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.”

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; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.    We could debate then if those who believed but did not confess were saved. John 3:16 says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9-13 says:  If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”   In Mark 8:36-38, Jesus Himself says:  “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”   There surely are other scriptures which could be used to debate whether or not these were saved and there are many, in the church, who love to debate matters of scripture. I think Paul gives us good advice in Titus 3:9 when he says:  But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.     It is really unprofitable and worthless for us to debate and dispute such things. It is not ours to judge or to determine who is saved. We should avoid foolish controversies, strife and disputes about the law and doctrine.   

We should instead focus not on what this scripture says about those who believed and did not confess for fear of the Pharisees. We should focus on what it means to us, if we are unwilling to confess Christ because of fear of what others will say or do. We may not risk being put out of the synagogue, but surely in our culture today, to outwardly confess Christ as Lord and savior is not acceptable in many places, including our schools, our work places and even in public venues. Those who confess Christ have become outcasts, cast out of our culture, labeled intolerant, haters, hypocrites, bigots, fools and more. So the question for us is will we respond to the fear of man and be ashamed of Jesus or will testify of Him? In today’s text Jesus says:   “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 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.”     We should live more for the honor of the Father than for the approval of men. Jesus says: “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”    If we believe in Christ, we cannot remain hidden in the darkness of our culture and society. Jesus says He came as Light. In Matthew 5:14-16 He 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.”   Light has nothing to fear from darkness because light dispels darkness. Jesus says:   “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. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”  When Jesus was on the cross, it says:  At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.     The Light of the world was literally being taken out of the world. But it did not remain dark until the resurrection. Instead, those who believed became sons of the Light and it is their light; our light which now must shine in the darkness of the world!

Jesus says:  “ 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. 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. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”      God’s word says:  “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)   As believers it is not that we are intolerant or hateful toward people, but if we follow Christ, we must shine light in the darkness. We cannot call evil good or darkness light. We must prefer the honor and glory of God over the approval of man. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for Light and for life. May I truly live for Your honor rather than the approval of man. Because I believe, I will confess, may I live as a son of the Light, that others may see and glorify the Father in heaven.   Amen.