John 12:37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

Years ago I met a pastor who had a most amazing story.  He had been born with club feet – which he no longer had.  When he was born, his parents were leaders in a non-Christian sect but they had a Bible.  They read in James 5 where it talks about elders anointing the sick with oil in the name of the Lord and their prayer of faith will make the sick person well.

Well they were leaders and they had a baby with club feet.  Even though they didn’t believe miracles could happen then, they were desperate and acted on what the Bible said.  So they got a jug of oil and poured it all on the baby’s feet in the name of Lord and prayed that God would do what the Bible said and heal him.  To their utter amazement, then and there, the miracle happened!  They watched both feet twist and became normal.  One moment their baby son had club feet – the next he was miraculously healed.  They were beside themselves with joy and excitement.

Just then there was a knock on the door and the main leader of their sect happened to stop by.  They excitedly brought him in to see the baby and witness the miracle that God had done.  The leader took one look and angrily declared how it wasn’t done by God and he walked out.  They were stunned!

Fortunately, they refused to believe him.  They recognized that they needed to find the truth and that meant leaving that sect.  Their search led them to Jesus and they became Christians – active in a local church.  This miracle baby grew up to become a pastor in that denomination and was standing with us telling us his own story.

Thank God that this man’s parents chose to follow the miracle – rather than the blindness of the leader.  The miracle led them to Jesus and they were set free.  That leader had much in common with many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day who refused to believe their eyes.

For me, the most difficult thing to believe in the Bible is not the miraculous; but it’s how the religious leaders could see the thousands of miracles Jesus did and NOT believe.   Worse still, was their anger at seeing Jesus performing miracles, particularly those done on the Sabbath.  They were determined to kill Jesus!

And about this time 2,000 years ago, Jesus was headed for Jerusalem with his disciples, telling them it was about to happen.  Luke records that the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was saying about His death because the meaning of what He was saying was hidden from them (by God).  But we know what happened.  Let us make this journey with them as we approach the events of Passion Week.