Chance Encounters With The Light

How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught. — John 7:15

Jesus’s authority is being questioned here. How could he know so much about the Scriptures if he had not been properly trained and schooled?
We see a lot of this kind of sentiment in today’s society. How can a person be qualified to be on the Supreme Court if he/she didn’t go to Harvard or Yale? How can this basketball player be any good in the pros, if he/she didn’t play for one of the power schools in college? In the halls of power, it is well known if you don’t like the message attack the messenger, and one of the best ways to do that is to question the authority and credentials of the messenger.
In societies with class structures, no matter how brilliant or smart someone is, if the person didn’t come from the ruling class his/her words are but the wind.
But Jesus had an answer to those who questioned his authority. He said, “my teaching is not mine but his who sent me.”
The words and wisdom of God don’t need credentials. God surprises us with his messengers. I like to call these moments when his word, his guidance, and his truth is revealed. I like to call these “Chance Encounters With The Light.”
Just as Christ chose unlikely followers to carry the word of God — Fishermen, tax collectors, and women with a history — God chooses unlikely messengers to this very day.
We do not need to ask for the credentials or educational background when we encounter the word of God. We will know its source whenever and from wherever it originates.
“It is not coming from the messenger but from who sent it.”

About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.

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