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\ / WHAT JESUS DID! -- http://www.heartlight.org/
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
Proof Positive
Jesus answered, "Go back to John and tell him about the
things that you hear and see: Blind people are able to see
again; crippled people are able to walk again; people that
have leprosy are healed; deaf people can hear again; dead
people are raised from death; and the Good News is told to
the poor people."
-- Matthew 11:4-5 (ERV)
KEY THOUGHT:
John the Baptist had preached about a fiery judgment on the enemies of
God's people and a mighty Messiah who would bring deliverance for God's
people. His confusion about Jesus' role as Messiah was natural. Like
everyone in Matthew who chooses a one-dimensional view of the Messiah,
he will miss Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus reaches into the
prophet Isaiah's promises about the Messiah and identifies himself. The
background of the prophet's expectation is both judgment and mercy:
defeat for the evil ones and deliverance for God's people. The great
reminder to us is that a simple, single-sided view of Jesus as Messiah
will be lacking. Our hearts must be open to God's plan for the Messiah
and not our own sense of what he should do. As we come to know Jesus as
both Lord and Christ, we understand that he fulfills the expectations
of the prophets for the Messiah, but he is also Sovereign. We do not
write the definition; we follow obediently the one who fulfills all
God's promises.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Almighty God -- who spoke and the universe was hung in the great
expanse, who promised through your prophets and it was so -- please
give me a heart full of faith to follow and see in Jesus the
fulfillment of all your promises. I don't want to fashion Jesus into my
idea of a Messiah, but I want him to be my Lord and Christ. It is
through his holy name I pray. Amen.
>> NEW: Phil's What Jesus Did devotional is now
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>> The WJD! web page has related scriptures and the
>> full text of today's key passage. Read it at:
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/0516-wjd.html
>> For further study of today's passage, use our
>> online Bible study site: SearchGodsWord.org!
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+11:4-5&sr=1&t=erv
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