Throughout our look at John’s gospel, as well as our current look at the events between the time of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and his crucifixion, there has been one thing that could consistently be said about the people of this time. In fact, this one constant is something that could be said of many people today and throughout history. The one constant that has always existed when it comes to Christ is disbelief. Now, I realize that disbelief comes in many shapes and forms. There are some who will outright tell you that they don’t believe in God. There are those who have no issue with telling anyone and everyone that they simply do not believe in the one whom we worship. However, there are also those who say that they believe, yet their lives do not indicate it. They say that they will trust in the Lord and look for his guidance, but they don’t. They take matters into their own hands, or they follow their own desires even when they know that God is calling them to go down another path. Either way, both of these are examples of people who do not trust and believe in God; it’s just that one will admit it and the other won’t.
I’ve often asked myself why God allowed so many people in Jesus’ day to not believe in him. After all, wouldn’t Jesus’ ministry have been so much more amazing (as if it wasn’t amazing enough) if he had converted everyone by the mere opening of his mouth. What is every time Jesus spoke, it had the effect that Jonah’s words had on Nineveh and everyone repented and followed Christ? Here, John tells us why this wasn’t the case, he tells us why Jesus’ words didn’t instantly convert everyone. He quotes the prophet Isaiah saying, “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” You see, it’s simple. Many of these people where quite honestly not capable of believing in Christ. They wouldn’t believe during Isaiah’s time and they would believe during the time of Christ. Now, when I say that they weren’t capable of believing, don’t misunderstand me and think that I am saying that God forced them to sin and that he refused to rescue them. No, what I am saying is that God simply let them have what they wanted. He turned them over to their own sin. He allowed them to be engulfed by the things that they wanted so greatly that they placed them above God himself.
You see, after living in such a manner for so long, their hearts were completely hardened to God. Country music icon Willie Nelson is perhaps best known today for his extracurricular activities more than his music (which is a shame in-and-of-itself). One of his more famous quotes about his particular lifestyle says, “My doctor tells me I should start slowing it down - but there are more old drunks than there are old doctors so let's all have another round.” Now, we may want to laugh at the Redheaded Stranger, but we’re the same way. You see, he’s lived his life a certain way for so long that it seems impossible to him for a change to be made. When we have done things our entire lives, we resist changing at all costs. We become set in our ways and to a certain extent we fear change and are unwilling to even tolerate it, much less embrace it. We are willing to be as religious a and Godly as anyone, just as long as it doesn’t call us to give up any of the things that we have come to enjoy in our lives. As far as our text is concerned, after living lives so devoted to sin and turning from God for so long, it is not wonder that many of the people would reject Christ and not believe in him.
Meanwhile, in somewhat of an ironic twist, there are some members of the Sanhedrin who have come to believe in Christ. We will see later on in John’s gospel that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are two of these Christ-believing members of the Sanhedrin, and there could have been more. However, just because they believe doesn’t mean that they speak up. We are told that they “would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” I think that these words here bring up a very interesting and real point for us today. How many times each day are we presented with an opportunity to spread the gospel? Think about it for a second. How many chances do we have to speak to someone about Christ, yet we don’t. You make that you don’t have that many chances, but think about it in terms of your friends and those who you come in contact with. If you have any friends or family that you don’t know the status of their faith, then that is a missed opportunity. As I’ve said many times, we love to talk, just not about Jesus. We love to have conversations with folks, just not about things that matter. We would rather talk about others and about what the newest possession in our lives happens to be. We love the praise and acceptance of others, so we shy away from the potential ridicule of other people when we bring up our faith.
After John tells us of the disbelief of some and the belief of others, he records for us the words of Jesus as he describes and summarizes his message and the purpose of his work. Now, all of the notions that we find in these words from Christ are things that we have already seen several times over during our look at John’s gospel. The first thing that Jesus talks about is that when we follow him, that we are no just following him but that we are following the Father as well. This most certainly is nothing new. We have said many times before that you cannot separate the Father from the Son. You cannot have God the Father without Jesus Christ the Son. Any system of believing that attempts to remove the Son from the equation is a system that seeks to remove God Himself from the equation. The Father is the one who sent the Son into the world and they are eternally, intimately, and divinely linked together as two of the three members of the Trinity.
Then, Jesus goes on to tell us the primary purpose for his coming. He says that those who hear his word and do not believe that they should not feel judged, at least not yet. You see, Jesus’ coming into this world was not about judgment, but about atonement for God’s people. Jesus’ first coming was about paying the price that was owed to God because of the sins of man. However, his second coming, the one that we are told about in Matthew 25 and Luke 12 and read about in the book of Revelation, that coming will be about judgment. You know, that’s one of the great misconceptions about the Christian faith that exists in our world today. So many think that the job of the Christian is to sit back and hurl stones of judgment at others for anything that they may have done that is seen as sinful. As if any of us have the right to be able to sling stones at anyone else. You see, it’s not or job to judge, it’s Christ’s. There’s no need for us to worry about judgment because Jesus will take care of all judgment when the proper time comes. Our job is to devote our lives to Christ until our time of judgment. Our job is to proclaim the gospel and fulfill the Great Commandment and Great Commission.
Finally, Jesus tells us by what authority he has come into this world and said all these things. He was sent by God, by the Father, to proclaim his message. You see, Jesus was a divine missionary of sorts. He wasn’t coming and promoting his own message, but the message of God. I have a lot of friends who find my opinions and ideals about certain issues to be intolerant and narrow-minded. When I am accused of such I say to folks, “Don’t blame me. There not my opinions. I’m just repeating what God commands of us in Scripture.” God the Father gave the Son a mission, just as He has given each of us a mission. He has given us a command to take His Word into the world, making disciples of others. He hasn’t given us His Word so that we can study it and keep it to ourselves and be able to answer trivia questions about it. He gave us His Word so that we may have it to proclaim. Modern day Christian author Francis Chan recently ran a commercial for an upcoming series in which he related telling his daughter to clean up his room to God telling us to evangelize. He said that when he tells his daughter to clean her room, he doesn’t want her to come back and be able to quote what he said or recite it in Greek or Hebrew. No, he wants her to clean her room. He wants her to do what he is commanding of her. Why would God’s commands be seen any differently? Friends, Christ was sent to save, and he commands us to continue that mission. He commands us to “Go, baptize, and make disciples.” If we are not doing that, then we are turning away from the very work that God has given each one of us to do. Don’t let a day go by where you are not fulfilling the great and noble task that God has given to us all. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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