Trumping the Opposition

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples then John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples.  When the Lord learned of this, He left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.  John 4:1-3.

I never really paid attention to this introduction to the meeting with the Samaritan woman.  I’m pretty certain it has to do with getting on with the main story rather than losing myself in the details, but I’m learning to recognize even the most inocuous entries as significant when dealing with Scripture.

I can’t tell you from the text exactly why Jesus reacted like He did to the Pharisees, but I can guess from what I know of them and their later attitudes toward Him.  For one thing, they were zealous for their brand of the Jewish religion, pretty much to the exclusion of all others.  Many of them had accepted John’s mission, I think because it harmonized with their own guilt based perspective to a degree, so the ones who hadn’t bought into it probably were on the look out for anyone who might start “sheep stealing” again.

Yet from the text we can glean some important clues as to why Jesus avoided the Pharisees.

First, the fact that this sect even noticed Jesus’ ministry enough for it to get back to Him as a report is a point to consider.  They must have been discussing it, for what other reason would it be a public gossip?  So their very interest showed their worry.  Also, knowing the rumor mill like I do, for the common people or anyone to learn of another person’s or group’s opinion means it had to have been some what of a public debate, which means someone brought the issue to Synagogue.

Second, John A goes out of his way to mention Jesus’ gain on John B.  The numbers of converts to Jesus’ way versus John B’s lets us know that the problem the Pharisees were troubled by was the numbers being added to Jesus’ following.  This sounds to me like they were worried enough to begin confronting the issue head on.  The Pharisees were an aggressive bunch of people, going out of their way to win converts and make sure eveyone knew just how studiously dedicated they were to the Law of Moses and God.

John A mentions another factoid we might want to ponder as well.  Jesus didn’t baptize anyone with water at all.  John make it quite clear who did the baptizing and this is a point where we want to sit for a minute to see the reason.  If Jesus had baptized a few people or even many, those baptized by Him would have thought themselves superior to those baptized by the disciples.  Paul troubleshoots this problem in 1 Corinthians 3 siting the divisive nature of such an attitude and by dent of his need to argue the point demonstrates the reality of it.  Jockying for position, arguing over who is more holy, quarreling about which apostle held the highest seat in Christ’s government, all these questions are nonsense to those in Christ.  No one gains lordship in the church unless given the gift of such, which means he or she becomes a bondslave to Christ and serves the Body of Christ in that role.

Jesus didn’t baptize because He knew our nature and tendancy to beat each other up over who’s first in the kingdom.  I’m pretty sure this is why God chose the rule of the least being the greatest, the last being first, etc., because He knew the nature of sin made us think of ourselves as little godlings and fight for supremacy.  So He directed the apostles to do the work even while He lived on earth to ensure no one would misunderstand or pervert the message.

Jesus avoided the confontation with the Pharisees because it would serve no purpose at that time.  He hadn’t begun the work of miracles on a large scale as yet according to John A nor had He been teaching much of anything but “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near!” in this beginning phase.  The time would come, which John A later records, when Jesus would confront them head on, but He wasn’t ready as yet.

We can learn a lesson from Christ’s example (easy assumption, huh) about timing our work, troubleshooting problems and dealing with business for the church.  The old saying “Timing is everything” is accurate here as well as elsewhere.  Jesus stepped out of that time table He worked out with His Father only once and that was at the request of His mother.  Other than this one incident, He stuck to His own sense of propriety and timing without wavering and no one could push Him rush ahead of the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

I can’t judge God’s timing better than others but I know there is one.  I also recognize that saying “yes” every time God calls us to serve no matter how small the service, is an opportunity to follow our Master and probably leads us to the big “yes” where He uses our talents in much larger context.  The principle of Christ’s education for us always begins with “he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much” because trust is earned.  Every time God puts someone in our path to serve we are to say “yes” and give of our abilities with a whole heart.

At the same time there is a season for our service within a certain context.  For example, I have a five year old son, touring as a musician full time right now would leave him without a father quite a bit so I am prioritizing his wellbeing while continuing to use my musical gifts in the local church.  If the opportunity presents itself later once he’s older, I’ll tour and serve the Lord in a larger capacity through that gifting.  In the meantime, my son’s growth and discipleship in the Lord Jesus is of far greater concern to our Master than my reaching thousand of people through song.

My time to do the other just hasn’t come as yet.

Do you see the significance of waiting on the Lord and serving in the capacity or place you are in at the moment?  It’s vital we get this because many of live outside of the “now” and yearn for the “not yet” to the point where our effectiveness in the present gets sacrificed for a dream of the future.

This very principle is one of the reasons I believe Jesus didn’t confront the Pharisees headon.  It would have accomplished nothing because He hadn’t given them ample proof as yet to His power and authority.  The miracles, teaching and outreach to sinners came through a series of events which hadn’t occurred as yet so until those things happened, Jesus waited.  His patience also proved a good chess move as well, because His reluctance to confront them inspired them to seek Him out and watch His every move “secretly” in order to know Him.  This was also their undoing, in a sense, for they saw first hand the power with which He approached humanity and couldn’t deny it.

Sometimes the best argument is simple action.

Tags: appropriate actions, being like God, being like Jesus, debates, Faith, God's purpose, God's will, Jesus, Mission, quarrels, service, serving God, spiritual growth, spiritual timing, submission, Submit, the right time, the work of God, timing, trust, trust in God, understanding God