But for Fear of Man - Your Daily Forward Devotional

But for Fear of Man

March 13

Read John 12:37-43 (ESV)

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Reflect

Why might Christians today be tempted to stay silent and not confess their faith?

Following Jesus isn’t always a popular path to take. Throughout history, there have been many examples of people who have lost friends, family members, or jobs because they are Christians. Countless others have been imprisoned or even killed because they confessed that Jesus is Lord. Coming up in John 15:18-21, we’ll read Jesus’ warning that the world will hate us just as it hated Him. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are more likely to be persecuted than popular, especially as our culture becomes more and more secular. Sadly, for that very reason, many people choose not to follow Him, even if they believe He really is the Son of God!

In today’s passage, we see two different types of people: those who refused to believe in Jesus and those who did believe in Jesus but refused to confess their belief. First, John made it clear that Jesus had done many signs during His earthly ministry to provide irrefutable evidence that He is who He claimed to be—the Son of God. And yet, despite this evidence, many people still did not believe in Him, especially the Jewish religious leaders.

Then John quoted Isaiah 53:1 when He asked “Who has believed what He has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” The Lord’s strong arm, His power and might, was revealed to the people of Israel in Christ and yet, they refused to believe. Just as Isaiah had predicted long before. If Israel had not rejected Jesus, He would not have been crucified, and we would not be saved! This prophecy of Isaiah’s needed to be fulfilled so that salvation could be offered to the whole world.

But some of the Jewish religious authorities did believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They had seen all of the signs that He had done and they were convinced. But, they were also afraid. Remember in John 9:22 that the Pharisees commanded that whoever confessed that Jesus was the Messiah was to be put out of the synagogue. This was no small deal. It was basically being excommunicated from the entire Jewish community. It would turn a Jew’s whole world upside down.

But here’s the deal. It is always worth it for our worlds to be turned upside down because of our faith in Christ. We have to ask ourselves if we care more about the glory that comes from man or the glory of God? Do we fear man or do we fear God?

In his New Testament Commentary Warren Wiersbe wrote “Better to fear God and go to heaven than to fear men and go to hell!” Jesus said the same in Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” What good is the praise of man at the end of time? What good is it if we gain the whole world and lose our souls” (Matthew 16:26)?

Respond

Lord, give me the courage to follow You no matter what the world thinks, says, or does. “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6). I know that it is better by far to take refuge in You than in man (Psalm 118:8). Amen.

Reveal: Publicly confessing our belief in Christ is a command (Matthew 10:32-33, Romans 10:9). Have you acknowledged Jesus before men and confessed your faith in Him?

~ Pastor Nat Crawford