Witnesses

Do you know who Samuel Seymour was?

I didn't.

I recently saw a clip from the old television show called, "I've got a secret."  It was a show from the 1950's to early 1960's where a panel of celebrities tried to guess the secret of the guest.

Samuel was a guest on this show in 1956.

As the questions unfolded his secret came out.  

As a five year old child Samuel was in Ford Theater on April 14, 1865 and he witnessed the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

It was captivating to watch this 90+ year old man tell his eyewitness account of the events.  

He saw it!  He was there!

Some might say that the events of that night never happened, but Samuel would reply, "Oh yes they did!  I was there, I saw them!"

Eyewitness accounts are powerful.  

We depend on them in a court of law.

When I'm told by someone that they saw an event

I listen.  

What did you see?

Eyewitness accounts are our highest authority for history.

As I read a passage in 2 Peter this morning I came to these words,

 "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was  made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain." 

Tell me more Peter....don't you want him to keep talking about this?

What did you see? What did you hear? He was an eyewitness!  He saw Jesus Christ glorified! 

He was there.

And he was one of hundreds who saw Jesus, talked to him, witnessed his execution and saw him alive three days later.  

A friend of mine is a pilot and he looks for ways to tell his story.  As a pilot he can't "evangelize" but he can tell his co-workers what happened in his life and he does.  He's an eyewitness of how God has changed his life, how God has shown himself real in his life and marriage.

As I thought about Peter and his own story I wondered how "What's my line" would have been different if Peter was the guest.  Imagine him telling them,  "I really saw Jesus raised from the dead!  It was amazing!"  

The testimony of someone who was an eyewitness changes everything.  It really happened, I saw it!