Thoughts for the Day

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near.... But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret....

Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.’ Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Today's reading reminds me of the story of the 'Scarlet Pimpernel' (written by Baroness Orczy) set at the time of the French Revolution. The name is adopted by the hero Sir Percy Blakeney (a seeming fop) who rescues aristocrats before they are guillotined. His daring deeds are captured in the song:

"We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchie's seek him everywhere."

Jesus has spent nearly three years travelling around Judea, Samaria, and Galilee with thousands of people following him. He tries to attend the Feast of Tabernacles secretly but it doesn't work and he is recognised. We sense the frenetic and anxious scene - the crowd asking is he the Messiah, or isn't he the Messiah; the questioning about whether the authorities know who he is or not; and a sense of fear about what will happen next.

Only when Jesus accuses the people of not knowing God is there a reaction, and when he makes his claim to come from God, then the authorities seek to arrest him. But as when he visited Capernaum he manages to slip away.

Today our world is no different. Many seek God but do not recognise Him when they find Him. Henry Ward Beecher (US preacher) once said:

• "Anxiety in human life is what squeaking and grinding are in machinery that is not oiled. In human life, the oil is trust."

We too need to stop being anxious and put all our trust in Jesus Christ!

Lord Jesus Christ,
we constantly seek You
in the world around us,
in our worship,
and in our prayers.
We say we need Your advice,
but often only ask when it suits us.
We anxiously question whether we are doing
what is right or wrong,
but fail to listen to You.
Teach us to trust in Your quiet words,
and obey them.
Amen.