The central moment in all of history has arrived. Even as he is hailed as king, Jesus prepares for death. How people respond to Jesus is a matter of life or death. Jesus understands the time he's in, but will everyone else. Join Dave as he explores John chapter 12 and discover the urgency of the moment we live in.
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1
2
G'day
3
and welcome to Stories of a Faithful God.
4
I'm Dave Whittingham.
5
Today we're launching into the second-half
6
of John's Gospel.
7
We covered the first half last year.
8
Before we get into it though,
9
let me ask you a question.
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What are the key moments in your life?
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What would you pick as those key turning
12
points, the crucial times that set your
13
future direction?
14
There are ones that most of us share.
15
Being born is an easy one,
16
probably leaving school.
17
Moving out of home for the first time if
18
you've done that.
19
Sometimes those key moments are big and
20
obvious.
21
Sometimes they're not so obvious.
22
As I was in my last year of school, I was
23
having a chat with someone at church about
24
my future plans.
25
I told them I was going to train as a
26
primary school teacher.
27
They said, well, you should teach Sunday
28
school then.
29
Go and have a chat to Janice, who's in
30
charge of the Sunday school team.
31
I didn't know then
32
that she was telling me to go and meet my
33
future wife.
34
There are moments in our lives that at the
35
time look tiny,
36
but are actually crucial to our future
37
direction.
38
So what happens
39
if we miss those moments?
40
If we don't see them as important?
41
If we don't act at the right time and then
42
miss out?
43
Our whole lives could go hurtling in a
44
completely different direction.
45
In today's story,
46
Jesus doesn't miss his moment.
47
He understands the time perfectly.
48
He sees what's happening and what he needs
49
to do with crystal clear
50
20/20 vision.
51
And he urges us to see as clearly as he does.
52
And so,
53
I present to you our next episode
54
of Stories of a Faithful God.
55
At the end of our last series,
56
we'd reached a crucial moment in the
57
ministry of Jesus.
58
Jesus has been performing signs, proving
59
who he is,
60
proving that he's God in the flesh,
61
that he's the King of the world.
62
It's crucial for people to understand
63
Jesus' identity,
64
because by believing in him, the real Jesus,
65
Jesus as he truly is,
66
we receive eternal life.
67
And so Jesus has been performing these
68
signs pointing to who He is.
69
In the first half of the Gospel,
70
John tells us about seven signs in
71
particular.
72
The most dramatic has just happened in
73
chapter 11,
74
where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
75
If you want proof that Jesus has power over
76
life and death,
77
proof that He really is the one who can
78
give you eternal life,
79
proof that He carries the same authority
80
that's only held by the one true God,
81
What more could you ask for?
82
For many,
83
the answer was nothing.
84
They saw or heard about the sign, and they
85
believed in the one the sign pointed to.
86
For others, though,
87
it had completely the opposite effect.
88
For the Jewish Sanhedrin, the ruling
89
council,
90
it stiffened their resolve to destroy Jesus.
91
If that seems strange, we'll actually get
92
an explanation of what's going on for them
93
later in today's story.
94
All this had come to a head as the Jewish
95
Passover approaches.
96
Two Passovers have already happened in the
97
gospel.
98
In the first one, Jesus went up to
99
Jerusalem as an unknown,
100
but he made a big splash when he cleared
101
the temple of people who were abusing it.
102
During the argument that followed,
103
Jesus alluded to another sign,
104
a sign that approved his authority over
105
God's temple,
106
a sign we haven't seen yet.
107
People asked him for a sign and he replied
108
in chapter 2 verse 19,
109
Destroy this temple and I will raise it up
110
in three days.
111
Then we're told that Jesus wasn't talking
112
about the brick and mortar temple.
113
He was talking about his own body.
114
At Jesus' second Passover,
115
he didn't go to Jerusalem.
116
Instead, people traveled out to see him
117
and he miraculously fed thousands of people
118
with five loaves and two fish.
119
When Jesus explained that knowing him was
120
far more important than a hearty meal,
121
though,
122
most people lost interest and walked away.
123
Jesus asked his twelve disciples if they
124
wanted to leave along with the crowd, and
125
Peter gave this brilliant answer in chapter
126
6 verse 68:
127
Lord,
128
to whom will we go?
129
You have the words of eternal life.
130
We have come to believe and know that you
131
are the Holy One of God.
132
When you found the guy who can give you
133
eternal life,
134
why would you settle for anything less?
135
Well, now it's time for the third Passover,
136
a time when the population of Jerusalem
137
generally swells by anywhere from
138
150,000 people to more than a million
139
people.
140
And the question that's running through the
141
conversations of all these people is,
142
is Jesus going to come? Will he turn up?
143
Will we get to see him?
144
The chief priests and Pharisees have given
145
orders that if anyone does see him,
146
they need to report him.
147
Jesus has been hiding out for a little while.
148
He's both
149
a wanted criminal
150
and a huge popular celebrity.
151
So what's he going to do?
152
Six days before the Passover begins,
153
Jesus arrives at Bethany.
154
Bethany's only about an hour's walk from
155
the gates of Jerusalem,
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just up over the Mount of Olives.
157
It's also the place where Lazarus lives,
158
with his sisters, Mary and Martha.
159
Lazarus, of course, is the one who Jesus
160
raised from the dead.
161
Naturally,
162
there's no more honored guest that this
163
family could have visit.
164
It's hard to imagine just how thankful they
165
must be.
166
They prepare a special meal to celebrate
167
Jesus' arrival.
168
Martha's busy serving the dinner.
169
Lazarus is reclining at the table with Jesus.
170
How's that for a remarkable picture?
171
The one who was raised from the dead,
172
and the one who raised him from the dead,
173
lying back sharing a meal together.
174
Then Mary does something astonishing.
175
She takes a pound of perfume, about half a litre.
176
Just think about the tiny bottles they sell
177
perfume in these days, and you'll get an
178
idea of how extravagant this is.
179
The perfume itself is pure nard,
180
a product that's been imported to the Roman
181
Empire from northern India,
182
again showing that what Mary's about to do
183
is incredibly extravagant.
184
She takes the perfume and uses it to anoint
185
Jesus' feet.
186
She pours it all out on Jesus' feet.
187
Then, as if that's not a big enough show of
188
affection,
189
she lets down her hair
190
and wipes his feet with it.
191
This isn't a sexual thing.
192
Foot cleaning was usually the dirty job of
193
a slave or servant.
194
Mary is showing her
195
utter devotion to Jesus.
196
She gives him her wealth, she gives him her
197
dignity, she gives him her service.
198
Jesus did the most wonderful thing for her
199
and her family in restoring Lazarus to them,
200
and Mary wants to publicly acknowledge just
201
how thankful she is.
202
John, the author of the gospel and an
203
eyewitness who is actually there in the
204
room at the dinner,
205
Gives us this lovely detail in verse three:
206
He says,
207
So the house was filled with the fragrance
208
of the perfume.
209
In the midst of this beautiful, fragrant scene,
210
a dark cloud suddenly hangs over the group,
211
a voice of righteous indignation from one
212
of the disciples,
213
none other than Judas Iscariot.
214
And I just checked before, but
215
every single time that Judas Iscariot is
216
mentioned in the Gospels,
217
The authors tell us that he's the one who
218
betrays Jesus.
219
When his betrayal is being described, then
220
it's pretty obvious, but when he's
221
mentioned at some other time, like here,
222
the authors go out of their way to tell you
223
exactly what he's done.
224
So John tells us in verse 4,
225
Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot,
226
who was about to betray him,
227
said,
228
Why hasn't this perfume sold for 300
229
denarii and given to the poor?
230
Now,
231
Far be it from me to side with the betrayer
232
of Jesus.
233
And yet,
234
it feels a little bit like he's got a
235
point, right?
236
I mean, 300 denarii,
237
a Roman soldier,
238
was paid 200 denarii a year.
239
So this is a small fortune.
240
And in an instant,
241
Mary's poured this small fortune on Jesus' feet.
242
Did she really have to use that much?
243
Couldn't she have just shown her devotion
244
use less
245
and sold the rest and given it to the poor?
246
Wouldn't that be kind? Wouldn't that be
247
loving?
248
It feels like a weighty argument,
249
even if it is from Judas, the guy who's
250
about to betray Jesus.
251
Before we get to Jesus' response,
252
John wants us to know that
253
Judas isn't as righteous as he sounds.
254
His motives aren't all that pure.
255
John tells us in verse 6,
256
He didn't say this because he cared about
257
the poor,
258
but because he was a thief.
259
He was in charge of the money bag and would
260
steal part of what he put in it.
261
If Mary had sold the perfume and pulled the
262
money for distribution,
263
who'd be looking after that money?
264
Judas.
265
It's so easy to make a righteous-sounding
266
argument,
267
but have evil motives.
268
Jesus doesn't address the heart motivation
269
of Judas's comment,
270
but he does respond to the comment itself.
271
His reply is about understanding the times.
272
He tells the group that something's about
273
to happen that's so momentous,
274
so history-making,
275
that means that what Mary's done is totally
276
appropriate.
277
If the disciples understood what time
278
they're in,
279
her gesture would make complete sense.
280
He tells Judas in verse 7,
281
Leave her alone.
282
She has kept it for the day of my burial,
283
for you always have the poor with you,
284
but you do not always have me.
285
Mary might be thinking,
286
Um,
287
for your burial? No,
288
no, that's not what I kept it for.
289
You may not have noticed Jesus, but you're
290
still alive.
291
It seems highly unlikely that Mary really
292
understands what Jesus is about to go
293
through.
294
Instead,
295
there's something bigger in her act of love
296
and devotion than even she realizes.
297
Her pouring out the oil on Jesus is more
298
appropriate than she could have imagined.
299
Jesus knows he's not going to be around
300
much longer.
301
He knows that the time when people will
302
prepare his body for burial is almost here.
303
It seems ironic that
304
as Jesus reclines at the table with
305
Lazarus,
306
the living proof that he has power over
307
life and death,
308
the man who he first met while he was
309
wrapped up for burial lying in a tomb.
310
It's strange that with Lazarus next to him,
311
Jesus is talking about his own death now.
312
It's almost like he's about to take
313
Lazarus's place in the tomb.
314
Jesus' statement seems ominous,
315
saying that he's about to leave them, about
316
to be buried.
317
It seems at odds with Jesus' power and
318
prestige.
319
And yet,
320
as they'll realize later,
321
his words are highly appropriate for this
322
moment in time.
323
News spreads that Jesus is in Bethany, and
324
people flock to see him.
325
They don't just come to see him though,
326
they also want to see Lazarus, the man
327
they've heard about being raised from the
328
dead by Jesus.
329
In the minds of the chief priests, this is
330
terrible.
331
They come up with a plan to kill Lazarus as well.
332
They want to destroy the evidence in favor
333
of Jesus.
334
It shows the foolishness of their position.
335
There's this guy with the power of life and death,
336
and we think we can kill him.
337
Oh, and there's this guy who's actually
338
already died, but who's been raised from
339
the dead.
340
We need to kill him as well.
341
This is madness.
342
It's blindness.
343
If you've been shown categorically that you
344
are wrong about someone,
345
the correct response shouldn't be to get
346
rid of the evidence.
347
They should acknowledge who Jesus really is.
348
they're so blinded by
349
jealousy though that
350
they can't see what they're doing
351
John tells us in verse 10
352
the chief priests had decided to kill
353
Lazarus also
354
because he was the reason many of the Jews
355
were deserting them
356
and believing in Jesus
357
just like Judas
358
they say they have good motives protecting
359
the honor of God protecting the Jewish
360
nation from the Romans
361
protecting the truth
362
but actually
363
They're just jealous.
364
The next day, a
365
rumor flies around the crowds of people who
366
have come to Jerusalem for Passover.
367
Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming!
368
They grab palm branches.
369
Palm branches had become the national
370
symbol of Judah.
371
You wave them in times of celebration and
372
victory.
373
They take the palm branches and spread out
374
along the road from Jerusalem to Bethany.
375
As they go, they're shouting the words of
376
Psalm 118,
377
a psalm that celebrates how God saved his people
378
and asks for him to come and help them again.
379
Hosanna, which they're going to sing,
380
literally means give salvation now. And
381
they quote a section that both
382
asks for salvation
383
and rejoices in the one that God sent to
384
give it.
385
In verse 13, we're told that they kept
386
shouting,
387
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the
388
name of the Lord,
389
the King of Israel!
390
The people are pretty explicit about who
391
they think Jesus is.
392
He's the Savior King promised from long ago.
393
You may remember that back in chapter 6,
394
people wanted to come and make Jesus King
395
by force.
396
Jesus got away really quickly,
397
not because he isn't the King.
398
but because their understanding of what it
399
means for him to be the king
400
was completely wrong.
401
For them, it was about nation building and
402
making war on the Romans.
403
On this occasion,
404
Jesus deliberately acts like a king, he
405
accepts the title,
406
but he undermines the idea of a warrior king.
407
He doesn't come in riding on a mighty
408
warhorse,
409
instead he comes in riding on a donkey.
410
He hasn't come to make war.
411
He's come to bring peace.
412
You can tell that especially from the fact
413
that Jesus is fulfilling an Old Testament
414
prophecy.
415
John tells us that Jesus is fulfilling
416
Zechariah 9 verse 9
417
and paraphrases it, saying,
418
Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
419
Look, your king is coming, sitting on a
420
donkey's colt.
421
So Jesus
422
is the king.
423
But what sort of king is he?
424
Well, he is not just a king for Israel.
425
He is not just a nationalistic king.
426
He is Israel's king, but his rule is
427
actually over the whole world.
428
Zechariah tells us he is going to bring
429
universal peace
430
because he will have universal rule.
431
There will be no more war where this king rules
432
and he rules everywhere.
433
Let me read it to you.
434
This is Zechariah 9 verses 9 and 10.
435
Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion, shout in
436
triumph, daughter Jerusalem.
437
Look, your king is coming to you, he is
438
righteous and victorious,
439
humble and riding on a donkey,
440
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
441
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and
442
the horse from Jerusalem.
443
The bow of war will be removed, and he will
444
proclaim peace to the nations.
445
His dominion will extend from sea to sea,
446
from the Euphrates River
447
to the ends of the earth.
448
As the disciples are watching all this,
449
they're not thinking, Wow, this is just
450
like what Zechariah said would happen.
451
John's actually really upfront about his
452
own ignorance.
453
He says,
454
We didn't get it at the time.
455
It didn't make sense to us.
456
Sometimes you can't really make sense of a
457
puzzle until you have all the pieces.
458
So John says in verse 16,
459
His disciples did not understand these
460
things at first.
461
However, when Jesus was glorified,
462
then they remembered that these things had
463
been written about Him,
464
and that they had done these things to Him.
465
Glory is coming for Jesus,
466
and that is when understanding will come
467
for the disciples.
468
If you think that Jesus riding into
469
Jerusalem with all these people cheering
470
and waving is glorious,
471
you ain't seen nothing yet.
472
Meanwhile,
473
There are people in the crowd with some news,
474
and they can't keep it to themselves.
475
You can imagine one of them saying,
476
I was there, you know,
477
and 10 people around him suddenly stop
478
shouting and huddle in.
479
You were there? What did you see? Did it
480
really happen like they say it happened?
481
And the first person replies,
482
I tell you the absolute truth.
483
We rolled away the stone in front of the tomb.
484
Jesus called Lazarus to come out, and out
485
he came.
486
and the ten people around him let out a
487
really satisfying,
488
Oh!
489
John tells us in verse 17,
490
Meanwhile the crowd, which had been with
491
him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb
492
and raised him from the dead,
493
continued to testify.
494
This is also why the crowd met him, because
495
they heard that he had done this sign.
496
The Pharisees, it's fair to say,
497
are not having a good day.
498
In their minds, the plans locked in to kill Jesus.
499
They have commanded people to report to
500
them if they see Jesus.
501
And yet here's this fugitive
502
riding openly towards Jerusalem,
503
with thousands upon thousands of people
504
cheering and waving palm branches and
505
hailing him as king.
506
Things don't seem to be going according to plan.
507
They say to one another in verse 19.
508
You see, you've accomplished nothing.
509
Look, the world has gone after him.
510
They're actually saying more than they
511
understand,
512
because having the world come after the king
513
is exactly what you'd expect from
514
Zechariah,
515
the universal king
516
with universal rule.
517
But of course, it's just an exaggeration,
518
isn't it?
519
They don't actually mean that people from
520
all over the world are coming to see Jesus.
521
The Pharisees are just using flowery
522
language,
523
except
524
in the very next scene,
525
some representatives of the world
526
do come to see Jesus.
527
And suddenly,
528
the moment that Jesus' whole life and
529
ministry,
530
and indeed the whole of history has been
531
heading towards,
532
suddenly
533
arrives.
534
People travel from all over the place to
535
worship at the Passover festival,
536
not just from Judea and Galilee.
537
but far beyond as well.
538
It'd feel like the world is gathering to
539
Jerusalem.
540
Now though,
541
the world goes to Jesus.
542
Some Greeks are there, and
543
they're really keen to meet Jesus.
544
We get a sort of reversal of what happened
545
in chapter one,
546
when new disciples went out and got their
547
friends saying,
548
Come and meet this guy Jesus.
549
This time,
550
these Greeks already want to meet him.
551
Verse twenty-one says, So they came to
552
Philip,
553
who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and
554
requested of him, 'Sir,
555
we want to see Jesus.'
556
Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew
557
and Philip
558
went and told Jesus.
559
One of the key features we've seen in
560
John's Gospel
561
is when Jesus gets asked a particular
562
question and then gives an answer that
563
seems to have nothing to do with what they asked.
564
When it happens,
565
you know you're going to learn something
566
really important.
567
And this is one of those situations.
568
Jesus has just been asked if these Greeks
569
can come and see him.
570
You'd think it's a straightforward yes or
571
no question.
572
But Jesus has something much bigger in mind.
573
Remember, he's identified himself as the
574
king who Zechariah spoke about,
575
the king who'd rule the whole world.
576
Earlier in the gospel, he's identified
577
himself with the God of the Old Testament.
578
So when the king who's going to rule the world
579
and the God who owns the world
580
has the world coming to Him,
581
what should you expect to happen?
582
Well, you can read about it in the very
583
last chapter of Isaiah.
584
Isaiah chapter 66, verse 18.
585
Listen to what the people of the world are
586
going to see.
587
This is God speaking.
588
He says,
589
Knowing their works and their thoughts,
590
I have come to gather all nations and
591
languages.
592
They will come
593
and see my glory.
594
God will gather the world to display his
595
glory, his greatness.
596
And so when Greeks come and ask to see
597
Jesus, this is what he says in verse 23,
598
the hour has come
599
for the Son of Man
600
to be glorified.
601
This is it.
602
This is the moment.
603
This is when Jesus' glory will be on full
604
display for all the world to see.
605
But they won't see it in the way they might
606
expect.
607
People expect to see the King's glory in
608
power and strength.
609
Jesus expects to show his glory through his death.
610
He says in verse 24,
611
Truly I tell you,
612
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground
613
and dies,
614
it remains by itself.
615
But if it dies,
616
it produces much fruit.
617
It's such a simple picture, isn't it?
618
How did all that wonderful life come about?
619
Through the death of the seed.
620
In this moment, the central event of all of
621
history,
622
Jesus is offering His death
623
to produce a wonderful harvest of life.
624
But He isn't just talking about
625
His own death.
626
In case you think that Jesus does all the
627
hard part and then life is easy for His
628
followers,
629
think again.
630
Sure, Jesus takes the punishment for the
631
sin of everyone who trusts Him.
632
He does things in His death that means that
633
we don't have to face them.
634
And yet at the same time,
635
followers need to follow.
636
Jesus understands the moment, the hour he's in.
637
We need to understand the moment we're in.
638
Jesus explains that this life you have
639
right now,
640
that's not the life you need to live for.
641
This life is coming to an end.
642
You can make this life
643
easy if you just love whatever the sinful
644
world loves, say whatever the sinful world says,
645
think whatever the sinful world thinks.
646
If Jesus had done that, he never would have
647
been crucified.
648
But if you follow the sinful world in this life,
649
that'll lead to the consequence of sin,
650
death and eternal judgment.
651
If you side with Jesus, though, if you
652
follow him in his loves and words and
653
thoughts and actions,
654
The world will hate you
655
like they hated Jesus,
656
but God will honor you for it.
657
You may lose this life,
658
but you'll gain eternal life.
659
Jesus says in verse 25,
660
The one who loves his life will lose it,
661
and the one who hates his life in this world
662
will keep it for eternal life.
663
If anyone serves me, he must follow me.
664
Where I am, there my servant also will be.
665
If anyone serves me,
666
the Father will honor him.
667
Of course, the Father honoring us doesn't
668
make life easy.
669
And if it's hard for us, how much harder is
670
it for Jesus,
671
who faces judgment so we don't have to?
672
And it would be so easy.
673
So easy for Jesus to say to his father,
674
Father,
675
please don't make me go through this,
676
please rescue me, please save me.
677
He doesn't though,
678
because he understands the moment he's in.
679
He understands that this moment is the very
680
reason he's here.
681
He says in verse 27,
682
Now my soul is troubled.
683
What should I say, Father, save me from
684
this hour?
685
But that is why I came to this hour.
686
Father,
687
glorify your name.
688
Then a voice came from heaven, I have
689
glorified it,
690
and I will glorify it again.
691
Interesting that Jesus doesn't say he
692
glorify my name.
693
He said before that the hour has come for
694
the Son of Man to be glorified, for him to
695
be glorified.
696
But that isn't his prayer, that isn't his
697
end goal.
698
His glorification is a means to the end of
699
having his Father glorified.
700
And he's willing to suffer torment and
701
shame and death for that end.
702
He wants the whole world to see that his
703
Father is good and loving and just and fair
704
and great.
705
That's good for the world to see his glory.
706
And the Father agrees.
707
He says about his name, I have glorified it
708
and I will glorify it again.
709
Don't be fooled into thinking that the
710
cross is easy for the Father,
711
that Jesus has all the pain and the Father
712
gets all the glory.
713
No, giving Jesus over to the cross is the
714
greatest act of painful love in all the
715
universe.
716
John 3:16 says,
717
For God loved the world in this way.
718
He gave His one and only Son,
719
so that everyone who believes in Him will
720
not perish but have eternal life.
721
So what's going to be seen to be glorious
722
about God at the cross?
723
His astounding love
724
in the excruciatingly painful gift
725
of his Son
726
in order to give his enemies
727
eternal life
728
his enemies who think he's mean and cruel
729
and horrible
730
God's working to show the world his glory
731
and what we'll see that's glorious about him
732
is his love.
733
The people standing around Jesus have heard
734
this massive voice booming from the sky and
735
they're like,
736
Was that thunder?
737
Others were like, Nah, man, an angel spoke to him.
738
They're totally confused.
739
They have no idea what moment of time
740
they're in,
741
which is heartbreaking.
742
Because Jesus says to them in verse 30,
743
This voice came not for me, but for you.
744
He wants them to know what's about to
745
happen.
746
All of history is about to pivot around
747
this event.
748
He says,
749
Now is the judgment of this world.
750
Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
751
As for me, if I am lifted up from the
752
earth, I will draw
753
all people to myself.
754
He said this to indicate what kind of death
755
he was about to die.
756
It raises an obvious question.
757
In this pivotal moment,
758
are you going to stand with Jesus, the one
759
drawing all people to himself,
760
or with the ruler of the world?
761
That's Satan.
762
It's a funny title for Satan.
763
Surely God's the ruler of the world,
764
and he is.
765
Satan ultimately is subject to God, even as
766
he fights against him.
767
But when Adam and Eve first sinned,
768
They thought they were taking power for
769
themselves, gaining independence.
770
But by listening to the voice of Satan,
771
they came under his power and influence.
772
They didn't become free,
773
they enslaved themselves to the one who
774
wanted to kill them.
775
Virtually no one today would say they
776
worship Satan, or they're on his side, or
777
they're in his kingdom.
778
But actually, they're totally under his sway.
779
Atheists
780
are atheists because Satan doesn't want
781
them to believe in God.
782
Muslims are Muslims because Satan doesn't
783
want them to believe in the one true God.
784
Greed and selfishness and pride are
785
all ways for Satan to distract people from God.
786
But Jesus is saying,
787
now's the time for Satan's reign to end.
788
Now's the time for people to be truly set free.
789
As Jesus spreads out his arms on the cross,
790
he'll gather people into his arms to give
791
them life and freedom and love.
792
Rather than hearing Jesus' words as a call
793
to action, a call to stand with him and
794
reject sin and Satan,
795
the people get caught up on asking who
796
Jesus is identifying as.
797
In a sense, that's not a bad question.
798
John's gospel is all about the identity of Jesus.
799
It does feel though like they've been
800
distracted from the main point of what
801
Jesus is saying here.
802
Their question is around titles.
803
They think Jesus is the Messiah or Christ,
804
the King who God promised to send.
805
But he's using this title Son of Man,
806
which does come from the Old Testament,
807
like the title Messiah, but
808
it's a little bit more obscure.
809
So they ask in verse 34,
810
we have heard from the law that the Messiah
811
will remain forever.
812
So how can you say the Son of Man must be
813
lifted up?
814
Who is this Son of Man?
815
Jesus had said and done enough to show that
816
he is both Messiah and the Son of Man.
817
Even if they don't get that,
818
even if they only think he's one or the other,
819
it should be enough for them to listen to
820
what he's saying.
821
When the plane's about to crash and you're
822
getting instructions from the cockpit,
823
you don't have a debate about whether it's
824
the pilot or the copilot speaking.
825
You don't say, Wait,
826
I thought that we're meant to be landing in Paris.
827
What do you mean we're diverting to London?
828
You listen to the instructions,
829
because the moment you're in demands that
830
you listen very carefully,
831
especially when time's running out.
832
And time is running out for these people
833
listening to Jesus.
834
They've had three years of experiencing
835
Jesus' ministry,
836
and it's about to come to an end with a
837
sudden bang.
838
Like if you are walking next to a cliff on
839
a dark night
840
and your torch battery suddenly dies,
841
Jesus says to them in verse 35,
842
The light will be with you only a little
843
longer.
844
Walk while you have the light,
845
so that darkness doesn't overtake you.
846
The one who walks in darkness doesn't know
847
where he's going.
848
While you have the light, believe in the light,
849
so that you may become children of light.
850
Jesus said this.
851
then went away
852
and hid from them.
853
And that's it!
854
Bang!
855
The end of Jesus' public ministry!
856
And how they respond to Jesus,
857
how we respond to Him,
858
is a matter of life
859
or death,
860
light or dark, truth or lies.
861
It isn't time for wavering.
862
Will you walk in the light that only Jesus
863
can bring?
864
Or will you stay in the dark?
865
So, as Jesus' ministry comes to a close,
866
how have people responded to Him?
867
to all the signs pointing to who he is, all
868
the words of truth and grace,
869
all the light shed into the darkness.
870
Well, John sums it up,
871
and it's not very positive.
872
He says in verse 37,
873
even though he'd performed so many signs in
874
their presence, they did not believe in him.
875
Huh.
876
OK,
877
what a letdown.
878
Why? Why don't they believe?
879
Has Jesus not done enough? Has he not been
880
clear enough? Has he not helped them
881
enough?
882
No.
883
Actually,
884
this was God's plan all along.
885
He said this would happen.
886
Jesus said before that it's a time of
887
judgment,
888
and the judgment comes by having the truth
889
right there in front of them,
890
but being hardened so they don't accept it.
891
That's what happened back in Isaiah's day,
892
750 years before.
893
and it is happening even more now.
894
John tells us in verse 39,
895
This is why they were unable to believe,
896
because Isaiah also said he has blinded
897
their eyes
898
and hardened their hearts
899
so that they would not see with their eyes
900
or understand with their hearts and turn
901
and I would heal them.
902
God has blinded their eyes.
903
He's hardened their hearts, just like he
904
did to Pharaoh back in Egypt.
905
This is the warning people like to think
906
that they can make any decision they want
907
at any time they want.
908
But when God says your time is up,
909
there's nothing you can do.
910
Even when the truth is staring you in the
911
face, you won't see it,
912
because you've come under God's judgment.
913
It's why the Sanhedrin said Jesus is a
914
liar, we need to kill him.
915
Oh wait,
916
he's just raised someone from the dead.
917
Well let's just kill that person too.
918
There's a sort of madness to it
919
and that madness is a consequence
920
for their ongoing rejection of God.
921
It's his judgment on them.
922
God has allowed some people to believe
923
though,
924
even some of the rulers believe in Jesus,
925
but their belief is weak.
926
It's fearful, or fearful of the wrong thing.
927
They don't fear God and his judgment,
928
they fear people.
929
John says in verse 42,
930
Many did believe in him, even among the
931
rulers,
932
but because of the Pharisees they did not
933
confess him,
934
so they would not be banned from the
935
synagogue,
936
for they loved human praise more than
937
praise from God.
938
Hard to know what all that means in the end.
939
Is their belief real belief? Is it a
940
genuine trust in Jesus?
941
Or is it just mentally acknowledging who
942
Jesus is?
943
Jesus said before what it means to follow
944
him or not follow him.
945
He said, The one who loves his life will
946
lose it, and the one who hates his life in
947
this world will keep it for eternal life.
948
If anyone serves me, he must follow me.
949
Where I am,
950
there my servant also will be.
951
If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
952
It's like these people are trying to have
953
it both ways,
954
belief
955
and human praise,
956
but they can't.
957
You can either chase human praise
958
or honor from God.
959
As a final wrap-up,
960
we're told one more statement from Jesus,
961
a full stop to his public ministry.
962
After this,
963
we'll only see him ministering to his
964
disciples.
965
And Jesus lays it all out.
966
Make a choice, life or death, light or
967
darkness,
968
judgment or salvation.
969
He's made it clear throughout his ministry,
970
will you listen?
971
Will you believe? Will you obey?
972
Jesus isn't trying to share a self-help
973
method that'll work for some and not for
974
others.
975
He isn't trying to sell you a 10-step guide
976
to wisdom.
977
He's offering to lift you out of your
978
casket, take you out of your grave, and
979
breathe life into you that'll last forever.
980
Here's his summary statement.
981
In verse 44, Jesus cries out,
982
The one who believes in me believes not in me,
983
but in him who sent me,
984
and the one who sees me sees him who sent me.
985
I have come as light into the world,
986
so that everyone who believes in me would
987
not remain in darkness.
988
If anyone hears my words and doesn't keep them,
989
I do not judge him,
990
for I did not come to judge the world but
991
to save the world.
992
The one who rejects me and doesn't receive
993
my sayings has this as his judge.
994
The word I have spoken will judge him on
995
the last day,
996
for I have not spoken on my own,
997
but the Father himself who sent me has
998
given me a command to say everything I've said.
999
I know that his command is eternal life.
1000
So the things that I speak,
1001
I speak just as the Father has told me.
1002
Jesus understood perfectly
1003
the moment he was in.
1004
Do you understand the moment you're in?
1005
It isn't a time to waver or doubt.
1006
It isn't a time to give a bit of belief to
1007
Jesus, but seek honor from the world.
1008
It's the time to throw your lot completely
1009
and fully in with Jesus.
1010
It may make some things harder in this life,
1011
but it will mean life forever in the family
1012
of God,
1013
with God honoring you for the decision you
1014
have made.
1015
It will mean an eternity celebrating the
1016
wonderful glory of our great God,
1017
the God who saves.
1018
Back in Jerusalem,
1019
Jesus knows his hours come.
1020
He knows that the cross is imminent
1021
before he goes there.
1022
He's going to sit down with his disciples
1023
and prepare them for what's ahead.
1024
But that's a story
1025
for next time.
1026
Thanks everyone for listening.
1027
I hope you found it helpful.
1028
If you want to help others with the same
1029
thing, I'd love it if you can hit the
1030
five-star rating in your listening app of
1031
choice.
1032
That would be a huge help.
1033
Also, why not hit the share button and post
1034
this episode on social media?
1035
Keep trusting Jesus.
1036
Bye for now.
1037
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