Wednesday in the Word...John 7:10-13...A stealth Jesus

Today's Wednesday in the Word is John chapter 7 and verses 10 through 13, which read,

v.10 - But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up not publicly, but as if, in secret.

We left off with Jesus' half brothers urging Him to go to the Feast of the Booths to perform some more miracles and gather a larger crowd.  "Show off what you can do, Jesus."  The thought of the world is that the way to success is to be where the public is and "wow" them with your abilities.  Jesus sends them on but we find out that He does attend not publicly but privately, in secret.  This is the opposite of what His half brothers wanted Him to do.  The picture is that Jesus' half brothers doesn't even know He is there.

v.11 - So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, "Where is He?"

The Jews wanted to kill Jesus as described in verse 1.  They see the half brothers of Jesus but not Him.  They thought for sure He would be there.  They were constantly looking for the opportunity to bring Jesus down and stop Him from bringing them down in light of the people they were lording over.  Jesus had disrupted the fabric of life they had created for their comfort.  

v.12 - There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, "He is a good man"; others were saying, "No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray."

We are seeing the difference between the terms "the Jews" and "the crowds."  The Jewish authorities, "the Jews," wanted Jesus captured and killed.  The public at large, "the crowds," still had questions about Jesus.  Some thought Jesus was a good man and some thought He was a huckster, a con man, or a cult type of leader.  Some were leaning toward Jesus while others were making distance away from Him.

This would have been a mixed crowd from all over the region because they were gathering for the national festival in Jerusalem.  Judeans, Jews from the south, Galileans, Jews from the north, and the Diaspora, Jews from scattered regions beyond, brought their stories and theories about Jesus together.  

v.13 - Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

No one was calling Jesus the Messiah.  They wouldn't do this because they feared the Jewish authorities.  If they went against the party line story about Jesus then they would suffer for it.  They would be banned from the temple and synagogue.  They would be looked down on by society.  Maybe there were some who wanted to give a strong opinion of Jesus but they kept their mouths closed at this time.  To follow Jesus and claim Him as the Messiah would be paddling upstream.

Jesus, in secret, is seeing and hearing what is going on at the feast and is preparing to make an appearance but that will be for our next Wednesday in the Word.  Let me end with some questions.

What or who do you fear and therefore keep quiet about who Jesus really is?  When do you reduce Jesus down to being "just a good man" when others are calling Him just another huckster?  How much influence do the authorities and crowd have on you when it comes to calling and claiming that Jesus is Lord and there is no other?  Remember that John later said in 1 John chapter 4 and verses 18 and 19,

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear,

because fear involves punishment,

and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

We love, because He first loved us."

"Heavenly Father, may Your love in us be realized so that fear might be eliminated to our outcome of saying that You are Lord.  We desire perfect love in You for You have given us perfect love in us with the cross and the empty tomb.  When the crowds are giving different opinions of who You are, may we speak with loving boldness a clear description that You are the Savior of the world.  Amen."

Pastor Adam