Matthew 10:11.

The Mystery of Belief

Let me try to paraphrase this text.  “Do not spend time trying to persuade unbelievers that they should believe. Seek those who have a need, a desire and a readiness to believe.” Jesus does not explain why some will be believe and others not. He alone knows that. He wants to make it clear that he will force no one to believe.  The people who are presented with the offer to believe in Jesus must themselves decide on whether to believe who Jesus is or not.  For many, all the arguments that Christians can muster simply fall on deaf ears. Who can understand this mystery of why some believe in Jesus and others want to ignore or even kill him? I certainly can not.

Nevertheless, Jesus reminds us that they are not to act life wolves that are powerful and ferocious in attitude but like lambs who are pitifully helpless.  We have no intrinsic power, only the power of Jesus that we received. We can tell others of our love for Jesus and our joy in salvation but we can not and should not coerce others to believe. That must be a voluntary act of the will.

God’s messengers are weak in themselves but the Gospel they proclaim and offer in the name of Jesus is more powerful than all the world’s armies. And it is eternal truth.  May we as Jesus’ witnesses be humble and weak so that the power of God himself might flow to others through us.