Read John
7
Imagine if
your older brother suddenly was out and about the countryside telling people
that he was sent by God. What if he
claimed to be the Christ? What if people
started gathering whenever he came around?
What if they were calling him a prophet or the Messiah?
What if the
same guy who got to use the bathroom first all of your life, was steering clear
of Jerusalem even though it was time to go for one of the Lord’s festivals? It was likely the Festival of Booths or
Tabernacles, but what if him not going gave you a little leverage with your
older brother?
Hey bro,
you can’t be laying low here in Galilee if you are out to make a name for
yourself?
What kind
of prophet doesn’t go to Jerusalem for all the feasts and festivals?
There is a toast
often attributed to the Sandhurst Military Academy in Great Britain or sometimes
to the Royal
Navy. It is: “To a short and bloody
war.” What a crazy toast.
It means if
there are some friendly casualties among the senior officers and
noncommissioned officers, there is more room for promotion. It’s a little gallows humor that says it’s
just the cost of doing business.
It seems
like Jesus had some brothers with the same attitude. They didn’t believe he was the Messiah, at
least not until after he went to the cross.
They thought they might entice him to go make himself a target in the
middle of that hornet’s nest called Jerusalem.
Here is the
thinking: If they take out big brother,
we all move up one. We all know who our daddy is and he is of this earth.
Jesus was
not to be taunted into doing something that was not part of his mission or not
the right time. He was doing the work
that his Father sent him to do.
He did give
his own brothers a bit of a chastising. The
world can’t hate you. You are of the
world. You are not seeking God. You blend right in with this self-serving
world. You go on ahead.
Jesus did
go, but kept a low profile. He heard
what others were saying privately. He
is a good man. He is a phony.
The thing
was that nobody would weight in publicly.
There was a sense of fear that prevailed. You didn’t want to commit too early and end
up on the wrong side of this thing.
And so, we
come back once again to fear. Fear
prevailed. It was not a healthy fear
such as the fear
of the Lord, but it was a fear of the ruling religious Jews. It was a debilitating fear.
Remember
that this was Jerusalem. This was the
place where prophets
were killed. He would go to Jerusalem later very
publicly because his time had come, but not just yet. He had more work to do before
the cross.
Fear was at
work in Jerusalem. Fear has always been
around. Fear waits for easy targets then
builds momentum. Fear is still at work
today.
Jesus knew
if he rode into Jerusalem for this festival, he would be killed. He would be killed as a sacrifice
for our sins, but not yet.
He
was willing to and did sacrifice his life for us, but he did it on his own
terms—actually on his Father’s terms. He
was not afraid of dying, though he
fully understood how
difficult it would be. The spirit is
willing but the
flesh is weak.
But he had
more to accomplish. He would fulfil what the law
required that no
human had ever fulfilled before. And
he would fulfill
all prophecy concerning him. He used
the sound mind which God has also granted us to accomplish his mission.
So, what do
I do with this today? We are not
debilitated by fear but our steps are purposed
by our mission. When faced with a
difficult choice that might involve danger or our safety or the safety of our
families, we must first understand our mission and then decide our course of
action based on how best to accomplish this.
That does
not always involve diving in head-first or going boldly into the fray. We first assess what we are purposed to
accomplish, then we decide and act. It’s
that whole sound mind thing again, but with purpose as your rudder. Safety and survival are important, but our
mission is our rudder in making sound decisions.
God may have
given some the gift of martyr. It seems
like a strange gift, but we consider it a gift from God. Most of you were not given this gift.
When Jesus
talked about dying
before you could
live, for most of us that was not a martyr’s
death. We don’t discard our survival
instincts. The gift of martyr seems to
have been given to a very few.
All were
given a commission
and a command. We are to take the gospel to the world and be
known by our love for one another.
Jesus came
from his Father in heaven on
a mission, one to save the world.
There would be a
time to ride publicly into Jerusalem and a time to come discreetly.
We
too are on
a mission. We take God’s love and
good news to the world. When we decide
upon our course of action in a world full of fear, ask if your decision brings
you closer to fulfilling your mission or puts your mission in jeopardy?
Don’t be
overcome by fear. Don’t live
recklessly. You are on a mission from
God. Your decisions must support your
mission.
Amen.
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