Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the GospelSample

The Apostles as Witnesses

Growing up as a skeptic, I never thought of the biblical narrative as an eyewitness account. Instead, I saw it as something more akin to religious mythology—a series of stories designed to make a point. But when I read through the gospels (and then the letters following them), it seemed clear the writers of Scripture identified themselves as eyewitnesses and viewed their writings as testimony.

Peter called himself a “witness of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet. 5:1) and one of many “eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Pet. 1:16-17). His account is embodied in the gospel written by Mark, his protégé.

The apostle John claimed he was writing as an eyewitness when he described the life and death of Jesus. He identified himself as “the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down” (John 21:24), and said he was reporting that “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched” (1 John 1:1).

The apostles repeatedly identified themselves as eyewitnesses and called upon their testimony as the foundation for all their preaching and teaching. In Peter’s very first sermon at Pentecost, he told the crowd that the disciples “are all witnesses of the fact” of the resurrection (Acts 2:32). The apostles identified themselves as “witnesses of everything he [Jesus] did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem” (Acts 10:39).

Even Paul relied on his status as an eyewitness. He said Jesus “appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also” (1 Cor. 15:7-8).

When a jury concludes a witness can be trusted, they must accept what the witness has to say and use this testimony as the foundation for future decisions they may make about the truth of the case. Likewise, if the gospel writers are found reliable, we can accept their statements as the foundation for future decisions we make about the truth of Jesus’s life and God’s existence.

Prayer: Help me to understand and to follow the teachings of the apostles, because they show me Jesus.