“After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So His brothers said to Him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works You are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’ For not even His brothers believed in Him. Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it that its works are evil.’” John 7:1-7
Devotional Thought For The Day
A good old friend from the past called yesterday and wanted me to read this chapter of John. He was interested in the amount of conflict and controversy that Jesus occasioned. It hadn’t really sunk in through the years, and so much of Christianity today seeks to turn Jesus into a kind of happy and benign hippie guru who wouldn’t offend anyone or make any waves, an expert at finding resolution to all conflict and bringing about a utopia of “win-win” peace and euphoria. I’m afraid that such a “Jesus” is a pure invention of man, and that this view of Jesus, and the insistence that this is the model we are to follow in the church, the real epitome of true goodness, has absolutely nothing to do with the biblical descriptions of Jesus’ life, purpose, thinking, ministry, and His actual behavior. If someone were to actually do and say the things that Jesus did, in the same manner as He said and did them, such a person would certainly be branded a “trouble-maker,” and especially rejected because of his boorish and insensitive manners. Interestingly, the same could be said of virtually all of the prophets and apostles.
These verses give us an insight as to the personal loneliness and sorrows of Jesus’ life and ministry. Not only did His own brothers not believe in Him, they encouraged Him to go to Judea in spite of the threats against His life. The rationale they used to encourage Him was cynical and despicable, essentially charging Him with trying to be a big-shot. Jesus replied to them, but in general, in regard to the unbelieving world. He notes that those who oppose Him in unbelief and ignorance of His mission will not hate but embrace those who do likewise – especially those who are most closely associated with Jesus, those who are visibly part of the institutional church. He also asserts that “the world” will always hate Him, for one of the principal aspects of His ministry is to “testify about it that its works are evil.” How sad and sorrowful it must have been for Him to have to acknowledge that His own beloved brothers were “of the world,” and to have to speak these words to them.
It is not that He came to condemn the world, but rather that the world through Him might be saved [John 3:17]. But the “saving” is dependent upon truth, calling people to repentance and to participate in those things which bring faith and salvation. This cannot occur when no one is willing to identify and confront works that are evil. Where there is no cognizance of evil there is no awareness of need for salvation, no gratitude for God’s gift of His Son as the Savior of the world. And the world is certainly unwilling to confront evil; rather the mantra and protocol of the world is to allow everyone as much freedom as possible to pursue those evils which infatuate, please, and enslave them. The result is all manner of unrest, conflict, violence, and degradation of human life. But fools do not acknowledge this; it is much easier to blame the “trouble-makers” like Jesus. The same judgment is made against anyone who speaks against spiritually destructive behaviors, including inattention to and disregard for God’s Word.
We might think that this struggle continues principally in the public arena, between the “church” and the world. However, most of this struggle actually occurs within the life of the church – between those faithful to Christ’s mission and ministry and those who have adopted an invented view of Jesus. So much time is spent defending the true church within the institutional church that the church has little time to confront worldly evil and to invite people into Christ’s kingdom. Indeed, many within the institutional church consider such confrontation of the world to be evil and wicked, un-Christ-like, and judge that all such behavior is erosive and destructive of their vision of Christ’s work – which it is, because they have the wrong “Jesus” and the wrong mission. Those who cry out that we should all just get along and get busy with Christ’s mission are naive and don’t understand; just which “mission” do they want us to get to, that of confrontation or compromise? Likely, not the one that is fraught with conflict, controversy, and confrontation.
Well, we have mused about these things in the past. They have not gone away or been resolved, and the bold opposition of the world has intensified and gone on the offensive against Christ and the true church. This should be clearer to us today. So our choices and decisions should also be clearer, as to whether we will have Christ as our Savior, Teacher, and Lord, and continue His mission and ministry, or whether we will just peacefully blend in and fold back into the world around us. Likewise, we should look carefully at the influence we seek to have on the life of the church, whether we are supporting and encouraging its true mission and faithfulness, or hamstringing and obstructing Christ’s continuing ministry to people in the world. Obviously the consequences are momentous, personally, and for the church, and for the world. So let us look closely at Jesus and understand what is involved when He calls us to follow Him.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, we have been naive about the world and its evil, and about the evil influences that have infiltrated the life of Your church. We are peaceniks, and even if we have been willing to suffer conflict and confrontation for Your cause, we are weak and grow weary. Only You can infuse us with proper love, energy, and zeal for Your kingdom, so that we not capitulate and compromise, but continue to humbly and boldly proclaim Your salvation. Help us to see what is at stake, and keep us resolute in our commitment to following You and keeping Your Word. Amen.