I often fall in the trap of judging the people in the bible. I mean really… with so many miracles, how could they not see?! Are you blind?! (No … you are not … because Jesus healed you!)
Hello there Captain Obvious!
Open your eyes! It is easy to referee a game from the sideline, looking in slow motion on the big screen TV’s when it is obvious that the ball traveling at speed is out by almost a whole pinky finger width! Easy to call that referee ‘blind’ because he missed it from 20 steps away, while monitoring the whole field of play.
Hindsight… its a lovely time to judge from and the sofa is a comfortable judgement seat.
So Jesus… He just raised Lazarus from the dead. Any hunter will tell you, walk in the bush, and come across something that died yesterday… it has a distinct smell of death. This dude was dead for four days when Jesus called him from the tomb. I think people remembered that day with all their senses!
Anyhoo, this is where that little clickbait heading comes in, because I can’t believe what happened next…
“… From that day forward many of those who had come to visit Mary believed in him, for they had seen with their own eyes this amazing miracle! But a few went back to inform the Pharisees about what Jesus had done…” (John 11:45-46)
He raised a man from the dead, He brought joy, He brought life, and people went away saying… we have to stop this man! What were they thinking?!
Today, we can call this foul from a 360-degree view and a comfortable analysis of 2,000 years away… As a pillar of your community, as a known person in your church. Which group would you end up in? Thumbs up? Or thumbs down? Life or death?
“…So the Pharisees and the chief priests called a special meeting of the High Council and said, “So what are we going to do about this man? Look at all the great miracles he’s performing! If we allow him to continue like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will take action and destroy both our country and our people!” (John 11:47-48)
The focus of the religious leaders, (and make no mistake, many of the people were backing them 100%) was on the problem they faced, not on God.
So would I have passed this test…?
Am I passing this test…?
We are locked in our houses and judging what our leaders are doing from the sidelines. Take a minute and try to see without a bias of hindsight… Caiaphas was also trying to save his people… to save his beloved temple. It is impossible to go a day without being influenced by the corona virus, regardless of what you think about it. It has an impact on everything we are doing, and influences literally every decision we are making.
Maybe even a little bit as the Romans in the Middle East just about 2,000 years ago?
“… And the Romans will take action and destroy both our country and our people…!”
The focus was on Rome…. not on God
The focus was on the problem… not on God’s plan & God’s kingdom
Well… not 40 years later, Rome still happened. Jerusalem was the last stronghold and under siege, and when the Romans broke through, many, if not most were killed. War came to the region and any resistance was not subdued, but crushed, ground to dust and washed away by the rain.
So this part of John is a warning to me personally… the world is going to happen, it is a broken world we live in, and it has always been. And me, myself and I have been living quite comfortably in it, blessed to have been born in a country such as this! I might feel trade is unfair, and opportunities has been denied me, (but I have not been imprisoned for my faith, or burned, or tortured. I have not been enslaved or hunted) nobody has taken my bible. I have not lost my job because of my faith. Or worse… lost my family to make me curse my God.
But in this new breaking point, in this worldwide change, the start of the “new normal” – where will your focus be, Sean? What stories will you tell? What news will you share? What will be your Testimonies? Will you distract and entertain? Or will you direct the focus back to El Shadai? To God Almighty? Where will your peace come from? Social victories, or Yahweh Shalom?
Where will your focus be, Sean? On the stats, and stories, and news? Or on Jehova Jireh, the Lord, your Provider?
Someone I trust and love dearly once told me: “you are called to be an example to others. You can decide what kind of example you are going to be?… a good one or a bad one…”
