Rejection or Rejoicing?

How do you react to Jesus?  Do you say, "My relationship with God is personal and private, so I keep all that stuff to myself."  Do you say, "That 'religious' stuff is a bunch of mumbo, jumbo ... so I just come on Sunday, maybe go to Sunday School and spend the other 166 hours (that is 1.2% of a week) doing my own thing.  Or, do you consider each hour and each moment a chance to witness, serve and "never tire of doing good (2 Thess. 3:13)."

I have an old Video study called, "They hate the Church, but they love Jesus."  At first I kind of liked this thought.  And then I started to think about what this says.  Can we hate the bride of Christ (the one He loves, died for and will return for) and say we love Him?  I don't think so.  That is not how we react to Jesus, or the Church.

In Luke 4, there is a story about reacting to Christ.  Jesus quotes Isaiah 61, proclaiming that God's Spirit is upon Him, that He has been sent to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.  I guess the crowd caught on to that last phrase, "the year of the Lord's favor," and they liked that idea, for they all thought they were God's favored (chosen) people.  But as Jesus continued to talk, He began explaining that He didn't necessarily come to lift up the chosen, affirm the religious authorities and endorse the status quo.  He really meant that stuff about the oppressed, the captives, the infirm and the poor.  The people looked around and remembered that they missed that particular list.  Then He really got them upset.  He reminded them that God heals who God chooses to heal, not basing His work on the pedigree or the position of the people.  The reaction?  The authorities and the people in the Synagogue got so mad, they wanted to kill Him!

Before you start pointing fingers, think about how Jesus is treated in this present darkness.  His bride is roundly opposed and ridiculed.  His teachings are ignored.  His word is dismissed as archaic, outdated and mistaken.  People say they love Jesus, but they tend to add a lot of corrections, modifications and misrepresentations.  That is how people react to Jesus, who brings good news, freedom and healing to those who follow and accept Him.

But, in the final analysis, all of the media, all of the culture and all of the naysayers really don't matter.  The question is, do you follow Jesus, or do you modify Jesus to create a God you can put in a box and carry around?  The question is, how do you react to His Lordship?

In verse 4:34, the impure spirit reacts ... "have you come to destroy us, the Holy one of God?"  In verse 4:35, that same spirit obeyed and left the person it was inhabiting.  In verse 4:42, the people tried to keep Jesus from leaving them.

So, is your reaction to drive Jesus away, because you don't like His message, or do you want Him to stay, because you know His word and His presence brings healing, wholeness and life?  Do you reject Him, or do you rejoice?

Let's unpack this on Sunday!