FAITH IS THE GLUE 

“Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

“Then Jesus cried out, ‘Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.'” John 12:42-46 NIV.

Secret believers! Held captive by fear!

This is the power of false religion. Because religion has its origin in the human mind, it needs humans to defend it and force to keep people from leaving when they know the truth; force, the only way humans know how to exercise power. Fear holds people in bondage and force protects their loyalty.

These religious leaders were bound by the fear of what their colleagues would do to them if they followed Jesus. Is it possible to believe but not to follow? Jesus said not. To follow Him means to take up the cross. Anyone who carried a cross was on the way to death. A disciple is one who has embraced his rabbi, his rabbi’s yoke, and everything his rabbi stands for. He is no longer his own person. He has died. These Jewish leaders, whom John said believed in Him, had not done that. They were afraid.

But fear and force cannot bind the conscience when it is convinced of the truth. How was it that the apostles and many thousands after them, were willing to lay down their lives rather than deny that Jesus is Lord? Did He threaten them with death if they refused to acknowledge Him? Did He destroy Peter for denying him with oaths and curses? What changed cowering men into courageous witnesses? The resurrection convinced them that He was the Son of God and not even death could scare them into submission to the Roman authorities or the bullying religious leaders.

But the reward for believing in Jesus far outweighs the cost! There is a revelation of the face of the Father in the face of Jesus that is reserved for those who recognize and embrace the truth that He and the Father are one.

Throughout the history of His people, Jesus had dealings with them in many different ways. He met Moses through the miracle of a desert bush that burned with an unearthly fire but was not consumed and revealed His name to him on the mountain. He revealed His glory in dreams and visions to His prophets, men like Isaiah and Ezekiel; He gave His personal protection to Daniel in the den of lions and his three colleagues in Nebuchadnezzar’s fire; He spoke in an audible voice to Abraham and Jacob and even wrestled with Jacob until he prevailed and became a prince with God.  But they never saw His face.

Now He was here on earth in person, in human form so that all men might see the face of God in Him; but only those who believed the truth of who He was would recognize in Him the nature of the Father He represented. To some He was a blasphemer; to others at best a prophet or just a good man. Only to those who believed in Him was He the face of the Father.

John lived and walked with Him for three and a half years. To him, Jesus was the Word become flesh…”We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. Paul met Him on the Damascus road and, from then on He was, to him “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Colossians 1:15. To the unknown writer to the Hebrews He was “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being…” Hebrews 1:3.

How did Jesus respond to Philip’s request, ‘”Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us’? “Jesus answered, ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.'” John 14:8, 9.

The miracle is that Jesus is just Jesus, good man, prophet perhaps, until faith opens the eyes and the heart sees Him as the Son of God and a mirror image of the Father. This is the glue that binds us to Him. We are not held to loyalty by fear or threats of death. To believe in Him is to see Him and to see Him is to love Him. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18 NIV.