One of the things I like most about the Bible is that it’s always fresh. By that I mean that I can read the same chapter, or verse, that I’ve read a hundred times before and have something new pop out at me. It never ceases to amaze me.
A few weeks ago I was reading in the book of John, Chapter 8. Towards the end of the chapter Jesus is talking with some of the Jewish leaders and basically telling them that they will only be truly free when they start to follow Him. This irks them a bit and in verse 48 they say to Jesus, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?” Call me crazy but saying to anyone, “Hey, I think you’re demon-possessed” is not really the smartest thing to bring up during a “discussion”; particularly when said discussion is with the Son of God!
Well, as this little chat of theirs continues the Jews, with whom Jesus is conversing, get more and more riled up and they are ready to go to battle. They are so angry that they start picking up some stones with which to stone Jesus. Now here’s the part I love. John 8:59 says “At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.” So wait, let me get this straight. He was right in front of their eyes and then “bam!” they couldn’t see him? How cool is that? Did he just “slip out” when they were all bending down to pick up a stone? Did he vaporize right in front of their eyes? Were they blinded? The verse doesn’t really clarify how it happened, just that it happened.
Can’t you just see the Jews looking at each other with befuddled looks on their faces? “Hey, he was just here a second ago, where’d he go?” I love it!
Personally, I think this says something about the amazing power of God. To me, Jesus’ ability to be “hidden” is nothing short of miraculous; but more than that it says that everything happens at the right time. We already know that Jesus is going to die at the hands of the Jews but that was not the day for it to happen. God had already chosen the time when Jesus was to die. In the meantime, He made sure nothing happened that wasn’t supposed to.
We can always trust God’s timing. Some days it may seem as though He is moving particularly slow, and we may think He’s forgotten us . . . . but He hasn’t. He’s just waiting for the right time – His time.