Eyewitnesses

Among the many highly valuable things I've learned by watching cop shows is the fact that investigators love an eyewitness. Other than DNA and the ability to track people through their cell phone GPS radios, the eyewitness is the most ubiquitous plot device there is.

There's a reason for that: Everyone knows that the best way to understand something is to talk to someone who was there. That's why reporters and police alike search for eyewitnesses.

I often forget this fact and undervalue the treasure we have in the Bible. You can get a couple of talking heads on a History Channel special debating if a certain Bible story ever happened; isn't it better to consult Moses or Isaiah or Peter, who was actually there and saw it with his own eyes.

So this morning, I was convicted again when I read 2 Peter 1:16-18: "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain."

I am so often attracted to the glib speaker or polish writer who tells me what scripture says. I like my R. C. Sprouls and Chuck Swindolls and C. S. Lewises. But even the best modern parable is a "cleverly invented story." 

Peter is anything but glib or polished. Peter is blunt, a blue-collar witness for a working world. But he was an eyewitness; he heard the voice from heaven because he was on the sacred mountain with Jesus. 

It's another reminder that there is no substitute for reading scripture. I wonder why I need so many of them?