There was a knock at the door and my dad opened it only to find two police officers there. And as it wasn’t an uncommon thing for this type of visit to the Campagna home, it would be this time. You see, my brother – he’d be the one who’d often get in trouble in the neighborhood and the cops would often come to talk to my parents about it as certain neighbors would complain. But this time the officers weren’t coming for Tony (that’s my brother’s name). No. They were coming instead for another person that happened to live under the Campagna roof. They were coming instead for “yours truly” ~ me ~ not quite Pastor, just plain ol’ Mike back then.
You see, it seemed that someone had, on a recent night, done some “work” on a particular house in the track of houses a ways from where I lived. And the work they did included a number of things like “toilet-papering” it, spraying shaving cream on the windows and walls and cars, and then even putting peanut butter in the locks. Yeah, they did it right who did that stuff and more to that particular house. And the “they” the cops thought that did it was not my brother, Tony, this time, but me~and especially since I came to find out later that my name was signed on one of the house’s walls along with a friend of mine’s (and I think it was in big letters that our names were signed to boot!).
Now to say the least, I was stunned at what I was hearing and didn’t know what to do. And that’s when good ol’ dad stepped in. “I can vouch for the lad,” is a paraphrase of what he told the officers as I remember it. My dad went on, “He was in bed the night the incident happened.”
And as quickly as they’d come, the cops left. And the reason why they left was because they were offered proof of my innocence. (It’s the point I’m wanting to make.) And it was by a reliable witness’s testimony that the proof came.
And we have the proof of reliable witnesses of Christ’s being alive after He died, my friends. And we can trust their stories because it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that they were recorded in the Bible.
These reliable witnesses include:
(1) Mary Magdalene – who grabbed hold of our Lord and was “clinging” to Him on Resurrection Sunday (see John 20:15-17a);
(2) The disciples – who literally gave Jesus a piece of fish and He ate it! (Luke 24:36-43);
(3) Saul – who met Christ alive on the Damascus road and the encounter changed his life and name (Acts 9:1-6). Each of these met a living Lord after His crucifixion and burial.
To read more about these reliable witnesses’ testimony (and see a list of others who testify) click here: Proof Christ Is Alive. It’ll be worth your while to check it out. Have a happy Easter everybody!