Jesus: Hated by Hypocrites
John 8:12–20
Those who remain in spiritual darkness judge Jesus through scriptural misinterpretation, spiritual ignorance, and superficial judgment; Jesus, the light of the world, calls for humble faith that confounds human wisdom and cultural bias.
Outline
- Scriptural misinterpretation
- Spiritual ignorance
- Superficial judgment
- Contrast with genuine teaching ministry
- Conclusion and hope in the light
Themes: Hated by Hypocrites · Scriptural Misinterpretation · Spiritual Ignorance · Superficial Judgment · Legalism · License · Darkness · False Teachers
Key Cross-References: John 8:12-20, Deuteronomy 17:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, 2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19, Matthew 18:16, 2 Peter 2:1-2, Jude 3-4, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, 1 Timothy 1:5-7, John 5:31-40, 1 Corinthians 2:12-15, John 16:13-14, Romans 1:18-22, 1 Corinthians 1:17-25, John 7:24
MANUSCRIPT
Last week, we explored the themes of darkness and light, beginning with the creation account in Genesis. We saw how the world was initially formless and void, enveloped in darkness, until God brought forth light to create order, beauty, and reflect His perfect nature. This divine act of dispelling darkness with light laid the foundation for the metaphorical uses of light and darkness throughout the rest of scripture. We saw how darkness symbolized disorder, sin, and evil, while light represents order, holiness, and God's presence.
We learned that mankind, in his natural state is in darkness, loves darkness, and spreads darkness. He is darkened in his understanding, and darkened in his heart. He participates in the works of darkness, and celebrates others when they do the same. Consequently, he builds societies which dwell in, and traffic in darkness.
These are societies which seek to destroy what God has created, bring disorder to what God has ordered, disfigure what God has made beautiful, denigrate what God values, and deflect all glory that rightfully belongs to God, to themselves.
Yet, despite the pervasive darkness, and man’s love for it, we learned that God is merciful. Knowing the innate darkness of man’s heart, God did not pour out ultimate judgment, but instead extended mercy. He promised that he would bring light into the darkness so that all who believe might be transferred out from the domain of darkness, into his glorious light. Men and women who dwelt in darkness, having their lives wracked by the chaos and disorder that darkness brings, could be delivered. How so? Through Jesus – the light of the world.
Jesus says in our passage:
John 8:12 … “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Men and women who have experienced the darkness of sin, and all the chaos and destruction that this darkness brings, can be delivered. How? By faith in Jesus. A faith which follows Jesus. With that faith comes new life. A life, no longer in darkness, but in light. So that the entire life of a follower of Jesus becomes one which testifies that they have been transferred from sin to salvation; from the power of Satan to the power of God; from darkness to light.
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
In this way, the entire life of a follower of Jesus becomes one which proclaims a change from darkness to light. Every Christian becomes a testimony of God’s mercy and the changed heart that he gives to all who believe in his Son.
[TRANSITION]
Not everyone does believe however. Many remain in the darkness.
John 3:19-20 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
This week, we turn our attention to what happens when these people, who reject the light, remaining in spiritual darkness take it upon themselves to make spiritual judgments from within the shadows.
Specifically, we will explore what happens when those devoid of the Spirit—unsaved, unchanged, and still in darkness—attempt to pass judgment on Jesus. We will see that just as physical darkness obscures vision and leads to stumbling, spiritual darkness clouds understanding and perverts judgment.
The Pharisees in Jesus’ day will serve as our primary examples. We will observe how they judged Jesus from the shadows of their darkened hearts, misinterpreted and misapplied the scriptures, and made superficial judgments based on human wisdom rather than divine truth. We will also see that these flawed judgments are not confined to the first century. From the time of Jesus’ birth until now, men and women, lost in their sin, devoid of the Spirit, and alienated from God, have continued to pass judgment on Jesus. And, as you can imagine – in doing so, their motivations are corrupt and their conclusions are fundamentally flawed.
Let’s read John 8:12-20:
John 8:12-20 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
The first thing we notice from the Pharisees, and the first thing we can come to expect from those who seek to judge Jesus from the shadows is SCRIPTURAL MISINTERPRETATION.
1. Scriptural Misinterpretation
After Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” the Pharisees respond:
John 8:13 …“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”
What are they doing here? They are actually trying to apply scripture to discredit Jesus. How do they go about it? They appeal to the longstanding biblical principle of the need for two or three witnesses.
This is a strong and repeated principle which we find throughout scripture in the Old and New Testaments.
Deuteronomy 17:6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
And beyond the crime of murder, Deuteronomy 19 says:
Deuteronomy 19:15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
The New Testament affirms this:
2 Corinthians 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
1 Timothy 5:19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
Jesus himself said regarding church discipline:
Matthew 18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
As a protection against false accusations and wrongful convictions, two or three witnesses are always required to substantiate a charge. And notice that the three verses from the New Testament that we read actually use the word “charge.” This helps us to see where the Pharisees have gone wrong in their interpretation of scripture, and their judgment of Jesus.
The prescription of two or three witnesses was designed to protect individuals from false accusations, ensuring they were considered innocent until proven guilty – similar to principles in our modern legal system.
Notice what the Pharisees had done here. They’ve taken a law, meant to protect the accused, presuming them innocent until proven guilty, and have completely perverted it. They applied it in a way that effectively presumed guilt unless innocence was proven by additional witnesses.
They took a law designed to uphold justice and protect the innocent, and used it to pervert justice and attack the innocent. They took a law meant to protect people from false accusations, and used it to falsely accuse Jesus.
This is what happens when men with darkened hearts attempt to handle the scriptures. They mishandle, misinterpret and misapply. Sometimes that looks like taking what God intended for mercy and using it to victimize others.
The law requiring two or three witnesses was a good law, and it remains a sound principle. The issue wasn’t with the scriptures. The issue arose when the Jews turned this law into a generalized principle, misapplied it, treated their misinterpretation as if it were the law, and then judged those who violated their novel interpretation as law-breakers.
That’s what legalists do.
Sometimes it is a matter of legitimate wisdom to take laws or commands and to derive general principles from them in order to make application to a variety of situations. However, this is only valid when the original spirit of the law is maintained. It becomes legalism when rigid adherence is demanded and the spirit of the law is lost.
The Pharisees took what was meant for mercy and justice and applied it in a way which mercilessly oppressed others. In this case, they were using their wrong interpretation of the law to attack Jesus.
These were unbelievers arrogantly quoting scripture to justify their dark hearts. The only thing they succeeded in doing however was exposing their ignorance of scripture and the sinfulness of their souls.
Jesus called them out for their ignorance and arrogance on multiple occasions. Sometimes he did it by asking these so-called law-experts the ironic question, “have you not read?” In other words, are you really this ignorant of the scriptures you claim to be expert in? Elsewhere he rebuked the Sadducees by stating “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
What do we learn? There are men and women who make confident assertions about what the Bible says who know neither what the scriptures actually teach, nor the God who inspired them. They are spouting nonsense to their own hurt and the hurt of those who pay heed to them.
Whether it be so-called religious people using scripture to manipulate, exploit, oppress, or self-aggrandize, or unbelievers trying to attack Christians with their own text, when men attempt to handle the Bible from the shadows, chaos and disorder ensues. And sadly, it happens all the time.
Peter warned:
2 Peter 2:1-2 ¶ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Peter warns against people claiming to represent God, and teaching the Bible, while actually spreading destructive heresies.
There are cults like Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses who hijack the scriptures, perverting them to present a false Christ, while claiming they have a corner on the truth.
There are some Christian denominations who twist the scriptures to teach a prosperity gospel, making their churches or ministries into nothing more than pyramid schemes designed to fleece the sheep with promises of financial breakthrough, only to enrich the false teachers at the top.
There are liberal denominations who have fully embraced the cultural move towards unrestrained sexual perversion. Men and women who wrap themselves in a rainbow flag, while they purport to teach scripture, perverting it to justify their sin.
Look again at what Peter says in 2 Peter 2:1-2:
2 Peter 2:1-2 ¶ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Even in the first century they were perverting the scriptures to legitimize perverse sexuality. Peter says, that this results in the truth being blasphemed. The same is being done today, with the same consequence.
Further, there are non-Christians who ignorantly quote scripture out of context, with no understanding of biblical hermeneutics, in order to attack Christians with their own text.
There are a host of men and women, lost in their sin, with Bibles in their hands and God’s name on their lips, and darkness in their hearts. What comes out of their mouths is not upbuilding, life-giving, or God glorifying, but destructive, deathly, prideful and altogether blasphemous.
LEGALISM AND LICENSE
Although the Pharisees were primarily guilty of misinterpreting and misapplying the scriptures in order to promote legalism, those who Peter calls out were doing so to promote license. That is, some mishandle the word to oppress, manipulate and exploit, while others do so to justify their own sinful perversion.
Jude 3-4 ¶ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Some pervert the law, while others pervert grace. Some to exert control, others to justify the lack of control. Either way, these are men and women with darkened hearts, devoid of the spirit, alienated from God, all the while claiming to be interpreters of the Bible.
How do they find an audience?
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
I think we know why people are drawn to false teachers who use the Bible to justify sinful perversion. It gives them a veneer of spirituality, and morality, and normality, as they indulge in the unnatural and perverse. But why do people willingly submit to legalism?
Legalism fosters self-righteousness. It allows men and women to congratulate themselves on being good and virtuous. Moreover, it satisfies the self-righteous desire to compare oneself to others, and to pass hypocritical judgment upon them.
SUMMARY AND CONTRAST
So, we learn that men and women, darkened in their hearts, devoid of the Spirit, and alienated from God do teach the Bible, and when they do, chaos, destruction, blasphemy and judgment inevitably follow.
Now, let’s contrast this with the fruit produced when the Bible is properly handled by men and women who are in the light, who do possess the Spirit, and who have a relationship with God:
1 Timothy 1:5-7 ¶ The aim of our charge is love [not harshness; oppression, manipulation, or exploitation] that issues from a pure heart [not a heart bent on impurity, or perverseness] and a good conscience [not a conscience seared by duplicity or sinful motives] and a sincere faith [not hypocrisy or falsehood ]. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
In this passage, Paul is reminding Timothy what it is that characterizes a genuine teaching ministry. The goal is love. Not oppression, not criticism, not judgment, but love. Does this mean we excuse sin in the name of love? Not at all, because Paul then states that this love proceeds forth from a pure heart. Unlike our culture, which deceptively conflates love with accepting, affirming or allying with sin, scripture teaches that genuine love is always pure.
The call to love eliminates legalism, the call to purity eliminates license.
Next, Paul says that a genuine teaching ministry is driven by a good conscience and a sincere faith. That is, there is no duplicity, but sincerity. No hypocrisy but genuineness.
So we can take heart that even though many claim to represent God, and even deign to teach the scriptures, we have the tools to determine who is genuine and who is not. Look for the ones whose goal is love, whose hearts are pure, whose consciences are clear, and whose faith is sincere.
Notice again in 1 Timothy 1:7 that Paul says that the false teachers – the loveless, impure, duplicitous, hypocrites, not only count themselves as teachers of the scriptures, but teach the Bible confidently. They are both ignorant and arrogant, which is a deadly combination.
(back to our passage)
This describes the Pharisees in our passage. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” They respond with complete confidence, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”
So confident! But so wrong! This is what happens when men and women, darkened in their hearts, devoid of the Spirit, and alienated from God try to handle the scriptures. They mishandle, misinterpret, and misapply.
So, the first thing we notice from the Pharisees, and the first thing we can expect from those who seek to judge Jesus from the shadows, is SCRIPTURAL MISINTERPRETATION. The next thing we can expect from those who are devoid of the Spirit but who attempt to pass judgment on religious matters, is SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE.
2. Spiritual Ignorance
Look at verses 14-19:
John 8:14-19 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
Look at all the things that Jesus says these religious leaders do not know:
You do not know where I come from. v14
You do not know where I am going. v14
You do not know me. v19
You do not know my Father. v19
In other words, they were completely ignorant as to who Jesus is and had absolutely no relationship with God the Father. They were claiming to speak for God, while not knowing God. They were arrogantly judging Jesus while not knowing anything about Jesus. They were operating from a position of total spiritual ignorance.
They had no spiritual insight, no spiritual discernment, yet they confidently spoke on spiritual matters. You know people like this. Often smug and arrogant, they make confident assertions about the Bible, Jesus, and spiritual things, all the while possessing no genuine spiritual insight or discernment.
The Pharisees had just declared Jesus a liar. They said his testimony about himself was not true because he did not meet the bar of providing two or three witnesses. This accusation revealed their total spiritual ignorance.
Jesus responds by stating that even without two or three witnesses, his testimony is true, because he is the Son, sent by the Father who will soon return to his right hand – “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going…”
But even beyond that, its not as if he was without corroborating witnesses. This is what the Pharisees were too blind to see. A few chapters earlier in John 5, we find Jesus speaking to the Jewish leaders and entertaining their interpretation and application of the law. He does so to prove that even if they applied their standard, he passes the test. There were plenty of witnesses to his identity, if anyone had eyes to see.
John the Baptist John 5:31-33 ¶ If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.
Jesus’ Works John 5:36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
The Father John 5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, And here in our text: John 8:18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”
The Scriptures John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
You want witnesses to corroborate my claim that I have come from the Father as the light of the world to lead people out of the darkness of spiritual death and into spiritual life? How about the prophet, John the Baptist? How about my miraculous works? How about all scripture? How about the very voice of the Father at my baptism?
The Jews had all the evidence they needed. Their unbelief was not due to a lack of witnesses, it was due to their dark hearts. They were sizing up Jesus from a place of total spiritual ignorance. Consequently, they misinterpreted, and misapplied the scriptures and ended up calling Jesus a liar.
Devoid of the Spirit
The fact is, they were spiritually ignorant, because they were spiritually dead.. Paul, in writing to his fellow Christians in Corinth wrote:
1 Corinthians 2:12-15 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Someone without the Spirit of God making bold assertions about spiritual things is like a blind man describing colours. He just doesn’t have the capacity. He has no mechanism by which to process the information. All he can do is filter spiritual realities through his human wisdom. This is folly. The natural person can’t understand things which require the Spirit to discern.
On the other hand, those who belong to Jesus possess the Spirit and the Spirit guides into truth:
John 16:13-14 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
So, the fact is, there always have been, and always will be (until the return of Christ), men and women who claim to be teachers of the Bible who are utterly spiritually ignorant. They mishandle, misinterpret, and consequently misguide. Like someone without training pretending to be a surgeon, they are guilty of dangerous, spiritual malpractice and put everyone around them in danger.
Whether it be the unbeliever from outside Christianity making bold assertions about scripture and lobbing arrogant criticisms against the faith, or the false teacher claiming to be a Christian, misguiding people through their misinterpretation and misapplication of scripture, both are operating from the shadows. Both are spiritually blind. Both are lost in their sin, devoid of the Spirit, and alienated from God.
(back to our passage)
The Pharisees in our passage were walking in darkness. They rejected the clear witnesses of Jesus’ identity as the sent Son of God. They focused on their traditional and distorted reading of scripture while completely missing the fact that all of the Bible pointed to Jesus. They were so consumed with prejudice, jealousy, arrogance and resentment and so devoid of the Spirit, that they were wholly incapable of accepting the evidence that was right in front of them.
The same is true today. The evidence of God’s existence is all around us in creation. The evidence that Jesus is alive and that salvation is real is all around us in the church. There is not a lack of evidence, there is a lack of repentance and faith.
Romans 1:18-19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
…
Romans 1:21-22 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Scriptural misinterpretation, and spiritual ignorance are the product of a darkened heart.
So, the first thing we can expect from those who seek to judge Jesus from the shadows, is SCRIPTURAL MISINTERPRETATION. The next thing we can expect from those who are devoid of the Spirit but who attempt to pass judgment on religious matters, is SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE. And lastly, from our passage we see that we can expected SUPERFICIAL JUDGEMENT.
3. Superficial Judgment
John 8:14-15 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Of course, if you don’t possess the Holy Spirit, then all of your judgments will be according to the flesh and human wisdom alone.
This is a serious problem since God has designed the entire salvation plan to confound human wisdom. Again, Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth:
1 Corinthians 1:17-25 ¶ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Since mankind has chosen to reject God in the name of intellectualism, God has chosen to redeem mankind through foolishness. That is, via means that the world considers foolish. What are those means? A lowly, meek, and ultimately crucified messiah.
In Paul’s day there were some built-in cultural biases which kept people from being able to perceive the truth. The Jews demanded signs. Didn’t Jesus give them signs? Yes he did. But, an unbelieving heart which has convinced itself that it will only believe if there are signs, will never be satisfied with signs. There will always be the demand for one more sign. One greater sign. The issue again isn’t the lack of signs, or evidence, but an unbelieving heart which is using the claim of a lack of evidence to justify its unbelief.
Unlike the Jews, who demanded signs, the Gentiles sought philosophical wisdom. The teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were deeply embedded in the educational systems and cultural fabric of the Roman Empire. For a teacher to be taken seriously, they needed to demonstrate their philosophical prowess. The message of a crucified, and resurrected Messiah to be embraced through repentance and faith was unsophisticated foolishness to the Greeks. Their cultural expectations and biases kept them from seeing the wisdom of God in the salvation plan.
So then, did God miss the mark in the way he designed the salvation plan? Did he choose the wrong means, or the wrong message at the wrong time? Of course not. He orchestrated a salvation plan which would not in anyway pander to the worst of man’s nature. The lust for signs replaced faith. The obsession with human wisdom, enflamed pride. God would not do anything to cater to these attitudes.
The acceptance of the message of Christ crucified requires a humble faith. Why? Because it’s a message that confounds human wisdom and rejects human pride. As long as Jews and Greeks were still walking in darkness, lusting after signs and obsessed with human wisdom, they would judge Jesus through those lenses. Consequently, they would reject him after only making superficial judgments.
Are there cultural biases in our day which keep people from seeing the truth of the gospel and instead passing only superficial judgments upon Jesus? Absolutely.
There are those who claim a commitment to intellectualism. These feel that the concept of a crucified messiah and salvation by grace through faith are unfit for the cultured, educated and intellectual. To these, the gospel is irrational, foolish and therefore unbelievable.
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 ¶ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
There are those who are committed to naturalism. Any talk of a soul, a spirit-world, an afterlife, or miracles is incompatible with their naturalistic worldview. They are convinced that the scientific method can explain everything. In reality, they’ve simply committed themselves to a belief that nothing exists outside of what the scientific method can explain.
There are the relativists who are committed to the rejection of any objective truth which applies to all people equally. To them all truth is subjective. No truth is universal. No one truth is authoritative. Jesus’ claims to exclusivity and authority mean he must be rejected out of hand.
There are the postmodernists who reject any notion of a grand, unifying story which unites us all. To find meaning and purpose by identifying where you fit in an overarching metanarrative if a fools errand. Why? Because there are no metanarratives. There are no grand, unifying stories. You should be concerned about your story, your truth and ultimately, your own reality. Therefore, the greatest good is to encourage individuals to be “true to themselves.” To them the only objective standard of morality is to not judge the morality of others - others who are “living their truth.” To them, it is immoral to suggest a universal standard of objective morality. Therefore, a message of repentance is wholly incompatible with their worldview. A faith with a message of universal lostness, a saviour for all of mankind, a call for all men to repent, and a salvation which transforms us all into the same image, is fundamentally incompatible with their system.
There are the materialists who couldn’t care less about talk of the spiritual because their only concern is with material success and earthly indulgences. The say with the Epicureans – “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
I would venture to say that the majority of people who judge Jesus from the shadows aren’t fully committed to any one of these perspectives, but have instead cobbled together a worldview from bits and pieces of each – even pieces which are incompatible with one another. What they are after is just enough of a logical argument to be able to reject the gospel out-of-hand. Out of the darkness of their hearts they are looking for an opportunity to pass a superficial judgment upon Jesus.
In doing so, they are acting just like the Jews in Jesus’ day. To them, Jesus said:
John 8:15 You judge according to the flesh…
And why he said previously:
John 7:24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Such superficial judgments are often made so that one doesn’t have to do the serious soul-searching which the gospel calls us to do.
The fact is, Jesus has come with a salvation for all peoples, and he has provided it in a way which confounds human wisdom and challenges cultural biases. He has done this to confront human pride and ensure that no one can ever boast of their salvation. To come to him is to come to him with humble abandon. It’s to believe, not because he has passed the bar of our judgment, but because we have submitted ourselves to his.
CONCLUSION
We've seen today how those who judge Jesus from the shadows are marked by three critical errors: Scriptural Misinterpretation, Spiritual Ignorance, and Superficial Judgment.
Scriptural Misinterpretation: The Pharisees took a law meant to protect the innocent and twisted it to attack Jesus. They turned a principle of mercy into a tool for condemnation. This is what happens when people with darkened hearts handle the Scriptures—they distort God's word to fit their agenda.
Spiritual Ignorance: The Pharisees didn’t know Jesus or His Father, despite their religious status. They judged by the flesh, missing the spiritual truths right before them. Today, many confidently speak on spiritual matters without the Spirit's guidance, leading others astray with their ignorance.
Superficial Judgment: The Pharisees judged Jesus based on their limited, fleshly perspective. They couldn't see past their biases to recognize the truth. Similarly, today's cultural biases prevent many from accepting the gospel. Intellectual pride, moral relativism, and materialism all cloud true understanding.
But there's hope. Jesus, the light of the world, shines into this darkness. He calls us to lay aside our superficial judgments and to judge with righteous judgment. He invites us to come to Him in humility and faith, to be transformed by the truth, and transferred from the domain of darkness, into the light of life.
