19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
The disciples report that Jesus was powerful in deed and word. They say deed first, then word. The first thing that pops into their minds are the things that he did. His actions were extraordinary. They had never seen anything like the things they had seen. I mean, calming a storm with words, healing crippled limbs, multiplying food; these were very unusual events. We would try to scientifically explain these types of events. We rationalize and theorize in order to dismiss their significance. But they had been there. They knew their reality. They had talked to some of the people who had been touched. They say the looks on their faces following these deeds. Jesus was unique. Many people had words, but Jesus had the deeds to back up his words. So often, Jesus did the deeds first. Then he provided the words that explained the deed anchoring the deed in salvation history. His deeds were done to teach, to call, to summon people to a full relationship with God. During Jesus day, and every day of human history, there are people proclaiming words. Few if any have the deeds to support their words. Even in Jesus’ day there were others who were claiming some special place in history. Their words placed them on a pedestal, but their actions crumbled their support for their claim. Jesus’ deeds matched his words. When He said he had the power of life and death, he proved it by raising someone from the dead. His life was a life of deeds that backed up his words. Our lives need to reflect this same stance. Our deeds need to back up our words. “Talk is cheap” the old saying goes. The only thing that makes words of value are the actions that support the content of the words. Today, make your actions match your words.
The Arnold Journey 