Title: Why Did the Jews Reject Jesus?
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: Matthew 11:25-30
Title: Why Did the Jews Reject Jesus?
When I was living as an unbeliever, my child, who wouldn't hurt even if he put it in his eye, suddenly had a cold and was hospitalized at Boramae Hospital. At first I thought it was nothing, but after a while I fell into a serious, out of control. While I was almost awake that night in the intensive care unit, I couldn't help but be amazed at what two men whispered in low voices. “The Jews never believe in Jesus.” I didn't know why I should care about that, but anyway I was curious about it.
The next day, my wife came to the hospital, and I was so curious about the story I heard from them yesterday evening, so I asked, "Why don't the Jews believe in Jesus?" The bewildered wife did not answer easily and hesitated. In fact, my wife was a devout Christian who lived a faithful life of faith. I couldn't help but be even more surprised to see him dodge without answering my questions quickly.
Until then, the common sense I knew was that Jesus was the absolute god the Israelites believed in. And I was the one who believed that people around the world, including Korea, believed in such a god. However, the fact that the people of Israel did not believe in Jesus and rejected Jesus only sounded so absurd even to me as an unbeliever. The child's condition is also sick, but I was even more curious about it. Perhaps it was because it was beyond my common sense. Meanwhile, the child's condition got worse and worse, eventually leading to brain death. He ran all over the place to save the child, but everything seemed to end in vain.
My wife asked me to go to the chapel and cling to Jesus. At that time, I screamed and gave him a pint glass saying, “Why should we believe in Jesus, which even the Israelites do not believe in?” “Think! If Jesus was alive, why would they not believe?” But when I felt a sense of despair that the child's illness could not be cured even with the power of science and medicine, I fell into the dilemma of “Is there really a God?” So, I fell into the question of whether God could save children like our children who died like this.
However, when the child fell into a desperate state, I wanted to hold on to anything, so I began to pray earnestly inwardly, “If there is a God, would you please save my child?” Of course, I had pride, so I didn't do it in the presence of my family, but I hid in a bathroom where there was no one and prayed earnestly every day. When it had already been over a couple of months, I, who had been so stubbornly persevering because a believer told me to “go to the prayer center and hear what God’s will is,” I had no choice but to go to the prayer center with the desire to save the child. And since it was a prayer cave in earnest, I went to a place to pray.
Six months later, my child left me with a lot of homework and quietly left for God's arms. In fact, it is very difficult for me to bear the loss of a 7-year-old child, who would not hurt even if I thought of it physically, leaving his parents' arms, but rather than grieving, I rejoiced more. The reason is because I knew the many mysteries that God had shown me and the fact that human life and death could never be overcome by human strength. Not long ago, I fully understood how the parents felt when their aunt's talent son suddenly died of swine flu at the age of 7 years old. Perhaps if I had not met the Lord at that time, considering my personality, I would have died as well.
Because of my personality, I have to focus on one thing to get my job done, so I quit everything I was doing up to that point and started a life of faith in earnest. Then, in the intensive care waiting room, I remembered the whisperings of two strangers, and I read the Bible dozens of times to solve my doubts, and stayed up all night asking God questions. The answer to that was simply solved.
And as I learned that the Jews did not believe in Jesus and rejected Him, I found something even more shocking. It is a fact that Christians today, like the Jews of that time, will no longer believe in the Son of God to come. So, just as the Jews at that time did not believe in Jesus and rejected Jesus because they were all righteous by the law, Christians today also mistakenly believe that they have received the Holy Spirit and are righteous. The fact is that you will not believe in your son who will be. Of course, these facts were not found out by me, but the Lord revealed them all through the words of the Bible.
In the Bible, the Lord says, “Watch out, because I will go like a thief.” These are not the words Jesus spoke with in mind the Second Coming in the air, but in reality the Lord was going to reveal Himself in front of the human beings living on this earth. But the problem is that he will come like a thief. The word that He will come like a thief means that He will come so that no one can easily recognize the identity of the Lord. To say that no one can recognize the true identity of the Lord means that the Lord's true identity comes in the same appearance as us. But the one speaking in it is the Lord. It is said that He will come as the Spirit (the Word). Therefore, it is a fact that if you judge him by the appearance of a person, the Christians will not believe him either.
If you think that the Lord will appear in the same way as Jesus who came to the land of Israel just because he appears in front of the Gentiles, you are mistaken. Jesus has now ascended into heaven and has the glory of the Father, and He exists as a spirit like God. Just as the Holy Spirit, the essence of God, has come into the souls of believers, so the Spirit of Christ, the essence of Jesus, is now coming into the hearts of each believer.
If the Holy Spirit of God played the role of purging man's original sin, the Spirit of the Son is playing the role of pardoning the sins of daily life. That is why the Temple in Jerusalem also has the Holy of Holies where God dwells, and the sanctuary where the Son dwells is separate for each. This tells us that he was made purely for the purpose of saving the souls of men. The Jews were unaware of this fact and just blindly went to the temple. By the same principle, all churches today must be used for that purpose, and believing in a building with a special meaning is bound to become a blind believer.
And, believing in the Spirit of Christ does not unconditionally enter anyone, but you must believe in your servant whom Jesus raised up. When Jesus comes back to this earth, he will not be able to put on a physical body like humans, so when he comes to the Gentiles, he comes through your servant. He looks just like us Gentiles on the outside, but it is Christ who speaks in him. All Christians, including Gentiles, must believe in the Son who comes like this, and then their sins of daily living and committing are forgiven, and only then can they enter eternal life. He is saying that he will come like a thief.
However, just as the Jews rejected Jesus because of their righteousness, Christians will not believe in Jesus' servant and reject him the moment they think they are saved. So who among the Gentiles will believe? As the Bible tells us, in the end, tax collectors and prostitutes who come forward who admit themselves to be sinners will come to believe in Jesus' servant. Because believing in him is believing in the Lord, he will be sealed on this earth as a child of God, classified as wheat, and will soon be taken up into heaven when the Lord returns in the air.
And the rest of the unbelievers will be classified as chaff and will remain on this earth to receive the wine cup of God's wrath. It was not by accident that I, a foolish and humble person, came to know such a great secret of heaven, nor by my efforts. It was only possible because the Lord revealed everything to the little ones. So I have nothing to brag about.
If there is anything I have to brag about, it is to faithfully fulfill the role of a guide by letting many people know about everything I have been through and experience so that they can trust in the Lord who is to come. And furthermore, it is to tell Christians not to do what the Jews rejected Jesus. Therefore, I hope that all Gentiles will truly believe in the Lord who is to come and enter into eternal life. That is why I am not grieving over the death of my daughter even now, but rejoicing. -He who has an ear, let him hear and understand-