How to Treat Jesus
(John 3:22-36)
When Kanye West goes to a venue to perform, he requires that there be a slushy machine for him to use. Singers often have contracts with a venue that spell out how they are to be treated. Madonna must have a vegan chef. Jack White must have fresh home-made guacamole per the recipe provided. Their contracts spell it all out. The most popular contract is the one that the group Van Halen has. It is a 53 page contract and in that contract is the phrase, M&Ms (WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES). The reason for this stipulation is that if Van Halen arrives at a venue and there are brown M&Ms, they quickly know that the promoter has not read the contract and there are probably many more important requirements that have to be double-checked.
What if God had a contract? What if in that contract, He spelled out how He wanted to be treated? What would be in the contract? We will consider some possibilities today.
This sermon is titled, How to treat Jesus. We will look at five ways God and His Son, Jesus, should be treated.
1. Submit to God's Plan
John 3:22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.
John 3:23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized.
John 3:24 (This was before John was put in prison.)
John 3:25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.
John 3:26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
John 3:27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.
John the Baptist is baptizing people in the Jordan River. He has moved across and down the river from where he was before. A certain Jew comes to John’s disciples, his students, and argues with them about ceremonial washing.
The Greek actually just says cleansing. Why is he arguing about cleansing? What does that have to do with anything?
It has relevance because the Jews have a way of cleansing themselves. They strip down naked, climb down into a special pool of water, dunk themselves up and down several times, and then climb out. They go in unclean and come out clean. They still do this today. This is where John the Baptist got the idea of baptism from. Our baptism comes from this Jewish practice of cleansing.
This man and John’s students were probably arguing about which baptism is better, John’s or the Jews’. This Jewish man probably then pointed out that Jesus was down the river doing the same thing and that everyone was going to Him.
John’s students didn’t like this. They went and told John. There was something they did not understand. John understood most of it.
God had a plan. God had a plan when it came to John the Baptist and Jesus. John was to prepare the way for Jesus. John did that. But then John was to get less popular, have fewer followers, and even die (John probably didn’t know that part). All the while, Jesus was to get more popular and get more followers.
What if John didn't like this? What if John decided that he liked the crowds? John could have gone to Jesus and said, “I was here first. Go find your own river.”
No, instead, John submitted to God’s plan. He said, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.” John realized that everything that he had, all those people who came to hear him, all those people that he baptized, all his students, God had given him them. They were gifts from God. God could just as easily take them away, and in some sense He had. “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” John knew this, and he submitted to it.
God also has a plan when it comes to us. The things, that we have, came from God, from heaven. They are a part of His plan. Do we see this? I'm afraid not enough. We think that we earned it all. We can only receive what God gives us. And God has given us so much. But God has a plan.
I can guarantee you that there are things in God’s plan that you do not like. I am sure that John didn’t like everyone going to Jesus and not coming to him. But he realized that God had a plan and His plan was more important. He realized that God was working in all of this. Who was he to only take the good parts? John submitted to God’s plan. We also must submit to God's plan. That’s how God wants us to treat Him. Submit to His plan. Another one is:
2. Be Happy For Him
John 3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’
John 3:29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
In Judea, in the Bible times, weddings lasted for many days. There were two groomsmen, one for the groom, the other for his bride. Before the marriage they acted as intermediaries between the couple; at the wedding they offered gifts, they waited on the bride and groom, and they attended the couple to the bridal chamber. It was the duty of the groom’s friend to present him to the bride. After marriage these two friends maintained proper terms between the parties. Here it says that the groom’s friend is full of joy when he hears the groom’s voice.
John saw himself as an attendant to Jesus. Someone to help him.
Have you ever been an attendant at a wedding in one form or another? Maybe the parents who spend a lot of time getting things ready? Doesn't it make you happy to see the bride and groom together, to see them in love, to see them on the happiest day of their life?
John said that he had that type of happiness. So what if he was losing followers, Jesus was succeeding. He was happy about that.
We are attendants to Jesus. It should make us happy when we see Jesus exalted. Jesus’ success should be very important to us. Be happy for Jesus.
3. Make Him Greater
John 3:30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
In Greek “greater” is actually “grow.” He must grow and I must be made less.
Jesus must grow. Is that our main focus in life? To want Jesus to grow? Will we make sacrifices to help Him? Will we make ourselves less to see Him grow? Will we give up things, what we want, what we have, to help Jesus? Is us becoming less a main focus in our lives? Less so that He can grow?
God must become greater. He must grow. I must become less. This is simple. It’s an easy formula. It’s something we all remember. But do we do it? This is how we are to treat Jesus. This is how we are to treat God. Make Them greater.
4. Put Him Above All
John 3:31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.
This is a good principle to remember. The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth.
There is God and His Son (they come from heaven) and there are humans and other things (they come from the earth). I am human. Every person in this room is human. Every pastor that has preached from this pulpit was human. The other preachers and teachers that you listen to are human. The things that we are involved in outside of this church, they are human things. Human – God. Human – God. Do you see a difference? God is above all. Do you get this? God is above all. He is more important than all these other things. How is it that that is not true in our lives? How is it that we don’t practice that? God is above all.
John continues his conversation. He is talking about the One who comes from above, Jesus.
John 3:32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.
John 3:33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.
John 3:34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
What human has been to heaven? None. I am amused by the people who talk about the spirit of trees, the spirit of nature, or other spiritual forces. They stand around in the forest with arms extended. They are making contact with the spirits. How do they know? They have not been to the spirit world. They don't have special spiritual glasses. The One who has been to heaven and seen the spiritual world testifies to what He has seen and heard. And what happens? No one accepts His testimony. Wow.
Was Jesus a liar? Was He a con artist? No, He wasn't. So why won't people accept the things that He said? Those who accept them, as this passage says, certify that God is truthful, that what He said is true.
Jesus spoke God's words. God gave the Holy Spirit to Jesus no holds barred, without limit. The Father loves Jesus and placed everything in His hands. Doesn't all of this warrant that we put Him above all else? The Father trusted Him. We should too. Put Jesus above all else. This is how we must treat Him. Another way is:
5. Trust Him
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
As I have said many times, the word believe means trust. Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life. But if your Bible has “believe” in the next phrase that is believe, or actually, not believe. This word is from a different Greek word. This is one of the few places where believe does mean believe. “Reject” (as it says here in the NIV) is not really correct. It is “not believe”. Whoever does not believe the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
So once again, a better reading for this verse is, whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life, but whoever does not believe the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
Where do you stand? Trust or not believe? Do you trust Jesus? Or do you really not believe Him. If you trust Jesus, prove it. What have you done to trust Him? You can't just say that you trust Him. You have to trust Him. There are plenty of things in our everyday life that we can trust Jesus for. Are you? Are you trusting Him for any of the problems you face? Or are you trying to solve those problems yourself?
Are you trusting Him for your eternal destination? Or are you doing something else to secure that? Where do you stand? Are you trusting Jesus? If not, God's wrath remains on you. How hard is it to trust Jesus? It’s easy, yet the consequences are eternal. Trust Jesus. Trust God.
There is a proper way to treat God and His Son, Jesus.
The next time that you kneel to pray, the next time that you bow your head, the next time that want to talk to Jesus, when you summon Jesus from off His throne, remember how He needs to be treated. Maybe God should draw up a contract and make us sign it, make us promise to provide these things. Let me go through them again. How to treat Jesus. 1) Submit to God's plan. 2) Be happy for Jesus. 3) Make God greater. 4) Put God above all. And 5) trust Jesus.
Back to Van Halen, if a promoter missed the clause about the M&Ms and there were brown M&Ms, the promoter forfeited his pay. He didn't get paid. That is pretty drastic.
The consequences for mistreating Jesus are just as drastic. It may not seem that way, but they are. It may seem that God does nothing when you mistreat Him. But the consequences are still there.
It’s not enough just to sign a contract. It’s not enough just to know these five points. I’m sure we all already knew them. It’s not enough to vow that you will do them. You must do them. Look at your actions, do they show that you are treating Jesus right?
The promoter who started taking the brown M&Ms out, but it was too time consuming – he wasn’t going to spend an hour going through the M&Ms -- he didn’t get paid. What worse consequence do you think we will suffer when we find these five requirements too menial to do, too unimportant to bother with, when we have more important things to do. As it says in the last verse here, God's wrath abides on them.
Let’s treat Jesus and the Father right. Let’s do these things that John the Baptist did and preached about.
What are they? One more time: 1) Submit to God's plan. 2) Be happy for Jesus. 3) Make God greater. 4) Put God above all. And 5) trust Jesus.
