The meeting with Nicodemus must have taken a lot out of Jesus. Soon after that fateful conversation with the conflicted Pharisee Jesus decides to take a working vacation. The text seems to describe a journey across the countryside of Judea. In other words, they do not go back to Galilee, where they had begun their journey to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem.
I
like the fact that Jesus is not all business all the time. No doubt Jesus worked hard, and quite
honestly, the work was just beginning to heat up, since he was not all that
well known yet. Jesus must have told,
let me see, John, Andrew, Peter, Phillip, and Nathanael, “Hey guys, let’s get
out of the city and chill a while!” or something to that effect. I don’t know
if he has an agenda or if he is just living out what he described to
Nicodemus—following the lead of the Spirit.
The fact is they just leave town and head nowhere in particular. We know they eventually must have ended up
spending some time near a river, since they even managed to baptize some
people. That will become an issue later
on in this narrative.
But
I like it when the story simply says, “they spent some time together.” Just hanging out with his friends. I don’t think I do that enough as a believer
in Christ. I’m either too wrapped up in
the business of living, that I overlook the living part and focus on the
business, or I’m not that fun to be around when I do get together. The Gospel is about people, relationships,
friendships, and life experiences with humanity. Jesus does not call me to be cloistered or
withdrawn from society, rather I am called to “bring out the God-flavors in the
world” through my presence and influence.
This small group of six men must have been something to behold. They draw people to them, since they actually
baptize some people while they were just hanging out. Go figure! People were coming to a moment of conviction
while just hanging out with six itinerant guys.
Imagine what I could accomplish for the kingdom if my “hanging out” was
so appealing and life-changing. It’s
something for me to think about.
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