Sermon 4-17-11

“GOING PUBLIC FOR JESUS”

John 19:38-42

If there is one thing I know about people in the Bible belt, it’s that they are not afraid to let you know about the things they are passionate about. Their allegiance is well known and unashamed...

-football, Nascar, favorite store, political party, clothing, purses, etc.

You have your opinions, your favorites, your loyalties and you are not afraid to share them and support them regardless of what anyone else thinks. But do we feel the same way about Jesus? Some certainly do, but not all. For some reason there are those who claim to follow Christ but only do so at a healthy, secret distance.

Now I am not justifying this as you will notice in the message today but I am not suprised by it either since the very same thing was happening in Jesus’ day as well.

John 12:42-43 - “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men nore han the praise of God.”

Today we will look into the lives of two of those men referred to by John.

1) Joseph of Arimathea

-Wealthy (Matt. 27:57)

-A prominent member of Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43)

-Praying for the Messiah to come (Mark 15:43)

-Good and just man who did not consent to the decision to have Christ crucified (Luke 23:50-51) (although given what comes next we may wonder how public his dissent was)

-Disciple of Jesus (believed in him for salvation, gave evidence by the fruit he bore, desire to follow Jesus)

-He kept it a secret (that means he would tell no one, he would either publically agree with the venom spoken of Christ at the very least remain silent)

His reluctance to identify himself with Jesus could hardly be commendable.

2) Nicodemus

-A member of Sanhedrin also (John 3:1)

-Came to Jesus at night (John 3:2)

-He recognized the hand of God on Jesus, but left confused over the requirement to be ‘born again’ to get in the kingdom of God (John 3:3-9)

-Attempted to take up for Jesus (w/o admitting his allegiance to Him) at a council meeting (John 7:50-52)

Up until this point he is known as someone who has always been interested in Jesus but only from a safe, secretive distance so that no one will find out.

I. Why Would Someone Secretly Follow Christ?

Why would they put their faith and trust in Him but be reluctant to testify of Him or serve Him openly in front of other people, including their friends and peers who aren’t followers of Christ?

To answer in one word: FEAR

Vs. 38 - “fear of the Jews”

What would they have done to these men?

12:42 - “they would have been put out of the synagogue” and by this time who knows maybe something even worse.

12:43 - “loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

So if you put all this together it comes down to a fear of ridicule, fear of losing your paycheck, fear of losing your prestigious status, and even a fear of physical harm. Now before we harshly condemn these two guys consider that the disciples fared no better. They had all scattered and as Peter tried to watch the crucifixion events unfold from a safe, secret distance he too denied Jesus 3X. But let’s not stop there. Let’s look at ourselves for a moment...

Teenagers, when the peer pressure is on do you boldly stand for Christ even in the face of ridicule? Adults, when the conversation at work or family reunion turns to religious matters or something that affords an opportunity to speak of Christ do you engage it or grow quiet and let it pass? Do you proudly tell of what is happening in your church and your life or do you hide it because you think they will make fun of you, or break off a friendship? If not the root cause if fear!

Here is a fact...if you are going to be the witness for Christ that he wants you to be there will be some ridicule. You will lose some of the praise of men, you will be kicked out of some groups. And if those things are what is important to you, then you will at best only follow Jesus from a safe, secretive distance. Jesus is not your Lord, your comfort is.

If you are living the life of a secret disciple in your family, school, work, among your friends, etc...it is because you fear something. Go ahead right now and name that fear and please know you are not the first to deal with it, but...let’s don’t accept that as our way of living.

Trans: These two men in our text didn’t.

Vs. 38 - “asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus...”

This was a huge developement. In Mark’s account he commends Joseph for the courage it took to do this. The Romans usually only handed the body over to close relatives. And since Jesus was accused of conspiring against the Jewish and Roman authorities this would have put Joseph under the microscope and clearly and publically aligned him with Jesus. Nicodemus is also seen here very publically teaming up with Joseph. These two men are no longer hiding in the shadows, they are fully declaring their allegiance to Christ.

II. What Would Compel Someone To Go Public For Christ?

What is it that after all this time of secret meetings, keeping mouth shut, going along with opinions that you didn’t share would compel you to say enough is enough. I can’t live quietly about Jesus anymore?

To answer in one word: CROSS

Vs. 38 - “after this” - (‘Later’ - NIV) Refers back to the crucifixion.

In these last few hours these men have watched their God fulfill thousands of years of prophecy by dying on the cross as an innocent man so that the forgiveness of the sins of the world could be secured. God was pouring out his wrath on his son He was pouring out his love on us and in the face of that many still chose to gather around and mock, ridicule, laugh, and taunt Jesus.

Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

When these two finally got a hold of that love, they could no longer remain silent. Who could? When you understand how much your God and your Lord and Savior Jesus loved you and what lengths they went to to make that love available to you, you can’t keep silent.

These words spoke to me in my quiet time this week...

John 12:1 - “...Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.”

I’m like that Lazarus...I was dead but am not any more because Jesus stood at the door of the tomb that was my dead life and called out to me to come out into new life and I thank Him that the alive man who came out wasn’t anything like the dead one they put in!

Illst- Many times someone recomends me to a good new restraunt...why? That place did something for them and they sure enjoyed it...well do you know what Jesus did for you? Do you enjoy it? If so, then at some point you are going to be compelled to be very public about your faith.

III. What Happens When Someone Does Go Public For Christ?

To answer in one word: FREEDOM

1. Freedom from what others think

Joseph and Nicodemus will no longer be bound by the opinions of the Sanhedrin. They will be ‘blackballed’ if not worse but they don’t care. The most freeing thought you can ever have is this: The only person I need to please is God.

2. Freedom from what others do.

Let them talk, let them persecute me, let them fire me, just let me have my Jesus and lift Him up and I will be just fine.

Matt. 5:11-12 - “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”

3. Freedom to do whatever God asks you to do.

God used these men in as valuable a role as anyone in the kingdom but he only did it when they went public for Him. Their valuable role was getting the body, preparing it for burial, and placing it in the tomb. Had they not it would have been thrown into a ditch with hundreds of other rotting, decaying bodies and when Christ rises again it would be hard to disprove the theory that his body was stolen. And by doing this the prophecy was fulfilled:

Isaiah 53:9 - “And they made His grave with the wicked- but with the rich at His death because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”

We needed the tomb. Joseph owns it and gives it for Jesus. Nicodemus will bring a healthy amount of spices. These men give a great effort and amount of resources for their Jesus.

Perhaps the second most freeing thought you could ever have is: Everything I have is His. He can have what He wants when He wants it. Or to say it another way as Jesus did: it is better to give than to receive.

*****

1) Christ wasn’t ashamed of you...

He knows everything you have ever done, and what He knows isn’t pretty is it? Don’t you dare think you deserve God’s love because we don’t. That’s what makes it so amazing. That He could look at us and still say, I want you. I will do what is necessary to make it possible for you to enter My kingdom and be My people.

2) Christ wasn’t ashamed to die a humiliating death for you...

Read the crucifixion narrative, watch Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion.” There was nothing honorable or glorifying about the death Jesus died. In his death He appeared to be a failure, his cause was hopelessly defeated, how could a self-proclaimed king with the power and authority of God allow himself to die that way? He did it for you so that you wouldn’t have to.

3) Christ wasn’t ashamed to call you to publically follow Him...

Matt. 10:32-33 - “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess befoe My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

Ways to go public....

Baptism

Witness

Invite someone at Easter