1 Samuel 13:23-14:52
John 7:31-52
Psalm 109:1-31
Proverbs 15:5-7
Apologies again for the tardiness. Sometimes Saturdays are even busier than weekdays...
When I read yesterday's NT reading, I could not help but think that the Pharisees were insisting on taking comfort in what they thought they knew, so much so that they ignored what they did not understand. They thought there was nowhere Jesus could go that they would not find Him. They thought Jesus came from Galilee. They thought the mob of common people was ignorant. And the one man who suggested they listen to Jesus - well they decided he was wrong from the get go as well. And because they insisted on what they thought they knew, they missed out on getting to know the Messiah they'd supposedly been waiting for all that time. How different might things have been for them if, upon seeing Jesus's miracles, hearing His teaching and seeing the hordes that followed Him, they might have instead asked "Who is He?". They might have instead given Him the benefit of the doubt, and in doing so, discovered His sovereignty. The fact is, when I read today's reading about the Pharisees, I thought "if I'd been a Pharisee during Jesus's time, instead of insisting He was a fraud in order to protect the life I had, I would have tried to get to know Him. Maybe then I would have understood that He was God, and would have deferred to Him even at risk of the life I had."
And then it occurs to me: I am such a hypocrite. The truth is, when things happen that I don't understand, things that derail my ambitions, that threaten my way of life, that create discomfort and uncertainty - when these things happen, I respond much more like the Pharisees than, say, the crowds that submit to Him, the sinners that repent. I complain; I demand; I reject Him and His sovereignty over all things - all this despite how often He has shown so very clearly His ways are above my ways, His thoughts are above my thoughts. I can't even claim to be like Nicodemus, prepared to give Him an opportunity to speak to me. I am the epitome of the person in today's Proverb - the "fool [that] spurns a paren't discipline".
Father, be patient and persistent with me. My rejection does not change the truth - that You re sovereign over all things, and without You I cannot stand. Overwhelm my stubbornness with your love and mercy. In Jesus's name I pray.
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