Dr. Dan Hayden •
Witnesses are an important part of any trial. To “bear witness” is to corroborate truth. Now that’s what the Scriptures do for Jesus Christ. They “bear witness” as to who He really is.
In John 5:39 Jesus said an important thing about the Scriptures. He said, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of me.”
“Bear witness” is the Greek word martereto. It is where we get the word, “martyr.” To “bear witness” often meant dying as a result of bearing witness. Well, this is the word that Jesus used when describing the purpose of the Scriptures. They “bear witness,” or testify, of Him.
A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance movement, tells of looking at a copper engraving of the U.S. Constitution. Yet when he stepped back and looked at the whole engraving, it was a picture of George Washington. Each letter of the Constitution was shaded in such a way that a portrait of George Washington emerged from the letters. Then he went on to say that the Scriptures are like that. When you step back and look at all the verses and chapters of the Bible, you see that it is all a picture of Jesus Christ.
Now that is what Jesus said concerning the Scriptures. “It is they which bear witness of me,” He said. The Scriptures show us Christ, and they lead us to Christ. They bear witness of Him.
By the way—have you learned to see Christ as you read your Bible?