Friday, April 26 - John 7

Friday April 26th- John 7
Popularity

“No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world. For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” (Jn 7:4-5).

Take a moment to think about all of the celebrities in our culture today. What does it take to become a celebrity? We tend to focus our fame around successful accomplishments: number of movies starred in, number of Oscars won, number of football games won. We are a success based culture, and our celebrities are all popular because they are successful.

Jesus’ brothers had the same attitude in our text for today. They saw Jesus doing all of these miraculous signs and wonders, and thought that He should go to Jerusalem in public to be exalted as king. His brothers were on the bandwagon to get rid of the Romans and establish a sovereign Jewish state. It is clear that Jesus’ brothers have no idea what they are talking about, as verse five makes very clear.

If they do not believe, they do not understand what Jesus came to the earth to accomplish. I find it interesting that Jesus becomes a celebrity in Jerusalem, but for a very different reason than His brothers expect. Not long after this, the people accuse Jesus of blasphemy against the Most High God and yell “Crucify.” He is hung on a tree and cursed, becoming a celebrity for the worst of all reasons.

Yet we know that Jesus became a celebrity for an entirely different reason. He rose from the dead, conquering over sin, death, and the power of the devil. And he gives this victory to us, that we too may share in the fame and victory of Him who died for us. It kind of makes the 14 Oscars seem a little worthless, doesn’t it? May the Lord grant us a sense of awe over the great thing that our God has done for us.