No one has a perfect marriage. But, imagine a marriage expert telling you that after several years or perhaps decades of marriage it was obvious to him that you didn’t love your spouse. You show legal proof of your marriage; you show him the children your marriage has produced; you get dozens or even hundreds of witnesses to vouch for your marital faithfulness, and yet his opinion remains unchanged: you neither love nor cherish your spouse in your heart.
This is precisely the verdict Jesus gives the Jews of his day regarding their relationship to God. They’ve got all the documentary proof, Jewish ancestors and Jewish descendants, countless witnesses to their religious seriousness—all the external evidence of being God’s espoused people; but Jesus says in v. 42, “I know that you do not have the love of God within you.” Even though you’d probably be hurt and angered by the marriage expert’s ‘you don’t love your spouse’ diagnosis: I hope you’d still want to know his reason for saying it, and if he’s right, I hope you’d be willing to listen to his remedy—especially if he’s someone who knows what he’s talking about—especially if you’ve just seen him put a broken marriage back together.
The big idea I want you to leave with today is quite simply this: We con-tinue in God’s love when we cherish God’s Son. In other words, we know God’s love is in us if His Son is precious to us. Getting our heads around that big idea means we’ve got to answer two related questions: 1) why did Jesus tell the Jews they didn’t have the love of God in them? and 2) how do we make sure the same isn’t true of us?
Why Did Jesus tell the Jews They Didn’t Have the Love of God in Them?
One reason Jesus tells the Jews they don’t have the Love of God in them is because they wouldn’t receive Him.
Jesus heals a man paralyzed for thirty-eight years, in plain sight, on the Sabbath day. Obviously He had pity on the lame man; but Jesus also wanted the miracle to be seen; He wanted it to be talked about, and He wanted to talk about it! There was never a moment when Jesus wasn’t on mission, never an opportunity He didn’t seize to magnify His Father and their unique relationship. John says in v. 18 the Jews not only persecuted Jesus but sought to kill Him. Not only did He break the Sabbath (in their interpretation) but He referred to God as His Father, thus giving Himself a status equal to that of God. Jesus says in v. 19, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” And why does Jesus want to do what He sees His Father doing? Because, as He says in v. 20: “The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.”
My dad has always enjoyed showing me how to do things, because he loves me! And I like to watch and help because I love him. The heavenly Father loves His Son far more than my dad could ever love me; and the heavenly Son is more eager to join in His Father’s work than I ever could be. I’m proud to be known as my dad’s son; but it can’t compare to Jesus’ desire to be known as God’s Son. And as proud as dad might be of me, it might as well be shame compared to God the Father’s pride in His only begotten Son. We’re kind of a package deal, dad and me. If you don’t like my dad, I’m not going to think real highly of you. And if you don’t like me, guess what, my dad probably won’t want to take you fishing. That’s just how it is with fathers and sons. This is why in v. 42 Jesus tells the Jews they don’t have the love of God in them. He says it plainly in v. 43: “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.”
Sinful people innately want to stand alone. We want to be received on our own testimony. We want people to know and embrace who we are because of what we say about ourselves. But that’s prideful; and besides, it’s really not how society works. People will always form opinions and conclusions about us based on the testimony of others—or at least they should! It’s why political candidates want endorsements from influential supporters. It’s why you won’t get a job without references, people who are willing to vouch for your identity, character, abilities and achievements.
But the Jews are overlooking this social norm, and Jesus points out their error when He says at the end of v. 43, “If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” Why would they receive prophets or teachers who came touting themselves? Because that’s how they wanted others to receive them. But on what basis do they receive such persons if not on the testimony of others: how smart they sound when they speak? the size of their entourage? how well they dress? how long and lavishly they pray in public? The Jewish religious elite prized these features in themselves, so they were willing to receive others on these terms. But Jesus asks in v. 44, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” In other words, how can you really trust other self-proclaimed teachers or prophets who only want your praise? Wouldn’t that pursuit of glory water-down a person’s message? When we want someone’s praise, we filter our words accordingly.
Jesus is showing the Jews how dumb it is to trust people who come on their own merits and only want approval; but He’s also showing them how this keeps them from hearing and seeing the truth when it’s standing right in front of them. He says in v. 41, “I do not receive glory from people.” If He’d come in His own name, the Jews would’ve received Him, but Jesus didn’t come looking for men’s compliments; He came doing His Father’s will, seeking His Father’s approval, under His Father’s authority, and for the glory that His Father alone could give Him.
Jesus bursts on the scene with miracle power validating His claim of divine Sonship. And even though the heavenly Father’s authority was sufficient, Jesus had other impeccable references, one of which is John the Baptist. (Look at vv. 30-38.)
Everyone saw John the Baptist as a prophet. Even king Herod who had him beheaded knew he’d killed a man of God. Jesus here refers to the fact that even the Jewish religious leaders had sought John the Baptist’s opinion about Himself. And John doesn’t mince words; we find his reference in 1:19-34; look at it with me. It’s hard to argue with a reference like that. Here’s a guy that certainly didn’t seek the praise of others—a bug-eating, camel hair-wearing prophet living in the wilderness.
But Jesus had another top-notch reference. He says in vv. 45-46, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
Jesus told the Jews they didn’t have the love of God in them for two very closely related reasons: not receiving Him, and not believing Him. When it comes to salvation, receiving and believing are kind of a chicken and egg question—which one comes first, receiving or believing. In John 1:11-12, we get our answer: “He came to His own, and His own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…” Receiving and believing, believing and receiving—they go together; they’re inseparable; they’re one and the same; one doesn’t come before the other. Believing just happens to be more internal while receiving is more external. They both have to do with the inclination of our hearts. If in our hearts the Bible’s testimony that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God overwhelms us with a desire to trust His sin-forgiving, life-giving power, we will—at the same time—manifest an external receptivity to Him. In other words, we’ll want others to know that He’s our Savior.
The Jews were certainly not there. They didn’t believe Jesus was God’s Son sent to earth; they didn’t accept John the Baptist’s or Moses’ testimony about Him. And that internal disbelieving was mirrored in their external dis-receiving of Jesus. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to be seen socially with Jesus, just that when they were they wanted to be seen as His superior, not as sinners in the company of a Savior. And friends, that’s the only way Jesus wants to be seen with us.
How Do We Make Sure the Same isn’t True of Us?
So, how do we make sure the same isn’t true of us—how do we make sure we have the love of God in us?
We have in this text (particularly in v. 42) the opposite of the prayer Jesus prays in the company of His disciples in John 17:25: “[Father,] I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” In that prayer John we have the answer, the key to making sure we have the love of God in us: Jesus’ pledge to the Father, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known…”
Please do not take for granted this church. Don’t take Sunday morning for granted. Don’t take preaching and preachers for granted. Don’t take your small group and small group leader for granted. Don’t take for granted that you’ll always have these resources at your disposal. These are important means by which Jesus continues to make the Father’s name known to you; but please don’t let these become mere social rituals on your schedule. Discipline yourself in the word! We continue in God’s love when we cherish God’s Son. And we cherish God’s Son by continuing to believe and receive what He continues to make known to us: His Father’s name, His Father’s love, God’s love for God—the love that God so graciously extends to us in the Person of His Son, Jesus.
Whether you’re a first-century Jewish religious leader or a 21st century American church-goer who doubts or despises Jesus of Nazareth’s claim of divine Sonship while wanting others to see you as a good religious and moral person you are, as Jesus says in v. 40, “…refus[ing] to come to me (refusing to believe and receive Me) that you may have life.”
Do you have that life today? Do you want that life today?