October 29, 2018

Who Do You Judge?

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. – John 1:46

Jesus was beginning His earthly ministry and He already faced critics. Not because He’d said or done anything controversial at that point but because of where He was from.

Nazareth was a small town. It had maybe a few hundred people. And it had a history that had nothing to do with Jesus. It didn’t stop people from judging Him.

We do that to people all the time, don’t we? He’s got long hair so he must not have a good work ethic or be very smart. She’s a little on the pudgy side so she must sit around and eat all the time.

We judge people based on their address, their last name, their job, their income. We judge people based on their marital status, their children, their intellect. We decide who someone is without ever bothering to know them.

Jesus would soon stir things up. He was controversial. He turned the world upside down. Think about it. Jesus said if you wanted to be first, you had to be last. Jesus said that to be truly rich you had to sell everything and follow Him.

Jesus also said to trust, to believe, to see. He reached out to those others wouldn’t associate with. He was kind to the Samaritan, the prostitute, the tax collector. Jesus touched the leper, healed the sick, raised the dead. Jesus repeatedly went against Jewish law and custom. He was a radical.

We don’t see that now. We’re too focused on pulling out parts of His ministry to suit our own beliefs. You won’t see us hosting the poor in our homes. You don’t have to worry about us welcoming those who are contagious, those who are thieves, those who are of mixed race.

Yet, Jesus did. We claim to love Him but we don’t always act like it. We want Jesus. Or, at least, we want what He has to offer. But we aren’t planning to make any sacrifices, we have no intentions of getting our hands dirty, we aren’t going to give to those we don’t think deserve it.

Yet, Jesus did. While He walked this earth, Jesus reached out to the disenfranchised. He loved the discards. He loved me. And He loved you. He still does.

We are like the elder son who, in his own eyes, did everything right and was furious when his father welcomed his brother back into the fold. We don’t want to share what we have so freely been given. We cling tightly to what was only ever a gift for a time. We are Pharisees who see ourselves as lofty people who are worthy when, in truth, we are the worst of sinners.

We judge with our rules and regulations without bothering to look at the heart. We’re cold and hard in our self-righteousness. We are the people who look down on Jesus because of where He’s from rather than look up to Jesus for what He offers to us.

Nathanael, as you know, was actually Nathanael Bartholomew. He became one of Jesus’ 12 disciples. He saw Jesus and, like the other disciples, gave up everything to follow the Messiah. Will you?