They loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

John 12:20-50 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; ²¹ these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. ²⁶ If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷ “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. ³¹ Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” ³³ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. ³⁴ The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. ³⁶ While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”

These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. ³⁷ But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” ⁴¹ These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. ⁴² Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. ⁴⁶ I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

“For they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”  Seeking and loving the approval of man is rarely a good or beneficial idea. Seeking the approval of man rather than the approval of God is a bad idea. The approval of men is conditional. They will only approve of us if it benefits them, if we support their beliefs, their ideas and their causes. They will love us and approve of us if it is financially expedient or if it seems like the right thing to do in the eyes of others. Jesus Himself is a perfect example of the fickleness of the approval of man. Multitudes of people followed Him and in yesterday’s text they rejoiced and celebrated His entry into Jerusalem, saying:   "Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel." (John 12:13)  In today’s text it says:    Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.    In just a few days, John 19:14-16 says:  Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”  So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate  said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”  That’s the progression we too can expect if we do and say things based on gaining the approval of man.

Jesus did not do the things He did, He did not teach and preach, He did not perform miracles, He did not associate with outcasts and sinners so that they would approve of Him. In John 5:19-20 Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing.” Everything Jesus did and everything He said, all His good works and all His teaching was not so that men would approve of Him but rather to do the will of the Father. We, like Jesus, must have that same motive and mindset. In John 15:18-20 Jesus says:  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”        Our politically correct, inclusive, tolerant culture and society says we must love and accept all people and their choices. Political correctness, tolerance and inclusion, the approval of society, culture and man should not be our motive for the things we do or say. If we would (and we should) embrace the outcasts and the unlovely we should do it in response to the Father, not for the approval of man.

In today’s text Jesus says: “ I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.  If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.  He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.”     Jesus did not come to judge or condemn and neither should we. He did though come as light, to call people out of darkness. He came to speak truth and He says that people will be judged by their response to the truth He has spoken. In John 15:22-25, Jesus continues the explanation of the worlds response to us as His disciples, He says:   ^“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.  But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ “   They hated Jesus without cause, so too will they hate us without cause, even if we love them as Christ loves them, even if we reach out to and associate with the outcasts and the marginal elements of our society, some will hate us if we walk in the light and if we speak the truth and the commandments of Jesus and the Father.

In today’s text Jesus says: “ Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”       Jesus has cast out satan, Jesus says: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)    He indeed will draw ALL men to Himself. Yet not all will come, not all will hear and receive His word, His message and commandments. Even though He lived and died as a demonstration of the love of God, as it says in Romans 5:8:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,  not everyone will respond to God’s love, not everyone will receive and love Him in return.  When Jesus said all authority was given to Him, He then commissioned us to: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20)   In Mark 16:15-16 Jesus says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”    Not everyone to whom we speak the truth and share the good news of the gospel will respond. Even though we love them,  some will  hate us as they hated Jesus, without cause. Our call our commission is not to seek the favor or approval of man, not to be motivated by their response. Neither, are we to judge or condemn. Jesus came not to judge or condemn but to save.

Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) We are to shine the light of Christ, not that men would approve us, but that the Father would be glorified, that He would approve.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.    Amen