Re-Visiting Acts 1:8 concerning Jesus’ Instruction to Witnesses

As noted in Acts 22:15, a witness simply testifies what he actually saw and/or heard; he is definitely not at liberty to embellish what he is obligated to say by incorporating heresay or fabrication.  It is important to bear this in mind when checking out the following oft-quoted instruction of Jesus prior to His ascension: “… you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the world.” (Acts 1:8)  The question that immediately springs to mind here is what are His witnesses to testify of.

 

A possible recourse is to look at what the author of Acts already stated in the gospel he wrote earlier — with both books addressed to the same reader, Theophilus (Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1), mentioned in passing as having interest to “know the certainty of those things in which you [viz Theophilus] were instructed” (Luke 1:4).  The gospel author dutifully recorded in the last chapter of his first book the following details of Jesus’ instruction (which, by inference, Theophilus ought to recall when reading the first chapter of the sequel book): “Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48)

 

The next question to address is whether the evangelistic efforts thereafter undertaken by apostles and missionaries are indeed consistent with Luke 24:46-47 (given that Acts 1:8 makes no explicit reference to these details).  Fortunately, the narratives chronicled by the author of Acts offer many indicators that help to throw light on this key question.

 

(a)   What did Peter, in the role of chief witness after the Ascension, testify in Acts 2 to the Jews (from at least 16 named regions far away from Jerusalem) who heard the different tongues spoken by the 12 apostles?  A closer examination of Acts 2:16-39 clearly shows that the sharing by the leader of the apostles in effect resembles a sermon fleshing out what Jesus outlined in Luke 24:46-47.  Interestingly, the approximately 3,000 who were converted and baptised that day did not afterwards rush off to return home overseas; instead, they opted to remain (perhaps for follow-up discipleship training) and “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 4:42).

 

(b)   What did “those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen …” (Acts 11:19) share with others when witnessing outside the Promised Land?  Identified by the author of Acts are two such groups of Jewish Christians — with the first group “preaching the word to no one but the Jews only” (Acts 11:19) and the second group speaking “to the Hellenists preaching the Lord Jesus” (Acts 11:20).

 

(c)   The author of Acts then directs attention to Paul (after his personal encounter with Jesus enroute to Damascus).  Is Paul’s witness supposed to focus on his amazing conversion from zealous persecutor to erudite apostle?  This is Jesus’ direct instruction to him: “I have appeared to you … to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.” (Acts 26:16)  Faithful to a fault, Paul proceeded thence with his mission of “witnessing to both great and small, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come — that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” (Acts 26:22-23)

 

(d)   The latter chapters of Acts are essentially about the missionary trips of Paul and his companions.  In Corinth, “Paul continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them” (Acts 18:11).  In Ephesus, he “spoke boldly for three months reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8); subsequently, “he departed from them [at the synagogue] and withdrew with the disciples [to continue for two years] reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus” (Acts 19:9-10).  In Athens, “he reasoned in the synagogue … with the worshippers and in the market-place daily with those who happened to be there” (Acts 17:17).  In Rome, he “explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23).

 

(e)   Singled out in Acts 8 is the Ethiopian eunuch on his homeward journey after having worshipped at Jerusalem.  Since this learned pre-believer was seeking clarification of a passage that he was reading at the time from the book of Isaiah, all Philip had to do as His witness was merely to start with the query, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30)

 

Are testimonies of post-conversion life experiences to be shared when opportunities for witnessing arise?  Acknowledging that there will be so-called Christians who back-slide or even recant their faith, the New Testament contains cautionary examples such as Hymenaeus and Alexander whose “faith have become shipwrecked” (I Timothy 1:20), Demas who still “loved this present world and has forsaken [Paul]” (II Timothy 4:10), Diotrephes who “loves to have the pre-eminence among the church … prating against [the visiting leaders] with malicious words” (III John 9-10), Simon who “thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money” (Acts 8:20) as well as Hymenaeus and Philetus who “strayed concerning the truth … and overthrow the faith of some” (II Timothy 2:18).  If nowadays any like those first-century examples offer life experiences as testimonies to sway pre-believers to join the church, what will happen to these new converts after later finding the initially-impassioned mentors falling by the way-side?  This is possibly the rationale underlying Luke 24:46-47’s emphasis on choosing scriptural materials for witnessing purposes.  Indeed, as already forewarned by Paul, “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but …, because of their itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers who will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables” (II Timothy 4:3-4).

 

Can the foundation of freshly-converted believers nevertheless be firm enough despite having been swayed by the persuasive sharing of witnesses about the astounding transformations experienced during the pre- to post-conversion process?  Turning to Jesus’ parable of the sower (whose seeds fell on open spaces, stony places, thorny vegetation and good ground) is helpful at this juncture.  Of the four scenarios sketched out by Him, only to be commended is “he who received the seed on good ground [because] he hears the word and understands it” (Matthew 13:23).  In stark contrast, “he who received the seed on stony places is he who … immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but endures only for a while; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles” (Matthew 13:20-21) since his foundation in the faith is weak by reason of it not being based on what the Messiah highlighted in Luke 24:46-47.

 

Many have asserted that the sharing of life experiences is permitted by New Testament verses such as Mark 5:19 (where Jesus told the Gadarene man to “go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you”) and Luke 7:22 (where the Lamb of God directed the Baptist’s disciples to “go and tell John the things you have heard and seen: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed …”).  The question to be considered here is whether these passages are actually intended to be of particular or general ambit.  If, as contended, they are for all and sundry to follow suit whatever the circumstances for witnessing may be, there is then the need to inquire why Jesus expressly prohibited this form of sharing for the following selection of episodes recorded in the gospels:

#1    after resurrecting the dead girl, “Jesus strictly commanded the parents that no one should know it and said that something should be given for her to eat” (Mark 5:43)

#2    after healing the two blind men, “Jesus sternly warned them, ‘See that no one knows it’; but when they departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country” (Matthew 9:30-31)

#3    after healing the deaf with a speech impediment, “Jesus commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it” (Mark 7:36)

#4    after healing the leper, “Jesus strictly warned him …, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them’; however, he went out to proclaim it freely so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city but was outside in deserted places …” (Mark 1:43-45)

#5    “Great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet …” (Matthew 12:15-17).

While the first four verses in the preceding list dwell on Jesus’ not-to-publicise instruction after specific incidents of Him healing individuals, verse #5 shows the same prohibition being replicated en masse after His healing of multitudes.  In addition, it is evident from verse #4 that one of the consequences resulting from the healed leper disregarding His strict warning is that it curtails the liberty of Jesus (whilst restricted to deserted places outside the city) in resuming His ministering to others.

 

The well-known narrative in John 4:1-42 (which begins with Jesus asking a woman for a drink at a well in Samaria) must be taken into consideration too before the present discussion can be drawn to a conclusion.  Most Christians are familiar with the immediate outcome that “many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified” (John 4:39).  Actually, far more significant is the following response of the Samaritans after Jesus’ two-day stay there: “And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe not because of what you said, for we have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world’.” (John 4:42)  In summary, what His witnesses are expected to testify of have been unmistakably specified in Luke 24:46-47 and repeatedly recounted in the book of Acts; even when fellowshipping “among the multitude of those who believed ..., with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 4:32-33) rather than idly shared life experiences with each other.  Simply put, the bottom line is that missionaries/evangelists replete with testimonies galore to share when witnessing should turn to “the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).

 

 

After-note:

Although Paul did not found the church in Rome during his missionary ventures, he felt the need to “at last … find a way in the will of God to come to you for I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established” (Romans 1:10-11) in the faith.  Such is the concern of this divinely-appointed apostle for the new Roman congregation to be grounded on the teachings that concern and the sufferings that afflicted the sacrificial Lamb Who thence “became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9).  While the doctrinal book of Romans is (as originally intended) for shoring up the foundation of the converts in first-century Rome, it can in actual fact be viewed as Paul’s full-length exposition of Jesus’ brief outline in Luke 24:46-47.