Contemplative Bible Reading

John 10:24 (New Living Translation)

The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

The people didn’t know—for sure. The people wanted to know—at least they claimed to want to know.

Hey Jesus, hit us with a baseball bat (again, did they have baseball bats in Judea 2,000 years ago?). Spell it out. Draw us a picture. We are a bit dense.

Jesus’ reply was sort of, “What do you think of these miracles I’ve been doing? What do you think about the prophecies and my life? A little coincidence?”

Today? We aren’t any better. We look back on those folks and shake our heads. How could they have been so dense? But, really, what do we do? We have good days where we believe and we live like we believe. Then we have other days. That is why I often conclude these little writings with something like, God, help me in my unbelief. God, end the suspense and really get me to live always like I should, like I really believe.

Suspense, it is still with us.