February 18, 2026 | Be Connected
Confusion Over the Ministry of Jesus
Scripture: John 7:21-31(NIV)
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”
Devotional
Yesterday we explored some of the confusion over the identity of Jesus. There was also dissension over the ministry of Jesus. Did He have the authority to do miracles? Did He have the right to do them on the Sabbath?
Their confusion was rooted in Jesus’ origin story. They knew where Jesus was from, or at least they thought they did. He grew up in the backwater town of Nazareth and was raised by a carpenter. Hardly the credentials for a bona fide rabbi, much less a miracle worker.
What they couldn’t grasp was that Jesus’ origin story predated time itself. They couldn’t fathom that He came from heaven, where “through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3). They couldn’t comprehend that He was God incarnate.
When you see Jesus as just a nobody from nowhere, then of course it is illogical that He could turn water into wine, heal all kinds of people, walk on water, or rise from the dead. But when you acknowledge Him as God who came down from heaven and became a human, then all these miracles are child’s play.
Some people look at the miracles in Scripture and say, “Ah, that’s why I can’t believe the Bible.” Others examine those same miracles and proclaim, “Yes, that’s evidence that God’s Word is true!”
In a sentence or two, answer these simple questions:
Who is Jesus?
What did Jesus do?
Why did Jesus do these things?
What does this mean for my life?
