The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
In today’s world there’s often a strong desire to follow someone who does miracles. There are all sorts of people who become very excited about signs and wonders. I think we do well to consider what the people in Jesus’ day thought. In John 10:40-42 Jesus went to the area where John had been working. would John be believed?
First off, let’s remember that Jesus did not have a new message. John was speaking of Jesus and the way Jesus would be the great and mighty one to come after him. There was no discrepancy. There was no competition.
The people followed Jesus. However, it’s interesting that they followed him not because of his miracles and John’s lack of miracles. The text admits freely that John was not doing miracles. But it was not Jesus’ miracles which attracted the people. It was the fact that John’s testimony was true.
There are some who would misrepresent Jesus in order to persuade people to follow him. This is always a bad idea. We will do much better to be forthright and balanced in our presentation of who Jesus is and what He does. Then people will be convinced that he is the true coming one.
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