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By Mike Caton

John 10:24, “The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’”

We all like a direct answer, don’t we? (Unless it is something we don’t want to hear.) But when people beat around the bush, talk in circles and say things in ways that we really can’t understand, it is unpleasant at best. Sometimes the issue is not that they are speaking unclearly, but that we are not listening closely enough. Jesus did use many figures of speech, parables and so forth. But his intent was not to hide the truth, but to make the truth clear to those who were willing to hear it. If anyone has ears to hear, he said, let them hear.

But too often we miss out on the point. We want Jesus to be who we want him to be, to fit our mold, to reinforce the points we want emphasized. You see, even though these people had heard the things Jesus has been teaching, they somehow missed the point. The immediate context here is Jesus speaking about good shepherds and he says he is the ultimate good shepherd. And he spoke those words specifically to the Pharisees, but they did not understand. Maybe they didn’t want to understand, maybe their minds were already made up about Jesus, maybe they simply didn’t listen to what he said.

Before we condemn those men to harshly, let’s make sure we are not doing the same thing. To be clear, we need to take a strong stand on Jesus Christ, we need to commit ourselves to him and we need to live our lives showing that commitment and those convictions. And we cannot allow every wind that blows to change us, to sway us and blow us off course. But we need to continue to listen and learn the truth about Jesus. There is no one who knows it all, no one who has it all figured out. We need to go to God’s word and we need to continue to listen and to look for the truth God reveals to us there. We need to be willing to hear the truth.

Father, help me hear you clearly. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works part time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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