Jesus speaks to his disciples and says “you will be my witnesses.” I wonder if they knew what Jesus was talking about. We often hear something and understand something different – this is very common for me. Let me explain this to you. You grew up speaking English and your vocabulary has changed over the years. I grew up speaking Spanish and I have long tried to learn English and it has been very difficult.
When someone tells me something sometimes I understand and sometimes not. Sometimes I think that I understand. Beau always says to me, “Tú comprende?” and my answer is “Noooo.” You can determine by my answer or my behavior whether I really understand.
What is interesting here is that the disciples lived with Jesus for a long time. I wonder what they understood when Jesus said to them, “You will be my witnesses.”
What is a witness? A witness is a person who testifies not only with their voice but also with their life.
The word witness in all of its forms (testimony, testify, etc.) is used in the Bible and demonstrated in many ways. The Bible sometimes speaks about different kinds of witnesses – those that are false and also those that are true.
The true witnesses of God are obedient to His commands. Jesus commanded the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and they obeyed. Obeying the Lord’s command is very important. The result of the disciples obedience is manifested in the power of the Holy Spirit they received. The promise is fulfilled.
Now look carefully. Jesus says that His witnesses in Jerusalem would not only testify there but also in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That means everywhere!
Jesus therefore gave testimony of God, He knew where He had come from and where He was going and He knew His testimony was true.
I think that this calling to be a witness is for me as well. I must ask questions of myself and my witness for God. Do I really know Jesus, his life, his purpose and his work? More importantly, is my life’s purpose found in His life? When I can answer “Yes!”, only then can my life and my testimony of God be true. Then the whole world will know where we are from and where we are going.