Friday: Further Thought – Signs of Divinity

Daily Lesson for Friday 11th of October 2024

Read Ellen G. White, “The Crisis in Galilee,” Pages 383–394; “ ‘Lazarus, Come Forth,’ ” Pages 524–536; and “Priestly Plottings,” Pages 537–542, in The Desire of Ages.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4.

“As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 390.

Discussion Questions

This week we looked at Jesus feeding the 5,000, healing a man blind from birth, and then raising Lazarus from the dead. In each case, Jesus provided powerful evidence for His divinity. Yet, these miracles, as amazing as they were, created division. Some responded with faith, others with doubt. What does this teach us about how, even in the face of powerful evidence, people can still choose to reject God?
These stories all point toward Christ as the divine Son of God. Why is His divinity so important to faith in Jesus as the Savior?
Look again at 1 Corinthians 1:26-29. In what ways in the twenty-first century do we see this same principle at work? What are some of the “foolish things” that Christians believe, things that the “wise according to the flesh” mock and reject? What do we believe that also “put to shame” the “things that are mighty”?

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