Today’s reading (John 7:1-31) expresses the confusion of the whole of Israel when it came to Yeshua’s identity. While everyone was unsure – was he, wasn’t he the Messiah? – John is showing us, through recounting his miracles and the words of Yeshua himself that spoke to his deity, that this was more than just a man.
Even though we have read through over seven chapters of overwhelming evidence, we see here that not even his brothers – men who had grown up with him and knew him better than anyone else – believed. They struggled to reconcile what they thought they knew with what they were witnessing. Their idea of who the Messiah would be did not fit with the man that stood in front of them.
Some of the men of Jerusalem said, “But we know where this man comes from, and when the Messiah appears, no one will know where he comes from.” (John 7:27) Their belief that no one will know where the Messiah comes from was wrong. Even in their day, the chief priests and the scribes knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem as spoken of in Micah 5:2. (Matthew 2:3-6) Their ignorance of scripture and preconceived notions of the Messiah’s origins led them to discount the notion that Yeshua could be the promised Messiah.
When it comes to Yeshua, who he was and is, we have the blessing of hindsight. As we continue to read through John, we will see more and more evidence pile up to support the Messiahship of Yeshua.
Isn’t this typical of us? We often struggle to believe the extraordinary ways that G-d works in our lives or the changes he brings about. We become so used to what we think we know or how we think G-d is, that when G-d begins to do something new and different we cannot wrap our head around it.
If G-d is beginning to do a new thing in your life, don’t be quick to dismiss it. Wait and watch. He will make his plan evident. Have the faith of the Samaritan woman. All it took was for Yeshua to speak to her and she believed. Believe while others doubt.
Neshama Women 