“Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Here the Teacher tells the man whom He healed to testify to others what God did for him. And He does! All over town he is talking about how Jesus changed his life.
In an actual court of law, hearsay evidence is usually not admitted as evidence. A witness can only testify about personal, firsthand knowledge. That’s exactly what this man does!
Today students of Jesus cannot be credible witnesses to the death of Jesus on the cross. Or His resurrection from the tomb! We weren’t there.
But those who saw these things can bear witness. And they did. We read some of their eyewitness accounts recorded in the New Testament.
Their evidence provides a strong basis for our faith. And we should give their testimony great weight. They had nothing to gain by giving false evidence.
On the contrary, many of them were killed rather than deny the truth of what they saw and knew to be true.
No, students of Jesus cannot provide credible evidence about what Jesus did nearly 2,000 years ago. But this has already been recorded by some of those who witnessed the events firsthand.
But today students of the Teacher can still testify as this man did. We can bear witness and give evidence about how Jesus has changed our lives too.
No doubt the positive changes in this man’s life provided incentive to many who knew him to find out more about Jesus.
This is still what happens today when students of Jesus testify by their life and by their words about what He has done for us.
Did you say we can testify?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, we tend to hesitate to use that word, but you are right on the mark! We cannot testify to what we haven't seen or heard. Yet each of us who have followed the Teacher for a while have firsthand experience of how and what He has done in our lives.
While we need to know Biblical facts and stories, we also need to be able, ready, and willing to relate to people today of how the Teacher has changed our lives.
Thanks for bringing this point out!