It’s a favorite magic trick, one anyone can do.
We slip a coin underneath a cup, and as fast as our hands can move, we slide the cup among several others, exchanging positions repeatedly. To make our gambit more effective, we distract our viewer with conversation, jokes, or commentary.
We finally pause, our hands on two of the cups, and we smile. “Pick a hand. Get the right one, and the coin is yours.”
The trick is all in the distraction. That’s all it is, keeping us from following the proper cup by flash, glimmer, and diversion. The more “stuff” that’s going on, the less we can pay attention, no matter how hard we try.
The Philistines were distracted by the false god Dagon in Judges 16:23:
“Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, ‘Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.’ ”
Yet we know how the story ends. The Philistines picked the wrong hand, and they died when the power of our Lord filled Samson, and he brought the roof down on their heads.
Peter and John were instrumental in healing a crippled man. The Jewish Council couldn’t follow the mystery of God. The Father moved too quickly for them. Acts 4:10 gives Peter’s words as he reveals what’s in God’s hand:
“Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.”
There is no element of artifice in God. What he uncovers reveals the truth of his holy nature. The devil’s hand offers no more than a flash of confusion to distract us from Jesus.
It’s up to us to keep our eyes on Christ, so that we can rejoice in the revealed truth of the Son.
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Code: FGO.J.18.16a.vp.esv