Bold Witnessing

    In Acts 4:13 there is a great statement about the testimony of Peter of John. These men had gotten into trouble with the authorities over the preaching of Jesus. The religious leaders insulted them by their statement. However, there was a great compliment paid to Peter and John. The verse reads, “When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and knew that they had been with Jesus.” They sought to insult them by calling them uneducated and untrained. These leaders simply meant that Peter and John had not gone to school and received a formal education regarding the Scriptures. But the compliment comes in the statement that they knew these guys had been with Jesus.

We have a clue in this verse what tipped them off to Peter and John’s relationship to Jesus: their boldness. Simply put, the way Peter and John conducted themselves let these supposedly religious men know they had been with Jesus. Peter and John needed no formal training to show this. They didn’t need to be well educated in languages and history to show this. They didn’t need to be wealthy or have influence in this life. Peter and John simply preached about Jesus with boldness and assurance. Interestingly the boldness did not come until they had seen the resurrected Lord. Peter denied Christ during the trials. They were scared for their lives. But it all changed when they saw the One who conquers death!

Our lives change as well when we meet Jesus. There is a boldness we can have. Not arrogance, but boldness. A boldness that shows we’re on the winning side. Our leader has defeated death. We can have a bold impact in our world when we allow people to know we have been with Jesus!