Questions Jesus Raised: Why do you want to kill Me?

I plan to preach on this subject on Sunday, September 28th at morning worship.

Scriptures: John 7:1-31; Hebrews 6:1-11 (the Question is in John 7:19)

Do you think that "American Idol" and the current craze with celebrity is a new thing? Guess again! Jesus' own brothers urged Him to go to the big city, and "do his thing" (miracles) there, so that He could get public acclaim. But Jesus wasn't interested (think about it...He had myriads of angels to sing His praises). Instead, He went secretly to the Jewish feast in Jerusalem.

Maybe He went secretly so He could hear what people were saying. They certainly were talking. Some said He was "a good man." That's still a popular opinion today, except that the world today says He was just a good man. Others in His day thought He was a deceiver. Isn't that just like Satan? His usual tactic is to call evil good and good evil. Think about that when you encounter our culture's advertising, pop culture, (im)moral attitudes, and thinking habits.

In the middle of the feast, Jesus moved suddenly from the shadows to center stage. He boldly began to teach in the Temple, confounding the religious establishment, because He had not received their training. Of course, His teaching comes straight from the Father, but they don't get it. "Didn't Moses give you the law?" He asks. "Yet none of you keeps the law!" And He sees straight into their murderous hearts, "Why do you want to kill Me?"

[timeout] This reminds me of the inflammatory rhetoric employed in some of our US elections. It's always easier to silence your opponents than answer their legitimate criticisms. And people get emotional, quit thinking logically (or at all!) and just want to crush the 'enemy.' (Case in point: MoveOn's unreasoning blind hatred of George W. Bush). [time in]

The crowd asks, "Who wants to kill You?" with the accusation that Jesus has a demon. (Remember that this is the 'unforgivable sin'--attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan.) Jesus defends the healing on the Sabbath by appeal to the law of Moses, which prescribes that the work of circumcision must go on, even on the Sabbath.

"Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment." How needed is this command? Very, I'd say. People judge according to outward appearances all the time--then are surprised when the respected pastor has a moral lapse, or the admired athlete was taking steroids, or the "goody-goody" actress suddenly loses her moral compass. All these come about because something went wrong first on the inside of the person's heart.

The result of all this was a tremendous turmoil centered around whether or not Jesus was the Messiah.

It's interesting to compare Jesus' question, "Why do you want to kill Me?" with the scripture passage in the early part of Hebrews 6. Those who abandon the faith (truly, they never had the real thing) crucify Jesus again.

That raises the question: Do unregenerate "members" in churches today do anything different? By the lives they live (claiming to be Christian, but living according to their own lusts, wants, etc) they are destroying the very bride of Christ. And that breaks Jesus' heart!