Can This Be the Christ?

Lesson #128

The residents of Jerusalem were listening to and watching Jesus and questioning his identity. The Jewish authorities were convinced in their minds that Jesus could not be the Christ, the foretold Messiah, but there were others who believed he was; at least they saw him as their deliver from the bonds of Rome. Jesus concurs with them that they know where he is from as a man, but they simply can’t grasp that the Son of God dwells inside that body. Jesus refers to this by saying, “I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me” (John 7 28 – 29 NASB).

This was more that the Jewish authorities could accept “So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come” (John 7:30 ESV). The authorities had the will and were seeking an opportunity to arrest Jesus; they had the strength, but something seem to hinder them from carrying out their intent as no one laid a hand on him. God had a plan that he was executing and thus a schedule for Jesus to follow and until that time determined by God arrives, Jesus was protected against all their violence and furious attacks.

God’s plan included Jesus going to the cross as our sacrifice for sin; when, according to schedule, when the time is right we should not be surprised or alarmed when they finally drag him off to his death. Just as the death of Jesus had an exact time determined by God, we should understand that as we live from day to day we are under God’s authority and protection. As Calvin said, “It is difficult to believe that, while we are subject to so many accidents, exposed to so many open and concealed attacks both from men and beasts, and liable to so many diseases, we are safe from all risk until God is pleased to call us away.” For each of us as believers, God determined our time of birth, assigned us work to do with guidance and strength to do it in his time frame, and set a time of death. Between those two end points we are immortal and will complete the work assigned. I see this in my own life. There were three distinct times in my past when I should have died as a result of accident, but I was protected. There was work assigned to me to do in the distant land of China that I could never have even dreamed of when I was younger. The protection and guidance of God’s hand is so clear in my life that at times it nearly overwhelms me and surely humbles me.

“Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”” (John 7:31 ESV). The people knew that God was going to raise up a prophet like Moses from among them, “And I (God) will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18 ESV). Jesus like Moses had performed many miraculous signs and as a result it would be only natural for the people to wonder if Jesus was the Messiah.

Prayer

Father, thank you for your guidance and protection over my life. Thank you for your loving care as you molded my life to look and act more and more like that of Jesus. I long to see how you plan to use me and mold me in the days ahead. Truly, life under your hand is an adventure that has no other match. The world has nothing to offer that comes anywhere close to what life with you has to offer.