John 7:10-13 (NIV)
However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, “Where is that man?” Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
Despite Jesus’ continuing popularity among the common people, and in part because of it, there was increasing hostility among the Jewish leadership directed at Him. So, when God did tell Jesus that it was time to go to Jerusalem for the feast of tabernacles, He went without question, but kept a low profile, not going up to the temple until God directed Him to go, about halfway through the feast.
Jesus’ absence was, of course, a major topic of discussion among the people. Many had come with hopes of seeing Him, hearing Him teach, and maybe receiving a miracle, but He was nowhere to be seen.
The discussion took place along two distinct lines. On one side were those who supported Jesus. They had seen the miracles he was doing, and they had heard the way that He taught the people. Many had even witnessed Him casting out demons. From all of those observations, they had reached the obvious conclusion that He was a good man, a godly man, probably even a prophet.
On the other side were those who believed the opposite. They believed that Jesus was NOT a good man, that He taught the people that many of the traditions of the elders were unnecessary, and that the interpretations and additions to the Scriptures penned by respected rabbis over the centuries did not have the same authority as the Scriptures themselves. These people, some of whom had seen Jesus do miracles and heard Him teach, believed that Jesus was dangerous. By teaching people to essentially ignore the safeguards of tradition and teaching that had been erected around the law, He was surely leading them right into sin!
These two factions would continue to exist all through Jesus’ ministry, and, in fact, that division over Jesus’ identity still exist today. It divides friends, family and even whole communities. In every place that the gospel is preached, some will accept Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior, while others will reject His claims outright. Some might accept a middle-ground version of Jesus, believing Him to be a great teacher, or even a prophet, but stopping shy of accepting Him as the Son of God. But in the end, personal opinion of who Jesus is doesn’t matter at all. Jesus was, is, and always will be God’s one and only Son, the Savior of the world, and that is a reality that must be fully accepted or fully rejected.
Father, I remember a time in my own life when I saw Jesus as a good man, a great teacher, and maybe even a prophet. I believed in the mythical “historical Jesus,” just a great man who was later elevated to godhood by His disciples. But I found that there was no salvation in that belief, no transformation. But when I received Jesus for who He truly is, the Son of God and the true Savior of the world, then I experienced the transformation that I longed for. A good academic and theological discussion can be fun, but there is really only one truth as to who Jesus is, a genuine “take it or leave it” proposition. Thank You for opening my eyes so that I could take it! Amen.