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40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus. ~ John 10:40-42
The Jewish religious leaders saw the confirmation of the word of God in the works of the Lord Jesus. Yet, they concluded He was of the Devil. I find it interesting that nobody today ever seriously makes the claim that the Lord Jesus was a mad man! I have never seen any serious attempt to claim that He was out of His mind. The rightful conclusion is that He is who He claims to be: the Son of God become man.
The sad irony of this is that the rejectors of the gift of eternal life will spend eternity in a place quite the opposite to heaven. And at the moment of their final breath, God will honor their request: “Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). This verse escorts us to the most somber of Christian realities: hell.
Hell is most awful. Those who penned the Scriptures utilized the darkest of ink to describe its nature. It is described as the “blackest darkness” (Jude 13), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12).
As mentioned yesterday, John 10 ends across the Jordan where, before, the people believed. And, why did John not end the chapter with the unbelief of the rejectors? He ends John 10 with the faith of those on the other side of the tracks. With this, John is giving us a clue to what opens the door to a personal relationship with God.
The key is the greatest onslaught on that which inaugurated sin. The key is humility, the kind of humility which prompts us to cry out for a personal relationship with the God of the Bible. This kind of humility gives way to the growth of faith, which, when appropriated correctly in the God of the Bible, results in eternal life.
In John 10:40-42, John the Baptist is referenced. His ministry was unpretentious. He did not exist for the fame that causes members of the US congress to clamor for the fame of TV time. He cast the spotlight utterly on Jesus. And wherever that mindset is admired and embraced, faith in the Lord Jesus flourishes. It didn’t flourish in Jerusalem. They rejected John and his message.
But where John’s humble, self-effacing mindset was embraced, people recognized the Lord Jesus. They heard His voice, and as a result, they became His sheep. They end up uttering that most famous saying of John the Baptist, "Jesus Must Increase, I Must Decrease."
The Lord Jesus Christ emerged from Satan’s domain with this declaration: “I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:18). He is the warden of eternity. The door He shuts, no one opens. The door He opens, no one shuts (Revelation 3:7).
Thanks to the Lord Jesus, this earth can be the nearest we come to hell. But apart from the Lord Jesus, this earth will be the nearest we'll come to heaven.
This past Spring, I reconnected with a young man who had grown up in a Christian home, yet he was not a believer. He had concluded that there was no God. To make a long story of a wandering ragamuffin short, I saw this young man go from the darkness to the light, partly as the result of my middle son flat-lining and spending a day over a week in the hospital. This once atheist is now studying to be a minister of the Gospel at Columbia International University.
Contrast the Christ-deniers with the Christ-followers, and what do we get? The religious leaders made no secret of their disbelief in the Lord Jesus, whereas the Christ-followers can not wait to tell others of the life-changing encounter they have had with the risen Lord Jesus. I know of no better reality to invest my life. I trust you have passed from the darkness to the light.
If you have not, let me encourage you to talk to Him right now about it. Admit to Him that you are a sinner who has rebelled against Him, and ask Him to come into your life to be your Savior and your constant companion. If you prayed this prayer, please send me an email to this fact. My email is byoungministry@gmail.com
