"You Decide; You Tell"
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            "Many other attesting miracles therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30, 31).
            The most compelling evidence for nearly any event's authenticity comes from eyewitnesses.  We like original sources.  We want it from the horse's mouth (still not sure why, other than my grandmother put great stock in the horse's mouth…).  We prefer the straight scoop from someone who was there and saw it with their own two eyes.
            We seek reliable information to make responsible decisions.  We're more apt to trust someone who has been there, seen it all, and done that.
            Folks my age, burned by bogus claims and unsubstantiated hearsay, no longer make reservations at resorts or vacation spots on second and third hand reports.
            My tendency to extend generosity to possibilities too good to be true has landed us in places that <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Chevy Chase would find unacceptable.
            My trusted companion no longer trusts my judgment when it can't be verified by eyewitnesses.  She demands to talk to someone who has seen the place with their own two good eyes and walked the grounds with their own two good feet.  Call her skeptical.
            She is still frosted about the quaint little bed and breakfast I rented outside of Buffalo – for a fee substantially under market value.
            Who knew it was the setting for "Deliverance -- The Sequel"?
"I heard it through the grapevine," simply doesn't pass the smell test anymore.  She settles for nothing less than eyewitness testimony.
            Can't say I blame here.  It's just good business to get your information first hand and first eye.
            This fact was not lost on the Apostle John; he understood the importance and validity of an eyewitness account.  He went to great lengths to verify his radical claims regarding Jesus of Nazareth being the veritable Son of God, the much anticipated Messiah and Savior of the world.
            When "the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men," John "beheld His glory" and testified that the God of Heaven, often hidden and distant, became a personal, objective reality in Jesus:
            "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was manifest, and we have seen and born witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us – what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.  And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete" (1 John 1:1-4).
            John, a simple fisherman by trade, got a crash course in investigative journalism at Holy Spirit U!  He writes like an Associated Press reporter on the scene of the world's most important event.  He had a perfect angle on the incarnation, and he accurately and vividly relates what he saw.
            "No man has ever seen God," John states matter-of-factly, "but this Jesus we saw and touched has explained Him!" (John 1:18).
            As if God had some explaining to do….
            Sometimes we forget that the whole Jesus narrative is set in historical reality – at a real time and place.  Jesus was not the figment of some fictional writer's vivid imagination.  No person could invent Jesus.  He is too perfect to be conceptualized by the fallen human imagination.  Every other god created by humans proves to be as rotten as the tribe that inspired and worships it.
            Don't underestimate the credibility that comes from four gospel accounts– as well as four perspectives, the same only different.  Since the beginning of recorded history, the collaborating testimony of multiple witnesses has served as the primary basis for evaluation and judgment.
            Beginning the day that John the Baptist met Jesus in the fresh waters of the Jordan and testified that He "was the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), folks from every walk of life and corner of the planet have clamored to know more about the carpenter's son. "We want to see Jesus."
            Theophilus, an ancient man of prominence, was so enamored by the Galilean prophet, that following His death and resurrection, he employed the unique services of a famous physician to learn more of the life and times and teachings of Jesus.
            Luke, a friend of the Apostles and frequent traveling companion of Paul, wrote his gospel testimony to satisfy the curiosity of Theophilus and millions of us to follow.  He begins his apology of Jesus the Christ with a brief explanation:  "In as much as many have undertaken to compile a written account of the things on which there is full conviction among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught by oral instruction" (Luke 1:1-4).
            Before there was CNN and Fox News, there was Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, great field reporters who walked and talked with Jesus for years, and who interviewed hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of real life Palestinians who watched every move and listened to every word of the spell-binding rabbi from on high.
            They left no stone unturned, no perspective slighted, and no voice trimmed or censured.  What we have in the gospel are the facts.
            There are no contradictions or varying opinions among the original journalists whose accounts have been preserved for two thousand years:  Jesus Christ was the Son of God, long prophesied and long-awaited Messiah, who "was born of a virgin under law in Bethlehem," performed mighty signs, wonders, and miracles to the astonishment of thousands, was crucified as an innocent man, and on the third day following His death was resurrected by the power of God and restored to glory.
            The facts remain indisputable.  What contemporary hearers do with the facts and how they respond to the multiple testimonies is a whole other story.
            Processing the evidence demands a personal verdict.  Is He or isn't He?  You look inside. You decide.  You tell.