Lent 4, Morning after thoughts

Good morning!

Well, I guess one of the things that's still rattling around in my head this morning is the reaction of the Pharisees. Earlier in John's gospel, it says that after Jesus turned the water into wine, the Disciples saw the sign "and they believed." In fact, much of the story of John's gospel has to do with people seeing the signs and believing. One can't help but wonder, WHY ....after seeing as many signs as the Pharisees saw....did they remain in unbelief?

I guess the first answer is that NOT ALL of them did remain in unbelief. As I said in an earlier post, Acts 15:5 is one of the most intriguing verses in the whole Bible. I wish it were a whole chapter and not just one verse, but it clearly indicates that the infant Jerusalem church--comprised of Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah--**INCLUDES** members of the Pharisee sect. So not all remain in unbelief--tho it seems fair to say that believing Pharisees are in the minority.

...Which brings us back to the question, why do the signs not convince the majority of Pharisees? When I was a kid, oh 8yrs old or so, I remember one Christmas morning I was the first one up. I tip-toed out to the living room to check out the haul under the tree. It was difficult to see much cuz I didn't want to turn on the light, but off to the side of the tree was something BIG and it had a white sheet over it! When I first noticed it, I JUMPED! It was so out of place. I don't know *what* I thought it was, maybe a ghost? All the cartoons always depicted ghosts as having sheets over their heads. I don't remember much else, I think I just went back to bed and waited for everyone else to get up. Well, turns out that the thing under the sheet was just a really big present. My folks had bought a chord organ for me, and my Dad had taken it out of the box & put it all together. The finished product was too big to fit under the tree & too big to wrap, so they threw a sheet over it. Bottom line: I didn't recognize the thing as a Christmas present because it didn't come to me in the form I *EXPECTED*.

I can't help but think that this was a basic hangup for the Pharisees. They of all people had greater faith that Messiah would come, but when Messiah came, he came wrapped in a form other than what they expected. Rather than conquering hero & judge, he came in meekness and humility--he came with a mission, but that mission was to die.

Cheers,

TM