Tuesday in Holy Week
BELIEVE JESUS’ WORDS
Scripture
John 12:37-38; 42-50 (NIV)
Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees 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.
Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees 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.
As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Some Thoughts
If I can just see it, I’ll believe it. How many times have you heard that? It’s not true. Some of the people to whom Jesus was talking had seen him do miracles yet refused to believe in him. People can see and still not believe because they don’t want to, especially when it comes to faith. Jesus gave an illustration of this truth.
A few weeks prior to the passage you just read, Jesus told the story of Abraham, Lazarus, and the rich man. The parable was a bit more realistic in the sense that this was the only parable Jesus told where he gave the characters names. You know the story. The rich man told Abraham to send Lazarus to tell his brothers he was burning in Hades and that they should repent to God so they wouldn’t come to his place of torment. Abraham’s response was if they didn’t believe Moses and the prophets, they wouldn’t believe someone coming back from the dead. The irony today is that someone, Jesus, did come back from the dead and many did not then and many still do not believe today.
Jesus had done many public miracles as seen by thousands of people including teachers of the law and the Pharisees. What was at stake was a willingness to believe what they saw. The question for us is, “Am I willing to believe what Jesus said?” To believe in Jesus is to continue to make changes in my life. Belief in Jesus means an ever-increasing amount of light. As such, a Christian’s faith never arrives but must be ever-growing. What was the point of his miracles? The purpose was never for the sake of the miraculous itself but to understand and believe that Jesus was the one sent by the God the Father. The miracles always pointed to the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. The whole purpose of the miraculous signs was not to condemn people but to bring them to the light, to transformation (John 3:17).
Jesus had just raised someone from the dead a short time ago and had done other miraculous signs in the Pharisees’ presence and still most of them would not believe. Did it also register as you read that some believed but would not confess their belief because of social or peer pressure? Believing and confessing go together. Belief is not silent, anonymous, nor invisible. Belief is revealed in action. Here is a challenging word for the silent Christian. Notice Jesus was not influenced by anyone but his heavenly Father nor should we be. He spoke the exact words his Father gave him and in the way his Father told him to speak. Again, Jesus is our model. His being rejected did not change his message, nor should it ours. He was on a divine mission which was coming to an end. So are we.
With these things in mind, pay special attention to all that Jesus said in the next few days. A large percentage of the gospels are the words of Jesus spoken during the last five or six days of his life (Matthew 28%, Mark 37%, Luke 25%, John 48%). Note what is important to Jesus as he prepared to leave this earth for a return to his Father’s presence. What last words would you share with family and friends when death knocks at your door? My guess is they would be those things that are most important to you. That’s what Jesus did. Think about it. Belief is not silent nor static. Encourage those dear to you.
Music “Ah Holy Jesus,” Fernando Ortega and Quintessence Ensemble
Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, you have said that you are the way, the truth, and the life. Suffer us not to stray from you, who are the way, nor to distrust you, who are the truth, nor to rest in anything other than you, who are the life.
(Erasmus, 1469-1536)