This morning I felt like reading from John's Gospel. I am always encouraged when I read his Gospel, for it seems that Jesus is presented more personally by John. Anyway, this morning I am reading out of the seventh chapter - and thinking about the following verses - John 7:6-8, 14-18 NIV:
[6] Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. [7] The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. [8] You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”
[14] Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. [15] The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”
[16] "Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. [17] Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. [18] Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him."
A few things caught my eye as I was reading these verses, first, Jesus even after He started His public ministry was aware of issues of the timing of His Father. He was very much in synch with the Father, and while we don't necessarily understand the reasoning, He knew that He wasn't supposed to go to the festival with His brothers, or at their bidding.
His comments about His brothers thought's is interesting - "For you any time will do." I think that this can help us in our understanding of God's timing. We, in our desire to see God move, are always wanting Him to move now! We think our ideas and thoughts are the way God thinks. We rationalize, thinking the timing is perfect, that God has such a perfect opportunity to move, especially if the crowd is large. As I write this, I am reminded of the beginnings of two of the largest outpourings of God in the last 200 years, and neither had their start in large group gathering. The Azusa street revival and the New Hebrides Outpouring were both initially started by God in small meetings, in humble gatherings.
For more on Azusa Street - follow this link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azusa_Street_Revival
For more on the New Hebrides Outpouring - follow this link: http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/revivals/hebrides.html
God has a plan, and if we will listen to His plan, and trust Him to guide us and are willing to wait for Him we will see Him glorified. Jesus in this instance, listened to His Father rather than to His brothers who represent to us normal human logic.
Secondly, Jesus understood that His teaching was confronting the spirit of the world, and the reaction would not be good. We should never be surprised by the negative reaction to Jesus, His teaching or His presence, for He experienced all of this while He was here on earth. He was the most loving, passionate, compassionate, grace filled person to ever walk the earth, and people rejected Him, thought poorly of Him, didn't understand Him and second guessed Him all the time. They didn't trust Him because He hadn't been taught, He hung out with sinners, He drank, He did not try to promote Himself. In other words He was too much like them! He preached radical things like loving each other, having mercy instead of judgment, the Kingdom of God present in their midst, etc. He was like them, but completely unlike them in so many other ways, all of which were good. The world though, doesn't want to be convicted, doesn't want to be reminded of their wrong ways. The world doesn't want to be held accountable for their actions, nor for their thoughts.
Finally Jesus says that they will know whether His teaching comes from the Father. I like to believe that in this verse He is pointing at the signs, miracles and healings. Later in John, Jesus makes a very clear statement - John 14:10-11 NIV: "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves." In other words, the proof of the origination of His teaching being from the Father is from the evidence of the works that accompany His teaching - the signs and wonders, healing and miracles. Jesus then makes one of the most encouraging statements in all of scripture - John 14:12 NIV: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." The key here is that these signs are supposed to serve the same purpose for us followers of God, they are to represent Him. We are not supposed to be speaking our words, but His, and when we do, He backs up the words with His authority to heal and cast out demons, and the like.
When God comes, in His timing, the world is convicted and confronted with Him. As happened in Azusa and the New Hebrides, His Glory shines out and people from all around will come and be changed. We want His presence, His words and His glory. Our reasoning, our thinking, our emotions, our working things up cannot be a substitute for Him.
Lord, we are waiting and praying for You to visit us, and while we don't know the timing, we trust that You do! Come and touch us and reveal Yourself to us and to this generation!
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