Witness to His resurrection

 

Acts 1:21-22

“So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus— from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.”

We can easily prove the existence of Jesus through historical records. Apart from the Bible itself, there are also non-biblical evidence given through the writings of historians like Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny. The latter two were Roman politicians, neither of whom liked Christians and therefore would not record anything with the motive of promoting the Christian faith. Even Gnostic writers mention Jesus. Satirist Lucian and philosopher Celsus denounce Jesus as a scoundrel. Archaeological findings, corroborating details given in the Bible about the time Jesus lived in, are numerous. In fact, there was never any debate in the ancient world about whether Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure.

The apostles were looking for a replacement for Judas, and though they specified that this person had had to be present with them during Jesus’ lifetime, it was not so that he could witness to the fact that Jesus did walk this earth that he would be chosen. It was so that he could witness to Jesus’ resurrection!

And this is the pivotal point of our belief. If we only believed that Jesus existed here on earth, even if we believed that He died a cruel death on our behalf, it would count for nothing if we did not also believe that He was resurrected and lives forevermore, interceding on our behalf. This is where the line is drawn separating true believers in Jesus and non-believers. It is easy to gather people from all belief systems together under the auspices of a One World Church if your requirement to belong to such an organization is only to believe that there was a historical prophet called Jesus, who lived and died somewhere around 33 AD.

The belief in the resurrection of Jesus is what the first Christians were persecuted for, what they were prepared to die for. If you consider the horrible ways in which the apostles of Jesus were murdered, ask yourself the question: Would any of them have been prepared to endure that agony for something that was not true, something that was simply a fabricated story?

Pearls to ponder:

Let us reconsider the basics of our belief. Am I believing the full Gospel - the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of God, Who then sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us until He returns again? Also consider the fact that you are saved because someone witnessed to you about the resurrected Christ. Are you prepared to witness to others also? Think about the different ways you can do that and start today!

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