Fruit of the Spirit

Imagine living in a small village where, pretty much, everyone knows everyone. One of the boys growing up there until the age of 30 is rather exceptional. It seems as if the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) comes naturally to him. And yet most people do not recognise that he is a holy man, a prophet, a completely unique individual.

That was the fate of Jesus of Nazareth. At the age of twelve he amazed the learned teachers of the Bible. Is it possible that he had wanted to stay in Jerusalem and become a master at the Scriptures by studying under a famous teacher? That was after all the business of his heavenly Father. But it was not to be. For the next 18 years he had to attend to the business of his earthly father Joseph. During this period he was well thought of (Luke 2:41-51).

After he had received his "ordination" from a voice out of heaven at the Jordan river, he returned to Galilee. He went to Nazareth to preach the "good news of the Kingdom of Heaven", as he had done in other synagogues in Galilee. The town's inhabitants, for the most part, did not consider him to be someone more important than the "son of the carpenter" (Matthew 13:54-57). Not even his brothers believed in him as an outstanding Rabbi (John 7.5) When he dared to speak about God's grace to non-Jews, his hearers attempted to kill him (Luke 4:24-30).

Most people are rather self-centred. What value could Jesus add to their lives? The synagogue ruler could feel threatened. The people already had their teachers of the Bible. Brooding over this human trait could cause us to become quite cynical. How am I to have any influence on family members or acquaintances if Jesus hardly could? David once wrote: "in vain have I kept my heart pure" (Psalm 73:13).

But things changed drastically after Jesus' resurrection. His brothers were among the 120 who were baptised in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. One of them, James, became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, he referred to himself as a "slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1). We can take courage and be confident that our upright behaviour will win us favour with likeminded people. It is unfortunate that integrity is not valued as highly as it should be in the world. That is a reflection on the world rather than on us. In the end it is only God's Word and his power that can change people's hearts.