It’s About a Man, A Savior

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

There may be no more important question to ask yourself than the one that Jesus asked Martha after Lazarus had died. Do you believe? Do you believe Jesus is who He says He is? Are you more like the Jews in the previous chapter of John, who continually question the Christ-hood of Jesus? Do you live your life as if to say, “If you are the Christ, tell me plainly”, when all the while Jesus has been trying to show Himself to you and you just haven’t been paying attention? Do we believe?

Our desire should not be to know the Jesus of culture or religion, but to know the Jesus of the Bible. Paul addressed this issue with the church in Corinth and warned them that they were too tolerant. Tolerance can be detrimental to our spiritual walk. Jesus warned the church of Thyatira about their tolerance and how displeasing it was to Him. The danger of tolerance is that it leads to acceptance.

Tolerance has led to the idea that it doesn’t matter what you believe, it doesn’t matter what you do, it doesn’t matter how you live, as long as you don’t hurt anyone.  You can do whatever you want.  Don’t judge me, I won’t judge you, there’s no truth anyway, you can’t tell me what’s right or wrong, I’ll make the determination, therefore I can do whatever I want and lets all tolerate whatever beliefs or lifestyles that everyone has because they are all absolutely equal. Tolerance tells us that we can all get to the same place following our different ideals. The bible warns of this through Paul’s teaching to Timothy.

Jesus tells a different story from tolerance. He came from Heaven. He doesn’t claim to have a revelation from Heaven, He is from Heaven. (John 6:38; 8:58) He didn’t claim to be a good man, He was a God man. (John 5:17-18) He proclaimed Himself as the Son of Man. When those around Him heard this proclamation they remembered Daniel’s prophecy of one who would be given all dominion and authority over all lands, one who’s kingdom could  not be destroyed. He performed miracles (check out the gospels) and had authority over the elements. (Luke 8:25) He forgave sins. He says to you, “Friend, you can be forgiven.” (Luke 5:20) He was the sinless sacrifice.(1 Peter 1:18-20)

And to throw all tolerance out of the window, Jesus proclaimed that He alone was our way to Heaven. (John 14:6) If anyone has a problem with this statement, they have a problem with Jesus. This is what led Christ to the cross. This is what led Christ to suffer the torment He suffered so that we would have an avenue to a relationship with the Heavenly Father and a means by which to spend our eternity with Him. (1 Peter 2:24-25) Maybe if we kept the visual of what Jesus did for us (Isaiah 53:3-12), we would be slow to fall to temptation and slow to be tolerant.

Culture tells us that the meaning of Easter is a one day celebration. The Kingdom of God says it’s everyday. The blood that Christ shed for us on a cross many years ago gives us new life in Him and provides everything we need for day to day living with Him. As the song states, it will never lose it’s power.