Saturday, April 03, 2010

Eyewitness testimony

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).

There sure are a lot of crime dramas on TV these days. Not only that, but schools that offer degrees in crime scene investigation have reported increased enrollment over these past few years. Americans, it seems, are fascinated with investigations that uncover the truth.

But no matter how sophisticated our science gets, there is one thing that remains essential for getting a conviction—you need the testimony of witnesses. Every trial involves the calling of witnesses who share whatever they have seen or heard that is relevant to the case at hand. Nor is every witness equal. Cases often collapse if the evidence is only circumstantial, like when a witness at a murder trial recalls the defendant arguing with the victim shortly before her death. Although this is important information, no crime was actually witnessed.

The best witness is someone who saw the crime take place with his own eyes; such testimony must be taken very seriously. Even then, however, it is just one person’s word against another’s—the word of the witness against the word of the defendant. This is why multiple eyewitnesses are needed to assure a conviction.

Even the Bible holds court proceedings to this standard. In Deuteronomy chapter 19 the Israelites were given the following instruction: One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. When a matter is in dispute, multiple witnesses are needed to verify the truth of things.

This explains why no less than four different men wrote about Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection from the dead. Matthew was a tax collector who left his former way of life and became one of Jesus’ twelve disciples; he was an eyewitness to Jesus’ death and return to life. Mark was close friends with Peter, the unofficial leader of the disciples; like a court stenographer, Mark listened to Peter’s testimony about Jesus’ time on earth and preserved it in writing. Luke tells us that he researched his books by meeting with people who were eyewitnesses to everything that transpired. And John? John was brother of James and a business partner with Peter. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved most dearly of all. He, along with Peter and James, was with Jesus even when the other disciples were not. These three men were the only ones to see Jesus’ glory on the mount of transfiguration. These three were the only ones invited to remain close to the Lord during His hours of prayer in Gethsemane. John and Peter were the only disciples present for Jesus’ trial before the religious leaders who condemned Him to death; John was the only disciple to stand close by cross as Jesus died. The first disciples to enter the empty tomb were John and Peter, and John was the first to believe that Jesus had really come back from the dead.

John and Matthew were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ death and return to life; Mark and Luke provide us with commentary from other eyewitnesses as well. God demands the testimony of two or three witnesses to establish the truth of any important matter; Jesus’ death, burial, and return to life are such important facts that our Lord provides no less than four witnesses to establish the truth of these events.

Why did God give us four witnesses? One reason is that, right from the start, people have been denying the truth of the Easter event. Already in Matthew chapter 28 we are told the following: some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep"… So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Already on Easter morning, people were being bribed to lie about the resurrection. And the lies continue, from ancient writings like the so-called Gospel of Judas to modern fiction like The DaVinci Code. For two millennia, Satan has been trying to convince the world that Jesus remains dead and buried. And so our heavenly Father, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, provided us with four eyewitness accounts regarding what really happened—more than enough to satisfy any court of law.

There is a second reason why God gives us testimony from four different sources. Frankly, the resurrection is hard to believe. Do you know anyone who was verified dead by a government official, underwent partial embalming, and then came back to life after three days in the tomb? Sure, there have been people who were clinically dead for a few minutes who were successfully resuscitated, but dead for two nights? Such a thing is completely beyond the bounds of our experience. You’ve been to funerals. You’ve looked at dead bodies; maybe you’ve even touched one. No amount of makeup can give the illusion of life. When you have seen someone lying dead in a coffin, you know something vital is missing, never to return. The soul has departed, and it fills you with grief.

This is why we need four eyewitness accounts. On Easter, something truly impossible happened, and God knows that it is hard for our mortal minds to accept. Indeed, many people do not. But no one can reject the truth of the resurrection for lack of eyewitness evidence.

Why are the events of Good Friday and Easter so important? John tells us why: 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. Are you afraid of dying? Does each death of a loved one tear out another piece of your heart? You can have life in spite of death. So can your loved ones. You can experience love that never comes to an end. Jesus makes it possible. All you need is faith—faith that Jesus is who He claimed to be and will make good on His promises.

Who did Jesus claim to be? None other than God’s own Son, born into our world with mortal flesh and blood. What did Jesus promise? He promised that anyone who came to Him for mercy would receive forgiveness and a new start in life. He promised to send God’s Holy Spirit to help us resist evil and embrace a godly way of life. He promised that when the hour of death comes for us, He will send His angels to lift our trembling souls in their arms and carry us to heaven. He promised that when He returns to make all things new, our bodies will rise from their graves in perfection and be restored to us.

Jesus can make good on these promises because He is indeed God’s Son. Only the Son of God could suffer for every sin of the entire human race; by suffering for our sins, He has earned the right to forgive us every time we seek His loving touch. Only the Son of God could come back to life after having died; by breaking free of the grave, He has demonstrated the power to free us from the grave as well.

We need to believe these truths about Jesus; if a person does not believe, he sees no reason to go to Jesus for mercy and the offer of everlasting life. A stranger could write you a check for a million dollars, but if you don’t know that the stranger is both wealthy and generous, you’d probably figure the guy was a nut job and just throw the check away rather than cash it. People who don’t believe that Jesus is the risen Son of God react the same way; they throw away His generous offer to settle their debt of sin with God, and laugh off the possibility of a never-ending vacation in paradise. Such a lack of faith prompted Jesus to issue this warning: whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:18).

Which brings us to you as a witness. You have listened to John’s eyewitness account, and by believing, you have the promise of eternal life. But many others in your life have not heard, do not believe. As things stand at this moment, they are condemned for lack of faith. It’s time that you take the witness stand. It’s time that you describe for them the crime scene, the foot of the cross where Jesus died for our crimes against God’s laws. Show them the evidence. Read together with them the eyewitness accounts of what happened. Bring them with you to church and to Bible study, where the evidence can be examined in detail. It’s not up to you to create faith in the heart of your friend; let the facts of the matter be established by four witnesses who know what happened because they were there.

Blog Top Sites
Blog Directory & Search engine
Blog Directory