Life of Christ 124
'And it was at Jerusalem
in the feast of the dedication, and it was winter' (John 10.22). Two hundred
years before Christ Syria controlled Palestine. A Syrian general, Antioches
Epiphanes, attacked Jerusalem, slaughtering thousands. He would go on to attack
the entire Jewish approach to life, and to desecrate Ezra's Temple in
spectacularly awful ways. He raised an altar to Zeus in the courtyard, and then
sacrificed pigs on it. He forced Jews to eat pork, outlawed observance of the
Sabbath, outlawed circumcision, and many other aspects of Judaism.
Like so many other rules
throughout history, he badly underestimated the loyalty the Jews had to their
religion. This loyalty, aggravated by the brutality of Antioches Epiphanes,
produced the very revolt he was trying, via his intimidation, to stop. The
succeeding rebellion brought the greatest victory for a Jewish army since the
time of Josiah four centuries earlier.
After that victory, the
Jewish leaders, knows as the Maccabees, cleansed and formally rededicated the
Temple complex. This occasion was remembered with an annual observance every
December called the Feast of Dedication. Its memorial continues today. You and
I know it as Hanukkah.
Jesus, walking through
the Temple during Hanukkah, is confronted by Jews who demand to know, plainly,
without any symbolic language, if Jesus really does claim to be the Messiah
(John 10.23-24). What a frustrating question this must have been to Him! He has
already told them this again and again, and He has proven His claim, via
specific prophecy, via a sinless life, via years of good works, and via dozens
of public miracles. Yet, in spite of this veritable mountain of evidence, they
still refuse to believe on Him (John 10.25).
The truth is the Jewish
problem was not that they were not sure about His claims, nor was it that He
had not proven His claims. The Jewish problem was rebellion; they just refused
to believe. In the struggle for the soul of Israel's religion they had chosen the
wrong shepherd (the Pharisees) over the right shepherd (Jesus). Thus, they were
not His sheep, and thus they did not have eternal life (John 10.26-28).
Then, as His custom was,
He initiates the next step in the conversation, and takes it right to the heart
of the matter. The Jews needed to believe He was Who He said He was, and so He
plainly tells them again, not just that He was the Messiah, but that He was
God. 'I and my Father are one' (John 10.30).
To the Jews of Jesus'
day this was blasphemy. Theirs was the world's first monotheistic religion, and
that concept was at the core of who they were. When Jesus claimed to be God
they thought it violated their precious monotheistic beliefs. Of course, they
were wrong, and drastically so, for though there is only one God He exists in
three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The concept of the
Trinity is not just a New Testament teaching advanced by Christ. It was first
found in the Old Testament, the Jewish Torah. For instance, the very first name
for God in Genesis 1 is Elohim, which is defined as a plural, yet still
singular God. In that same chapter God repeatedly refers to Himself in the
plural, 'Let us make man in our image.' Then there are the direct prophecies in
Isaiah which refer to the promised messiah as God, and the direct prophecies in
Psalms which do likewise.
The Jews, however,
refused to see this, no matter how many prophecies Jesus fulfilled, no matter
how many miracles He performed, and no matter how many people He helped. There
are some who scoff at this, and attempt to say that Jesus never claimed to be
divine, and that this was foisted upon Him posthumously by overly zealous
disciples. Such an attack could not be further from the truth. The Jews of
Jesus' own day clearly understood that He claimed to be God. This is plainly
seen in their response. 'Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him' (John
10.31). 'The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but
for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God' (John
10.33).
The deity of Christ was
the single biggest stumbling block for the Jews, even more so than His claim to
be the Messiah, and until they come to recognize the validity of that claim
they will remain outside of His flock. I realize the Jews are still God's
chosen people, but they corporately chose to reject Him 2000 years ago, and
individually, most of them still choose to reject Him today. Thus, they have no
eternal life, but are instead headed for the torments of hell.
The Jewish people are so
close, and yet so far. They believe the Old Testament is God's Word. They
believe in only one God, Jehovah. They believe in strict obedience to Him. They
believe in the veracity and inerrancy of the prophets. They give themselves so
much to God that their religious observance became what it means to be a Jew.
To be Jewish is to be religious in a way that is not true about any other
ethnicity. But even though they pursue God with everything they have they still
completely miss the truth. 'Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a
zeal of God, but not according to knowledge' (Romans 10.1-2).
Beloved, we cannot
measure either people or institutions by their good works, their moral message,
or their pursuit of God. The Mormon religion famously upholds conservative
family values (which is highly ironic, given their history), and promotes moral
political candidates, but we cannot thus judge them to be correct. Mother
Teresa nobly gave her life to help the dirt poor slum dwellers of Calcutta but
at the same time vociferously denied the doctrine of salvation by grace through
faith. We must measure them, not by how close they are to us, or by how similar
our belief systems are, but by this: what do they believe about Jesus Christ?
'For they being ignorant
of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness for every one that believeth' (Romans 10.3-4).
'That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved'
(Romans 10.9).
How close are you?
'Well, I believe in God.'
'I have read the Bible.'
'I try to live right.'
'I am a moral person.'
But what do you believe
about Jesus Christ? Do you believe He was Who He claimed to be? Have you placed
your complete faith in Him, and Him alone, not yourself, as your sole hope for
eternal life? If you have then you are in good hands (John 10.29). If you have
not, I do not care how close you are in other respects, you will miss out on
eternal life and burn in hell forever.
'Wow. That's harsh.'
Actually, no it is not. It is the kindest thing in the world to tell you. What
a tragedy to be so close, and yet so far. Give in. Yield. Submit. Humble
yourself. Come to Christ.
'Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved' (Acts 4.12).
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