Photo by martin sanchez
By Mike Chaffin
Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
John 4:1
Sometimes you just know things. When my oldest grandson was 4 years old, I would ask him second grade math questions. He knew the answers. One day after an extensive quizzing, (which he aced), I asked him how he knew the answers. He replied, “I just know stuff grandpa.”
No person had to tell Jesus what the Pharisees knew. He just knew. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. But he was also a prophet. He told the people from his hometown as much. (Matthew 13:57)
A true prophet is filled with the Holy Spirit and hears from God and reveals knowledge as needed. There are several examples of Jesus knowing information that no person had revealed. Perhaps the first recorded example is when He met Nathanael for the first time.
Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” John 1:48-49
The New Testament is replete with examples of Jesus’s foreknowledge. Perhaps the most memorable is when he met the Samaritan woman at the well. This takes place right after our key verse.
The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. John 4:17-19
For the full story read John 4:5-26. In this passage Jesus tells her plainly He is the Messiah.
As we learned in the 35th Most Referenced Verse on the Internet, a prophet is one of the five major gifts of the Spirit. This is one such way the gift is used; to show someone the power of God to effectively witness to them. In both instances doubters were turned into believers. The same can and does happen today.
Prayer: Dear Lord, the Bible says we can pray for the gifts of the Spirit. You tell us to ask and receive so our joy can be full. Lord, we ask for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the appropriate gift to further your kingdom and be a good steward. In Jesus’ name, amen.
* There is a website that conducted a search for Bible verses. They compiled a list of the verses in order of the magnitude of hits they got in their search. Some of these verses probably qualify as ‘people’s favorites’, while others might be on the list because they are some of the most important and most teachable words of God.
