August 10th, 2022
Hello Crossway,
This week we looked at John 12:37-50. Mark did a tremendous job walking us through who Jesus is and how we ought to respond to Him. Mark drew our attention to John's main point, who is Jesus? His signs declared who He is. His teachings declared who He is. For goodness sake, the Father speaks from Heaven declaring who He is and yet we read this, “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,” (John 12:37). Why don’t the signs work? Why don’t they bring about more belief? What more could Jesus have done?
Many people, perhaps most people, think that miracles are primarily intended to produce faith. The record of miracles in the Bible makes this idea unsustainable. Miracles actually operate more as revealing the faith or lack thereof than producing new faith. If someone believes, the miracle affirms. If the person does not believe, the person dodges, redirects, reinterprets, anything else but submit to the miracle. The Pharisees repeatedly squirm out from under the weight of the blind seeing, the lame walking, even the dead raising, because they refuse to believe in the first place.
Bottom line: If someone wants to refuse to believe, they can come up with a way to reject even God’s miracles.
But we are called to something greater. We are called to belief. And as Mark did such a good job describing, we aren’t called to one toe in the water faith, but full-in cannonball faith.
In the context of the passage, the faith that is strongest is revealed clearest in how we respond in the presence of other people. “Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” (John 12:42–43)
These people believed! But not enough to say so publicly.
Why is confession so important? Why do we baptize publicly? Why do we take communion publicly? Why do we gather together? Why do we sing to one another? Because our faith is to be declared before other people. It matters to God that we acknowledge Him.
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8–9)
Do you think it stung when Peter denied Christ?
Think about the times when you have either been acknowledged or denied publicly. Receiving the award v. someone else taking credit for your work. Being welcomed with excitement at the party v. your older sibling ignoring your existence when their friends come around.
Faith without profession is impotent.
Mark asked “are you the type of person who acts the role of Christian when convenient but silent when the world watches?”
Ouch!
It all comes down to what you love. These Pharisees loved the glory from men over the glory from God. Other translations use praise instead of glory. You get the picture either way. Is it God’s glory you are seeking this week? Is He the one you want to please? Or do you only care about that so long as no one else is watching?
If you love the Lord, you recognize that He is the light and thereby where we run to. If our love is the world, we are deceived into thinking it has the light and we run to it.
One time Amy and I were on a date and we were driving around Dallas. We saw a spotlight shining in the sky and we felt spontaneous and wanted to chase down its source hoping it would bolster our romantic evening together and give us a story to tell. Well, it gave us a story alright. We turned the corner and the spotlight was there in front of a strip club. Not. What. We. Wanted.
The world projects lights and glamour but delivers only hollow gifts of darkness. There is no light to be found in the world.
In Equip this week we read: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15–17)
The darkness is passing away. It overpromises and under-delivers. Don’t seek your fulfillment from the world.
This week, is your light Christ or is it something in the world? Are you all-in on following Jesus, but only when no one watches, or are you cannonball-leaping into faith in Him?
Kyle said last week, only Christ can fill every void, every need, every longing, every hope. Isn’t that the truth. Run to Him today!
God Bless,
Pastor Nigel
John 12:37-50
Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”