22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
John 10:22-39 NKJV
Isn’t Jesus good? There is nothing that He asks us to do that He didn’t do first. We love Him because He loved us first, we sacrifice for Him because He sacrificed Himself for us. We pray because He prayed, we study the scripture because He did, and we obey God because He obeyed first. We heal the sick, cast out demons, and love because that’s what He did.
What about this? We endure pain and suffering at church because He did first. Crazy, right? Jesus went to the temple, and they tried to kill Him! In fact, we know that they did kill Him. Talk about a bad church experience. Many of us have issues and complaints with the church we are attending or the last church we were at because of things that happened to us but for most of us, it’s nothing compared to what Jesus experienced.
The church leaders called him demon possessed for healing and casting out demons. They interrogated those He healed and spent hours devising questions to trip Him up and show His guilt. They used absolutely every means possible to get Him out of their place of worship, but they failed. You see because even when they thought they had succeeded in keeping Him out with His death, the curtain in the temple that separated them from the presence of God was torn, and out rushed a good God who longed for them.
Fast forward to 2023 and all it takes is a rude look and we go running from the house of God. They change the service time, and we are hurt and offended and change churches or leave the church altogether. Someone treats us poorly and we find solace in our own home texting with our other friend who doesn’t bother going to church anymore either because they were hurt or inconvenienced. (I speak from experience!) Our church shuts down with the government, or it doesn’t, and we can’t stand it. They say “masks” or “no masks” and we pull out our Bibles in condemnation and head to a new church that we agree with.
We forget it’s okay to disagree and be hurt but still stay in there. We should be chomping at the bit to get into that building every time the doors open so that we can do what Jesus tells us to and be in His presence together. We shouldn’t be waiting for the leadership or parishioners to be perfect, or for the music to be better, or for the service to start at the right time to obey God and seek Him together.
I know there are real hurts. I know there are actual abuses. We should be coming together to deal with those things without fail. There is no sin that should be ignored, and we know that there is no sin ignored by God. I am very comfortable with legal consequences inside the church and outside when sin breaks the law.
I know that people have been cruel and neglectful and that many people have been overlooked and treated poorly. I have been hurt and I have done the hurting a time or two, but Jesus shows us what to do. Following Jesus looks like something. We can only follow Him into the places and behaviors He shows us. Even death could not keep Him out of the temple, and we know that the apostles came back after His resurrection and so many were saved including some of those who planned His death. Jesus accepted them with open arms.
He forgave, so we forgive. We can lean so heavily on God that the impossible becomes possible. He relied on God when all seemed lost, so we do the same. Don’t let anything keep you from the amazing life God has for you. It involves actually going to a church building, tent, or something with other believers who will mess up. That is where we get equipped for our ministry, these are the people who pray for us when we are sick, they are the ones who disciple us and hold us accountable.
Take all your issues with the church to Jesus, and He will tell you what to do next. He suffered all things first! He doesn’t give us any direction without understanding how difficult it will be for us. He knows that He will have to supply the love, forgiveness, grace, and strength for it all.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Proverbs 3:5-6
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
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