The Power of Your Testimony

In our justice system, one of the most powerful pieces of evidence is eyewitness testimony. In the days before DNA and other scientific and forensic advances, the testimony of an eyewitness could make or break a case. An eyewitness could identify the guilty party or solidify an alibi and free an innocent person. The assignment for an eyewitness is to tell the truth about what they saw, heard, and experienced.

When Jesus ended his earthly ministry and gave us the Great Commission, he declared, "You will be my witnesses." We are called - commanded, even - to be eyewitnesses to the saving, healing grace of Jesus. In the Bible, there is a wonderful story of someone who did just that. The story in found in the 9th chapter of John. The story begins with a theological discussion, continues with a miracle, and ends with a powerful testimony.

As Jesus and His disciples were traveling, they saw a man who had been blind since birth. The Disciples (sadly like many of us sometimes) were more interested in the theological ramifications of the man's situation than they were in the man himself. "why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents' sins?" they asked Jesus. Jesus replied, "It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."

Jesus then told His disciples, "We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over." For many years, I didn't understand why He said this - it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story. But I believe what Jesus was saying to the disciples was you are wasting precious time trying to find someone to blame for this man's blindness when you should be ministering to him. (There's a sermon unto itself there, but that is a devotional for another day...)

Immediately after saying this, Jesus made mud, put it on the man's eyes and told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam, which ironically means "sent." As soon as the man obeyed, he was able to see for the first time in his life! The town, which had known him all his life as a blind beggar, was buzzing with the news that he could now see. There was such a change in him that people who had known him all his life didn't think it was the same person.

There was a problem, though. The man had been healed on the Sabbath, and that was, according to Pharisaic Law, not legal. So they marched this man to the Pharisees to see what they thought. When they heard the story, there was a deep division among the Pharisees. Some of them were still spiritually minded enough to realize this was of God. Others, sadly were so mired in their self-imposed legalism that they refused to believe this was of God or that Jesus might be a prophet, much less the messiah.

They called the formerly blind man to appear before them to hear his story.

Some of the Pharisees thought they were being tricked, so they hauled the man's parents in front of them to identify him. The parents, who were deathly afraid of the Jewish leaders, acknowledged this man was their son and that he used to be blind, but said they had no idea what had happened to him. "He is of age, ask him yourself" they said.

The Pharisees would love to have discredited this man and thereby discredited Jesus. One thing stood in their way: his simple yet powerful personal eyewitness testimony.

"All I know is this: Once I was blind, and now I can see!"

You and I are often given the opportunity to use the power of our eyewitness testimony to persuade others of God's grace, love and mercy and to encourage our brothers and sisters. Let's be alert for opportunities that the Holy Spirit will give us today to tell our story of His working in our lives!

Scripture Of The Day: "Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying, "Salvation and power are established! Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah! The Accuser of our brothers and sisters is thrown out, who accused them day and night before God. They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness." - Revelation 12:10-11 (The Message)

Out with the Old, In with the New

Brent Barnett

Luke 5:36-39 says, "And He was also telling them a parable: 'No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, "The old is good enough."'"

Jesus' ministry came at a time when Judaism had been severely perverted into an outrageous system of rule keeping with self-righteous teachers presiding as rulers over the people of Israel. Rather than look at how the Old Testament foretold of Christ's coming and sacrifice, they ignored what had come in the person of Christ in exchange for what had been.

The Pharisees and many of the Jews had become enslaved to a thinking process that loved the old ways. Now, there is nothing wrong with being nostalgic or reflecting upon the past, but it becomes wrong when it controls us to the extent that we are unable to put it out of our minds. The Jews were so consumed with Moses and the Law that they could not recognize God Himself in their midst. Though they wanted a Messiah, they wanted it their way.

They wanted a Messiah Who would bring back the glory days of an earthly kingdom as it had been under David and Solomon. They wanted the past, and because they thought that the old was good enough, they missed the future which was right before their very eyes. They were satisfied with the old wine, and their clouded view of the past led them to miss the new wine in Jesus which was far better.

In order for them to receive the new wine, they needed to realize that they would have to lay aside their system of self-righteous Law-keeping. Jesus preached a message of forgiveness, healing, grace, and life. He didn't come to set up an earthly empire, but He came to demonstrate His eternal power and overcome the world. He didn't come to show that Law-keeping was the way to eternal life, but He Himself fulfilled the Law because no man could do it (Romans 3:23, 8:4). The Law brought condemnation and showed man his inability to keep it (Galatians 3:24). Jesus came to bring life, and life to the full (John 10:10).

Old wineskins were fitting for the old wine. The Law did its job, and it did it well (Romans 7:12). But its job was to point people to the cross and to Christ, Who had come in the flesh. If new wine was available in Jesus, then it made no sense to put it into old wineskins which would break as soon as the wine was poured in. The Law had done its job, and the new wine needed new wineskins.

The new wine of forgiveness in Christ needs to go in the new wineskin of grace. We were under law, but now we are under grace (Romans 6:14). The old covenant is over, and the new covenant has been established. Christ is the centerpiece and the focus. We must drink of Him (John 7:37).

If we find ourselves still trying to earn our way into God's favor, we need to lay aside the old and receive the grace and forgiveness of Christ. If we are attempting to manipulate God into giving us what we want in life, we need to stop drinking of the old wine and simply receive the blessings which He graciously gives as He knows best.

Trying to do things on our own strength apart from Christ is like pouring wine into a leaky wineskin. It will never work. Do we want to be full in Christ? Do we want to experience the promised abundant life? Life to the full is found in abandoning the old wine, taking hold of the new wineskin by faith in Christ, and allowing Him to fill us and empower us as He pours the new wine of His grace into our hearts.