This week’s suggested reading: John 12
This week’s question to ponder: How has the love of man’s approval tripped you up in the past? How do you practically guard against it?
Jesus fulfilled prophecy. And he will again.
Prophecy is a funny thing. When we try to interpret it into the future, we often get the details wrong. Yet, hindsight is 20/20.
The Jews of the time had their mind set on one specific interpretation of Scripture. They thought their Messiah would come in might as an earthly King. They didn’t understand that their Messiah would come as a humble baby, born as a refugee in a foreign land, sent to Earth with the purpose of dying for the sins of man. It didn’t fit their interpretation of prophetic texts. And in turn, many of them didn’t believe. Yet, most sources say that Jesus actually fulfilled over 300 prophecies from the Old Testament. (I won’t list them all here, but I encourage you to look into that if you’re curious.)
Here’s the warning to us. The story isn’t over. It’s still unfolding. And Jesus will come again, just like he promised. But we have to be careful not to put God in our small box of human understanding. When reading prophecies about what’s to come, it’s vitally important that we hold those interpretations loosely – staying in close communion with God while asking for his wisdom – lest we be like the Jews of old who anticipated one very specific thing, only to end up crucifying their true King.
Love for man's praise kills our walk with Jesus.
We read, “42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” (John 12:42-43. Emphasis is mine.)
Y’all, the temptation to love the praise of man constantly plagues the human heart, including mine. It is so very tempting to strive after man’s approval. We as humans loooooooove to be seen by other humans as smart, successful, wise, beautiful, and altogether amazing. In contrast, being rejected by other humans can deeply pain our human ego.
But Jesus gives us a very clear picture of what it looks like to seek solely after the glory that comes from God, not from man. Jesus didn’t bend to man’s timeline. He didn’t anxiously defend himself when he was misrepresented. He didn’t compromise his purpose and calling in efforts to get more people to like him. He walked in step with the Father, even to the point of death on a cross.
If we strive after the fleeting glory and praise that comes from man, our walk of faith will be compromised. Our ears will be dulled to the voice of God. And our heart will grow cold to His leading.
Check out these other passages that warn of seeking the praise of man:
- Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
- John 5:44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (Click here to read my commentary on John 5)
- 1 Thessalonians 2:4 “but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”
- Acts 5:27-32, “27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.'”
Believe in Jesus while there's still time.
I’m going to let Jesus’ own words speak to this serious, urgent plea.
“44 And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.'” (John 12:44-50. Emphasis is mine.)
Like I said in my commentary on John 1, Jesus wasn’t just any human. He came to Earth as the God-man to be the sacrifice for our sins. We’re already condemned apart from him. He didn’t come to judge. He came to be our rescuer. He came to provide humans a way out of the judgment to come. So while there’s still time, while you and I have breath, believe in Jesus. There is life and light in him.
P.S. Let's talk about hair.
I went on a long journey with God about hair in my time of studying John 12. Why? Well, because of how John 12 begins. “Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (John 12:3, emphasis is mine.)
I’ve read this text a hundred times before. I’ve always known that it says that Mary wiped his feet with her hair. I’ve known of the text in Luke that shows another woman wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair.
“36 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.” (Luke 7:36-38, Emphasis is mine.)
But why hair? I mean, what woman would naturally use her hair to wipe up anything? It’s definitely not practical. But it’s done twice by women in the New Testament in their interactions with Jesus.
This question sent me into an extensive time of study and prayer. And what I believe it revealed overwhelmed me. Truly. I plan to study and write further on this topic in the coming days or months, Lord willing. However, for our purposes of John 12, I believe the symbolism of Mary using her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet has deep, deep implications upon the created design and calling of woman. Mary anointed our Savior who would die a brutal death to pay for the sins of mankind. And she wiped his feet with her hair. More to come…
