Jesus again tried to explain to the Jewish leaders what He was saying but they refused to listen to Him. They had closed their minds and hearts to Jesus.  

Was this confrontation truly about who Jesus was?  Or did the Jews realize that they were losing their power and influence with the people?  It was evident that Jesus was loved by the people, who had often travelled great distances to see Jesus and hear Him preach.  Some hoped that they or a loved one would be healed by Jesus.  These people wanted to see and experience Jesus for themselves.

Each day the Jews’ fear of Jesus escalated.  No matter how the Jewish officials tried to discount Jesus with the people, the people would not listen to them.  

At times, do we become jealous or angry when someone appears to have more power or influence than we have?  Does our fear ever drive us to do something that we typically would not do?  If we are unaware of our emotions, these negative and destructive emotions may begin to rule our lives and cause us to act in a way we normally would not. 

We all experience  such difficulties.   It simply is how life is.  However ,it may be  that during these difficult and painful times, we may tend   to distance ourselves from God, precisely when we need God the most.  

Perhaps the question for us is: do we trust God?  Do we trust that God loves us and desires only good things for us? When difficult times come to us, do we believe that God is making this happen? Or do we believe that our struggles are simply part of our human condition?

Let us pray that when we experience difficulties,  that we turn to the Lord, who is always at our side, waiting for us to turn to Him for help. 

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