In the Sunday morning worship service, Fellowship Reformed Church in Mount Pleasant, MI hosted Pastor Ben Falconer. Pastor Ben serves as a minister of Christ with University Reformed Church in East Lansing, MI. And Pastor Ben preached a sermon titled “Jesus’ First Witnesses” from Luke 1:39-45.

Pastor Ben acknowledged that many people see these verses as relatively insignificant. These verses record a personal interaction between two pregnant women. And yet this interaction is incredibly unique, because it documents the first three earthly witnesses to the arrival of God’s chosen Savior for mankind.

Pastor Ben explained that there are three witnesses in the passage. And each of these witnesses shows us what it means to appropriately be a witness for Christ. The unborn baby, John the Baptist, bears witness to Christ with joy. Elizabeth bears witness to Christ with worship. And Mary bears witness to Christ with faith.

Pastor Ben observed here, in the Bible, that the real humanness of both Jesus and John the Baptist is confirmed. This is true, even though they are unborn. In fact, this is true, even though Jesus, in regards to his humanity, would have been scarcely developed beyond a week in Mary’s womb. Even here, at the beginning of conception, Jesus was a human person and was LORD. As John (the unborn baby) and Elizabeth are stirred by the Spirit to be witnesses to Christ, they do not view Jesus as potentially human, or potentially LORD, but they recognize that he already is these things. This should decisively shape our understanding of when human life starts. And we should be concerned to preserve it at every stage.

Pastor Ben also acknowledged that Mary herself was one of the initial witnesses to Jesus’s arrival, and that she responded to God’s message, sent by his angel Gabriel, with faith. And Pastor Ben noted how helpful it was that God, in his kindness to Mary, stirred her up to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who could further confirm the incredible reality of the virgin birth, for Mary’s encouragement. In a similar way, we benefit from being in the company of brothers and sisters to further confirm the reliability of God’s Word. We need encouragement from God’s people.

And in reflecting on this passage, Pastor Ben pointed out that the witnesses God is looking to send out into the world today don’t need to be flashy. Certainly, if God were concerned about having high-profile influencers standing behind Jesus as his first witnesses, he would have done things differently. But the first witnesses God chose were, socially, people of very little reputation: a pregnant teenager, an old woman, and an unborn baby. God isn’t looking for witnesses who are impressive, but he’s looking for witnesses who will testify to the coming of Jesus with joy, worship, and faith. Won’t you be a witness for Christ?