When you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, it is pretty clear who the bad guys are, besides, you know, Satan. The bad guys are clearly the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the day. They are the ones who are threatened by Jesus, they are the ones who constantly doubt and question Jesus, and they are the ones who orchestrate his death on the cross (at least they think they orchestrate it).
Christians today have the beautiful privilege of reading the magnificent story of the Bible, already knowing the outcome. We get to read the story in hindsight, seeing how everything pans out from beginning to end. We have the bird's eye view of seeing all the parts come together; we know the plan and we get to see it play out.
I have heard people say that believing in Jesus must have been so much easier for the disciples because they got to touch him and see him in the flesh, they were able to talk to him face-to-face everyday for three years. Belief would have been so much easier back then.
This year I have been, at times very slowly, studying the book of John. Our church has spent the better part of a year preaching through the gospel of John, and I decided that I would also study the book during my daily time alone with God. As I have been reading and journaling through this beautiful gospel book, I have been trying to imagine myself in the moment described. I am trying to not just look at it from my perspective, but also trying to put myself in the shoes of those present. Something that I have come to realize is that I would have been one of the Pharisees, one of the skeptics; I would have been a bad guy.
You see, I know my personality. I am jaded and at times very skeptical of things. If someone were to tell me of a miracle today, my initial reaction would be skepticism and doubt. If I were standing in a synagogue listening to a carpenter's son claim to be not only the Son of God, but God himself, I would have thought he was looney toons. I would more than likely have been one of the good girls who knew the rules and tried my hardest to follow them and I would have looked down on Jesus because he didn't follow the rules. I would have believed with all my heart everything I had been taught by the religious leaders and I would not have been easily swayed.
We don't like to think that we would have been one of the bad guys in the narrative of the life of Jesus. We like to believe that we would have been one of the chosen twelve, or at the very least one of his devoted followers. But look at the disciples, they did not fully understand or even fully believe that Jesus was in fact God. My husband and I were talking about this on our long ride home from NC yesterday and he told me that during the time of Jesus there were many "Messiahs". Many men had come along claiming to be the Messiah the prophets were talking about.
In Acts 5, Peter and some of the other apostles had been put into prison for claiming the Jesus was the risen Son of God. Later that night an angel of the Lord appears, opens the doors of the prison and tells the apostles to go and stand in the temple and speak to the people. As you can imagine the high priests were not too happy about this situation. The apostles are brought before a council and the things they speak make the council so mad that many wanted to kill the apostles. But in verses 35-39 a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a man of great honor and respect, stands up and says:
"Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!"
Gamaliel lists off two men who developed great followings prior to Jesus and you get the impression that there were many more. Had I been a Jew during this time, my skepticism would have said, "he's just another crazy guy claiming to be something he's not." I would not have believed in Jesus.
Praise God for his grace in allowing me to be born now when I can look at the whole story and see the truth from an outside perspective. Belief and faith in Jesus is a hard thing, no matter when you live. We like to think it would have been easier to physically see Jesus, but that's not true. It was just as hard then as it is now to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. However, believe it I do. If it was easy, everyone would do it :).
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the fate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." Matthew 7:13-14
It may not be easy to trust in Jesus, but trusting in him leads to the greatest reward!
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