“Any
responsible legal system is based on the validity of witnesses. When Elijah Baptist was convicted for
murdering Sam Blue outside his Chicago grocery store, it was on the testimony
of just one eyewitness, Leo Carter.
Because he was such a credible witness, that was enough, and Elijah was
sentenced to life in jail. Leo was
credible because of his clean record and because, while playing basketball with
a friend right beside the store, he had seen it all. He was even more credible because the
murderer had tracked him down and put a bullet into his head just as he did to
the other witness. Leo survived, with
terrible wounds. It was more than high drama when he sat in the courtroom,
looked directly at Elijah Baptist with his scarred face and its missing eye,
raised his finger, and slowly said, ‘That’s him.’ That was enough to secure a quick ‘guilty’
verdict” (Lee Strobel, The Case for
Christ).
In any
court of law the witnesses must be reliable.
In John 5:30-40 the Jewish leaders are still struggling with the words
that Jesus proclaims about Himself. Especially
when he claims to be equal to God the Father.
So, though the words of Jesus should be enough, He provides three extra
and reliable witnesses to the truth of His words, but these witnesses are not
what the Jews expect.
Please join us this week at ElmCreek
Community Church as we worship Jesus as the Savior and Messiah, striving
together to understand the Word of God and His will for our lives.
Striving to know Christ and make Him known,
Mark
