January 25
Opposing the Lord Jesus
“When therefore the Lord knew.” —John 4:1
Read John 4:1-4
The Lord Jesus left Judea and went to Galilee. He left the place where the temple stood, where the Pharisees and Sadducees ruled over the people. These leaders who instructed the Israelites out of the law and the prophets, were blind when the Messiah appeared in their midst. Therefore, do not carelessly dismiss the teaching of our text, for here we see that the Lord may leave a certain place and cease striving with men’s souls. What a solemn thought this is! Imagine that the Lord Jesus would leave you, never to enter your life again. Pray that this would never happen.
But why did the Lord leave? He left because the Pharisees did not believe that He was the Messiah. They thought that He would come as a king and overthrow the Romans. What could be expected from the son of a carpenter from Nazareth? And He even dared to call Himself the Son of God! What blasphemy!
They did not realize that it was not merely a man who called himself the Son of God, but that God Himself became man. They could not believe this because they had their own preconceived ideas of Him. Their eyes remained closed to the fact that He had come to deliver them from their sins.
Don’t we also have all kinds of expectations? And do we not resist the Spirit of God by them? God requires faith and no more. We must believe the following words: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1). All those that believe, and are baptized will be saved, but those that will not believe will be damned (Mark 16:16).
What does it mean to resist the Lord Jesus? Why is this so terrible?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.