Eye-Witness Testimony – 1 Peter 1:16-21

A text – 2 Peter 1:16-21

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹ So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰ First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹ because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

A reflection:

In Peter’s letter, he is testifying to what he and James and John heard and saw while they were followers of Jesus. God’s glory shone, God’s voice spoke, and God’s Son was glorified. He is declaring that they didn’t make it up – it is not a myth, which is what non-believers of the day said the disciples were doing: just telling tales. But Peter is saying not only that he and his fellow disciples believed in Jesus as Messiah but also that God testified to them that Jesus is God’s Son, the Beloved and that they were there to see it and hear it.

Then Peter asks his readers/hearers to use the disciples’ eye-witness testimony as a lamp shining in a dark place. We do not give you mere men’s words, he is saying, but testimony from direct from God. This testimony is to last us until the Second Coming, with Jesus as the Morning Star. All of them expected Jesus to return soon. How surprised they must be that we are still waiting.

Not too many people claim to have heard the voice of God directly anymore. But in the days just after Jesus walked the earth with his disciples, just after Jesus sat and taught and ate and drank with them, I’m sure Peter’s words touched many people who wanted to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. And Jesus had commissioned Peter as his Rock, and Jesus made sure Peter, James, and John were with him on the mountain that day. They were there to see the shining face and clothes and heard the thundering voice. And they were still alive to testify to this truth. What a powerful thing it must have been to hear the disciples tell the story of Jesus’s ministry and the glory that they heard and saw with their own eyes. It shines though in The Transfiguration, even all the way down to us. It’s a promise of glory days to come.

The Holy Spirit brings people to faith through the original testimony of Peter and the others. But the Spirit also brings people to faith through your testimony and mine. We ought to remember that.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for bringing us your story through the ages. Help us to remember that it really happened, that we have reliable witnesses who speak to us even now. Help us to carry their witness with us to give us courage and also ears to listen. Amen.