I was blindsided last night by information that has left me unnerved. I don't understand God's timing, yet I know He does all things well. He told me last Fall, related to the children's musical I am trying to do the finishing touches on, that the process is part of His purpose. So, the inherent message in this turn of events is: God is sovereign. He has a plan. He has it all in His very capable hands. My job is to persevere. His is to direct. On the bright side, even though I am still in the final stages of editing, a friend in Centralia is having the children of their church present it May 6 - - and they are busy working on music and learning their speaking lines, so there is joy in knowing that its message is touching children's lives, which is my most heartfelt prayer.
God has a plan. I am human, so it is O K that I have to take a deep breath and absorb the new information - but I do place it wholly in Jesus' hands - even in the midst of human discouragement. He has a plan. His ways are higher than my ways.... I remind myself over and over: He has a plan!
Interestingly my chapter for today is John 7. With my state of mind as I approach it, one of my first thoughts is how disappointing it must have been for Jesus that his own biological brothers didn't believe He was who He said He was!
In the sequence of time for Jesus, it was his final Autumn. It was time for the Feast of Tabernacles, aka Festival of Sukkot, aka Feast of Booths. This festival was one commanded by God in Deuteronomy 16:13-15. It was celebrated in memory of the Hebrew children's forty years of wilderness wanderings when they lived in temporary dwellings. In fact, it is still celebrated annually, with people moving into temporary dwellings for the duration of the Festival.
Jesus' brothers goaded Him to go up to Jerusalem to show off His miraculous powers. He declined, telling them that His time had not yet come. Then He went anyway.
I'm using the ESV this year to go through my Journey to Resurrection - and it says, "The Jews were looking for him...." I just want to point out the obvious. They were in Israel. The inhabitants were Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. This is not an indictment of any sort that they alone rejected Him. That was who lived there. He came to His own and His own did not receive Him, that's true; but down through the ages people of every tribe and tongue have had the opportunity to choose for or against Jesus - and the battle rages on. Some accept! Praise the Lord! But lots of people still reject Him.
In this context when it refers to 'the Jews' it definitely is inferring Jewish leaders - who had a political vested interest in keeping things under wraps within their community so the Romans didn't come down on all of them. Their concern was political, but it was cloaked in religious right. They were religious - and they thought they were right. One of their memories from Jesus' last visit to Jerusalem was that Jesus had dared to heal a man on the Sabbath, and they had laws about that! Still, they were intrigued.
They wondered how He could be so learned - and never have studied with the great teachers of their day. Jesus gave credit to God - and they accused Him of being demon possessed. They called the One who is good, evil!
Sounds like our world today!
More of John 7 tomorrow....
On the positive side - I am going to the Purim celebration tonight at the local Jewish Synagogue. I've always wanted to do that - and tonight I am!
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