John 4:43-45
“Familiarity breeds contempt.” This well-known saying is not a quote from
Scripture but it is based on the same principle that Jesus teaches in today’s
passage. He has just had two very
productive days of ministry in Samaria where many people believed on Him. He is now one His way to Galilee which was
His original destination as well as the region in which He was raised after His
infancy in Egypt. Nazareth was a town in
the region of Galilee. This area of
Israel was populated by a mixture of Gentiles and Jews. The beginning of Jesus’ ministry was in
Judea, a prominently Jewish region. From
there he went to Samaria for a short but significant time of ministry. Now He is returning to Galilee that has a
large Gentile population. This
progression reminds us of the instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples in
Acts 1 in which He tells them that they are to be witnesses in Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
We will observe several different responses to Him and His message from
a variety of different groups. As we
seek to share Christ with others, we too can expect a wide variety of responses. Sometimes who responds positively or
negatively may come as a surprise to us but is never surprising to the
Lord. The responses of people are not
our responsibility. Our job is to
proclaim the Gospel. God’s job is to
transform the heats of men.
INTERNAL REJECTION: As Jesus is coming into Galilee He
predicts that He will not receive honor because He is coming into His own
country. We have all experienced this
type of situation when we return to our homes after an extended time away. During our time of absence we grow, change
and may even gain a certain notoriety in our new environment. However, when we return to our homes, the
people with whom we grew up know nothing about our new life and still see us as
children. This passage, at first glance
seems to be contradictory because Jesus predicts that He will not be honored
but then He seems to be well received.
However, there is a big difference between being received and being
honored. In reality the Jewish people of
this region rejected Him and His message in their hearts. They were curious about Him and the things He
could do but they did not recognize Him as Messiah. Looks can be deceiving but we have a very
hard time seeing what is in the hearts of people. God, on the other hand, has a clear view of
what is on the inside of our hearts. No
matter what things looked like on the outside; Jesus knew that they were
rejecting Him in their hearts. It was
simply too much for them to believe that the son of Joseph and Mary could be
the Messiah. When we present Christ to
people some will have what we interpret as a positive response while others
will respond in a very negative way. We
must be careful not to judge these responses because what is actually occurring
on the inside of their hearts could be far different from what we can observe.
EXTERNAL RECEPTION: When Jesus comes back to Galilee He
seems to be well received. Many of the
people in Galilee had gone to Jerusalem for the feast and they had seen the
miracles that Jesus had performed. Those
who were not there were most likely told about the events so they too were very
receptive towards Jesus. However, this
is only a skin deep response. They are
curious about the miracles He performed and are hoping to be able to see more
of the same type of “show.” Perhaps they
hoped that He would perform healings and even be able to experience healing
themselves or an ill family member. In
short, they were glad to see the things that Jesus could do but they were not
about to admit who He really was. People
by nature are selfish and focus on that which they think is beneficial to
them. As long as Jesus was meeting their
physical needs they were happy to be around Him. But once He started confronting their sin and
claiming to be Messiah they checked out.
We too have a tendency to look to Jesus as a source of what He can do
for us as opposed to worshiping Him as Lord and Savior of our lives. We complain when we suffer. We doubt when circumstances do not go our
way. We tend to be much more concerned
about what He does for us than who He is in us.
The people were curious and they hoped that Jesus would bring healing to
their bodies. They were not repentant
and hoping that Jesus would bring transformation to their hearts. It is important that we evaluate our own
response to the Lord.
APPLICATION: Honor and submit to Jesus no matter what
circumstances we face. Beware of our
tendency to focus on our physical needs instead of our spiritual needs. Don’t be surprised or fooled by the variety
of responses we will experience when we present Jesus to people.
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