JOHN131 - Disingenuous Social Media-Style Demanding Questions

John 2:18-22

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Music by Jeff Foote

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Hey my friends, it's Matt. This is the 10 Minute Bible Hour Podcast. And do you all hang out on social media at all? It would be better if you didn't. This does not count, by the way, as social media. This is like, you know, long-distance internet project doing. We're working on something together. We're taking ground here. We got a project. We want to try to understand the Bible better and the God who is behind it, which should help us understand ourselves and the history of the world and the church. It should help us get a better sense of how to live and what to live for and where it all goes. It should help us prepare for death if God's really behind the Bible. And, you know, so we got a project going here. I don't want to lump this in or for there to be any confusion about how I conceive of this. This to me is not social media. However, when I do say social media, I mean like things where you scroll, things where you look at the comments and somebody makes a comment, and then people comment on the comment and you vote the comments up and down. You know, social media. It's a very weird, unprecedented way to do truth in one sense, because the uh formalization, the systematization, the the appification of this human tendency to talk about things and weigh ideas and lick our finger and put it to the wind and see where the opinions are blowing and try to align ourselves, that's been going on forever, obviously. Social media just found a way to get money out off of that and simplify it so it takes less sophistication to play that game. And if you have been on social media, and however much you are, I recommend being on it less, but if you have been around social media, you know people like to bet on winners and make fun of the people who bet on losers. You know that people wait around to figure out if an idea is gonna play out, and then they jump on with that. You have seen things that happen in the news or in media where nobody quite knows what to do with it initially, and we're like, wait, is that does that mean conservatives are right? Or wait, does that mean Trump's bad? Or would that mean that wait, so the Democrats were who does this help? And there's a lull for a couple of days while all the opinion makers sit around over there in their offices and figure out what to tweet, and then they tweet it, and then everybody's like, Yeah, that's right there, that's how it is. That just proves that the other people are this way, but there that lull is interesting to me because everybody's really cautious to make sure they're gonna have the right opinion because social media is very social, and we all want to be right after all. And one way to confirm our rightness is to get after the people who are wrong. There's kind of a social media question happening here in John chapter two. It's like we're getting that little lull where people are trying to figure out what to do with Jesus so they can figure out whether they need to hate him because he was for the other team, or whether they need to like him and adopt him, even though they don't like his methods because he helps their team. And so we get this question from the Jews, kind of just generically described after the temple cleansing. Then the Jews demanded of him, what miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all of this? And Jesus' answer is destroy this temple, and I'll raise it again in three days. More on that, probably next time around. But sometimes throughout the Gospels, we see this very social media style question, like prove your chops, tell me where you fit into this thing so I can figure out whether to absolutely revile you or love you and defend you, even when I disagree with you and appears that you're wrong. That kind of thinking, that kind of mentality shows up a whole bunch when different, particularly religious leaders, demand of Jesus that he give them a sign. We want to know where you fit, we want to take ownership of your thing. I've talked about a couple of the places where that sort of mentality happens, kind of test for orthodoxy, that probing. In John 1, John the Baptist is on the receiving end of that. Now, here in John 2, Jesus is on the receiving end of that. As we get further into this passage over the next few days, we'll see together that Jesus' answer was, I mean, it was a real answer, but it was a refusal to play their game kind of answer. And in chapter seven, Jesus' own brothers are like, Hey, you why are you sneaking around? You should go and do all of this really publicly. They're kind of intoning, like, answer their questions, give them the signs, do the stuff so that they know you ought to leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret since you're doing these things. Show yourself to the world. For even his own brothers did not believe in him. So there's pressure not just from the outside, but there's pressure from the inside with Jesus. And he's like, uh, maybe I'm not going to go to this one yet. And then after they left, Jesus went in secret. I don't know if it was like a disguise or what. I'm people probably just didn't know what people looked like. And there was this rumor going around in John chapter 7 that Jesus maybe was at this feast and the Jews were watching for him and asking, where is that man? And among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said he's a good man. Others replied, No, he deceives the people, but no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. Not until halfway through the feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. Then the Jews were amazed and asked, How did this man get so learned without having studied? And it's the same go-round for the rest of chapter seven or the rest of this anecdote. People, some people see it and they're like, I've seen enough to believe. Listen to what he's saying. You know, Matthew records it as he teaches as one who has authority and not as the teachers of the law. But other people are really bulky about it. And when they come at Jesus and they're like, You, you know, we wanna we want to see miracles and stuff. Jesus is saying repeatedly, like, you've seen them. There is enough for you to believe at this point. And then a couple chapters later in chapter 10, it feels like we're just doing this on repeat all over again. The same question still abound. Jesus, the rumors about him being somebody, maybe the messiah, the you know, they're still lingering. Everybody knows that he's a big deal, that he's an important player in all of this, but only those with eyes to see are able to really nail down where he fits. Everybody else is thinking too in these social media categories, too much like that, to ask the right questions or get it. And so in John chapter 10, Jesus is there for, of all things, the feast of the dedication, which is the feast that commemorates the last cleansing of the temple by the Maccabees in 164, 165 BC, whenever exactly that was. And so Jesus is up there, he's in the temple area around Solon's colonnade, and it says in verse 24, John chapter 10, the Jews gathered around him saying, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you're the Christ, tell us plainly. And then Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you don't believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you don't believe, because you're not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My father who's given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the father are one. And then, of course, they pick up rocks to kill him. The I and my father are one thing was too much. But they literally just asked him, Are you the Christ? Tell us plainly. And he says, I and the father are one. And they're like, Okay, well then let's get rocks. You jerks, come on. You're playing, they're playing the stupid social media game, right? Like, we want to know what the thing is, we want to nail it down, and they come with all this cloying language. Yeah, like, oh, just honest question here. You know, can you just tell me what you think about the thing? And it's not an honest question because he has already answered it. Then he points to things that answer it, and then he says it point blank. I and the father are one, and they knew what it meant. Why else would they be picking up rocks? They knew exactly what it meant. They were just trying to get him to say it, and Jesus knew this had been their mentality all along. So then go back and read the exchange in John 2 with that in mind. And what do you see? How do you interpret it in light of that? Well, what you see is that Jesus who is being very savvy, understanding the dopey social media game that many in the crowd were playing, and he doesn't play along. He gives them an answer that some could dismiss as trolling, but the more attentive reader is like, well, uh, the person who is the fathers, the sheep that are the good shepherds, they're gonna understand what Jesus is saying there. Indeed, the disciples end up understanding it, and those who aren't, well, they don't understand it. The demand for a sign is even more overt over here in Matthew chapter 9. Do I have time for a couple more? Yeah, I got time for a couple more. Let's make more Bible errands together. Okay. Right at the beginning of the chapter, Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town. That's Capernaum again. Some men brought to him a paralytic laying on a mat when Jesus saw their faith. He said to the paralytic, Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven. I love that line, by the way. I think of it sometimes when things aren't going the way that I want them to go, or when I haven't handled things the way I want to handle them, and I regret it. Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven. Uh right there. That's uh that's a whole lot of why I'm in it. At any rate, uh, Matthew 9 3. At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, This fellow is blaspheming. Why? You know, because only God has the authority to forgive sins. And so here is a place where they don't overtly demand a sign, but Jesus is like, okay, well, since we're talking about forgiveness, and since I feel compassion for this man and I want to show that the forgiveness is real, this is what he does. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, then he said to the paralytic, get up, take your mat and go home. And the man got up and went home. And when the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe and they praised God, who had given such authority to men. They still don't know what to do with it, but a whole bunch of people in the crowd see this kind of thing and they're like, huh. People have demanded things of Jesus. They've wanted to force him into this box or that box. I mean, even the people who came up, I think were probably hoping that the paralytic would get healed, and instead Jesus forgives his sins. Even the fact that Jesus didn't just immediately heal them is part of Jesus not playing along with this game. But then he can tell the grumbling and the internal strife that the social media religious leader types feel. And he's like, all right, well, here's a sign for you. You didn't ask for it this time, but here's a sign. You want to know if that forgiveness is real? Check this out. Get up, take your mat, and go home. And it has the desired effect. Well, maybe that's part of what gave him the idea that they could just demand signs of Jesus whenever they want. Uh, over here in verse 12 of Matthew, toward the end, starts in about verse 38. They decide to just go for the jugular. No more messing around. The religious leaders want to know exactly who are you, prove it to us. We got to make a decision one way or the other. Why? Because I think they're playing dopey Facebook social media games here, where you know, maybe there's some shred of sincerity in what they're asking, but clearly they just want to get Jesus on record and get him under control. Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Jesus, Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you. Okay, this is laughable because do you remember what chapter of Matthew I just said we're in? Twelve. We're more, I mean, we're coming up on the halfway mark of Matthew. How much more do you people need? Do you know how much stuff has already happened by this point? Well, Jesus answered, A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except for the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Did you catch it? The thing that we're getting in John chapter 2 is not the only time that the crowds or the Jewish leadership came at him and were like, do a sign, prove it right now. We want to know what you're about. It's not the only time they came at him like that, and it's not the only time Jesus responded by alluding to his own death and resurrection as the ultimate sign, the ultimate reckoning. You want to know who I am and where I come from? All the things I've said and done aren't enough? All right, watch what happens when I die. That's what Jesus means in John 2.19 when he says, destroy this temple and I'll raise it again in three days. That's what Jesus means when he talks about the sign of Jonah. I'm going to spend three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He means his death and his resurrection. Well, they don't want that. They're not looking for truth. They're looking for social media fodder, click fodder. They're looking for rage clicks. They're playing the same game we play now that is amplified by our silly social media and the silly culture that is evolved around social media. They're just playing it at a different time and they're playing it with much higher stakes. And to them, it seems like it's kind of business as usual. This is just their playbook, but it was not business as usual. They're talking to the Messiah. And as John unfolds, it becomes very clear to us, the reader, that Jesus' opinion is that they had everything they had to know his identity and to align themselves with the work of God, but they refused to do so because of a stubbornness, a pride, a willfulness, and a sinfulness, a sinful resistance to the work of God. And we're seeing the beginnings of that ugliness start to metastasize here with this exchange in John 2. I don't think it's gone full cancer at this point, but you can see the beginnings of this sort of antagonistic Facebook game that the religious leaders are playing that turns into something really perilous for their own soul. That's plenty for today. I'm Matt. This is the Ten Minute Bible Hour Podcast. Do this against you.