“John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.” (John 10:41, NLT)
Have you ever seen a miraculous golf shot?
Think about some of the Tiger shots. The chip in on the sixteenth hole at the 2005 Masters. If you don’t remember it, Chris DiMarco does. Or Tiger’s famous 6-iron from the fairway bunker on the eighteenth at the 2000 Canadian Open. Ted Scott was Grant Waite’s caddie that day, playing in the same group, and told me the story with awe. Just like he also tells the story of Bubba Watson’s miraculous hooking sand wedge from the woods of Augusta in 2012.
Personally, there are no real miracle shots, unless you count a skanky nine iron, hit low on the face downwind last summer in Scotland, playing with Jeff Hopper. The ball bounced short of the green, kicked dead left and ended up in the hole! Or even better, Jeff’s more legitimate ace three days later on the same Brora course, all with a rainbow to confirm the miracle.
Truthfully, we use the word “miracle” way too loosely around the golf course. In the Bible, the word miracle means the Red Sea opening for Moses, blind Bartimaeus finding his sight, Lazarus raised from the dead, or Jesus walking on the water. Indeed, many people followed Jesus because of his “miraculous signs” (John 6:14). Luke’s account tells us that “God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles” (Acts 19:11). So, I am not a doubter in miracles.
But for me personally, life has been woefully short on Bible-quality miracles. It has frankly bothered me that my hands and my prayers have produced “no miraculous signs.” I have tried. I have prayed for healing and miracles for dozens of people, primarily on trips to India. But I have no provable firsthand miracles to report.
If this great man John performed no miracles, what did he do?If I was a TV preacher in a white suit on a stage, I’d be broke and out of business.
But last week, I found John 10:41. I noticed for the first time that the amazing story of John the Baptist includes no miraculous healings or events. Indeed, as the Scripture plainly says, “John didn’t perform miraculous signs.” The man Jesus said was the greatest man ever (see Matthew 11:11) did no miracles.
For some reason, that gave me hope.
So if this great man John performed no miracles, what did he do?
He pointed people to Jesus. “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about’” (John 1:29).
And two years later, the people confirmed that “everything [John] said about [Jesus] came true.” John told the truth about “the Truth.” And what was the result? “Many who were there believed in Jesus” (John 10:42).
What a great testimony this could be someday at your funeral! What if hundreds, or at least family and friends, could all agree that “Grandpa never did any great miracles, but everything he told us about Jesus turned out to be true—we believe because of him”?
Pointing the world to Jesus. That was John’s purpose. And that is a model we can all follow in the workplace, on the golf course, and everywhere we go.
—
Tim Philpot
July 20, 2020
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