If you are like me you need regular doses of encouragement in your Christian walk. There is perhaps nothing that rivals the discouragement that we experience when we talk to folks about Christ and then they mock him. Some mock him angrily, others sarcastically, and still others quietly. But all who reject him do indeed mock him. They reject his claims about his person, work and authority.
This is why I find great encouragement when I transport myself to the scene of one of Jesus’ public discourses with those who gathered. In the case of John 10 he is speaking with many of the religious leaders of the day. Jesus graciously unpacks his tender heart as the good shepherd, the exclusive access to the fold of God, of his loving care for his sheep, his sovereign right to lay down and pick up his own life, and his unique position as one who is the object of the Father’s love. Alongside of this he puts the shepherd’s crook in their chest by telling them that they were not of his sheep.
Jesus basically teaches who he is and what he is doing and who they are and what they are doing, all the while heralding with unflinching resolve, that he is right and they are wrong. In other words he is confronting them for their bad theology, lack of faith, and exclusion from the commonwealth of divine blessings.
And what is their response?
John 10:20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?”
Did you catch that? They called Jesus crazy and tried to tune him out. Does this sound familiar?
If I had a dime for every time that someone gave me a look or condescending “Why do you listen to him?” I might be able spring Martin Luther from purgatory (it’s ok, I used to be RC, I can make fun of them–it’s somewhere in Trent).
It should simultaneously break your heart and refresh your heart that Jesus Christ got this same reaction. It should break your heart because as you publicly portray Christ as crucified, died, buried, and risen you get the reaction like a telemarketer calling during the family dinner. Jesus is a rude interruption to the idolatrous feasts of this world. But does this not break your heart? He is not valued? He is seen as insane; and even worse, as a demon. This is truly disheartening.
However, at the same time it is encouraging. Yes because Jesus himself encountered the very same response. In fact, it is still him that is getting this response today. We understand that when we proclaim Christ that he is actually there with us, in our midst (Matt. 28.20). Our faithful High Priest sympathizes and refreshes us with his own compassion by reminding us of his infinite value, beauty, and power to save sinners.
I myself am a testimony to this. I was formerly a mocker of Jesus Christ. I saw him as nothing more than religious ogre who sought to ruin my life with his rules. Instead, he lovingly confronted me, arrested me by his grace, gave me life, and then enabled me to obey him, which is true freedom and liberty.
So find encouragement today in the ministry, message and person of Jesus. He was and is confronting and conquering rebellious hearts, all for the praise and glory of his name.
