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Witnessing Yeshua


Just prior to his execution on a tree, Yeshua
spent time in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane,
perhaps praying near a tree like this one.


An Effective Witness

If we closely examine our New Covenant Scriptures, we will find something that is not represented in most congregations today – Jewish people, by the thousands, coming to faith and trusting in Messiah Yeshua. This is plainly stated as occurring in Acts 21:20:

When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.” Acts 21:20

Yes, there are many factors at work today that make witnessing to the Jewish people harder than it was in the first century, but perhaps a closer look at how they were witnessing could make us better witnesses to the Jewish people.

On average, believers witness to a Jewish person by quoting Isaiah 53. What many do not realize is that the average Jewish person has heard his or her Rabbi, on more than one occasion, explain away Isaiah 53.

So, how can we effectively witness Yeshua to a Jewish person? How can we be as effective as the first century congregations? Looking at what was required in selecting an apostle (an emissary) to replace Judas may help us to understand what was so effective about their witness:

“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Acts 1:21-22

For one to be sent out as an effective witness, it was considered a necessity that he be an eyewitness to the Resurrection of Yeshua. Just a quick look at Scripture reveals that the Resurrection was, indeed, a major part of what the emissaries preached when sent out.

Peter’s message in Acts chapter 2 does not include Isaiah 53, but it does emphasize the Resurrection. First in verses 23 and 24:

“This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Acts 2:23-24

And, then again, in verses 31 through 33:

“Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to the grave, nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” Acts 2:31-33

Not only was the Resurrection the main part of Peter’s Pentecost sermon, in Acts chapter 4:33 we also find that it was a major part of the apostles’ overall witness:

With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33

Notice, it says that they testified “with great power.” And, the words of Paul, in Romans 1:1-6 again attests to the power of this message:

I Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His Resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Him and for His name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Acts 1:1-6

So, what was it about the Resurrection that made it such a powerful witness? What was it about the Resurrection that made the emissaries witness to the Jewish people, and to the Non-Jewish people who came to the synagogues, so effective? We find our answer in the words of the Pharisees as recorded John chapter 8:

The Pharisees challenged Him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” John 8:13

And, again, in the words of Yeshua, Himself, as recorded in Matthew chapter 18:

“But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’” Matthew 18:16

The Torah, God’s teaching, requires that all things be established in the mouths of two or three witnesses. Yeshua sent His disciples out in sets of two for this very reason. Everywhere they went there were two witnesses declaring, with power, Yeshua to be the Son of God – Yeshua to be the Messiah – based upon their eyewitness accounts of His Resurrection. Everywhere they went, two witnesses declared that He had been resurrected – and there were no witnesses to declare that He had not. The power of that message silenced the mouths of the doubters and caused myriads of sinners, Jew and Non-Jew, to turn to Yeshua.

The foundation of the apostles’ message was the foundation that God had already laid:

So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation.” Isaiah 28:16

That foundation was the Resurrected Messiah. And, if we have any other foundation, it will not stand. Even Torah, while foundational, is not a sufficient foundation. The following verses, from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, attest that a foundation other than Torah was necessary:

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:10-11

And, in his (Paul's) letter to the Ephesians:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-20

Our congregations today are preaching and witnessing everything but the Resurrection. We preach Hebrew Roots, we preach love your neighbor, and we preach adherence to Torah but, when was the last time you heard a message on the undeniable fact that Yeshua was raised to life? We have recorded in the New Covenant Scriptures the valid testimony of unimpeachable witnesses to the Resurrection of Messiah, yet we hand out tracts with Isaiah 53 on the cover – something which can be easily explained away.

The one thing that cannot be explained away is the unimpeachable eyewitness accounts of Yeshua’s Resurrection from the dead. Proving, by Torah's own mandate of two witnesses, that Yeshua is the Son of God. It was the Resurrection of Messiah that made the believers of the first century effective witnesses in their day, and it is the Resurrection of Messiah that will make us effective witnesses, to all who have ears to hear, in our day.

Kehilat Sar Shalom

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