Tag Archives: Prove

Testimony of the Witnesses

“You are my witnesses…so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.” (Is 43.10).  

Jesus tapped into this passage from Isaiah when he told his followers to be his witness (Acts 1.8) and when he commanded them to teach everyone to obey all he instructed (Mt 28.18-20).  Teaching others to obey includes sharing his goodness and demonstrating his love in such a way their eyes and ears will be opened to see and hear the goodness of God.  But, on a personal level, we will increase in our own belief, learning and understanding of who He is as we declare and demonstrate the nature of God.

Jesus lived as a witness to the heart, character and nature of the Father.  His life was a perfect representation of God (Hb 1.3).  He also said that anyone who looked at him, would see the Father (Jn 14.9).  This is the life we are called to replicate; to live as witnesses of God; to become witnesses of God.

The Hebrew word for witness contains an element of testimony or giving evidence within the definition.  The New Testament Greek word for witness also contains a legal, evidence-based meaning.  So, to be a witness, means to tell the story, to give testimony to the nature and acts of God.  As we testify, we give evidence of his character so others may believe and understand He is God.  In the process, we reaffirm and deepen our own belief – which increases our understanding – and helps us to become more like him.

There are a lot of ways the Church has embarked on this task of witnessing about God.  But, rather than attempting a programme or strategy, being a witness of God is more authentic when we know WHO we believe.  When we know Him, our testimony is an overflow of his love, mercy, goodness and kindness we’ve experienced.  Simply talking about WHAT we believe does not carry the same life-giving power.

Our role as witnesses of God is to represent Him; to reflect Him.  We can only accurately reflect him to the extent we are being transformed into His likeness (1 Cor 3.18).  Therefore, our purpose is to become transformed into His image so He lives through us (Gal 4.19).  At all times being sensitive to Holy Spirit who leads and empowers us for service until we are filled with the whole measure of the fulness of God (Eph 4.13) and, together, display the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3.10).  Then, as witnesses who prove the wisdom of God (cf Lk 7.35) those who ‘see and hear’ will recognise the life of God through us, respond to it by applying faith and come to believe that He is God.

In the process, we increase in our understanding of WHO He is.

 

 

Belief of the Witnesses

“You are my witnesses…so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.” (Is 43.10).  

Even though Isaiah had been declaring the role of God’s chosen Servant, this statement means the role of leading out the blind and deaf (v.8) is now expanded to witnesses who believe, know and understand who God is.  Because true understanding of God only comes through belief, those who know and understand bear witness that He is God.  In fact, this passage seems to put God’s reputation into the hands of the ‘witnesses’.  He said, he has revealed, saved and proclaimed – but it is the job of the witnesses to prove He is God (Is 43.12).

I find it fascinating that the tense of these words indicates that the witnesses will know (and continue knowing), believe (and continue believing) and understand (and continue understanding) that God is the One, True God.  So, the more the witnesses act as witnesses of God, the more they grow in belief, knowing and understanding of Who God is.

Did you hear this?  How often do we delay saying or doing something because we “aren’t sure”?  How many times have we withheld from action because we are functioning from our reason rather than operating from soft-hearted belief?  This verse makes clear that when we are a witness of God we actually grow in belief, learning and understanding.

Think with me about this for a moment.  How often have you been in a place of spiritual dryness and then you got involved in conversation with someone asking about your faith.  It may have been a short chat, but simply by telling your story, recalling how God acted in your life, your spirit was elevated and the dryness you previously felt no longer held such a strong influence over your state of mind.  This is what happens as we are ‘witnesses’ of God.  By living in relationship with God, we prove who he is to others and, in doing so, increase our own belief and understanding of WHO he is.

It’s as if our hearts hear the words which contain the Life and Substance of God, recognise the nature of God and respond in faith – even if our hearts hear the story from our own mouths!  By being a witness, we grow in our belief, learning and understanding.

This is what Jesus wanted the people of his day to realise.  He wanted them to recognise that he was a witness of God.  Since they couldn’t accept his teaching, Jesus hoped they would hear the message through his miracles (Jn 10.38).  When they still didn’t get it, Jesus quoted this phrase from Isaiah, in a further attempt to help those who knew the Scriptures so they would believe, learn and understand that he was the Son of God.

Witnesses of God

Throughout the New Testament there is a consistent theme about how the message of God is both seen and heard.  Using a parable to illustrate his point, Jesus explained how the soil of the heart is what determines a person’s ability to recognise, receive and, essentially, understand the message of God.  In his explanation, he referred to a prophecy from the prophet Isaiah which declared that there would be a group of people who would have eyes but not see and have ears but not hear.

The authors of the Gospels mention this prophecy from Isaiah in their interpretation of why Jesus did the things he did (Jn 12.40) and Jesus himself referred to the prophecy (Mt 13.1-4; Lk 7.22) to explain his ministry.  For this reason, the prophecy from Isaiah deserves closer investigation.

Isaiah chapter 6 describes what is referred to as Isaiah’s call to be a prophet to the people of Israel.  The very first instruction the Lord gave to Isaiah was to tell the people:

“Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’  Make the heart of this people callous; and their ears dull, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Is 6.9-10).

We talked about possible interpretations and implications for such a prophetic declaration in a recent discussion (see post).  The purpose of such a declaration was not so God would keep people from coming to him, rather it was an acknowledgement that their refusal to believe would lead to a further hardening of their hearts.  But this prophecy was not creating, forming or announcing a permanent state of being for those it described.

The ministry of Isaiah spanned a number of years and, as he faithfully declared the message of God to the people, his message changed.  Toward the end of his life he began to prophecy of God’s coming Servant who would be a “light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Is 42.7).  This was substantial because it not only spoke about opening the eyes of the blind – thereby promising that the symptoms of a hard heart would be reversed through the ministry of God’s servant – but it also spoke of God’s message being made available to those outside the nation of Israel.  The remainder of chapter 42, concentrates on God’s restoration of his people.  In particular, 42.18-25, make clear that God wants to open the eyes and ears of those who have closed them.

In chapter 43, after instructing the Servant to “lead out those who have eyes but are blind and have ears but can’t hear” (43.8), God says something that will (hopefully) sound familiar.  “You are my witnesses and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he” (43.10).

Did you hear it?!  This is the phrase Jesus used in John 10.38 when he said, “Even if you don’t believe me, believe the miracles so you may learn and understand that I am one with the father [ie. I am he].”  Jesus was declaring the prophetic statement about himself in hopes those who had eyes to see would actually see it – even if they hadn’t heard it.

But, equally substantial, and exciting to me, is that Isaiah introduced the description of how we go through a process of understanding.   Namely, that we come to know (learn) from a posture of belief which enables us to understand who he is.

These two passages are the only Scripture references I have found in which this phrase is used.  The significance of this singular reference is that Jesus fully intended his statement to be directly linked to Isaiah’s prophetic declaration – it was not a casual reference.

Biblical scholars, when they translate and interpret the Scriptures use a principle they call the Law of First Mention.  Basically, this means when a word or phrase is used for the first time, the meaning or intent of that word is largely defined by the context of its first use.  All subsequent uses of the word or phrase are reliant upon the meaning derived by the initial use.  The repeated uses will often add depth or enhance the original meaning, but they will not fundamentally change the meaning from the first mention.

Based on this law of first mention, the process of believing so we learn and understand derives a significant meaning and purpose from the context of the Isaiah passage.

Within the context of Isaiah, we learn that although God had allowed people’s hearts to become hard so they had eyes but could not see and ears but could not hear, his intention was to send his witnesses who would lead these people out of the condition of their own making.  In doing so, the witnesses, as well as the people, will all grow in belief, learning and understanding of who God is.

This will be the focus of our next discussion.

Experience Provides the Proof

Elisha asked for a double-portion of Elijah’s prophetic anointing.  With a response that sounds a bit like he was scratching his head wondering if this could be possible, Elijah told Elisha, “If you see me when I am taken, it will be granted” (2 Kings 2.10).

When Elijah was taken up in the whirlwind Elisha saw it and picked up the cloak that Elijah had dropped.  While there was no physical indication that anything had changed, Elisha was faced with the choice.  Would he test the word of the Prophet to prove whether it would be true?

He had seen Elijah remove his cloak, roll it up, hit the water to make a dry passage across the river bed.  So that was the way he tested to see if he’d been given the double-portion.  Hitting the water with the cloak was a physical act that caused a supernatural response.  When the water parted, Elisha knew that things had changed.

Elijah then had to apply belief that this initial experience provided proof that the request was granted – he would need to apply faith to the expectation that he would see the fullness of the double-portion.

Elisha could have doubted, and allowed his doubt to stop him from testing the promise.  What if it doesn’t work?  What if the water doesn’t part and the other prophets see me?

Sometimes, the only way to find out if what we’ve requested has been granted is through trying.   Experience usually requires taking a risk.