I’m happy to be the first to welcome you back to the Daily Fill. This week in John 7:32-52, we see Jesus making some pretty big statements again, and we get some insight into how various members of the general public react. We see many responses, from people rightly saying Jesus is the Messiah to people thinking he is demon-possessed or just a prophet. They all have facts or assumptions to base their conclusions on, they vary in factual accuracy as well. Verse 43 highlights the fact that there is no small amount of disagreement, and John puts the cause solely on Jesus. (43 So there was a division among the people because of him (Jesus.)
We can have an attitude of, “Why can’t we just get along?” That might cause us to put Jesus aside so we don’t have to partake in the division Jesus causes. Said division certainly feels bad, but is it actually a bad thing? This is a pattern that will come up again and again; Jesus sometimes causes people to divide. Some will believe him, while most will not. We are to do whatever we can to bring people to Jesus, but it is not up to us whether or not they believe.
The world collectively rejected Jesus, while we have received him and call him Lord. We don’t have to feel bad about people taking issue with Jesus in fact, we can actually expect it. We must always remain in the world loving people around us and representing Jesus. Never stop praying for people to come to faith in Christ.
Jonathan Duncan