You Are Witnesses
Have you ever been a witness to an accident or a crime? What did you see? How did you react to what you saw? Were you asked to recount what you saw?
Many times, when there’s an accident or a crime committed, one of the first things law enforcement officers want to know is – are there any witnesses? Properly trained detectives can piece together much of what happened, but access to eyewitnesses helps a lot.
But witnesses to the same event don’t necessarily see the same things. If they view the scene from two different locations, they will have different observations about what happened. So, those investigating the case will take the varying observations of witnesses and compare then in order to get a more accurate picture of what happened.
One place where these differences in witnesses show up clearly is in the Gospels of our New Testament. For the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the events surrounding the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Each of the gospel writers either were witnesses to these events, or interviewed those who were, but their records vary significantly. Some people see these differences as contradictory, but I believe they are complementary. What is beyond dispute is that the events happened.
In today’s teaching we come to the close of the Gospel of Luke. Luke records some of Jesus’ final words and appearances with His followers. And He reminds them that as witnesses to the events of His life, death, and resurrection they would now need to share the reality of those events with others after His departure.
Nearly 2,000 years have passed since Luke penned these words, and the eyewitnesses of these events have long since died. But today, Christ-followers also have been tasked with the mission of being His witnesses. So, I invite you to stay with me as we reflect on how Jesus’ statement, “you are witnesses,” affected His disciples then, and how that statement affects us as His followers today. Listen as I read Luke 24:33 to 53.
As we examine this portion of the Scripture, we will see several ELEMENTS that are essential to the fulfillment of Jesus’ statement, “You are Witnesses.”
The First ELEMENT is,
By Personal Experience
Let’s recall that these disciples had been travelling to the village of Emmaus on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion. They had been engaged in deep and earnest conversation, trying to make sense of the events they’d witnessed. As they were walking and conversing, Jesus joined them, but they didn’t recognize Him.
Jesus inquired about their sad looking faces, and He asked what animated their discussion. After they told Him, He gently rebuked them for their lack of faith. Then He led them on a journey through the Hebrew Scriptures that clearly spoke of His person and ministry. Throughout all of this, they still didn’t recognize Him.
Finally, the two disciples reached their destination and invited Jesus to eat with them. It was only when Jesus broke bread with them that they recognized Him, and immediately He vanished out of their sight. They said, “The flame of our hearts was kindled by His explanations of the Scripture.”
Now, let’s look at what they did. At that same hour they got up and headed back to Jerusalem. Why did they do that? Because they had personally experienced the reality of the risen Christ and...
