Witness

Many people declare that they will not believe something unless they have seen it with their own eyes. I could offer electricity as something that they cannot see, but the logical counter is that the effects of electricity are both seen and felt. Just stick your finger into a socket and do both simultaneously!

An alternative that is more appropriate is radiation. You cannot see nor feel radiation. And even if you contract “radiation poisoning,” or cancer, or some other malady, you can argue that they are merely coincident events. They may not be caused by the radiation.

All I can say to that argument is that this person can never serve as a juror in court, as they will not “see” the defendant actually commit the crime, so they will never be able to vote to convict. Conversely, a more reasonable approach will concur that eye witness testimony is equivalent to “seeing for myself.” This is despite the “problems” with eye witness testimony and false identifications. Even when I see something for myself, I can misinterpret it, as evidenced on the TV and other shows depicting “slight of hand” tricks and illusions.

But normally, under typical circumstances, multiple witnesses give us a large degree of confidence that we are getting the real story of what happened. And increasing the number of witnesses increases the level of confidence in veracity of the overall account.

It is not surprising that the Bible gives us direction for the use of eye witnesses. Some of the verses are: Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6ff; 19:15. Jesus confirmed and quoted this concept in Matthew 18:16.

In fact, Jesus appealed to this in His defense of His deity. John 5 is the base of our study. Verse 31 begins with the agreement that if He alone claimed that, the argument could be discounted.
“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

John 5:33, and 34 cite John the Baptist as a witness.
You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
But Jesus does not rely on John’s testimony. He follows with three independent witnesses.

In verse 36 Jesus appeals to the witness of His deeds.
But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

Then He turns to the Ultimate Witness. V. 37
And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
Anyone who claims to follow and obey God the Father is “nailed” by this statement. God the Father, Yahweh, (or Jehovah in some translations) has declared that Jesus is God. (Check Hebrews 1 if you have questions. Especially verses 6 and 8, but the whole chapter resonates with this testimony.)

But wait, Jesus goes us one better. He adds a fourth witness in John 5:39.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
This was the ultimate challenge and indictment to the Jewish skeptics who were disputing with Him. I didn’t say debate, because there was only one side. A debate requires two equally plausible propositions. But I digress.

Now, let’s turn back to our skeptics. How can we know this stuff about Jesus? Two eyewitnesses have given their testimony. First is Peter, in 2 Peter 1:16-18
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Peter articulates that he is an eyewitness of both the details of Jesus’ life, and the proclamation of God, the Father, about Jesus. He goes on to say it would be wise to pay attention to what was said. Good advise, Peter, thanks.

Our second eyewitness is John in 1 John 1:1-3. He begins his series as Pastor to the churches with this statement.
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Notice the six repetitions of his declaration. “What we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes...” v. 1, “looked at and touched with our hands...” v. 1b, “manifested...” v. 2, “have seen and testify...” v. 2b, “was manifested to us–” v. 2c, "we have seen and heard...” v. 3.

And they both refer to the works that He did. And they invite us into the fellowship of belief in Him. Not believing that He actually lived on earth, but that He died, came back from the dead, and is alive preparing a place for us to be with Him forever. Hallelujah!

So what do we say to the skeptics? Again, we turn to what Jesus said. First, turn to Luke 9. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and a city in Samaria refused to allow Him to spend the night on His way to Jerusalem. James and John offered to “call down fire from heaven and consume them. This is an interesting evangelism technique. Sometimes we are tempted to mirror that. But in v. 55 He offered a different approach.
But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.

How do we respond to stubborn skeptics? Go on the “another village,” or seeker. The world is filled with them.

In Matthew 7:6 Jesus gave further guidance. (Thank you to Mike Fabarez for this insight.)
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
Now He is not insulting unbelievers, but merely comparing the presentation of unwanted truth to these two instances. “Holy” referred to temple garments, and even to the food that the priests ate. Don’t give that to “unclean” people or to animals. Likewise, we are wasting our time in preaching to dogs or other animals. Ever try to convince a wall of anything? And He went farther to point out that the unbelievers may even turn and attack when provoked.

Solomon, in Proverbs also provided guidance for someone who is not seeking. Proverbs 9:8 
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
So the soil that we spread the seed on will determine the size of the crop.

One last thing. Paul cited over 500 witnesses to the resurrection of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. Notice again that he, himself, was an eyewitness. Our “multiple corroborations” should convince any open minded juror. Jesus said, two or three should confirm it for any reasonable questioner. Proverbs 23:9 is our final comment from Solomon. If someone does not want to know, it is like someone who has cancer and only wants to talk about the last ball game. Interesting, no doubt, but not very therapeutic.
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
For clarification, a fool is defined in Psalm 14:1.
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
With great restraint, I will resist quoting Forest Gump. Solomon and David did it well enough. Witnesses abound to respond to our skeptical friends and acquaintances. It is our duty to point to the Truth. How people respond is their choice. And it defines both their character and their destiny.