Is Jesus the Messiah?

²⁵Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?²⁶But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah?²⁷But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”

²⁸While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him.²⁹But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.”³⁰Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.

³¹Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”

³²When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus.³³But Jesus told them, “I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me.³⁴You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going.”

³⁵The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. “Where is he planning to go?” they asked. “Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands? Maybe he will even teach the Greeks!³⁶What does he mean when he says, ‘You will search for me but not find me,’ and ‘You cannot go where I am going’?”

I find two things amazing about this temple encounter.  The first is how totally in control Jesus is.  The Pharisees and priest supposedly controlled the temple.  They obviously want to arrest Jesus and kill him.   From the first verse, it appears to be common knowledge.  Yet they have no control whatsoever over Jesus.  We need to remember this when we read about Jesus death on the cross.  It was not forced upon him.  He obviously was in complete control of his destiny and chose to die for you and me.  Now extend that just a little further.  If Jesus freely endured that for you, what can you endure for him?  And, if Jesus is in complete control, and loves you enough to choose to die for you, do you really have anything to fear or be worried about?

The other amazing thing in this passage is how pronounced Jesus is about the religious leaders inability to find him and go to heaven.  Read it again, it is very clear.  But that seems so wrong, anyone can change, right?  Yes, and that is the good news.  “We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.”  Thank God that when we come to believe and trust in Jesus, we are not the people we were before.  I am very confident that some of the religious leaders Jesus is speaking to are in heaven today but they are not the same people they were that day.  They were “reborn”.   None of us can come to the Father as our old selves, but as a person re-created in Christ Jesus, we become his very children.  Praise God!

Jesus, let me rest in you.  Help me to live in the peace of your love knowing you are ultimately in complete control.  Thank you for transforming me and continue your work in me forever.  Change me Lord, change m.  *obbs*