Jesus and Nicodemus: Only A Few Truly Believe

Even though many people believed in Jesus as a prophet, and maybe even as Messiah, they did not surrender their hearts, and so Jesus did not entrust Himself to them.

Jesus’ insight reminds me of an article I read las year about an English chef who’s trying to get people to eat healthier by teaching them to cook with fresh ingredients rather than eat fast food, fried food and packaged food. Everybody believes he’s right. But they’re not changing their lifestyle, and here’s why, I quote:

“What’s really happening is about more than old habits dying hard or the love of frying. The reason the world is still waiting for the Messiah is that most people don’t actually want one, no matter how many fresh fruits and vegetables he’s carrying.”

In the same way, the people enjoyed Jesus’ miracles of healing, but they didn’t really want a Messiah, not the Jesus kind. So the Lord Jesus would only entrust Himself to those few who would follow Him and commit their hearts to Him, to those who would listen to Him and get to know Him.

Jesus will entrust Himself to you only when you entrust yourself to Him

What has Jesus been showing you about Himself in this passage?
* Is He showing you His graciousness, as someone you can trust, someone who is deeply interested in what is going on in your life?
* Or is He showing you that He is intolerant of sin, that if you don’t confess to Him now and repent, the time is coming when He will do something about that sin Himself?
* Or is He showing you He has authority over all of life, including yours? That you will need to bow to His authority or you’re going to break in your current circumstances?

Entrusting yourself to Jesus is more than being part of a religious system. Take some time to think about what a superficial faith is like.
--> A superficial faith reduces Christianity to a philosophy, a formula, a system of rituals.
--> A superficial faith keeps worship on Sunday and has real life on the other six days.
--> It says that religion is something private, a matter of opinion, a sidebar to the things of life.

Entrusting yourself to Jesus is not about being religious, or following a formula, or subscribing to a particular philosophy of life. Entrusting yourself to Jesus means
+ Believing He is Who He says He is.
+ Being in a relationship with Him, a real relationship, an every day relationship.

This is what following Jesus really means, and what His disciples were beginning to understand, and Nicodemus was beginning to suspect.

If this post got you to thinking, please leave a comment by clicking on the word "comments" below, and join the conversation