25 Then some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying anything to Him. Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, 29 but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me.”

30 So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 Many in the crowd, however, believed in Him and said, “When the Christ comes, will He perform more signs than this man?”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Rodney Clarke

This passage is interesting, because for most of his ministry Jesus did not make big public claims to be the Messiah. He waited until it was his time to give his life. But on this trip to the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, he alluded publicly to being the Messiah.

The people who are gathered for the feast are tripped up by Jesus’ claims, because – they think – how could the Messiah come from Galilee? It's the equivalent of saying, “How can the King of the world come from Fairfield?” I suppose recognising Jesus never just comes from human reflection, it comes from true faith which is given by God.

You may have heard the saying: “You can't judge a book by its cover.” Well in this case, it’s: You can't judge a person by where they come from … especially if you don’t truly know where they come from! Jesus had total authority from God and came to reconcile man to God and to announce a message of real hope. Jesus came from God, as God’s plan of rescue. But the crowd could only see the humble carpenter who came from Galilee.

Sometimes we are blinded to the truth by someone's humble circumstances. In the people’s minds, Jesus didn't meet the requirements of what the Messiah should be. I think we can fall into the same trap sometimes, when we want Jesus to be our Saviour but not our Lord. But that’s not our choice to make. We can only meet Jesus on His terms, not ours. God calls us to recognise Jesus not just as a humble preacher from Nazareth, but as the One who He sent into the world – as God become flesh.

Some parts of the crowd wanted Jesus to do impressive miracles and perform signs and wonders on demand – that was what they expected of a "Messiah.” But the real miracle of Jesus is the gospel, the good news bringing hope and reconciliation to God. We all want God to solve our earthly problems right now, but most importantly Jesus can deal with our problem of sin that condemns and separates us from God. So no matter what Jesus’ humble earthly origins were, the work he came to do is truly majestic, Kingly and from God. Maybe you need to do business with God on His terms and be truly transformed and reconciled to Him, by giving your life wholeheartedly to Jesus as both your Saviour and your Lord.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rodney is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.