I Can Be a Witness

In Acts 1:8, Jesus gives his disciples an important mission. He says they would be his witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the Earth. A witness is someone who tells other people about something they have seen or experienced. The disciples were given the mission to tell other people about Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection because they had seen it! They were witnesses to the events.

So, who were they commanded to tell? On Monday, we observed and answered the question: “Where does Jesus command his disciples to do their mission?” Let’s take a closer look by rereading Acts 1:8!

Jerusalem was the city the disciples were staying in at the time. The people closest to them were in also in that city.   The people closest to us are probably our family members, classmates, and teammates. Just like the disciples shared the gospel with those in Jerusalem, we can share the good news of Jesus with the people around us!

Judea was the larger area that was outside of the city of Jerusalem. For us, we can compare Judea to people in nearby communities, like our friends who go to a different school.

Samaria was an area and group of people that the Jews didn’t like very much. They were sometimes considered enemies and tried to avoid each other. For us, Samaria calls to mind be people we don’t always get along with, someone who doesn’t have a lot of friends, or someone who we might think is different from us.

The ends of the Earth means the whole world! For us, these are people far away who need to know Jesus. Missionaries are people who move to another country to share the news about Jesus. We can pray for kids in other countries to know Jesus and for the missionaries who will teach them about him. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll grow up to travel the world and tell other people the good news about Jesus!