First Baptist Church of Little Falls

I believe one of the saddest Scriptures found in the Bible is John 12:42-43, which says, “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” In John 12 we are given the narrative of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. During this time, we know that the Passover would be celebrated and that many people would come to the Holy City to sacrifice a lamb as a sin offering. The Jewish historian, Josephus, estimated the Passover crowd at 2,700,000 people, suggesting they would have been leading at least a quarter of a million sheep to their slaughter into Jerusalem. I have been on a sheep ranch during lambing season while living out west and all I can tell you is the smell and noise is overwhelming. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Jesus and His disciples to walk among 250,000 bleating sheep. It is no wonder that those who heard a voice from heaven were confused as to what they actually heard. Some, we are told, thought they heard thunder, while others thought an angel had spoken (12:29). But we know that as Jesus prayed to be saved from the death on the cross, He knew that the Father would have to be glorified and God the Father promised it would happen through His Son.
In John 12:27-36, Jesus predicts His death, yet the people are confused, because they thought the Messiah would come to earth and remain forever (12:34). Jesus tells them that for a little while the light will be with them (12:35), yet they didn’t see Jesus as the light of the world. I find it astounding that all the evidence to enlighten the common man was there in plain sight but they were acting like blind men, groping for a doorhandle. Jesus said it best, “He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.” (12:35)
According to the world standards, we are living in times of true enlightenment. We have information about everything, literally at our fingertips. If you don’t believe me, take your cell phone, go to google, hit the speaker icon and ask them how many stars are in our galaxy. By the way, the answer is approximately 100 billion stars, at least by Google’s standards. Yet with all our ability to be in the “know,” we are seeing a generation being ruled by their feelings and unwilling to sit long enough to listen to the truth, especially the claims of the gospel. Should this surprise us? No, because for the past 2,000 years the evidence for true enlightenment has generally been ignored by the majority, while the minority who do believe in the truth claims of the gospel have been marginalized, as they are considered to be radical, extremist, dangerous to the majority who believe they are enlightened.
So how do we approach a world filled with people who think they have all the answer to life, yet are blinded to the truth of the gospel of Light? I’m not sure I have all the answers but, here are a few things to think about as you flesh out life in this enlightened age.
First and foremost, don’t live life for the praise of men. There were those in Israel during Jesus’ time that had leadership positions and feared that if they were vocal about what they really believed about Him, they would lose their positions in the synagogue and worse, would be put out of the synagogue. We need to understand that this is more than just losing a position of leadership on a board. This was in essence, religious, social, and financial suicide. When someone is put out of a synagogue, they lose their ability to take care of themselves through the larger community that supports them. Here is an example. Say you want to go to the butcher and want to pick up a leg of lamb. Your butcher is related to one of the Pharisees who helped get you removed in the first place. You walk in the butcher’s shop, ask for a hind quarter of lamb, and the next thing you know you are outside the shop, face down on the street, wondering what just happened.
This is more than just wanting people to like us. This is about living life without any compromises when it comes to what we know is true. Faith in Christ is not about opinion, it is about conviction of what is true. We may have lots of opinions about everything, but there is no room for opinions about Jesus Christ. A Christian can only have convictions about Him. We are convinced beyond all doubts that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that He is the only One who can take away our sin, through His death on the cross, His burial, and resurrection from the dead. We must come to that place where we do not care what people say about us or do to us, that what we have in Christ is far greater than anything that can happen to us. And let me add this, when it comes to the world, your popularity with those around you will rise and drop like the stock market. Sometimes even within the Christian community your popularity will rise and fall with what you did yesterday or even today. There is only One whose opinion counts.
Second, look for the praise of God. I don’t know about you, but this sounds funny when I say this out loud. Honestly, I don’t believe I have ever told God that I was looking forward to Him praising me for a change. That almost sounds like heresy. Our great God and King deserves all our praise and glory, certainly not the reverse. But reread John 12:43, “for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” The ESV puts it this way, “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” Even though there are two different words being used here (praise and glory), the idea is the same. What would you be better off with, man’s approval or God’s? Which counts the most? What praise or glory is in jeopardy in this verse? How about, “Well done, good and faithful servant; your have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:23) I may be wrong, but that sounds like high praise coming from Jesus.
Let me end this writing with a short story. I lost my father five days after turning 20 years old while out at sea, serving in the Marines. My father was killed by a drunk driver while he was also serving our country in the National Guard. All these years I have wondered if he would have been happy the way I turned out, would he have approved of who I have become, what I have done with my life, the family I helped raise. The truth is, I have no answer to those questions. But one thing I am very certain of, when we look for God’s approval over man’s applause, we will always walk away with His high praises. This is Pastor Pat from Behind the Pen—wishing you Joy in Jesus!