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John 10:40-42  Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days.  There he stayed, and many people came to him.  They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.”  And in that place many believed in Jesus.

The inhabitants of the land of Israel in Jesus’ time were confronted by two significant figures who were an enigma to them: one was John, and the other was Jesus himself.  John had a very imposing ‘presence’, speaking with great conviction and authority, calling God’s ‘chosen people’ to urgent repentance, and pointing them to his cousin, Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph, as their God’s promised Messiah.  John’s claims appeared very convincing, but they lacked the support of the ‘religious establishment’, and this created a massive problem for them!

Jesus, on the other hand, appeared to fit John’s claims in so many clear ways, but he too lacked the ‘official’ imprimatur!

Two things obviously emanated from this: firstly, the populace generally, under the strong influence of the official ‘status quo’, tried to keep their eyes closed to all the evidence around them and remained ‘comfortable’ in their ‘this-is-the-way-we’ve-always-done-it’ lifestyle, unmoved by either John or Jesus and their words and actions; secondly there were those who took note of what was going on around them and were truly challenged by the strong evidence – and they believed.

This scenario sounds to me to be pretty much like the milieu in which we live and serve today.  One advantage we have over the populace in Jesus’ day is that we have the Scriptures in our mother tongue, so, like the Christians in Berea (Acts 17:11), we can “examine[d] the Scriptures every day to see if [the claims of Christianity and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ] are true.”

Those of us who have been moved to do this, and have consequently committed our lives to being faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, are called on to point people to Jesus, just as John did, and to expect that, among the general populace who show little or no interest, there will also be some who come to believe in Jesus.  Jesus gave clear instruction to all who would turn to him in repentance-and-faith: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In the strength of this command, and in the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, let us press on with our testimony concerning Jesus, pointing people to him and trusting the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to the evidence.

– Bruce Christian