first the gate

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 10:1-6

1 “I am honestly telling you, the one not entering the sheep pen by the gate but comes in some other way is a thief and a bandit.
2 The one who is entering by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.”
6 Jesus gave them this illustration, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

first the gate

John places the story of the healed blind man and the teaching about the shepherds side by side because they interpret one another. The man who had been cast out by the religious authorities becomes the living backdrop for Jesus’ words about true and false shepherds. The contrast is sharp. The leaders who claimed to guard the flock had just expelled a man for daring to confess the One who healed him. They insisted they were Moses’ disciples, yet they could not recognize the work of God standing before them. Their actions revealed that they had not entered through the gate at all.

Against that scene, Jesus’ imagery becomes unmistakable. A true shepherd enters by the gate—meaning he comes into leadership through the way God has appointed. He does not climb in by ambition, tradition, or self‑authorization. He does not seize authority by force or protect his status by intimidation. He comes through the gate, and in this analogy the gate is Christ Himself. Only those who have submitted to Him, been shaped by Him, and been called by Him can lead His flock rightly. The healed man had just experienced the opposite: leaders who had never come through the gate, yet claimed the right to judge him.

Later in the chapter Jesus will identify Himself as the good shepherd, the One who lays down His life for the sheep. But before He makes that claim, He establishes the principle that all legitimate shepherds must first be followers. They must know His voice before they can guide others. They must walk behind Him before they can walk ahead of the flock. The healed man’s story illustrates this truth vividly. He recognized Jesus’ voice even before he saw His face. The leaders, though trained and respected, could not hear that voice at all.

The foundational application is clear. Leadership in the church is not a matter of skill, position, or heritage. It is a matter of relationship—real, living, obedient relationship with Christ. Those who lead without that relationship inevitably harm the flock. Those who lead from within that relationship reflect the heart of the true Shepherd.

LORD, before leadership is attempted, teach the people of God how to genuinely follow You.

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disabilities and judgment

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 9:34-41

34 They answered and said to him, “You were born completely in sin, and are you teaching us?” Then they threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 That person answered and said, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”
37 Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.
39 Then Jesus said, “I came into this world to execute judgment; the results will be the ones not seeing will see and the ones seeing will become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We are seeing,’ your sin stays.

disabilities and judgment

The experience of limping, feeling exposed, and sensing the subtle withdrawal of others creates a window into the world of the man born blind. Physical limitation does more than slow the body; it presses on the mind, reshapes social interactions, and awakens a quiet vulnerability. Even when the cause is purely medical, the emotional weight can feel heavier than the injury itself. What is known intellectually—that disability carries no moral stigma—does not always align with what is felt in the moment. The man in John 9 lived under that weight his entire life. Every glance, every whispered assumption, every avoided interaction reinforced the belief that his condition marked him as spiritually inferior.

Even after receiving sight, the old patterns lingered. People still treated him as an anomaly, a theological puzzle, or a problem to be solved. The miracle did not erase the memory of years spent under judgment. Yet Jesus reframed the entire situation. The issue was never the man’s blindness. The true judgment fell on those who claimed to see clearly yet refused to recognize the work of God standing before them. The ones who dismissed him, questioned him, and condemned him revealed their own blindness. Their certainty became their downfall.

Jesus’ words at the end of the chapter expose this reversal. Those who admit their need receive sight; those who insist on their own clarity remain in darkness. Grace flows toward the humble, the wounded, the overlooked. Judgment rests on the proud, the self‑assured, the ones who refuse to acknowledge the Light. The healed man becomes a living parable of this truth. His physical restoration mirrors the spiritual awakening that comes to all who encounter Christ. His growing boldness reflects the deepening clarity that accompanies faith. His worship at the end of the story shows the natural response of a heart that has finally seen the One who touched it.

The same dynamic unfolds today. God’s grace continues to rest on those who seek sight, who acknowledge need, who depend on the revelation given in Christ. The real dividing line is not disability or weakness but the response to Jesus Himself. Those who reject Him remain under judgment. Those who believe find themselves drawn into worship, just as the healed man was.

Lord, we believe, and worship You.

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The amazing thing

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 9:24-33

24 That was why they summoned the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 That was why that person answered, “If he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I am seeing!”
26 That was why they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I said it to you already and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
28 They insulted him, and said “You’re that person’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples.
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this person– we don’t know where he’s from.”
30 The man answered them, “Well, here is the amazing thing!; You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does what he wants, he listens to him.
32 From the age past, no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.
33 If this person were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

The amazing thing

The healed man’s bewilderment in John 9 carries a quiet ache. He knew what had happened to him. He knew the darkness he had lived in since birth, and he knew the sudden, overwhelming brightness that flooded his world after Jesus touched him. Gratitude shaped every word he spoke. What he could not understand was the reaction of those who should have understood best. The disciples of Moses—trained interpreters of Scripture, guardians of tradition, men who claimed to know the ways of God—looked straight at a miracle and refused to acknowledge its source. Their eyes were open, yet they could not see.

That tension remains one of the great mysteries of the human heart. Many read the Gospels, admire Jesus’ compassion, marvel at His authority, and acknowledge the beauty of His teaching. They may even concede that His works were extraordinary. Yet they stop short of confessing that He is who He claimed to be. The evidence is before them, but the will resists. The healed man’s question echoes across the centuries: How can those who know so much refuse to believe?

The irony is sharp. The man who had lived in literal darkness recognized the Light immediately. Those who claimed spiritual sight were blinded by their own assumptions. The miracle forced a decision, and the religious leaders chose to protect their system rather than surrender to the truth standing before them. The healed man could not fathom such resistance. He expected that anyone who saw what he had seen would draw the same conclusion he had drawn: only God could do this.

The same astonishment arises today. The world is filled with testimonies of transformed lives—addictions broken, bitterness healed, relationships restored, hearts softened, hope awakened. The fingerprints of Christ are visible everywhere His grace has touched a life. Yet many observers attribute these changes to discipline, therapy, maturity, or coincidence. Anything but Jesus. The reluctance to believe is not intellectual; it is spiritual. The human heart resists surrender until the Spirit opens it.

That there are not more believers is indeed a staggering reality. But the story of the healed man also offers hope. Some who resist today may yet believe tomorrow. Some who question now may one day bow in worship. The same Jesus who opened blind eyes continues to draw people to Himself through His words and by His Spirit.

Lord, draw people to Yourself through Your words, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, before the day of grace closes.

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Why don’t we ask

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 9:17-23

17 That’s why they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes? ” But he said “He’s a prophet.” 18 The Jews did not believe this about him — that he was blind and received sight — until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight. 19 They asked them, “Is this person your son, the one you say was born blind? How is it that he now sees? ” 20 That was why his parents answered, “We know this person is our son and that he was born blind, 21 But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he has reached maturity. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 This is why his parents said, “He has reached maturity; ask him.”

Why don’t we ask

The narrative slows again at this point in John 9, and the pause exposes something deeply human. When God works in a life, the change is rarely subtle. Others notice. They may not understand it, but they recognize that something has shifted—habits, attitudes, speech, priorities, even the light in the eyes. The neighbors of the healed man saw it immediately. His parents saw it. The Pharisees saw it. No one could deny the transformation. What they could deny—what they did deny—was the source.

That dynamic has not changed. A person may be commended for new self‑control, for unexpected compassion, for wisdom that seems beyond natural ability. Friends may applaud the improvement. Family may appreciate the stability. Coworkers may admire the integrity. But few will take the next step and acknowledge that Jesus is the One who has done the work. Like the parents in the story, many will reach for any explanation except the obvious one. In their case, fear of the authorities kept them silent. In many cases today, it is the pressure to appear sophisticated, independent, or religiously neutral. Society is comfortable with self‑help, therapy, discipline, or personal growth. It is far less comfortable with divine intervention.

Yet the parents’ instinct—to let the man speak for himself—contains a kind of unintended wisdom. The person who has been changed is the one who knows the truth most clearly. Even then, the explanation may not be polished. The man born blind could not articulate a theology of Christ. He simply said, “I was blind, now I see.” Many believers find themselves in the same position. The inner transformation is undeniable, even if the language to describe it is still forming. Sanctification is mysterious. Grace is not easily dissected. The Spirit’s work often exceeds vocabulary.

Still, the witness of a changed life remains one of the most powerful testimonies in the world. People may resist doctrinal claims, but they cannot easily dismiss a life that has been reshaped by the touch of Christ. The healed man’s courage grew as he spoke. His clarity sharpened. His conviction deepened. The same pattern unfolds whenever believers speak honestly about what God has done, even if the explanation feels incomplete.

The work of God is unmistakable, even when unacknowledged. And the God who works in hidden ways also supplies the words when questions arise.

LORD, continue Your mysterious work among Your people, and grant a clear and humble answer to all who inquire about the hope within.

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Don’t give up on skeptics

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 9:12-16

12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”
13 They brought the once blind man to the Pharisees.
14 But it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15 That was why the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”
16 That was why some of the Pharisees said, “This person is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a schism among them.

Don’t give up on skeptics

John’s choice of the word σχίσμα is deliberate. It is not a mild disagreement or a polite theological difference. It is a tear, a rip, a fracture running straight through the Pharisaic community. These men prided themselves on unity of interpretation, precision of tradition, and absolute loyalty to the inherited framework of the law. Yet Jesus’ actions—especially His Sabbath healings—forced them into a crisis. They believed healing came from God, yet they could not reconcile that conviction with a man who refused to stay within the boundaries they had drawn around the law. Their categories could not contain Him.

Some Pharisees concluded that no one who violated Sabbath regulations could be from God. Others, confronted with the undeniable reality of a man born blind now seeing, could not dismiss Jesus so easily. The tension between these two instincts—defend tradition or acknowledge the miracle—created a裂, a split that would not heal quickly. John wants readers to feel the pressure of that moment. The Light of the world had stepped into their midst, and the brilliance of His mercy exposed the inadequacy of their rigid system.

That division did not disappear when the conversation ended. It lingered in the minds of many, especially those like Saul of Tarsus, who wrestled fiercely with the implications of Jesus’ works. The seeds of doubt about their own assumptions were planted by the very acts of compassion they tried to suppress. Over time, those seeds sprouted into faith for some. The kindness of Jesus—His willingness to touch the untouchable, heal the broken, and restore the outcast—spoke more powerfully than their long‑held presuppositions. His mercy undermined their categories until the categories themselves collapsed.

This dynamic continues in every generation. Skeptics rarely change because of arguments alone. They change because they encounter lives transformed by grace, compassion that cannot be explained naturally, and integrity that challenges their assumptions. A godly life becomes a living contradiction to unbelief. Quiet acts of mercy, unexpected forgiveness, patient endurance, and unselfish love create fissures in hardened worldviews. Over time, those fissures widen into openings through which the light of Christ enters.

The division among the Pharisees reminds the church not to abandon those who resist or question. Some are closer to faith than they appear. The Spirit may already be troubling their certainty, using the witness of transformed lives to draw them toward Christ.

LORD, teach the people of God to love the lost so deeply that they dare to trust the testimony of grace.

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I see — I want to see Jesus

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 9:6-12

6 After he said these things he spat on the ground, and made some mud from the saliva, and smeared the mud on his eyes.
7 Then he told him,”leave, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?”
9 Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one.”
10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Leave for Siloam and wash.’ After I went away and washed I received sight.”
12 They said to him, “Where is that person?” He said, “I don’t know.”

I see — I want to see Jesus

The story of the man born blind slows down at a crucial point, and that pause is full of meaning. After receiving sight, he still has not actually seen the One who healed him. Jesus touched him while he was blind, sent him away to wash, and by the time he returned with restored vision, Jesus was no longer in front of him. The miracle had happened, but the Miracle‑Worker was hidden. What followed was a season of testing in which the man had to decide what he believed about the One who had changed him, even though he could not see Him.

That pattern mirrors the experience of believers across the ages. Christ has touched the inner life, awakened spiritual sight, and brought a clarity that was impossible before. Yet the One who gave that sight is not presently visible. Faith must operate in the space between the touch of grace and the face‑to‑face encounter still to come. The man born blind was questioned, pressured, and even threatened, but he held to the truth he knew: something had happened to him that only God could do. That conviction sustained him until Jesus revealed Himself openly.

Believers live in that same interval. The risen Christ has acted decisively, opening eyes that were once darkened, enabling recognition of truth, beauty, holiness, and the reality of God’s kingdom. That new sight creates longing—an ache to see the One who made such transformation possible. The absence of physical sight does not weaken faith; it intensifies desire. The heart knows it has been changed. The conscience knows it has been cleansed. The mind knows it has been illuminated. These inner certainties compel perseverance while waiting for the day when Christ appears and confirms every hope.

The blind man’s journey also illustrates the witness entrusted to the church. He did not yet see Jesus, but he spoke boldly about what Jesus had done. His testimony grew clearer as the opposition grew stronger. In the same way, those who have been touched by Christ are called to guide others toward Him—not by possessing all answers, but by faithfully declaring what His grace has accomplished. Spiritual beggars still sit in darkness, unaware that the Light of the world is near. Those who have received sight become guides, pointing others toward the One who heals.

LORD, lead the people of God to bring every blind beggar into the presence of the true Light.

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is it still night?

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 9:1-5

1 And as he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 and his disciples asked him this: “Rabbi, who sinned, this person or his parents, so that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered “Neither this man sinned nor his parents; but he was born that way so that God’s works might be displayed in him.
4 We must work the works of him who sent me while day lasts. A night is coming when no one will be able to work.
5 As long as I am with the world, I am the light of the world.”

is it still night?

Jesus’ words about the coming night, spoken in the context of His healing of the man born blind, carry a weight that reaches far beyond that moment. He described a time when “no one can work,” a period in which the visible, public ministry of the Messiah would be withdrawn. That night was not the age of the church, nor the era after Pentecost, nor the long stretch of history in which the Spirit empowers Christ’s people. The night He spoke of was the brief but terrible interval between His arrest and His resurrection—when the Light of the world would be taken, when the Shepherd would be struck, and when the disciples would scatter in confusion and fear. During that night, the works of God through the incarnate Son would cease, not because divine power had diminished, but because redemption required His suffering.

After the resurrection and especially after Pentecost, the pattern reverses. Instead of night, Scripture describes dawn. Instead of withdrawal, there is outpouring. Instead of silence, there is proclamation. The book of Acts records miracle after miracle—healings, deliverances, prophetic words, signs, wonders, and boldness that could only come from the Spirit of the risen Christ. These events are not presented as rare exceptions but as the normal overflow of the Spirit’s presence in the early church. The absence of miracles in the short window between the ascension and Pentecost is not a theological statement about a powerless age; it is a narrative pause before the floodgates open.

The present age is therefore not the night Jesus warned about. It is the age of the Spirit, the age in which the risen Christ continues His works through His body. The same Spirit who empowered Jesus’ earthly ministry now indwells believers. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead animates the church. The same Spirit who fell at Pentecost has not been withdrawn. Scripture never suggests that the Spirit’s power would diminish before the Lord’s return. Instead, it describes a people called to walk in faith, to pray boldly, to minister compassionately, and to expect God to act in ways that display His kingdom.

The night Jesus spoke of has passed. The Light has risen. The Spirit has been given. The works of God continue wherever faith meets obedience and the presence of Christ is welcomed.

LORD, reveal the fullness of Your power at work within the people of God, and lead into every work You desire to accomplish among us.

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gospel lessons in the temple

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Jefferson Vann


John 8:48-59

48 The Jews answered and said to him, “Aren’t we saying it right that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?”
49 Jesus answered”I do not have a demon, but I am honoring my Father and you are dishonoring me.
50 I am not seeking my own glory; the one who is seeking and judging it is.
51 I am honestly telling you, if anyone keeps my message, he will certainly not experience permanent death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my message, he will not taste permanent death.’
53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. My Father– about whom you say, ‘He is our God’– he is the one who is glorifying me.
55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his message.
56 Your father Abraham was exuberantly joyful so he could see my day; he saw it and rejoiced.”
57 That was why the Jews said to him, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “I am honestly telling you, before Abraham existed, I am.”
59 That was why they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was concealed and went out from the temple.

gospel lessons in the temple

This exchange in John’s Gospel gathers several of the most important truths of the Christian message into a single, heated moment. The tension between Jesus and His opponents becomes the backdrop for a revelation of who He is, what He promises, and what kind of life He offers to those who trust Him.

One lesson concerns the Father’s ongoing work of glorifying the Son. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus speaks of an hour when the Father will reveal His glory through the Son’s obedience, suffering, resurrection, and exaltation. Even in the midst of hostility, that process is already underway. The conflict does not derail God’s plan; it becomes the stage on which the Son’s identity is displayed.

Another truth emerges in Jesus’ astonishing claim, “before Abraham existed, I am.” The grammar itself is a declaration of pre‑existence and divine identity. Jesus does not say He existed before Abraham; He uses the divine name, echoing the God who spoke from the burning bush. The crowd understood the claim, which is why they reached for stones. The Son is not merely a messenger from God but shares the very nature of God.

The passage also speaks about life and death, but not in the way many assume. Jesus does not teach that believers will never experience physical death. The idea that humans possess naturally immortal souls is not what He affirms here. The Jews in the conversation acknowledge that Abraham died, and Jesus does not correct them. Instead, He promises that those who keep His word will “certainly not see permanent death.” The phrase points to the final, irreversible death from which there is no return. Physical death remains a temporary reality, but permanent death—the death that ends all hope—is removed for those who trust Him.

The opponents in this scene could not accept a Messiah greater than Abraham, nor could they tolerate a claim to divine identity. Their rejection reveals the very blindness Jesus describes. Yet the good news does not depend on human comprehension. The gospel rests on who Christ is and what He promises. Full understanding of the incarnation is not required for faith. Complete clarity about resurrection is not necessary before trusting the One who gives it. Temporary death may still be experienced unless Christ returns first, but permanent death is no longer the destiny of those who believe.

The hope held out in this passage is breathtaking: a future where Abraham and all the redeemed stand together on a renewed earth, sharing the permanent life God intended from the beginning.

LORD, give courage to believe in who you truly are, and to trust you to fulfill all that you have promised.

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how to understand the Bible

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Jefferson Vann
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John 8:43-47

43 “Why don’t you know anything about what I am saying? Because you cannot listen to my message.
44 You are of your father the devil, and you are eager to do what your father wants. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he is saying a lie, he is speaking his own language, because he is a liar and the father of it.
45 Yet because I am saying the truth, you are not believing me.
46 Who among you can convict me of sin? Since I am saying the truth, why aren’t you believing me?
47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you aren’t listening, because you are not from God.”

how to understand the Bible

Many individuals with impressive academic credentials and remarkable intelligence still find themselves puzzled by the message of Scripture. This is not a new phenomenon. Jesus Himself spoke to a group of highly trained, highly confident religious thinkers who could not grasp what He was saying. Their confusion was not due to lack of intellect. They were scholars of the Law, guardians of tradition, and men who prided themselves on their lineage. Yet even with all that learning, they were plotting His death while He was simply speaking the truth given by His Father. Their heritage could not open their ears. Their learning could not soften their hearts. The words of Jesus fell on minds that were sharp but closed.

This dynamic continues in every generation. Scripture can appear mysterious, coded, or impenetrable to many. The difficulty is rarely intellectual. It is spiritual. The Bible itself explains why understanding remains elusive: the heart must be changed before the message can be heard. Conversion is the doorway into clarity. Conversion is not a vague spiritual awakening or a gradual moral improvement. It involves two decisive movements of the soul.

The first is repentance. Repentance is the honest acknowledgment of sin, the recognition that life has been lived in rebellion against God, and the willingness to turn away from that rebellion. Without repentance, the heart remains defended, resistant, and unable to receive truth. The second movement is faith in Christ—trusting Him as the One who speaks truth from the Father, the One who liberates from sin, and the One who gives life. Faith opens the ears because faith opens the heart. When repentance and faith take root, the message of Scripture begins to make sense. The words that once seemed obscure become clear. The teachings that once felt foreign become familiar. Understanding is not the cause of conversion; it is the fruit of it.

Jesus’ audience in this passage illustrates the principle. Their confusion was not due to lack of intelligence but lack of repentance. Their hostility was not due to misunderstanding but unbelief. The same pattern appears today. When the heart is changed, the mind can finally hear.

LORD, help those who long to know you to put their faith in you, so that understanding of your words may follow.

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why I love my grandchildren

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Jefferson Vann
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John 8:37-42

37 I know you are a seed from Abraham, but you are seeking opportunities to kill me because my message has no place in you.
38 I am speaking about what I have seen in the presence of the Father; therefore, you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
39 “Our father is Abraham,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do the things Abraham did.
40 But now you are you are seeking opportunities to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
41 You’re doing the things your father does.” “We weren’t born due to sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father– God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would have loved me, because I came from God and I am here. Because I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me.

why I love my grandchildren

Here is your reflection rewritten with all second‑person language removed, while keeping the tone, structure, and devotional flow intact:

Nine wonderful grandchildren fill my life with joy, and each one is deeply loved. Their presence, their voices, their energy—all of it brings delight. It is not because they resemble me; they do not. But their parents can be seen in them, and love for the parents naturally extends to the children.

Jesus’ conflict with these “seed of Abraham” hypocrites centers on this very idea of resemblance. When He looked at them, He could not see His Father’s likeness. Instead, He saw the traits of another father—the devil. Their actions reflected his character, not God’s. Even their veiled insult about Jesus’ birth revealed the slanderous spirit they were imitating, as they attempted to brand Him as illegitimate.

Their inability to love Jesus exposed a deeper reality: they did not truly love God, despite their claims to Abrahamic heritage. Abraham’s life bore the imprint of God’s character; their lives did not. Lineage without likeness meant nothing.

LORD, help us draw others to you by reflecting your love in our actions.

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