Here’s a radical thought:
The last day of the public ministry of Jesus ended with His murder. But the first day of the public ministry of Jesus BEGAN with His attempted murder.
His ministry was bookended by attempts on His life.
On the day He began His public ministry, He read from the scroll of Isaiah in His hometown synagogue and made statements so bold the crowd—all of whom knew the carpenter’s son—was filled with rage, drove Him out of town, and tried to throw Him off a cliff, Luke 4:16-30.
Imagine that first day on the job!
Was Jesus scared? Do you think while shouting accusations and pushing Him toward a distant cliff, they saw fear in His eyes? I don’t think so.
In fact, as some[1] have counted, there were at least eight times when people wanted to kill Jesus before it actually happened.
The first was the day He launched His ministry.
The second was when He healed a man’s shriveled hand on the Sabbath. “The Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Him,” Matthew 12:14.
Third: Jesus again healed on the Sabbath and defended Himself by claiming to be doing the work of His father. “For this reason, they tried all the more to kill Him” John 5:18.
Fourth: Jesus said, “‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ At this, they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds” John 8:58-59.
Fifth: Jesus claimed to be God’s Son, saying, ‘I and the Father are one.’ “Again His Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus said, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?” John 10:30-32.
Sixth: Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and the high priest Caiaphas said, “‘Isn’t it better for one man to die, than for the whole nation to perish?’ … So from that day on they plotted to take His life” John 11:50-53.
Seventh: After Jesus cleansed the temple, the teachers of the law “began looking for a way to kill Him … because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching” Mark 11:18.
Eighth: when Jesus compared the chief priests and teachers of the law to servants killing the son of a distant vineyard owner and stealing the vineyard, “The teachers of the law looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them” Mark 12:12.
Clearly Jesus was not afraid. In fact, He repeatedly challenged the Pharisees and teachers of the law, calling them hypocrites and whitewashed tombs. He deliberately healed on the Sabbath, knowing it would provoke a confrontation with the corrupt religious leaders. Jesus had no fear of being driven off a cliff, or stoned to death, or harmed in any way prior to God’s appointed time.
Even when His disciples were scared for Him, He was not. Jesus said let’s go to Judea (to heal Lazarus) and the disciples were afraid: “Just now the Jews tried to stone You, and You’re going there again?” John 11:8.
Jesus—the same man who would pray and sweat drops of blood in the hours before His arrest, was completely confident when He faced murderous threats before that time, simply saying, “My time has not yet come” John 7:6.
Why? Because He had heard from God. He knew when death would come and how it would come. It would not be a fall from a cliff or a stoning, but the prophesied death on a cross. And that death would be difficult for Him, as the hemahydrosis or sweating of blood proves. He would suffer tremendously as His actions in the Garden indicate. When the time finally arrived, He reversed His earlier statement and announced, “The hour HAS come” John 12:23.
Jesus knew He faced a terrible death. But because He was so intimate with the Father, He also knew when and how it would come. That gave Him unparalleled confidence in the face of hostile crowds and murderous threats throughout His entire ministry.
He was filled with courage because He had heard from God. Hearing God’s voice can give us confidence today in the face of many challenges.
God spoke to your mother and me in powerful ways at the beginning of each of her pregnancies. That gave us confidence and faith in the face of numerous health challenges.
Similarly, God spoke to me about law school, a promise I still hang onto by quoting “faithful is He who calls you and He will also bring it to pass” 1 Thessalonians 5:24.
A word from the Lord can get you through the most difficult and terrifying circumstances. Pray and ask the Good Shepherd to speak to you. “My sheep hear my voice and they follow Me” John 10:27.
Read John 11.
ΑΩ
[1] https://centeredonchrist.substack.com/p/8-times-in-the-bible-people-wanted?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web
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