I really did mean to get this up sooner. So if this was the one week you were there and had something - a verse; a thought - that you wanted to remember and didn't write it down because you assumed it would be on here, apologies. Or, if you weren't there and you thought to yourself last Monday morning: 'Hey, I have some time this morning, I'll take a quick look at Justin's sermon notes', only to find that they were not there, more apologies. Was working hard studying Psalm 38 for Wednesday night (will probably put that up in a day or so).
This text, John 12:19-36, follows close on the heels of the triumphal entry in John 12:10-18, in which some Greeks come to see Jesus, and he announces that his hour has come.
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19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has
gone after him.”
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip,
who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told
Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “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 Whoever loves his life loses it, and
whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow
me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this
purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I
have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it
had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for
your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by
what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that
the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of
Man?" 35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have
the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:18-36, ESV).
Last week, if you were paying close attention, you might have noticed that I never mentioned verse 19 again after quoting the passage, and simply finished the message when we reached verse 18. I had forgotten at the time what I had learned while studying for last week’s sermon. That is that verse 19 seemed like more of a setup verse for verses 20 and following.
“19 So, the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world
has gone after him.’”
Though probably said hyperbolically, John sees the same significant irony here as he does in John 11:49-50 when the high priest, Caiaphas, prophesies that Jesus will die for the people. In neither case is the full meaning of what they were saying grasped by those who spoke. It is not insignificant that verse 20, immediately after this reference to the whole world going after Jesus, that the Lord is approached by these Greek men.
“20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to
Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’”
John does not tell us much about them, simply that they came to worship at the feast. Perhaps they were Gentile proselytes who have adopted the beliefs of Judaism. Perhaps they were simply Gentiles who feared God like Cornelius in Acts 10.
John doesn’t tell us what exactly they wanted, simply that they wanted to see Jesus. Although John doesn’t record the event, the synoptic Gospels tell us that shortly after the triumphal entry, Jesus entered the temple and threw out those who sold merchandise and overturned their money tables. Matthew 21 records Jesus quoting from Isaiah 56:7:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,”
Jesus concludes by observing that rather than that being the case, they have made it a den of thieves. Particularly what angered him was that this business was being done in the court of the Gentiles – the one place in the whole temple that non-Jews could come to worship. God had commanded this place be made for them, but by their sin, the Jewish leaders had effectively made any worship impossible in that area – thereby shutting out all Gentiles from worshipping God.
Perhaps these Greeks had heard what Jesus had said. They may have even been there. Or they may simply have been aware of prophecies in the Old Testament that foretold the inclusion of Gentiles in the future and wanted to ask Jesus, considered to be a wise teacher, about these things.
John doesn’t tell us why they came to Philip instead of to Jesus himself. Perhaps Jesus was occupied or was in another part of the temple that the Greeks could not enter. Although it is interesting that John makes a point of saying that they came to Philip, and then says, ‘he was from Bethsaida in Galilee’, in verse 21. Now, if Philip’s hometown was important, it might be that these Greeks were from the Decapolis just north of Israel, to which Bethsaida is not geographically far from. Also, given that his name was Greek, and he may have also spoken Greek well given where he lived in Israel, this might explain why he was approached particularly. In any case, Philip seems to have been similarly reluctant to approach Jesus and takes the request to Andrew. Andrew and Philip then deliver the message to Jesus together.
And at this point, the Greeks are never mentioned again: Completely absent from here on. Whether Jesus spoke to them or whether they were listening as he speaks here, we are not told. And, I might point out, as far as John’s point is concerned, it does not matter: That they came to Jesus is what matters, not what he might have said to them. It is their coming that causes Jesus to say in verse 23,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
If you’ve been paying attention at all throughout John, you will know that this is not the first time that Jesus’ hour has been referred to. In John 2, Jesus’ mother came to him about the problem with the wine and he told that his hour had not yet come. In chapter 7, John tells us that they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. Again in chapter 8, we are told that no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
So finally in chapter 12, at some point between Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and Thursday night when he and his disciples gathered together for the last supper, Jesus is approached by some Greeks, and this is the sign to him that his hour has arrived.
He doesn’t mean a literal hour – that is, that he will be killed within the next sixty minutes. But he means the time when his mission will be completed and his message fulfilled has now arrived.
Why now? What does the coming of these Gentiles have to do with his mission? In the time we have left, I want you to see 5 Truths About Jesus’ Mission and Message – There is a great deal of overlap between the mission and the message, so I have decided to connect them for the purposes of our study tonight. There were originally more than five, but I found it too difficult to keep some of them separate, so I have condensed those into other points.
We have just seen that the hour has arrived: When the Gentiles came, God revealed to Jesus that this is the sign that paves the way for his ultimate purpose in coming to earth. All his teaching and the signs that he has performed cannot be truly understood prior to, and apart from, the culmination of his mission when he dies on the cross.
1. It costs everything
Jesus says,
“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.”
An agricultural example: Basically, the seed’s whole purpose in existing is to reproduce. As a seed, it is worthless if it stays unchanged. But when it falls to the ground and ceases to exist in its current form, it becomes extremely useful, and subsequently bears much fruit. Yet, in order for that process to be completed, the seed must cease to exist in its current state.
“25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life.”
While it is true that with God all things are possible, that doesn’t mean that this road is without pain for Jesus.
“27 Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?”
Just as in Gethsemane, Jesus will pray: Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But not what I will, but what you will. As he recognizes that the time of his death is drawing near, and all that comes with it, he is troubled, and who can blame him? Jesus knew better than anyone what awaited him, and it was fraught by pain and sorrow. He would be spat upon and tortured by his own people whom he created, and even forsaken by God his Father.
In verse 32, he alludes to his death,
“32 I [will be] lifted up from the earth.”
Verse 33 tells us that this is a reference to the kind of death he would die – on the cross. The most painful and humiliating death imaginable. It was reserved for rebels and traitors. And the cross was only the end – before that, Jesus would be scourged.
Scourging was a form of whipping in which bits of steal and bone were attached to the whip and it deeply into the body of the victim. In fact, scourging occasionally led to death from shock. If the victim lived, their body would be a wreck, and they would be covered by scars for however long after that they lived. There were actually three forms of scourging – a lighter form for miscreants, intended to teach them a lesson, and two more extreme forms.
From a comparison of the Gospel accounts, it appears that Jesus was first given the lighter form of flogging before sentencing – an attempt by Pilate to appease the crowd – and then the most severe after sentencing, before he carried the cross up the hill.
And this does not even consider the spiritual torment of the weight of sin that he carried for us – leading to the Father turning his face away from him. We say that God never learns new things because he knows everything. But I can tell you this: Jesus did not know what it felt like to carry the guilt and condemnation of sin upon him, because he had never sinned; and he did not know what it felt like to be separated in any sense from the Father.
What he endured for us is beyond our ability to comprehend, even if we were so inclined to spend all eternity trying to understand. Even then, it would be beyond our grasp. And God be thanked for that.
And yet, we are not left entirely off the hook.
2. It provides an example for us
Although this message is first meant to explain his own work, Jesus clearly intends for us to recognize that we must be prepared to do the same.
“25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal
life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If
anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
God created man in his image. He created us to have dominion over all creation. Adam was called to rule over the birds and beasts and to care for the trees and plants. He named them, and he ruled as God’s steward over them.
Now, in the work of redemption, we who have been transformed by the Gospel – who have repented of our sins and committed our souls to Christ in salvation – are now called to be his emissaries in a fallen world; we are to proclaim his message to those who have not yet accepted it. Both through the message of his life, death on the cross, resurrection, and through the message of our lives that have been transformed through the renewing of his Holy Spirit, we are to carry on the work.
So as we are to represent him, that requires that we follow his example. As he was willing to lose his life and give everything for us, so we are to be willing to do the same for others.
“9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but
now you have received mercy...
...20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good
and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been
called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his
steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did
not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who
judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now
returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:9-10, 20-25, ESV).
We are like that grain of wheat. In our natural state we reject our created purpose because we reject God and his plan. Also, it is not the easiest path. But if we submit to God’s plan for us and fall into the earth like the wheat we will bear much fruit – we will be made like him and draw others to him as well.
But the purpose of this plan is not to make everything cozy for us. If it was, God is certainly powerful enough to do so. In fact, from the beginning, the life of man was without such pain in it – but our sin necessitated this. That said, Christ suffered far more than we ever could. The purpose of God’s plan for us is the same as the purpose of his plan for Jesus: His glory.
3. Its purpose is God’s glory
“‘27 Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this
purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I
have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’”
Many of our problems with serving God come down to the fact that until our salvation, our life was self-based, not God-based. That is, we lived to serve ourselves. And even though we are saved now, our past habits of selfishness do not simply disappear.
Jesus’ life was lived with that purpose in mind. Interestingly enough, for about the first thirty years of his life, he was apparently unknown and basically worked as a carpenter.
Living every day to the glory of God does not mean you will necessarily be called to live in a hovel in the South Seas for the rest of your life. It seems that Jesus glorified God in those first thirty years by being faithful in the position that God placed him in.
We glorify God by demonstrating that his Spirit is living within us, changing us into his image. Old desires begin to pass away and new ones from God take precedence. In some cases, God uses people through a particular gift he has given them.
Johann Sebastian Bach lived in Germany following the Protestant Reformation. He loved the theology of Luther and Calvin and was committed to the biblical teachings that they preached. The music he wrote was intended to glorify God. In fact, it is said that at the bottom of the page in his musical compositions, he would write next to his name, SDG – abbreviated for Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone be the glory. Bach recognized that genius God had given him to compose was to glorify God, not Bach.
Eric Liddell is famous for being featured in the movie Chariots of Fire. In that film, the character of Liddell memorably says, “God made me fast. When I run, I feel his pleasure.” He used his ability as a platform to proclaim the glory of God. Less famously, God called him from there to the anonymous work of serving on the mission field in China where he dedicated the rest of his short life to working among the Chinese until his death during World War 2 (I believe in a prisoner camp).
As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12, we all have a particular role in the body, no more or less important before God: Because he assigned our roles to each of us.
One warning I’ve had to remind myself, and I think especially needs to be remembered in America today is this: Be careful that we don’t try to find some way to justify what we want to do by saying that it glorifies God. You glorify God by fulfilling his plan for your life. If you are not doing what he appointed you to do, you are sinning.
If what you are doing costs you nothing for Christ, be wary of it. The difficulty is part of the refining process to make you more like our Lord. Christ suffered to leave us an example, not to give us a cushy time in this life. The end of pain and sorrow is not to be found here. If that’s what you, or I am looking for, this is the wrong church and the wrong God.
4. It provides freedom from judgment for all peoples
In verse 28, when Jesus prayed to the Father to glorify his name, an audible voice comes from heaven. Then,
“30 Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this
world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all peoples to myself.”
The initial judgment of the world came in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve, as representatives of all their descendants, rebelled against God and broke his commandment. That day, they died spiritually, by separating themselves from God. And all mankind is judged through them – not that we would have done any different.
The second judgment came at the coming of Christ. He came to his own people, and they did not receive him. Just as Adam and Eve rejected God in the Garden of Eden, in the same way, the nation of Israel – whom God had chosen as his own special nation, and set them apart from all nations of the world – rejected his Son, Jesus Christ. And thus, by rejecting the Son, they rejected the Father also, and condemned themselves. The final judgment will come at Christ’s return at the end of days.
But if the world is being judged now, Jesus tells us that he will draw all people to himself. Now, this is tricky – some readers love to be lazy with words and simply take ‘all people’ as an all-inclusive statement. But Jesus is not a Universalist. He clearly says the world will be judged. But in particular, Jesus came to his people: Israel. And even as they reject him, he calls all peoples to himself. Both Jew and Gentile. That is why the coming of the Greeks was so significant in verse 20. Their coming signaled to Jesus that the judgment of Israel was about to begin.
But in this drawing all people to himself, what does he mean?
In the verses leading up to Isaiah 53 and Israel’s confession that they have rejected God’s servant, their Messiah, we read in Isaiah 52:13,
“13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.”
The servant is exalted – Jesus uses the same language in our passage. So what else do we see of this servant?
“10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an
offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall
prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge
shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their
iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:10-11, ESV).
Earlier, in John 8:28, Jesus said,
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on
my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”
The purpose of his ministry can only be understood with the background of the cross. His signs and his teaching were worthless without the cross. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins. That is what he has done for us.
But Jesus came not merely to save Israel alone, but to open the way for people of all nations to be reconciled to God. Even his name for himself makes that clear: The Son of Man. That title was used in Daniel 7 to describe this vision:
“13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
In John 12:34, it seems as though the people have grasped the connection between the Christ and the Son of Man, but their unwillingness to accept Jesus’ message clouds their understanding. Apparently, ignoring the context of a passage was just as popular in Jesus’ time as it is today. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.
Daniel is very clear:
“14 To him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, [all] nations, and [all]
languages should serve him;” (Daniel 7:14, ESV - Words in parenthesis added for emphasis).
The term ‘all’ in regards to people may not always refer to everyone who ever lived - the context determines the qualification of the word - but the term ‘all peoples’ certainly does not mean ‘one people’ – that is, Israel.
The people listening to Jesus, we see in verse 34, have questions. But while they’ve latched onto the part about his dominion being an everlasting dominion – they say, ‘We have heard…that the Christ remains forever’ – at the same time, they missed the universal nature of the message: That the Christ came into the world so that whoever believes in him, whether Jew or Gentile, will be saved.
5. It provides a warning
The last truth regarding Jesus’ mission and message is that a warning comes with it.
“35 Jesus said to them, ‘the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the
light lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is
going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.’”
Jesus’ basic point is this: The truth is here now. You’ve heard it, but the expiration date on this truth always comes sooner than you expect it.
When one goes out to evangelize, the apathy among unbelievers is so disheartening to see. So many people just refuse to take it seriously. They’re in the dark, and they’ve deluded themselves into thinking that they’re the smart ones - We’re the fools. It breaks your heart to see that kind of hard-heartedness.
When I was reading these last verses, it made me think of some who have been in church, both whom I have known in this church during my life, and those who’ve been in other churches – while they are here, in fellowship with believers and in the hearing of the Word, they look like us; they look sincere in their faith. But when they go out and either stop regularly attending church or they attend a church that does not preach the Gospel faithfully, they begin to show that their faith was not genuine.
While we ourselves are not the light, there is a sense in which, while people are in the church, the reflected light of God is on them. That is, they’re in church, hearing the truth: The light of the Word is near them. When they go out and no longer have that, they demonstrate that they never truly came to the light; never truly became children of light and walked in the light.
When we look back to the call to commitment that Jesus demands in verses 24-26, it’s a good litmus test to determine whether we are walking in the light. How willing are we to lose our life for his sake? That doesn’t even necessarily mean we have to die like Jesus did. It may be tougher than if we did that: It may mean we have to live like Isaiah or Jeremiah, ministering for years in a difficult situation with no end in sight. That’s where the glory of the Lord comes in: We’re not working to ‘save more souls than the next guy’ or serve in a flashier way than someone else.
George Muller once said that in seeking God’s will he did his level best to eliminate having a personal opinion. He didn’t want to have a personal will in the matter, but simply to have God’s will be his will. Now, there are limits to how well we can do that, but that is the attitude we are to have: To make God’s will our will. If our will is not God’s will, it is a sinful will.
As we close, I want to look at Galatians 3 and reflect on the glorious gift of God seen in this passage. It is one we tend to take for granted because we lived in the post-Christ age, not the pre-Christ one.
“13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed
is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come
to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14. ESV).
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
ICYMI - "Wrong Belief (and Right Belief)" 3-17-13 PM
Sermon notes from Sunday evening, 3-17-13 on John 12:12-19.
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It would not be incorrect to say that one of, perhaps the main theme of the gospel of John is this question: What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?
Throughout the book, we see the word ‘believe’ or some variant of it repeated over and over. John even says in John 20:31 that his purpose for writing this book is ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.’ However, John does not use different words to describe the different belief of the insincere and the genuine believers. We are left to discern for ourselves what true faith is by the actions of those who it says believed in Jesus.
Prior to 313 AD, the problem of recognizing genuine faith was less problematic. Governments did not accept Christianity, and many lost their lives for teaching, and sometimes even for believing in God. But in 313, Emperor Constantine professed a belief in God and issued the Edict of Milan, which legalized Christianity.
Now, throughout Europe, becoming a Christian was a bit more respectable. This is particularly problematic in America today. According to a 2009 survey by the Barna Group, 82% of Americans identify as Christian. 66% of those describe themselves as ‘casual believers’, while the remaining 16% of the 82 are ‘committed believers’.
In a survey from a bit farther back, those who identified themselves as ‘Born-again’ believers were asked if they would affirm or not affirm the following questions:
– Do absolute moral truths exist?
– Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
– Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
– Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does he still rule it today?
– Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
– Is Satan real?
– Is the Bible accurate in all its teachings?
Of those who self-identified as born-again believers, using the language of John 3, only 9% would affirm all eight of these to be accurate.
This is not dissimilar to what we see in Jesus’ day. All Jews believed in God. For the most part, they all believed that he had set them apart as a nation – his own special people. That he had given them his law and given them the land he promised to Abraham. At Passover, the setting of our text tonight, virtually all Jews were expected to be in Jerusalem to remember that God had passed over their door in mercy when the angel of death passed through Egypt in Exodus 12 – a commemoration of God’s mercy to them.
They knew all these things, and yet they failed to understand what was staring them in the face.
“12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and
sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they
remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that
had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued
to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has
gone after him.”” (John 12:12-19, ESV).
Background:
Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem, known commonly as the Triumphal Entry, is recorded in all four Gospels. There are differences, though, particularly between John and the other three.
For instance: While John records Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as almost a random event – the other three all stress that Jesus sent two disciples to find this animal before he comes to Jerusalem – making this a deliberate fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, which John quotes in v.15.
Also, John describes the animal in verse 14 as a young donkey. Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe it as a young colt that has never been ridden. Matthew also notes that there were two animals brought – the donkey, and its colt.
More importantly, the synoptic Gospels all seem to have a majestic theme to them. Jesus rides into Jerusalem in triumph. The people praise him as the Messiah, the Son of David. The Pharisees are angered, but Jesus tells them that if the people were silent, the stones themselves would cry out to praise him. While not all these details are in all three, the theme of Christ’s glory is seen throughout.
In John 12, though, I had the unmistakable impression while reading it this week that John goes out of his way to suggest that the belief and testimony demonstrated by the Jews is not entirely genuine.
Whenever I sit down to study a section that is also told in one of the other Gospels, I make a point to compare them and consider why the changes exist and what particularly the author I am studying now wants us to see in this story. In John’s account, as best I can understand it through my own study, my examination of other teachings by Godly men of the past, and reliance on the Holy Spirit for guidance, I think that John’s emphasis is on wrong reasons for belief.
Both in this gospel and in his first epistle, John tends to isolate a particular theme and then circle it, but constantly returning to key ideas. The key idea of John is that we are to believe in Jesus Christ. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to believe – there are right and wrong reasons that are foundational to our belief. Whether our foundation is of the stuff that endures is demonstrated, in many ways, by how our beliefs affect us. Are we changed inside and out by what we see and understand in Scripture?
While John primarily in these 8 verses is focusing only on the negative, we will start with that, and then with whatever time is left will move to the positive – the right reasons for belief.
1. Wrong Reasons for Believing in Jesus Christ
There are two basic things reasons that John shares with us, why these people are flocking to Jesus.
Look first at verses 12 and 13:
“The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him…”
Jesus is well known. He is a famous guy. But what do these people know about him?
Verse 17:
“The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from
the dead continued to bear witness.”
Okay, this is a good thing. The purpose of signs is so that they might believe (John 20:31) that he is the Christ. So far, so good. But now, verse 18:
“The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.”
But what sort of faith is this? God performed signs and wonders through his people at particular times in history to show that they spoke for him. Their power was from on high, showing that God had set his seal of approval on them and their message.
The message is the key. But throughout John, what have we seen? Jesus accomplishes miraculous things, and people are said to believe. But when he begins to speak, they leave, or they become angry with him, or they try to stone him. Sadly, the same is true here: In verse 30, Jesus speaks with the people. In verse 36, it says he hid himself from them.
Verse 37 concludes:
“Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,”
There will be a great deal more to say about that, but that is for a future week. For now, we are in verses 12-19. And it seems that the primary reason for belief in him is his miracles.
I. Miracles
Now, why do I say that miracles are not a valid reason for belief? Jesus did miracles. The apostles did miracles. The prophets did miracles. Moses did miracles.
Several things here: First, there are three main time periods when miracles were seen.
- The time of the judges: Moses and some of the other judges had miraculous events happen either through them or in conjunction with their ministry. These were men who were set apart as a mediator between God and Israel, his chosen people. Their role was to speak for God. When Moses’ leadership was challenged, God worked signs to designate that Moses was his chosen spokesman.
- Also, the prophets. Elijah and Elisha specifically. Their ministry took place in a time of general apostasy in Israel. The signs they performed were, again, God’s stamp of approval to show that their message was from God.
- Christ and the apostles. At the founding of the church, God wanted it indisputably demonstrated that, just as he had shown his power through the judges and prophets of the Old Testament, now he was appointing these men to preach the Gospel of the New Covenant and the church, which was a new revelation – a mystery that was hidden in the Old Testament. Thus, it had to be demonstrable that these men spoke for God.
Following the apostolic era, signs have basically ceased. That doesn’t mean that God is now limited. It simply means that God no longer acts in that way any more. The need for it has passed. Sometimes we hear of occurrences that seem miraculous – someone’s cancer disappearing, for instance. But these are not validation of a particular person or ministry.
Now, some have asked why it is so certain that someone could not have such a ministry today. Some in more charismatic fringes of orthodoxy have even suggested that the Western church lacks faith, and that is why miracles are not seen in America.
But there are two good reasons why that objection is mistaken. They represent the difference between that period and now. First, believers in those periods did not have God’s full revelation, the Bible. What happened after the apostolic age? The New Testament began to be circulated. They had God’s Word. There is no future revelation that needs validation.
In fact, the Bible warns of those in the future who perform what appear to be miracles. Paul describes some of these in 2 Corinthians 11:12-15. And in Matthew 24, Jesus warned that in latter times false prophets would arise performing great signs.
I hear constantly about books that claim to document miracles that God performed. Books on near-death experiences where people reportedly see heaven or Jesus abound. There are many basic problems with taking stories like these seriously.
Other books describe people, primarily outside the Western church, who have ministries characterized, to some extent, by miraculous signs and visions. I'm normally skeptical of such stories. In one book I was reading, I had to stop when I came across the writer's account of arriving in a village far off from civilization – according to this man, he was told that Jesus had appeared – whether physically or through visions, I am not sure – and preached the Gospel personally to this village, causing mass salvation. And now they wanted to be fed by the Word.
As nice as that all sounds - and part of me wishes I could believe it - that’s simply not consistent with what we read in the New Testament. Christ has gone into Heaven. He has sat down at the right hand of God. He repeatedly says that he must return to the Father so that he can send the Holy Spirit in his place. Why on earth, if this story were true, would Jesus appear when a missionary is already coming? Also, Romans 10 clearly reminds us that God has left the ministry of evangelism to his people.
That is the second reason why miracles have ceased: The Holy Spirit is working now. He did not indwell believers in the same way in the Old Testament and pre-apostolic age.
Let me just share quickly, before we move on, what Peter said in 2 Peter 1, starting in verse 16:
“16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received
honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This
is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from
heaven, for were with him on the holy mountain.”
So Peter says: Here were, James and John and I, on the mountain with Jesus. We saw him transfigured and glorified by God. But what else? 19:
“19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay
attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in
your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own
interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God
as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:16-21, ESV).
Despite all that we saw, that vision and all its glory, God’s Word is more sure.
That is what we gain our understanding of God from, not other people’s claimed experiences, no matter how certain of them they may be. We should always be careful about attaching too much importance to someone else’s claimed experience, particularly if it seems to contradict the plain meaning of Scripture.
God’s Word is sure. Rest in it. It is a firm foundation for our faith. It reveals our God and Savior to us.
It is probably understood, but simply to make it clear: Believing in Jesus because of miracles will not save us. They are signposts that direct us to the truth: the message that we must believe for salvation.
So that’s the first thing that these Jews were believing in Jesus based on. But as we’ve noted, the purpose of these miracles were as signs to validate Jesus’ message.
Sadly, the message they wanted to hear was not the message Jesus taught.
II. Wrong Expectations
It’s interesting how people will treat someone differently based on how they perceive them. James rebukes believers for showing partiality based on outer appearances of riches in James 2.
In Mark Twain’s novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Hank, the title character, and King Arthur decide they want to take an extended trip around the kingdom and see what it looks like to the average person. They dress up as peasants so that they can travel incognito, and start their trek. After some time, they are wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to hang on the gallows. But just before the execution can be carried out, the king’s guard, who they had just managed to get a message to, arrives and Arthur is revealed to be the king.
As you can imagine, the people are flabbergasted. They also no longer wish to hang them. How much difference perception of identity makes.
In our text, verse 14:
“And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it,”
John then quotes from Zechariah 9.
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
It is not improbable that the crowds have this and similar passages in mind.
After all, in John 6, after Jesus fed the five thousand, people began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” (v.14). Also, in verse 15, it says Jesus perceived that they were about to come and make him king. The prophet is a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15-19 where Moses says to the people,
“15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your
brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on
the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or
see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they
have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will
put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever
will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”
Also, look at Psalm 72: While it seems to be a Psalm of prayer by David for Solomon, or possibly Solomon for himself as he begins his reign, we read these words in verse 8:
“May he,” - the ‘king’ and ‘royal son’ of verse 1, - “have dominion from sea to sea, and from
the river to the ends of the earth!”
Now back to Zechariah 9:10,
“I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow
shall be cut off,”
So we see that this king is to be one of peace. He does not ride on war horse, or carry weapons, but he comes on a donkey – a symbol of peace. Then,
“And he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the river
to the ends of the earth.”
Psalm 72, in addition to praying for Solomon’s reign, also prophesies concerning the future son of David – the King in David’s line whose kingdom shall never end, as promised in 2 Samuel 7:16 with the Davidic covenant.
We see this reflected at the feast of tabernacles in John 7. Verse 40:
“When they heard these words, some of the people said, ‘This really is the Prophet’”
The coming one promised by Moses. Verse 41:
"Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has
not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from
Bethlehem, the village where David was?"
The Christ – Greek. The Messiah is the Hebrew. Translated, 'the anointed one'. The one whom God has chosen. Just as God sent Samuel to anoint David in anticipation of his future kingship and reign over Israel, so the Messiah was identified as the Son of David who would bring a new age of power and prosperity to Israel.
Their words likewise testified that their recognition of him. The Great Hallel: Psalms 113-118 were quoted over dinner at Passover. Look at Psalm 118:25,
“Save us, we pray, O LORD!”
The word, Hosanna, is a Hebrew word that means ‘Save, now!” Verse 26,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”
These words were undoubtedly on their hearts this week, just a few days before Passover. It is sadly ironic that they totally missed the significance of the verses preceding these.
“19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:19-23, ESV).
Their words show what they expected of the Christ, the Son of David. Not because they had misidentified him. Jesus was the Christ, and the Prophet. They were right about that. Their problem was not in knowing who he was; their problem was in knowing what he came to do.
Their understanding of his purpose in coming is obvious when we see that they waved palm branches as he entered Jerusalem. Palm branches had no significance for Passover. Their significance came from two hundred years earlier during the Maccabean revolt. The palm branch was a symbol of Jewish nationalism. It was even imprinted onto their coins. The expectation of these Jews is that Jesus would become king and win freedom for their people.
Just as Moses came with signs and wonders and brought freedom for Israel, so also this prophet who performed miracles like Moses would give them freedom as he did. Just as David ruled over Israel and destroyed their enemies, so also this king of David’s line would do the same.
This was what they expected. But Jesus’ mission was nothing so limited as securing freedom and peace for the nation of Israel during this particular time in history. His mission was to bring peace between God and mankind through his death in place of all who would trust in him for salvation.
This is what God testified in Jeremiah 31 with the promise of the New Covenant – that he would write his law on their hearts. Also, in Ezekiel 35, when he told them he would replace their heart of stone with a heart of flesh and put his Spirit within them.
And of course, this is what he was telling them in Isaiah 53: That his servant was coming to pay the price of sin for his people and to suffer under God’s wrath in their place.
They misunderstood because they, like all of humanity, including us, were lost in sin. They were separated from God. Their only hope was for the Holy Spirit to draw them to God and open their hearts to see what he had done.
Their worldview was centered on themselves and their nation alone. God had a much bigger plan in mind: The whole of mankind who would ever live – all who believe on his name. All who confess their sins and commit their souls to him in doing good: to them he gives the right to become children of God.
We’ve considered over the text, which mostly sees the negative side because that is the example in our text. That is the message: That Israel saw their Messiah, but did not truly understand him and ultimately rejected him. But before finishing, I want to take a few quick minutes to consider the flip side.
2. Right Reasons for Believing in Jesus Christ
a. Recognition of sin
The first reason to believe in Jesus is probably the most important and the most easily missed. We are sinners. Sin is breaking God’s law. But more than that, it is rejecting God himself. There can be atonement – literally at-one-ment without repentance before God. Those who refuse to humble themselves willingly before God now will humble themselves unwillingly before God on judgment day as they acknowledge him as God and themselves as rebellious sinners.
b. Centered on God
The narrative of the world is not about you or any nation or group – it is about God. He created the world so that others could see and appreciate his glory, and that we could delight in it and in him. We were made for him. Thus, any theology, teaching or ministry that does not have God as its central point and his glory as its object is false and unbiblical.
c. Grounded in his Word
Reflected on this briefly earlier when we considered miracles, but basically: God’s Word is our guide. It contains all that we need for life and Godliness. Some time back I heard one Christian leader say that Satan’s attack on this generation is on the sufficiency of Scripture. That is, people will try to add other things to our thinking that are not taught in Scripture. If we hear anything that is cannot be found to be consistent with God’s Word, we must reject it.
d. Confirmed by his Spirit
I don’t think we can overstate the importance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said it was for our benefit that he returned to heaven, because then the Spirit would come to be with us. If Jesus counted the Holy Spirit’s ministry to indwell believers as greater than his own physical presence, we would do well to value his presence as well.
Knowing the Spirit’s will is something we must be careful about. We don’t see visions or dream dreams by the Holy Spirit’s working. His will is seen as we are transformed into the image of Christ. Reading his Word, spending time in prayer with the Lord, meditating on his word. The closer we are to God and the more we understand his character, the better equipped we will be to make decisions.
“19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,”
and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” Now in a great house
there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use,
some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will
be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every
good work.” (2 Timothy 2:19-20, ESV).
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
It would not be incorrect to say that one of, perhaps the main theme of the gospel of John is this question: What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?
Throughout the book, we see the word ‘believe’ or some variant of it repeated over and over. John even says in John 20:31 that his purpose for writing this book is ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.’ However, John does not use different words to describe the different belief of the insincere and the genuine believers. We are left to discern for ourselves what true faith is by the actions of those who it says believed in Jesus.
Prior to 313 AD, the problem of recognizing genuine faith was less problematic. Governments did not accept Christianity, and many lost their lives for teaching, and sometimes even for believing in God. But in 313, Emperor Constantine professed a belief in God and issued the Edict of Milan, which legalized Christianity.
Now, throughout Europe, becoming a Christian was a bit more respectable. This is particularly problematic in America today. According to a 2009 survey by the Barna Group, 82% of Americans identify as Christian. 66% of those describe themselves as ‘casual believers’, while the remaining 16% of the 82 are ‘committed believers’.
In a survey from a bit farther back, those who identified themselves as ‘Born-again’ believers were asked if they would affirm or not affirm the following questions:
– Do absolute moral truths exist?
– Is absolute truth defined by the Bible?
– Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life?
– Is God the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and does he still rule it today?
– Is salvation a gift from God that cannot be earned?
– Is Satan real?
– Is the Bible accurate in all its teachings?
Of those who self-identified as born-again believers, using the language of John 3, only 9% would affirm all eight of these to be accurate.
This is not dissimilar to what we see in Jesus’ day. All Jews believed in God. For the most part, they all believed that he had set them apart as a nation – his own special people. That he had given them his law and given them the land he promised to Abraham. At Passover, the setting of our text tonight, virtually all Jews were expected to be in Jerusalem to remember that God had passed over their door in mercy when the angel of death passed through Egypt in Exodus 12 – a commemoration of God’s mercy to them.
They knew all these things, and yet they failed to understand what was staring them in the face.
“12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and
sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they
remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that
had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued
to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has
gone after him.”” (John 12:12-19, ESV).
Background:
Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem, known commonly as the Triumphal Entry, is recorded in all four Gospels. There are differences, though, particularly between John and the other three.
For instance: While John records Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as almost a random event – the other three all stress that Jesus sent two disciples to find this animal before he comes to Jerusalem – making this a deliberate fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, which John quotes in v.15.
Also, John describes the animal in verse 14 as a young donkey. Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe it as a young colt that has never been ridden. Matthew also notes that there were two animals brought – the donkey, and its colt.
More importantly, the synoptic Gospels all seem to have a majestic theme to them. Jesus rides into Jerusalem in triumph. The people praise him as the Messiah, the Son of David. The Pharisees are angered, but Jesus tells them that if the people were silent, the stones themselves would cry out to praise him. While not all these details are in all three, the theme of Christ’s glory is seen throughout.
In John 12, though, I had the unmistakable impression while reading it this week that John goes out of his way to suggest that the belief and testimony demonstrated by the Jews is not entirely genuine.
Whenever I sit down to study a section that is also told in one of the other Gospels, I make a point to compare them and consider why the changes exist and what particularly the author I am studying now wants us to see in this story. In John’s account, as best I can understand it through my own study, my examination of other teachings by Godly men of the past, and reliance on the Holy Spirit for guidance, I think that John’s emphasis is on wrong reasons for belief.
Both in this gospel and in his first epistle, John tends to isolate a particular theme and then circle it, but constantly returning to key ideas. The key idea of John is that we are to believe in Jesus Christ. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to believe – there are right and wrong reasons that are foundational to our belief. Whether our foundation is of the stuff that endures is demonstrated, in many ways, by how our beliefs affect us. Are we changed inside and out by what we see and understand in Scripture?
While John primarily in these 8 verses is focusing only on the negative, we will start with that, and then with whatever time is left will move to the positive – the right reasons for belief.
1. Wrong Reasons for Believing in Jesus Christ
There are two basic things reasons that John shares with us, why these people are flocking to Jesus.
Look first at verses 12 and 13:
“The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him…”
Jesus is well known. He is a famous guy. But what do these people know about him?
Verse 17:
“The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from
the dead continued to bear witness.”
Okay, this is a good thing. The purpose of signs is so that they might believe (John 20:31) that he is the Christ. So far, so good. But now, verse 18:
“The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.”
But what sort of faith is this? God performed signs and wonders through his people at particular times in history to show that they spoke for him. Their power was from on high, showing that God had set his seal of approval on them and their message.
The message is the key. But throughout John, what have we seen? Jesus accomplishes miraculous things, and people are said to believe. But when he begins to speak, they leave, or they become angry with him, or they try to stone him. Sadly, the same is true here: In verse 30, Jesus speaks with the people. In verse 36, it says he hid himself from them.
Verse 37 concludes:
“Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,”
There will be a great deal more to say about that, but that is for a future week. For now, we are in verses 12-19. And it seems that the primary reason for belief in him is his miracles.
I. Miracles
Now, why do I say that miracles are not a valid reason for belief? Jesus did miracles. The apostles did miracles. The prophets did miracles. Moses did miracles.
Several things here: First, there are three main time periods when miracles were seen.
- The time of the judges: Moses and some of the other judges had miraculous events happen either through them or in conjunction with their ministry. These were men who were set apart as a mediator between God and Israel, his chosen people. Their role was to speak for God. When Moses’ leadership was challenged, God worked signs to designate that Moses was his chosen spokesman.
- Also, the prophets. Elijah and Elisha specifically. Their ministry took place in a time of general apostasy in Israel. The signs they performed were, again, God’s stamp of approval to show that their message was from God.
- Christ and the apostles. At the founding of the church, God wanted it indisputably demonstrated that, just as he had shown his power through the judges and prophets of the Old Testament, now he was appointing these men to preach the Gospel of the New Covenant and the church, which was a new revelation – a mystery that was hidden in the Old Testament. Thus, it had to be demonstrable that these men spoke for God.
Following the apostolic era, signs have basically ceased. That doesn’t mean that God is now limited. It simply means that God no longer acts in that way any more. The need for it has passed. Sometimes we hear of occurrences that seem miraculous – someone’s cancer disappearing, for instance. But these are not validation of a particular person or ministry.
Now, some have asked why it is so certain that someone could not have such a ministry today. Some in more charismatic fringes of orthodoxy have even suggested that the Western church lacks faith, and that is why miracles are not seen in America.
But there are two good reasons why that objection is mistaken. They represent the difference between that period and now. First, believers in those periods did not have God’s full revelation, the Bible. What happened after the apostolic age? The New Testament began to be circulated. They had God’s Word. There is no future revelation that needs validation.
In fact, the Bible warns of those in the future who perform what appear to be miracles. Paul describes some of these in 2 Corinthians 11:12-15. And in Matthew 24, Jesus warned that in latter times false prophets would arise performing great signs.
I hear constantly about books that claim to document miracles that God performed. Books on near-death experiences where people reportedly see heaven or Jesus abound. There are many basic problems with taking stories like these seriously.
Other books describe people, primarily outside the Western church, who have ministries characterized, to some extent, by miraculous signs and visions. I'm normally skeptical of such stories. In one book I was reading, I had to stop when I came across the writer's account of arriving in a village far off from civilization – according to this man, he was told that Jesus had appeared – whether physically or through visions, I am not sure – and preached the Gospel personally to this village, causing mass salvation. And now they wanted to be fed by the Word.
As nice as that all sounds - and part of me wishes I could believe it - that’s simply not consistent with what we read in the New Testament. Christ has gone into Heaven. He has sat down at the right hand of God. He repeatedly says that he must return to the Father so that he can send the Holy Spirit in his place. Why on earth, if this story were true, would Jesus appear when a missionary is already coming? Also, Romans 10 clearly reminds us that God has left the ministry of evangelism to his people.
That is the second reason why miracles have ceased: The Holy Spirit is working now. He did not indwell believers in the same way in the Old Testament and pre-apostolic age.
Let me just share quickly, before we move on, what Peter said in 2 Peter 1, starting in verse 16:
“16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received
honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This
is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from
heaven, for were with him on the holy mountain.”
So Peter says: Here were, James and John and I, on the mountain with Jesus. We saw him transfigured and glorified by God. But what else? 19:
“19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay
attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in
your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own
interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God
as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:16-21, ESV).
Despite all that we saw, that vision and all its glory, God’s Word is more sure.
That is what we gain our understanding of God from, not other people’s claimed experiences, no matter how certain of them they may be. We should always be careful about attaching too much importance to someone else’s claimed experience, particularly if it seems to contradict the plain meaning of Scripture.
God’s Word is sure. Rest in it. It is a firm foundation for our faith. It reveals our God and Savior to us.
It is probably understood, but simply to make it clear: Believing in Jesus because of miracles will not save us. They are signposts that direct us to the truth: the message that we must believe for salvation.
So that’s the first thing that these Jews were believing in Jesus based on. But as we’ve noted, the purpose of these miracles were as signs to validate Jesus’ message.
Sadly, the message they wanted to hear was not the message Jesus taught.
II. Wrong Expectations
It’s interesting how people will treat someone differently based on how they perceive them. James rebukes believers for showing partiality based on outer appearances of riches in James 2.
In Mark Twain’s novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Hank, the title character, and King Arthur decide they want to take an extended trip around the kingdom and see what it looks like to the average person. They dress up as peasants so that they can travel incognito, and start their trek. After some time, they are wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to hang on the gallows. But just before the execution can be carried out, the king’s guard, who they had just managed to get a message to, arrives and Arthur is revealed to be the king.
As you can imagine, the people are flabbergasted. They also no longer wish to hang them. How much difference perception of identity makes.
In our text, verse 14:
“And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it,”
John then quotes from Zechariah 9.
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
It is not improbable that the crowds have this and similar passages in mind.
After all, in John 6, after Jesus fed the five thousand, people began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” (v.14). Also, in verse 15, it says Jesus perceived that they were about to come and make him king. The prophet is a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15-19 where Moses says to the people,
“15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your
brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on
the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or
see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they
have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will
put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever
will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”
Also, look at Psalm 72: While it seems to be a Psalm of prayer by David for Solomon, or possibly Solomon for himself as he begins his reign, we read these words in verse 8:
“May he,” - the ‘king’ and ‘royal son’ of verse 1, - “have dominion from sea to sea, and from
the river to the ends of the earth!”
Now back to Zechariah 9:10,
“I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow
shall be cut off,”
So we see that this king is to be one of peace. He does not ride on war horse, or carry weapons, but he comes on a donkey – a symbol of peace. Then,
“And he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the river
to the ends of the earth.”
Psalm 72, in addition to praying for Solomon’s reign, also prophesies concerning the future son of David – the King in David’s line whose kingdom shall never end, as promised in 2 Samuel 7:16 with the Davidic covenant.
We see this reflected at the feast of tabernacles in John 7. Verse 40:
“When they heard these words, some of the people said, ‘This really is the Prophet’”
The coming one promised by Moses. Verse 41:
"Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has
not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from
Bethlehem, the village where David was?"
The Christ – Greek. The Messiah is the Hebrew. Translated, 'the anointed one'. The one whom God has chosen. Just as God sent Samuel to anoint David in anticipation of his future kingship and reign over Israel, so the Messiah was identified as the Son of David who would bring a new age of power and prosperity to Israel.
Their words likewise testified that their recognition of him. The Great Hallel: Psalms 113-118 were quoted over dinner at Passover. Look at Psalm 118:25,
“Save us, we pray, O LORD!”
The word, Hosanna, is a Hebrew word that means ‘Save, now!” Verse 26,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”
These words were undoubtedly on their hearts this week, just a few days before Passover. It is sadly ironic that they totally missed the significance of the verses preceding these.
“19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:19-23, ESV).
Their words show what they expected of the Christ, the Son of David. Not because they had misidentified him. Jesus was the Christ, and the Prophet. They were right about that. Their problem was not in knowing who he was; their problem was in knowing what he came to do.
Their understanding of his purpose in coming is obvious when we see that they waved palm branches as he entered Jerusalem. Palm branches had no significance for Passover. Their significance came from two hundred years earlier during the Maccabean revolt. The palm branch was a symbol of Jewish nationalism. It was even imprinted onto their coins. The expectation of these Jews is that Jesus would become king and win freedom for their people.
Just as Moses came with signs and wonders and brought freedom for Israel, so also this prophet who performed miracles like Moses would give them freedom as he did. Just as David ruled over Israel and destroyed their enemies, so also this king of David’s line would do the same.
This was what they expected. But Jesus’ mission was nothing so limited as securing freedom and peace for the nation of Israel during this particular time in history. His mission was to bring peace between God and mankind through his death in place of all who would trust in him for salvation.
This is what God testified in Jeremiah 31 with the promise of the New Covenant – that he would write his law on their hearts. Also, in Ezekiel 35, when he told them he would replace their heart of stone with a heart of flesh and put his Spirit within them.
And of course, this is what he was telling them in Isaiah 53: That his servant was coming to pay the price of sin for his people and to suffer under God’s wrath in their place.
They misunderstood because they, like all of humanity, including us, were lost in sin. They were separated from God. Their only hope was for the Holy Spirit to draw them to God and open their hearts to see what he had done.
Their worldview was centered on themselves and their nation alone. God had a much bigger plan in mind: The whole of mankind who would ever live – all who believe on his name. All who confess their sins and commit their souls to him in doing good: to them he gives the right to become children of God.
We’ve considered over the text, which mostly sees the negative side because that is the example in our text. That is the message: That Israel saw their Messiah, but did not truly understand him and ultimately rejected him. But before finishing, I want to take a few quick minutes to consider the flip side.
2. Right Reasons for Believing in Jesus Christ
a. Recognition of sin
The first reason to believe in Jesus is probably the most important and the most easily missed. We are sinners. Sin is breaking God’s law. But more than that, it is rejecting God himself. There can be atonement – literally at-one-ment without repentance before God. Those who refuse to humble themselves willingly before God now will humble themselves unwillingly before God on judgment day as they acknowledge him as God and themselves as rebellious sinners.
b. Centered on God
The narrative of the world is not about you or any nation or group – it is about God. He created the world so that others could see and appreciate his glory, and that we could delight in it and in him. We were made for him. Thus, any theology, teaching or ministry that does not have God as its central point and his glory as its object is false and unbiblical.
c. Grounded in his Word
Reflected on this briefly earlier when we considered miracles, but basically: God’s Word is our guide. It contains all that we need for life and Godliness. Some time back I heard one Christian leader say that Satan’s attack on this generation is on the sufficiency of Scripture. That is, people will try to add other things to our thinking that are not taught in Scripture. If we hear anything that is cannot be found to be consistent with God’s Word, we must reject it.
d. Confirmed by his Spirit
I don’t think we can overstate the importance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said it was for our benefit that he returned to heaven, because then the Spirit would come to be with us. If Jesus counted the Holy Spirit’s ministry to indwell believers as greater than his own physical presence, we would do well to value his presence as well.
Knowing the Spirit’s will is something we must be careful about. We don’t see visions or dream dreams by the Holy Spirit’s working. His will is seen as we are transformed into the image of Christ. Reading his Word, spending time in prayer with the Lord, meditating on his word. The closer we are to God and the more we understand his character, the better equipped we will be to make decisions.
“19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,”
and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” Now in a great house
there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use,
some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will
be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every
good work.” (2 Timothy 2:19-20, ESV).
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Truth Endures
At the Shepherd's Conference this last week, the four of us (Dad, Kevin, Drew and I) were unexpectedly blessed to be able to see the Truth Endures exhibit that they had there. It was quite an experience to not only see these books, some of which were nearly five-hundred years old, but in some we could even touch the books and turn the pages. The pages were made of linen, we were told, which was why they aged so well. Who knew?
For once, I have pictures. Wipe the shocked expression off your face and I'll give you a quick virtual tour of the displays. (Apologies for the oddity of the format. Blogging with pictures isn't really my style, so I don't have a clue what I'm doing. Hopefully it is all still readable).
One of the original Tyndale New Testaments from the 1520's. He never finished the entire Old Testament. This book is nearly five-hundred years old. William Tyndale's zeal to bring God's Word to the common english man cost him his life.
One might even suggest that the Bible would have made it into English eventually, anyway. Wasn't it a wasted life?
In 1539, King Henry VIII finally approved an English Bible Translation. Ironically, The Great Bible (otherwise known as the Matthew Bible) which was prepared by Myles Coverdale, was basically Tyndale's translation of the New Testament and Pentateuch with additional Old Testament translation by Coverdale.
See, back when they first printed them, the purpose was for public reading in the church, but they were afraid thieves might break in and steal them, so they chained these huge Bibles to the lecturns to deter Bible-robbers.
The Actes and Monuments was first published in 1563, but is more popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs (pictured left with Dad). This edition is from 1570.
In 1611, King James benevolently bestowed upon his people the gift of a new Bible version - In reality, most of it wasn't new at all. But the Bishop's Bible was too literal to the original languages and rather difficult to read.
Drew is here next to a first edition 1611. I'll admit it: That is pretty cool.
For once, I have pictures. Wipe the shocked expression off your face and I'll give you a quick virtual tour of the displays. (Apologies for the oddity of the format. Blogging with pictures isn't really my style, so I don't have a clue what I'm doing. Hopefully it is all still readable).
One of the original Tyndale New Testaments from the 1520's. He never finished the entire Old Testament. This book is nearly five-hundred years old. William Tyndale's zeal to bring God's Word to the common english man cost him his life.
On one hand, that seems a high cost - not only did he die an early death, but his life was lived exclusively with the purpose of translating the Bible into English.
One might even suggest that the Bible would have made it into English eventually, anyway. Wasn't it a wasted life?
But on the other hand, his life was lived entirely for the glory of God. And through his life, the name of God is glorified, and his own name lives in history.
Not only that, but the 1611 Authorized Version (The King James Version) borrowed heavily from Tyndale's translation. According to one author, 83% of the New King James New Testament is straight from Tyndale. The Old Testament (unfinished by Tyndale), 76% from Tyndale.
He truly exemplified 1 Corinthians 15:19-20,
"19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ
has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."
In 1539, King Henry VIII finally approved an English Bible Translation. Ironically, The Great Bible (otherwise known as the Matthew Bible) which was prepared by Myles Coverdale, was basically Tyndale's translation of the New Testament and Pentateuch with additional Old Testament translation by Coverdale.
This is apparently one of the original 2,500 first editions printed, as the date on the picture is 1539. This version was basically replaced in thirty years by the Bishop's Bible.
I got a kick out of actually picking this one up and holding it.
See, back when they first printed them, the purpose was for public reading in the church, but they were afraid thieves might break in and steal them, so they chained these huge Bibles to the lecturns to deter Bible-robbers.
Thank God that His Word is no longer confined to being read only in church, but is freely available for all men to read in our own language - and throughout the world, it is being brought to more and more people through the ministry of faithful believers!
"8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."
(2 Timothy 2:8-10, ESV)
On the left is a large edition Geneva Bible (unsure on the date, but late 16th century, mostly likely). On the right is a small edition from 1599. This was the Bible of the people prior to the 1611 Authorized Version of King James. The translators of this version also leaned heavily on the lyrical poetry of Tyndale's Bible.
This was the Bible of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, as well as Shakespeare (which is not insignificant as far as the popularizing of language and sayings is concerned).
King James wasn't a big fan of this version. Apparently the references to 'tyrants' in the translation hit a bit too close to home. And if that didn't quite push James over the edge, the printed commentary in the marginal notes that were basically direct attacks on him certainly did. This version was deemed 'too Protestant' for use in England.
The Actes and Monuments was first published in 1563, but is more popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs (pictured left with Dad). This edition is from 1570.
It is a memoriam to those whose blood was shed throughout the history of the church.
The Book of Common Prayer, originally published in 1549, (this edition is from 1688) is on the right. Of Anglican origin, I'm not certain that other Protestant denominations were quite as taken with it, although John Wesley reportedly was quite fond of it. I seem to recall that Roger Williams (founder of the Baptist colony in Rhode Island) wasn't really a big fan of it. I guess he disliked written prayers and preferred that they be fresh in the moment.
Although certainly I am indebted to my Baptist forefather, I think he perhaps failed to consider that sincerity in prayer is often just as lacking in prayers conceived in the moment as they are in written prayers. In contrast, if the heart is engaged, I think we can be just as worshipful and sincere in our prayers that were already written by someone else as we can with our own.
This particular work was apparently the source of such phrases as "Speak now or forever hold your peace," "Till death us do part," and "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
In 1611, King James benevolently bestowed upon his people the gift of a new Bible version - In reality, most of it wasn't new at all. But the Bishop's Bible was too literal to the original languages and rather difficult to read.
The Geneva Bible, as mentioned, was distasteful to King Jimmy, so he authorized a new Bible translation. The end result was a Bible that was quite well done indeed - so much so that it took centuries for it to be surpassed, and many still prefer it even today. No version can compare to that historical record.
Drew is here next to a first edition 1611. I'll admit it: That is pretty cool.
On the right is a closeup of the Bible with handwritten notes. I have no idea when they were added in. I'd guess they probably don't date prior to 1611, though. Suffice to say, I really couldn't read any of the handwriting. It is all kind of small and faded.
Still, I was suitably wowed by the notes - and that is saying something for someone like me who is incapable of writing in a book. I just cannot do that to a book. Other people's notes in books I'm reading bug me, and I think I would quickly forget the significance of any notes I wrote inside the book. But there's something special about handwriting in really old books.
It kind of makes me think of two old KJV Bibles I own. They had belonged to my Grandpa Orman, and my sister, Lisa, had gotten ahold of them after his passing. Before moving to Tennessee, she gave them both to me. They have both logged far too much use to be usable, but they have notes in them - unintelligible to me for the most part - but he used it when he preached and I suppose they helped him remember things he wanted to say.
In the back of one, on one of those pages of notes that I thought nobody ever used, I found written: "Bible Study 1. Perceive: a. What is there about God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. b.Is there an example to follow or a command to obey? c. Is there any promise or warning given? d. What sins or errors are to be avoided? e. What is the main lesson of this Bible portion? 2. Make personal your discovery. 3. Apply personal message received to particular circumstances of your own life."
I sometimes pull these out now and then just to look in them and reflect on God's grace, and on all he has blessed me with. Not least among those blessings is to have been born into a believing family in a line of men who taught God's Word faithfully as they understood it.
"23 Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and
abiding word of God; 24 for 'All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers,
and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.' And this word is the good news that was
preached to you." (1 Peter 1:23-25, ESV).
Saturday, March 9, 2013
"How Do You Value Jesus Christ?" - Sunday PM (3-3-13)
It occurred to me this week that it might be a good thing to post my sermon notes onto my blog. Basically, if you were there for the sermon and you wanted to remember something from it, you can skim this and (hopefully) future posts for whatever you were looking for. If you miss the sermon and actually are interested, it is available for you to read (although it does read like a very long blog post, so if I continue this, I might break it up into shorter sections).
Also, I felt like this might help jumpstart 'real' posts if I'm getting into the habit of posting on the blog. The plan is to get a post up on the Truth Endures (historical bibles collection) exhibit that we saw at the Shepherds Conference this last week, but since Kevin covers that a bit over on his blog - http://kevinhornplayer.blogspot.com - I thought I'd hold back until tomorrow or Monday before working on that.
Last Sunday night, I spoke from John 12:1-11. My Scripture reading was from Luke 18 on the rich, young ruler, who did not value Christ more than what he himself already possessed. You might remember the text as the story of the woman pouring expensive perfume on Jesus' feet. John himself references the story in John 11 before telling it in John 12. The study was meaningful to me, and however much you get a chance to read of it, I hope you are blessed by the Word through the Spirit.
-- -- -- -- --
"The rich, young ruler left his conversation with Jesus in sorrow. Why? He had sacrificed both his dignity and the respect due a man of his position by coming to Jesus – a man viewed without favor by the religious establishment in Israel – and he had come running; an action considered unbecoming for a grown man, and a ruler no less.
He must have been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, or else he would not have come.
He must have been convinced that there was a heaven that men could get to, and that he was not prepared to go, or he would not have come.
And he must have been convinced that Jesus, and no one else, had the answer, or he would not have come to Jesus.
And yet he left in sorrow. Why? Because he was a man of many enthusiasms – and God was not at the top of that list.
I was with Adam at the HB pier a week and a half ago. I listened as he shared the Gospel with a young man. While this man recognized that he was not saved and also that it was something he should take seriously, he admitted with some hesitation that there were some things in his life that he was not sure he was ready to give up. His life was too fun without God. He was unwilling to repent at that time.
Does God hold first place in our hearts? Is there anything or anyone that we value more than him? If God were to take our spouse, or child, or sibling, could we say with Horatio Spafford, ‘It is well with my soul’? Could we count all things as loss for Christ as Paul urges us? John Paton did; Adoniram Judson, too.
I say this not as your superior - I am a fellow believer, striving for this in the same way you all are; seeking to put to death what is earthly in me, and exalt what is spiritual.
If Jesus is what we value above all, we can all truly say, ‘It is well with my soul’. Tonight, we return to the gospel of John, the twelfth chapter, starting in verse 1.
“1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.” (John 12:1-11, ESV).
Background:
In the previous chapter, we went with Jesus to the town of Bethany, only a few short miles from Jerusalem. There we witnessed the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, dead, buried, and in the tomb for four days. As the crowds hurried to Bethany, the chief priests began to fret – considering Jesus to be a heretical teacher – and they began looking for an opportunity to execute him.
As chapter 12 begins, it is only six days until Passover. There is some uncertainty as to exactly what day this story took place, due to the Jewish consideration of evening as the start of the new day, as well as their understanding of when Passover officially began. I think it was most likely a Sabbath dinner that is being described here; that is, the Saturday evening meal.
Matthew 26 and Mark 14 tell us that this is the home of Simon the leper – presumably Simon, who was formerly a leper and healed by Christ, although we are not told that. However, neither those passages name Mary or Lazarus.
There is a similar story in Luke 7 that describes a sinful woman pouring ointment on Jesus’ feet as she also weeps on them, and she wipes his feet with her hair.
But Luke refers to Mary and Martha by name in Luke 10 – which would make one wonder why they are anonymous in Luke 7, if it is Mary.
The story also has differences. The owner of the house in Luke was a Pharisee who was, apparently, somewhat antagonistic to Jesus – and not a leper. They are both named Simon, though, interesting enough. Simon the leper, however, appears to be a friend. And Mary is never referred to as a sinful woman. And in Matthew, Mark and John, the onlookers comment on the value of the ointment – no such mention is made in Luke 7. It is probable then, that Luke 7 is a different, albeit similar, event to the one described in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12.
Some writers wonder why Lazarus and his sisters are here, when it is apparently not their home – unless Simon is their father, which seems unlikely. Most probably, the village being small, Simon is either a relative or close friend of Lazarus and his sisters and they have invited Jesus to a pre-Passover, Sabbath dinner.
Now, as we get into the text, we return to the question we circled earlier: How do we value Jesus?
As we go through our text tonight and meet the cast of characters, we will ask that question of them and see how they respond.
1. Mary
How did Mary value Jesus? It says in verse 2 that they gave a dinner for him, Jesus, there at Bethany.
Verse 3,
“Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
This is a magnificent gift. I would be willing to bet that I’m not the only one who, on learning the value of the perfume, thought to myself what an overly extravagant gift this is. 300 denarii, Judas tells us, is what this bottle of perfume would have gone for on the open market, and I suspect Judas is a guy who knows pretty well what stuff goes for on the open market.
A denarius was a day’s wage for the ordinary laborer. Figuring in Sabbaths and holy days when a man wouldn’t work, Judas is basically saying: It would take one year’s wages for the common man to buy this – and that is gross income, mind you, not net. It would be presumptive of us to suggest that Mary’s family was loaded with wealth. We aren’t told that. And even if they were, 300 denarii is a large figure, no matter how you figure it out. What does the average worker make these days? 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars? Standard of living in Israel compared to America is hard to set side by side, but we can safely say that this was a princely gift.
One can understand why the disciples, let alone Judas, are amazed by this.
But in addition to the high value of the ointment, the perfume, we see something else here. Verse 3 says that,
‘[she] wiped his feet with her hair]’. For a woman to let down her hair in public in this way was extraordinarily undignified.
The disciples, we can guess, were almost certainly particularly aware of this, since they all thought so highly of themselves that not one of them was willing to take the servant’s role and wash the feet of the others in John 13. It is quite likely that they, rather than recognizing the beauty and love behind the act, looked down on her lack of dignity and wasteful use of the valuable perfume.
Yet there are two things that are true of Mary here. First, she thought more of Jesus and his honor than she did of herself and her dignity. And she valued Jesus more than the value of the perfume.
Lastly, what is particularly striking about this action is an attitude present that is almost entirely absent from the gospels, outside of Jesus himself: Mary’s action is based not on the desire to receive something back from Jesus, but it is instead based in thankfulness as she recognizes what he has done for her.
Who else in the Gospels shows kindness to Jesus with no expectation of desire for repayment? This is a thank offering. For what? Certainly for healing her brother, if nothing else. Perhaps, as she seems to recognize his death is close at hand, she also recognizes by God’s grace that he is her redeemer. That may, however, be going too far.
The heart of Mary is the heart of a child of God. She considers him worthy of highest honor, even if it requires personal sacrifice to award him that honor. That is the heart that all believers ought to have. It is what was lacking in the rich, young ruler. And we see that this heart of Mary that is inclined to God is not a recent development. Way back in Luke 10, Mary’s heart desires to be near her Lord and to listen to him speaking. Many came to see his signs and left when they heard what he had to say. Mary came to hear him speak, and witnessed his grace to her family as he raised Lazarus from the dead.
But Mary, while the most prominent player in the story besides Jesus, is not alone with him.
2. Judas
Judas Iscariot, whose name seems to be perpetually followed in all four Gospel narratives by the words, ‘who would betray him’ (as in v.4), has a key role to play here.
While Matthew and Mark do not identify a particular voice to the criticism of Mary, John points to Judas as the ringleader, or perhaps the loudest voice. Verse 5: Judas says,
“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
John 12:6 is the only time we’re given another specific offense committed by Judas, other than selling out Jesus. John tells us that Judas’ apparent piety and compassion for the poor was motivated by less than charitable reasons. Verse 6,
“He [Judas] said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.”
While we can surmise that Judas was a man who liked money more than God simply by observing his betrayal of Jesus for a handful of silver, here we are told more about him that is not surprising, looking back on the events of the Gospels: Judas was a thief.
It is a reasonable guess that Judas’ attachment to Jesus was not based on love for Jesus. There are two possible reasons why Judas tagged along with Jesus for so long.
First, as John tells us, Judas held the moneybag. Probably, Judas figured that with all the miracles Jesus did, money would come flowing in. Having gained the role of team treasurer, he could appropriate money for himself whenever he wanted to, with no one the wiser.
Second, there seemed to be a general expectation that Jesus was the Messiah. It is not outlandish to suggest that Judas expected to be rewarded once Jesus was victorious over the Romans – as was expected – and took the throne of Israel. Perhaps a high position for one of Jesus’ twelve closest companions.
It would be wrong to suppose that perhaps he started with sincere desire for Jesus. He was not a true believer. Those who are not of God have no desire for him. It is doubtful that Judas ever had any interest other than his own in mind.
Given this self-centered attitude, as all who are in the flesh have, it is not surprising that Judas is stunned by Mary’s action. This lavish gift smacks of wastefulness. For a mercenary person such as Judas, an action so selfless does not even compute to him. How indeed could it? To him, thirty pieces of silver was all Jesus was worth. Three hundred denarii was unfathomable by comparison.
Judas’ interest in Jesus was a purely professional one. He only cared about what he could get out of him. Mary was motivated by love – and no price can be set on true, genuine love. I don’t mean what a child who is clever in his own eyes calls love.
When I was young, I might well have complained when my parents declined to buy me something that I wanted in the store, “You don’t really love me!” Giving in to that kind of emotional blackmail would not have been love at all. In fact, my parents’ love for me was demonstrated by declining to give in to my every whim – and punishing me when my pleading got out of hand.
For love that is real, no price can be set on it. And even this gift, material as it was, did not compare to the true value of Jesus. Its value lay in the cost of it to Mary.
Judas, on the other hand, had no love for Jesus at all. Mark tells us in chapter 14, verses 10 and 11, that immediately after these events, Judas went to the chief priests to negotiate the price of Jesus’ betrayal.
Judas shows here an attitude far too common in all of us: Base materialism. Looking only to Jesus for what we can get out of him. Seeking only the hand of God, and despising those who see His face, as Mary does.
Mary and Judas. One a woman, the other a man. One a follower of Christ, the other a follower of profit. But they are not alone. We have more people to question; more people to ask: How do you value Jesus?
3. The Jews
In verse 9, John describes for us a new scene. Less than an hour’s walk away in Jerusalem, word has arrived that Jesus is a mere two miles off in Bethany. In chapter 11, verse 55, we learn that many have come early to prepare for Passover. This was one of the three big feasts of the year. There are many now in Jerusalem who have come from all over Israel. And Jesus, the man who called Lazarus alive from the tomb, dead and buried for four days – both Jesus and Lazarus are close at hand in this village of Bethany.
We become suspicious first when we hear that they not only want to see Jesus, but Lazarus also. Certainly, anyone who heard that there was present a man who had been raised from the dead might well be expected to show interest. I mean, how many of you have seen someone who was physically dead and came back to life? And not just a temporary heart stop – a near death experience sort of thing – I mean, dead for four days and alive again.
But we see that these people have not come to hear what Jesus has to say. They’ve come because of what they’ve heard he can do. That may seem uncharitable of me, but consider this: In six days, at Passover, Jesus will be executed. How many followers of his are in Jerusalem then? Not many. The people actually ask that Barabbas, a murderer, be released to them, and Jesus crucified.
It is likely that most of those coming here are Lookie Lou’s: Surface level believers who look to Jesus to solve their surface level problems. They don’t look for anything deeper in him because they’ve never looked for anything deeper in themselves and, subsequently, are totally oblivious to their root problem – spiritual death.
The one who came to set them free from sin is right here, and all they care about is being set free from Rome. The one who is the Resurrection and the Life is ready to bring life to them, but all they want to see is the one brought back to physical life – Lazarus.
Do we ever lapse into this mindset again, from which we have been redeemed and set free? Do we ever look at our behavioral problems as merely a discipline problem, and not as a discipline problem that stems from failing to keep our gaze fixed on Christ?
Do we ever see our problems and needs, our burdens that we bear, as God’s means of growing us into mature believers? Or do we see them as simply needs that must be met and problems that need fixing?
Do we look to ourselves as the savior of each day, the one who gets us through each day? Or do we recognize that God, and God alone is our Supply – that all our ills find their cure in Him. He provides what we need each day. And if we do not have what we need, it is not truly a need. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:19, after proclaiming that God protects us in fullness and in want, he says,
“My God will supply every need of yours, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Look beneath the surface and you will find the pearl of great price. He is worth selling all that you have to obtain him. The rich, young ruler would not pay that price. He was taken with the things of this world, and as they burned, so will he – so will all who follow that path.
4. The Chief Priests
Finally, the Chief Priests. You remember last Sunday in John 11:53 that they were making plans to kill Jesus. Now, in verse 10, they reappear, “[making] plans to put Lazarus to death as well.” Why? Verse 11, “Because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.”
To me on first glance, this is absolutely stunning. I mean, okay, you want to kill Jesus. He’s speaking out against you, criticizing your leadership, and judging your zeal for God. But Lazarus? I mean, he was dead and now he’s alive. You think if you kill him, you can pretend it didn’t happen?
My first thought was: Even in a chapter in which a girl uses up an extraordinarily valuable bottle of perfume in one sitting, this right here is the most shocking verse of the chapter.
But as I reflected on it, I realized that is not true at all. From a human standpoint, this response by the chief priests is exactly what we should expect.
In the first place, not having been there, they probably doubt whether he was ever really dead. They no doubt believe this was a stunt orchestrated to expand Jesus’ prestige. Now, as long as Lazarus is alive, he’s like a living, breathing, rallying point for Jesus. From their perspective, Lazarus is exhibit #1 that Jesus’ followers can point at as a reason why you should follow Jesus. Thus, just as Jesus has to go, so too does Lazarus.
Secondly, man in his natural state is at enmity with God. Man is in rebellion against God. The priests’ response is totally in line with what we would expect from one who rejects God, or at least, God as he really is, not as these men understand him.
It is what we see in the parable of the vinedressers in Matthew 21: The story of history up till that point. God appointed some to watch over the vineyard, his people, Israel. They rejected God’s ownership of the vine as well as his lordship over them, and they killed and abused his servants – rejecting all who came in his name.
Finally, he sent his Son, and as Jesus foretold in that chapter, so we will soon see. They will kill him also, because they hate God – not the manmade god that they have reimagined for themselves, but the true God: The God whose law they despise and whose commandments they may obey outwardly, but never in their heart.
Such were we. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together in Him. Just as Lazarus was called to life by ‘The Logos’, the Word made flesh, we too have been called to spiritual life by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart. No one, it says in Hebrews 4:13, is hidden from his sight.
Conclusion:
Jesus died that we might live. He has set us free from sin and death by his own death on our behalf. He in our place was accursed and left alone, and we in his are embraced and welcomed home.
Do we value Jesus Christ? How do we value him? Does he hold first place in our lives? No sacrifice is too great for him. I give of my money to him through the church so that ministries can do the work of God, but do I give my time? How much of my time am I willing to give? All of it, if he asks it? Or perhaps I’m willing to serve, but tight with giving my money away – "I’ve already given of my time, why must I give my money?" If he convicts our heart, what will we give?
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Each day I strive to understand better what that means.
Do I value God for who he is? Do I ever stop to reflect on his majesty; his glory? Or do I consider that time wasted? Judas would agree with that. Mary, I suspect, would be more than willing to stop and just consider God and his glory with us. Martha considered Mary to be making poor use of time in Luke 10. Yet what did Jesus say? While certainly, we all have responsibilities, and we must do those, do we make time for God, to be with him?
My weakest and most earthly days are those when I do my own thing and either skip time in the word and in prayer, or do them half-heartedly, not sincerely – although it is better to be in the word half-heartedly than not to be in it at all. Cultivate a love for God. Meditate on God – our fear of men and our unwillingness to do what he commands, whether in evangelism or in serving in the church, is usually directly related to our relationship with God.
In John 6:25 through the end of the chapter, Jesus commands us not to worry about our needs in this life. Why not? Verse 33: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
This is the essence of Christianity – seeking Jesus Christ above all else. This is the framework upon which our personal faith and practice is laid. Without it, we’re left with a confused mishmash of platitudes and commands without purpose.
Seeking God, putting him as the most relationship of our life – so easy to say, yet so hard to do – that is the single most important thing we can do in our life. And really, when we think about it, that is what we will be doing for eternity in heaven. If being in God’s presence does not excite us now, why should the prospect of heaven hold any joy for us? In closing,
“1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal…”
“22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Rev. 21:1-11, 22-23, ESV).
Also, I felt like this might help jumpstart 'real' posts if I'm getting into the habit of posting on the blog. The plan is to get a post up on the Truth Endures (historical bibles collection) exhibit that we saw at the Shepherds Conference this last week, but since Kevin covers that a bit over on his blog - http://kevinhornplayer.blogspot.com - I thought I'd hold back until tomorrow or Monday before working on that.
Last Sunday night, I spoke from John 12:1-11. My Scripture reading was from Luke 18 on the rich, young ruler, who did not value Christ more than what he himself already possessed. You might remember the text as the story of the woman pouring expensive perfume on Jesus' feet. John himself references the story in John 11 before telling it in John 12. The study was meaningful to me, and however much you get a chance to read of it, I hope you are blessed by the Word through the Spirit.
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"The rich, young ruler left his conversation with Jesus in sorrow. Why? He had sacrificed both his dignity and the respect due a man of his position by coming to Jesus – a man viewed without favor by the religious establishment in Israel – and he had come running; an action considered unbecoming for a grown man, and a ruler no less.
He must have been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, or else he would not have come.
He must have been convinced that there was a heaven that men could get to, and that he was not prepared to go, or he would not have come.
And he must have been convinced that Jesus, and no one else, had the answer, or he would not have come to Jesus.
And yet he left in sorrow. Why? Because he was a man of many enthusiasms – and God was not at the top of that list.
I was with Adam at the HB pier a week and a half ago. I listened as he shared the Gospel with a young man. While this man recognized that he was not saved and also that it was something he should take seriously, he admitted with some hesitation that there were some things in his life that he was not sure he was ready to give up. His life was too fun without God. He was unwilling to repent at that time.
Does God hold first place in our hearts? Is there anything or anyone that we value more than him? If God were to take our spouse, or child, or sibling, could we say with Horatio Spafford, ‘It is well with my soul’? Could we count all things as loss for Christ as Paul urges us? John Paton did; Adoniram Judson, too.
I say this not as your superior - I am a fellow believer, striving for this in the same way you all are; seeking to put to death what is earthly in me, and exalt what is spiritual.
If Jesus is what we value above all, we can all truly say, ‘It is well with my soul’. Tonight, we return to the gospel of John, the twelfth chapter, starting in verse 1.
“1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.” (John 12:1-11, ESV).
Background:
In the previous chapter, we went with Jesus to the town of Bethany, only a few short miles from Jerusalem. There we witnessed the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, dead, buried, and in the tomb for four days. As the crowds hurried to Bethany, the chief priests began to fret – considering Jesus to be a heretical teacher – and they began looking for an opportunity to execute him.
As chapter 12 begins, it is only six days until Passover. There is some uncertainty as to exactly what day this story took place, due to the Jewish consideration of evening as the start of the new day, as well as their understanding of when Passover officially began. I think it was most likely a Sabbath dinner that is being described here; that is, the Saturday evening meal.
Matthew 26 and Mark 14 tell us that this is the home of Simon the leper – presumably Simon, who was formerly a leper and healed by Christ, although we are not told that. However, neither those passages name Mary or Lazarus.
There is a similar story in Luke 7 that describes a sinful woman pouring ointment on Jesus’ feet as she also weeps on them, and she wipes his feet with her hair.
But Luke refers to Mary and Martha by name in Luke 10 – which would make one wonder why they are anonymous in Luke 7, if it is Mary.
The story also has differences. The owner of the house in Luke was a Pharisee who was, apparently, somewhat antagonistic to Jesus – and not a leper. They are both named Simon, though, interesting enough. Simon the leper, however, appears to be a friend. And Mary is never referred to as a sinful woman. And in Matthew, Mark and John, the onlookers comment on the value of the ointment – no such mention is made in Luke 7. It is probable then, that Luke 7 is a different, albeit similar, event to the one described in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12.
Some writers wonder why Lazarus and his sisters are here, when it is apparently not their home – unless Simon is their father, which seems unlikely. Most probably, the village being small, Simon is either a relative or close friend of Lazarus and his sisters and they have invited Jesus to a pre-Passover, Sabbath dinner.
Now, as we get into the text, we return to the question we circled earlier: How do we value Jesus?
As we go through our text tonight and meet the cast of characters, we will ask that question of them and see how they respond.
1. Mary
How did Mary value Jesus? It says in verse 2 that they gave a dinner for him, Jesus, there at Bethany.
Verse 3,
“Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
This is a magnificent gift. I would be willing to bet that I’m not the only one who, on learning the value of the perfume, thought to myself what an overly extravagant gift this is. 300 denarii, Judas tells us, is what this bottle of perfume would have gone for on the open market, and I suspect Judas is a guy who knows pretty well what stuff goes for on the open market.
A denarius was a day’s wage for the ordinary laborer. Figuring in Sabbaths and holy days when a man wouldn’t work, Judas is basically saying: It would take one year’s wages for the common man to buy this – and that is gross income, mind you, not net. It would be presumptive of us to suggest that Mary’s family was loaded with wealth. We aren’t told that. And even if they were, 300 denarii is a large figure, no matter how you figure it out. What does the average worker make these days? 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars? Standard of living in Israel compared to America is hard to set side by side, but we can safely say that this was a princely gift.
One can understand why the disciples, let alone Judas, are amazed by this.
But in addition to the high value of the ointment, the perfume, we see something else here. Verse 3 says that,
‘[she] wiped his feet with her hair]’. For a woman to let down her hair in public in this way was extraordinarily undignified.
The disciples, we can guess, were almost certainly particularly aware of this, since they all thought so highly of themselves that not one of them was willing to take the servant’s role and wash the feet of the others in John 13. It is quite likely that they, rather than recognizing the beauty and love behind the act, looked down on her lack of dignity and wasteful use of the valuable perfume.
Yet there are two things that are true of Mary here. First, she thought more of Jesus and his honor than she did of herself and her dignity. And she valued Jesus more than the value of the perfume.
Lastly, what is particularly striking about this action is an attitude present that is almost entirely absent from the gospels, outside of Jesus himself: Mary’s action is based not on the desire to receive something back from Jesus, but it is instead based in thankfulness as she recognizes what he has done for her.
Who else in the Gospels shows kindness to Jesus with no expectation of desire for repayment? This is a thank offering. For what? Certainly for healing her brother, if nothing else. Perhaps, as she seems to recognize his death is close at hand, she also recognizes by God’s grace that he is her redeemer. That may, however, be going too far.
The heart of Mary is the heart of a child of God. She considers him worthy of highest honor, even if it requires personal sacrifice to award him that honor. That is the heart that all believers ought to have. It is what was lacking in the rich, young ruler. And we see that this heart of Mary that is inclined to God is not a recent development. Way back in Luke 10, Mary’s heart desires to be near her Lord and to listen to him speaking. Many came to see his signs and left when they heard what he had to say. Mary came to hear him speak, and witnessed his grace to her family as he raised Lazarus from the dead.
But Mary, while the most prominent player in the story besides Jesus, is not alone with him.
2. Judas
Judas Iscariot, whose name seems to be perpetually followed in all four Gospel narratives by the words, ‘who would betray him’ (as in v.4), has a key role to play here.
While Matthew and Mark do not identify a particular voice to the criticism of Mary, John points to Judas as the ringleader, or perhaps the loudest voice. Verse 5: Judas says,
“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
John 12:6 is the only time we’re given another specific offense committed by Judas, other than selling out Jesus. John tells us that Judas’ apparent piety and compassion for the poor was motivated by less than charitable reasons. Verse 6,
“He [Judas] said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.”
While we can surmise that Judas was a man who liked money more than God simply by observing his betrayal of Jesus for a handful of silver, here we are told more about him that is not surprising, looking back on the events of the Gospels: Judas was a thief.
It is a reasonable guess that Judas’ attachment to Jesus was not based on love for Jesus. There are two possible reasons why Judas tagged along with Jesus for so long.
First, as John tells us, Judas held the moneybag. Probably, Judas figured that with all the miracles Jesus did, money would come flowing in. Having gained the role of team treasurer, he could appropriate money for himself whenever he wanted to, with no one the wiser.
Second, there seemed to be a general expectation that Jesus was the Messiah. It is not outlandish to suggest that Judas expected to be rewarded once Jesus was victorious over the Romans – as was expected – and took the throne of Israel. Perhaps a high position for one of Jesus’ twelve closest companions.
It would be wrong to suppose that perhaps he started with sincere desire for Jesus. He was not a true believer. Those who are not of God have no desire for him. It is doubtful that Judas ever had any interest other than his own in mind.
Given this self-centered attitude, as all who are in the flesh have, it is not surprising that Judas is stunned by Mary’s action. This lavish gift smacks of wastefulness. For a mercenary person such as Judas, an action so selfless does not even compute to him. How indeed could it? To him, thirty pieces of silver was all Jesus was worth. Three hundred denarii was unfathomable by comparison.
Judas’ interest in Jesus was a purely professional one. He only cared about what he could get out of him. Mary was motivated by love – and no price can be set on true, genuine love. I don’t mean what a child who is clever in his own eyes calls love.
When I was young, I might well have complained when my parents declined to buy me something that I wanted in the store, “You don’t really love me!” Giving in to that kind of emotional blackmail would not have been love at all. In fact, my parents’ love for me was demonstrated by declining to give in to my every whim – and punishing me when my pleading got out of hand.
For love that is real, no price can be set on it. And even this gift, material as it was, did not compare to the true value of Jesus. Its value lay in the cost of it to Mary.
Judas, on the other hand, had no love for Jesus at all. Mark tells us in chapter 14, verses 10 and 11, that immediately after these events, Judas went to the chief priests to negotiate the price of Jesus’ betrayal.
Judas shows here an attitude far too common in all of us: Base materialism. Looking only to Jesus for what we can get out of him. Seeking only the hand of God, and despising those who see His face, as Mary does.
Mary and Judas. One a woman, the other a man. One a follower of Christ, the other a follower of profit. But they are not alone. We have more people to question; more people to ask: How do you value Jesus?
3. The Jews
In verse 9, John describes for us a new scene. Less than an hour’s walk away in Jerusalem, word has arrived that Jesus is a mere two miles off in Bethany. In chapter 11, verse 55, we learn that many have come early to prepare for Passover. This was one of the three big feasts of the year. There are many now in Jerusalem who have come from all over Israel. And Jesus, the man who called Lazarus alive from the tomb, dead and buried for four days – both Jesus and Lazarus are close at hand in this village of Bethany.
We become suspicious first when we hear that they not only want to see Jesus, but Lazarus also. Certainly, anyone who heard that there was present a man who had been raised from the dead might well be expected to show interest. I mean, how many of you have seen someone who was physically dead and came back to life? And not just a temporary heart stop – a near death experience sort of thing – I mean, dead for four days and alive again.
But we see that these people have not come to hear what Jesus has to say. They’ve come because of what they’ve heard he can do. That may seem uncharitable of me, but consider this: In six days, at Passover, Jesus will be executed. How many followers of his are in Jerusalem then? Not many. The people actually ask that Barabbas, a murderer, be released to them, and Jesus crucified.
It is likely that most of those coming here are Lookie Lou’s: Surface level believers who look to Jesus to solve their surface level problems. They don’t look for anything deeper in him because they’ve never looked for anything deeper in themselves and, subsequently, are totally oblivious to their root problem – spiritual death.
The one who came to set them free from sin is right here, and all they care about is being set free from Rome. The one who is the Resurrection and the Life is ready to bring life to them, but all they want to see is the one brought back to physical life – Lazarus.
Do we ever lapse into this mindset again, from which we have been redeemed and set free? Do we ever look at our behavioral problems as merely a discipline problem, and not as a discipline problem that stems from failing to keep our gaze fixed on Christ?
Do we ever see our problems and needs, our burdens that we bear, as God’s means of growing us into mature believers? Or do we see them as simply needs that must be met and problems that need fixing?
Do we look to ourselves as the savior of each day, the one who gets us through each day? Or do we recognize that God, and God alone is our Supply – that all our ills find their cure in Him. He provides what we need each day. And if we do not have what we need, it is not truly a need. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:19, after proclaiming that God protects us in fullness and in want, he says,
“My God will supply every need of yours, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Look beneath the surface and you will find the pearl of great price. He is worth selling all that you have to obtain him. The rich, young ruler would not pay that price. He was taken with the things of this world, and as they burned, so will he – so will all who follow that path.
4. The Chief Priests
Finally, the Chief Priests. You remember last Sunday in John 11:53 that they were making plans to kill Jesus. Now, in verse 10, they reappear, “[making] plans to put Lazarus to death as well.” Why? Verse 11, “Because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.”
To me on first glance, this is absolutely stunning. I mean, okay, you want to kill Jesus. He’s speaking out against you, criticizing your leadership, and judging your zeal for God. But Lazarus? I mean, he was dead and now he’s alive. You think if you kill him, you can pretend it didn’t happen?
My first thought was: Even in a chapter in which a girl uses up an extraordinarily valuable bottle of perfume in one sitting, this right here is the most shocking verse of the chapter.
But as I reflected on it, I realized that is not true at all. From a human standpoint, this response by the chief priests is exactly what we should expect.
In the first place, not having been there, they probably doubt whether he was ever really dead. They no doubt believe this was a stunt orchestrated to expand Jesus’ prestige. Now, as long as Lazarus is alive, he’s like a living, breathing, rallying point for Jesus. From their perspective, Lazarus is exhibit #1 that Jesus’ followers can point at as a reason why you should follow Jesus. Thus, just as Jesus has to go, so too does Lazarus.
Secondly, man in his natural state is at enmity with God. Man is in rebellion against God. The priests’ response is totally in line with what we would expect from one who rejects God, or at least, God as he really is, not as these men understand him.
It is what we see in the parable of the vinedressers in Matthew 21: The story of history up till that point. God appointed some to watch over the vineyard, his people, Israel. They rejected God’s ownership of the vine as well as his lordship over them, and they killed and abused his servants – rejecting all who came in his name.
Finally, he sent his Son, and as Jesus foretold in that chapter, so we will soon see. They will kill him also, because they hate God – not the manmade god that they have reimagined for themselves, but the true God: The God whose law they despise and whose commandments they may obey outwardly, but never in their heart.
Such were we. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together in Him. Just as Lazarus was called to life by ‘The Logos’, the Word made flesh, we too have been called to spiritual life by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intentions of our heart. No one, it says in Hebrews 4:13, is hidden from his sight.
Conclusion:
Jesus died that we might live. He has set us free from sin and death by his own death on our behalf. He in our place was accursed and left alone, and we in his are embraced and welcomed home.
Do we value Jesus Christ? How do we value him? Does he hold first place in our lives? No sacrifice is too great for him. I give of my money to him through the church so that ministries can do the work of God, but do I give my time? How much of my time am I willing to give? All of it, if he asks it? Or perhaps I’m willing to serve, but tight with giving my money away – "I’ve already given of my time, why must I give my money?" If he convicts our heart, what will we give?
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Each day I strive to understand better what that means.
Do I value God for who he is? Do I ever stop to reflect on his majesty; his glory? Or do I consider that time wasted? Judas would agree with that. Mary, I suspect, would be more than willing to stop and just consider God and his glory with us. Martha considered Mary to be making poor use of time in Luke 10. Yet what did Jesus say? While certainly, we all have responsibilities, and we must do those, do we make time for God, to be with him?
My weakest and most earthly days are those when I do my own thing and either skip time in the word and in prayer, or do them half-heartedly, not sincerely – although it is better to be in the word half-heartedly than not to be in it at all. Cultivate a love for God. Meditate on God – our fear of men and our unwillingness to do what he commands, whether in evangelism or in serving in the church, is usually directly related to our relationship with God.
In John 6:25 through the end of the chapter, Jesus commands us not to worry about our needs in this life. Why not? Verse 33: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
This is the essence of Christianity – seeking Jesus Christ above all else. This is the framework upon which our personal faith and practice is laid. Without it, we’re left with a confused mishmash of platitudes and commands without purpose.
Seeking God, putting him as the most relationship of our life – so easy to say, yet so hard to do – that is the single most important thing we can do in our life. And really, when we think about it, that is what we will be doing for eternity in heaven. If being in God’s presence does not excite us now, why should the prospect of heaven hold any joy for us? In closing,
“1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal…”
“22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Rev. 21:1-11, 22-23, ESV).
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