Witness to the Unbelievable

This morning I read two passages of scripture:  Mark 9:2-9 and 2 Peter 1:16-19.  The first is the story of the transfiguration; the second is Peter's eye witness account of the transfiguration.

I've never read them back to back like that before, and their pairing was interesting to me. 

The first - the story of the transfiguration - seems so extraordinary that you wonder if its believable. I believe it because its in the Gospel, but it's an unbelieveable story. 

But the second - Peter (or the person who wrote in Peter's name) recounting the experience in his letter? It reinforces the first. The first is extraordinary, but the second strengthens the witness of the first.

I wonder if that is one of the purposes of our witness to the world.  People may hear of something extraordinary - there is a God, and God loves you and me and that person. It's unbelievable. But when we assume the role of witness, stating how we've seen the presence of God, and how God has changed our lives, we make the extraordinary real.  Believable.