January 23rd, 2023
Scripture
Devotion
Jesus proclaimed to the people of His day that He was “the way and the truth and the life” and that this meant “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus proclaimed, in effect, that He was the Messiah, the “Holy One of God” (John 6:69), that had come to save His people. How did the people of Jesus’ day know that He was telling the truth? How did they know that Jesus was truly the one He said He was? The ones that believed Him knew by faith. By God’s grace they were given the faith to believe what He said (Ephesians 2:8).
The faith of the early believers, however, was grounded in more than just what Jesus said about Himself. It was also grounded in what Jesus did. As our verse for today says, God did miracles, wonders, and signs through Jesus. Jesus was accredited by God. That is, He was officially recognized by God to be the one He said He was by the miracles, wonders, and signs He performed. Even so, the gift of faith was still necessary. Not everyone who saw the miracles He performed believed in Him.
What about now? Jesus lived a long time ago. How do those of us who believe in Him know that He was who He said He was? We know in the same way the early believers knew. We know by faith. God has graciously given us the gift of faith and we have come to believe. We read what the Bible says about Jesus, we listen to sermons about Him, and we believe what we read and hear. Indeed, since none of us saw Jesus’ earthly ministry, we need even more faith. Jesus Himself said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
Like the early believers, however, our faith is grounded in more than just words. Miracles, wonders, and signs done in the name of Jesus, or prayed for in the name of Jesus, still happen among us all the time. We shouldn’t be surprised by this, for Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12).
Jesus, in other words, is still being accredited by God right before our very eyes.
Inspirational Image of the Day