21. JOHN 7 v 25-36: The crowds in Jerusalem were mystified, confused and excited. They knew that the Messiah would suddenly appear in their midst out of nowhere, yet people knew Jesus' background. They relied on the words of Jewish Rabbis, who declared that: 'Three things come unexpectedly: the Messiah, a godsend and a scorpion'. The teaching of Christianity here is in sharp contrast with Jewish beliefs: we believe that we find God in the ordinary, the commonplace, Jews believe that they can only discover God in the unusual, that is why we can read here that the miracles were so important to them. Christians perceive a world from which God is never absent!

Time was limited for the Jews to turn to Jesus and recognise Him as the Messiah, the living God. In a very short while He will be dying on the tree-we can read here that the case against Him as seen by the Jewish religious leaders has increased from being a law breaker to being a blasphemer, where the death penalty is automatic if proven. There would come a time when the presence of the living human Jesus would be no more. In a different sense, we have limited time, for death waits for all of us. I remember carrying out some door to door visits in the village we lived in and talking to people about Jesus. There was one couple to whom I spoke who reckoned they were too busy to do anything about the claims of Jesus. I was told a few months after that doorstep encounter that both the man and his wife had died! Isaiah 55 v 6 declares: 'Seek the Lord while He may be found.' Make sure that you do!
May the Holy Spirit cause you to hunger after the Living God! David