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John 7:25-31 [25] Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? [26] “But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? [27] “However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” [28] Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. [29] “But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.” [30] Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. [31] And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” What are the facts of the passage?:
What do those facts mean?: (Verse
25) - There
were apparently, among the numbers of people who were attending the
ministry of Christ a significant number who were from Jerusalem. Even
though the leaders said publicly that they had no desire to kill Christ,
it was obvious enough that the average individual could perceive that this
intention was present. It
is difficult to hide our true feelings aud the red intent of our hearts is
often all too easily perceived by those around us. Sadly, this is, for
Many, a reason to try more diligently to hide what the truth of their
intent genuinely is. For the believer, however, this is reason to be sure
that the intent of the heart is pure and not sinful and corrupt. We can be
certain that our real feelings and purposes will, to one degree or
another, be found out. Is this not a function of the Scriptural principle
''Be sure your sin will find you out?" We
need to remember that the average person is not stupid! If they are
unredeemed they are spiritually blind, surely, but they are not stupid. It
is clear that others are able to put together much unseen about us from us
our actions. Truthfully, our actions speak loudly about what is really in
our hearts and that message is one that is there for all men to see. And
see it they do. These leaders, I'm sure, had little conception that the
true intent of their hearts was plain for all to see. I am quite certain
that they believed their counsel and intent to be secret. How wrong they
were! The
people observed more than just their words, they saw their actions and
from them, discerned what reality was. It is interesting to see how loudly
their actions spoke, and that the people, though they heard the words as
well, paid more attention to their deeds, those deeds contradicting what
came out of their mouths. This
will always be the case. We simply must accept this and ''get over
it". Our actions, if they contradict our words, will always be given
more weight. Right or wrong, unless people know us very, very well (on the
level of family) this is what reality is. Actually, there is more to do
than just "get over it". We need to build this understanding
into our manner of dealing with people. We cannot expect people to give us
the benefit of the doubt. We must deal with things as they are and not as
the ought (or we wish them) to be. How do those facts apply to my life?: I must take care that my actions do not invalidate my words. It is my words that God can use to bring men to Christ (as those words communicate the Scripture to the unredeemed). If my actions speak louder than my words, they will undermine the message and prevent its use by God and even damage the process. I must see to it that this doesn't happen - this is my responsibility (not theirs). What should I do in response?: I need to take steps to be sure that I never contradict my words with my actions. |
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| Actions & Words |
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