Religion is Not Recognizing Jesus

Religion is Not Recognizing Jesus

By Lions of Christ.com

In The Bible, the Pharisees, the teachers of religious law failed to recognize Jesus. Jesus said that they were more concerned about man-made laws rather than truth and pleasing men more than pleasing God. The ironic thing here is that they were Jews, sons of Abraham, and God’s chosen people and while they knew traditions and scriptures of old they failed at the most important thing, recognizing Jesus when He came. Much of the church has seemed to follow in the footsteps of the Pharisees. While they believe in Jesus, they seem to follow tradition, rituals, and routines more than seeking and following Him. How many churches have you attended that limit worship to 20 minutes or make sure their services end absolutely no later than noon on Sunday? This is not recognizing and following Jesus, this is trying to fit Jesus into our mold.

Did not Jesus tell us to take up our cross and to follow Him? How can we follow Jesus if we don’t know how to or fail to recognize Him? The only way we can truly follow Jesus is to know Him and be able to recognize His voice.

So where have we gone wrong?

The story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42 provides much insight into this matter. The Bible says that “Martha was distracted with much serving” but Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and heard His Word. When Martha complained to Jesus that she was doing all the work Jesus said to her, “you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

It is clearly shown here how many of us have been distracted with serving like Martha did. We get caught up in the machine and our focus turns to operating and maintaining it rather than staying on the one who gave us the machine.

So how do we turn our focus back on Him so that we can recognize and follow Him?

We need to diligently seek Him and when we find Him we need to constrain Him before He passes us by. The solution is clearly illustrated throughout the Bible. In Luke 24:13-31 Jesus drew near to two men walking to a village called Emmaus but their eyes were restrained so they would not know Him. Verse 28 & 29 says “Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, ‘Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent’ And He went in to stay with them.”

In Song of Solomon 3:1-4, seeking and constraining Him is also illustrated. Verse 4 says “When I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go.” When the disciples saw Jesus walking on water in Mark 6:47-50, He would have passed them by but they cried out.

The only way we can truly take up our cross and follow Jesus is not to just simply know about Him but to know Him. Our job as believers are to continually seek Him, cry out to Him, hang on to Him, and follow Him and if we learn to continually hear the voice of the Good Shepherd we won’t fail to recognize Him, therefore, He will not pass us by.


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