February 3 Where Are You From?

John 7:27-30 “But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, 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 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
 
SOME of the false teaching regarding the Christ – the Messiah – was that no one would know where he came from. This is an obvious error as it is spoken in Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” You see. We must go to Scripture to know the truth.
   But even for those who knew the truth, Jesus did not seem to meet the origin requirement. The people knew him as coming from Galilee. They knew not of Jesus’ birth but only of his adult life. Here again, limited knowledge limited the way people understood and knew Jesus.
   Then Jesus responded. He teaches his true origin is from heaven, “I am from him and he sent me.”  Lost in the translation is that Jesus was declaring he is a representative of God – of YHWH. The LORD God had commissioned him to this work.
   Well, can you imagine that? This teacher who they were trying to kill and who was from Galilee said he had come from God? The confused crowd became an angry mob. Now it seems both the crowd and the Jews – the authorities - want to kill Jesus.
   Do you see sin’s confusing darkness? The Lord God had sent his Son to dwell with his people during the Feast of Tabernacles, which means dwelling. He opened the Scriptures to teach the truth. He healed people. He attempted to lead them into the full presence of God. But they said, “Let’s kill him.”
   In the Father’s care, Jesus safely moved away. This was not the time for his death. He still had disciples to teach. He turned from the unbelievers to focus his attention on the faithful.
   We can learn two lessons from the Lord here. One, remain faithful to declare who Jesus is. I know we’ve said that repeatedly here, but there are far too many opinions of Jesus in the world and in the church. Know him and confess him before all.
   Second, we can know some will never believe and some will. There will always be unbelievers who will attempt to kill your faith. You be God’s witness of Jesus. Let God be the judge of who hears.
 
Prayer: I pray, Lord, for unbelievers. Teach them who you are. Teach me, too, to always confess you. Amen.