POWER OVER OPPOSITION AND ADULATION

When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone – John 6:15

After overcoming the ‘trinity of temptation’ – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life – Jesus went into the synagogue and announced His mission “to preach good news to the poor…to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed” (Lk.4:18 NIV). However, in telling the crowd that God cares for the “outcasts” of the Jewish society – widows, lepers and Gentiles – Jesus cut across their spiritual snobbery and suddenly their feelings changed from those of admiration to anger! Their response: they led Him to the brow of a hill to cast Him down headlong, but by a strange grace the Unstoppable Man of Dominion passed through the midst of them, and went on His way! Here was amazing poise and power demonstrated to perfection. This was a display of Power over OPPOSITION.

Jesus however demonstrated inner strength not only when His life was being threatened by oppositions, but in times of ADULATION also. John 6:15 describes how, on perceiving that the crowd wanted to make Him king by force, He “departed again into a mountain Himself alone.” He withdrew to be alone with the Father-God, to pray and receive renewal of Power. He would not allow Himself to be swept off His feet by human adulation. Opposition could not break Him; neither could success unsteady Him. Jesus had within Him the inner strength, power and poise that could handle anything that came His way – whether temporary failure or traps of success.

Paul expressed similar thoughts in Philippians 4:12-13: “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Beloved, the same dimensions of God’s Power are available to you in Christ – power to defeat oppositions and to overcome adulation and its potential consequences – pride and destruction!