Why Jesus Resisted Celebrity

Day 132: John 7:1-30

“So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”' - John 7:3-4 ESV

It's almost as though Jesus' brothers were saying, “Jesus, if you want to scale this Messiah role, you've got to go live on Instagram with one of your top-notch miracles in Jerusalem at a well-attended feast. I mean, the water into wine was pretty miraculous, but how about the healing of a man born blind from birth? It is time to roll out your true IPO so that you can start to reap the benefits of the stock market. This doing-things-in-secret method is really getting you nowhere. Do you need representation? Because we would be willing to be your agents!"

Mark Moore's comments here are helpful:  "To make matters worse, Jesus missed the last Passover. So it’s been eighteen months since he last went to Jerusalem. Any ‘good’ Jew would now feel obligated to fulfill his religious duty to worship in the Holy city. The last time Jesus was there, however, the ruling council decided to kill him (Jn 5:18). It’s not a safe place for Jesus. And now his brothers are essentially saying, 'Put up, or shut up! If you can’t do it in Jerusalem, then you’re a fraud.'"  - Moore, M. E. (2011). The Chronological Life of Christ (p. 333)

What the world needed, though, was not a celebrity. What it needed was a Savior. The same is true today.

We crave celebrities while at the same time being starved for salvation. The popular among us can't give us what Jesus offers.

Jesus ends up going to the Feast of Booths anyway, but he goes in secret, midway through the festivities. He wasn't there to capitalize on His celebrity; He was there to make yet another announcement about the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

If Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem when His brothers did, chaos would have ensued, and a push for His death among the Jewish leaders. But Jesus' time to die had not yet come, and He would be doing things on His terms and in His time.

I love that Jesus was (and is) not an insulated celebrity. He is the One who lived in our skin and died to set us free.