²⁷ “… and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

Chosen to be God’s instruments in propagating the truth, we followers of Christ have the inestimable privilege of joining with the Trinity in testifying about Jesus Christ. To testify simply means to share what we know, to present the evidence from our own personal perspective. Jesus isn’t calling all of us to be evangelists, that is, gifted individuals in the Ephesian 4:11 sense. Even Timothy was not a gifted evangelist, as is evident from Paul’s command to him to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim 4:5)—a gifted evangelist does not need instructions to do so.

However, the apostles were given a unique role as authorized witnesses. After His resurrection and just before His ascension to heaven, the Lord specifically told them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). This is accentuated by the fact that Judas, the betrayer, had to be replaced. Peter proclaimed, “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection” (Acts 1:21–22).

These twelve were the ones authorized to be the official conveyors of Jesus’ ministry. It was their teaching to which the early church committed (Acts 2:42). Peter appealed to the validity of his and the other apostles’ testimony (Acts 3:15). In fact, he appeals to their partnership with the Holy Spirit: “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32).

The importance of this apostolic witness weighed heavily on the formation of the NT canon (the accepted list of inspired writings). If a letter or saying could be verified as being from an apostle, then it was considered authentic. For example, the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of John were immediately accepted as authentic because of the apostolic authorship. The gospel of Mark was considered to reflect the teachings of Peter, of whom Mark was a frequent companion. And the Gospel of Luke was authoritative because of Luke’s association with the apostle Paul (later given the same apostolic authority as the twelve).

Lord, thank You for the faithful witness of Your first followers. I personally validate their writings as authentic by my devotion to the Word.