Jesus was more hard on the religious people of His day than any other! These people confessed to love God and to know the Torah, yet God told them that their hearts were unclean. They professed to be righteous on the outside (their works for all to see, maybe hoping that others would find them righteous) but on the inside they were wicked. How many of us do that? How many of us list off the things we have done in our day hoping that maybe someone will find us godly or spiritual? However, this is one (of many) of the things that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for.
I find the story of Nicodemus comforting. Not only was he a Jew but a teacher who professed to be skilled in the Torah, yet he shows us a glimpse of his weakness. You see, Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, yet he went to hear Jesus teach. But not only did he listen to Jesus' teachings, he professed Jesus' teachings to be true! I love the way Jesus treated Nicodemus. Jesus knew his heart was different than the others because of what Nicodemus asked Him saying,"Rabbi (here Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus as a teacher, something that the other Pharasies would never say), what must I do to enter the kingdom of God?"(big statement for someone who knew the Torah). Jesus never rebuked him like he did the Pharisee's of his day. Jesus simply responded," Unless one be born again, he can never see the kingdom of God."
Then the dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus becomes more intense, with Nicodemus revealing his hunger for truth. Note that John 3:16 was quoted from Jesus to Nicodemus. Now skip to verse 17, "For God did not come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." You see, Jesus never rebuked (condemned)Nicodemus like he did the other religious leaders. The difference here was that Jesus saw Nicodemus' heart and his hunger for salvation. He knew why Nicodemus was willing to stay and listen to His teachings. Nicodemus had the hunger for truth, this hunger could not be filled in the Torah but only in the salvation of Jesus Christ! Nicodemus knew that you could not be righteous on the outside by doing spiritual things, He knew that righteousness only came from redemption! In another part of the scriptures Jesus said, "apart from me you can do nothing." How befitting it was that Nicodemus was the one who later defended Jesus before the Sanhedrin and purchased a hundred pounds of spices to be placed between the folds of the cloth in which Jesus was buried.
What a beautiful story for us to behold! I am so thankful that my knowledge of who I think Christ is, the words in the bible, and what I consider to be spiritual means nothing if I do not have Jesus. And what does that mean? It simply means that I have received Jesus as my Savior and I am willing to love people in the same manner that I love myself (remember God "is" love?)- even if they despise me and ridicule me for not being as spiritual as them. Each of us is on a journey with God, no two paths are the same. Therefore, I cannot approve of one's "method" as being spiritual, nor can I look for the approval of others hoping that they might consider my path to be more spiritual than theirs- or at least the same. God is the only one who can know the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment