“Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word” (Luke 1:2).

Here the “which” were the disciples, eyewitnesses of the ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ, while the “us” were those who did not have that privilege but heard their eyewitness account.

Many an unbeliever, in rejecting the testimony concerning the existence of God and the gospel of Christ, has declared “I will not believe what I cannot see.” This is really not true, of course, for even scientists believe many things they cannot see. For example, some astronomers, reinforced by their belief that an evolutionary origin of the universe would have produced millions of solar systems, are convinced they have detected the existence of planets orbiting distant stars. These stars are so far away that the planets cannot be seen, but the astronomers infer that they exist from wobbles or other disturbances in the paths of the stars. Thus, these astronomers believe what they cannot see based on what they can see.

Christians today believe what they cannot see based on what they can see. Thus, we can see and accept the eyewitness testimony of those who sat at the feet of Christ, heard His gospel, and were present at His death, burial, and resurrection. The Apostle Peter declared, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (II Peter 1:16). The Apostle John declared, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (I John 1:1). Our faith is based on the certainty of eyewitness accounts, not the uncertainty of the wobble of stars. DTG