A 05 -The Testimony of Inspired Witnesses
CHAPTER 5.THE TESTIMONY OF INSPIRED WITNESSES THAT God may communicate supernatural knowledge to men, has been the uniform belief of all nations. Hence, the ancient Egyptians, Syrians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Romans, etc., had, not only temples, but oracles.
They believed that certain consecrated persons had intercourse with the Deity, and could make known his will to others. Hence, even kings, often consulted such oracles about future events, especially in reference to the issues of battles, in which they were about to engage.
Among the Jews, belief in such divine inspiration, may be said to have been universal. It is true, many false prophets existed even among this people; their fabrications however, never destroyed the faith of the nation in the testimony of well authenticated prophecy. Hence, notwithstanding the number of the prophets of Baal who lived in the days of Elijah, or of the impostors who lived in the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah, still, the national confidence was unshaken in the predictions of these faithful messengers of Jehovah. This confidence, too, in the truth of real prophecy, did not diminish among the Jews by the lapse of time; it rather increased. “We know,” say they, in the clays of Jesus “that God spake unto Moses.” John 9:29. “For prophecy,” says Peter, “came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21.
Now, it happened, that when Jesus of Nazareth was on earth, no less than five inspired persons, of the very best reputation; bore witness to him as the Messiah. These were, Zacharias and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna, and John the Baptist. Of the first two it is said, “they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Luke 1:6. The testimony of Elizabeth is the following: “And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women; and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Luke 1:42; Luke 1:43. This testimony is not only explicit, but was spoken when Elizabeth “was filled with the Holy Ghost.” The testimony of Zacharias is even more remarkable. For his unbelief, he had been made dumb for nearly a year. But upon writing the name of his son, John, his mouth was opened, he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and uttered the following prophetic language: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up for us an horn of salvation in the house of his servant David.” “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.” Luke 1:68; Luke 1:69; Luke 1:76. In this prediction, Zacharias distinctly recognizes the son of Mary, as the Christ, that had been long promised.
Forty days after the birth of the infant Jesus, his parents, according to the law of Moses, presented him in the temple to the Lord. There was living at Jerusalem at the time, a very remarkable and pious Jew by the name of Simeon. To him it had been revealed, that he should not depart hence, until he had seen the Messiah. No doubt, this good man was filled with much anxiety, about the fulfillment of this revelation. He, probably too, expected to behold in the person of the Messiah something remarkable, something unearthly. But while entering the temple along with Joseph and Mary, the Holy Ghost indicated to him, that the babe then brought in, was the Messiah he was to see. Taking the child at once in his arms, he exclaimed, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32.
Scarcely had Simeon uttered these remarkable words, when a certain prophetess, by the name of Anna, drew nigh. She was a widow of more than fourscore years, and “departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” This woman also gave thanks to God at the sight of the babe; “and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Israel.” Luke 2:36-38. The fullest and most remarkable inspired and contemporaneous testimony, however, is that of John, commonly called the Baptist. The mission of John, as the immediate precursor of the Messiah, had been predicted, both by Isaiah, (40.) and Malachi, (4.) His birth, like that of Isaac, occurred when his parents were in extreme age. During the early part of his life, he seems to have lived in very great seclusion from society. And notwithstanding the remarkable occurrences attending his birth and that of Jesus, and the relationship between them, he seems to have had no personal knowledge of the latter, until the time of his baptism. John 1:33. In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee, John began his public ministry. His dress was remarkably simple, resembling that of the ancient prophets, and his mode of living very abstemious. The object of his ministry was, to reform the Jewish nation, and to designate to them the person of the Messiah. He enjoined the strictest morality, and condemned with an unsparing zeal, the vices of the times. He addressed all classes of men; and was equally faithful to scribes and pharisees, as to the humblest Jew; to the haughty Herod, as to the mercenary soldier. The influence of his ministry was powerful; and what made it more remarkable was, that it was accompanied with the solemn rite of baptism. Great multitudes flocked to hear him; and not only to hear him, but to receive his baptism. “Then went there out to him,” says Matthew, “Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” Matthew 3:5; Matthew 3:6.
Even king Herod “feared him, knowing that he was a just man, and an holy, and observed him, and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.” Matthew 6:20.
He was for a time “a burning and shining light” among the Jews, being esteemed by all who knew him, not only a good man, but “a prophet.” Matthew 21:26. And, if it were proper here to employ the testimony of Jesus to his character, we would put upon him the climax of praise, by saying, “Among them that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater, than John the Baptist.” Matthew 11:11. Such is the character of the witness; such the high estimation in which he was held at the time.
What then is his testimony? When the Jewish nation, from the peculiar life and preaching of John, began to agitate the question, whether he were not the Christ, his reply was, “I indeed baptize you with water’ but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Luke 3:16. But a short time after this, John, while contemplating Jesus as he approached him said, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he, of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not, but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.” Surely no testimony could be more explicit, as none at the time was more weighty, than this of John. Jesus is publicly designated as the Messiah, and the attention of the people, as it always ought to be, is turned away from the mere servant, to the contemplation of the great Master and Lord of all.
Now, if the express and well authenticated testimony of one inspired witness, is enough to establish any matter of fact whatever, the carefully recorded testimony of five such witnesses, all concurring in the same fact, ought much more to establish any point in which they thus agree. Here then are five such witnesses, all attesting, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Surely then, that incredulity must approximate even to madness, which deliberately rejects evidence of this sacred and weighty character.