“But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, “He’s a good man,” but others said, “He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.” But no one had the courage to speak favourably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.”
John 7:10-13 NLT
If nothing else, Jesus had managed to get the crowds at the Feast of Tabernacles talking about Him. Some said he was a good Man. Others said He was a fraud. But there was a lot of grumbling going on. And to cap it all, the Jewish leaders saw Jesus as a threat to their authority and the comfortable life they had as the de facto government of Israel. Were they heading up a totalitarian state, much as we find in places like Iran, with religious leaders dictating rights and wrongs, supported by a force of “heavies” to make sure the people stayed in line? Possibly, but with Jesus on the scene, unpredictable, claiming to be the Son of God, teaching a different message to the people and supported by miraculous signs, they felt they had no option other than to close Him down, by whatever method was possible and expedient. So there were those in the crowds who supported Jesus, happy to accept Him for who he was, but they probably kept their heads down for fear of “getting into trouble with the Jewish leaders”.
So the opposing factions present in the crowds created a febrile atmosphere of argument and grumbling. Such a situation happens today, not in physical crowds but in cyberspace, with social media becoming the battleground for opposing points of view. In our democratic systems of government, there is little the leaders can do to shut down the grumblers, although they try, with legislation in place to suppress the worst excesses, but with “free speech” being maintained, for now. In Jesus’ day the crowds were located in and around Jerusalem, but today, the “crowd” is global in its extent.
But the Bible is clear – grumbling is a sin and can show unbelief towards God. The Apostle James wrote, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure” (James 4:1-3). These verses from James aptly describe the “culture wars” so prevalent in today’s societies. One group of adherents to a particular ideology take an aggressive stand against another equally aggressive group, each trying to close down the other. So they quarrel and fight, incessantly grumbling, confused and ignorant – Godless people with wrong motives. It never happens amongst Christians, does it? Hmmm…
Paul wrote in Philippians 2:14-15, “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticise you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people”. Jesus came with a mission and ministry to seek and save the lost. In the process of this, He counter-culturally challenged the status quo and wherever he went he left a trail of grumblers, particularly amongst the Jewish hierarchy. But the world has never been the same since His first coming. God’s plan for mankind’s salvation was successful and ever since Jesus walked the paths in the Middle East countless people have repented of their sins and believed in Him. And we pilgrims are demonstrations of the fruits of Jesus’ ministry. What a Saviour!
Dear Father God. Thank You for Your plan of salvation and showing us the way to eternal life with You. Our gratitude will last forever. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 