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[Peter said] “Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. Acts 1:21-22,26

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’ll believe it when I see it!”? Maybe you’ve even said it yourself! That usually means, “I’m not sure that’s true unless I can see it with my own eyes.” And that makes sense! It’s easier to believe something when you see it happen. But what if you didn’t see it yourself? Then it really helps to hear from someone who did see it—someone called an eyewitness. An eyewitness is a person who was really there and saw what happened.

Eyewitnesses help us know what is true. And that is one reason God gave us Jesus’ disciples. They were there. They saw Jesus. They heard Jesus. They walked with Jesus. They watched Jesus teach people. They saw him heal sick people. They saw him do miracles. They saw him die on the cross. And best of all—they saw him alive again! Jesus rose from the dead, and his disciples were eyewitnesses. They could tell everyone, “It’s true! Jesus is alive!”

One of the disciples, Judas, turned against Jesus and was no longer with them. So the disciples chose another man, named Matthias, to take his place. Why did that matter? Because Matthias also needed to be someone who had seen Jesus and could tell the true story. He would be another eyewitness who could say, “I saw Jesus too!” That was important because the disciples had a big job: tell the world about Jesus.

And that is still the big job today. We were not there to see Jesus with our own eyes. But we can still believe in him because God gave us eyewitnesses in the Bible. They saw what Jesus did, and God had them write it down for us.

So now we can hear it . . . and believe it . . . and share it too. Jesus is alive! And because Jesus lives, we will live with him forever too!

O Lord God, thank you for providing eyewitnesses to write the greatest events in all of history so that we can read and hear it. Help me always to believe it by faith and share the hope I have in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

Questions for Elementary Age Children

Questions for Middle School and Above

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