Can any good thing....?

Why have I strived so hard to be extraordinary in the world’s eyes? This was a question that came to my heart after reading John 6. Jesus had large crowds following him not because of who he was but for the miracles he was performing and the signs. Amidst all that, he feeds five thousand men and probably more from five barley loaves and two fish. Of course, after they (the crowd) recognized what happened, they were “happy.” Jesus withdraws alone to be with God. He later begins to teach them how he is the bread of life. He was revealing something way deeper than the sign they saw. He was saying I am your life source and sustenance. Jesus was saying I am the bread that came from heaven. The next verse stunned me.

They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, “I have come down from heaven?” John 6:42 ESV

Theologian, Rechab Gray, summed up the thought I had perfectly in his writing on these John verses:

“Part of what people had to overcome to believe in Jesus was His very ordinary roots. If a person was unfamiliar with Mary’s virginity at the time of her conception of Jesus, there was really nothing extraordinary about how He grew up or where He grew up. Further, the truth of her virginity was probably quickly overshadowed by the fact that she and Joseph went on to have many more children the ‘normal’ way. (Matthew 13:55) Not only was the family seen as basic, but Jesus' family didn’t see Him as anything special. For this reason, there just wasn’t a lot about Jesus’ upbringing that would have drawn people to Him. It’s critical, however, to recognize that this was by design, for God wanted to incarnate Himself in total humility as opposed to His natural state of exaltation. (Isaiah 53:2) This is part of the point that Paul is making in Philippians 2:6-11. Jesus is the perfect model of humility. Christians should follow suit. If His worldly perception meant almost nothing in the Kingdom, neither should theirs. Jesus’ righteousness before people was important; Jesus’ status among the people meant absolutely nothing.”

Later on in John 6, it would tell us after Jesus’s words, many of his DISCIPLES turned back and no longer walked with him. For the hard heart, even evidence is not enough! The truth he revealed was accompanied by a sign, ironically.

For those of us who are in Christ, we know him to be extraordinary, and yet many treated him as average, rejected him, and would ultimately kill him for his claims of being God. Why do we fight so hard to be approved of by humans? Jesus lived a life that had one aim: to please the One who sent him. Why, then, do I strive to be so extraordinary in the world’s eyes?

Sin? Sure. Deeper things? Most likely. Iono….do you deal with this? What are your thoughts? Comment…lemme know

Until next time,

Demetrius