What Accelerates the Spread of the Gospel?

“Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:14-15‬ ‭NLT

“Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.”

John 4:45 NLT

‭‭Good news travels fast. Without the luxury of television, internet, newspapers, telephone, text, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram or TikTok, word had spread from Jerusalem all the way up to Galilee of the things Jesus had done during Passover.

Was it only His fit of rage in the temple courts that got people’s attention? I doubt it. That incident alone might have people thinking He was a lunatic.

After making the whip, driving out the animals, and flipping the tables of the money changers, Jesus had an encounter with Nicodemus. What did Nicodemus say?

“After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.””

John 3:2 NLT

‭‭Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you!

What miraculous signs?

“Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him.”

John 2:23 NLT

During the Passover celebration, there were miraculous signs Jesus performed that caused people to believe in Him. We’re not told what those miraculous signs were, only that they stirred belief.

When Jesus healed the Royal Official’s son, were told that was His second miracle “in Galilee after coming from Judea.” His second miracle in Galilee. The first was turning water into wine. But in between these two miracles, Jesus had performed other miraculous signs in Jerusalem.

While we’re not told what those miracles were, it’s hard to imagine them not including healing people. Dramatic healings are the kind of miracles that get people talking.

Whatever word had spread about Jesus from Jerusalem to Galilee, it was enough to inspire hope in the Royal Official that Jesus could heal his son.

Good deeds pave the way for good news. It did for Jesus. It does for us.

The way we live reflects the Jesus we follow.

The way we live reflects the love we’ve encountered.

The way we live reflects the power we’ve accessed.

The way we live either emboldens or betrays the good news, the gospel, we preach.

For the Royal Official, experiencing the goodness of Jesus led to him embracing the good news of Jesus. He believed. He and his whole family believed. Belief was the unavoidable outcome of their experience.

This blogpost originally appeared at: What Accelerates the Spread of the Gospel? – Sonlife and is based upon Sonlife’s study, Knowing Him / A 50 Day Study in the Life of Christ / Day 14. Knowing Him has companion videos with our global leaders shot on location in Israel. Click here to watch the video that accompanies today’s study.

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