There is nothing new about rumors and people being convinced of things that aren\u2019t true:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One time, when Jesus was praying in a quiet place with his disciples nearby, he came over to them and asked, \u201cWho do people think I am?” They answered, \u201cSome are convinced you\u2019re the prophet John who has returned. Others say you are Elijah, or perhaps one of the Jewish prophets brought back from the dead.\u201d<\/em> (Luke 9:18-19 (Passion Translation<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are people who had seen Jesus, experienced Jesus, maybe even been healed by Jesus. As is indicated in the next verse, he hadn\u2019t told them his identity yet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus asked them, \u201cBut who do you believe that I am?\u201dPeter said, \u201cYou are the Anointed One, God\u2019s Messiah!\u201d Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone yet, saying, \u201cThe Son of Man is destined to experience great suffering and face complete rejection by the Jewish leaders and religious hierarchy. He will be killed and raised back to life on the third day.\u201d (Luke 9.20 – 22, Passion Translation)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He did tell a few people: the disciples, the woman at the well in John 4, the blind man in John 9. The demons in Mark 5 (Luke 8) knew.\u00a0But if too many people knew, the Jewish leaders would have had a hard time crucifying him – the very reason he came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If someone is convinced of something that is false, how do they become unconvinced of that and convinced of the truth? The high school student<\/a> I’m tutoring in math did it again. He thought that 10.5 squared plus 17 squared equals 37.5 squared, which it doesn\u2019t (take out your calculator and check!). I said, \u201cSon, I hate it when you do that.\u201d So we did the arithmetic and then the algebra of (a plus b)-squared equals a-squared plus b-squared plus 2ab. Will that be enough? A rebuke and two demonstrations? Or will he revert to his own ideas again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe came unto his own, and his own received him not.\u201d (John 1.11, KJV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone has an opinion, and they think they have a right to that opinion and that it\u2019s just as likely to be right as anyone else\u2019s. But there is truth. Math works a certain way. Jesus really is the Anointed One, God\u2019s Messiah. But his mission was not the one people thought it should be. There\u2019s another mismatch. This is why there were a lot of crowds during his ministry and only 120 in the upper room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And part of the \u201cgreater works<\/a>\u201d that I wrote about a few days ago is that thousands of people believed after <\/em>Jesus ascended. Only 120 believed while he was here. The work can be done. It has been done down through history.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4.33, ESV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, \u201cGo away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.\u201d (Acts 24.24, 25, ESV – we don’t know what happened to Felix after this and subsequent conversations)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is nothing new about rumors and people being convinced of things that aren\u2019t true: One time, when Jesus was praying in a quiet place with his disciples nearby, he came over to them and asked, \u201cWho do people think I am?” They answered, \u201cSome are convinced you\u2019re the prophet John who has returned. Others … Continue reading Teaching Truth<\/span>