Recently I have been reading in the book of John and going through the familiar stories in more detail, praying for greater insight into the life of Christ. In John 12, John writes about how Jesus has continued to do all these amazing miracles in the sight of many people, but they still would not believe. This was familiar to me in reading through the Gospels...that many who saw still did not believe. But when I got to verse 42, I didn't remember this part of the story! John 12:42 reads "Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him." This seems great! This is referring to many of the religious leaders of that day. Stopping here, one would be greatly encouraged that many of the leaders chose to believe in Christ when most of the stories about the leaders in Scripture talk about how the religious leaders did not believe. However, unfortunately the verse does not end there. In verses 42-43 John writes, "Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God." Any my first reaction to this verse was "How Sad!" How sad that these leaders SAW the miracles, TOUCHED Jesus, TASTED the bread he provided, TALKED with the people he healed, WATCHED the lame man walk, HEARD the mute man speak, BELIEVED that Jesus Christ was the true Son of God...and then kept silent so that their friends would not make fun of them. For they loved men's praise more than God's praise.
My challenge for us today is this: Will you speak in faith or will you keep silent in fear? Every one of us has our own "synagogue" or place where we desperately want the praise of our fellow workers/friends/neighbors/family etc. Daily we have a choice to share about Jesus living in FAITH or to keep silent about Jesus living in FEAR. If you are a believer, you have also experienced Jesus, seen His glory, tasted His provision, heard His Words, felt His peace, known His comfort and believed that He is the only Way, Truth and Life. Today, will you love the praise of God the most as you speak out in Faith or will you choose to love the praise of men and keep silent out of fear?
Dear friends, let us speak in FAITH today!
