44 He said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.”
45 Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that a change of hearts and lives and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, starting at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I will send you what my Father has promised, but you must stay in Jerusalem until you have received that power from heaven.”
50 Jesus led his followers as far as Bethany, and he raised his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven. 52 They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem very happy. 53 They stayed in the Temple all the time, praising God.
Read Luke 24:44-53 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
There are a number of short passages in the Bible. While the most famous passage is the shortest (John 11:35 – “Jesus wept.”), in Luke’s concluding remarks, we find a six word verse that is incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, most of us miss this verse because we focus in too closely on Matthew’s “Great Commission” conclusion to his gospel.
Before diving into the short verse that Luke shares in his gospel, let’s briefly look back at Luke’s introduction. Luke begins his gospel by letting his readers know that he interviewed eyewitnesses: “Many have tried to report on the things that happened among us. They have written the same things that we learned from others—the people who saw those things from the beginning and served God by telling people his message. Since I myself have studied everything carefully from the beginning, most excellent Theophilus, it seemed good for me to write it out for you.” (Luke 1:1-3)
Luke studied out the history of Jesus’ life, and he chooses to write out the details he discovered to help confirm what Theophilus had been told. This framing of Luke’ gospel is incredibly important because at the end of Luke, we read Jesus telling His followers, “You are witnesses of these things.” (v. 48)
The context relates to the crucifixion and the resurrection, and to a lesser extent, the ascension that was about to take place (Jesus returning to heaven), but even past the immediate context which is a direct message to the initial group of followers, we can take Jesus’ words and apply them throughout the centuries that have passed since then. What would happen if we put ourselves in the position of those following Jesus, who heard this verse at the beginning of the Great Commission, “You are witnesses of these things.”? (v. 48)
For generations following Jesus, there have been people who have been witnesses to God’s moving through history. The first group of disciples, and a handful of others alive at that time, were first-hand eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. But that hasn’t been the end to God working in history. Every generation since that point has had people carry forward the good news about this event. This is the only reason it has survived close to two thousand years later.
If it weren’t for these disciple-witnesses, the carpenter-Messiah who lived in the first century would have been forgotten before the second century began. This also means that you and I can step into this verse; you and I can be witnesses for Jesus!
But it is worth pointing out that whether we like it or not, if we claim the name of Christ, we have chosen to be Jesus’ witnesses. The term Christian doesn’t just mean to believe in Jesus, it means to represent Jesus to others. As Christ-followers, we are Jesus’ witnesses. If we are not representing Jesus well, people living in the world today will have no reason to think Jesus is relevant or important.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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