Voice Recognition - Jn. 8:30

"Then many who heard him say these things believed in him." Jn. 8:30

Even though the Holy Spirit hadn't been given, it was obviously existent. The ONLY way these people could have come to believe in Jesus was through the direction of the Spirit. This verse says that many believed when they heard him say THESE THINGS. There is no way! When I read chapter eight, I find Jesus' words way more confusing than convincing; without the Holy Spirit, there is NO WAY I would have believed. Later in John, Jesus talks about how sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd. It is not the words he is speaking, they simply recognize his voice and KNOW it is him. This has to apply to this verse. It would not have been Jesus' words that would have convinced me, I would have to have just KNOWN that his words were true through revelation by the Spirit. Funny that I never thought about it this way, but it actually answers a lot of questions for me. I have always questioned why Jesus was not even more clear in how he delivered his message, but I think the point is that it does not really matter -- It is not about the words, it is about the Holy Spirit!

Jesus, thank you for adopting me as your child so I can always hear your voice.

Today's reading: Jn. 7, 8