the    sides

This is part of our weekly e-journey through the gospel of John. Today is from John 7.

I’m always amused at pseudo-Christianity ideas like “The Secret” or “God Wants You Rich” movements. The idea that if you pray a certain way that somehow manipulates God into a position where he HAS to “bless” you is mildly entertaining but that’s about it. Forget the fact that it doesn’t hold up philosophically – could a being that can be manipulated really be “God”? It completely ignores how the Bible speaks of Jesus.

The other funny/sad idea is that Jesus was a man of peace.

Jesus did not lead a military revolt. That part is true. Instead, he brought nothing but bitter divisiveness to every culture he interacted with and got everyone of his followers killed. The Jews were divided as to who he was. The Gentiles couldn’t figure it out. Jesus was purposely disruptive in his teachings to the point it got him killed.

His own family didn’t like him.

John 7 shoves us in the middle of this cultural crisis – some say he’s the Prophet, other’s say he’s the Christ, still others claimed he was from Satan. Jesus completely disrupts this festival – and every other one he ever attended. It was crisis enough for the Jews that some of them wanted Jesus dead.

Which begs the question – why? If he was just some crazy Jew spouting off his mouth, why kill that? If he was threat and had some authority – I understand. If he had validity to his message – then I get the intense hatred towards him. He was demanding a complete change of my way of life.

But to say Jesus was a good, peaceful teacher just seems to ignore the facts of the situation. People wanted him dead. He brought controversy and division where ever he taught. He trashed religious traditions, called into question the motives of Israel’s leaders, and demanded things of his followers that were impossible to do.

I think that’s the real secret of Jesus. He didn’t necessarily come for our benefit, comfort, or peace.