The teachers of the law were looking for a way to get rid of Jesus! The truth of his words cut to their hearts and they needed to not only be rid of his message, but his entire being! This sentiment is reiterated several times by Luke:
Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. (Luke 19:47-48)
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. (Luke 22:1-2)
Have you ever noticed that one simply cannot get rid of Jesus when confronted by the truth of Him? No matter how hard one tries–pretending He doesn’t exist, or ignoring Him, or closing our ears and hearts, or seeking any other way to silence Him–it does not negate the fact that He is truth, and that He presents us with a choice of whether or not to follow Him.
We see this “choice” throughout all of Scripture: People are clearly given the choice between following the world and following God. God simply does not want us to do a limping dance between the two options–a divided mind and heart will never stand.
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." (1 Kings 18:21)
Joshua also presented the people of Israel with a clear choice:
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15)
In the New Testament, we see Peter and John faced with this same choice … and then turning that choice back to their accusers:
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name." Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:13-20)
Take It to Heart
Jesus came as the light of the world and He has left us here to shine forth His light through our words and our deeds. We are to be Jesus! And just like Peter and John, we must be bold in professing to others what we have seen and what we have heard! Jesus tells us:
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
“We are holding a light … Though it may seem but a twinkling candle in a world of blackness, it is our business to let it shine. We are blowing a trumpet … We must keep sounding the alarm to those who are in spiritual danger … We are kindling a fire. In this cold world full of hatred and selfishness our little blaze may seem to be unavailing, but we must keep our fire burning. A light, a trumpet, a fire … they seem so little … But ‘with God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26), and He will bless our efforts to bring the good news of Jesus to a weary and strife-torn world.” (Billy Graham)
