That You May Believe - Week 16
RECAP
Have you ever had your hopes and expectations heightened for something and then have them dashed by reality? We have all been there and will be there again. That’s the emotion we experience in the narrative of John twelve. A crowd as gathered in Jerusalem for Passover and they are wondering if Jesus will attend the feast. It has not been but a short time since Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in Bethany. The news has spread fast and the crowd is anticipating His arrival.
Jesus arrives and the crowd gives Him a kings welcome with song and palm leaves as a victorious king returning from battle. He is the answer to their prayer and hopes, wrapped up in this Jesus riding on a beast of burden through the streets of Jerusalem. Unbeknownst to the crowd and even the disciples this celebration will in a few days become a funeral. The tension of celebration and disillusionment.
How do we manage those types of tension when God is in the very middle of them? – Jesus is fully God and fully man so what He is about to face is no surprise to Him. What happens when we find ourselves in the middle of the tension of life and Jesus is there also. We want the easy way out, He is king so just fix this, say the word and we’re back on easy street.
What we fail to see is God works in and through the tensions of our lives. What they experienced that day was as real as what we are experiencing in our own lives and yet Jesus is in the midst of it all. The easy solution is not always the God solution. What we allow God to do within us during those time impacts what God does through us in the future. Not all tensions are to be eliminated in our lives, many are to be managed because they are an opportunity to grow in faith and grace.
The crowd in Jerusalem had an agenda and their agenda had value. They have been living under the heavy-handed oppression of the Romans long enough and Jesus was a king so why not. But that was not God’s plan, it was not God’s timing, it was a tension to be managed.
Can you trust God that He has already sorted out the details of your life and that the understanding of how that looks may not become apparent to you for some time? We trust Him and that trust is founded in the knowledge of His character and nature.
He is for you and never against you.
Scripture
John 11:55-57
John 12:1-50
Let's Chat
Let's keep the conversation going. Use the following questions to discuss with your family, friends, or discussion group.
1. What tension are you struggling with today and how do you see Jesus in the middle of that tension?
2. What lesson can learn for managing this tension in the presence of Christ?
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