I don’t watch the news anymore. I don’t receive a newspaper. I don’t get my updates regarding political, social, or economic matters from social media. I think a person might rightly argue that I’ve disconnected myself from mainstream media. I would have to agree.
It’s not that I’m an isolationist, or some zealot trying to build the next so-called “Christian compound” where folks who want to withdraw from society can go and hide. May it never be! How would I ever do my part (beyond just being a pastor) in The Great Commission?
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
– Matthew 28:18-20
I don’t seek news from mainstream media channels because it’s severely sensationalized for shock value. Much of it is true, of course, and it’s shocking to see what goes on in this world (e.g., a person gets shot dead in their car at a traffic light because they cut someone off). Sadly, that’s what most people want to hear about. Turns out, people like shocking stories. To be frank, I already know how awful mankind is (ala John 2:25) and how his thirst for grotesqueness dominates the airways, print, and Internet. Why would I want to regularly tap into that for information?
I’m reading the Gospel of John in my personal studies, and I am greatly disturbed by this passage (it always gets to me).
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
– John 11:45-48
The scene in this passage is so gross. Jesus just raised a person from the dead to prove Himself the Son of God, and the reaction from the Jews is completely self-absorbed, self-preserving, self-everything. It’s truly shocking, but the question is, knowing the depth of man’s depravity (Ephesians 2:1-3), should any of us ever be truly shocked? Well, before we answer that, let’s read just a little further in this book.
When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
– John 12:9-11
Can you believe this? What did Lazarus do to deserve a death sentence from the Jews? This rabid crowd was so blind at this point that they were justifying the death of an innocent man to cover the tracks of the Messiah. Apparently, evil people will go as far as they need to in order to achieve their heinous objectives. In this case, even killing someone who was somewhat unrelated to their true target was justifiable. Again, I ask, should we be shocked?
Jesus had choice words for these killers.
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
– John 8:44
According to Jesus, Satan (“the god of this world” – 2 Corinthians 4:4) is a liar and a murderer. That pretty much sums up the heart of the mainstream Jewish crowd during Jesus’ incarnation, and, likewise, even unbelievers today.
We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
– 1 John 3:12-15
So, to answer the title of this blog, Why Are We Ever Shocked? I suppose the quick answer is, we shouldn’t be, not really. If mankind has proven anything, it’s that Hell is the appropriate destination for all born into this world, since we’re all born liars and murderers at heart. Thank God He’s chosen to save some of us (read Plucked From Condemnation). I suppose this is the most shocking thing of all, huh?
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins