By Pastor Brian Phillips
Deuteronomy 19:15 says, “Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” In that context, it is referring to accusations of crime. Guilt was not to be established on the authority or testimony of a single witness.
In Matthew 18:16, Jesus applies this same principle to confront a brother who has sinned. He says, “But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”
In similar fashion, the Apostle Paul wrote, in 2nd Corinthians 13:1, that “Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” St. Ambrose (under the pen name of “Ambrosiaster”) wrote that “Paul is here appealing to the law, saying that it applies to the Corinthians as well.” We require and submit to the need for a multitude of witnesses because we are under that law.
Finally, the Lord Jesus applies this requirement for a multitude of witnesses to Himself. He said, in John 5:31-33, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.”
Why does this matter? Why does Scripture emphasize the need for a multitude of witnesses? To put it simply, the Church should emphasize anything God does. Scripture emphasizes the multitude of witnesses because God wants His people established and rooted in truth, not carried away by false claims, accusation, and empty words. After all, the Apostle Paul refers to the Church as “the household of God…a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1st Tim. 3:15).
The multitude of witnesses must also affect the Church liturgically. The Bible itself should be seen as a multitude of witnesses – Old Testament and New Testament. This is why the Church has historically had three readings in worship (Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel). To make the point clearer, the readings are done in a multitude of places (behind the lectern, standing in front of the congregation, and some even walking amongst the congregation for the Gospel reading) and by a multitude of readers. In our congregation, we are also adding separate readers for each of the readings, to clearly show the multitude of witnesses, in person and voice.
But the multitude of witnesses is also a matter of personal piety and wisdom. In a time of the perpetual news cycle, untrustworthy media, political manipulation, and putrid social media, we need to be reminded that we are not to believe everything we hear. We are not to live by lies, deceit, manipulation, or mere emotion. Our lives - as individuals, families, and congregations - are to be rooted and built upon the truth of God and His Word. This is true of our thoughts, words, and deeds, but also in the way we listen (James 1:19-20; Proverbs 15:28, 18:13, 18:17).
May the Lord deepen our love for Him, for His Word, for His Church, and may He deepen our commitment to being people of His truth – all of Christ for all of life.