John 5:25

Jesus can call the dead to life both physically and spiritually – this is a solemn Truth. I am reminded of Jesus’ response to John the Baptist’s query found in Matthew asking if Jesus was indeed the One to come. Perhaps the Baptist was discouraged sitting in the prison cell, perhaps he had become confused. He who had once recognized Jesus to be the Messiah now needed the Truth to be reaffirmed in his soul. Isn’t it easy to get discouraged in the midst of our circumstances and then become confused? I love the way Jesus responds to his question:

2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." Matt 11:2-6 (NIV)

Jesus refuses to give a yes or no answer to the question choosing rather to site His works and let them speak for themselves. The coming Messiah’s actions had been prophesized by the prophet Isaiah and Jesus clearly demonstrated He was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words:

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Isaiah 35:5-6 (NIV)

6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7 (NIV)

Jesus came as the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise to Israel and also as a Light to the Gentiles. Spiritually unredeemed Israel and Gentiles alike are blind captives living in darkness – spiritually dead in their sins yet Jesus says that those who hear will live. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans:

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 (NIV)

Isaiah proclaims:

7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" Isaiah 52:7 (NIV)

God’s gracious offer of reconciliation by righteousness through faith is held out to all – Jew and Gentile alike yet sadly many do not accept this Good News – many fail to respond. It is a very sad and discouraging thing to the message bearer of God’s Word for the Word not to be embraced. It is even sadder for those who turn a deaf ear to the Truth.

“We receive only one life during which we have many chances to come to know God. We are the biggest fools of all if we make the eternal mistake of rejecting the truth that God has communicated to us.” Billy Graham

“Willful unbelief only is damnable, and not the weak faith of a fearful and tempted believer. If I do not reject the ransom of Christ, my Surety, but feel my utter need of it, and am heartily desirous to accept it by faith, God can no more reject me than he can reject my Surety, or his own eternal decree. Yet, since I have very weak faith, and am often ready to sink into despair, it passeth my understanding to conceive how I can depart this life in peace. But as thy peace is said to pass all understanding (Philippians 4:7), it is sufficient to keep the weakest and most fearful soul; because it is not by any power of our own, but solely by thy Divine power, that we shall ‘be kept through faith unto salvation.’” K. H. Von Bogatzky

“I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” John Newton

Isaiah paints the following picture of our rejected Savior with his words below:

1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:1-6 (NIV)

He simply did not fit the mold of a Monarch – no beauty, no majesty, sorrowful and suffering, despised and not esteemed – easily dismissed by the religious leaders of His day – easily dismissed in our day as well. Nevertheless, the promise of God’s Word remains true: “Those who hear will live” and “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” C. S. Lewis