What the Religious Leaders Knew

Every time I read the Gospels, I'm struck by the religious leaders' refusal to believe even in the face of all the evidence that Jesus was the Son of God. They witnessed His miracles. They saw Him raise the dead. In fact, they knew that He Himself rose from the grave. In Matthew 28, after the resurrection, the guards "went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened." Their response was to call a meeting and come up with a plan to cover up the resurrection. 

They knew. If anything should have convinced them that Jesus was who He said He was, it should have been this. He rose from the dead. But instead, they bribed the guards to lie and say the disciples stole His body. But the religious leaders knew what really happened. They knew Jesus was alive.

The same hardheartedness was true of Herod when Jesus was born. He knew Jesus was the Messiah, yet he tried to have Him killed. Otherwise, he would not have called all the teachers of the law together to find out where the Messiah was to be born. Herod knew. He knew the child the wise men were seeking was born to be the savior of the world, and yet, he tried to murder him. 

Knowledge and belief are two different things. 

Knowledge is mental assent that a set of facts are true. Belief is a change in behavior based on that knowledge. It wasn't knowledge that made the disciples follow Jesus. It was belief.

"But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). 

If our belief doesn't change how we live, then it isn't belief. It's mere knowledge, and knowledge alone doesn't make us children of God. It wasn't just knowing that He was the Messiah that made the disciples follow Jesus. It was belief that made them leave their lives behind to follow Him.

Coloring with Jesus

A couple months ago, I had the realization that 1). I never dream about Jesus, and 2). that's really weird because I spend so much time thinking about Him. He's the center of my life. I spend time with Him every day, read His word every day, and try my best to live for him. He is the most important relationship that I have. But instead of dreaming about the Savior I hold dear, I dream about things like rivers full of VHS tapes or labyrinthine houses with really big bathrooms. 

And then, two nights ago, it finally happened. I dreamed about Jesus. We were coloring, Jesus and I. I was coloring a picture of Jesus--while coloring with Jesus. We only had four crayons. He passed me the blue crayon so I could color His sash. And then I drew brown hair on the picture (the Jesus picture was bald and cleanshaven). 

That was it. Nothing miraculous happened. Nothing spiritual. Just coloring--but I loved it. I like the version of John 14:2 that says, "In my Father's house there are many rooms" (NIV). Oh, I'd take a mansion, to be sure (as many other versions tell it). But the idea that we're going to stay in His Father's house with Him makes heaven seem much more like going home to live with family. Jesus is my King, my Savior, and my Lord--but He's also my brother and my friend. I like the idea of doing mundane sibling things with Him. I want to share crayons and color pictures. I want to eat cereal and play board games. I want to laugh with Him.

But, in the meantime, I'll sit at His feet every day and talk with Him about life. I'll learn to listen to His voice. And, hopefully, I'll see Him in my dreams.