FROM THE SERVANT GENERAL
THE WAY FORWARD IN CHRIST
(Part 198)
WITNESSES OF JESUS – 6
April 10, 2021
Today’s readings:
Acts 4:13-21
Psalm 118:1,14-21
Mark 16:9-15
Jesus commissions the Eleven, and by extension all Christians, to witness to him. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (Mk 16:15). This is what they did, starting in Jerusalem, and many came to believe.
Now the work of witnesses brings great benefits, especially salvation, to those who hear and accept. But becoming a witness of and to Jesus is of great benefit to the witnesses themselves. Because this is God’s own divine work, God blesses those who do it. They are the first beneficiaries of the good news. “The Lord, my strength and might, has become my savior.” (Ps 118:14). They are first to be brought from death to sin to life in Christ. “I shall not die but live and declare the deeds of the Lord.” (Ps 118:17). They are first to enter into a new life in Christ. “Open the gates of righteousness; I will enter and thank the Lord.” (Ps 118:19).
The good news of salvation in Jesus brings about transformation, a total turnaround from sin to grace, darkness to light, damnation to redemption. Accepting the good news and proclaiming it brings transformation in many amazing and radical ways.
First, people are brought from sorrow to joy. When Mary Magdalene told the disciples that Jesus was alive, they “were mourning and weeping.” (Mk 16:10). But the good news of healing and deliverance brings great joy. The people the apostles preached to “were all praising God for what had happened.” (Acts 4:21b). Indeed, “the joyful shout of deliverance is heard in the tents of the righteous.” (Ps 118:15a).
Second, people are brought from disbelief to all-encompassing conviction. The disciples did not believe Mary Magdalene when she told them Jesus was alive (Mk 16:11). They did not believe the story of the two disciples whom Jesus appeared to on the road to Emmaus (Mk 16:13). But now, Peter and John were proclaiming Jesus openly, even in the face of opposition from the religious authorities. “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20). They could not be constrained in being Jesus’ witnesses.
Third, people are brought from fear to boldness. The very core group of Jesus, the apostles, were in fear of the Jewish authorities and the Romans. But now, the religious elders observed “the boldness of Peter and John” (Acts 4:13a), confidently preaching to them the gospel. Ordered “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18), Peter and John replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges.” (Acts 4:19).
Fourth, people are brought from being ordinary to becoming extraordinary. The religious authorities perceived Peter and John “to be uneducated, ordinary men” (Acts 4:13b), and so they were. But now, they were witnesses to Jesus the Messiah, proclaimers of the gospel of salvation, healers of the sick. In Christ, we are destined for greatness. As witnesses to Jesus, we are a light to the Gentiles and instruments of salvation.
