A Clear Testimony
Dennis Gladden: The political cartoonist and I had different views about the afterlife.
Listen to our audio version of Dennis’s essay.
By Guest Writer | Dennis Gladden
Every December for several years, this cartoonist drew a panel that featured stars on a black background, each with the name of a celebrity who had died that year. Regardless of how they had lived (some were undoubtedly devilish), he presented them as graduates into the angelic hosts of heaven.
I adhere to Jesus's teaching that narrow is the way to heaven, and few find it. The devils among us will hear those wrenching words, "Depart from Me, I never knew you." As I understand it, Heaven's roll call will not have many of the stars in the cartoonist's drawings.
Now, I understand judgment is for God, but this gets you wondering if how we live matters in the end. It seems most, like the cartoonist, believe even the black holes on Earth will ultimately be shining stars in heaven. Universalism—the idea that God will restore even Satan eventually—is dreamy.
This is why a statement by the Apostle John toward the end of his gospel caught my attention. He was remembering the morning Jesus was resurrected and carefully reconstructed the events. Having assembled the evidence that Jesus was alive, John writes simply that he saw, and believed (John 20:8).
By this simple statement, John convinced me that bearing witness to Jesus is vital. Let me explain.
In John 20:1-10, he is very careful to describe what happened that resurrection morning and records events the earlier gospels don't have.
Only John reports that he and Peter were nearby when Mary Magdalene came running from the tomb with news that Jesus was gone.
Only John describes Peter and him racing to the tomb, and he gets there first and looks inside.
Only John records how Peter went into the tomb first, and he went in after.
Only John says he and Peter noticed how the cloth that had been around Jesus's head was neatly folded and put to the side.
These careful details lead to the climax in verse 8: "The disciple who came to the tomb first saw, and believed."
I saw, and believed.
This is what John did. This is what John wants us to do: See, believe, and tell others. He wrote his gospel for this reason:
"These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31).
Why is John so particular about telling us, "I saw, and believed"?
Bearing witness to Jesus is one of the major themes in his gospel. The Greek for witness occurs 79 times in the New Testament—nearly half in John's gospel. The word occurs once in Matthew, twice in Luke, not at all in Mark, and 31 times in John.
John opens by saying five times that John the Baptist bore witness to Jesus as the Christ.
The woman at the well bore witness of Jesus to her neighbors. “Come, see a Man who told me all that I ever did.”
The scriptures bore witness.
The works Jesus did bore witness.
God the Father bore witness.
And here at the end, John includes himself. "I saw, and believed. I testify of these things, and my testimony is true."
John was determined to leave no doubt about his faith.
When you read the other gospels, you would think John was like the others—slow to believe.
Matthew says nothing about the disciples encountering Jesus on the day of His resurrection. He ends His gospel with them meeting Jesus in Galilee sometime later. "When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted."
Mark tells us that when Mary Magdalene told the others she had seen Jesus, "they did not believe."
Later, the two disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus tell the disciples and Mark says, "They did not believe them either."
He adds that when Jesus met with The Eleven, "He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen."
l In Luke, the women told the apostles they had seen Jesus, and "their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them."
Luke does not mention John, but says Peter ran to the tomb, saw the burial cloths, and left, "marveling."
Jesus appears to The Eleven and others with them and they "were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit." When Jesus showed them His wounds, "they still did not believe for joy, and marveled."
Years after the other gospels came out, John wrote his. The others left the disciples doubting, unbelieving, or, in Peter's case, marveling. John declares, "I saw, and I believed."
The last eyewitness wanted no one to doubt. "I was the first disciple to see the evidence that Jesus was alive, and I believed."
John's care to emphasize his response to the resurrection raises questions.
Why is our witness so important?
And what is our testimony?
Why it is important to bear witness to Jesus.
Our testimony is vital because it conforms to the teaching of Jesus, comforts other believers, and convicts the unbeliever.
Conform to the teaching of Jesus.
In His wisdom, God has connected our convictions about Christ and our confession of Him with salvation.
Jesus said, "Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).
And again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life" (John 5:24).
Paul picked up on Jesus's teaching. "The word of faith is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:8-9).
Jesus said the words that come out of our mouths express the work God has done in our hearts. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks...by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Comfort other believers.
By our testimony, other believers taste and see the goodness of God and are strengthened and encouraged. The psalmist tells us, "Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors" (Psalm 119:24).
On the other hand, I have longed for the comfort of a clear witness to Jesus at the funerals of friends and family who attended church—even led ministries—but shunned conversations about Christ. Nor did their weekday lives buttress their Sunday worship. I hope to see them in heaven, but doubt lingers.
Convict unbelievers.
Our witness also holds others accountable. Noah walked with God and showed his faith by building the ark. His faith pleased God, but it condemned the world.
Similarly, Paul told the Thessalonians their patience and faith were "evidence of the righteous judgment of God.... It is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you" (2 Thessalonians 1:6).
When we bear witness to Jesus, we will bless some and trouble others. It is part of God's work in the individual's life.
What is our testimony?
Let me give an example of what it is not. The church I attended when I was growing up was very strict: No dancing, no drinking, no playing cards, only certain shows on TV. When our middle school introduced a dance class in its physical education program, I told the instructor I could not participate. Of course, he asked why. "It's against my religion," I said.
Lots of things were "against my religion," which made me look very religious. But a question began to weigh on me when Jesus saved me. Why do I do—or not do—something? Because it is against my religion? Or, because I follow Jesus?
I learned that when I attach the name of Jesus to what I do, I am putting Him on the line. Not me. Not my religion, but Jesus. If I were going to bear witness to Him, I would have to be sincere and genuine.
We love our churches. We love our pastors. We love the fellowship when we gather. But these are not our testimony. We bear witness to Jesus.
Amazing Grace, how sweet...
I once was lost, but Jesus found me.
I once was blind, but Jesus healed me.
I once was dead in sin, but Jesus raised me.
I once was a child of disobedience, but Jesus gave me new birth and now I seek to please my heavenly Father.
We must be careful. Words are not enough. Jesus warned, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?"
Obedience anchors our witness. Mary Magdalene, another of the first to witness the resurrected Jesus, shows us how.
When Jesus appeared to her, He told Mary, "Go to my brothers and tell them I am ascending to my Father."
The next thing we read is, "Mary came and told the disciples."
"The one who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me," Jesus said.
By this, we know that Mary loved Jesus: Jesus spoke, and Mary did.
This passage in John's gospel shows us the signs of a genuine witness to Jesus: Believing the truth and obeying Him.
I close with this.
Jonah was a prophet of God, but the crew on the ship he boarded didn't know that. Jonah sailed with them and slept while they worked, keeping his mission secret until a storm threatened to destroy the boat.
The captain came and asked, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish" (Jonah 1:6).
Even then, Jonah didn't give a straight answer. Not until the crew drew lots, which fell on him, did Jonah confess, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land" (Jonah 1:9).
Jonah was silent, Jonah hid, Jonah slept, until a storm dragged out his confession.
John tells us in the Book of Revelation a storm is coming. Days are upon us when a powerful leader will arise and blaspheme God. And it will be "granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them" (Revelation 13:7).
I am not a military man, but I know you can't make war without knowing who the enemy is. This tells me that persecution is going to increase to flush out those who bear witness to Jesus. It is going to reach the level of all-out war. The days like Jonah's of being silent, sleeping, and blending in are coming to an end.
Jesus said, "Night is coming when no one can work." Now is the time to get comfortable bearing witness to Jesus. John made sure to leave a clear testimony: "I saw, and I believed." Mary did as Jesus commanded.
Let us do the same.
-Dennis @
This piece is profound, Dennis, well done. Praise Jesus!