Witnesses of the Resurrection

Recently I heard it said that one of the themes of the book of Acts is that the apostles were “witnesses” of the Savior.  The Savior told His apostles as He was ascending to heaven: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  And the rest of the book shows that this is exactly what they did.  Acts 1-7 tells of part of their ministry to Jersualem and Judæa; Acts 8 describes the ministry to Samaria of Philip, Peter, and John; and Acts 10 recounts the revelation given to Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles, with much of the rest of the book showing the widespread missionary efforts of Paul to take the gospel to “the uttermost part of the earth.” 

The most common and important witness that the apostles gave was that of the resurrection of the Savior.  When they first met to fill the vacancy in the Twelve left by Judas, they required that the person must “be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1:22).  When Peter spoke to the people on the day of Pentecost, he said, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:32).  When Peter later preached in Jerusalem after healing the lame man he said that the Jews had “killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15).  Again his witness was of the fact that Christ had been raised from the dead.  The next chapter recounts again how Peter and John “with great power” did “witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).  When the Sanhedrin commanded the apostles to not make mention of the name of Christ, they responded again with their witness of the raising up of the Savior: “We ought to obey God rather than men.  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.  And we are his witnesses of these things” (Acts 5:29-32).  Later when Peter was with Cornelius he told again of their mission as witnesses of the Risen Lord: “Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead” (Acts 10:40-41).  The apostles had eaten and drunk with the Resurrected Savior and therefore could be sure witnesses of the reality of these things.  Paul similarly testified of the original apostles that after Christ was raised from the dead “he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people” (Acts 13:31).  No testimony was more important from the apostles than that witness that Christ had indeed risen from the dead and stood triumphant on the right hand of His Father.

The rest of the book of Acts shows how Paul himself also proved to be a faithful witness of the Savior and His resurrection.  He had been told in his vision: “Thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard” (Acts 22:15).  Another account of the same vision recorded Paul’s instruction from the Savior with similar language “But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee” (Acts 26:16).  Later when he was in prison the Lord came to him saying, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11).  Paul “bore witness” of Christ everywhere he went and gave his life in that cause just like the other apostles anciently and those in our day.  Their example encourages us to find ways to give that same witness however we can.