A couple of months ago my friend, Dan, and I went over to the Musical Instruments Museum to see Lawrence Juber in concert. If you are a fan of Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, then you know Juber's name. He was the guitarist in the final Wings lineup before McCartney disbanded the group. Juber often says that the time he spent with McCartney were some of the most fruitful of his career. Juber likened it to a college education, attending "McCartney University."
Juber is a fantastic guitar player. Even though his days of playing with McCartney are long since past, he is in great demand as a session guitarist and as a composer. He has recorded many solo Cd's which spotlight his amazing skill on both acoustic and electric guitar.
I wanted to go to the concert because I had read a lot about Juber's talent. I wasn't disappointed. But I was interested in going for another reason. I was hoping that I might receive some kind of insight about McCartney that I didn't already have. After all, Juber stood shoulder to shoulder with the former Beatle on stage. They spent countless hours in the recording studio working on songs. Juber was an eyewitness to McCartney's genius. If he told a story about recording a particular song or shared an insight to McCartney's personality, that would really mean something. After all, Juber was an eyewitness. He saw, spoke to and worked with Paul McCartney. Juber would know what he was talking about.
It's that same kind of reasoning that enables us to put our confidence in the Bible. The men whom the Holy Spirit directed to write about Jesus and the growth of the church were eyewitness to all that had happened. Or in the case of Luke, much of his Gospel and also Acts, comes from those who were there and witnessed the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, the birth of the church and the growth of the early church.
Think about the eyewitness testimony regarding the resurrection. The apostle John says he saw the resurrected Christ (John 21:24); the 11 apostles (Acts 1:3); Peter (Acts 10:39-41); hundreds of people (including the apostle Paul).
The resurrection is absolutely essential to the Christian faith. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:17: If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we, too, are dead.
Praise God that we never need to doubt the truth of the resurrection. We have the word of those who saw and spoke with and ate with the resurrected Christ. Our sins have been paid for. We have been redeemed from sin, death and hell. Satan cannot frighten us with His doubts and lies. Jesus lives! The victory's won!
Be sure to go to church on Sunday for another weekly celebration of Easter. Give thanks to Jesus that we are not still in our sins. God has forgiven them and forgotten them (Hebrews 8:12). Jesus is alive! We have the proof of many eyewitnesses...in this case, the best witnesses.
