Contingent Knowledge

May 15

(Luke 10:13 NIV) “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.”

(Matthew 11:23 NIV) “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.”

This may bother some, but our Lord has contingent knowledge. God not only knows everything that has happened, and everything that will happen -- He also knows what would have happened had things been different. God knows all contingencies. God is omniscient (or all knowing) and in His omniscience, God knows all the possibilities. Note the little word “IF” in today’s Scripture verses. Jesus was saying that “IF” certain things had happened, here’s how a certain people would have behaved in response. He says that “IF” His miracles would have been done in Sodom or other cities of the past, they would have repented and been saved. How does Jesus know that? God has contingent knowledge. That’s a lot of knowledge. We have a big God! A God who knows all things -- even what would have happened, but didn’t. Let the name of the Lord be praised. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day