"Divine GPS"

Scripture Passage

John 7:1-9; Luke 9:51-56; Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62; John 7:10-8:20

Scripture Focus

“You go on. I’m not going to this festival, because my time has not yet come.” (John 7:8 NLT)

As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51 NLT)

Observation

I can’t get past the first few verses in today’s reading. The opening verses from John hint at a level of opposition to Jesus’ ministry that I don’t often think about—the scornful disbelief of Jesus’ own brothers. And yet it’s not hard to imagine. If honor is hard to come by in one’s own town (cf. Matthew 14:57), how much more is honor hard to come by in one’s own family!

The “encouragement” from Jesus’ brothers in John 7 drips with sarcasm. “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! You can’t become famous if you hide like this!” (John 7:3-4 NLT) Of course, Jesus’ reply has a bit of an edge, too. “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime” (John 7:6 NLT). The difference between the brothers’ sarcasm and Jesus’ retort is that Jesus’ statement rings with truth.

Because the brothers’ lives were no more submitted to the Father’s purpose than the man on the moon, it really didn’t matter when (or whether) they traveled to Jerusalem for the festivals. Jesus, however, lived in submission to His Heavenly Father, and therefore lived a life marked and directed by the Father’s purpose. There was intentionality to Jesus’ days. There was timing to His movements.

That’s made all the more clear by the record of Luke 9. Jesus has just come down off the Mount of Transfiguration, having spoken with Moses and Elijah concerning “his departure” (Luke 9:31 NLT)—a phrase scholars take to refer to the events surrounding his death, resurrection, and ascension. Following that conversation, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51 NLT). That connection—that sense of intentionality and determination following such a conversation—has always fascinated me.

I’m reminded, today, that a submitted life is a purposeful life, and a life filled with purpose, then, ought to be an intentional life—that I am privileged to cooperate with what the Father is already doing…and, if my life is to count for eternity, am obligated to do so—that my resolution must be matched to His purpose and timing.

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