LifeLink Devotional

Monday, January 18,2021

Recently I was visiting with a friend who was explaining their position on a current social issue. They were being very emphatic. After several minutes of emotional conversation that almost turned into ranting, I interrupted and said, “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” It lightened the mood.

Sometimes people can speak very clearly but our filters don’t allow us to hear what they are really saying. Even after simple and clear explanations we ask them to repeat what they said, and to speak more plainly.

As we continue our study of the Gospel of John, we find Jesus taking a winter’s day stroll through Solomon’s porch in the Temple. He is surrounded by Jewish people wanting Him to speak plainly about His identity as the Messiah. Unfortunately, their understanding of the political Messiah’s role did not match with the mission of Jesus as their spiritual Messiah.

John 10:24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Let’s review.

• Jesus turned water into wine, proving His authority over creation.
• Jesus cleansed the Temple, calling it His Father’s house.
• Jesus declared that He was the Son of Man who came to save people from their sin by offering Himself as a sacrifice.
• John the Baptist testified to Jesus being the One sent from Heaven.
• Jesus specifically told the Samaritan woman at the well that He was the Christ. Of course, as a Samaritan woman, her testimony was doubly doubted.
• Jesus then healed an official’s son.
• Jesus healed a lame man, following which He told the Jewish leadership that He was only doing the will of His Father who had sent Him.
• Jesus fed over five thousand people from five loaves of bread and two fish, and afterward declared that He was the Bread of Life.
• Jesus declared His eternal nature by stating that before Abraham was, I AM.
• Jesus healed a blind man

These are just the things mentioned in John’s Gospel. Many other statements and proofs through miracles were done as written in the other Gospels. Yet here the Jews wanted Jesus to speak plainly. Their listening filters were their bondage. They only wanted an answer that fit into their current understanding. They were not able to hear anything coming from outside their insulated, sound-proof boxes.

What sound-proof boxes have you chosen to reside in? How have you insulated yourself from hearing the plain truth about Jesus? One of the biggest insulators is religious tradition. Another one is personal gratification. When we live in those boxes we refuse to listen to the plain truth that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, and has come to set us free from our boxes. He has come to deliver us from sin.

The Jews of Jesus day refused to listen. They refused to see the evidence. They died in their sin after putting to death the One who could save them. Don’t let that happen to you. Jesus is speaking plainly through His Word the Bible. Read it. Believe it. Believe in Jesus. He is your Savior.

Pastor John