Hearing the voice of Jesus

 

In the earliest days of the new Church, the disciples were spreading the good news everywhere. They recognized that Jesus was Christ and wanted to share the news.  They followed Him and knew Him.  They were the first to call themselves Christians because they recognized and followed Christ.  It was a new beginning and a new faith.  But not everyone recognized and not everyone believed.  There was a lot of persecution and not everyone wanted to hear about what had happened and who Jesus was (Acts 11:19-26).

In the gospel, the Jews ask Jesus straight out if He is the Christ.  He says that He’s told them that He is and that He’s shown them in many ways, but still they won’t see and won’t believe.  Jesus says that they’re not His followers because they don’t believe, and because they don’t believe they’re not His followers.  His followers recognize Him and believe Him and believe in Him.  Like sheep recognize their shepherd and follow him, His people recognize Him and follow Him (John 10:22-30).  

It’s hard to imagine that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day wouldn’t easily accept Jesus as the Messiah – His followers knew, just by His words, His actions, His teachings.  They doubted that this man truly was the Son of God!  But how would we react if someone came into our midst, sharing the teachings as Jesus did – would we immediately accept his word that he was the one true King?

We see our doubts flourish as we enter into decisions in our own lives – election choices that will bring our nation to its fullest, choosing the leaders we need to better our own communities and our churches, even personal decisions within our own families.  We’ve seen families and friendships fall away because of political and opinionated discourse.  And it’s a difficult path, at times, to decipher truth from untruth.  But I personally would treasure a chance to hear Jesus preach, feeling the depth of His love in every word, wanting so desperately to see Him rise.  Yet, if we really think about it, that’s the experience we can enjoy every day!  We hear His words every time we open a bible, and He arose in a way that has given strength and hope for us, and for future generations.

There must be prayer with every decision we make, and there must be a trust that the one true leader is Jesus Christ Himself.  He’ll take care of the rest, and through prayerful discernment, we’ll come to a place in this world where fear and doubt will no longer exist but be replaced by an undoubtable trust.

At least that’s my prayer and my confident hope, anyway.