It’s difficult to express emotions through writing. That’s one reason why the symbolic icons of emojis are so popular. I wonder how our understanding of the Bible would change if emojis would have been included to indicate the feelings of a passage. It would be nice to know, for instance, Jesus’ feelings as He closed his conversation with the crowd in John 12.
Today’s passage from the Gospel of John closes Jesus’ conversation with the crowd that shouted hosanna and laid out palm branches as He entered Jerusalem. “Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” (John 12:44–50, NLT) Consider this a gigantic exclamation point! Jesus’ words shouted to the crowd challenged them, defined Jesus’ purpose, and also challenge us.
In this passage, Jesus challenges the crowd to see Him for who He is. Jesus firmly connects everything He says and does with God. A few chapters later, Jesus will put this more succinctly, “Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?” (John 14:9, NLT)
Jesus challenged the crowd to walk out of the darkness of the world and into His light. He also challenged the religious spirit that demands obedience by refusing to judge those that refused to follow. Jesus instead said that eventually, on the day of judgment, those that refused will be judged by truth itself. And Jesus challenged the crowd to accept Him as he is. They wanted a king; Jesus offered them a savior.
In this exclamation point to the crowd, Jesus declared His purpose to save the world. It is an echo of what He spoke to Nicodemus all the way back on John 3. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16–17, NLT)
This exclamation emoji challenges us as well. It challenges all followers of Christ to have His attitude. Do people see God in the things we say and do? Do we judge and condemn those that reject the light of the Gospel? Is our purpose to wield authority or to rescue folks from the kingdom of darkness? Now, we don’t save them, Christ does that, but we are to be ambassadors of that wonderful message. Paul summarized it this way, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form.” (Philippians 2:5–7, NLT) It’s in the land of our attitudes where things can get difficult. In some ways, we need to be like the space between a light source and the receptors of that light. The more transparent we are, the more clearly folks will see Jesus.
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