Witness

“But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him.”
“Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.”
John 12:37, 42-43 NLT

So John records that many people believed in Jesus although most didn’t. There would have been a third category as well – those sitting on the fence, not sure whether to believe in Jesus or not. But essentially, these would have been people included in the “most didn’t believe” category. Today we call the fence-sitters agnostics, people who aren’t sure whether or not God exists, and so they make no effort to find out the truth. I was once an agnostic, a “fence-sitter”, until I found myself working next to an evangelical atheist, a member of the British Humanist Society, and I was so appalled by his fatalistic world view of life, totally devoid of hope, that I hurriedly got off the fence and searched for Jesus. Thankfully, He found me and He has been my Friend and Redeemer ever since.

John recorded that the Jewish leaders who believed in Jesus kept quiet about it, for fear of being thrown out of their synagogues. Synagogues were more than religious buildings. They were the centre of their society, impacting social, family, religious, and business relationships; so to be excommunicated would have been a disaster for them in many ways. But John was a bit scathing about these people, recording that “they loved human praise more than the praise of God.” Then and now, to “come out” as a believer in God will impact our lives. Christians today are reviled and abused for their faith, and many will prefer to down play and even deny their faith, to avoid problems. They too followed in the ways of the Jewish leaders who believed in Jesus.

Jesus taught much about the importance of being His witnesses. We have the account in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father”. There is a well-used question often asked at rallies and similar gatherings – “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” In Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven”. Something believers do is to be salt and light in their communities, publicly acknowledging Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Some years ago, a next door neighbour who had recently moved into the house, asked where we went as a family every Sunday morning. We told her of course, and she joined us soon after, attending the same church as we did. People around us notice what we do and how we do it, probably more than we either think or expect.

Those who love human praise rather than God’s praise put themselves in a dangerous place before God. Jesus was scathing about such people in the Laodicean church and he said, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (Revelation 3:15-16).

We pilgrims are not lukewarm people, though, are we? At every opportunity we lift up the name of Jesus, declaring His Lordship and love. Yes, the response might not be ideal, and lead to someone’s conversion, but we chip away at the forces of darkness holding people back and blinding their senses, in prayer and word. The Holy Spirit will step in and bring about a miracle whenever He can.

Father God. We thank You for saving grace and love. Amen.

”God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.“
John 1:6-9 NLT

John, the writer of John’s Gospel, said of John the Baptist, “he was simply a witness to tell about the light”. In our societies, a witness is someone who sees an event and who is prepared to stand up in a court of law or some other solemn place and say what they saw. They “tell about” something. But in the setting before us, in the first few verses in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist was witnessing something that had yet to take place. Through the Holy Spirit within him he was foretelling what was to come. John had an unique ministry in that he introduced his cousin Jesus as the Messiah who was bringing “light to everyone”.

The early disciples were entrusted with the ministry of witnessing as well. We read what Jesus’ last words to them in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” But these men and women had been with Jesus. They had lived with Him. They had seen the miracles, the healings. They were there, and were involved, in the feeding of five thousand men and their families. They were in the boat when Jesus came to them walking on the water. They were there behind a locked door when Jesus appeared amongst them. John the Baptist was a witness of what was to come. The disciples were witnesses to whom Jesus was and what He had done.

But what about us pilgrims? We are told to be witnesses to Jesus as well. Of course, we were not there in John the Baptist’s shoes. Neither were we in Israel when Jesus walked the highways and byways, seeing His miracles and hearing His teaching. But we can be witnesses to all that Jesus has done for us. We can tell others of the changes the Holy Spirit has made in our lives. We can testify about events and even miracles that God has done for us. And even a new Christian, taking the first steps in their pilgrimage, can tell of God’s saving love and grace. We have so much to be a witness for.

There were times when the people failed to understand who Jesus was or what His teaching was about. The spiritual leaders of His day did their best to rubbish His teaching and even ended up complicit in His early death. Jesus was counter-cultural, a radical who overturned the status quo in His society and, for a brief three years, touched earth with Heaven itself. And because of Him, the world changed radically, as witnesses to Jesus and His earthly mission propagated the Gospel throughout the world. We pilgrims will also be ill-treated and maligned. We too will be ridiculed and ostracised. But we are witnesses to all that God has done for us, and we can share our messages of hope, seasoned with God’s acts of grace, to all those around us. Each one of us is “simply a witness to tell about the light“.

Dear God. We look back over our lives and find so much that You have done for us. We are so grateful. Amen.

Human Praise

A Witness