Eyewitnesses
About 10 years ago, during a Homicide trial in Nassau County in New York, the prosecution examined their witness on the stand. In his testimony, the witness stated that he saw the victim lying on the ground, obviously dead.
When the prosecution had finished, the defense lawyer rose to his feet, intent on undermining the credibility of the witness, and conducted the following cross-examination:
"Sir, are you a doctor?"
"No," replied the witness.
"Well, are you a paramedic?"
"No, I’m not," the witness stated.
"Have you ever gone to medical school?"
"Never," was the answer.
"Then tell me, sir, how do you know that the victim was indeed dead?"
"Well," responded the witness, "I went to his funeral."
In every Crime Scene Investigation, it’s hard to beat the value of eyewitnesses!
Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection are the critical facts of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), comprising more than a fictitious story. Eyewitnesses corroborate the facts of the gospel and demonstrate the account's authenticity. Peter was one of Jesus’ closest disciples who witnessed His resurrection. He wrote in 2 Peter 1:16 (NKJV):
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
An honest judicial system endorses the value of eyewitness testimony. Moses sanctioned having at least two witnesses to establish the truth about an individual. He wrote in Deuteronomy 19:15 (NKJV):
15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.
Jesus illustrated this principle in John 8 regarding the woman caught in adultery. Some view this story as an opportunity to criticize Jesus’ leniency; however, though Jesus is gracious, He was not lenient, He upheld the Law of Moses. When Jesus confronted the woman’s eyewitness accusers, they all left, from the oldest to the youngest. Jesus was alone with the woman and asked, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She answered, “No one, Lord.” Then He sent her on her way with, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:10-11, NKJV).
According to the Law of Moses, no one could be executed for a capital offense without at least two eyewitnesses. With all of the witnesses absent, Jesus could not condemn her to death. Instead, He warned and sent her away.
Witnesses are important in court cases and in verifying the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. The Gospels and Acts recounted the resurrection and identified individuals who saw Jesus alive. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NKJV), Paul relates the facts of the gospel and some of the witnesses that saw the post-crucifixion Jesus alive, including more than 500 people who observed the resurrected Jesus simultaneously. Let me read this text.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
As an aside, not only were there literal eyewitnesses to the events of the resurrection, the OT scriptures predicted it and the NT text affirmed it. Once again, we see the value of reading both sides of the Bible as it reveals ONE story from Genesis to Revelation. I have to pause for a moment and remind us of our Forefathers’ respect for the word of God.
In a letter to his son, John Quincy Adams wrote:
"I have myself, for many years, made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year… My custom is to read four to five chapters every morning immediately after rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time...."
On February 27, 1844, the same JQA stated:
"The Bible carries with it the history of the creation, the fall, and redemption of man, and discloses to him, in the infant born at Bethlehem, the Legislator, and Savior of the world."
Daniel Webster’s warning:
"If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."
There are hundreds of such quotes, and I could go on and on, but let me mention one more, and we will move on. My favorite Founder, Dr. Benjamin Rush, wrote:
[T]he Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life…[It] should be read in our schools in preference to all other books from its containing the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public temporal happiness.
On July 13, 1789, in a letter to Jeremy Belknap, Rush stated:
The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.
Eyewitnesses have impacted the faith of many by telling the story of what they saw regarding Jesus and His resurrection. Luke, a gentile and absent from the crucifixion events, wrote his gospel account with the testimony of eyewitnesses. Listen to the first two verses of his record:
Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, (Luke 1:1-2, NKJV)
I want to consider some eyewitnesses Paul and Luke mention in their writings. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul’s list of eyewitnesses begins with “Cephas” or “Peter.” Peter had a special relationship with Jesus as the spokesman for the disciples. He is the only one who walked on water with Jesus and was the first to identify the Lord as the Son of God. Of course, Peter had denied Jesus, as predicted, and the appearance of Jesus to Peter helped him overcome his guilt and take on his work as an apostle. Paul and Peter were not in competition but were complementary in their work, and Paul affirmed Peter and his role.
The next group of eyewitnesses is the twelve apostles, including Matthias. Peter explains that Judas’ replacement had to have been a witness of the resurrection (Acts 1:22). We know that Matthias, as well as the other eleven, saw Jesus alive. These men were His core group to spread the gospel throughout the world and Jesus appeared to them more than once during the forty days before His ascension.
On the evening of the first day of the week, Jesus appeared to ten disciples after the resurrection, according to John 20:19-23. He conversed with them. However, Thomas was absent. Eight days later, Jesus appeared to the disciples, including Thomas. It was essential for the whole band of His closest disciples to see Him and tell others.
Paul further tells us that Jesus showed Himself to more than 500 brethren at once, many of whom were still alive when he wrote. Who was in that group? Perhaps Mary and His siblings were there. We know they were among the 120 waiting for power from heaven in Acts 1:14.
He specifically showed Himself to James, His half-brother. James would become the leader of the church in Jerusalem until his execution. This was an excellent turnaround for James and his brothers. You will remember, according to John 7:1-9, Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him. The resurrection must have changed their minds, especially in His physical appearance. They had enough faith in Him to go into the City and wait for the Holy Spirit. Their lives would never be the same.
Paul mentioned all the apostles and then included himself. He persecuted the church in good conscience, thinking he was serving God. Jesus identified with His people and interrupted Paul’s oppression with an appearance after His resurrection and ascension. This encounter changed Paul, and he became as zealous for Jesus as he had been against Him.
Luke opens the book of Acts by emphasizing the appearances of Jesus to His chosen apostles. He gave them unambiguous proof that He was alive. Notice what he says in Acts 1:1-5 (NKJV):
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible [unmistakable] proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
One of my favorite accounts of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances is the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35. I won’t read this whole account but would encourage you to take the time and look at it. In the account, the two are traveling seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, discussing the events they had witnessed. Jesus encounters them, but at first, they do not realize who He is. They discuss what they had experienced with Jesus, and He “opens the scriptures” to them.
When they get to the village, Jesus offers the typical Jewish blessing for the food. As He broke the bread for the meal, they suddenly realized who He was, and He disappeared! Notice their response in Luke 24:33-34 (NKJV):
33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Their immediate response was to make the seven-mile trek back to Jerusalem and tell the disciples that they had seen the Lord! That is the normal response to anyone who encounters Jesus.
The original eyewitnesses saw the truth, and the Spirit helped guide them as they documented it for us. As a result, we become the people whom Jesus described to Thomas in John 20:29 (NKJV):
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
While you and I are not literal eyewitnesses of the resurrection, we are witnesses through the eyes of faith. The Holy Spirit, who is present in us, inspired the scriptures which record the eyewitness accounts. Jesus told the disciples that the Spirit would come, and “He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13, NKJV).
Sometimes the change in us can be dramatic and instantaneous. Jesus instantly healed a man with a thirty-eight-year infirmity in John 5. At other times, Jesus took longer to heal, as in the case of the blind man of Bethsaida in Mark 8:23-26 (NKJV), who became an eyewitness of the power of Christ:
23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”
We can have either instantaneous or gradual changes in our lives. Either way, the Lord empowers our new lives through His resurrection, making us modern witnesses of His reality.
If I had been one of the twelve, I would have thought that Jesus was about to conquer the world and reestablish Israel as God’s kingdom on earth. Instead, Jesus called His disciples to be His witnesses in Acts 1:6-8 (NKJV):
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We get the word for witness from a Greek word that can also mean martyr. Whether living or dying, Christians witness God’s power, grace, and mercy. While there is a preponderance of witnesses for the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, there is one critical fact that most of these witnesses share. That is, one does not die for a lie. The apostles and other Christians have given their lives for Jesus rather than deny Him.
We know criminals can be broken and tell the truth about a crime. Prisoners of War have likewise suffered so that they gave up information to the enemy. Not so with the martyrs/witnesses of Jesus. Here is an abbreviated story of the second-century martyr Polycarp, who was the bishop of Smyrna.
Polycarp was brought before the Roman authorities and told to renounce Christ and he would be released. He replied, "Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?" The Roman officer replied, "Unless you change your mind, I will have you burned." But Polycarp said, "You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish."
The Bible repeatedly reminds us of our sinful condition outside of Christ as in Romans 3:23 (23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God) and Romans 6:23, NKJV (23 For the wages of sin is death, but the [free] gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord).
As a result, we may feel unforgivable and inadequate, but we can participate in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and change our destiny. He describes our participation in Romans 6:1-4 (NKJV):
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Years ago, two men were riding on a railroad train discussing the Gospel story of Jesus.
The first man said, “I think an interesting romance could be written about (Jesus).”
The other replied, “You are just the man to write it. Set forth the correct view of His life and character. Tear down the prevailing sentiment regarding His divineness and paint Him as He was - a man among men.”
The man who made that suggestion was Colonel Robert Ingersoll - a renowned agnostic and enemy of the church. The other man was a former Union General named Lew Wallace.
Wallace began investigating the Gospels’ stories, and the more he investigated, the more convinced he became that the eyewitness accounts were highly truthful and that the Jesus presented by them was indeed the resurrected Son of God. The end result was one of the most potent novels (and later one of the most influential movies) ever written about Jesus: BEN HUR.
Down through history… many others have come to the same conclusion. Doctors, scientists, lawyers, and historians have seen the Bible as a firm foundation for their faith and have become witnesses to the presence and power of God. So can we!
Our nation is crying out for authentic witnesses of Christ. To believe, they need to see faith in action, a faith built on the firm foundation of eyewitness statements in scripture. When Jesus cast the legion of demons out of the man in the Gadarenes, the former demoniac wanted to go with Jesus. Instead, Jesus told him in Luke 8:39 (NKJV) to be his eyewitness. Listen to Jesus’ words:
39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
Keep The Light of Christ’s Witness Burning!
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