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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve
disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are You the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me."
As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
" 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Matthew 11:1-11
John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are You the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me."
As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
" 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Matthew 11:1-11
John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist
sent us to You to ask, ‘Are You the one who is to come, or should we expect
someone else?’”
At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases,
sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So He
replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and
heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed
to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.”
After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the
crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed
swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine
clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in
palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more
than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send My messenger ahead of you, who will prepare
your way before you.’”
I tell you, among those born of women there is no one
greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater
than he.”
(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard
Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been
baptized by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s
purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
Luke 7:18-30
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Are you a Christian?
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Are you a Christian?
Seriously, are you really a Christian?
If you are a Christian, maybe you might take offense at being asked twice but it is necessary. You see, I’m afraid a lot of people who claim to be Christians suffer from an identity crisis. They say they are associated with Christ but their actions say otherwise, particularly when it comes to the conversations they have with others. Unfortunately, many of those discussions fail to mention any affiliation or association with Jesus, even going as far to not even mention Him at all.
How can that happen?
If you are a Christian, maybe you might take offense at being asked twice but it is necessary. You see, I’m afraid a lot of people who claim to be Christians suffer from an identity crisis. They say they are associated with Christ but their actions say otherwise, particularly when it comes to the conversations they have with others. Unfortunately, many of those discussions fail to mention any affiliation or association with Jesus, even going as far to not even mention Him at all.
How can that happen?
How can someone claim to be of Christ and yet not talk
about Him at every possible opportunity?
Friends, to be a true Christian means that Christ should first in everything, in our actions, words, and thoughts. Professing to be Christian means we are saying we are all in with Jesus. He is the One we yearn to be like, He is the One wish to be identified with, and He is the One we want others to see when they look at us.
And yet, way too often we turn into modern day Peters and act like we don’t know Jesus, disowning Him in the midst of those He sent us to save. Go back to yesterday’s devotion and you’ll remember that isn’t such a good idea.
With all this, ask yourself this question:
Friends, to be a true Christian means that Christ should first in everything, in our actions, words, and thoughts. Professing to be Christian means we are saying we are all in with Jesus. He is the One we yearn to be like, He is the One wish to be identified with, and He is the One we want others to see when they look at us.
And yet, way too often we turn into modern day Peters and act like we don’t know Jesus, disowning Him in the midst of those He sent us to save. Go back to yesterday’s devotion and you’ll remember that isn’t such a good idea.
With all this, ask yourself this question:
When it comes to Jesus and my daily association with
others, what do I do that consistently reports on Him, the salvation He offers,
and what He means to me in my life?
While you’re pondering your response to that, know that this matter of testifying about Jesus is at the heart of today’s scripture passages from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In both accounts, we find that Jesus had just finished “instructing his twelve disciples” before heading to “teach and preach in the towns of Galilee”. Around the same time, we find John the Baptist in prison and addressing two of his followers before sending them to Jesus with a simple query:
While you’re pondering your response to that, know that this matter of testifying about Jesus is at the heart of today’s scripture passages from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In both accounts, we find that Jesus had just finished “instructing his twelve disciples” before heading to “teach and preach in the towns of Galilee”. Around the same time, we find John the Baptist in prison and addressing two of his followers before sending them to Jesus with a simple query:
“Are you the One
who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
You remember John the Baptist, right?
He was the man set apart by God to announce Jesus’
coming, the man who fulfilled the predictions of the prophets, the man who preached
in Judea’s wilderness dressed in clothing made from camel hair. He was also the
man who was given the honor to baptize Jesus in the Jordan River (Matthew 3).
Those were better days than his current situation, incarcerated by Herod.
Back to the question he gave to his followers to ask
Jesus:
“Are you the One
who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Wow! I mean, that was quite a question, right?
For didn’t John know already who Jesus was? I mean, how
could he not?
Go back to Matthew, Chapter 3, and you’ll remember that as
soon as he baptized Jesus “heaven was opened” and “the Spirit of God” descended
“like a dove” before “lighting on him”. As if this wasn’t remarkable enough,
the scriptures tell us that a “voice from heaven” spoke saying, “This is My
Son, whom I love; with Him, I am well pleased."
After witnessing all this, you would have thought there
would have been little to no doubt who Jesus was or what He was capable of. And
yet, through his words, we sense that John was uncertain. For why would you ask
Jesus if He was the One to come if you truly knew that Jesus Christ was the
very Son of God, the long expected Messiah who had come to save mankind?
The question had to seek odd to Jesus too but we see Him providing a response so John’s followers could return and make their report. Here’s what Jesus told them to tell him:
“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
It was a shame that Jesus had to tell John’s disciples what to report. I find it hard to believe that John had completely lost track of Jesus after the baptism. Surely the word of all Jesus had done would have reached John’s ears before he found himself in prison. And yet, John asked as if he needed Jesus Himself to provide validation.
Question: Would you have to ask Jesus about who He is or who He is associated with?
If you are a Christian, I would hope not but if you were unsure what to say, I’m sure Jesus would give you the words to speak just as He did with John’s disciples. He would give you the proper report to make about Him.
The question had to seek odd to Jesus too but we see Him providing a response so John’s followers could return and make their report. Here’s what Jesus told them to tell him:
“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
It was a shame that Jesus had to tell John’s disciples what to report. I find it hard to believe that John had completely lost track of Jesus after the baptism. Surely the word of all Jesus had done would have reached John’s ears before he found himself in prison. And yet, John asked as if he needed Jesus Himself to provide validation.
Question: Would you have to ask Jesus about who He is or who He is associated with?
If you are a Christian, I would hope not but if you were unsure what to say, I’m sure Jesus would give you the words to speak just as He did with John’s disciples. He would give you the proper report to make about Him.
Come to think about it, didn’t He do just that by
providing us the Holy Bible? Aren’t the scriptures full of truths about Jesus
that we can brief others on?
Indeed, there is no excuse for any Christian to not be
making reports to others about Jesus and the salvation only found in and
through Him. For He is truly the One who was sent by our Heavenly Father God to
save us from our sins but not before He would suffer a criminal’s death on
Calvary’s cross, the penalty we deserved. Every Easter, we have the opportunity
to celebrate what happened next as He was resurrected, gaining victory over
death and the grave before ascending to assume His rightful place at the right
hand of God until such time when He returns.
Friends, this Jesus is the loving, caring, merciful, Savior we are to fully identify with as Christians and the good news of the Gospel is to be our report, the testimony about Jesus that we are to share with everyone we meet, the response we’re to give to “everyone who asks” for “the reason for the hope that (we) have” (1 Peter 3:15).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Friends, this Jesus is the loving, caring, merciful, Savior we are to fully identify with as Christians and the good news of the Gospel is to be our report, the testimony about Jesus that we are to share with everyone we meet, the response we’re to give to “everyone who asks” for “the reason for the hope that (we) have” (1 Peter 3:15).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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