Stress Test Devotional May 11
May 11, 2024
MATTHEW 7:29 | 29 for he taught them as one having authority and not as their scribes.
MATTHEW 8:1-3 | 1 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, 2 and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed.
Given the danger and immense anticipation connected to the rule of God’s Messiah, what was the best way to begin His public work? He might have begun with some insightful parables or some comforting words on God’s love. He might have won credibility by displaying His dazzling debating skills and biblical acumen, besting Jerusalem’s elite Temple scholars. He could have opted for a few demonstrations of His remarkable powers to heal, help, or feed.
Instead, He began in the relative obscurity of Galilee, by calling for repentance and announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God.
What were the advantages of starting as He did?
Gracious God,
We wonder at Your strategy! You chose the quiet weapons of grace and truth to win hearts. You began with humble people in an ordinary place. Help us also to be real rather than grandiose, gentle and not manipulative.
Amen.
