The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in John 10:19-21,
"The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, 'He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?' But others said, 'These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'"
We read here that there was a divided response to Jesus among the Jews. The one group, pointing to what Jesus had to say, rejected him, claiming he was demon-possessed and a raving lunatic. Think about that for a minute... the Son of God, appearing before this group was unrecognizable to them. They were in such a spiritual darkness they could not see anything at all of the things of God. They were entirely and utterly lost in this spiritual darkness just as so many are today.
The second group, pointing to the things Jesus had done (opened the eyes of the blind) argued that Jesus was who he claimed to be. The rejecting group was looking at what Jesus said, and the embracing group looked at what Jesus had done. That second group was legitimate in looking at the miracles of Jesus as the basis for their faith. In verses 36-38 Jesus said, "Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."
I suspect the reason the former group pointed to the things Jesus was saying (as opposed to looking at his miracles) was that Jesus left them with nothing they could question concerning his miracles. All they were left with was the attempt to misrepresent and mislead others on the things Jesus was saying.
Such is spiritual blindness, spiritual darkness. People prefer that darkness in their effort to obfuscate on who Jesus Christ is. I am reminded of what we read in John 3:19-20, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, 'He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?' But others said, 'These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'"
We read here that there was a divided response to Jesus among the Jews. The one group, pointing to what Jesus had to say, rejected him, claiming he was demon-possessed and a raving lunatic. Think about that for a minute... the Son of God, appearing before this group was unrecognizable to them. They were in such a spiritual darkness they could not see anything at all of the things of God. They were entirely and utterly lost in this spiritual darkness just as so many are today.
The second group, pointing to the things Jesus had done (opened the eyes of the blind) argued that Jesus was who he claimed to be. The rejecting group was looking at what Jesus said, and the embracing group looked at what Jesus had done. That second group was legitimate in looking at the miracles of Jesus as the basis for their faith. In verses 36-38 Jesus said, "Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."
I suspect the reason the former group pointed to the things Jesus was saying (as opposed to looking at his miracles) was that Jesus left them with nothing they could question concerning his miracles. All they were left with was the attempt to misrepresent and mislead others on the things Jesus was saying.
Such is spiritual blindness, spiritual darkness. People prefer that darkness in their effort to obfuscate on who Jesus Christ is. I am reminded of what we read in John 3:19-20, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment