For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 2 Peter 1:16
Is the Gospel of Mark a forgery? You and I know it is not; it is inspired and an important portion of the Word of God. But I was reading recently about a segment of people who claim that portions of Mark are missing, portions that, if they actually existed, would throw serious questions on the character of the Lord Jesus. The basis for their idea is the so-called investigation by a so-called student, who claimed to have found – in some manuscripts he smuggled from a monastery – two obscure sentences written by a pope long since dead about a cover-up regarding the Gospel of Mark. The so-called manuscripts were eventually proved by honest investigators to be cleverly-drafted fakes. But some people still think they’re real. Isn’t it amazing what flimsy foundations underlie the nonsense that some people try to pass off as the truth! Most of the cults and false religions of the world are based on such nonsense. But as Peter points out in today’s text, the truth is backed up with eyewitness evidence.
When a judge is addressing a jury in a criminal case in which much of the evidence presented is circumstantial, the judge will often explain to the jury the difference between eyewitness and circumstantial evidence. The judge will point out how much better it is if there is a person, or a group of people, who can simply describe exactly what they saw happen, compared to somebody trying to explain how they believe something happened based on a series of clues. The Bible, and the Gospels in particular, are based on actual eyewitness accounts. And those eyewitnesses agree with each other on what they saw and heard. We can believe what these people said they saw.
Peter’s testimony goes beyond what most of the other disciples and early Christians witnessed. He, along with James and John, actually saw the heavenly majesty with which the Lord Jesus was clothed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter and John both spoke about it later. Their corroborated evidence is vastly superior to the totally unsupported rantings of such men as Islam’s false prophet Mohammed and the scoundrel Joseph Smith.
Do we have confidence in the record of Scripture? Yes, indeed! Can we pass it on to others in that confidence in its absolute truth and holy character? Of course we can! -Jim MacIntosh