Who I Am

John 7:1-10

After these things Jesus walked Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.

Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." For even His brothers did not believe Him.

Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come."

When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.


Jesus had clearly offending the Jews. It appears He offended those closer to Him also. I looked up the word brothers in a concordance (in the King James Version it is brethren) because I wanted to see if there was a specific meaning in this context. A brother can mean a sibling, fellow or man, or of the same nationality. It comes from the Greek word adelphus which means from the womb.

I know there are some who believe Jesus had no other siblings and that this would reference just fellows, men, or followers. I believe scripture proves He had other siblings and this makes reference to that. All four Gospels say that He was not received as the Son of God by some of His own family. And it states outright here that even His own brothers did not believe Him.

It appears they were putting Him to task, to once again bring about miracles. Perhaps they, too, wanted more proof. Like He told His mother at the wedding in Cana, His time had not yet come, so He also told His brothers. He did only the will of His Father...and the time was not right. He would not allow anyone else to dictate what He was to do.

As an aside, isn't it part of human nature to want people to know the good we do for others? Look at all whose names are listed as donors to this or that. While there is absolutely nothing wrong in doing this, why do we often need to be recognized? For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly! But in Jesus' case it's different. What He had to offer was far greater than what any man had. He did this not for Himself but to glorify the Father, to show what great things He had to offer. And what we do should also glorify the Father. Not so sure every donation to all the worthy causes do that. I think they tend to make us feel better about ourselves...Jesus can do the a better jobs for us. We are actually told to not let the left hand know what the right is doing (Matthew 6:3).

Anyway, how skeptical His brothers seemed to have been. How skeptical we can be. Imagine a friend or family member who one day says they received Christ as their Savior. Maybe that person (male or female) used to swear, had anger issues, was into drugs, pornography or alcohol and they stopped. A change took place and they were not that same person, the one you would hang out with and now might find you cannot be with. I remember a coworker, after my confession of Christ, saying she couldn't understand why I needed to change. It's a change that Jesus begins to make in you. It comes with the territory. You want to let go of your old self.

Imagine also Jesus, the carpenter's son, a brother, who one day begins to proclaim He's the Son of God. And imagine a friend or family member who now claims they have received Christ, and says they are now a son (or daughter) of God, that the Spirit of God now dwells within, is a child of light and not dark, is raised up and made to sit in heavenly places, free from sin and made righteous? (John 1:12, 1Corinthians 3:16, 1Thessalonians 5:5, Ephesians 2:6, Romans 6:18) And there are more scriptural descriptions! Wouldn't there be similar thoughts of "who do they think they are"?

If Jesus proclaimed He was hated by the world for what He spoke, where does that put others who claim to know Him?

But here's the thing...Jesus offers those "who I ams" to all people. All. But we have to let go of our misconceptions, pride, want Him and choose Him to receive them. We must know Him to receive all His gifts.

1John 3:1 - Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Offenses

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

I was in deep conversation the other day with a good Christian friend. We do not see each other as much as we used to but for me, who is not a phone person, I love talking with her. We always end up talking about the Lord. And don't you know, we are always so refreshed and encouraged. And before you know it, we are worshiping God and praying for each other right then and there.

It's easy and so satisfying to be able to do that with people of like mind. I can't imagine how wonderful a day would be if every conversation ended up like this.

Today, however, it is a offense to many to even bring up the name of Jesus. I don't quite understand why. Maybe it's a feeling of insecurity or guilt. They know who Jesus is and think that's enough not wanting to take the time to know Him intimately. Why? Is it fear? Is it thinking they are not worthy of Him? Is it arrogance thinking they are worthy and He loves all people so....  No one is worthy. That's the bottom line. That's why we need Him.

There is no one religion that is better than another. It's about a relationship with one Person, Jesus Christ. That's the bottom line.

What is it that causes one to become offended at the name of Jesus? What goes through a person's mind at the moment they are confronted with even just a hint of someone who is serious about Him? It's like a cat...I swear this is how they think. Here's the scenario: They've been naughty and after being scolded they run under the bed to hide. To them it's just a game. Only half of their body is hidden, however, and their tail or hind quarters is still sticking out. I swear they think in their little minds, "Well, I can't see her, so she can't see me."

What I'm getting at is if we avoid talking about Jesus just maybe He doesn't see us or our sin. If we don't talk about Him or bring Him up we don't have to face it. It doesn't exist...just like the cat who thinks he/she's hidden because they can't see me.

So I know what I am to do. And it should always be in the love of Christ. He loved all people, even those who offended Him. He loved all so much He died for each of us...not that we should just give Him a wink and say, "Good job, Jesus. Glad You did that for me" and then go on living as if we owe Him nothing at all.

Oh, people, we do need to do something. We need to embrace what He has done. I despise that new age word but it's what He wants...for us to embrace Him and follow Him...and not be offended by Him or offend Him. We're not to embrace diversity of religions, as the world believes, we're to embrace one Man, Jesus Christ.

After all that...offense is the greatest fear I have! I admit my sin. Hopefully admitting it will cause me to do something about it. As much as I know that talking about Jesus to unbelievers is what we are to do, it is difficult for me to just open my mouth and speak. On the other hand, aren't we then offending Jesus if we do not?

There's no hiding from Him. So why not discuss the One who died to save us? Like with certain of my friends, it is so refreshing and joyful talking about the Lord. Oh, we ponder His judgments, His commands to us, and we counter it with the love He brings, the blessings when we do what is right in His eyes.

I know we are all equipped upon conversion to open and our mouths and speak of the greatness of our God, of what He has done and what He continues to do in our lives. We all, upon this conversion, want so much to share this knowledge. I did it; so have others. And when we hit blank looks or no response, in time we realize it's not something most people want to discuss...and the talking stops. What's so offensive about a life truly being saved? We are, sadly, an offense to the Lord when we do not open those mouths...of this I repent.

I read this the other morning: "We have the idea that prosperity, or happiness, or morality, is the end of man's existence; according to the Bible, it is something other, namely, 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' When a man is right with God, God puts His honor in that man's keeping." Am I glorifying God by not talking about Him openly? Like I said above, there is a joy in speaking of Him...but it should go beyond preaching to the choir!

Lord, forgive me for not opening my mouth to speak. There is no one greater than You. Yes, You were an offense in Your day...even to Your own family...yes, You are the Word that causes offense, the Word that pierces our hearts and souls showing us what sinful people we are. Yes, You will judge all mankind on how they lived their lives either with or apart from You...WITH and apart. You will judge mouths that would not speak the truth when it was known. Lord, let the power of Your Spirit fall upon me that I might speak in the fullness of You about the fullness of You.

Matthew 11:6 - And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.