We're back again in John. And this week we're going to look
at the aftermath of the raising of Lazarus. After I read John's account of what
happened I'm going to ask the text a question. And then, I'm going to try to
answer it. I think that the answer to that question can be quite helpful when
it comes to understanding people. Please listen as I read John 11.45-53.
So, Jesus has performed a miracle. And it's quite a miracle.
There are miracles that some fraud might be able to fake. But raising to life
someone who has been dead and buried for four days is not one of them. John
tells us that many of the Jews who were there and saw the miracle, believed in
Jesus as a result of what they saw. And that makes perfect sense. Who wouldn't
believe a miracle like that? But, believe it or not, there were some who didn't
believe. Some of these, the chief priests and some of the Pharisees, were not
at Lazarus' tomb when the miracle occurred. But they heard about it. They heard
but didn't believe. It is interesting to note that they never doubted that it
happened. In fact, they even said, '… this man performs many[!] signs.' Their
concerns arose exactly because they knew that He could do such things. But they
still did not believe in Him. But then, there were the others who actually saw
what had happened. They were there, mourning with the rest. They were there,
and saw the dead man alive again. They were there, but they did not believe in
Jesus. You'd think that seeing would be believing. But, in their case, it
wasn't. So, while some believed, these others didn't.
Now, here's the question. Why? Why didn't they believe in
Jesus? They saw the miracle just as the others. Why didn't they believe like
the others? John doesn't give us reasons about these particular men, but there
are other places in the Bible that answer our question in a more general way.
I'm going to mention five possible reasons. One or more of these might explain
what was going on with these men who witnessed the miracle but did not believe.
And bear in mind what I'm after. I want to help you understand people.
Here's the first reason for a failure to believe. It comes
from earlier in John's Gospel.
If anyone's will is to do God's
will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on
my own authority. John 7.17
There are those who won't believe that Jesus is sent with
the Father's authority. And the reason why they won't believe this is because
they are not willing to do God's will. Or to put that in different terms, it's
because they are stubborn. They want to do what they want to do. So, when such
people hear God calling them to this or that, the first question is about
whether obedience to that call fits with what they want to do. Now, that
doesn't mean that they never obey. But even when they do, it's because
obedience to the Father fits with what they want to do anyway. So, their stubbornness
is still active even those times when they acting in the right way. Jesus says
that this kind of person, the stubborn person, just won't get it. He won't
understand who Jesus actually is. He won't believe, not really. Maybe this was
what was going on with some of the guys in our text.
Here's another reason for a failure to believe. This comes
from Mark's Gospel.
Is this not the reason you are
wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? Mark 12.24
This comes from that time some Sadducees tried to trap Jesus
with their story about the seven men and the one wife, and the question about
the resurrection. Jesus, in response, is quite blunt. 'You are wrong.' And why
are they wrong? Ignorance. There are things that they just don't know. They
don't know their Bibles, and they don't know how God can do all sorts of impossible
things. Now, don't assume that the solution to their problem is more Bible
study especially when it comes to those parts that talk about the power of God.
That's a modern way of thinking about knowledge. The solution to everything is
more education, more information. Jesus wasn't talking about that. These guys
had plenty of information about the topics in question. But they still didn't
get it. They didn't understand all that information. So, they were, ironically,
a bunch of ignorant guys. And Jesus tells them that. History is filled with the
stories of people who were overflowing with all sorts of information who were
still ignorant. And getting another doctorate isn't going to fix that. The
problem isn't about information. It's about understanding that information. A
second reason people don't believe is their ignorance of God.
A third possible cause of unbelief comes from later in John.
Nevertheless, many even of the
authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess
it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the
glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. John
12.42,43
This, particularly since it's from John, raises the
interesting question of whether this was real believing or a counterfeit. John
reports other situations when people believed in Jesus and then they didn't. In
any event, at best, this is a weak faith. It wants to be a quiet kind of
believing, if there is such a thing. And why do these fellows try to keep it
quiet? '… they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that
comes from God …' Let me translate that. The problem is that they wanted the
approval of other people. And gaining that approval was more important than
gaining God's approval. This person wants to be liked. He lusts for that. This
is the person who tries to figure out what's popular and what isn't before he
decides what he'll do. What other people think of him is more important than
what God thinks of him. This is another reason why some will not believe.
A fourth cause of unbelief is idolatry. I think that it is
commonly assumed that idolatry is about statues and their veneration. That
means that idolatry is a problem for other people, not moderns like us. But
that, of course, is wrong. And it's wrong because of the definition. Idolatry
is not about statues. Idolatry is about love. When life is good, what does a
person love? When life is hard, what does he love? In the various situations of
life, he will look to whatever it is that he loves so that he can live in that
situation, so that he can make life work in that situation. Did he do something
good, and it was recognized as such by others? What does he look to in that
situation to live in it? Himself? Does he assume that he is praised because he
is such a great guy? Or does he look with gratitude to the God who created him?
When life is difficult, filled with hard decisions and many risks, what does he
look to so he can live in that situation? What will make life work in that
situation? A sense of control? Enough money in the bank? The ability to work
harder? Whatever he looks to in those situations is his god. And if it isn't the
Father of our Lord Jesus, then it is an idol. John is warning us about this
when he writes in one of his letters,
Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. 1 John 5.21
Bear in mind that he wrote that to Christians. Idolatry is
still a problem, and it will be until Jesus comes back. And this is one reason
why some people will not believe in Jesus. They would need to give up their
idols first. And they are too afraid to do that.
There is one more reason why there are some who will not
believe. This is also from later in John.
Therefore they could not believe.
For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I
would heal them.” John 12:39-40
There are times when people cannot believe because they, for
so long, refused to. Because of that refusal God makes it impossible for them
to believe. As an act of justice, He removes from them even the possibility of
believing. I think that I am right in saying that this curse is applied only to
church people. And when it is applied, it's all over.
So, here are several possible reasons why those witnesses of
Jesus' profound miracle did not believe: stubbornness, ignorance, the lust to
be liked, idols, God's curse.
Now, what makes all of this interesting is that I haven't
been talking about 'them'. I've been talking about you. You face these same
obstacles to believing. Your believing grows as the Spirit calls to you, and
you obey Him. Refusing to obey is failure to believe, and that stunts the
growth of your believing Jesus. And if a faith is not growing then it is dying.
So, to return to an old image, there are times when the
Spirit tells you to take a left at the corner. But what if you fail to do that?
And there are lots of ways you can fail here. You don't want to turn left. You
had planned on going straight, and no one's going to make you do any
differently. Or you don't hear the Spirit say anything about turning because
you're not listening for Him. You just don't know Him all that well. Or when
you hear Him you first figure out what everyone else is doing before you decide
if you should turn. Or there's this other something that tells you that life
will work so much better if you turn right instead. Stubbornness, ignorance,
the lust to be liked, idols. These things can interfere with a growing faith.
Now, folk don't usually see these obstacles in themselves.
So they think these are problems for other people and not them. But Jeremiah
has something that fits here.
The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17.9
These obstacles are all issues of the heart, and getting to
know your own heart is really difficult. So, folk don't see these obstacles within
themselves but not because they aren't there. They don't see them because they
are hidden. They are there, and you need to be able to see them as they try to
pervert how you live. You need to be able to see them so that you can deal with
them by repenting of them and then coming again to Jesus for forgiveness and
change.
So, how does that happen? What do you do to get to know your
own heart and the obstacles that reside in there? There are different things
that can be said here. I'm going to pick this one: piety. Piety is about having
a growing awareness of God and understanding what it means that He is God and
you aren't. Piety is about having a willing spirit instead of being stubborn.
It's about seeing the beauty of the Father and experiencing His majestic power
instead of being ignorant of such things. It's about having an assurance of
being liked so much by the Father that you don't need to be liked by anyone
else. It's about who the real God is and knowing that none of those idols make
the cut. Piety. It is by getting to know God that we get to know ourselves.
And how does piety grow in the soul of a Christian? I have
two thoughts. First, - and this builds on David Gordon's sermon of a couple of weeks
ago - piety grows by being in God's presence. And, as David had said, God will
be in the assembly of His people on the first day of the week. Piety grows by
being in church on Sundays because God is here. And here's my second thought:
Piety grows as a result of a life of childlike prayer. And by childlike prayer
I mean prayer that is honest, sincere, brash, expectant and simple, among other
things. God enjoys that kind of prayer and responds to it.
So, seeing isn't believing. There are dynamics of the heart
that are more significant than even seeing a miracle. Be aware of these
obstacles so that you can avoid falling into their traps. Be aware of these
obstacles so that your ability to believe Jesus can grow.