John 11 v 53,54-So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. 54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

In context, Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead and the Pharisees who are jealous of the attention and influence Jesus is beginning to have over them. Even after the High Priest prophesied that it would be better "if one man should die for the nation than for the whole nation to persish (vs.51,52)", the Pharisees are so blind to their hope and so committed to their own identity and influence among the people that they are looking to kill Jesus.

What is fascinating and scary regarding this passage is that the Pharisees were being taught about a coming Messiah probably all their lives, yet because of their pride and devotion to their own created identity of self-righteousness they are blind to what they grew up being taught. But there is not an individual or nation in the world that doesn’t struggle immensely with pride. As naturally rebellious to God before we come to Christ, their is an identity that we create given all the attributes major and minor that life hands us, such as; culture, education, socio-economic status, etc (Genesis 5 v3, Psalm 51 v5.) So we build ourselves around those things to give us an "identity". Yet when Jesus engages with our prideful "identity" (believer or unbeliever) we react in frustration and anger because we think He is taking away something we need. But it is pride, in whatever shape it takes, that blinds us to true deliverance and Life.

So it is only by the grace of God that we have our eyes opened to see Him as Life when our dark and prideful hearts see Him as an enemy to our enjoyment of sin (1 Peter 2 v9). Like the Pharisees when we are deceived by our desires to live for ourselves we want to "kill"or remove the presence of anyone who is against that. This is why you and I are guilty of the blood of Christ. Because in seeing His holiness we hated Him, because He made us feel guilty for what we wanted to do and so we wanted to "kill" His presence! Yet a miracle happened in all believers heart in that now we love Him! Yet if we don’t receive the testimonies of God’s Word by humbling ourselves to our new identity in Christ we will not only want Him "killed" to rid Him of hindering our self-devotion, but will "kill" His witness in us for others not to see Him either! This is why the world is far more arrogant than any Christian, because like the Pharisees they wanted to kill the presence of Christ, not just for themselves, but thinking that everyone wants His presence killed off as well! But Christians believe and have experienced Him as Life! I pray that we would not look to configure what we think life is, much like the Pharisees and world through our blinded pride that looks to exalt itself. But trust and submit to Him so that we don’t "kill" the presence of Christ for others to see through us.

In His Love, Ld