Because of Jesus’ blunt teachings, many Jews now hate Jesus and want Him dead. Jesus continues His ministry, and He continues to do so without drawing attention to Himself. His family does not understand this and encourages Him to take a more public approach to His ministry. They do not do this because they support Him; instead, they are doing this because they do not believe that He is doing all of these miracles they are hearing about. Jesus has different plans, and He teaches us about the Christian life.
Jesus time has not yet come
There is coming a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. However, Jesus knew that that time had not yet come. Jesus lived His entire life to turn all glory, honor, and recognition away from Himself and onto His Father.
The time for the lost in now
We live in a lost world where lost men get the praise, glory, and recognition. Lost people are constantly seeking a reputation and name recognition for themselves. They want people to think well of them in this life. This world is the place for lost people to have momentary praise.
Jesus chooses the secret life
Jesus is living for God’s glory, not His own. He is choosing to be unknown in order to make the Father known. His desire is for everyone to give glory to His Father. He does not want a reputation. He is living the life of a servant who is devoted to the will of His Master.
The world hates Jesus
Jesus spoke the truth about the world and its vanity. He constantly pointed out the sins of the people who were seeking a name for themselves. Because of this Jesus was hated. One of the reasons Jesus did not seek the spotlight was because the people hated Him.
The world loves the lost
The world heaps praise and recognition on those who are evil. The world loves those who are lost. Because of this, the world is always shoving lost people into the spotlight. The world ensures that lost people get recognition and praise.
We must be like Christ
As followers of Christ, we must seek to be unknown yet make Christ known. We cannot seek a reputation for ourselves. We must remember that we will only be hated by this world. We cannot seek the spotlight. We must only seek to live for Jesus glory, never our own.
The Christian life is living for God’s reputation not our own. The Christian life is seeking to make Christ known even if it means a full confession of our own failures. This is the Gospel. Jesus did not come for righteous people. He came for sinners. We must be more concerned about showing the greatness of our Savior than minimizing our sins so that we appear to be great.
Application
Whose glory and reputation are you living for? Whose name are you seeking to make great? Will you confess your sins? Will you point others to Jesus Christ?
0 Comments