The Challenge:
Christian God Afraid of Jews
John 11:54 And because Jews wanted to kill him, Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness. (NIV, New International Version)
How can Christians not see that this is not fitting for God. This is blasphemous to God! Its sacrilegious!
My Response:
Pro 22:3 Sensible people foresee trouble and hide from it, but gullible people go ahead and suffer the consequence. (GW, God’s Word translation)
Muslim reply:
honest people stick to the point and context of discussion. Dishonest people apply the rules of the highway to context of a country pathway.
Why is the one you call God, running away scared from His own creations!
My response:
When you understand Who Jesus is, the connection of John 11:54 to Proverbs 22:3 is made clear.
The Son of God became a man at a point in time when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. In that manner Jesus took on the “form of man,” and from that time Jesus possesses a human nature without having lost His eternal Divine nature.
These facts are easily learned by reading the New Testament and the Old Testament prophecies which Jesus fulfilled.
Therefore, Jesus in His humanity was hardly “running away scared from His own creations!” That is a very mistaken caricature of the truth about His Person.
There is NOTHING in the text of John 11:54 that remotely suggests Jesus was “running away scared.”
Other English translations read:
Joh 11:54 It was for this reason that Jesus no more appeared in public among the Jews, but He left that part of the country and went to the district near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and stayed there with His disciples. (Williams New Testament)
Joh 11:54 So Jesus did not travel openly in Judea, but left and went to a place near the desert, to a town named Ephraim, where he stayed with the disciples. (GNB, Good News Bible)
Joh 11:54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. (ESV, English Standard Version)
Reading John 11:54 in context with the verse before it clarifies the situation Jesus faced:
Joh 11:54 So Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews. Instead, he left Bethany and went to the countryside near the desert, to a city called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. (GW, God’s Word translation)
On another occasion, Satan tempted Jesus by urging Him to jump off a pinnacle of the Temple, but Jesus replied that the Bible commands that we are not to tempt the Lord our God:
Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (KJV)
I think this ought to settle the issue you have mistakenly raised, for Jesus did not run away scared. Rather, Jesus exercised prudence by leaving Bethany and walking to Ephraim. Thus, Jesus followed the wise advice given in Proverbs 22:3,
Pro 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. (KJV)
Pro 22:3 Sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it, but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later. (GNB)