Skip to main content

191. Jesus Attends The Feast


John 7:1-13
Key Verse: Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about Him. Some said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, He deceives the people." But no one would say anything publicly about Him for fear of the Jews.
John 7:12-13

We've already mentioned Jesus’ family earlier, and mentioned their confusion about Jesus' ministry. Today, Jesus' brothers appear to be a bit more accepting and supportive, suggesting that Jesus actually belongs in Jerusalem. "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples may see the miracles You do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show Yourself to the world." (John 7:3-4)

Jesus’ response to his brothers is along the lines of, "Don't push me!" "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right." (John 7:6) Jesus will not be pushed or bullied into bowing to man's opinion even from His own family. 

The brothers were probably thinking something like, "Well, okay, if you are Messiah, go for it!" This might have been similar to the Devil's temptation in the wilderness for Jesus to prove Himself, but Jesus remained firm in His mission. This dialog also reminds me of the exchange between His mother Mary and Jesus at the wedding at Cana in which Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." Yet, in the end, He did comply. 

Jesus had not come to earth to be a spectacle or to prove Himself. He came to save the lost and He would do what He had to do on His Father's timetable, not man's.

After His brothers leave Him, however, as in the incident with Mary, Jesus does quietly attend the feast Himself. He does not go as the public figure that His brothers were challenging Him to be. He is quiet at first, slipping into the crowd, knowing all of the varied opinions that are being expressed concerning Him.

Is He a good man? Is He Messiah? Is He a troublemaker? Does He have a demon? Isn't it interesting how our own expectations and perspectives effect our opinions of another. Jesus was being Jesus, God's Son, yet, in doing so, He was the center of controversy because of expectations.

Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:12: "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face." Our sin causes us to see life, see Jesus, through a fun house mirror distorted by our own experiences and prejudices. Some wish to see Jesus only as a distributor of love and reject His harsh words about sin because we don't wish to hear it. Others wish to see Jesus as judge because they think that they will be judged clean while others will be found to have flaws.

We need to be humble in our view of Jesus and trust that, as we get to know Him better, through study and obedience, we will get to know Him more purely because we will be meeting Him face to face. In His time, as we continue to walk with Him, our vision will become clearer. The mirror will become flatter and more trustworthy in showing us who He really is. We will see Him as lover, Messiah and Judge and we will accept it all and also accept that, as God, there are areas that we may never know until we are with Him in eternity. His truth will be revealed; His truth about Himself and His truth about us. Time is on His side. We need patience to be on ours.

Hymn: "In His Time"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 27 Save the Glaze for the Bunny

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips of an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips. But in his heart, he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it. If a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. ~Proverbs 26:23-28 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

July 16 Thick Skinned Love

Whoever covers over an offence promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. ~Proverbs 17:9 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ~Matthew 18:15  The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:7-8  Being offended seems to be the battle cry of the day. Instead of freedom of speech, everyone has the right not to be offended. If one is offended, then one has the right to exact vengeance on the offender because, of course, the offender KNEW that he or she was being offensive and just didn’t care. Is that how you see much of society behaving today?  There seems to be all of this offending and finger pointing that just keeps growing and growing. Nothing is being resolved, just more blame that grows louder a...
Post a Comment
Read more

January 24 You’ll See, He Remembers

The wise inherit honor, but fools He holds up to shame. ~Proverbs 3:35 “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.” ~Isaiah 3:10 “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” ~Hebrews 6:10-12 “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. The sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.” ~1 Timothy 5:24-25 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” ~Matthew 12:36-3...
Post a Comment
Read more