“Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, ‘You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.’ Then they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. And many of the people believed in Him, and said, ‘When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?’” John 7:28-31.
Ironically, even though they did not know their own God, they did recognize blasphemy and some of them sought to take Him and bring Him before the authorities.
Remember though, they did not lay hands on Him because His hour had not come. God’s timing is God’s timing and it is not for man to presume to change that.
Some things that may have come into the mix at that point though were; they had no right to arrest Him, there were others who believed His words and may have turned on them, and the Lord’s own bearing, being one of authority, may have given them second thoughts.
Ultimately it was the Father’s sovereign will that prevailed.
There is an upside to all of this, many believed in Him and said of Him.
“…When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” John 7:31b.
This is a reminder that the signs or attesting miracles were the Lord’s credentials given with the intention that the Israelites should recognize and accept their Messiah.
“But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish – the very works that I do – bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” John 5:36.
“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” John 10:37-38.
“Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen…” Luke 19:37.
“Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.’” John 11:47.
Though the nation rejected Him, it would be unfair to say that He was rejected completely; for, as you can see, many had minds of their own and did not rely entirely on religious nabobs who were superior in their own righteousness.
It has to be remembered that folks in positions of power may have a better education than you but that does not mean that they are smarter.
In fact, too often, they are educated well beyond their intelligence. However, God has a lot to say about authority in the following verses.
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” Romans 13:1-2.
“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men – as free, yet not using your liberty as a cloak for vice, but as servants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:13-17.
“Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.” 1 Peter 2:18.
“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:8-9.
These words were written under pagan Roman rule in 58 and 63 A. D. when Christians were at times persecuted by both the Roman government and the leadership of Israel.
They were not written during a fourth of July picnic in mid-fifties America. The writers of these epistles knew persecution firsthand. It is time to take the rose colored glasses off and see life as it really is.
Ask yourself, is it any more difficult to accept the authority of someone you disagree with, than it is to love your enemies, and forgive, from the heart, those who have sinned against you?
The vast majority of us have to be honest and admit that we are having a terrible time loving our enemies and forgiving those who have trespassed against us; much less putting up with a corrupt government, and just plain ignorant bosses, or overbearing supervisors.
Yet there is a reason for everything God does.
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Numbers 23:19.
God has His eye on us and it is His intent for each of us to be conformed to the image of Christ.
One way to do this is to take circumstances out of our control and force us to rely on Him, just as Jesus did. Is this fun? No, but for our benefit no matter how we feel about it at the time.
“Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:27-29.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7.
Is God capable of caring for us?
“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that an abundance of water may cover you? Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, ‘Here we are!’? Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, when the dust hardens in clumps, and the clods cling together?” Job 38:31-38.
Until we really believe this, we will not believe that God is capable of caring for our every circumstance.
The servants spoken of in 1 Peter 2:18 earlier, are you and I, we are servants in a sense whether we are a maid, an engineer, a bank teller, or carpenter; we all render a service of sorts to our employer. We must all serve the powers that be.
In all of these things we are not entirely helpless; if your supervisor really is incompetent, you can, if you put the Lord first in your life, work extra hard and perhaps replace him, or you may be moved to another area.
The Christian cannot, must not, move ahead through machinations such as back-stabbing, rumor mongering, or character assassination, it must be through a better work ethic and godly conduct. When you do these things, commit yourself to God and let Him do His will.
Sometimes a person will just change jobs to escape their circumstances. If you decide to do this, be sure you are in the Lord’s will, because if you are not, it may be a long dry haul before you find another job.
I can tell you from personal experience that if you are out of work long enough, even if you were laid off, some folks will decide that you are too lazy to look for another job; it is humiliating.
Some jobs may be safe to leave if one is convicted by their conscience, if you begin to feel strongly about working in a liquor store, or in a clinic where abortions are done, quitting may be a no brainer, still, always go to the Lord in prayer first.
Politics may be another area where one can be of help rather than a bystander. If you are a Christian and have the skills and an interest in this, why not try.
You must remain close to the Lord and refuse to compromise your principles; it is no different than any other highly intensive form of employment. If God can use you He will.
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a.
Is your heart truly loyal to Him?
“The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.’” John 7:32-34.
The Pharisees and chief priests send in officers to arrest the Lord but in effect Jesus tells them that they cannot take Him now for it is not His time; that will come in about six months.
At first glance it appears as though Jesus is telling the officers that they will die in their sins.
“…where I am you cannot come” John 7:34b.
However He also uses the same phrase to His disciples during the Last Supper.
“Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’, so now I say to you.” John 13:33.
This indicates that while the officers could not come because the Lord was referring to His crucifixion, resurrection, and later ascension into heaven; something His hearers were not likely to do soon.
It did mean that if they accepted Him they would join Him in heaven at a later date, as would His disciples.
There is considerable difference between the above quotes and the one below.
“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.’ So the Jews said, ‘Will He kill Himself, because He says, “Where I go you cannot come”?’ And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in you sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’” John 8:21-24.
Notice in the first sentence that Jesus says, “…you will seek Me”; the meaning is not that they will seek Jesus, rather that they will seek the Christ, even today Jews seek their Messiah, and He has come and gone in the form of Jesus.
Anyone who rejects Jesus Christ as their savior will die in their sins, as He makes plain in the last sentence in the above quote.
“Then the Jews said among themselves, ‘Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that He said, “You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come”?’” John 7:35-36.
Just about everyone was blindsided by the crucifixion of Jesus. It is hard to imagine the utter devastation the followers of the Lord must have felt that weekend.
“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” John 16:20.
He Speaks Boldly, John 7:30-36 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 11-8-12, updated on 10-3-17.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.