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John 3:16-17
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John 3:16-17
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I spent the morning talking to a skeptic. A friend and I answered question after question, and presented layer upon layer of evidence. Eventually, he told us that no matter how strong the case was, he didn't think the eyewitness testimony about Jesus would lead him to the truth.
John 12:37-50
Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than praise from God. Jesus cried out, "The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and doesn't 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 doesn't receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me."
Isaiah walked into the Temple and it shook with the glory of God. Smoke snuffed out sight. He wailed, "I'm ruined!" In the presence of God's glory, he disowned his own glory. Seeing God, he volunteered to be sent by God: "Lord, here am I. Send me." The glory of God has returned to the Temple. Lazarus is walking around in the daylight, visible to the restored eyes of a formerly blind man. But Isaiah's prophetic heirs cannot see him. Instead of saying "Woe is me," they cursed Jesus. Some claim to believe. Jesus sifts their belief by the cost they pay. They saw what Isaiah did: their peers had blinded eyes and hardened hearts. If they told others what they saw in Jesus, they knew they'd be thrown out of the synagogue, then lose their livelihoods. They trade the glory Isaiah saw for a cheap replica: the praise of their peers. In college, a friend told me they wished they could see what Isaiah saw. I agreed. Wouldn't that be awesome? We never realized we just needed to look at Jesus. We certainly didn't think about surrendering our lives to God's mission. We wanted the spectacle without the sacrifice. I often feared that maybe Jesus would send me to Siberia. Now, I think that was too innocent. Jesus didn't ruin Isaiah, and he doesn't plan to ruin us, either. He gave his life so that we could have his life, now and forever. He didn't intend to offer himself in vain. He isn't looking to judge us. Jesus is holding up a mirror: I don't judge you, but do you judge me? The judgment we make about Jesus will be what sentences us. Our unwillingness to believe can start with a mild indecision that seems reasonable. But unbelief sours quickly, and eventually we become unable to believe. After Isaiah made his confession of faith, the seraphim announced to Isaiah, "your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for." Six hundred years later, Jesus makes the same offer to his contemporaries, and now, to us. It's his final words to the crowds. He won't speak to them again until he's lifted high on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Isaiah saw God's glory and said, 'I'm ruined.' The leaders saw Jesus raise Lazarus and wanted him dead. What do you think made the difference?
Where do you avoid talking about Jesus to avoid paying a cost?
What would it take for you to say, "Here am I. Send me"?
Ask God and a friend to help you answer this question: "God, where are you sending me?"
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