Proverbs 25:2-10; Hebrews 13:1-17; Luke 14:1-14
If you were invited to have dinner with a group of people who didn’t like you and were looking for reasons to justify being your enemies, you’d probably decline the invitation and avoid the people involved. But if you were Jesus you’d accept the invitation and then make sure you did something that forced the issue. That’s exactly what happened when Jesus dined at the house of a leading Pharisee where the guests, including other Pharisees and teachers of the law, “were watching Him carefully” in search of something to use against Him. It didn’t take long before a severely ill man was in front of Jesus seeking healing — on a Sabbath day, of course. Turning to those who were carefully watching Him, Jesus questioned them about what was lawful. Even though they were experts on such matters, they remained silent. After healing the man, Jesus questioned them once more. Again they were silent. They had come to just watch Jesus, not to speak with or learn
from Jesus.
There are a lot of people today who take the same approach with Jesus. They allow Jesus into their worlds only to watch and assess Him. They analyze His teachings, consider His example, and weigh His promises, but in the end they have nothing to say to Jesus — neither in repentance nor in confessing Him as Lord. This problem of just watching Jesus isn’t only a problem among unbelievers, it’s a growing issue within the church. More and more people are attending churches that allow, encourage, and even facilitate people being spectators rather than participants in the Faith. They gather anonymously in weekly services that resemble concerts or night clubs with large crowds to watch the band, the videos, the light shows, the polished speakers, and the other spectators. Some are moved to learn more about Jesus, but most of them, like the guests at the dinner Jesus attended, remain silent and just watch.Just watching Jesus is not enough to be His disciple. In His encounter with those who “were watching Him carefully,” Jesus spelled out what it takes to be one of His followers: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” His call to active humility isn’t a call to earn His favor through pious acts, but a call to go beyond just watching Him to “go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured,” that is, to join Him in the humility of the Cross and live as humble servants in this life in joyful anticipation of the resurrection when the just will be watching Him receive them into His eternal presence.
Click here to listen to the sermon "Just Watching Jesus" (or right-click to download).
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