~ Seeing Miracles When They Happen ~
(A 10-part series on John 7:11–John 8:59)
Jesus had asked, “Why are you trying to kill me?”
You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (…), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”
At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” (John 7:19-31)
JESUS WAS WELL AWARE of the intent of the scribes and Pharisees; people in general simply cannot control their secrets. “Don’t tell anyone, but…” It is a basic flaw of the natural man. His opponents had conspired secretly to kill him, but, as is the norm for the human condition, some simply couldn’t keep their mouths shut. That word had gone out into the public arena, first as whispers, later as assumed general knowledge. So much so that here, people in the crowd begin to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?” (John 7:25b) Jesus does not need that knowledge to inform him; he has known it far longer than any, even the perpetrators themselves. His mission is to die, and he is fixed upon it.
There is a complex mix of perception, thought, assumed knowledge, and reactions taking place throughout this setting. Some think they know all about him, for they know the hometown he grew up in and his father, mother, brothers, and sisters. “But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” (John 7:27) Jesus responds, “Yes, you know but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” (John 7:28) He knows his true origin, something deliberately hidden from all. This entire scene is all an angrily roiled and hot conversation, but Jesus remains the master of his own dialogue; he answers all challenges, and in an earlier attempt to reach those with the ears to hear, says “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” (John 7:24)
Even as he displays great anger towards some, disbelief of the dullness of ears, eyes, and minds of others, yet he continues to teach and challenge just a few. This is his normal pattern of public discourse throughout all the gospels, scene by scene; he has something to say to everyone, and for everyone there it is something different, yet he adroitly responds to every level of the conversation. Here, however, he is working out of a holy anger that approaches our own rare emotion of white-out rage. However, nowhere else in the gospels does he display this sustained level of anger and attack, with the incident of overturning the money lender’s tables (cf. John 2:13-17) being similar, but far less pronounced. There is specific and reasoned purpose in his tirade, one that we must understand, and it is that he is in absolute control of his destiny. He is moving God’s agenda on God’s timeline. From this time of the Feast of Tabernacles there is only five months remaining to accomplish the outcome of the greatest Passover Feast in all of Jewish history, past, present, and future in all of linear time. The Lamb must be slaughtered. The ransom for redemption is the point, and the prize.
Some listening, ponder “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” (John 7:31) We should also do so, every one of us. We should do so from two perspectives, the first being, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
This is the most important decision any of us will ever make. Having made that primary choice, the second proceeds—how then shall we conduct ourselves? Paul and Peter both act as guides for us in these matters. Paul speaks to the beginning point of such thoughts: “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.” (Eph. 4:17) Peter moves the transition forward, speaking to the perspective that will produce the person who can begin to step into the kingdom of heaven: “For you know that you were redeemed from the empty way of life by the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. Through him you believe in God and so your faith and hope are in God. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Pet. 1:18-23)
Q. Do I know a miracle when it happens?
Leave a Reply