Jesus often acted in ways that didn’t make sense. In John 7, Jesus doesn’t take the advice of his brothers to go to the temple during the feast of tabernacles (the superbowl of feasts in that day) which would give him a great opportunity to tell the crowds what he was about. If you are in the business of marketing, you would recognize this as a golden opportunity for you to promote whatever you are doing. Jesus chose to stay in Galilee saying to his brothers that his time had not yet come.

They then left to attend the feast bewildered as to why their brother wouldn’t accompany them in something that seemed to make so much sense. Later, Jesus then decides that he will attend the feast and enters privately. He knew that he would attend the feast but he also knew that it had to be on His terms. I am sure that the brothers, after finding this out, were confused or maybe even a little miffed. The point is that Jesus does what he wants when he wants. He doesn’t let anyone tell him how and when to do things. In this case, Jesus made that point very clear. In John 2, Jesus’ first public miracle, his mother asks him to do something about the issue of wine running out at the wedding feast, a well intentioned request. Jesus responds by saying, “Woman, don’t bother me, it’s not my time.” You could say he even sounded rude. He then turns right around and changes water into wine. Why didn’t He just do it when she asked?
How many times have I wanted God to act a certain way in someone’s life or do something in my life at a specific time? If He would just let this or that happen in my life, then so many people would see how good He is. I am not talking about selfish requests that make me look good, I am talking about honest prayers that if answered would be glorifying to God. When God is seemingly silent in these matters, we have to remind ourselves that it is His show not ours and we can rest assured that the show will go on exactly as planned. As much as I like to be in control of things, I take comfort in the fact that I am not.
I like knowing that Jesus cannot and will not be controlled. He does things that don’t make sense to me. He had a clear purpose and knew how to accomplish it. I can’t help but think that if we were to try to live our lives like Jesus, most of the time our lives wouldn’t make sense to those around us. Well, I must confess that my life at times makes too much sense to those around me. Love God and love others, this is how Jesus summed it up. I guess that means he will handle the rest. I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.