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).