How many times have you heard the phrase, “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it!” Some things in life are so incredible, amazing, and dramatic that it takes seeing to believe. We cannot deny what we have seen with our own eyes.
Physical Evidence
I like to watch television shows that feature courtroom drama. Is the person on trial guilty, or innocent? Do they have the right person or persons? Are those on the witness stand telling the truth, or lying? The answers to those questions center around the evidence that is produced. The evidence proves whether they have the right person or not, whether a person is guilty or innocent, and whether they are telling the truth or not. Evidence cannot be denied.
The disciples would not believe in the risen Lord until they had seen him with their own eyes. The words of the women after they had seen the empty tomb fell on unbelieving ears. When Jesus appeared to them in the flesh, they saw with disbelieving eyes. But the physical evidence of the risen Lord could not be denied. They saw him and they believed.
Witnesses to the Truth
I was sitting on my porch one day when two cars stopped abruptly in front of my house. A domestic dispute erupted before my eyes. I received a phone call the next day from one of the individuals involved. The caller knew I witnessed the dispute and I was asked if I would go to court and testify about what I had seen. As a witness I could verify who was telling the truth.
Jesus remained on the earth for 40 days after his resurrection for obvious reasons. Seeing is believing. The people who saw the risen Lord were witnesses to the truth. Jesus instructed his disciples to be his witnesses and go into all the world with the gospel message of the risen Lord.
Christians have the honor of being witnesses for Christ today. We cannot deny the evidence before us. In I Peter 1:8 the Bible says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy.” |L
Danny Dodds is the senior minister at South Side Church of Christ in Washington Court House, Ohio. Danny and his wife Delite have two daughters and five grandchildren.
