TESTI M
Primary witnesses from the first Century who testified of Jesus
These are the words of John , the Apostle , testifying that Jesus was the Son of God , the giver of eternal life . 1 John 1:1-4
‘ The Word that gives life was from the beginning , and this is the one our message is about . Our ears have heard , our own eyes have seen , and our hands touched this Word . The one who gives life appeared ! We saw it happen , and we are witnesses to what we have seen . Now we are telling you about this eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us . We are telling you what we have seen and heard , so that you may share in this life with us . And we share in it with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ . We are writing to tell you these things , because this makes us truly happy .”
John the Baptist , who sensed the presence of the yet unborn Jesus , leaped in his mother Elizabeth ’ s womb . John the Baptist also testified of Jesus when he grew up and started His ministry .
“ The next day , John saw Jesus coming toward him and said : Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world ! He is the one I told you about when I said , ‘ Someone else will come . He is greater than I am , because he was alive before I was born .’ I didn ’ t know who he was . But I came to baptize you with water , so that everyone in Israel would see him . I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven . And the Spirit stayed on him . Before this I didn ’ t know who he was . But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me , ‘ You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone . Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit .’ I saw this happen , and I tell you that he is the Son of God .” John 1:29-34
Andrew , the brother of Simon Peter , also testified of Jesus .
“ One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew , the brother of Simon Peter . The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him , ‘ We have found the Messiah !’ The Hebrew word ‘ Messiah ’ means the same as the Greek word ‘ Christ .’” John 1:40-41
Next , read the insightful testimony of a man born blind who was healed by Jesus and went to show himself to the leaders of the time .
“ Some of the Pharisees said , ‘ This man Jesus doesn ’ t come from God . If he did , he would not break the law of the Sabbath .’ Others asked , ‘ How could someone who is a sinner work such a miracle ?’ Since the Pharisees could not agree among themselves , they asked the man , ‘ What do you say about this one who healed your eyes ?’ ‘ He is a prophet !’ the man told them . But the Jewish leaders would not believe that the man had once been blind . They sent for his parents and asked them , ‘ Is this the son that you said was born blind ? How can he now see ?’ The man ’ s parents answered , ‘ We are certain that he is our son , and we know that he was born blind . But we don ’ t know how he got his sight or who gave it to him . Ask him ! He is old enough to speak for himself .’ The man ’ s parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders . The leaders had already agreed that no one was to have anything to do with anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah . The leaders called the man back and said , ‘ Swear by God to tell the truth ! We know that Jesus is a sinner .’ The man replied , ‘ I don ’ t know if he is a sinner or not . All I know is that I used to be blind , but now I can see !’ ‘ What did he do to you ?’ the Jewish leaders asked . ‘ How did he heal your eyes ?’ The man answered ,
‘ I have already told you once , and you refused to listen . Why do you want me to tell you again ? Do you also want to become his disciples ?’ The leaders insulted the man and said , ‘ You are his follower ! We are followers of Moses . We are sure that God spoke to Moses , but we don ’ t even know where Jesus comes from .’ ‘ How strange !’ the man replied . ‘ He healed my eyes , and yet you don ’ t know where he comes from . We know that God listens only to people who love and obey him . God doesn ’ t listen to sinners . And this is the first time in history that anyone has ever given sight to someone born blind . Jesus could not do anything unless he came from God .’ The leaders told the man , ‘ You have been a sinner since the day you were born ! Do you think you can teach us anything ?’ Then they said , ‘ You can never come back into any of our meeting places !’’ John 9:16-34 .
Finally , the woman at the well ran and told her whole community that Jesus was the Messiah . “
The woman left her water jar and ran back into town . She said to the people , ‘ Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done ! Could he be the Messiah ?’ Everyone in town went out to see Jesus … A lot of Samaritans in that town put their faith in Jesus because the woman had said , ‘ This man told me everything I have ever done .’ They came and asked him to stay in their town , and he stayed on for two days . Many more Samaritans put their faith in Jesus because of what they heard him say . They told the woman , ‘ We no longer have faith in Jesus just because of what you told us . We have heard him ourselves , and we are certain that he is the Savior of the world !’” John 4:28-30 , 39-42 . p
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