September 13

September 13.Jesus Healing in Jerusalem -- Jesus heals at a feast & claims to be God

Today's Readings:

Reading 1: John 5

Reading 2: John 8:56-59

Reading 3: John 10:29-33

It is impossible to be half-hearted about Jesus! He does not leave us that option. His claims about His relationship with God and His authority to do God’s will means that either He is deluded, or He is trying to deceive, or He is telling the truth. As C.S. Lewis wrote: "Jesus is mad, bad, or God". We cannot realistically hold any other position about Him if we take His words in these passages as true.

A man who heals the sick is hardly evil, and a deluded man would not have such demonstrable power, so the logical conclusion has to be that Jesus is who He says He is. Not a son of God, not a representative of God, but God Himself in human form.

And then we have a challenge - how will we live if we believe this? Clearly it would be folly not to obey the instructions and example of God incarnate.

May you be blessed and encouraged by Jesus’ words today, and live differently knowing that you are a friend of God!

Have a great day!

Mark.