Today's Scripture Reading (January 30, 2024): John 12
Circumstances are
multifaceted; they have many sides. John has been talking about maybe the most apparent
sides of the story. He has told us stories about the supporters of Jesus: the
disciples, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Jesus has also reminded us of the rise of
the opposition, the religious and social elite of Israel, who saw Jesus as a
problem. These leaders saw in Jesus a theological problem. They believed that
Jesus's theology was wrong, which made him a false prophet, and scripture is
clear that false prophets are not to be allowed to continue among us.
Some feared that Jesus
might bring down the anger of Rome on Israel. These people were often referred
to as Herodians, and they believed that Jesus was disturbing the uneasy peace
that existed between Israel and Rome. As John tells the story of feeding the
five thousand, he says that the people wanted to make Jesus King.
After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they
began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him
king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself (John 6:14-15).
The question was whether Rome would sit on the side and watch
as Israel crowned a new king or if they would intervene on the side of the
Herods, and the smart money was on the side of an intervention. And then there
was just the question of the loss of prestige. A King Jesus would mean that
many of them would lose their positions of importance in favor of men with
names like Peter, James, and John.
But these weren't all of the people that were gathering
around Jesus. There were also people who were in between, like these Greeks. We
have no idea who these Greeks were, but they had come to celebrate the
Passover, which could mean a couple of different things. It is possible these
Greeks were converts to Judaism. They had been circumcised and baptized into
the faith. And they were coming to celebrate as equal partners with the Jews.
These converts would also have access to the court of Israel at the Temple
because their conversion made them Jews. But this option seems unlikely. It is
more likely that they were God-fearers. Israel was filled with Greeks and
Romans, among many others, who were attracted by the Jewish message, and they
honored the God of the Jews, but they did so from a distance. They weren't
circumcised, and they did not participate in all of the rituals of the faith,
but they supported the Jews. And Jesus met with many of these God-fearers
during his ministry.
It
seems likely that these Greeks were God-fearers. But part of the problem with
God-fearers was that the laws of cleanliness meant that a Jew could not enter
into the house of a God-fearer. These people were set apart because they weren't
total converts to Judaism. These God-fearers couldn't enter into the Temple. In
fact, bringing a God-fearer into the Temple was the charge that sent Paul to
Rome at the end of Acts. Paul was charged with taking a God-fearer named Titus,
the same Titus to whom Paul's letter in the Christian Testament is addressed, into the Temple, into areas where God-fearers
could not go.
These
Greeks were not supporters of Jesus, nor were they opposed. They were curious,
wondering whether they could be accepted into this emerging Christian faith.
And because they are unsure of their status in the faith, they go to Philip. It
seems likely that Philip was chosen because his name, Philip, is of Greek
origin. He was seen as someone like them.
And
this has always been the evangelistic wing of the Church. Church growth is
never because of the band or the speaker; it is people like you who take the time
to tell people in your circles of influence about Jesus and invite them to come
with you to Church. It is an ancient principle that was at work with Philip and
these Greeks.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 22
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