Curiosity – Luke 9:7-9

Curiosity has led many to Christ.  The Jesus Film has posted 40 interesting facts about Jesus to draw on the curiosity of many about Jesus.  John 12 tells us that curiosity about Jesus was stoked by his restoring Lazarus to life.  Paul got a chance to tell the Athenians the gospel because of their curiosity (Acts 17).  Curiosity led scientist John Medina to Christ.  Jesus saw the woman at the well and her curiosity as a path to accepting him as the Messiah (John 4).  Tim Harford, on his podcast Cautionary Tales, the Data Detective episode, has shown that curiosity can insulate someone from faulty arguments and evidence, as well as prompt questions of those making claims that help them realize they may not know as much as they think.  But curiosity doesn’t always lead to faith.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.  (Luke 9:7-9 ESV)

News of Jesus is spreading and Herod, who had John imprisoned for telling him it was a sin to take his brother’s wife as his own, and then had him beheaded at his wife’s behest, cannot help but compare Jesus to John.  He is tempted to believe that John has been raised from the dead.  He was actually unwilling to kill John until his wife and her daughter tricked and pressured him into it (Matthew 14).

There are many who will be curious about Jesus and this is, indeed, a step toward true belief, but it is still not a genuine seeking after Jesus.  Curiosity can lead to a believer being able to answer an unbeliever’s questions, but until that unbeliever counts the cost of becoming a believer and genuinely starts to seek out whether Jesus is his answer, it is not life changing.  It may, however, be an indicator that the Spirit of God is at work in the unbeliever’s heart. (see, Helping Non-Christians Cross the Thresholds of Faith)