This week’s Gospel Reading ends with Jesus reminding His disciples - “You are witnesses of these things.” The word witness has been often confused for evangelism. ”Let’s be more evangelistic,” “Let’s do more witnessing to our friends and family,” “Let’s do some street-e,” with “e” being short for the word evangelism. This is the lingo I grew up with as a church going person in the 1980s and 90s. To “witness” to friends is “share the Gospel” with friends and hopefully, get them “saved”.

But is that what Jesus means when he says “You are witnesses of these things”? Interestingly, Dr. Luke who is the author of this record of Jesus’ words; is also the same person who recorded the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit would be poured out and we would be his “witnesses”

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8 ESV)

If Dr. Luke ended his Gospel with the idea of “Witnesses”; and then again, opens his second volume work with the promise of Jesus that we would be empowered by the Spirit to be his witnesses, clearly, this idea of “witness” is a key theme for Dr. Luke. A quick search of the word “witness” in Acts shows us that it is the case.

Acts 1:22 - “… a witness to his resurrection”

Acts 2:32 - “… this Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.”

Acts 3:15 - “… you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”

Acts 5:32 - “… and we are witnesses to these things.”

Acts 10:39, 41 - “and we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and Jerusalem…. but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead”

Acts 13:31 - “he appeared to those who had come up with him… who are now his witnesses to the people.”

To be a witness is to be someone who was present at a particular event. Someone who was ‘there’ at the event, and could trusted to speak authentically about “these things”. What exactly were “these things”? If we consider the passages above, we might say ”these things“ referred to all that Jesus did and taught (His life), and His death on the cross and His resurrection.

Are you and I witnesses of Jesus? What does it take to be a witness of Jesus? What does being a witness involve? My hope and prayer for this season of Easter 2021 is that through the study of Scripture, and the sermons and our Life Group discussions and interactions, that Jesus’ words will be true of us - you will be my witnesses. There is no greater calling. No greater joy than this - to be His Witnesses.