In John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. That was, of course, miraculous and amazing. But what follows is quite possibly even more amazing:
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” – John 11
And then in chapter 12:
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
I can’t help but constantly be reminded of how little people have changed over the millennia. You just can’t knock them off of their deeply-cherished beliefs. They can’t let go, whether out of innocence and ignorance or (far more likely) simple willfulness. We are taught self and not God, so it should be no surprise when we insist that it is our interpretation of the world that matters more than that which comes from an honest pursuit of truth. Our actions and words proudly proclaim “I am quite comfortable with my ignorance. It is my identity, and I’m offended by your questioning it.” We believe in ourselves and care nothing for a God we no longer know.
But we do know him and instead choose to reject him. We have become so wrapped up in ourselves that we are incurious – but this does not excuse us. Paul points this out in the first chapter of his letter to the Roman church:
“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” — Romans 1
God has given the evidence, quite clearly, right on top of us.
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” — Psalm 19:1
We don’t want to look and listen. We certainly don’t want to hear anyone spewing any of that “garbage” that makes us uncomfortable. And I’m sure a lot of us would insist that “If I saw a guy raised from the dead right this moment, I’d believe in a heartbeat.”
But we wouldn’t.
In reality, we’d probably rather kill the guy than put up with what that would mean.
