“Harden not your Hearts”

Q: Why did people not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, even after he gave them proof that He was the Christ?

Not everyone who heard the teachings of Jesus and saw the miracles rejected Him.  John 2:11 says when Jesus began to perform miracles and manifest His glory, his disciples believed on Him.  We would not have the Book of Acts and exhaustive documentation of biblical conversions had faith not been born in the twelve apostles.  Many Samaritans believed on Him as a result of the testimony of the woman by the well (John 4:39).  “Many more believed on Him because of His own word” (John 4:41).  In John 8:31, there were Jews who believed on Jesus and he taught them, “if you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed.”

But, there were many who did not believe in Jesus.  Many of the Pharisees rejected Jesus, even after witnessing the power and authority He demonstrated (Luke 6:7-11).  Many of His close followers began to hear some of the more challenging teachings of Jesus and, lacking spiritual discernment, chose to walk away from Him (John 6:66).

So, some chose to believe on Jesus, and some chose to reject Him.  These circumstances have never changed.  Since Jesus began to preach repentance and the kingdom of Heaven, performing miracles that confirmed His divine authority, these two simple groups of people have always been the result.  So, why do some believe Him and some reject Him?  Are some people genetically predisposed to skepticism?  Are others just more gullible, more susceptible to a “sheep” mentality?  Is it mainly the poor who are looking for something beyond this material world whobelieve, and the rich and powerful who don’t need anything outside of this world who reject Him?  Why do some believe and some don’t?

First of all, it is the teachings of Christ that cause people to accept or reject Him as the Son of God.  When the disciples learned that Jesus had risen from the dead, John 2:22 says that they believed His word and the teachings from scripture about Him.  The Pharisees saw the miracles Jesus performed, but they rejected Him because of His words, primarily those regarding His divine nature.

 It is no different today.  If people saw a miracle performed in the world today, it wouldn’t mean anything unless he who performed the miracle said something about who he was and why he had such power: based on his words, people would begin to believe who he claimed to be and where he got his power.  Today, people have the word and testimonies from those who saw the miracles.  But it is the teachings we choose to accept or reject, not the miracles themselves.

In Matthew, chapter 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower in which the word of God is represented as seed.  Jesus says that some of the seed fell on hearts that were hardened by sin and worldliness, by the wayside, making it easy for Satan to come along and snatch the truth from their hearts; these individuals love the world so much that they are not willing to exchange material things and worldly honor for spiritual truth (consider the Pharisees).  Some of the seed also fell on stony ground.  In the case of these individuals, the truth had an initial effect, but failed to take root because “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” choked out the truth: they at first believed, but then got distracted (consider those who walked away from Jesus in John 6:66).  But the good ground, hearts of those who would have enduring belief, are those who accept the testimonies and evidences, and those who are diligent in building their faith, that is, those who “bear fruit”. The parable focuses on a single determining factor in whether or not one believes in Jesus: the condition of the heart.  God has given every soul who has ever lived the ability to “seek the Lord, if haply they might seek after him and find him” (Acts 17:27).  From the moment we are able to think about the fact that there may be more to life than what we see, hear, and feel, we make choices that either make the heart more receptive to truth or more hardened against it.  Yes, there are circumstances in every individual’s life that cause each of us to have a different perspective on life, but that does not affect our God-given ability to choose eternal truth from error.  Believers are not born believers, and non-believers are not born non-believers: throughout the course of our lives, we either open to receive or harden our hearts against truth. Hebrews 3:7,8 says, “Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” and in verse 12, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.”  Sadly, many people choose to harden their hearts against anything that might bring truth into their lives, and when they are finally exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (THE truth), they’ve already conditioned themselves to reject Him.  This is not to say that they will never accept Christ, but it certain makes the work of sharing the Gospel much more challenging!

Jeremy Koontz