The streets of Jerusalem were more crowded than normal that day. Jews from every region had come to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7). Jesus’ name was on everyone’s lips and the topic of much whispered rumor. Could He be the long awaited Messiah? Was He the one who would deliver the people from their hated Roman invaders? The people debated his qualifications to fulfill the role, while the scribes and pharisees decried His character. The one thing no one could do, however, was ignore this charismatic Teacher who was turning the people’s hearts toward heaven.
I suspect the reason that the people could not plainly see Who Jesus was that day had something to do with their perspective. The religious elite of Jesus’ day interpreted the Old Testament scriptures describing the reign of Christ through a distorted lens of their own desires. They read how Messiah would establish David’s throne, inherit the nations, and destroy His enemies–and Jesus will do that when He comes again as the King of Kings during the millenial reign. However, they misinterpreted His purposes because they overlooked His humility (Zech 9:9), how He would be wounded for the sins of man in substitution for our punishment (Is 53), and that He would be pierced as hands and feet were nailed to the cross (Ps 22:16).
They valued the idea of a Messiah Who was a political leader operating in the POWER of God, but rejected One Who was a spiritual leader manifesting the CHARACTER of God. Because they looked through the lens of their own agenda, they missed God in their midst.
Jesus said in Mt 13:13, “seeing, they see not,” rendered in the Amplified Bible as “having the power of seeing, they do not see.” These men had the ability to see and understand, but willfully chose not to in order to justify their own viewpoint.
It is easy to stand on this end of history and censure these men, but really we as Christians can fall into the same trap so easily. In our society, we have been fed for many years a diet of messages telling us that God wants us to have MORE–more money, more prestige, more creature comforts. We have been taught to look at God through the lens of our agendas and our desires.
We have heard time after time scriptures like Phil 4:19 that say that “God will supply all our need through His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”, but neglected to consider that this powerful truth was said in the context of a church that had given lavishly to advance the gospel and care for others even though they were suffering severe persecution and deep poverty themselves(2 Cor 8). We have been fed the principle that God wants us to “prosper and be in health” (3 Jn 1:2) without considering what it means for our “soul to prosper”.
The lens of our personal comfort and desires can distort our view of God and warp the revelation of His word. God is no genie in a bottle who pops out to give us what we want and then goes back in until we need Him again. Don’t ask for more of Him, then expect Him to cooperate with our plans and conform to our purposes when He shows up. He will not come into our lives and fit into our agendas. God is God. He didn’t fit in the temple when Isaiah saw Him, and He doesn’t fit inside our religious expectations.
When you ask for more of Him, God really will answer–but He will do so as a Consuming Fire in your prayer closet. He will burn up vain teachings through time in your Bible. He will reveal selfish ambitions and cleanse impure motivations, but it isn’t always an comfortable process. We can only receive what we can accommodate. Any area of our life we invite Him to inhabit must be stretched to accommodate Him, and stretching can hurt.
God really does want us to have MORE…more of Him, more of His character formed inside us, more of the power of Christ in our lives. I want to see God, not my version of Him. I want the real deal Jesus. I want to have the ability to see, and then I want to choose to do it. What I really need is a right perspective.
Pray with me, Saints?
Father, I want more of You. I want to know Who You really are. Your words and ways are so much higher than mine that I can’t reach them without Your help. I ask in Jesus’ Name, make me more than I am so I may have more of You. Make me what You need me to be so You can do what You want to do in my generation. Give me eyes to see.
