TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2009
Did Jesus Use Tact?
My pastor was teaching last Sunday on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and took us to Scriptures that were talking about the Feast of Tabernacles, and how that Jesus was in Galilee because the Jews sought him to kill him (John 7).
In verses 37 - 39 the NIV reads, "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."
An interesting thing that I learned about was how on the last day of this particular feast the high priest would take a special empty pitcher and during a procession fill it with water. It was symbolic of how God provided water in the desert for the Children of Israel when they left Egypt. It is in this setting where we see Jesus stand up and say in a loud voice, yada, yada, yada.
Let me ask you a question. The Jews are seeking Jesus to kill him. He sneaks into the festival, and while the high priest is doing his thing, Jesus stands up and draws attention to what he is saying about the Holy Spirit coming to those who believe on him. Is that tactful?
I'd have to go with no, it's not. This seems more like William Wallace in the movie “Braveheart” riding out to the English and as he said "picking a fight." If you'll give more than a casual glance at the reading of Scripture, you will see time and again that Jesus calls out the religious leaders of his time. Remember the phrases, "white-washed tombs," "brood of vipers," "making them twice as fit for hell." And these are just a few of them.
Jesus wasn't out to make friends with the religious leaders, and the best I can tell, he didn't care too much about using tact when he spoke to them. I think that maybe we've put Jesus up on a pedestal as some kind of Godly Emily Post when perhaps he was actually a little more like William Wallace. Just a thought. Strength and honor.