John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
John 10:10
I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.
Jesus came to bring us salvation and a message of hope. He came so that we may have life, and that we may be saved from our sins. Jesus was the promised Messiah, the chosen or holy one. Jesus was the one the Israelites had been waiting on for centuries, since the old testament. Isaiah prophesied the coming of a Messiah.
So when He came, why was He treated so poorly by the very people who had been waiting His arrival for so long? Why did they treat Him as if they never wanted Him in the first place? Why was He persecuted? Why wasn’t He received by the people who were waiting on Him? The religious leaders were His biggest adversaries, why was that?
I can take one guess and say, Jesus wasn’t what they were expecting. His arrival on earth was as normal as any of ours. Jesus didn’t come ascending from heaven on a white horse, it wasn’t divine in what they expected. He came from the womb of a woman like everyone else. He came to earth as a man, who worked as a carpenter, He lived with His mother, and His ministry didn’t start until He was thirty. Jesus was a man like the rest of them. I’m not exactly sure what they were expecting but I can say that if I was there, i=I would have expected this huge dramatic, sky opening up, doves all over the place type of event. But it was nothing like that, He came as a man, it was very simple and less than average. He was born in a manger, in Nazareth, the worst of the worst places to be born. Nazareth was the worst place to be from at that time, as we see in John 1:46 Nathanael asks if anything good can come from Nazareth. The most perfect man to ever walk this earth was born in a manger, in a place that breeds criminals and thugs. Crazy right.
What the Pharisees and Sadducees failed to realize was, that while Jesus was fully man He was also fully God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that He was the one they had been waiting on. Jesus looked like them, so in their eyes, He was no better than them. So they challenged Him, they didn’t appreciate this new message He brought of grace and forgiveness. This wasn’t what they expected from a Messiah. They thought He was coming for them and only them, but boy were they wrong. Jesus came to save everyone. He came equipped with a message of salvation, He came equipped to die for the sins of the people that persecuted Him. The refused to receive His message because He ate with sinners, He hung out with tax collectors. He went into the houses of sinners. He even went into the temples and turned tables over because of what they were doing in His father’s house. He rebuked the self-righteous, religious people and extended a hand to the hurt and poor. He forgave the sinners. They thought He wasn’t the real deal. So, because of who they thought He was, they refused to receive His message. Which brings me to my point...
Sometimes we miss the message because we are too focused on the messenger. I think this is a common issue in the church today, especially with the growth of the contemporary church, and even secular artist proclaiming their faith and using their platform to spread the message of Christ. We are so consumed by who is spreading the message rather than the message itself. We have to realize that it is not about what a person looks likes or how they’re dressed, it doesn’t matter if they're on a pulpit or a stage. Jesus stood on a mountain. It is about the message of Christ. It is the message of salvation and the power of the holy spirit, that someone proclaims their faith. If someone is proclaiming their faith and they are speaking truth according to the Gospel, what is wrong with that? I mention the contemporary church because our generation has been the cause of its growth. We have decided that it doesn’t matter what we wear, or what we look like, it is the message that is being preached. We have made the choice to look past the traditions of church and the rules and live for Christ.
One of the most annoying things I see in the church today is pastor’s or Christians feeling the need to ‘respond’ to someone proclaiming their faith, especially celebrities. I will use Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper as an example, two young men who openly proclaim their faith in God and will admit that they have not had the best past, but will also proclaim how Jesus has changed their lives. Now I am all for people spreading the message of Christ, especially people that are not workers of the church and use their gifts to glorify Him outside of the church building. I remember seeing so many people on social media feeling the need to respond or give their thoughts on these young men proclaiming their faith. All of them Christians, almost as if they had to give them permission to be Christian, and even more than that to spread the word of God.
I believe that God can use anyone to spread His message and get His word across, He used a donkey to speak to Balaam why can’t He use a celebrity with an enormous platform to tell of the love of Jesus. Why can’t He use a homeless person on the street? He can use anyone. The problem is when someone or someone doesn’t look or act how they should in a traditional sense then it can’t be right. At the end of the day, all that matter is this beautiful message. The message of Jesus Christ, the message of salvation that has been saving millions of people for centuries.
We are all vessels of God, and He uses us and our lives and testimonies to spread His word and save other people. It doesn’t matter what you look like, or where you come from, if you have given your life to Christ you are a vessel for His message. We must learn to look past tradition and religious rules and see that God’s message can come in a myriad of forms, and will always remain true. Listen to the message, the messenger isn’t as important.
Response/Prayer Time
There are no questions or prompters today, Just take the time to respond and pray about what we discussed.
I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 154!
