“After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
“But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, ‘He is a good man,’ others said, ‘No, he is leading the people astray.’ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.” [1]
As a child, I was taught there were three subjects which were never to be discussed in public—sex, politics and religion. I was assured these would be calculated from the git-go to produce little profit and much embarrassment. Over the past several decades items one and two have largely disappeared from the list of forbidden topics. Had there been an inclination to keep them on such a list of restricted subjects for discussion, the fortieth President of the United States, Bill Clinton, all by himself, almost single-handedly forced their inclusion in everyday discussion. And politicians since that day have ensured that discussions about sex and politics will continue to be a part of everyday life in North America. But religion? Especially the religion of Christ the Lord?
At any serious level, religion, especially the Christian Faith, is still too hot to handle in most contexts. Why should this be? Whether recognised or not, when we speak about religion we are talking about something vitally important. Sex and politics, of course, are also significant in people’s lives—which is why we still have to be more careful with those subjects than we are in discussions about cars, gardens, or music. Issues of faith, however, affect more than the here and now. If we exist beyond this life (and most people do have that understanding), then almost by definition you really can’t afford to be wrong. Get close to such a topic and you’re on thin ice.
A second reason people hesitate to talk in public about so-called religious issues is that most folks have been persuaded that religious conclusions are unprovable in any case—and therefore they are best avoided. Common wisdom suggests that scientists talk about facts which can be verified, while theologians talk only about opinions concerning esoteric subjects. Since none of the theologians’ concepts are certifiable, maybe it is better to keep such discussions out of public view. In any case, when it is only your opinion set against mine, how could we ever resolve such matters? To claim to know the truth in a “religious” area in our culture is considered to be a sure sign of fanaticism.
I am aware of a third reason for the general reluctance to talk about spiritual issues. The general reluctance to talk about spiritual issues may have something to do with how people of faith go about encouraging such discussions. If people to whom we speak find the Good News of Jesus’ Gospel offensive, we need to ensure it’s the content of the Gospel that offends, and not some trappings we’ve attached to it. We are fearful that we will sound judgemental, or people will think us to be arrogant, or even perceive us as pompously exclusive. Thus, our fear of how others may view us ensures that we are struck with a case of spiritual lockjaw.
What is especially tragic about this condition is that our family members, our neighbours, and our colleagues too often continue under condemnation as they rush toward eternity where they are unprepared to face the wrath of Holy God. This is the result when culture prevails over Christ. In such a condition, our failure to tell others about the Saviour makes us guilty of lese majesté. How shall we answer the Master Who warns us, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” [MARK 8:38]! Oh, my!
As we receive the message this day, let us take to heart the encouragement delivered by the Apostle, who wrote in his final missive that would be included in the canon of Scripture, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me” [2 TIMOTHY 1:8-12]. Amen.
TENSION ALWAYS SWIRL ABOUT JESUS — “After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him” [JOHN 7:1]. Jesus, when He is near, causes tension. This has always been true, and it is still true today. In fact, before Jesus had conflict with the religious leadership in that ancient day, tensions arose within His own family. In our text, we read, “His brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ For not even his brothers believed in him” [JOHN 7:3-5].
Jesus appears to have lived a quiet, rather mundane life. He was “the carpenter’s son” [see MATTHEW 13:55], the elder brother of James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and sisters. That all changed when He began to gather followers. Mark informs us, “[Jesus] went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him” [MARK 3:13]. After calling the Twelve, His ministry began in earnest. Again, Mark tells the reader, “[Jesus] went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind’” [MARK 3:20-21]. His family concluded that Jesus had lost His mind; no one would minister to the point of missing a meal. There was only one logical conclusion—Jesus was insane. It was as if a tug-of-war began at that time.
Soon enough, the family would take action against the elder brother. Hearing what Jesus was teaching, the scribes made a special trip down from Jerusalem. And having heard Him, they were telling the people, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons” [MARK 3:22].
That was enough to energise the younger brothers to take action. It was time to put an end to this foolishness. So, we read, “His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.’ And he answered them, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother’” [MARK 3:31-35].
The break with His brothers was complete. If there was to be reconciliation, they would need to accept Him as the Anointed One of God. They were assured in their own minds that they were sane and that He was the errant one. Their conclusion seems in part to be based on the growing anger of the scribes who served the Pharisees.
You may recall Jesus’ teaching, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” [MATTHEW 10:16-20]. Take special note of what the Master said next in emphasis of the teaching He had just delivered: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death” [MATTHEW 10:21].
The presence of Jesus becomes the cause of tension even within families. Jesus would continue giving warnings concerning the tensions that would arise even within families, saying, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” [MATTHEW 10:34-39].
There persists a general perception that if one becomes a follower of the Christ, everything will be at peace, that all the world will welcome the one who seeks to honour Christ as Lord, and nothing could be farther from reality. Repeatedly, Jesus trumpeted the theme that all who would honour Him must be prepared to face difficulties. Each of the Synoptic Gospels records Jesus delivering the following dire warning or some variant thereof: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” [LUKE 9:23-26].
And the primary reason His disciples will experience such hostility is because the presence of the Son of God generates tension. Jesus may be a problem solver, but He is a troublemaker. Surely, this is the import of His teaching delivered as He prepared His disciples for His sacrifice on the cross, teaching them, just as He teaches us in this day, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” [JOHN 12:25-26].
Jesus’ brothers did eventually accept Him as the Anointed One of the Father—it is difficult to deny the empty tomb and the transformed lives that come when Christ reigns. As Paul speaks of his own faith, he writes of this as he addresses the Church of God in Corinth. The Apostle testifies, “I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” [1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-10].
As was true of James, so also Jude came to believe His older brother, Jesus, was the Christ. We know this because he has written, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
“To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
“May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” [JUDE 1-2].
For all the opposition Jesus faced from His brothers, opposition to Him from the religious leaders grew throughout His days of ministry. The anger toward Jesus boiled up among those who wanted a nice, quiet religion that didn’t disturb anyone, a religion in which the various practises could be performed without upsetting anyone. Instead, it seemed that wherever the followers of this Jesus of Nazareth appeared, it was riot or revival—and often it would be both!
Recall the reception Paul received in Thessalonica. Paul had preached Jesus, His sacrifice, and His resurrection, just as he had done in Philippi—and the result was about the same as it had been in that city. “Some of [those who heard the message] were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.’ And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things” [ACTS 17:4-8].
A mob! The city in an uproar! The city authorities disturbed! Things couldn’t get much worse. This was the response of the preaching of the Gospel of Christ throughout the missionaries’ first tour, and what had occurred then was being repeated on this mission tour. If there is scant distress among those living about us in this day, perhaps we should be checking our message. The message of Christ the Lord is transformational! You cannot receive Jesus as Lord of your life and remain unchanged! Wherever the first Christians went, nothing remained staid, formal, and undisturbed. Whenever Paul would go into a town, he would check into the local goal, saying, “Keep a cell for me. I’ll be preaching the Gospel; and there will be either a riot or a revival.”
Wherever Jesus is found, there will be tension. In our text, the tension swirled about Jesus because the religious leaders had concluded that they would be out of a job if people listened to this Galilean. They decided that they had only one option left, and that was to kill this One who was giving them a bad case of ecclesiastical heartburn. Jesus was preaching a message that would free the people from slavish devotion to dead ritual and dependence upon religious minutiae demanded by the religious leaders. Not only was His message destroying their long-standing credibility with the people, but He was even healing people, and doing this on the Sabbath! To top off their rage, this man was claiming that God was His Father! “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” [JOHN 5:18].
People sometimes imagine that the religious leaders only decided to kill Jesus after months of conflict. However, the evidence is that opposition arose almost immediately and intensified throughout the days of His ministry. The hostility of the religious leaders would grow throughout the days of the feast, leading to a notable confrontation between Jesus and the religionists. Jesus’ teaching was so distressing at this feast that the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Him. The people were aware of the intent of the Pharisees, but no one laid a hand on Him. The failure of the officers to act on the instructions of the religious leaders made matters worse for the Pharisees. John observes, “They were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, ‘When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done’” [JOHN 7:30-31]?
Jesus’ teaching created ever greater tension among the people, as witnessed when John writes, “When they heard these words, some of the people said, ‘This really is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’ So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him” [JOHN 7:40-44].
And the tension spilled over into the discussions of the Pharisees. John writes, “The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’ The officers answered, ‘No one ever spoke like this man!’ The Pharisees answered them, ‘Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed’” [JOHN 7:45-49]. Even among the crowds surrounding Jesus were adherents to the teaching of the Pharisees who wanted to kill Him, as Jesus noted [see JOHN 8:37, 40].
The religious leaders’ determination would grow more intense still when Jesus demonstrated power over life. A close friend to Jesus had died. When the sisters of this man sent for Jesus, He delayed. When Jesus finally arrived, the funeral was concluded, the man who had died was entombed, the professional mourners and all the religious adherents had returned to the house to commiserate with the sisters and to eat the foods that had been prepared—Jesus was too late.
At His request, Jesus was conducted to the tomb where things took a dramatic turn. “Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go’” [JOHN 11:38-44].
That had to have been dramatic. John observes, “Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him” [JOHN 11:45]. Any time some believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, you may be certain that others will rush to tell the religious leaders about what is taking place. And that is what happened in this instance: “But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done” [JOHN 11:46].
Couldn’t the Pharisees find any joy in the transformation of lives? They saw what Jesus did as an affront to their authority. They could not ignore what had taken place. I’ve witnessed something like this. I chaired an evangelistic campaign in a city in the Lower Mainland. The pastors of the major churches reluctantly joined the effort, primarily because so many from their congregations were joining in prayer sessions that were being held weekly in one of the churches of the city. Three of us pastors had met for almost a full year, praying for our city. Suddenly, the Spirit of Christ moved and the prayer sessions grew until we almost could not contain the crowds. Growing out of that was the evangelistic effort.
Two negative events stand out in my memory, demonstrating that the spirit of the Pharisees has never died out even in this day. At the conclusion of each evening’s message, those dear souls responding to the invitation to believe the Gospel were asked to meet with counsellors who would ensure that the message was understood and those responding were pointed to faith in the Son of God. On one particular evening, passing through the inquiry room, I overheard a young man saying to a prominent minister within the community, “I am so happy. I just feel free. Christ has forgiven my sin and I can’t wait to tell my family.”
One could think that such expressions of joy should be cause for even greater joy on the part of the counsellor. I was stunned when I heard this prominent minister say, “There, there, you’ll get over it. You’ll be fine.”
I nearly exploded! “Young man, you should never ‘get over it!’” Christ is real and the salvation He gives is real. You have been set free. Don’t listen to anyone, especially a minister, who would tell you otherwise!”
Following the evangelistic efforts, the zeal for lost souls that had been evident throughout the community died down rather quickly as prominent ministers of the largest churches discouraged their parishioners from continuing meeting for prayer. These ministers argued that parishioners would hear the prayers offered during regular services, and that would suffice to meet any felt needs for prayer. The prominent ministers let it be known that they feared loss of influence within their personal fiefdoms. Religion revolved around what they did and not in the One they served.
In a similar display of fighting against the Spirit of Christ, John’s Gospel reads, “So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.’ He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death” [JOHN 11:47-53].
COMPLAINING ABOUT JESUS — “Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained in Galilee” [JOHN 7:2-9].
As I have pointed out in the comments preceding this point, sometimes, the greatest complaints about Jesus came from those who claim to be closest to Him. Nothing much has changed despite the passage of more than two millennia. Complaints about Jesus, and complaints about those who receive Him as Master, often come from those closest to the one who seeks to honour Jesus as Saviour. Submitting to Him ensures a transformation has taken place.
In the text, Jesus’ brothers united to make “suggestions.” Superficially, one might think they were promoting Him as the miracle worker He was recognised to be. His brothers were mocking Him. “No one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly,” sounds innocuous, but the suggestion has a more sinister purpose. “Show yourself to the world,” seems innocent enough; but really it suggests an effort to appeal to the world by using the tactics of the world. The impact of what was suggested would have reduced the work Jesus came to perform to a mere performance.
Recall the temptations Jesus experienced when He began His ministry. The account is recorded in Luke’s Gospel. The first temptation Jesus faced was to satisfy His human desires by divine means. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone”’” [LUKE 4:1-4].
Then, Jesus was tempted to promote Himself just so He could gain worldly power. “The devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.”’”
[LUKE 4:5-8]
The devil attempted a third temptation, one that anticipated the suggestion that Jesus’ brothers would push in our text. “[The devil] took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,”
and
“On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.”’
And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”’” [LUKE 4:9-12].
Satan was attempting to conflate notoriety with godly effectiveness. And that is what Jesus’ brothers were suggesting. Consequently, confusion between the work of God and amusement seems often to be the case with professional preachers. Tragically, it is just such diversion that is witnessed in far too many instances as faith healers and televangelists perform; the crowds are amused, but they are not edified. There is a great difference between entertainment and evangelism. One cannot rationally compare edification and ignorance. There is a vast gulf between amusing people and calling them to repentance. Tragically, Jesus’ brothers had not yet learned this essential lesson.
What is not always understood is that when there is no argument against the message of life, those who are opposed to that message have no resort other than complaining. The complaint may become ridicule, or it becomes a personal attack. Jesus was frequently on the receiving end of personal attacks. When they didn’t like what He was teaching, the crowd charged that Jesus had a demon [see JOHN 7:20]. Soon after this scurrilous accusation, the same crowd would rage that in addition to being demonised, Jesus was a Samaritan [see JOHN 8:48-52].
When Jesus freed demonised people, the Pharisees were unable to explain what had happened, and they blustered, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons” [MATTHEW 9:34]. And this would become a familiar charge, being expanded by giving the name of the demon they supposed Jesus served: “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons” [MATTHEW 12:24; see MARK 3:33 and LUKE 11:15]. The religious leaders did seem to be well-versed in the identity of demonic powers.
Here is what we who follow the Saviour must know: we are given an example of how we are to respond when we are attacked. Peter writes, “What credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” [1 PETER 2:20-25]. Amen.
TALKING ABOUT JESUS — “After his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, ‘Where is he?’ There was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, ‘He is a good man,’ others said, ‘No, he is leading the people astray.’ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him” [JOHN 7:10-13]. Rumours about the character of Jesus swirled like smoke from a prairie wildfire. Though the religious leaders would have liked squashing all the discussions concerning Jesus of Nazareth, the speculation blanketed the entire area—the comments could not be silenced.
The word John uses is descriptive— goggysmós. The word is onomatopoeic; it imitates the sound of murmuring. As used throughout the New Testament, the word speaks of emphatic complaint. To be certain, among the people present that day were some who saw Jesus as “a good man.” Others, perhaps a majority, siding with the religious leaders were arguing that He was “leading the people astray.” On the surface it might appear that they were concerned that the people were gullible, easily led astray. They were not unlike contemporary politicians who are concerned that people cannot discern fact from fiction, and so they want to censure what they have decided is misinformation. In reality, those arguing that Jesus might lead people astray were concerned that the religious leaders were unable to refute what Jesus taught. Attempting to control the narrative, they acted to shut down all suggestions that Jesus was speaking truth and to discredit Him as acting to promote error and to be dishonourable.
What I find fascinating is that fear of the religious leaders silenced everyone! Even those who wanted to argue that Jesus would lead the people astray were silenced! The religious leaders were on the warpath. They were searching for Him everywhere. Thus, no one among the crowds wanted to draw attention to themselves. It was better to keep a low profile than to stir up the Jewish leaders more than they were already stirred. So, everyone was talking about Jesus, but in whispers—murmuring, muttering, creating a muted hubbub.
Among the people attending our churches, many speak of Jesus, if they speak of Him at all, in a murmur. They name His Name in muted tones, lest someone might accuse them of being a fanatic. Like Peter when he was confronted by a servant girl, we mutter, “I do not know what you mean,” [MATTHEW 26:70b], “I do not know the man” [MATTHEW 26:72b]. If they rudely persist in their accusation, we may even “invoke a curse on [ourselves] and … swear, “I do not know the man” [MATTHEW 26:74b].
We have heard Jesus’ words, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” [MARK 8:38]! We know the admonition of the Psalmist,
“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble.”
[PSALM 107:2]
We want to be bold, but there is always the possibility of ridicule, the prospect of someone taking offense, and so we remain silent or we go along with the crowd.
If Jesus is our example, we need to look carefully at how He managed to live as boldly as we witness in the text. From His birth until He was revealed following the baptism of John, Jesus lived quietly in the family home. Luke, likely citing Mary’s memories of the child named Jesus whom she bore, writes, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” [LUKE 2:52]. In other words, Jesus’ years in the family home were unspectacular. Nothing out of the ordinary took place.
Then, Jesus was unveiled at the baptism received from the Baptist. Therefore, we read, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” [MARK 1:9-11]. Following the temptation He endured at the hands of Satan, we read, “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” [MARK 1:14b-15]. Jesus didn’t begin His ministry until He was filled with the Spirit.
And you, if you are a follower of the Son of God, have the Spirit of God living in you. Power and authority are entrusted to you so that you can serve the Risen Lord of Glory. This is the promise of God. How else are we to understand Paul’s words when he writes, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:16]? And we have this further assurance, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” [ROMANS 8:11].
You have all that is necessary to change your witness because the Spirit of God now lives in you as one who is born from above. You do not need to be reticent about speaking of the Master. You are equipped to boldly proclaim that He is the Son of God and that He presented His life as a sacrifice for you. Moreover, you can speak authoritatively that He has conquered death, bringing life and immortality to light in your life. You are an expert that is qualified to speak of the new life now given to all who look to the Son of God for salvation. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
