“To be great you have
to be willing to be mocked, hated and misunderstood.” Banksy
This passage speaks to me about Jesus being misunderstood,
both by his brothers and by the crowds gathering for the Festival of
Tabernacles.
It has become increasingly unsafe for Jesus to be in the
South (around Jerusalem) so he continues his work, for now, in the North
(around Galilee). Jesus does this, not because he is afraid of the danger, of
course, but because he knows the right timing has not yet come.
Jesus’ brothers, on the other hand, which we can assume
means his natural younger brothers, misunderstand him. They misunderstand
Jesus’ actions, his miracles, his methods, his motivation and his timing. As a
result ‘even his own brothers did not believe in him.’
The Festival of Tabernacles was a huge event, perhaps even
the most popular of the festivals. It was linked to celebrating the harvest and
to remembering God providing for his people in the wilderness. Jesus’ brothers
wanted him to show up and show off (verse 3).
In the end, Jesus does go. Perhaps he has waited for a
prompt from his heavenly Father rather than his earthly brothers, but when he
goes he does not show up in the way the brothers directed him. He arrives in
secret.
The questions I ask myself today reading this passage are
these:
How easy is it for me to misunderstand God’s divine plan
when it doesn’t seem to fit my expectations or requests?
How often are my actions or lack of actions for Jesus
misunderstood and when that happens do I take strength from the fact that Jesus
was misunderstood first?
Response
Lord, when I am
misunderstood, help me to find strength from Jesus’ experience. When I
misunderstand your actions or your apparent lack of action or silence help me
to trust.
Ken
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