How does a public figure become public? It seems that usually they ‘create a stir’ in some way. They make an impassioned speech that people either love or hate, they do a great performance that people applaud, or they do something shameful that people hate but love to talk about.
Jesus was creating quite a stir. In fact, he had the religious leaders in Judea so stirred up that he couldn’t even go there publicly because they were out to get him. His brothers thought he should be getting out there more and letting people see what he could do if he wanted to become a public figure. John tells us in John 7:5 that Jesus’ own brothers didn’t believe in him. They liked his miracles, but they didn’t believe he was the Messiah.
Jesus response to his brothers is curious. “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” John 7:6-10.
What Jesus was saying to his brothers was that because they were not public figures confronting the religious orders of the day, they could move about freely and not fear for their lives. But he had chosen to do what his Father had sent him to do and that put him in a position where he had to choose carefully when he allowed himself to be seen in public and when he did not.
None of us like being told we did something wrong – especially in front of other people. The religious leaders in Judea were no exception. Here comes this guy who didn’t study under any prominent Rabbi, yet he was teaching with more authority and wisdom than they were. And he kept telling them they got it wrong, they were inconsistent, they were self-centered, and they were missing the point God had intended. People in general were muttering to each other, but afraid to go public and align themselves with one side or the other because of fear of the religious leaders.
Jesus is still creating a stir today, more than 2000 years later. People aren’t assuming that he will become a political leader and rescue them from dominating powers, but they are still muttering to each other, some in support of him and some against him. And those of us who align ourselves with him still stand the chance of being hated by the world for the very same reason Jesus was hated by the world – because we testify that what the world does is evil. We are willing to call sin, “Sin,” and willing to say no to things that are not glorifying to God. Others are forced to examine themselves when they see us making those choices and they don’t like what they see. They don’t want to see it. So they try to put the focus back on us to get the heat off of themselves. And all of this can happen whether or not we speak words!
The more I allow Jesus to change me, the more light I shed in the darkness around me. I like to think there is a difference between harsh light and soft light. Both light things up, but harsh light hurts the eyes which makes us close them while soft light allows us to keep our eyes open and see what is being illuminated. There is a time and a place for both – a time for confrontation and a time for quiet leading by example. May God help me to choose wisely.
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