Scripture: John 12: 37-50

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

“If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Consider:

I LOVE when people like me…I love being noticed for good things, I love when it feels like I’m part of keeping the peace. It feels comfortable, it doesn’t have edges or risks. It works.

But we aren’t called to stay in the comfortable spaces, are we? I’m struck by this passage to see that the desire to stay in the good graces of friends and neighbors has overpowered people for millennia. Here is Jesus, standing before folks, and those who really do believe, who really do see him and recognize his divinity stay small and quiet because “what will the neighbors think if I say something?” “How will this affect my reputation?” You have two distinct groups in this passage…the group who doesn’t believe even though they’ve seen plenty of evidence, and the group who believes but is more worried about keeping up appearances than proclaiming the Good News they actually understand.

I can admit to waffling between those groups over the course of my life…feeling like my questions were greater than any answer and so my belief wavered, and then believing but worrying about the “look” of my faith to the people I sat at table with who were injured by the church or done with faith in general. And so I can feel Jesus’ sharp words ringing in my ears as much as anyone’s… “I have come to the world as a light” HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE ME?

So today I ask myself and you-where are we purposefully turning our eyes away from the Light of Christ, because the easy thing is to just continue along doing what we’ve always done? Where are we not using our voices to speak up because we are concerned that it might offend or turn off a friend or “make us look bad”? It’s never been said that following Jesus is easy. Our challenge today is to weigh the cost and determine what we love more…our faith or our comfort?

Respond:

A question for today: Do I spend more time seeking other’s approval than I do truly listening to and then living into God’s word? If the answer is yes, take a few minutes not judge, but be curious about why that pull toward human approval gets so much of your headspace and thought. Is there something you’re wanting to speak up about but haven’t yet because it feels risky to your reputation perhaps? Or it stands in contrast to the opinions of friends? The first step toward living into the Light is recognizing those things that keep us in the dark a little too long…

Pray:

Gracious God, keep my heart soft toward You. Guard me from valuing human approval over Your truth. Help me walk boldly in Your light and respond quickly when You speak. Amen.

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