John 7 -- Earthly Bound

Here is chapter 7 we find the words and work of the religious leaders beginning to pick up steam. However, it is not only the religious leaders. Some of what we might call the rank and file are beginning to question Jesus more. His own brothers don't appear to be convinced of Jesus as Messiah. Still it seems everyone in Jerusalem is talking about Jesus and wondering who he is.

At the heart of the discussion is the origins of Jesus. For most they see him as being from the Galilee, which is where his families home is. They do not have the benefit of the Scriptures to show them that he was in fact born in Bethlehem, the city the prophets said the messiah would be born at. From the person on the street to the religious leaders the possibility of a prophet, much less a messiah, living in the Galilee was simply preposterous. Galilee was a border region, not just geographically. Once a person was through the Galilee they were in Gentile country, and most of the Galilee was becoming inhabited by Gentiles. How would it be possible a the Son of God could be from that region?

The problem is the eyes being used are only human eyes. We all struggle with this. Our human eyes are earthly bound. We can only see what we experience. It is very difficult for us to function with the mindset of something outside of our human experience. Some of the crowd and the religious leaders are bound by what they understand of Jesus. In other words their Jesus can only be as big as they allow him to be.

We too can become earthly bound, and have a Jesus that is too small. Jesus is far beyond our wildest imaginations. Yes Jesus lived the human experience, felt what we feel, struggled with what we struggle with. Yet that is not the limit of Jesus. Often in our language and action we sever Jesus from the Trinity. We limit Jesus to human understanding because we are earthly bound. The time has come to allow Jesus to be expanded in our sight and understanding. It is not us who defines Jesus, rather it should be Jesus who defines us. This will mean we have to let go of some parts of our lives we hold pretty tight.