Do you believe eyewitnesses? Do you want others to believe you as a witness? Have you ever testified that something is true? Did people believe you? Were you upset when they did not? Has people not believing you changed how you decide to believe eyewitnesses?
Being a witness may sound official, daunting, or taxing. Yet, we all are witnesses to many things every day. We see people. We see their actions and behavior and hear them speak. Our challenge is whether we speak the truth about what happened or alter it or exaggerate it.
Witnesses are called to the stand in a court of law. They are sworn to tell the truth. Though that does not always keep them from lying. Yet, their testimony is taken into account in judging a case. But testifying in court is not the only means of testifying. If we take a moment to think about it, any time we are telling others about an event that happened, we are testifying.
We hear others give their testimony as well. We choose to believe them or not based on who they are, what the event is, and based on our past experience. We apply that same logic to the eyewitnesses speaking in the Bible. We decide to believe them or not. We first grant the eyewitness some level of trustworthiness. We then decide if their testimony is true based on how outrageous it sounds. To hear that someone was raised from the dead sounds preposterous based on our own experience. Yet we are told by eyewitnesses it is true.
The Apostle Peter was an eyewitness. He spent three years with Jesus, listening to His teaching, observing the miracles, seeing Him die on the cross, and seeing Him after He rose from the dead. His testimony may sound like science fiction to us. Yet, Peter knew it to be true. We must choose to believe him or not. We must choose to believe in the Divine or not. If we believe, are to spread that message to others.
I pray we realize we must decide to believe or not. I pray we trust Peter’s eyewitness account. I pray each one of us will believe the facts about Jesus and tell others about His amazing life. Make the choice to believe. Believe eyewitnesses of Jesus. Tell others about Jesus.
Acts 10:39-41 “We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”
Marty Pressey 