Too familiar to be the Messiah?

Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me – surround me please Lord with yourself.

” You are in Me – not because of anything you have done or achieved – but because I chose you before you were born, I predestined your life as part of my greater plan, I forgave your sins and sealed you into myself and all this I did because of my love, covering you with my grace. You are safely buried within me and my love – my death on the cross made that not only possible but certain. So every one out there who has encountered my love and is sealed within me may have absolute assurance. All that you need now is to realise the full extent of my love for you and all the saints. What a glorious community you are part of even though it doesn’t always look like it! It is My community and My family and I am building it into My glorious kingdom which will last forever. So rejoice in Me, keep rejoicing always.“

We continue in John 7:25 – 36. In his narrative John is casting his net wider now to get more opinions about who Jesus is. The key verse in this section is perhaps verse 27, “But we know where this man is from, when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from”. We have already seen in verse five that his own family did not believe in him being the Messiah because they knew him too well. Probably we should not blame them, having grown up with him through all the phases of childhood into his present adulthood.

Later in the chapter in next week’s reading we will see a number of opinions about who this man really was. What struck me as I read through this passage was the fact that the Creator God had come to identify himself with mankind and done it so successfully that it was difficult to distinguish him from anyone else. The only way to know who he was was by the unique characteristics that he displayed in being able to do supernatural miracles and the amazing teaching that he gave whenever he opened his mouth.

This concept of God coming to earth to experience and identify himself with mankind is totally unique amongst all religions. Divesting himself of his supernatural Divinity he was able to so mingle with us here that people had difficulty in identifying him as the expected Messiah king. Not only did he fully identify himself with us he also suffered with us and on our behalf. This placed him in a unique position to be able to understand exactly how we experienced all the different facets of life from great joy and elation to deep pain, suffering and rejection..

In Hebrews 2:17 ff we read, “ for this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.“ It bears meditating on the uniqueness of this ministry of God through Jesus to us and the incredible comfort that brings us.

Back in John’s gospel we read in verse 31 that many in the crowd put their faith in him. This concept of people putting their faith in Jesus is mentioned several times in this early part of John and it appears that it was often just superficial belief. Of course it would only be possible to really trust Jesus once he had gone through the crucifixion and resurrection, showing what his mission really was intended to accomplish. I suppose John was trying to differentiate between those who wanted to believe and follow him from those who sought to harm him and were actively planning against him.

Wrapping this up I found new meaning in Jesus’ humanity and his ability to identify with me as a person in my particular circumstances. What an incredible comfort that is. At the same time I needed to ask myself how deep is my faith really? Do I really understand these amazing revelations and do I really fully trust in my Saviour Jesus?

Bless you till next week.