Jesus Appeared To Be The Christ

What Did Jesus Do?

Yet many believed in him, saying, “When the Christ appears,
will he do more than this man has done?”
John 7.31

When you are waiting for the Savior, you don't want to be taken in by an imposter, salvation is such a big deal, after all. The people in Jerusalem, and their ancestors, had been waiting for the Messiah for hundreds of years, the hopes of a nation were invested in the coming of God's Anointed One. But the people were just not sure what to think about Jesus. Jesus appeared to be the Christ, but...

On the one hand, Jesus was just about Public Enemy #1 as far as the Jewish authorities were concerned. But there he was, speaking openly in the temple, and no one was willing to confront him. Perhaps the folks in charge actually believed that Jesus was in fact the Christ? (John 7.26)

But he couldn't be the Messiah, could he? When the Messiah comes, he will just sort of appear mysteriously from nowhere. But this Jesus, well, everyone knew where he grew up and where he came from! How could he be the Christ? (John 7.27). Of course, as Jesus pointed out, they only thought they knew where he had come from, and who had sent him. The truth was, they didn't know the Father, so they could not really know the Son, could they? (John 7.28). It really caused a lot of confusion, and though the folks in charge would have dearly loved to place Jesus under arrest, they didn't, for the time being. (John 7.30)

And so, many people actually started to believe in Jesus. As far as they understood, it sure looked like Jesus could be the Christ. They simply couldn't imagine the Christ doing any more than Jesus had done. (John 7.31) From Nazareth or not, Jesus sure seemed to fit the bill. Oh, they could wait and see if another Messiah showed up, but how could anyone hope to top Jesus? And, if Jesus were the Christ, and they didn't believe in him, well wouldn't they be making a terrible mistake!

In two thousand years things really haven't changed all that much. Some people think they know from history all there is to know about Jesus, though they refuse to believe at all what the Bible says of the Father and the Son, and they dismiss the possibility of Jesus or anyone being a Savior. Others would still love to just remove the Lord from the picture entirely, and eliminate Christ, and Christianity, altogether. Still others, having asked themselves if anyone else could ever do more than what Jesus did for our salvation, accept him as their Lord and Savior.

The old saying goes, “If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, there is a strong likelihood that it's a duck.” The thing about Jesus is, he looked, and walked, and talked, and acted just like the Christ was supposed to. To come to the conclusion that he could possibly be anyone else is worse than foolish. Yet many still have a “wait and see” attitude, and keep looking for another savior to come along, who would somehow better suit them than the Lord. Jesus may have defied appearances (see WDJD for 3/9/11), but he was precisely who he appeared to be. Though looks may sometimes be deceiving, take a good look at Jesus, you'll never see anyone who looks and sounds and acts more like the Savior.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4