Where did Jesus come from?

Who is Jesus? part  76 – John 7:25-32

I stepped onto the wrong train. Fortunately for me there was an I stepped onto the wrong train. Fortunately for me there was an announcement saying the train was going towards Newcastle, so I could get off before the train set off in the wrong direction.

This was Leeds station in the evening rush hour. Not somewhere you want to be if you enjoy travelling, but I was a commuter and this was my regular journey for four and a half years. I had finished work and was waiting on an overcrowded platform for an overcrowded train. My usual overcrowded train. But there had been a platform change. Walking like a zombie to the usual platform at the usual time was no longer an option and I’m autistic, my brain doesn’t work in a crowd. So I got on a Newcastle train, the wrong way. The Newcastle train was my morning journey towards Leeds, I wanted the Liverpool train so I could get off at Huddersfield. Once on the train there was less noise and I was no longer overwhelmed. I realised my mistake and made my way home.

A lot of mistakes are made when we don’t think.

D’. ²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 
C’. ²⁸ So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. ²⁹ I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 
B’. ³⁰ So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. ³¹ Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
A’ ³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.

John 7:25-32 ESVUK

This is the second half of a chiasmus. Chiasmus, meaning crossing over, is a form used in nearly all Psalms and often in the New Testament. It is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. Where there is a central section it is often the main theme. I have already written about the central section in the previous post. Yet again there Jesus answers questions about the Law of Moses by going back ealier rthan Moses. I skirted over the A to D sections of the chiasmus, only mentioning the three groups of people Jesus addressed. This is what I said about them:

There are three groups Jesus speaks to in this passage.

The Jews.

The Judeans in some translations, These are the Jewish leaders, mostly made up of three groups, Sadducees, Pharisees and Scribes. They disagree with each other but are willing to put their differences aside in the common cause of getting away with Jesus. Those leaders who are supportive of Jesus, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are named, are Pharisees.

The crowd.

The ordinary people of the region of Judea. They largely follow the teaching of their leaders, but seeing Jesus leads some to question this.

The people.

These are those from outside Jerusalem who are attending the feast. They were split on the question of who Jesus is, some saying he’s a good man and others that he’s a deceiver.

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The story so far. Jesus’ brothers have asked Jesus if he is going to the feast of booths, Jesus says not, but goes up secretly. Then halfway through the feast Jesus stands up in the temple and teaches. But John does not tell us what Jesus taught here, the passage is all about peoples’ reactions to his teaching and Jesus’ answers to those reactions.

The plot to kill Jesus – D and D’.

Social media often highlights human nature, When our assumptions are challenged it is easy to go on the attack. This is why people are often personally attacked for suggesting a political view other than their own without checking on the truth of their statements. People from all political persuasions are guilty of this, and this behaviour goes well beyond politics.

When Jesus asked the people why they were trying to kill him, the ordinary people who were not from Jerusalem but were there for the feast and knew nothing about this plot, accused Jesus of having a demon. You’ll find this in verse 20. They disagree so they have to accuse. That is how human nature works with people who are uninformed. Fortunately it’s not all of them.

In contrast it causes those from Jerusalem who know of the plot to question the motives of their leaders. They ask why would someone stand up and teach in the very place the leaders control and not be stopped. They say they know where Jesus came from, so how can he be the Messiah? We know from old documents that some first-century Jews believed that the Messiah would appear mysteriously.

Where Jesus comes from – C and C’

Jesus’ reply is not what we’d expect. He could have insisted that he’s the Messiah and he could also insist that they don’t know where he comes from. (The rumour of the legitimacy of Jesus’ birth was rife). But Jesus goes deeper than they, or we, expect. Jesus says that their ignorance is not about him, it is because they don’t know God.

Jesus had already spoken of “He who sent me,” in verses 14 to 18. The people cannot equate Jesus with God. He says this in the Temple, the one place on earth where God’s kingdom and the kingdom of Earth overlap. But the Temple is empty, the Ark of the Covenant, the box that contained God on Earth was missing, and had been since the Babylonian captivity. The Temple was the place that God should have been encountered, and on this occasion it was because it contained Jesus. But the Jewish authorities and their followers could not see it because they do not know God.

No one arrested Jesus – B and B’

Jesus is working to a schedule. When the passage says, “no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come,” shows that it is not the Jews, the authorities in Jerusalem, that are in control. Jesus knows what he is doing and this is just a step on the journey, God’s plan is on target and it will happen. In six months from this encounter Jesus will fulfil his plan, not by overcoming those who are against him but by submitting himself to them, but not now.

But it is beginning to work. People are beginning to believe in Jesus even though they do not yet understand Jesus’ motives. It is a faith based on miracles, but like Nicodemus who came to Jesus because of the miraculous signs he did, faith has to start somewhere. But there is the fear factor. These followers of Jesus may have talked among themselves but they are not being open about their support because the ‘Powers that Be’ would make things difficult for them. These ‘powers that be’ have no power over Jesus.

Mutterings and mumblings – A and A’

This section of the Bible started with the people muttering about Jesus. ‘There was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man”, others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.”’ (v.12). It ends in verse 32 with the people still muttering. Like any good chiasmus passage, it ends where it has started. But something has now changed. Jesus has stood up in the place run by the people who want him dead. And they have tolerated him for fear of the people. There is a mutual fear here, the authorities fear the people and the people fear the authorities.

The nature of the mutterings has changed too. The people are not just muttering about whether Jesus is a good man, but also whether he is the Messiah. There’s something else too the mutterings now include whether the authorities are right. The political power held by the Jews or Judeans is not their own, it comes from Rome. If the Jewish authorities fail to keep the peace Rome will act and Rome does not have a reputation for being fair.

Jesus has not challenged the people so far, he has simply answered the questions raised by the mutterings, in answering he has come up with a disturbing idea. Saying the people who have come to Jerusalem for the feast to worship God do not know God is not in the list of ways of making friends. The Jewish authorities are not just a political power either. They are Pharissees, Sadduccees and Scribes—religious rulers. That their response is to send officers to arrest Jesus is a sign that they are taking Jesus’ rebuke as being directed at them. Their authority is being challenged, but the real authority is in Jesus, who is able to slip away undetected for a few days before returning a few days later with a challenge.

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In the previous post I said Jesus is the Sabbath. Now I understand that Jesus is the Temple, the place where God lives. Jesus is from God and Jesus is in control.

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