16th January 2021

The gospel writers as eyewitnesses

“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.”   Psalm 60:4 (NASB)

One night while sitting in the garden I heard an owl in the field behind our house. This reminded me of all the creatures nearby: bats flying around my neighbour’s house, chickens, quails, a dog, a cat and another neighbour’s ferret. At our house we have the occasional chicken, baby ferret (from next door), and a bullock (there have been reports of a bullock in the neighbourhood). That’s right, a bullock.

I didn’t see the bullock myself, but my neighbour did. The look of amazement on her face told me that she had seen something out of the ordinary. As she was telling me about it, another neighbour came along and asked if we had seen the cow that was running up and down the road.

Two witnesses to the animal being discussed were now in front of me. I didn’t disbelieve them, as I had no reason to. So I went to make sure that the bullock wasn’t still there – and found hoof prints deep in the lawn all the way to the bottom of the garden. Now I had definite proof of what my neighbours had seen.

1 John 1:1 says, ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.’ Matthew, Mark and John saw the death and resurrection of Jesus for themselves. Luke wrote down a history of these same events from eyewitnesses – providing evidence of the events surrounding Jesus’ life. The Gospels are eyewitness accounts of the things that happened to Jesus which we can believe even though we were not there – so do we believe them?

In John 17:20 Jesus states, “I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who will believe in Me through their word…”. Jesus declares that His disciples are trustworthy eyewitnesses, so we should believe what they say. Looking for proof, however, is not wrong. In fact, it confirms the truth for us.

Prayer
Father, thank you for the eyewitness accounts of our Lord’s life, death and resurrection. Stir up our hearts to believe what is recorded, enabling us to trust in your Son as the way to eternal life.
Amen

Study by Rosemary Gent

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About the Author:
Rosemary Gent attends Nottingham Grace Communion.

Local Congregation:

Nottingham Grace Communion
Lucy Brown Hall
Attenborough Lane
Beeston
NOTTINGHAM
NG9 5HZ

Meeting Time:
Saturday 2pm

Contact:
Email: wordoflife@gracecom.church