YE SHALL BE WITNESSES

Shortly before His ascension to heaven, Jesus told His apostles they would receive the Holy Spirit.  After this He said they would “be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 2:8).  A witness is “1. a person present at some event able to give information about it” . . .  4. testimony; evidence; confirmation.” (Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus, page 1766).

Their information and testimony are about who Jesus is and what He provides and requires of us. Their serving as witnesses to Jesus continues today through the pages of the New Testament. It is important to notice where and how these men served as witnesses. The where is listed by Jesus.  Their witnessing began in Jerusalem, the city where He was arrested, tried, and crucified.  This is a very important fact.  They did not attempt to establish Christianity in some far away place and then return to Jerusalem and preach Jesus. 

They began their work in the very city where He was arrested, crucified and buried.  One major witness they provided concerned the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  Remember the tomb where the lifeless body of Jesus was laid was in the area around Jerusalem.  When the apostles preached the resurrection of Jesus as fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about Him and testimony for His Messiahship, it was easily refuted if the body was still nearby in the tomb. The significance of this is seen in the “trial” of Peter and John found in Acts 4. These two were arrested because “as they spake unto the people, the priest, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:1,2).  These Jewish officials wanted the preaching of the resurrection stopped.  The way they attempted to stop it is significant: they threatened Peter and John (Acts 4:18, 21).  No mention is made of the tomb or the body of Jesus.  This silence on their part is significant for the body of Jesus still in the tomb would prove these men as false teachers and stop
the movement before it started.

Also in connection with the trial is the miracle performed on the lame man.  He was well know to the people visiting the temple for he was “laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple” (Acts 3:2).  He was over 40 years old (Acts 4:22) and was lame from birth (Acts 3:2). He was apparently laid there every day for years to beg, so people were used to seeing him there.  This man was healed, fully healed, so that he was able not only to walk but to run and leap!  How did this happen?  Through faith in Jesus (Acts 3:16).  This event drew the crowd which Peter and John preached to and then were arrested.  After the interrogation of Peter and John the leaders concluded “that indeed a notable miracle hath been done” (Acts 4:16).

The witness of the apostles continues for us today.  We have eyewitness testimony of His death, burial, and resurrection presented without any refutation in the very city where He was crucified.  We have testimony of the confirming miracles performed by the apostles again in the very city where the resulted were opposed but not denied. These things allow us confidence about the Bible, the Christ, and our salvation.  Let us study the Bible and continue to spread the word of the witnesses in our day.

—Denny