What, right now, are you doing with Jesus? The sad news is there are many Christians who fall into a Sunday morning form of religion where, during the week, they live like Jesus-amnesiacs, sort of forgetting who he is, forgetting why he's important, forgetting their desperate need of him, forgetting to live for his honor and his glory. So, pay careful attention to what I'm about to read.
"The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." John 1:9-11.
In these words, you have the two contrasting themes of the Gospel of John. One theme is John's joy in focusing you on all the signs that point you to the fact that Jesus is the promised Messiah. In John, there is sign after sign after sign of the Lord's Messianic identity and glory.
Contrasted with this is the sadness of the constant rejection, of the people of Palestine, of Jesus. The constant refusal to embrace who he is. And this rejection, as we know, finally culminates in his trial and execution.
In this way, these verses that I read, capture the feeling of the Gospel of John, joy met with sadness. The creator had entered his creation to provide salvation, but he was not received with joy. Again, this passage reminds us what passage after passage after passage in the Gospel of John will remind us of, that when it comes to Jesus, there is no comfortable neutrality. You either recognize him as Messiah, the one you desperately need, and you bow before him in confession and worship, or you reject his identity and live for your own glory. Perhaps, these are the saddest words that have ever been written, "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him."
Jesus had come to his home, not just to earth, but to the particular place on earth that he had promised and delivered to his chosen people, but he was not received. In these words, we see the sad prediction of Isaiah come true, that Jesus would be "despised and rejected...a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." The most wonderful gift ever given was thrown away-one of the saddest reactions in human history.
Now, this sadness has been recorded and preserved for us because our Lord is a Lord of rescuing grace. Think about this, what will you do with Jesus? Every time you step over his moral boundaries, you reject him and the wisdom of his law. Every time you hide or deny your sin, you reject him and the offer of his grace. Every time you are too embarrassed or fearful to share the good news of his salvation, you reject him and his call to be his witness. Every time you fail to love your spouse, children, or friends as he has loved you, you reject him and his call on your life. Every time you live for the kingdom of self instead of the kingdom of God, you reject him and his claim on your life.
Perhaps, we reject Jesus more than we realize. Well, I want to say, "There's forgiving and empowering grace for this struggle." May God give us the grace to never turn our backs on Jesus!
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. What are you thinking about when you hear the question, "What, right now, are you doing with Jesus?" Would you say that you are embracing him in your everyday life? Would you say that you embrace him on Sunday mornings, but not during the rest of the week? Why do you think Jesus is relevant to your day-to-day life and not just your Sunday morning life?
2. Why is your forgetfulness of him in everyday life an actual rejection of him? Why are we more like those people who "did not receive him" than we'd like to think?
3. What makes you uncomfortable with the fact that there is no comfortable neutrality when it comes to Jesus? In what ways have you rejected the identity of Christ to live for your own glory? How have your personal pursuits been a blunt rejection of Jesus and the grace he extends to you? As you examine your heart with honesty in response to the previous question, how are you grieved?
4. Why does the bad and grievous news of your personal rejection give more weight to the good news of God's grace for you? How does your heart respond to the fact that there is forgiving and empowering grace for your struggle?
Conversation Prompts to Use with Children
For Younger Children:
• Why is it important for us to love and appreciate Jesus? What did he do for us? How can we show our appreciation and love for him because of what he did for us?
• When we make mistakes and don't follow Jesus the way we should, how does God respond to us? Why is it important to understand the meaning of grace? How does grace help us to be obedient to Jesus and love him more each day?
For Older Children:
• Why is Jesus so important? What makes him the central figure of all of human history? How does our response to him in our day-to-day lives explain what we really think about Jesus?
• Why is the way we live a true reflection of what we really believe? Is the call to live the Christian life a burden to you? Why might it feel oppressive instead of life-giving? How can I help you see the life-giving truth that following Jesus provides?
• How would you define the word "grace"? Why is grace so important to us? What's so amazing about it? Why is embracing grace a rejection of living for ourselves and the world? How can I help you better understand grace?
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