Today I was reading from John 7:14-36. There is a lot going on in these verses. The thing which struck me this morning is the debate as to whether Messiah's origins are to be known by those whom Messiah comes to save.
The argument is that only one who comes from God (from a place unknown to us) can really save us from the hardship and death and fear which is known oh so well by us.
The people knew Jesus, they knew where he had come from. They knew that he (according to the Gospel) had no training or teaching.
So, many of them were inclined to dismiss him.
Jesus seems to understand. He points to his relationship with God by speaking in what seems like riddles. He tells them "I go to him who sent me; you will seek me and not find me; where I am you cannot come."
This is the scandal (to return to yesterday's Gospel lesson) of Jesus as Messiah. He is not what we would expect to arrive among us as Heaven's gift. He looks too much like one of us; he acts too much like one of us. Don't we tend to expect heavenly things to be totally and completely different?
But what if this is precisely what God intends Messiah to do - to help us see that His way is for us to live fully and completely and appreciatively the life He has given us?
What if our goal isn't to escape, but to live this life in a way that matters - matters to us, matters to our neighbor, matters to God.
Is the phrase still tossed around about being so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good? Any heavenly mindedness that Jesus had certainly did not thwart the good he did here on earth.
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