Do You REALLY Want to Know?

John 10:24-31 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. (25) Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. (26) But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. (27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (30) I and my Father are one. (31) Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

Knowledge is a curious thing. I would say, that if you asked 100 people if they wanted to gain additional knowledge, 100 people would say... ”Absolutely”. Come on...who would not want to be better educated, smarter or wiser? Honestly, many people of those 100.

Everybody has the opportunity to gain additional knowledge everyday. Whether it is reading a book, taking a class or simply gaining knowledge from a mentor, additional knowledge is at our finger tips. So again, how many people truly take advantage of that knowledge? I would say VERY few.

So if all of us, at least on the surface, want additional knowledge, why do so few act upon it? That is a discussion much to large for this venue. However, we can speculate about a few. Some may not have time (ie. do not CHOOSE to make time for it). Some may conclude that what they are doing or have scheduled in a day is more important than gaining additional knowledge.

Furthermore, some may fear additional knowledge. If one has a particular way of thinking established, additional knowledge may upset that apple cart and cause great stress.

That is what is happening in our text today. Some Jews approach Jesus and say...and I paraphrasing of course... “Quit beating around the bush and tell us PLAINLY if you are the Messiah.” They are wanting to gain additional knowledge and quite frankly about the most important subject known to man...right?.

Are they REALLY? These Jews are like the 100 that say they want additional knowledge but don’t in fact.

Jesus response to them is very telling. He says that you have the information. I have told you many times before. I have lots of followers or sheep that are currently following me because they had enough information to know.

These people have seen Jesus’ miracles and have heard him speak countless times because they were trying to catch him in a mistake. They probably had more information than the average follower. But all of the information in the world would not change their mind from what they WANTED TO BELIEVE!

How many of us fall into this trap? How many of us ACT like we want to learn all we can about Jesus, what he teaches, and what he wants from us, but in the long run, we dismiss it just like they did. Too often, people that profess they follow Jesus have this sam mind set. They hear what he teaches in the Bible, then dismiss it because it does not fit with what they want to believe.

To truly follow Jesus, we Must Deny ourselves of what we want and submit to the will of God. Jesus did not say it would be easy, but he did inform us it would be worth it.

Do You REALLY Want to Know what Jesus says?