Where Jesus Is From

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.) When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” So the crowd was divided about him. Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him. [John 7.37-44] 

How important is knowing where Jesus came from?

It might be asked, "How can you know the man if you do not know where he came from?"

John's Gospel of Jesus is different than the others. John tends to look deeper into Jesus' life. This is the same John who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper indicating at least some level of relationship beyond casual acquaintance. John's deeper understanding of Jesus cannot be separated from his deeper relationship with Jesus.

As could be expected of a writer more intimately knowledgeable of Jesus, it is no surprise that he pointed out the failure of those who assumed Jesus was born in Galilee. To miss this fact about Jesus is to miss the fact that He is Messiah - that He is God. John's understanding of Jesus is seen in the early chapters of his Gospel where Jesus' existence is explained in absolute profundity. John's advanced understanding of Jesus would have been meaningless however if Jesus had not actually been born in Bethlehem.

Confusion about Jesus' birthplace is translated directly into confusion about His being God. This is highly significant because when Jesus spoke of the law of God, the Ten Commandments for example, He was speaking as One present even before the very creation of the world. When Jesus spoke of the Commandments, He spoke of that which He knew intimately. When Jesus spoke of the Prophets, He spoke of men He knew personally. When the people assumed Jesus was from Galilee, it proved they were clueless. They were the perfect candidates to reject and crucify the very God they claimed to know.

This is where we are tasked to understand where Jesus came from. We are tasked not only to understand that He was born in Bethlehem, but to understand that He was present at Creation. We are tasked to understand that the Ten Commandments (and all the Law) are about Him. We are tasked to know the Word - the written Word that is, in fact, the Living Word Who is Jesus. We are tasked to understand that everything Jesus said about Himself perfectly coincides with everything written about Him - even long before His Advent. We are tasked to see and understand that man's age-old problem of idolatry, repetitiously addressed over and over in what we call the Old Testament, remains man's problem today - causing man to trust in a plethora of things other than God ALONE. We are tasked to understand that the things Jesus demanded we must "give up" in order to follow Him are idols. We must understand that Jesus' exclusive language in Matthew 16.24 is one and the same as the exclusive language of Exodus 20.2-3:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]

But, if we do not know the Word - the written Word, and, therefore, the Living Word, Jesus, then we will never fully understand anything beyond a meaningless life on earth. And yet, this was the pathetic powerless existence of religion in Jesus' day, and it is the pathetic powerless existence of religion in our day.

Like had begun in Jesus' day, religious people have continued to opine about religion - about God - and yes, even about Jesus. Innumerable books have been written, lessons taught, and sermons preached on what amounts to be the opinions of man just like the religious elite in Jesus' day with their traditions. Somehow in all their "religion" and religious pretense, they missed the simple FACT that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem. This advancement of religion came then, and comes today at the costly price of ignorance of God's Word - ignorance of Jesus. People today know more about their favorite preacher or denomination than they know about Jesus.

Any recovery from this digression will come only when Jesus' words in Matthew 16.24 are taken literally:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

Jesus' demand in Matthew 16.24 is the antithesis to man's pitiful existence without God (albeit highly religious). It all starts with understanding where Jesus is from... the heart of God via Bethlehem. 

Father, may we be found knowing Jesus. May we be found giving up our own way (religious as it may be), taking up our cross (unpopular as it may be), and following Jesus. So be it.