Have you ever thought about the simple fact that people respond to Jesus very differently? There are those today who love him and willingly die for him, there are others who hate him and wish they never heard the name again, and then there are those who are completely indifferent. This isn’t any different than how people responded to Jesus over two thousand years ago.
As the New Testament records the life and ministry of Jesus, there were those who despised him (temple officials and other religious leaders), and there were others who were martyred for him, like many of the apostles, and Stephen. (Acts 7:54-60)
What are we to make of this? You would think that if the Christian claims about Jesus were true, everyone would respond positively to Jesus. That is, if Jesus really were the only begotten Son of the One True God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, then something within us, something wired into our DNA, would resonate with Jesus and be “warmed” to him. After all, He would be the proverbial Father of us all. So, what do we make of the fact that there were those who hated him so much that they killed him?
The answer lies in the Christian doctrine of the Clarity of Scripture. This doctrine states that the message of the Bible is clear, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to those who seek to love and obey God. This means that if someone were studying the Bible with motivations other than to love and obey God, then the message of the Bible would not be clear to that person. They wouldn’t understand its message.
But what does this doctrine about the Bible have to do with Jesus? Well, both the Scriptures and Jesus are forms of Special Revelation. That is, they both reveal the person and character of the Triune God with such clarity that one can arrive at a saving knowledge of Him through them. That is, if someone wants to know who God is, then they just need to read the Bible, or look at Jesus.
The letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (Heb 1:3a) Want to see God? Look at Jesus.
So, how can two people look at the same person and one says, “Crucify him!,” and the other says, “Worship Him!”? Like the Doctrine of the Clarity of Scripture, it has to do with the heart posture of the person. God only reveals himself with clarity when people are looking for him with the desire to love and obey him. Those who look for God only to condemn him, persecute him, and rebel against him, will always and forever have a skewed and perverse image of who God is.
Are you looking for God? Why? What’s your heart posture? If you’re looking with the intention to love and obey him, then you’ll find him with unmatched clarity in the person of Jesus.
