{"id":48687,"date":"2021-04-27T16:18:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T23:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/?p=48687"},"modified":"2021-12-29T11:53:48","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T19:53:48","slug":"what-does-it-mean-to-be-christs-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/what-does-it-mean-to-be-christs-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does it Mean to be Christ’s Witness?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”<\/p>Acts 1:8, NKJV<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You’ve probably heard this famous verse before. Many Christian organizations and para-church ministries use this verse as a driving factor of their missions-oriented work. Have you ever stopped to wonder what “witness” means here?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our contemporary context, we mostly just think of a witness as someone who has seen and can attest to something (like in a courtroom), but the book of Acts was not written in English. By examining the original Greek, we can pull additional meaning from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the NKJV Reverse Interlinear<\/a>, we will take a dive into what it means to be a “witness”. Let’s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acts 1:8<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here is Acts 1:8 in the NKJV Reverse Interlinear. As you can see, the Greek appears below the English. For a deeper explanation of how this tool works, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to this, “witnesses” in Greek is martus<\/em>. To learn more, we’ll tap that word to bring up the Strong’s info.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dictionary Definition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

g3144 \u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c2<\/em> martys; of uncertain affinity; a witness (literally (judicially) or figuratively (genitive case)); by analogy, a “martyr”: — martyr, record, witness

AV (34) – witness 29, martyr 3, record 2;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. a witness
    1. in a legal sense<\/li>
    2. an historical sense
      1. one who is a spectator of anything, e.g. of a contest<\/li><\/ol><\/li>
      2. in an ethical sense
        1. those who after his example have proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death<\/li><\/ol><\/li><\/ol><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          This is interesting. In Greek, “witness” is the same word as “martyr”. Obviously, we have separate understandings of these terms, so why are they the same word? Can they be used interchangeably? To see the different passages, we will tap “search for g3144” at the bottom of that box. Let’s pull out each usage of martus<\/em> by Luke to get a better idea of what’s going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Martus<\/em> as Witness\/es (In Luke+Acts)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n