John 4:43-54 - Get out of the way

The closing of John 4 was always a little confusing to me. v44 Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country often gets quoted, and I didn’t fully comprehend the context or what the point was. This morning, walking back through it, a few things clicked. 

First, reading this in multiple translations gave me a little better grasp of the context and storyline. Taking in v43-48 in the Message was also a huge help.

“After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.

Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king’s court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: “Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe.”” - ‭‭John‬ ‭4:43-48‬ ‭MSG‬‬

I read this first part, and my mind first goes to the concept of cultural Christians. People who know of Jesus, can quote a meme or verse here and there, and pray for us, and act the part, but have no real understanding of the Christ or have a relationship with Him. Next, my mind goes to another place, a somewhat different place. Right now, Robin and I are watching the Netflix show Down to Earth with Zac Efron. There have been a few episodes where Zac and the co-host David walk through some “spiritual” acts, use very spiritual language of awakening, and higher powers. In these interactions, it is clear that as they were processing and discussing, they were very aware and open to “a god” of sorts. A creator, a universal power...but they did not have any awareness or publically mention Jesus. I think of all the people who are drawn to a Creator but just have not connected the dots that Jesus is God. 

As I process this as well, another thought comes to my mind. Often it is not Jesus, or the reality of who Jesus is that turns people away...it is us as humans, how we represent Jesus that puts the bad taste in people's mouths. It is our junk that we bring to Jesus that can and often does cause peoples issues with Jesus himself. So, as we read, Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up...we can often misrepresent Jesus when He just becomes normal to us. 

John 4 closes with this;

“This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭4:54‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So all of this to my observation and curiosity. Think about these signs and who they touched and impacted. The first sign persuaded His disciples. The second sign persuaded a Jewish nobleman and his household. The signs were needed or at least discussed here that transformed those closest to Jesus, his disciples, and his people, the Jews. They needed signs. Remember who didn’t need a sign? The Samaritans! The group and people that were NOT close to Jesus as a Jew believed without a sign. This is very interesting to me and leaves me pondering and wondering how the culture and context of those we come across impacts how they see and respond to Jesus. 

Lord, help us stay out of your way!