, all of mankind would be cleansed, washed, and made taharah (pure). Not through ceremonious, repetitive, ritualistic washings after the order of the law of Moses. Instead, by “the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26 KJV). For Jesus is the living water (John 4:10), and by Him, all men are made clean—as white as snow and as pure as wool (Isaiah 1:18).
“And to the husbands, you are to demonstrate love for your wives with the same tender devotion that Christ demonstrated to us, his bride. For he died for us, sacrificing himself to make us holy and pure, cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of the Word of God.”
Credit: “Noah Offers Up a Sacrifice” published in “The Story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation” by Charles Foster (1884)
Critics of the Bible often point out that the Old Testament is filled with death, violence, destruction, and pain. Indeed, to them, the “God of the Old Testament” appears to have a seeming bloodlust. Sacrifice, after sacrifice, after sacrifice. The Lord Himself declared, as part of Levitical law, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11 NKJV) The blood of countless animals, lambs, goats, bulls and birds alike, shed over the altar as a sacrifice for sin. Once a year on Yom Kippur, the blood of a goat was sprinkled on the mercy seat, in the Holy of Holies. In Egypt, the blood of the Passover lamb was smeared upon the doorpost of the house of every Jewish home. It was only by sacrifice and the shedding of blood that atonement for sin could made. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22 ESV) And yet, even after all the sacrifices made, after every lamb, bull, and goat slaughtered for atonement, it was never quite enough. When all was said and done, when it seemed as though finally a man had made reparations and his sins finally forgiven, once again to the altar he would return—to make yet another sacrifice.
“This wine is my blood, which will be poured out to forgive the sins of many and begin the new agreement from God to his people.” (Matthew 26:28 ERV) Cryptic words, and yet filled with such immense power and depth. The next day, His wine was poured out for all men. The symbolism of the wine at the wedding in Cana once again comes to life in this light. The wine is His blood. When the water, now turned wine, was drawn from the six jars it was immediately served to the master of the ceremony. Surprised, at the quality of the wine, he commended the groom. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” (John 2:10 NLT) Truer and finer words have never been uttered. For indeed, the best wine, the blood of Jesus Christ, was served last. The best wine was kept for last. The final sacrifice for sin. The final atonement for all mankind. More perfect than the blood of any goat. The ultimate and perfect Lamb. More perfect than any other sacrifice given under the law of Moses. By His blood, all men and women are forgiven and redeemed. (Ephesians 1:7)
“Under the old covenant the blood of bulls, goats, and the ashes of a heifer were sprinkled on those who were defiled and effectively cleansed them outwardly from their ceremonial impurities. Yet how much more will the sacred blood of the Messiah thoroughly cleanse our consciences! For by the power of the eternal Spirit he has offered himself to God as the perfect Sacrifice that now frees us from our dead works to worship and serve the living God.”
Credit: “The Crucifixion of Jesus” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1860)
“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
On the cross, after having breathed His last, a Roman soldier pierced Jesus’s side, and “immediately blood and water flowed out” (John 19:34 NLT) From the side of the Son of God, the final sacrifice, flowed blood and water. In this exact moment, the culmination of a story centuries in the making, the mystery of the Spirit, water, and the blood was revealed. “This is He who came by water and blood-Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1 John 5:6 NKJV) By the living water of Jesus Christ, water that causes a man to thirst no more, mankind is made pure and clean. By His blood, mankind is forgiven and redeemed. Our story, however, is not complete just yet. For there is one more witness—the Spirit.
A Comforter. A Helper. An Advocate. The Holy Spirit. Before His ascension, Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit. The final witness. The completion and fulfilment of the words of John the Baptist when he said, “I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8 NKJV) Just as a man would be immersed in water in a mikveh, so too would humankind be immersed and baptized in a new kind of baptism. A baptism not of water, but a baptism of the Holy Spirit. Through this baptism, the Spirit of the Lord permanently dwells in a man. These three witnesses agree. The purification of water, the atonement of His blood, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Spirit, water, and blood. These three witnesses agree.
Amen
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