It is hard to convince anybody of anything when they think they are right. It doesn't matter how you present the situation or information, if they are convinced they are right they will defy all logic, even when the evidence is right in front of them. We shouldn't be surprised then when people refuse the facts about Jesus. They come up with every argument, every excuse, every "reason" to deny him. However, we need to keep in mind there is something working to keep them from the truth.
Rebellion is a very powerful thing. We call it our sin nature but what it boils down to is rebellion. Eve rebelled against Yahweh's command. There was only one command and yet Eve found it in herself to deny even that one. It set mankind on a terrible spiral down into a nature of rebellion. This sin nature distorts and twists everything so that people even defy the logic that they aspire to live by. We have plenty of examples in the Word of God which demonstrate this perfectly.
Consider David and Bathsheba. What would possess David to think that he could get away with having sex with another man's wife? Did he think that Yahweh would kindly turn a blind eye to his action. But this wasn't even the sin that he got called out on. David went from being an adulterer to a murderer. It's amazing how quickly sin can escalate. The natural consequences to his adultery was that Bathsheba was pregnant. David actually thought he could cover it up and make Uriah think he had gotten his wife pregnant. It is incredible to what lengths we will go to avoid dealing with our rebellion. Finally David arranged to have Uriah killed in battle, and this was the sin with which he was called out on, but it started with his adultery.
What possessed David to think that he could get away with it? Rebellion twists our thinking and causes us to think abnormal situations are normal. Yahweh and the whole kingdom were looking in and David ended up dealing with this sin in a public manner. But there are even greater examples than this.
In Luke 20 Jesus told a parable about a landowner who built a vineyard and then rented it out. The rent was simply a portion of the crop. It is only logical that when you rent something you have to pay the rent. But when the landowner's servants arrived to collect the rent, the people renting the vineyard beat them and sent them away. So the man sent his son. Now look at the twisted thinking of a rebellious mind:
But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ (Luke 20:14)
Are you kidding me? What logic would dictate that, because you kill your landlord's heir, you will become the heir? Craziness, but that is exactly where their thinking went. You may say, it's just a story, which it is, but this parable was aimed at a real life situation. The religious elite knew who Jesus was. If they didn't Jesus would not have told this parable. The thing is, these elite did not want to lose their position of importance. Jesus was stating here that their motivation for killing the Son was to maintain the kingdom for themselves. So killing God's Son would let them keep the Kingdom. Sorry but this is messed up thinking. Yes, they did kill him, but 40 years later everything was taken from them and destroyed.
We live in a world that defies logic. They think they are thinking straight and understanding everything but their rebellion has twisted their perspective and understanding. Even in the Church people are being deceived by what they want to be true instead of seeking the truth itself. We are living in an age where evil is called good and good evil. We need to be aware of it to avoid the trap that so many are falling into. We need to get ourselves fixed on Jesus and fight against any notion of rebellion in us. We know we are in danger when we start rejected sections of the Word of God. When we start rejecting his truth because it goes against what we want, it is called rebellion.
May we clearly hear Jesus' voice calling us to his righteousness and may his holy fires burn passionately within us.
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