Dangerous

Our text is one verse, and it serves as something of a climax to Jesus' argument about the Sabbath. It actually does more than that, though. It is intended as a gentle warning to the Jewish leaders, a warning that, sadly, was not heeded. I think that it remains a gentle warning that still needs to be heeded. Here are Jesus' words. 'Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.' What I'm going to do is, first, take a look at what these words had to say to those men who were arguing with Jesus and then, consider what they have to say to us today.

For the longest time I saw Jesus' comment as a balance to what used to be a famous quote from the Sermon on the Mount. 'Judge not lest ye be judged.' Back when people cared about such things, that was a verse that was often pulled out whenever anyone evaluated someone's words or life. And the point being made was that we aren't supposed to judge people. Evaluating someone and pointing out where he is wrong is a no-no. Or so it was claimed. But it seemed to me that Jesus' words in today's text balanced that. We are to judge, but we are to do that the right way, with right judgment. That's what I used to think Jesus was saying here. And there may be an application of these words to that issue of judging people. But when I saw this sentence in its context it became clear to me that Jesus isn't talking about someone evaluating other people. He's talking about someone evaluating Him. He's talking about the Jewish leaders' evaluation of Him. Those leaders were, in fact, supposed to function as judges. And their purpose was to protect the people. The OT Scriptures explain all of that. In our text Jesus urges them to be careful as they do that. He urges them to judge well, to judge wisely, to judge with right judgment when it comes to their evaluation of Him.

So, what did they think about Jesus? How were they judging Him? They saw Him as dangerous. That might seem like an overstatement, but think about it. They wanted to kill Him. You don't plot to murder someone who is just some minor annoyance. Lots of upstarts rise and fall relatively quickly. And people know that and just wait for the inevitable. But every once in a while someone shows up who isn't just going to go away without doing serious damage. This kind of person is dangerous. This kind of person needs to be dealt with in some way or other. The Jewish leaders knew which category Jesus was in. He wasn't going to quietly fade away. He was going to cause problems, serious problems. And so, He had to be dealt with.

Now, what sort of problems were they concerned about? What were they afraid Jesus might do? One concern shows up in this context.

         

And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.”

Jesus had become a popular topic for discussion. To be sure there was a division in the house, some thinking one thing and others thinking quite the opposite. But there can be no doubt which group the leaders sided with. They thought that Jesus was leading the people astray.

Now, let's evaluate that. Was He doing that? Consider what happened. To put it starkly, Jesus took some Jews and made them into Christians. Whatever their ethnic history might have been, from that moment on their religion was no longer Jewish. Jesus brought about a huge change in their lives. Now, the Jewish leadership did not see all of that, but they could see that Jesus was all about a very different way of doing religion. They could see that Jesus was leading the people away from the old traditions. So, at least from one point of view, they were right. Jesus was dangerous because He was 'leading the people astray'.

There was another reason why they considered Jesus dangerous. This shows up later in John, right after Lazarus is raised from the dead.

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

The power elite get together. And what are they worried about? They are afraid that Jesus is going to cause such a ruckus that the Romans are going to come and destroy Israel, both Temple and people. And that's what justified their plot to murder Him. '… it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.'

Again, let's evaluate that. Did Jesus bring about what they feared? About forty years after Jesus' resurrection Roman armies lay siege to Jerusalem. And what was the result? The result was exactly what the leaders feared. The Roman armies destroyed Israel, both Temple and people. Jesus had predicted that and had caused it, though not in the way the leaders expected. Again, the leaders were right. Jesus was dangerous.

While their first concern, leading the people astray, was more religious, their second concern was more political. And in both cases they were right about Jesus. He was dangerous. These leaders had expectations for their future, hopes and dreams for the Jewish people. And here's this guy throwing a monkey wrench into it all. Jesus was dangerous. He could ruin everything. And that's why He needed to be stopped. That's why they killed Him.

So, were they judging rightly? Well, I think that we need to say that they were close. They understood some things quite accurately. They understood that Jesus had come to change life as they had known it. But they did not understand that what He would replace that with was something much better. The Jewish religion, with its ritual and its symbols and its particular kind of piety, was a good thing. It had to be a good thing. God called it into existence. But they didn't realize that it was something that was intended to be temporary. Once the Messiah would come, things would change. And they would change for the better. So, the faithful Jew looked forward to the coming of God's anointed one and the change that He would bring. Here think about Simeon and Anna whom Luke wrote about at the beginning of his Gospel. But these Jewish leaders who were confronting Jesus were not among these faithful Jews. They were clinging to the status quo. And they thought that Jesus was threatening that. And they were right.

Now, I said that they understood some things quite accurately. They were partially there. What would it have taken for those leaders to get it completely right? Well, they were right that Jesus was going to change things. But they did not follow that up with the appropriate wisdom. They did not submit to Him. They did not accept His plans for change, as difficult as that might have been. They did not become His disciples. They understood something of what He was up to, but instead of submitting to Him as the Messiah they fought against Him. They plotted His murder, and they killed Him. You need to note the irony here. In following through on their plot they performed a key part of Jesus’ plan to bring about that dramatic change that they feared. They killed Him, and as a result, they failed. Because of the Cross lots of Jews became Christians, and Rome destroyed Israel. These leaders fought against Jesus, and they lost.

So, that's what the text is about. Now, let's bring that into today. What does judging Jesus rightly look like today? Is He still dangerous? Or was that something that was only true for back then? Jesus is still dangerous, very dangerous, in fact. And even a quick consideration of how He presented Himself and what He was about will prove that. So, consider some things that He talked about.

Here's the first.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

This is pretty clear. Jesus is about conflict. What makes this statement particularly troubling is that He then goes on to talk about where this conflict might erupt: in the family. And the reason for that conflict is that some members of those families will be His disciples while others will not be.

Conflict in the family because of Jesus is to be expected when you remember what we read in last week's Gospel Reading.

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Even if you soften that word 'hate', this is quite the demand. Jesus lays claim to first place in the life of a disciple of His, more important than anyone - father, mother, wife, husband or children. He expects His disciples to love Him more than they love any of those others.

And did you catch how Jesus ended that demand? It's not enough to hate family. Jesus calls for disciples who are ready to lose their lives for His sake. Apart from being rather bold, isn't that a bit egotistical? 'Waste my life just to make You look good? Really?' Yes, really.

One more. Jesus expects results. He expects to see change in the lives of His disciples. And that if change is not there, well, there are consequences.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away.

Failure to produce will result in being removed. Jesus describes what happens to these. Like discarded branches, they are thrown onto a pile and burned. He's not talking about these being stuck out in the suburbs of heaven for a second rate eternity. They are completely excluded.

When Jesus calls someone to become His disciple He expects a lot. He is demanding. To say anything less is not to be honest.

Now, let's be clear. Being demanding is not the same as being harsh. Jesus is not harsh. But let's not hide from the truth. We need to say that He expects a lot. And just as those Jewish leaders could sense that their cherished desires and dreams were at risk, it is right for a disciple to say the same thing.

So, is Jesus still dangerous? Absolutely! It's just a fact that you never quite know what He will be demanding next, what change He will bring into a disciple's life. It could be anything. And Christians down through the ages have experienced that. Right in the middle of life, Jesus shows up and demands more. He brings some change or other to bear, and everything for that disciple is different from that point on. So, yes, Jesus is still quite dangerous. And it is only right to judge Him as such. That is judging Him rightly.

And now, a question. Why would anyone in his right mind want to be a disciple of such a person? To follow Jesus is to agree to His requirement that that person's life is no longer his own. To be a disciple is to submit to Jesus' demands and expectations. To be a disciple is to pursue a way of life where plans, hopes and dreams are always at risk. Why do that?

There are some bad answers here, answers that amount to temptations to twist the truth. One popular response is to reject the notion that Jesus is, in fact, dangerous. This isn't usually done consciously, but the person who falls for this temptation believes in a tamed Jesus. He does that by redefining some things. So, Jesus' whole point in coming was simply to get us into heaven. There are no demands or expectations, only promises. 'Believe in me, and I'll make sure you get to heaven.' Some even throw in talk about a supposed promise of a very pleasant life before heaven. It's all good. But a tamed Jesus isn't the real Jesus. One wonders what's going to happen to disciples of this other, tame Jesus.

So much for one bad answer. But, we still have our question. Why would anyone in his right mind want to be Jesus' disciple with all the demands and risk? Here's a good answer. Jesus is going to win. Just as He beat those Jewish leaders He is going to beat every other opponent. Life is a war. That's not a metaphor about difficulties and troubles about job issues, health problems, worry over maturing kids or aging parents. Life is a war with Satan and demons and sin and death - with eternity hanging in the balance. Spiritual warfare is the real warfare. The guns and bullets type of war is only a picture of that reality. And someone in his right mind will become a disciple of Jesus, as difficult as that will be, because he knows that when we get to the end of the war, Jesus is going to be the winner - along with those who fought at His side. And when we get to that point it really will be a matter of life and death in their most ultimate senses.

And that points to another reason why someone would become Jesus' disciple. Once the war is over, eternity in the new heavens and new earth begins. And all the disciples who put up with so much during life now - losing their lives for Jesus' sake, dealing with conflict with those they had been closest to, submitting to Jesus' demands and all the rest - will be repaid for all that they dealt with. The difficulties of Jesus' expectations will be compensated for in the age to come. This was also in last week's Gospel Reading when Jesus said,

… you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

The more one suffers for Jesus the more he will be repaid. Being a faithful disciple is actually worth it - later.

One more reason to become His disciple. You become convinced that Jesus is right. He is all about what is true. So, living in any other way is living a lie.

I have not been balanced in today's sermon. I have purposely stressed the difficulties of being a disciple in this life. Jesus is demanding and He has large expectations. And that will bring a faithful disciple into situations that will be hard and painful. Jesus does not promise a nice lifetime. However, let me say that He does promise some things for the here and now that are so much better than a nice lifetime. So, for example, He promises the comforting experience of knowing that you are loved by the Father and that with a love that never quits. He promises to give the bold courage that comes from knowing that there is nothing to fear. He promises the absolute certainty that you will never be alone. These are gifts that are so much better than some nice lifetime.

Now, why have I told you these things? It's because of an assumption that I have, one that I think is warranted by the Gospel. No one decides to follow Jesus just once. Deciding to be a disciple is something that you do over and over and over again. And you do that in the context of the particular details of whatever it is that is facing you. 'Will I follow Him now?' And some of those details can be very hard. So, it's good to be reminded that it's going to be hard. That way you won't be surprised. You'll remember at that moment that Jesus was clear. He is dangerous. In the blink of an eye He can change your life dramatically. He can suddenly take away that which is so very dear to you. He can be very demanding. And at that moment, it's too late to learn something new about being His disciple, something that will get you through that trial. The lessons that will get you through then are the lessons that you've already learned. Being His disciple is hard, but it is the result of judging rightly. It makes sense to be His disciple. Jesus is a demanding Master, but He pays His people well.