Monthly Archives: February 2014

An Effective Barrier Against Truth

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AN EFFECTIVE BARRIER TO TRUTH 

“Finally the temple guards went to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring Him?’ ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied, ‘You mean He deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him? No, but this mob that knows nothing of the law — there is a curse on them.’

“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.'”

“Then they all went home.” John 7:45-53 (NIV).

Ugh! These men are obnoxious!

They sent temple guards to arrest Jesus, but the guards could not bring themselves to do it. His words fascinated and mesmerized them. They had never heard anyone speak as Jesus spoke. They returned empty-handed to the religious rulers and Pharisees who were so sure of themselves that they dismissed them with withering contempt.

These men held themselves up as the measure of truth. Since none of their number had believed in Jesus (perhaps Nicodemus had kept his night-time visit to Jesus a secret in case he was dismissed with the same disapproval as the temple guards), of course Jesus was a trickster and a fraud! The temple guards were taken in by Him because they were just part of the gullible mob, according to them.

Nicodemus put in a rather weak protest, appealing to his colleagues at least to give Jesus a hearing. But his was a lone voice trying to get a fair deal for Jesus. His plea was swept aside with the same arrogant dismissal as the guards received.

Why did these men stick so tenaciously to their opinion of Jesus that they were not even prepared to give Him a hearing?

Their first argument was the typical everybody’s-doing-it reason. Since all of them (except Nicodemus, and he was of no consequence to them), dismissed Jesus as a fraud, that made them right. Their confidence was based on the flimsy premise that majority opinion must be the truth.

Unfortunately, in God’s eyes this kind of reasoning does not hold water. Even if the whole world chooses to believe lies, that does not make it the truth. Billions of people follow false religions, sincerely believing that they are right and even being willing to murder to defend their beliefs but that still does not make lies the truth.

Secondly, they clung to their superficial reason for rejecting Jesus because they refused to investigate the evidence. What were they afraid of? Would they have changed their minds about Him if they found out the truth? I don’t think so. This was not about Jesus; this was about them. It would take honesty and humility to listen to Jesus and to take Him seriously and they were not prepared to do that because they would have to forfeit their status in the community and bow to Him.

We may not think we are like the Pharisees but deep in every heart there lurks the pride that cuts us off from God. “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”  Humility is the one thing that opens the door to revelation from God. Jesus told His hearers that, if anyone genuinely wants to know the truth, he will be able to discern the source of His teaching — from God or from Himself.

Once again, this conflict opens up new understanding about God, about us and about the depravity of our own hearts. My plea is that we put aside our right to be right and examine the evidence. We have only one source of truth — the Word of God. He has graciously given us an infallible point of reference to keep us on track. If we are humble enough to say, ‘I don’t know,’ we will be on the way to finding out the truth.

Let’s use it!

 

Assuming Is Dangerous!

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ASSUMING IS DANGEROUS!

“On hearing His words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘He is the Messiah.’ Still others asked, ‘How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?’ Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.” John 7:40-45 (NIV).

Just as Jesus said it would be!

He once asked His disciples what people were saying about Him. It was just the same there as here — divided opinions. Some said this, some said that and others said something else. There were those who recognized that there was something different about Him and were willing to go as far as to acknowledge that He could be the Prophet Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to Him.”

Others saw someone greater than just a prophet. They were prepared to go as far as to say that He was the Messiah. Did that mean that they understood the nature of the Messiah? I don’t think so. Like the disciples, they had their hopes pinned on someone who would rid them of the Romans and ease their load of everyday struggles just to make a living and survive.

The majority dismissed Him as a fake and a deceiver and would have grabbed Him and handed Him over to the authorities if they could. Their argument was that He did not measure up to Old Testament prophecy, or so they thought. Had they only dug a little deeper, they would have been shocked to learn that He was the perfect fit to the prophetic blueprint which they thought they knew so well.

Their reason for dismissing Him was that He came from Galilee. Wrong! That may have been where He grew up, but it was not His birthplace as we all know so well. And, unknown to them, He was of the royal line of David. Galilee also featured in the prophetic blueprint. “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthali, but in the future He will honour Galilee of the nations, by Way of the sea, beyond the Jordan.” Isaiah 9:1 (NIV).

In Isaiah’s magnificent prophetic vision he saw the coming of a child (Isaiah 9:6) who would bring light to His people as far afield as Galilee, the northern province that bordered on Gentile territory and was constantly subject to invasion from the north. He would bring in the righteous rule of God, carrying the government on His shoulders and bringing light and peace where there had been darkness and war.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:6,7 (NIV).

O yes, they knew the Scriptures. They knew what the Messiah would do, but they just could not connect Jesus to that glorious expectation and make a match! How tragic that they set their sights on a political deliverer and failed to see in Jesus someone much greater than that.

It is unfortunate that many believers have the same tendency to see Jesus as the panacea for all their ills. Instead of going to the Bible for an accurate picture of who He is, they make assumptions and place expectations on Him that He will not fulfil. This is dangerous because it leads to disappointment and disillusionment which hurts them and reflects back on Him.

Jesus did not come to give us cushy lives. He came to reveal the nature of the Father and to reconcile us to the Father through His shed blood so that we can get back on track with the Father’s cosmic plan. The ultimate end is that the whole universe will, in union with Him, reflect the Father’s glory.

It’s all about Him, not about us.