John 4:45

When he arrives in Galilee, all his countrymen roll out the “red carpet” for him.  Many of them had been in Jerusalem for Passover and had been witness to the things Jesus did while he was there.  John 4:45 EFP

Well, let’s see…what events in Jerusalem could have elicited such positive feelings towards Jesus, if previously these same Galileans—at least the ones from Nazareth, had tried to kill him?  Other than a cryptic reference in John, chapter 2 that reads, “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.” (Verse 23)   The problem is I cannot find a reference to any specific miracles Jesus performed in Jerusalem prior to this statement being made.

Yet here they are, his fellow Galileans, almost giddy with pride over Jesus renown due to his deeds in the big city. I notice there is no mention to any miracles performed in this passage of Scripture.  Of all the translations I compared, only the NLT translates the verse using the term “miraculous signs,” which is a stretch considering the original Greek text is “πάντα ἑωρακότες,” which literally means “all things they having seen.”  “Things”—what “things”?  Even John 2:23 is not clear in reference to the “miraculous signs” he is performing.  The only event clearly noted is the cleansing of the temple court of all the merchants and his standing up to the temple administration regarding his right to clean up the temple.  There isn’t even mention of the water to wine miracle in Cana—and that miracle took place in Galilee!

Can it be that Jesus, by standing up to the “higher-ups” in Jerusalem tugged on their Galilean heart strings?  Jesus literally ran ram shod over the lot of them by cleansing the temple and by doing so he defended the underdogs who were routinely oppressed not only by the Romans, but by their very own religious leaders.  Galileans were not the purebred stock.  They were the half-breeds in the eyes of the “true-blue” Judeans.  They may not have been comfortable with Jesus as the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy, but they could handle Jesus the upstart voice of the people.  Let the Messiah throw out the Roman tyrants; they needed a voice to defend them against their snooty religious “hoity-toities” in Jerusalem—Jesus could fit that bill quite nicely.  Boy, that’s a sobering thought.  I am comfortable with Jesus, as long as he fits into my expectations.  I wonder how often I do that.  Perhaps it’s time for an attitude adjustment. They were in for one.