“We Can All Be Witnesses of Jesus Christ,” Liahona, Apr. 2026, United States and Canada Section.
We Can All Be Witnesses of Jesus Christ
We can amplify the eyewitness testimonies of the resurrected Savior with our own witness.
“Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?” (John 20:15). With these words, the resurrected Jesus Christ approached Mary Magdalene, who became the first eyewitness of the risen Lord. Immediately she obeyed His direction to share her witness: “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father” (John 20:17). That evening, Jesus appeared to 10 of the Apostles and other disciples, and they also shared their witness: “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25).
Eyewitnesses and Apostles, however, are not the only kinds of witnesses of Jesus Christ. President D. Todd Christofferson, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, has taught that “a witness of Christ does not need to have seen Him.” Rather, “being a witness of Jesus Christ in the most fundamental sense is to possess a sure, personal testimony that He is the divine Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world.”
Some witnesses receive the gift “by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:13). Others receive the gift “to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:14). When we seek and receive a testimony of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost, each one of us can be a witness of Him (see Alma 5:45-46).
The primary responsibility of a witness is to testify and to establish the truth. The law of witnesses states that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1). When Jesus was resurrected, both the disciples who saw Jesus as well as those who did not see Him shared their testimonies of the glorious truth that Jesus had risen from the dead. In the latter days, we who have testimonies of Jesus Christ are also witnesses of Him and are qualified to share our testimonies of the truth of the resurrected Christ.
Witnesses of the Empty Tomb
On Resurrection morning, a group of women arrived at the empty tomb. They became witnesses of Jesus Christ without having seen Him resurrected yet. They believed the testimony of the heavenly messengers who declared that Jesus was risen from the dead, and they shared that testimony with the Apostles. (See Luke 24:1–10.)
Right after this, the Apostles Peter and John ran to the tomb, but neither of them saw the resurrected Lord at this time. They looked in the empty tomb and saw the burial clothes but not the body of Jesus. (See John 20:1–9.) As President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught concerning this experience: “The empty tomb bore testimony of this greatest of all miracles.” Though they had not seen Jesus for themselves yet, Peter and John returned to the others and testified that the tomb was empty (see Luke 24:24).
Eyewitnesses of the Risen Lord
Mary Magdalene remained at the tomb and was the first to see the Savior in His resurrected form (see Mark 16:9; John 20:11–17). She immediately “came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord” (John 20:18).
Cleopas and another disciple heard the women and Peter and John bear witness that the tomb was empty. They met the resurrected Lord on the road to Emmaus but did not recognize Him at first. After their “eyes were opened, and they knew him” (Luke 24:31), they testified of these things to the Apostles. (See Luke 24:13–35.)
As these two disciples shared their witness with the Apostles, the risen Lord appeared, and He invited them to touch Him (see Luke 24:36–39). Jesus instructed them to preach about His Atonement and Resurrection “among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (see Luke 24:46–47), and declared to them, “Ye are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).
Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared to the Apostles, but they testified to him, “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25). Thomas would not believe unless he saw and touched the resurrected Lord himself (see John 20:25). Eight days later, Jesus appeared to the Apostles again, including Thomas. Jesus lovingly helped Thomas resolve his doubt so he too could become a witness. Thomas then freely declared his testimony: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). The Savior explained to Thomas as well as to us today, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
The Witness of Prophets and Apostles
With the Restoration of the gospel, the responsibility of witnesses to testify of truth was renewed. In his First Vision in 1820, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. In spite of opposition, Joseph maintained his testimony as a witness: “I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it” (Joseph Smith—History 1:25).
In 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw a vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and testified:
“We beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father. …
“… This is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:20, 22–23).
The Savior appeared other times in this dispensation, and these eyewitness testimonies have been recorded. For example, He appeared again to Joseph Smith, with Oliver Cowdery, in the Kirtland Temple in 1836 (see Doctrine and Covenants 110:1–10) and to Lorenzo Snow in the Salt Lake Temple in 1898.
Apostles are “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:23). The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” Thus, one of the greatest blessings of having modern prophets and apostles is their sure witness of the Savior.
Members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testify of the Savior each time they speak. Additional videos are also available online (see sidebar “Apostolic Testimonies on Video”). President Russell M. Nelson (1924–2025) shared his special witness of Jesus Christ while standing on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Holy City of Jerusalem:
“I also declare that Jesus the Christ lives, that His Church has been restored to the earth, complete with His power and authority, with apostles and prophets and essential ordinances and covenants. …
“I testify that He is the living Christ, our Lord and Savior, Exemplar, Redeemer, and Judge.”
Modern prophets and apostles continue to share their witness of the resurrected Jesus Christ just as ancient Apostles did. For example, President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, concluded his April 2025 general conference address: “I testify as a witness of the risen Savior and our Redeemer.”
We Are All Witnesses
In addition to prophets and apostles, many others have become latter-day witnesses of the Savior, possessing firm testimonies of Him through the Holy Ghost. One witness, Eliza R. Snow, expressed her testimony of Jesus Christ through poetry. When we sing the hymn “Behold the Great Redeemer Die,” we share Eliza’s witness of Christ: “He lives—he lives.”
Similarly, President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President, declared: “I testify that He did rise again on the third day and, having fulfilled the loving and infinite Atonement, stands with open arms, offering to us the opportunity to rise again, be saved, and be exalted and become like Him.”
Like these sisters, each of us may be a witness of Jesus Christ as we gain, strengthen, and share our own testimony of Him. President Nelson encouraged us: “Take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth.”
One important way to take charge of our testimonies is to accept the prophet’s invitations. For example, President Nelson invited us to do such things as use the correct name of the Church, hear Him, let God prevail, make time for the Lord, become peacemakers, think celestial, and prepare for the Second Coming. As we do these things, we can fulfill our desires as the Lord’s covenant disciples “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in” (Mosiah 18:9).
Years ago, when Elder Carlos E. Asay (1926–99) of the Seventy had the opportunity to visit sacred sites in the Holy Land and walk where Jesus walked, he concluded: “Each place stirred my soul and made me feel his holy presence.” But then Elder Asay shared this important witness: “I have not seen him in this life, nor have I spoken with him face-to-face. I know, however, that he lives and that he loves me. Through the power of the Holy Spirit I can testify that I know him as if I had seen him with my own eyes and heard his voice with my own ears.”
This is the testimony available to all of us through the Holy Ghost, the testimony we all have the privilege to gain and share with the world as witnesses of Jesus Christ.