John 11:47-48 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. (48) If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
There are going to be two categories of people that will be lost and ultimately sent to eternal punishment on that fateful day.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
The first category are those that do not know God. The second are those that may have a knowledge, they may even believe in the existence of God, but have simply chosen to not be his followers in the manner that he requires...thus refusing to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So why is it that so many are unwilling to be followers of Jesus? Let’s answer that in a moment.
In our text today, we have a host of Jewish Leaders that are looking to put Jesus to death. The latest surge of hatred is due because of miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. They know that with Jesus doing this kind of miracle, his fame and reputation will spread like a wildfire. In verse 47 they ask of themselves “ What do we do? Then in verse 48 they give us the secret for why so many fail to follow Jesus.
John 11:47-48 ....and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
They wanted to stop Jesus for the same reason they refused to become followers and the reason why so many people refuse to follow Jesus...Because they will have to give up the life that they love. As Jewish Leaders, they were comfortable with their station in life. They had power, influence and even financial advantages and they were not willing to give it all up. For them to be followers, they would have to be willing to deny themselves (Matt. 16:24). To allow Jesus to continue teaching, their lifestyles would be taken away, so they felt their only choice was to kill him.
Their motives are exactly the same for folks not being believers or followers of Jesus today. They simply are not willing to give up the lives to which they have grown accustomed. What about you? To be a TRUE follower of Jesus, it is not good enough to make the claim. You must actually live the life and follow the commandments of Jesus.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
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