Keeping It To Himself

John 8:21-30 (May 15)

Once again, Jesus tells the followers that he is going away. "You will search for me but will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going."

Now if I imagine my soon-to-be-four-year-old grandson saying this, it would have been followed by "na, na, na! " In other words, I get to go, and YOU DON'T!!

But Jesus isn't boasting with his words. In fact, he is sad and frustrated that more people aren't understanding what he is trying to tell them.

Do you ever struggle with people understanding you? If you have teenagers (or 4-year-old grandchildren, the answer is most likely YES!) It is a frustrating thing to try to make yourself clear, especially about something important, only to be met with confused looks or flat-out ridicule. This is where Jesus finds himself in today's scripture.

Even after he explicitly explains who he is...for the umpteenth time, he still gets the question, "Who are you?" Talk about a dense crowd!!!

Jesus replies, “The one I have always claimed to be. I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won't."

That statement is worth digging a little deeper into. Obviously, Jesus could give them all an earful if he chose to. But instead, he chooses to focus on what his Father wants him to say. That, my friends, in his state of frustration, is utter obedience at its finest.

Have you ever been in a situation where you really could have said ALOT...and really wanted to, but you chose to take the high road? The words come to your mind, but they don't get past your lips because you use self-control.

This is a sign of maturity. it is a sign of wisdom in knowing what is and is not appropriate in a particular moment or situation. I wish we could be born with that gift, but for most of us it is something that we learn through trial & error. (Well... we HOPE we finally learn!)

But here is Jesus, speaking in obedience to his Father, and basically keeping his mouth shut about what he really thinks. (Can you say "zip it, lock it, and put it in your pocket"?)

But I think this obedience served him well in that moment, because this scripture tells us that as he went on explaining who he was (instead of telling them what he thought of them), many who heard him began to believe him. They might not have been so inclined to take him seriously if he was having a full-blown temper tantrum. (Did I already say I have a 4-year-old grandson? Trust me, I am an expert on temper tantrums.)

This is an example that we can all take to heart. Yes, there will be times when we would really like to tell someone what we think about them. But we have the opportunity to be like Jesus, to think before we speak, and to think of the bigger picture...is our attitude, our words, and our actions going to point someone to Christ?

Sometimes we just need to keep it to ourselves