“2
Chronicles 19—20; Revelation 8; Zechariah 4; John 7
Rather
naively, some of us think that if Jesus were alive today, our tolerant culture
would not give him a really rough time, much less crucify him. We would simply
marginalize him, treat him as if he were a harmless eccentric. Is that true?
Not according to John. The issues are bound up with the nature of fallenness
and its response to holiness.
Nowhere
is this clearer than in John 7:7. Jesus’ brothers have been egging him on to
return to Jerusalem. If he wishes to become a celebrity, they argue, he must
show himself in the capital city on the high feast days. They are thinking like
politicians: what will bring you public notice? But Jesus says that the “right
time” for him has not yet come. They can follow their own timetable; he does
and says only what his Father gives him to do and say (7:6; cf. 5:19ff.).
Eventually he will go up to the Feast, but not yet (7:8). And when he does go,
he goes quietly, without fanfare (7:10), refusing to draw attention to himself,
with all the political fuss that would make. One important reason for this
self-restraint is provided in 7:7: “The world cannot hate you,” Jesus tells his
brothers, “But it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.”
Four
brief reflections. (a) The “because” clause is both disturbing and revealing.
The assumption, of course, is that the world is not only evil, but desperately
hates to have its evil exposed, shown up for what it is. Both by his flawless
character and by his candid speech, Jesus makes “the world” horribly
uncomfortable. How long would Jesus have lasted in Stalin’s Russia? In Hitler’s
Germany? Or in Northern Ireland? Or the Balkans? Or in the United States? The
least we would do, I imagine, is have him committed for psychiatric evaluation.
(b) But I doubt that it would end there. Consider just one small arena: Some of
my friends have had their lives repeatedly threatened because they publically
oppose homosexual marriages. These are not homophobes or gay bashers. Some of
them have proven wonderfully fruitful and loving in their ministries to gays
and straights alike. Were Jesus ministering among us today, I have no doubt
that such death threats would have become assassination. (c) The implication of
7:7 is that Jesus’ brothers belong to the world. That is why they fit in so well.
Are we being faithful if no one hates
us? (d) This candid exposure of the world is not smug one-upmanship, disgusting
self-righteousness. Jesus is righteous; he is holy. Where sin and holiness
collide, there will always be an
explosion. And we sinners must come
to recognize our deep sinfulness, or we will never turn to the Savior for help.”
-D.A.
Carson American Theologian and
Professor 1946-
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