Saturday 10 Dec 2022

December 10: Matthew 17:10-13

Key Verse: Matthew 17:10
The disciples asked him, ‘Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?’

Devotion:
One of the things many people struggle with is the fact we are very different in Gods eyes than in mankind's eyes. That includes our names, reputations and most other things which we take for granted. Jesus saw people for what and who they were in Gods eyes and was not swayed by human emotions like we are.

When the disciples were asking Jesus about Elijah coming before the Messiah, they were not ready for the answer He gave them – that Elijah had already come. What they did not realise was the Elijah God was talking about was not the Elijah they were thinking about. We tend to get mixed up with people and names; often thinking of the wrong people when someone mentions a name, and even judging people by what name they have been given!

Jesus was talking about the man they knew as John the Baptist, the man who was living out in the desert and baptising people in the river Jordan based on the scriptures which had been revealed to Him through the Holy Spirit. This “Elijah” was the human who was preparing the way… If they had defined the man by the act he was doing, they may have been able to recognise John for the name God knew him by, but they were too entrenched in human ways – like we are!

God can and does use anyone. I have met many people whom the world has rejected because of what they have done in the past. Jesus came into their lives and turned their lives around – they have become extraordinary disciples who are totally different to how they used to be!

Points to Ponder:
Do you judge people by earthly standards?

Will you allow God to tell you about people instead?