Some stories just don't make their way into the Revised Common Lectionary, and John 7:1-19 is one of those stories. Basically, Jesus' brothers are giving him a hard time about all of that Messianic Secret nonsense. They are heading to Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Booths/Tabernacles/Tents, otherwise known at Sukkot, and they want him to reveal how awesome he is to everybody at the festival. (Here's a great video about Sukkot). Jesus says something about it not being time for that and sends them on his. Then, Jesus does end up going to Jerusalem and hanging out in secret for a few days, all the while listening in on conversations about him.
I love the picture in my head of Jesus sneaking around Jerusalem in a costume of some sort, a la Jasmine from Aladdin (thanks for that imagery, Kelly Fields). I'm sure at some point people were talking directly to Jesus about "that Jesus guy" without knowing it was him. I also wonder if it might have been pretty nice, for a change, to just be one of the crowd.
Eventually, Jesus heads to the temple to teach, where people are amazed at his teaching (as usual) and folks wonder out loud how somebody without any education can be so learned. After all, he was from Galilee...those guys are backwater idiots. For me, this raises a question about the difference between wisdom and learning. Aren't there people in the world without the proper degree or pedigree who speak wisdom and truth in inspirational ways? Aren't there people from the backwaters (wherever that might be in our own prejudiced minds) who amaze us with their words?
We'll explore these questions and more at worship on Tuesday. In the meantime, be on the lookout for Jesus sneakin' around.
0 comments:
Post a Comment