I was reading in the gospel of John recently and a couple of verses really jumped out at me! They were verses that I’m sure I’d read many times but I never really saw their significance. They made me think – “Well look at that! Just when Jesus needed a boost of encouragement look at what John the Baptist did!” It made me think of all those times that we feel like we missed it, that never seemed to bear fruit and yet… when the time was right…!

John had never seen the miracles of Jesus for himself and in his final days he even began to wonder if he’d got it all wrong. However, Jesus replied to his messengers:

“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” Luke 7:22

So to set the scene, it was some time after John the Baptist had been martyred and the opposition towards Jesus was ramping up significantly. One such miracle was the healing of a man blind from birth (John 9) – a Messianic act if ever there was one. And as amazing as this was, rather than getting Jesus recognised by the religious authorities they called his subsequent claim that “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) blasphemy and so they tried to stone him to death:

“Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him…” “Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.” John 10:31 & 39

However, the time was not yet right for his arrest so look what Jesus does next (and this is the scripture I want to highlight):

“Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.” John‬ ‭10:40-42‬ ‭NIV‬

I find it moving that when the opposition was really heating up against Jesus in Jerusalem that he went back to a place where John had been preparing a people who were ready to receive him – ‘and there he stayed’. It may have taken longer than John anticipated and he himself had already passed into glory (very much alive in the great cloud of witnesses), but that community ‘from the early days’ received their visitation and believed.

John had not been filled with the Spirit so he never performed a healing or a miraculous sign. He was the last of the Old Covenant prophets (Jesus called him the greatest ‘born of women’ but the least in the Kingdom or ‘born of the Spirit’ Matthew 11:11) but he knew Jesus was coming to change everything (‘the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’) , so he preached about Jesus who would perform many signs and baptise with fire. And so when Jesus arrived in this community where John had been preaching about Jesus they said:

“Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.”

It reminds us (and some of you reading need to hear this) that while our efforts may not seem like they are bearing visible fruit right now, they are certainly preparing the ground in the lives of people for a divine visitation to come. However, and this is important – though we can be encouraged by this story, we must not put ourselves in Johns shoes because he was part of the Old Covenant. We are not powerless (in the realm of miracles) as he was, praying for God to send revival. Unlike John the Baptist we are those ‘born from above’ and ‘baptised with fire’ and so we ourselves are the ones who bring the visitation of Jesus – the manifestations of the Spirit; signs, the wonders and the miracles that accompany salvation (John 14:12).

So let’s shift the paradigm to a New Covenant one and expect that, as we step out in faith for healing, deliverance and all the manifestations of the Kingdom that Jesus will be present in all his miracle working power in the place of our faithful witness and that many will believe. Because, when the time is right – in God’s time, there will be a rich harvest.

A prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you for the reader and their faithful testimony. I thank you that through your servant you are preparing a way – making the ground even and the paths straight – for your kingdom to come in their place of witness – wherever that might be. Lord encourage them that, though sometimes nothing seems to be happening, there is much happening in the heavenly realms that will bear much Kingdom fruit and give you glory. Let YOUR Kingdom come and YOUR will be done TODAY!… as you protect their health and assignment, revive their energy and passion for the Kingdom, provide for them all they need and give them strength and joy in the Spirit each and every day. For your sake and for your Kingdom.

Bless you, in Jesus name… Amen

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