Conceit

Today we often marvel at the ignorance of the Jews of Christ’s day. How could they be so blind that they overlooked all of the prophesies concerning the Messiah and crucified Him when He came? We may be quite certain that we would not have made the same mistake, if we had been in their place. The problem was not that the Jews did not know the scriptures, including the messianic prophesies, but that they did not understand them. Were the prophesies hard to understand? Was their meaning somehow hidden to the Jews?

Human understanding is heavily influenced by what we already know and believe. For thousands of years, most people believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Christians felt justified in this belief because they felt the Bible supported this view. Therefore, as information about the movement of the sun, moon, planets, or stars was gathered it was interpreted in light of the FACT that everything revolved around the earth. The famous scientist Galileo spent the latter part of his life under house arrest after being convicted by the Inquisition of teaching the false doctrine that the earth revolved around the sun. Time and overwhelming evidence finally won out. But why were educated men so stubborn in their resistance to the obvious and even misusing scriptures to support their false position? For the same reason that this type of thing has happened over and over throughout history: conceit.

What does this have to do with the Jews crucifying the Messiah? The Jews believed, despite a complete lack of scriptural evidence to support it, that the Messiah was coming to restore Israel to glory and make it the most powerful nation on earth. Even after Christ had been crucified, resurrected, and was ready to ascend for the final time, His own disciples still believed that was his purpose. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6) Why was it so hard for even those closest to Christ to understand what He was all about?

The Jews were a very conceited people. They believed themselves to be superior to all other peoples in the world. Non-Jews, or Gentiles as they were often referred to, were regarded as little better than dogs. Therefore, the Jews believed that it was only natural that they would eventually return to their proper place as the most dominant nation on earth. Think of the mindset required to reconcile this view with passages such as Genesis 18:18, which states that through Abraham all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. If the true mission of the Messiah was to restore Israel to world dominance, the conceit of the Jews is clearly seen. How were all nations to be blessed? By being conquered and ruled by the Jews of course! The inferior Gentiles would be much better off once they had the much superior Jews directing their affairs. The idea that the Jews would someday dominate the world was so powerful in their minds that even Christ’s disciples had a very hard time getting past it.

What does this have to do with us today? Does not the United States often exhibit the same sort of arrogance and conceit toward other nations? More importantly, do not members of the Church often exhibit this same attitude toward denominations? But that’s different isn’t it? After all, we are God’s people and we have the truth! The Jews were also God’s people and they had the truth. We often look down our noses at the denominations just like the Jews did the Gentiles. We chastise the various denominations for their erroneous views on a variety of topics. Are we so sure that, like the Jews, we have not missed the mark in some area?

Conceit makes us feel we are right with God when we are not. Remember the admonition of the Apostle Paul? Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (I Cor. 10:12). In Romans 12:16 he also warned us to be not wise in your own conceits. Blest as we are today it is easy to become complacent and forget how much we rely upon God for everything. Oh no, someone protests; I have worked for everything I have. Would you have as much if you had been born in Mexico, China, or Africa? Would you have as much if you were born blind, deaf, or unable to walk or talk? It is only by the grace of God that we do any of what we do. Thank God and rejoice in His mercy every time you enjoy a breath of fresh air, a sip of water, a morsel of bread, a colorful sunset, or another sunrise. Considering our faults and imperfections, we have nothing to be conceited about and everything about which to be humble.