Focal passage: Matthew 21:33-45
I am amazed at the variety of excuses people give for rejecting Jesus. Excuses are not new in our day.
Jesus spent a significant portion of His earthly ministry confronting people who rejected Him as Messiah.
In our focal passage (Matthew 21:33-45), Jesus uses a parable to describe how the Jewish religious leaders rejected not only Him but also the prophets who forecasted His coming.
It took the Jewish leaders a few minutes to realize the parable was about them, but instead of embracing Jesus as Savior they continued on the same path refusing to believe He was God’s Son.
Tragically, people are still rejecting Jesus today, and the excuses are numerous.
For example, someone might say, “My parents made me go to church when I was little, so I don’t want anything to do with organized religion anymore.”
Or, “There are a bunch of hypocrites in church;” or, “I am too busy for church.”
Could you imagine those same people telling a medical doctor, “My parents made me go to the doctor when I was little, so I don’t want anything to do with organized medicine”?
Or, “I don’t like going to the hospital because everyone there is sick;” or, “I am too busy to get treatment for my terminal illness.”
Clearly, these responses would be considered ridiculous in the medical field.
How much more ridiculous are the excuses for rejecting Jesus?
However, unlike the medical field, eternal judgment in hell is the consequence for not following Christ.
Do you know people who have rejected Jesus? What excuses did they make for not following God?
It breaks my heart that people are not willing to be honest with themselves.
Only God can help them see the fallacy in their reasoning.
We should pray every day that people all over the world would see the truth that Jesus really is the promised Messiah and help them lay aside their excuses and embrace Him as Savior and Lord.
Do not reject Jesus.