Last night as my dear, sweet
wife and I ate dinner, I thought some music might be nice. On to the CD player went a disc from
guitarist Lawrence Juber. He is an amazing
talent and his skill on the acoustic is the equal of anyone. As we listened to the disc I began to reflect
on the time I saw him in concert.
A couple of years ago my
friend, Dan, and I went over to the Musical Instruments Museum to see Juber in concert.
I thought it would be a treat to watch him play. But I was interested in going
for another reason. I was hoping he might give some insight about what it’s
like to work with Beatle Sir Paul McCartney.
Juber was part of the final
Wings group before McCartney broke up the band. Juber was an eyewitness to
McCartney’s genius. He stood shoulder to shoulder with the former Beatle
on stage. They spent countless hours in the recording studio working on
songs. I was hoping he would tell a story about recording a particular
song or offer an insight into McCartney's personality. After all, Juber
was there. He saw, spoke to and worked with Paul McCartney! Who
better to learn about Sir Paul than from an eyewitness?
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 (John 21:24); the 11 apostles (Acts 1:3); Peter (Acts 10:39-41); hundreds of people (including the apostle Paul) all saw the resurrected Christ.
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!
Do you realize that each Sunday is a weekly celebration of Easter? Give thanks to Jesus that we no longer remain 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!
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 (John 21:24); the 11 apostles (Acts 1:3); Peter (Acts 10:39-41); hundreds of people (including the apostle Paul) all saw the resurrected Christ.
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!
Do you realize that each Sunday is a weekly celebration of Easter? Give thanks to Jesus that we no longer remain 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!
