Most people today are attempting to change their situation to “something better”, whether it means changing their identity, their job, their social network, their lifestyle...fill in the blank...most people are just unhappy and wanting better. With this the case, the question to be asked is this: Why is everyone so unhappy?
Jesus said that it’s because sin enslaves everyone (Jn8:34). Sin is more than the bad things you do...it's a spiritual force that brings spiritual death and eventually physical death. More than action, it's intention.
He came to save people who would believe in Him (Jn3:16). He said that people will make it through
whatever “storm” this life brings if they build their lives on His Words
(Mt7:24-27), and that when one puts their faith in Him, they “pass from death
to life” (Jn5:24).
People listen to Jesus’ hard words and think they can’t have
Jesus unless they begin acting like a ‘Christian’. But the truth is that Jesus came “not to call
the righteous but sinners” (Mt9:13) and when a sinner repents, angels
rejoice (Lk15:7, 10). He saves people as
they are, and begins conforming them to His holy image (Rom8:29). His initial calling of Matthew (a tax
collector…considered a “sinner” by the majority) was followed up by His coming
to Matthew’s house for a party that included a bunch of “sinners” who liked to
party (Mt9:10), and this continual attendance at parties apparently was such a
staple of Jesus’ social life that people wrongly called him a drunkard and a
glutton (Mt11:19). People had stupidly
assumed that because Jesus went to spend time with non-religious and “worldly”
people, he must not be as holy as his teaching and miracles let on.
But the truth is that Jesus was perfect and without sin (Heb4:15, Is53:9). His knowledge and understanding was such that
even at the age of 12 he was making that day's doctors of religion marvel. Then as an
adult, when the doctors of religion would argue his radical concepts, he had
the ability to immediately bring them to silence. This is because He came to tell the truth
(Jn18:37), but He told it in such a way that even the most adamant and hostile
religious people could only say, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
(Jn7:46). Truly His words were “spirit and life”
(Jn6:63, 68).
Jesus came and spent time with “sinners”, and had such a
heart for them because regardless of how sinful they were, He had both the truth and
the mouth to speak it. And the truth, as always, made an impact. In Jesus’ case, the impact was salvation
(Lk19:9-10).
Much has been said recently about how Jesus’ ministry targeted
sinners and not righteous people, and, even by Jesus’ admission, he “came not
to call the righteous, but sinners”. But
to say He didn’t have compassion for religious people is to miss the
point. This is proven in the examples of
Nicodemus (who was converted later on…see John 19:39), the Scribe who
understood the Law’s teaching in Mark12:28-34, and the famous Rich Young Ruler
who thought he’d done a good job as a religious person his whole life, until
Jesus loved him and told him the
truth that he needed Jesus and not his religion (see Mk10:17-22). The real reason why Jesus appeared to have
more civil conversations with the sinners than religious people is because the
religious people were so blinded by their self-righteousness, Jesus’
spirit-and-life words weren’t getting through.
The woman at the well was a “sinner” to whom Jesus told the hard
truth as well (John4). The difference
between her and Nicodemus from the previous chapter is that, by John’s
chronology, it appears to have taken years for Nicodemus to come to faith, when
it appears to have only taken a few minutes for the woman (See John4:25-29,
38-43). Why is this? It’s because self-righteousness, from wherever it
springs, blinds people to their need for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Nicodemus and the Pharisees appeared to have
this (though Nicodemus was open), and even the woman at the well had some of it,
but it pretty quickly broke down during Jesus’ conversation with her. Jesus tells the truth to people and brings
them to the place of seeing their own sinfulness (like Peter in Luke5:8), and
when they see this, they see their need for what He offers, and are reborn by
the Holy Spirit. Think about Jesus’
Words, “If anyone hears my words and believes Him who sent me, he has eternal
life. He doesn’t come under judgment,
but has passed from death to life” (Jn5:24).
When Jesus spoke about eating his flesh and drinking his
blood (John6:35-58), he was talking about believing
in Him and deriving your life from His
life. 6:29 has him saying, “This is
the work of God, that you believe in the One whom He has sent.” He wasn’t talking about communion or Eucharist…he
was talking about Himself, which is
what communion and Eucharist is supposed to be about! And His point was that the people needed to
see their need for Him and begin finding their lives in Him.
When people were grumbling at His hard teaching, He said, “Don’t
grumble among yourselves. It is the
Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I’ve spoken to are spirit and
life” (Jn6:63).
What kind of statement is this? A simple one: They had grumbled because they
had trouble accepting his teaching. And
Jesus, in effect, said, “Your grumbling is your flesh fighting me, while my
Words are the Holy Spirit giving life. Stop grumbling. Your understanding can’t give you what I can
give you,” just like Proverbs3:5-6 had famously said 1000 years earlier. The grumbling happened because the flesh is
hostile to God (Rom8:7-8), and God’s Son was telling them, “You have no life
apart from me”. Finally, Jesus said, “This
is why I told you no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father”
(6:65).
What kind of statement is this? Again, a simple one: Sinners' flesh, enslaved to
sin (8:24), dead in sin (Eph2:1), and at enmity with God (Rom5:10), is overcome by
God’s grace. His grace, more than being
freely offered (Mt11:28-30) is also freely sovereign (Mt11:27), and He gives
people new life to look to Jesus who is the only hope they’ve ever had to a)
live this life to God’s glory, and b) live eternally for God’s glory. The invitation goes out for all, but because
no one responds in and of themselves (as they don't want to), God “grants them repentance, that they
escape from the snare of the devil, having been captured by him” (2Tim2:26).
Jesus said it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s
eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom (Mk10:25). But this isn't because it's
impossible or because Jesus doesn’t love rich men. It’s because the rich men have money and
possessions as a crushing idol that captivates them away from what they really
need by convincing them that THIS is what they really need. Jesus also said that Pharisees who are
leading others will lead as they both end up in Hell (Mt15:14). But this isn’t because Jesus doesn’t love
them. Rather, it’s because they have
religion and their own power and will as their idol that keeps them from
submission to Jesus’ rule of needing to be Holy-Spirit-reborn (Jn3:3,5,7-8). The issue with both groups isn’t lack of God’s
grace—God gives rain and sunshine on sinner and righteous and provides food,
happiness, and everything to all
peoples everywhere (Mt5:45; Ac14:17, 17:25).
The issue is a lack of God-consciousness. People don’t care about God and His glory,
and so because of this, they don’t see their need for Jesus to redeem
them.
So Jesus comes to sinners to capture their hearts, so that
they’ll be redeemed by looking to Him in pure and sincere faith, admitting
their need for Him. In so doing, He even captures
some rich people (ie, Joseph of Arimethea) and even some religious Pharisees (ie,
Nicodemus and Paul). This is because, in
the end, they’re ALL sinners in need of
grace. And where sin increased, “grace
abounded all the more”.
What leg are you standing on? What if the truth is that Jesus is the only
possible hope for a lost and dead world?
Will you grumble, fight, and kick, or will you accept that He, being the
Creator and Redeemer, knows truth better than you do? It’s not a question of will before it’s a
question of truth.
