3/10 Reading Portions: Exodus 21; Luke 24; Job 39; 2 Corinthians 9

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“You are witnesses of these things.” Luke 24:48

WITNESSES

Christ was not calling His disciples eyewitnesses to the events which transpired on that particular Passover. Nearly all of them, except John, were not eyewitnesses of the cross (Matt 26:56). Only Peter and John saw the empty tomb (John 20:3). Moreover, they did not understand any of this until Jesus explained these things to them:

“These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44

Then, after “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45), He told them that His crucifixion and resurrection occurred in order that repentance and forgiveness of sins could be proclaimed in His name to all nations (Luke 24:46-47). Finally, Jesus told them of the promise of His Father, and their being clothed with the Holy Spirit to secure them in the truth of these things once He sends Him (Luke 24:49). Therefore, since Christ’s resurrection, ascension, and His sending the Holy Spirit, all sinners saved by God’s grace are witnesses of these things. This includes you and me.

Although Peter saw amazing miracles by the hand and spoken word of the Lord Jesus, and though he was an eyewitness to the Lord’s transfiguration and heard with his own ears the majestic words of the heavenly Father (2 Pet 1:16-17), it is the more sure word of prophecy to which we must heed, “until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in [our] hearts” (2 Pet 1:19); that is, until Jesus, who is the Morning Star (Rev 22:16), is secured within us.

We are witnesses of Christ’s truth— much more than mere practitioners of righteousness. Our behavior changes, not by force of will, but because of the revelation of Christ from Scripture (Luke 24 above) and our eternal fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 Jn 1:3) through the Spirit (John 14:17). Hallelujah! What a Savior!

A witness of these things indeed,
Of Holy Scripture come to life;
This sanctifies us more than creeds,
And gives us peace to subdue strife.

Witness to Truth — “More than Mere Practitioners of Righteousness” Luke 24:48

Jon J. Cardwell's Daily Devotionals & Commentaries

More than Mere Practitioners of Righteousness