Bearing Witness to Jesus Christ: His Person, His Work, His Kingdom

Introduction

At the start of every year, the same question comes back: what should your local church bear witness to above all else? In this message preached on January 4, 2026, Matthew Glock opens Matthew 9:9-17 to remind us that the mission of the Church is, first and foremost, the witness of Jesus Christ. Not a project, not a method, not a style, a person. He begins by thanking God for the brothers and sisters who have been part of the same congregation for thirty, forty, fifty years, a sign that the universal Church takes shape in these specific places where a group decides, together, to make the reality of Christ's kingdom visible here and now, in its own neighborhood.

Outline of the message

1. A church united in its diversity, for a single witness

• The mission statement written during the church weekend in 2024 sums it up this way: "United in its diversity, the church welcomes everyone to take part together in the witness of Jesus Christ, attentive to the needs of its members as well as those of the neighborhood."
• The Church doesn't exist for itself, but to welcome what God sends her. Those who aren't here yet matter just as much as those who have been here for a long time.
• The Christian life isn't meant to be lived alone. In Paris, half the population lives alone; the church offers another way: fellowship, a complementarity of gifts, unity in love, and consistency between word and life.
• All of this for a single purpose: to bear witness to Jesus Christ. He is here, now, present in the midst of his people. He is the one who calls, who comforts, who intercedes.

2. His kingdom: new wine in new wineskins

• Matthew 9:16-17: "Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
• Jesus's kingdom is something radically new. When we bear witness to him, we're announcing that a new humanity is already present here and now.
• Many religions stay locked within one culture or one people. The Church of Jesus Christ, by contrast, brings together every nation. Our diversity and our unity don't come from us, they come from the fact that Christ creates a new reality.
• This new wine that must be poured into new wineskins is him. And he brings with him an abundant life, one that doesn't ignore the real suffering of the world, but overcomes it through the promise of eternal life.

3. His person: his authority and his identity

• His authority (v.9): "As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, 'Follow me.' He got up and followed him." Matthew was a tax collector for the Romans, despised, known by everyone. Jesus calls him, and he gets up. This is an authority that doesn't crush the person but respects them, an invitation no one can resist.
• An identity that doesn't depend on context (v.10-13): reclining at the table in Matthew's house with tax collectors and "sinners," Jesus scandalizes the Pharisees. He answers them: "Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick… I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."
• The Pharisees had a religion of separation: stay holy by avoiding others. We all have our own little Pharisee tendencies, judging the person who doesn't do things our way, or judging the person who is too rigid. Jesus wants nothing to do with that game.
• Why? Because he is secure in his identity. He is the physician who isn't afraid of sickness. He doesn't protect himself from the sick, he is life itself, and he comes to "infect" others with his life. He alone can reverse the effects of sickness and death.

4. His work: grace before moral change

• Jesus doesn't keep his distance from evil. He walks into the houses of sinners. He doesn't ask for moral change first: he offers a grace that transforms.
• This is a constant challenge for the local church. We often talk about the effects of the gospel, commandments, life changes, ways of living. That's good, but the gospel itself is Jesus Christ.
• We don't obey in order to be approved or accepted. We obey because God's grace has already entered our lives. We must proclaim Jesus, not the transformations.
• This work was fully accomplished at the cross. That's what the Lord's Supper celebrates: Jesus agreed to become sin for us, that incredible exchange in which someone had to pay the price, and he did.

5. His call: his voice reaching you personally

• Jesus called Matthew. Throughout the gospels, he calls a whole range of people under very different circumstances. There's no standard script: some said yes right away, others took years to understand, others grew up in a Christian family and have heard the gospel their whole lives.
• But one thing stays constant: when Jesus calls, it's him calling. Not the voice of your parents, your pastor, your elder, or your neighbor. It's his voice.
• Even today, Jesus is here in the midst of his people, calling you to see him again, to remember what he has done for you, to fix your thoughts on him.
• When you stay in that posture, everything else becomes clearer and easier to carry: the people who irritate you, the situations that seem impossible to overcome, you hand them over to God, because that's how Christ treats you too.

Key takeaways

• The Church's witness is, first of all, the person of Jesus Christ, not our programs or our transformations.
• Christ's kingdom is new wine that won't fit in old wineskins: it creates a new humanity gathering every nation.
• Jesus has an authority that respects the person and an identity that depends on no context: he can sit with outcasts without being contaminated, because he is life.
• The gospel doesn't ask for moral change first, it offers a grace that transforms. Proclaim Jesus, not the effects.
• When Jesus calls you, it's his voice, not your parents' or your pastor's. Listen to him today.

Personal application

1. When you talk about your faith with those around you, do you bear witness to Jesus first, or first to the moral and practical effects of faith?
2. Is there someone around you or in your neighborhood (a "despised person" like Matthew), that Jesus might want to send you toward?
3. Where are you most tempted to play the Pharisee: judging someone who isn't rigorous enough, or judging someone who is too rigid?
4. Are you trying to be good in order to be accepted by God, or because his grace has already entered your life? The difference changes everything.
5. Which voice are you listening to most right now when it comes to following Jesus? Take a moment to let his voice become the leading voice again.

Verses cited

• Matthew 9:9-17 · The calling of Matthew, the meal at his house, fasting and new wine
• Matthew 9:9 · "Follow me" spoken to Matthew
• Matthew 9:12-13 · "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice"
• Matthew 9:16-17 · New wine and new wineskins
• Hosea 6:6 · "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (reference quoted by Jesus)

Frequently asked questions

What does "bearing witness to Jesus Christ" mean for a local church?

According to Matthew Glock, bearing witness to Jesus Christ means speaking of who Christ is, what he has done, his kingdom, and his call. For a local church, that means four concrete things: proclaiming his person (his authority and his identity), proclaiming his work (the grace accomplished at the cross), proclaiming his kingdom (the new humanity God is inaugurating), and proclaiming his call (the personal voice that reaches each person). This witness is lived out together, in diversity, attentive to the needs of both members and neighbors.

Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners?

Because he is the physician, and it's the sick who need a physician, not the healthy. Where the Pharisees' religion was a religion of separation, Jesus's is a religion of incarnation: he comes into the midst of people without fear of being "contaminated," because he is life itself and comes to inject that life into others. His identity is secure (it doesn't depend on context), so he can sit at the table with those society excludes.

What does the image of new wine and new wineskins mean in Matthew 9?

Jesus uses this image to show that he is completely different from everything that came before him. He comes to overturn the old religious order. He is that new wine, and this new wine requires new wineskins, a renewed heart, a renewed community, a renewed way of life. This doesn't mean suffering disappears, but that the eternal life he brings makes it possible to face the world's present conditions with hope.