Untouchable!

Throughout John 7, there is a tension between Jesus going to the Feast of Tabernacles – a very public place with lots of people – and the religious authorities desire to arrest and kill him. First Jesus says he is not going with his brothers because it wasn’t the right time. Then he goes later and ends up teaching in the temple courts. As he teaches, people are trying to decide if he can be the Messiah or not. If they decide he definitely is not, they want to kill him for blasphemy. But if they are still questioning or even believing he is the Messiah, they want to hear more. The religious leaders want to get him out of the picture and even sent the temple guards after him.

Interestingly, in that whole scene, “Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.” John 7:44 This is not the only time Jesus has been right there and no one laid a hand on him. How can it be then, that there is a crowd ready to kill him and he walks away untouched?

Untouchable is not a word we often use regarding Jesus. We associate words like loving, merciful, just, eternal, etc. Yet in John 7, Jesus is ‘untouchable’ by those who want to do away with him. God’s loving hand is on him and protecting him because God has a plan and the time is not yet for the crucifixion to happen.

This, for me, is a window into the question about bad things happening to good people. There are a ‘kazillion’ things floating in my brain trying to come together in a clear thought. Overall, I see God not letting anything harm Jesus and at the same time knowing what is to come, it baffles my mind that they could go ahead with the plan. The Father loves the Son and protects him. Then he steps back and lets the world do its thing and nail Jesus to the cross. What awful pain they both must have suffered knowing that this was where he was headed and it was all part of the plan. No wonder Jesus kept going to the mountain to be alone with God. He needed constant reassurance from the Father that he could do this.

When bad things happen to good people, I can only imagine that God is sitting on his throne groaning in agony, yet knowing that it too can be used for his glory. Because he loves us and because he has the whole picture, he can send his Holy Spirit to walk with us through our pain. And in the end, we can rise out of our pain in glory, never to be hurt again because we are going to a place where there is no pain and he will “wipe every tear from our eye,” Revelation 7:17 Only if we have that picture in our minds do we have a chance of understanding pain and suffering here on this earth.

I also believe that we are ‘untouchable’ until it is the right time. God carefully protects us from harm until it is the right time. At the right time, he will take any pain and suffering we are dealt and use it to bring him honor and glory. This is a picture of a Sovereign God, not a puppeteer, but a God who has the whole picture and all authority leading us.

I am so thankful that he is in control and I can trust him. Like Peter, when many followers were deserting Jesus, I say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68