Seeking Jesus

Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. So they were seeking for Jesus, and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?" Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him. (John 11:55-57)

A few verses before this I noticed the effect that Jesus had on both those who refused to believe in Him as well as those who were coming to believe. While John took the larger view and saw in the ominous words of the High Priest not just a threat but a promise from God that Jesus' influence would gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad, at the same time the effect of Jesus on those opposed to His presentation of the Father became united, put away their political and religious differences and planned together to kill Him. Thus John is showing how Jesus has a unifying influence on both sides.

Now in these verses I see again how John is taking the larger perspective and is noting how the polarizing effect of Jesus life causes all men to seek Him, but for rather opposite reasons. He says that many went up to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. I don't think it is incidental that John mentioned this fact. Jesus came to this earth to purify all who would be willing to listen with their heart to the truth about God. Everyone who is willing to lay aside the opinions and challenge the deceptions of Satan, his accusations against God, the lies that permeate our minds and hearts and religions, Jesus will come to purify our perceptions of God, to reveal to us the truth about God, that He is not someone we should be terrified of but is someone passionately eager for us to engage with Him, to know intimately, to become so enamored with His grace, beauty and loveliness that all the delusions that have caused us to hide from Him become ludicrous and unappealing to us.

While these Jews were following the instructions of Moses given by God to ceremonially purify themselves in preparation for the great symbolic day of Passover which was part of the sandbox model of the great plan of salvation given by God, the true object of all these symbols had arrived to take its place. The real Passover lamb had come to replace the animal lamb; the central figure represented by nearly every object and ritual in the sanctuary system had come to fulfill the laws of Moses and to introduce the far greater and more effective means of purification.

Some were starting to perceive that this Man indeed was revealing something radically superior to what they had ever perceived previously. Jesus had not come to do away with the law, the principles of reality symbolized in the sanctuary system and rituals; He came to expose the realities they represented. In the life, teachings, sufferings and resurrection of Jesus a far greater revelation of the truth about God was being exposed not only to this world but to the whole universe. All who's hearts were open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and who were humble enough to challenge their religious assumptions were being led by the Spirit of God and were being called as children of God. In responding to the attractiveness of Jesus' life and ministry they were being drawn to seek for Jesus to receive more of what He had come to give to the world – namely, a fuller, better revelation of the truth about the Father.

At the same time, all those who resisted repeatedly the revelations and teachings about God found themselves also coming into more unity with each other. And while at first they may have chosen to try to avoid Jesus rather than seeking for Him, the more His influence grew with the people the more they saw Him as a threat to their ability to dominate and control the masses. Their popularity was being undermined; their ability to keep people in deception and fear was being seriously eroded and in desperation they finally were ready to put away many of their differences that had divided their efforts to come together to seek Jesus, but for very opposite reasons than those who were being drawn by His attractiveness. These rejectors of Jesus' picture of God, these men who felt scandalized by the outrageous representations by Jesus of a God who would so easily forgive sinners and would brush aside any agenda for punishment or retribution in favor of restoring fellowship and acceptance when the vilest sinner showed any sign of wanting to return to Him – these religious, pious men simply could not tolerate any longer allowing such a reprehensible picture of God to continue to infect the minds of those they had kept in fear and under their control for so long. They were ready to seek Jesus intently, but for the sole purpose of eliminating Him rather than embracing Him.

Jesus' actions, teachings and example made it impossible for anyone coming within His sphere of influence to remain neutral about Him. Either a person will be drawn to Him and become willing to lay aside their preconceptions to embrace a new picture of a loving Father or they will feel pushed to reject this view of the God He came to reveal in favor of the darker caricatures of God circulated by His archenemy, the great accuser.

The same is happening still today. The more that the truth about God, the glory of God as described in the first few verses of Revelation 18 spreads throughout the world, the more people will feel compelled to seek Him for one reason or the opposite. The real truth about God always creates this polarizing effect wherever it is exposed. We either will feel scandalized by these revelations about a God who seems too soft on sin for our liking or we will become overwhelmed by the love, grace, tenderness and compassion of a God who is nothing like how He has been presented by mainstream religions.

I am reminded that those who feel compelled to seek Jesus for the wrong reasons, in order to eliminate His influence like these Jewish leaders did, will continue to try to eliminate His perceived threat all throughout history until the final day of full revelation. If Jesus is not here in person for them to attack they will turn their animosity toward anyone who challenges the status quo, who upsets the balance of power, who is seen as undermining the ability of churches and politicians to operate through fear and intimidation as they have done for so long. Anyone aligning with Jesus in challenging Satan's kingdom of fear and misapprehensions about God will come under similar suspicion and attack from those who have vested interests in keeping things as they are. The clearer the testimony about the truth of God one presents the sooner their lives will come under attack and their testimony sought to be discredited.

Only a few verses farther on in this passage it mentions that Lazarus also became caught up in the diabolical plans of these men to suppress the truth about God that was going viral among the people. As insane as it may seem, soon after Lazarus had been spectacularly raised from an extended period of death thereby refuting insinuations about Jesus by His enemies, they decided that Lazarus too, as well as Jesus, needed to be killed to return their country back to the way things had functioned in the past.

The truth about God and revelations of His glory and character are always a threat to those clinging to traditional views of God and who resist the truth about His love. No matter how religious or pious or benign people may appear on the outside, when one continues to choose to resist increasing revelations about the true God of heaven and turn rather to maintaining more familiar and accepted opinions about what God is like, they eventually feel compelled to resort to force and threats to maintain their unfounded beliefs about God that keep them in power. Sooner or later everyone is forced by increasing revelations about God to move one direction or the other. The real issue is, which direction will I choose? Which side will I take? What perception of God will I allow to shape my heart and life?