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After teaching a lesson on grace at church camp this summer a young boy, age 12, asked a question. “Jesus was a Jew, right? How come the Jewish people didn’t accept him?” What a thoughtful question for a young lad to ask. One could tell that he had pondered over this question for some time.
The theme of John gives some insight into this question and also into unbelief. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:11)
Why did his own not receive him? There are many answers given throughout the book of John. Unbelief is the reason given in John, chapter 10.
The Jews said to Jesus, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” (verse 24).
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe.”
The Jews thought Jesus to be a mere man and they didn’t believe his claim to be the Messiah. Their unbelief led them to the conclusion that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy.
Consider the evidence. Jesus did what God does; he performed many great miracles in their presence. Jesus made claims such as “I am the resurrection and the life and then he backed these claims up by raising the dead.
They still didn’t believe.
Why did the Jewish people not believe? They were afraid that they would lose their status in the world. They feared Rome and didn’t want to lose their privileges and religious freedoms. They feared each other. The idea of being cast out of the synagogue kept people form choosing to believe. Basically, they were looking out for themselves.
It appears that unbelief is a choice people make. The choice of unbelief resulted in Jesus’ teaching being “hard teaching”. (John 6:60)
Unbelief results in seeing Jesus as a deceiver. (John 7:47) Unbelief is blind to the truth. A person chooses unbelief and this choice results in blindness to the truth. John 12:39-40 tells us how a person arrives at blindness.
There are many in Scripture who choose belief. The man who has a son that he wants healed says to Jesus, “I believe, help me with my unbelief.” This is such a better choice. Look at the evidence and make your choice. If you choose belief over unbelief, seek God’s help to grow in your faith.
Choosing unbelief may be too simple an answer to the question, “How come the Jewish people didn’t accept him?” We don’t like simple answers to difficult questions. We would rather there be a complex explanation to unbelief. The truth is that people do what people want to do. They choose what they want to do. Unbelief is a choice. We need to be faithful in presenting Jesus to people so that they can have the opportunity to choose belief.
Do we fear losing our religious freedoms and thus conform to the culture that we are in?
Do we fear each other and thus fail to do the will of God?
Are we choosing belief?
Does our belief show in our love and service?
The answer to this 12 year old camper’s question is, they chose unbelief. People chose not to believe in Jesus and they are blinded by the truth of who Jesus is.
Richard Miller was the campus minister at the Philo Road Church of Christ from 1978 – 1984. Dick moved to Urbana in May or 2005 and is now working with Randy Schilling, sharing the campus, youth, and preaching responsibilities at the Philo Road Church of Christ.
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