Can You See?

You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you accept glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? John 5:39-44

How does it happen that someone carefully searches the Scriptures for eternal life and yet rejects Jesus? The Scriptures clearly testify and point to Jesus as the way to and the source of eternal life. The Pharisees searched so diligently and yet missed the Messiah even as He lived among them. Did they have preconceived notions who this Messiah should be and what He should be like? Did these preconceived notions blind them to the Light? Or was the Holy Spirit not shining into their hearts even as they examined the Scriptures because they were so full of themselves, convinced that they knew the way? The Pharisees thought they could see when in fact they were blind (John 9:39) Pride and arrogance will short circuit the work of the Spirit. In other words, arrogance and pride result in an environment that’s not conducive to the working of the Spirit.  God seeks those who are humble in spirit, those who are emptied, so He can fill them.

The kingdom of God was in the Pharisee’s midst. The kingdom of God was manifested wherever Jesus went. However, what the Pharisees were seeking was not in alignment with God’s kingdom. The Pharisees knew what they wanted and sought it wholeheartedly. The tragedy is that what they sought was not what the kingdom of God is about. Jesus came in God’s name, doing the will of the Father, and the Pharisees rejected Him. Those who came promoting themselves, seeking the world’s applause, these the Pharisees received. They were steeped in the world’s fanfare and all the trappings the world offered. So when the kingdom of God came in the form of Jesus, it was completely foreign and unrecognizable to them.

The Pharisees loved the praise of men and the honor afforded them. Worldly honor is one of the rewards for those who are entrenched in this world’s system and have bought into its values. The world will gladly stroke the ego in order to enslave you. Because God’s purposes are crossed with the world’s, holding firm to the latter renders belief [in Jesus] nearly impossible. Those who do believe shun the world’s accolades and seek the honor that comes from the one and only God. This seeking is intentional, and for those who live in this world, but are not of the world, it requires swimming upstream against the current of worldly values. Those who seek the kingdom and His righteousness naturally seek the honor that comes from Him. Just as one seeks approval from the world, the other seeks the approval that comes from God. The former “goes with the flow,” whereas the latter go against the flow.

As it was in Jesus’ earthly days, so it is today. Men still examine the Scriptures looking for life and yet still miss Jesus. The more likely scenario is men today examine the Scripture, recreate a form of God more to their liking, and then proclaim that they have found God. It’s lamentable the god they found and tout publicly is not the God of the Scriptures. The god many have found today is compatible with worldly accolades and acquiesces to the Adamic ego. It bears no resemblance to the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed and lived – a kingdom that finds life not by demanding our rights, but by self-denial; not by empty conceit, but by humility of mind; not in accumulating earthly riches, but in heavenly treasures; not by sight, but by faith.

 We must ask ourselves, and ask on a regular basis, “Am I seeking the honor that is from the one and only God?” How you answer that question is dependent on the related question, “Am I seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness?” It’s easy to be swept away by the values of the world because we are immersed in it; bombarded every minute with its messages of self glory. Moreover, the god of this world is subtle in his deceit. As we walk humbly in the Spirit, we must regularly take stock of our progress, asking “Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts.”  As pilgrims in this world, it’s easy to veer off course on occasions. But we must keep our eyes on the prize, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We must not despair and lose faith because the glory of this world cannot compare with the glory that comes from God.

For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2Cor 4:17-18 (NASB)