Rigged Systems (John 7)

People don't knowingly go into a situation to be ripped off,nor do they enter a competition when they know that it is rigged. Yet, all across this world and every day, people hand their lives over to the things of this world that they cannot take with them into the next life. It is so important to understand this part of Jesus' ministry - Jesus is calling people to have eternal life in Him, and instead of receiving Him, they are choosing the systems of this world that would rip us off and are rigged to begin with. Set to fail before we even start! And so, Jesus will come up against opposition and rejection, rejected by his own brothers, the crowds, the religious leaders of His day, each of them with their own agenda, giving themselves over to various systems. But throughout the mess of all of this, we do not give up hope. We see that in John chapter 7, Nicodemus, in the day time, stands up and defends Jesus; where before in John chapter 3, he did not believe the earthly things Jesus spoke of nor would he believe the heavenly things. But now, because Jesus shared the powerful word of the Gospel, that salvation is found in Him. Nicodemus, it seems, has experienced being born from above, born again, born of the Spirit. And so, though we have pulled ourselves from the systems of this world, we have taken hold of Jesus and have eternal life because of Him, many others will come. And maybe not in the way we expect, maybe our families will not believe us, our friends, even religious systems of today may all reject us, yet, Jesus thought it worthwhile to continue on for those likeNicodemus who will come, and all that the Father has given the Son will come to Him. And those who do come, in no way will the Son ever cast out. That is our promise, that is our hope and our future that is in Jesus Christ.