Daily Devotional for Friday 3rd May
Divinity or insanity?
These days it happens a lot faster with all the social media channels, but even in Jesus’ days conspiracy theories clearly abounded. His family had probably heard the Pharisee’s explanation of how He could act with such authority, break their religious codes, and miraculously heal people. This power, they concluded, was because He was possessed by Beelzebub v22.
Then they were also hearing the stories of the crowds that gathered and the trouble He got into in the synagogues and so Jesus’ family concluded that He was having a mental health crisis. They seek to help Him by physically taking Him out of what they perceive as a dangerous situation.
Jesus’ family may have been confused by what was going on, but the religious authorities should have known better. The mounting evidence of Jesus demonstrating God’s mighty power at work must have been obvious to them and yet they chose to suppress this and tried to discredit Jesus. They even suggest this explanation that He is in league with the devil.
To put the facts straight Jesus points out that you need to have a power stronger than Satan to deliver people from demonic spirits; being one yourself just doesn’t work. It’s because Jesus is God incarnate that He has that power and yet the religious authorities, with their hardened hearts, are just not prepared to see it.
It must have hurt Jesus to have His family get things wrong, but remember that later on His mother and some of His brothers became His followers, with James ultimately leading the church in Jerusalem.
Time to reflect…
How careful are we when it comes to passing on things that we have heard or come across on social media? Are we sure that what we’re passing on is accurate?
Pause to pray…
Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes what we see in the world around us can seem very confusing. Please open our eyes to see you at work and understand your plan for our lives. Thank you that we are always safe in your hands. In your name, we pray. Amen.
