February 7
JOHN 7
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
– John 7:32-36
JOHN 7 JEWS OBSESSION TO STOP JESUS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When Jesus spoke the truth about the hour that is coming
The Jews got more obsessed to stop him from speaking
They called officers to arrest and stop Jesus from exposing them
They were baffled with his statements and had to end his declarations.
As Jesus continued to declare his true identity, the Jewish leaders became angrier and obsessed to put a stop to his claim that he is the Christ. So, officers were sent to arrest him. But they still couldn’t help but hear his declarations. They were so intrigued about where he was going and it heightened their fear that Jesus would also go to the Greeks to spread his teaching. They think that if Jesus was arrested and killed, they can protect their image as honorable leaders.
What can pride, envy and insecurity do to people? In this account, we clearly witness that their pride was poked by the exposure of Jesus of their true character. They couldn’t share the limelight with this man who was not as learned as them. Their envy led them to have him arrested and later on killed. Their insecurity led them to manipulate and control the situation that they have no clue about. They had to know where Jesus was going to stop him from further being popular because that would show their phoniness. They had to have control over the situation so they could put a stop to their competition.
REFLECTION
• How has pride, envy and insecurity visited your life and what did it do to you?
