IN PLAIN SIGHT

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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?”

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around Him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe.”

John 10:19-25

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus had done a lot of talking on the heels of healing a man who had been blind since birth (end of John 9).

A lot and none of it was done in secret but rather in plain sight of His Jewish listeners which included some Pharisees, the Jewish religious authorities of the day.

Yes, Jesus was openly doing a lot of teaching, trying to convey who He was but there was one real big problem.

There wasn’t an equal level of listening happening. Many in the company of Jesus were too busy trying to think about his they might attack Him in an attempt to discredit His ministry instead of clearing their minds and opening their hearts and ears to receive what He was saying.

This issue is exposed in two scenes found in these verses from John 10. Look again at them now:

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?”

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around Him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe.”  John 10:19-25

The first scene followed Jesus talking about Himself as the Good Shepherd who would willingly lay down His life for His sheep (followers) because God, His Father, had commanded it.

It was all too much for many of the Jews to take in, that this man Jesus would have such a close relationship with their God. In fact, rather than believing what He was saying was true, some gathered chose to think He was delusional and crazy, saying:

“He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

Other, those who were putting two and two together after hearing Jesus, said:

“These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Jesus hadn’t healed the blind man in private. Rather, He did in the company of others who could testify about the miraculous sight restoration. No man had ever been able to do what Jesus had done, not even the most pious Jew, and so there was disagreement as to whether Jesus was insane or totally of His right mind. No demon could carry out what Jesus had done and so we get a sense that those siding with Jesus were at least thinking that only a man closely connected with God could gain the power to do something so amazingly good.

And that’s where that scene ends. In verse 22, we find Jesus attending the Feast of Dedication, better known today as Hanukkah, a holy day on the Jewish religious calendar which celebrated the escape from imposed Grecian religious laws, a return to freedom to practice their Jewish faith, and a rededication of the temple after it was recaptured from the Greeks by a group of Jewish warriors called the Maccabees in second century BC. The eight day festival is still celebrated by those of the Jewish faith today in the weeks just before Christmas.

The scriptures tell us it was indeed winter as Jesus found Himself in the “temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade”. It was there that a group of Jews gathered around Him, asking:

“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

To which Jesus replied:

“I did tell you, but you do not believe.”

Jesus did not conceal who He was or why He was doing what He was doing in ministry. He had repeatedly acknowledged He was the One who had been predicted by the prophets, the mighty Messiah who had come to save the people from their oppression. Unfortunately, the Jewish people thought Jesus had come to deliver them from their Roman oppression, not from their sins. They had an image of who the Messiah was in their mind and many were too close minded to see they were wrong, even though Jesus was showing Him He was no ordinary man and doing so in plain sight. Despite His actions and His words, a good portion of the Jewish people, to include their leadership, refused to believe He was who He said He was.

Today, this problem continues. The events surrounding Jesus happened more than 2,000 years ago and as we read the Gospels, we’re reminded that everything Jesus said would happen with Him did happen. Nothing was untrue, no promise went unfulfilled.

And yet, although this is in plain sight of people through the scriptures, people still refuse to believe Jesus was and is who He said He was and is. He is still rejected by the very people He sacrificed all for to save. His salvation offer is right in front of every man and woman on earth and yet so many don’t even give it a thought, as if they don’t care about the most important thing in their life: the consideration of what is going to happen when it ends.

For you see, no one is immortal. Everyone is going to die.

And then everyone is going to live forever in one of two ways.

For those who reject Jesus as Savior, eternal torment awaits. Death is not the end but the start of everlasting suffering.

Conversely, those who place their belief, hope, and trust in Jesus will not perish but rather gain everlasting life (John 3:16), a life spent with God and Jesus forever in glory, light, and love.

Eternal suffering or eternal love.

The pick is up to each of us and is presented in plain sight. I encourage you to not choose suffering and instead accept Jesus as Savior. You’ll never regret that you did.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com