Good News – Things Aren’t Always as They Appear
Good news doesn’t always come the way we expect. Too many times, it comes from unexpected places and surprising people. Add to that; it can happen at unexpected times.
I have learned over the years, Jesus Christ is good news. Jesus is the best news I have ever received.
In reading Luke 7:20-23, I read the following footnotes, and I understand the passage better. Let’s review the passage first and then check out what the notes say:
Scripture to look at
Luke 7:20-23, “When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
At that very time, Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
Let’s check out the footnotes.
“John the Baptist had announced the coming of the Messiah, but now he himself had been languishing in prison for months, and the work of Jesus had not brought the results John expected.
His disappointment was natural. He wanted reassurance – and perhaps also wanted to urge Jesus to further action.
In answer to John the Baptist, Jesus pointed to his healing and life-restoring miracles. He did not give promises but clearly observable evidence -evidence that reflected the predictive ministry of the Messiah.
In Jesus’ review of his works, he used an ascending scale of impressive deeds, ending with the dead raised and the good news preached to the poor.”
In this way, Jesus reminded John that these were the things predicted of the Messiah in the Scriptures (see Isaiah 29:18–21; 35:5-6).
Take away
One of the things that speak to me is that some things don’t always appear to be what we think they should be; Christ is doing what he knows they are to be.
Not everything will look the way we want it to look, and not everything will go the way we want it to go, but we should not be discouraged because one greater than us already knows the story, he knows the ending.
And that my friend is where and in whom my hope rests, in the one who knows the future, the one who came, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Bridge to Grace – a nonfiction novel
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