Are you able to believe?

I am pondering on a saying of Jesus when He stood trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin.

When they brought Him to their council, they said, "If you are the Messiah, tell us."

He replied, "if I tell you, you will not believe". (NRSV Luke 22:67)

We often think people do not believe because they have not heard the simple Gospel message, and so the church looks for ways to simplify the message into 3 or 4 'spiritual' principles, so that one can present the 'whole' message in a minute of two.

It is shocking to hear it from the mouth of Jesus: 'if I tell you, you will not believe'.

This is not the only incident that Jesus said things to this nature as in John 8:43, He said "Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word."

What is stopping the ears? What is blocking their believing?

The key is not just whether people have heard the Gospel or not, it is in the understanding and accepting the Gospel message.

How do you interact with the Word of God? In the parable of the sower, Jesus said there are 4 types soils, representing 4 types of people hearing the Gospel message. Only one will bear fruit.

The Jewish sages said,"There are four types among those who sit before the sages: the sponge, the funnel, the strainer and the sieve. The sponge absorbs all. The funnel takes in at one end and lets it out the other. The strainer rejects the wine and retains the sediment. The sieve rejects the coarse flour and retains the fine flour." (Avot 5:15)

Ask yourself, are you more like a sponge, a funnel, a strainer or a sieve?

What have you retain from last Sunday's message? What have you retain in your expeiences of life in the last 24 hours, or in the last year? Had God been showing your lessons of life that you so quickly let go?

Are you able to hear, understand, accept and believe that Jesus is the Messiah?

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
(Rev 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22)

Can you see now how crucial this statement is to all the 7 churches in Revelation as well as to our churches today?