Lent Day 19: Staying undistracted on your mission

It's amazing to read how focused Jesus remains. No matter what people expect or ask him to do, he chooses only what aligns with God's instructions. Even his family wants him to be famous, to show up with a splash. (Read the story in John 7.)

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.

But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, ‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

> Isn't it strange? Imagine if your older brother starts teaching around the country. He becomes so powerful that he can heal people, drive out demons, and instruct the religious leaders. Those same leaders are trying to kill him, not for his good works but because he is a threat to their status, rules, and politics.

> Maybe you'd want to ride your brother's coattails and become famous, too. After Jesus' resurrection, his family will understand who he is and what he came to do. His brother James will lead the early church in Jerusalem, from where the Good News will spread into Asia, Africa, and Europe.

> Jesus refuses fame. He refuses to get sucked into others' expectations. And he only does what he hears his heavenly Father tell him.
Therefore Jesus told them, ‘My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.’ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

> Each time I read this, I wonder what is happening here. God is truth and Jesus is God. So he can't be lying. Is he saying, "I'm not yet going ... because my time isn't fully here?" 

> Don't know. I don't get what the text says so I leave it there. (There are also other puzzles in scripture that I don't understand.) I know that a lifetime is not long enough to I live out what I do know so I focus on that. (See Deuteronomy 29:29 below.)

> The story resumes:
However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, ‘Where is he?’

Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, ‘He is a good man. Others replied, ‘No, he deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’

Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 

> Jesus is still an enigma during the months before his crucifixion. He lives a consistent life. 

> No matter where Jesus is, no matter how many miracles he does, and no matter what he teaches, people have their own expectations.

> He remains focused on God's mission, the reason he's here. He's going to the cross to die as a ransom for sinners like you and me. He going to be raised from the dead to offer the power of God to those who believe in him. And he's going to ascend to the right hand of his heavenly Father to intercede for his followers. 

> What about you? Do you do only what God asks of you? Or do you claim to follow him but do your own thing?
  • When others whisper about you, do you listen for God's instructions?
  • When others defame your reputation, do you seek God's approval?
  • When others have their expectations, do you stay true to your unique purpose?
  • When others seek fame and fortune, do you live only for the glory of God?
> Those are the questions I'm asking myself today.

As promised, here's Deuteronomy 29:29: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God. But the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we might follow all the words of this law." Yup - that's a lifetime's work right there ... 

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