After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. – John 7:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 12, 2014): John 7

At the climax of the Rock Opera “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Judas Iscariot questions Jesus concerning the purpose of his death. Tim Rice, who wrote the lyrics for the Andrew Lloyd Webber production, places these words in the mouth of the stories antagonist -

Did you mean to die like that?
Was that a mistake or
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record breaker?

                                      (Superstar – Tim Rice)

It is an old question. It questions exactly what it is that we mean when we begin to talk about the idea that Jesus knew that he was going to die a horrible death on the cross. Was the death of Jesus some sort of suicide plan? Or was it a miscalculation on the part of Jesus? Or was it something else? Why did Jesus feel that he had to die (and even these words are loaded with assumptions)?

As John 7 opens, chronologically we are now about six months away from the cross that Jesus seemed to know that he was travelling toward. And there has been about six months that have passed since the memorable events mentioned in John 6. John opens this part of the story with the comment that Jesus had spent this interim time in Galilee because he knew that the religious leaders in Judea wanted to kill him.

But there is some controversy in passage. The question concerns the emotions surrounding Jesus decision to stay away from Judea. Some interpretations, like the NIV, simply indicate that Jesus did not want to go to Judea. The language is similar to what we find in the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) all agree that Jesus did not want to go to the cross. In fact, in the last moments before his arrest, Jesus asked his Father to find another way, hoping to be able to complete what needed to be accomplished without his death. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). The message seems to be clear, Jesus did not want to go to the cross, but at his Father’s command he would go to the cross.

The words of John could also be interpreted as Jesus making a purposeful mental decision not go to Judea, but rather to stay in Galilee. But there is another possible interpretation. Some manuscripts seem to indicate that it was not that Jesus did not want to go, and it was not that he had made up his mind that he would not go, but that at this point in time Jesus felt that he did not have the authority to go into Judea. Tim Rice had it wrong (at least in the song “Superstar.”) The death of Jesus had nothing to with either a mistake on the part of Jesus or an aspiration on the part of Jesus to be remembered. It had everything to do with the fact that he was himself under the authority of, and obedient to, the Father.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 8