When the Truth Offends

“When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus[d] was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.” (John 12:9-11)
The chief priests make plans to put Lazarus to death as well. When the truth doesn’t agree with what you want to believe, then you are driven to all sorts of heinous things. But it never makes any of it any good, or more true. Get rid of the evidence, ignore the evidence, shout down those bringing attention to the evidence. Lazarus is the evidence, he rose from the dead. So the chief priests, rather than face the truth, choose to murder.
It happens today. It happens within the church. Too often. Rather than facing and owning up to the truth, people go to whatever lengths they can to cover it up. I tend to believe that this is what happens when a person believes that justification is theirs to earn and no longer Christ’s to give. Or more often when they don’t want to believe that justification is Christ’s to give. Here is Jesus, he gave Lazarus life. He wants to give life, to forgive sins. Lazarus is proof of this. But that is too much for the chief priests. It is too much for many people. They take themselves too seriously, and this doesn’t allow them to do it. Jesus giving them their salvation forces them to admit that everything they have done toward accomplishing their own salvation is worthless, less than worthless, to be counted as dung in the words of Paul. But then in comparison to what Jesus has to offer, all of what we have is to be counted dung.