54. Lesson 26...Pt. 2

3. Thirdly, we need to consider..."The Christ, "Jn. 12.23-50

Notice three things here. First of all...

(a) the fact of His death, 12.23-31..."that the Son of Man should be glorified".

That is, given His spiritual body, and given back His former spiritual place...His throne, at the right hand of The Father, where worship beyond our imagination takes place! He, like a corn of wheat, would rise and bring forth fruit fit for eternity. That's why He's referred-to in Paul's letters as..."the first fruits of them that slept." His resurrection was the first, unto eternal life future; this was His time; His "hour had come". He would never be in the place of a servant again; He was to be "highly exalted", and given a Name "that is above every name" (Philippians 2)! That's a truth, and there's another truth here...if you love yourself more that you love Jesus, then your life is lost! That's the crux of His statement there in vs. 25(a), and a pretty sobering thought it is. And vss. 25(b)-26 give us pretty clear instruction..."If any man serve Me...". Just one more of the many promises from the word of God...serve Him, follow Him, receive honour from Him. What a heritage the believer has!

But even having said all that He said, Jesus' heart is troubled (vs. 27). You may think you've seen your share of troubles in life...in fact, enough to last a lifetime; as the song says..."Nobody knows the trouble I've seen!" But let me fill you in...Jesus' trouble was His own impending death! All the time we've been reading that, "His hour had not yet come", but by this time Jesus could smell the stink of His own grave! His life was now numbered in hours, and at this point His soul was troubled...not only with His own impending death, but also with the burden of the sins of those seated with Him at the table! And those who strewed palm branches along the way, and of those gathered in the temple, planning His murder, and of us here in the uncomfortable pew. When Jesus spoke of the burden of His troubled heart, He wasn't simply sharing His pain with anyone who would listen, He was pouring out His pain to the only One Who would listen! This is, in fact, a prayer to His Father in heaven, for deliverance. But notice how He puts it in vss. 27, 28(a)..."Father, save Me...but I know My purpose, and I know Your will...be glorified!" That's a prayer that few of us have ever prayed.

Jesus knew that the predestined plan of God was in process; everything was right with the world, because it was, and is in God's hands. Jesus had, at Lazarus' tomb, looked death squarely in the eye, and He didn't blink once! And He's looking at death, and the author of sin and death, in the eye again, and what is His comment? "No comment...Father, glorify Thy Name!" And then, a voice came from heaven..."I have already been glorified by Your life, My Son, and I will be glorified in Your death, as well"...the Father and the Son, having perfect faith in One another! But our faith, and the faith of the people standing by...vs. 29 (and 8.43). The natural man really is incapable, of not only understanding, but even of hearing God's word! "What was that sound?! Did it really come from heaven, or was that some angelic language?" Do you know? Because of our spiritual blindness and deafness, Jesus had no choice but to go to that cross. That's what sin had done to us! And yet, Jesus told those present (vs. 30)...to strengthen their little faith on the one hand, and to prove their lostness, on the other. As God had been His witness, His suitability was established, and the world was put on notice.

You know, there were three things that were accomplished by the crucifiction of our Lord. First, as we read in vss. 31, 32, the world was judged (and found wanting). Second the "prince of the power of the air", that "old serpent", the Devil, would be put on notice. Thirdly, the sheep of God would be irresistibly drawn to their own Shepard..."I will draw all men unto Me", vs. 32(b).

Remember John 6.44? See vs. 45..."And they all shall be taught of God...and come unto Me"; and vs. 37..."All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me...". Jesus knew that His death would result in countless people coming to Him, from all nations and kindreds and tongues, to believe and receive. That's the legacy that He left for the children of men, that we should become, "the children of God"!

Secondly, concerning Jesus, the Christ, we have described for us here...

(b) the form of His death, 12.32-36..."if I be lifted up from the earth...signifying what death He should die".

He knew! He knew what the manner of His death would be. You know what? I'm glad I don't know the details of my death, and I'll bet you all feel the same way! The crucified Jesus, Whose death was exactly after the manner of scriptural prophecy, came down from heaven anyway! I can't imagine any more painful, horrible way to die. It was, in fact, a form of torture, and I'm not going into the details now. It's enough to point to the cross, and let your imagination run amok, and then be thankful you weren't there and then, in Jesus' day!

But our patient Jesus...vs. 35, "...walk while you have light". Those Jews probably thought that they had completely befuddled the carpenter from Nazareth, but He was trying to teach them while, just like many of us, they were unteachable. In their minds, they had already learned more than they needed to know, when in reality, they were only..."looking through a glass darkly".

Look back to John 1.1-5. The darkness is well nigh impenetrable now...just think what it was like for those Jews! Look at John 8.12 and 9.5...these Jews were really at risk, and no one knew it better that Jesus.

There's one more thing that I want to say about the form of His death, and it's described-by some pretty big King James, Holy Bible words!

1. The cross was substitutional...that is, His death was in the place of us all;

2. it was redemptive...that is, He paid the purchase price for all;

3. it was propitiatory...that is, He cancelled the sins of all; and

4. it was just...that is, just right, just in time, and just perfect in its result; it satisfied all the prerequisites of God, for a sacrifice for sin!

(c) the focus of His death, 12.35-36

Read vss. 35, 36.

It sounds as though Jesus' public ministry had come to an end. In fact, from here on, to the end of the Gospels, He will be found alone with His disciples, and then before His accusers, for judgement and crucifiction.

So, in the last verses of chapter 12, Holy Spirit gives us a summary of the many teachings of our Lord; and we can sum it up very nicely. First of all, we will see in vss. 44, 45 His concern for souls; in vs. 46, His teaching that He is the "Light of the world"; in vss. 47, 48, the danger of continued unbelief; and in vs. 50 the great promise of everlasting life! But first, let's look at prophecy ("proof texts") quoted by John, here in vss. 37-41. In chapter 53 of Isaiah the prophet had stated that the promised One was to be "despised and rejected of men". As we've seen, the miracles of Jesus were well documented in the gospels, ranging from healing, to walking on the sea, to raising the dead back to life; but "they", that is, the nation of Israel at large, "believed not on Him", vs. 37.

You know, I've said a few times that we only really half believe the heart's real condition, when all we have to do is to look around us in the world today, and see the very witness of those who, even having heard, refuse to believe! Now, that's no excuse for us to slack back on our evangelistic efforts, but neither should we be beating ourselves up when the unsaved don't respond to the gospel call; remember, "...they believed not on Hm". But back to Isaiah. Chapter 53 tells of the treatment that Jesus was to experience during His first visit to this earth, and the Jews still refuse Him. In fact, they won't even acknowledge Is. 53, or discuss the possibility that it could in any way describe the life and death of Jesus..."Who hath believed our report?" But then we read in John 12.39, 40, another quote from Isaiah, "...they could not believe...". As a consequence of their continued rejection of Jesus, they were already judged! That's a pretty solemn statement, isn't it?!

Read vss. 37-43...in vs. 37, "...they did not believe", in vs. 39, "...they could not believe", and in vs. 40, "...they should not believe", because their hearts were hardened and their eyes blinded! Over in 2 Thessalonians 2 we read that, "...the mystery of iniquity doth already work...and the deceivableness of unrighteousness has already begun its work in them that perish, because they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved". And there we have it, in John 12.40...the Lord's response to the horrible treatment of wicked men, toward the Creator and Sustainer of life. They had refused light, so their end would be darkness; they had rejected Truth, so deceivableness would be their lot in life. Lord, preserve us!

The cry must be, as we read in Isaiah 55..."Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is still near!" "These things saith Isaiah...", John 12.41. We needn't go back to Isaiah 6 (where he describes his vision) to get the context; suffice it to say that we need to have our own vision of "the glory of the Lord", and realize that we are a people "of unclean lips", or He will never be able to do in our hearts, what He longs to do.

Read vs. 42..."Nevertheless...".

You know, a faith that does not profess Jesus cannot be a saving faith. Let's look at some verses...Luke 12.8, 9; Romans 10.9; and John 9.22. These people were not willing to forsake all, and follow Him. And John 12.43, "...for they loved the praise of men...".

Now as I've mentioned, in vss. 44-50 we have in essence, a summary passage of Jesus' teachings. "And Jesus cried (out)", to nobody in particular, perhaps as a prayer...perhaps to the disciples...perhaps to the four winds! He's appealing to God; He's speaking of His light in this world; He's speaking of the risk of not believing; and He's speaking of everlasting life. And He says that..."If you believe (these things), and you believe Me, then you believe the Father, Who told Me, and sent Me to tell you!" But particularly notice vs. 48..."the last day".

There will be a "last day"; the last day will be a day of judgement, and the very word of Jesus will judge sin, and sinners in "that day", Romans 2.16. So, as Hebrews 12.25 says..."See that you refuse not Him that speaks, for if they escaped not, who refused Him Who spoke on earth (Jesus), how much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him that speaks from heaven?!"

Heaven indeed!

53. Lesson 26..."Behold, the World Is Gone After Him"! John 12.12-23

Do you know what the performance of a miracle will do for a person? Why, place him in a position of social, spiritual, and even political prominence, is what! And so it was for Jesus. What better candidate for King of the Jews than the King of Creation?! Just think of all the great things that could happen, with Jesus as your King! Healing miracles, and resurrection miracles would just be the beginning. Israel had waited long enough, so...Hosanna! Save us now!

This is one passage that all four Gospels record pretty much as is. And a pretty unusual portrayal of Jesus it is, too, when compared to anything else we read in the New Testament. Of course, this account is recorded by Holy Spirit in fulfillment of prophecy, just as many other scriptures are. And the prophecies go all the way back to Genesis 49, and the record of the blessing of the children of Jacob, including Judah, who is named as being the son from whom the line of Christ was to come. And the prophecies continue all the way through the Old Testament, right up through the Psalms, as far as Zechariah. But I don't have much discernment when it comes to prophecy, so that should be enough to get you started on a study of your own.

Well, as I've already said, this is a very unique picture of our Lord as He made His way to Jerusalem to fulfill His eternal purpose, and the time seemed like it would never come (see chapt. 6.15 and 7.6, eg.). And then, there are other events not recorded for us in John's account, of course. For example, there is no mention of Jesus weeping, or of the possibility of the stones crying-out their praises; but what an event! So let's consider the first point in our passage...

1. The crowd, Jn. 12.12-18

Now I'm not too much on Bible symbolism, either; the literal account is difficult enough for me to percolate, but sometimes it's pretty obvious. The fact of the matter is, Israel wanted a King, and to them, Jesus had all the qualifications; and there was enough of a crowd gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover to elevate Him to their throne, if He was to allow it. At the very least, cause an uproar that Rome wouldn't forget for awhile...or the Chief Priest or the Pharisees either. It was pretty clear that their concern was not for the spiritual significance of Jesus' arrival, or for the eternal significance, either one. This crowd had their own purposes in mind...selfish purposes...political purposes. They had been suppressed and repressed, and they were getting de-pressed, but now, to them it seemed, their time had come.

You know, very little has changed in all this time. We still have people today, being elevated into the political arena with some agenda or another in mind. I know...I've been there! It's a pretty appealing prospect for most people...except Jesus! He knew the cries of, "Hosanna...blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord", would soon turn to, "Crucify Him", and "Give us Barabbas!" But, the Lord's will be done, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Now as I've mentioned, this crowd was gathering at Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, the center of Jewish worship, and the location of the temple, and many of them, as we see from vss. 12 and 18, had been anticipating Jesus' arrival, at least since the spread of the news of Lazarus' resurrection. And there was already a holiday atmosphere there, just like at your Municipal exhibition or at the church picnic. And the things that were taking place were not out of place, either, because back in Leviticus, where the account of the Feast of Tabernacles was instituted, being the week prior-to Pentecost, God had commanded that a family holiday should be observed, which included the use of palm branches to build brush tents to stay in, so there would have been lots of palms available to use in their worship of Him!

Now we've already established that prophecy was being fulfilled in these verses, as John points out there in vss. 13-15. But notice that neither John, nor the other disciples, understood that at the time. It was not till after Jesus appeared to them in His glorified body that their spiritual eyes were opened. See how like those original disciples we are? And like those later, Spirit-filled disciples we could be?! Just think of the potential there is, just in one tiny church fellowship! My oh my...the things we could do for Jesus! And the key to eternity is in the door! Jesus drew attention to Himself by entering Jerusalem in the way, and at the time that he did. And He was later to draw sinners to Himself, in the way that, and at the time that He did. And He is the Door, and He is the Key, and He is, and was, Salvation itself, for Israel, and for us! In fact, although the key was right in the door..."these things understood not, His disciples." So let's consider for a minute...

2. The commotion, vss. 19-22

Luke's account in Luke 19.37-40 has this to say...(read).

We humans have a very human nature, don't we? Jesus had power to rebuke His disciples, and had done just that, on previous occasions. He had power to rebuke the wind and the waves, along with the rest of His creation, if He had a mind-to. But rebuke those who worship Him?! Never! The Pharisees were concerned at the conduct of Christ, as well as His cause. They had their own cause, and their own politics and their own reputation to be concerned-with, and Jesus proved to be more than a match for them. And they were at a loss as to how, and why. So there was a commotion in the temple, and in the power houses of the day. But there was also a commotion from the come-from-aways. The Greeks, who were in town for the Feast, got wind of Jesus. And this is also, right in line with what we know from Scripture, that..."Jesus came to the Jews first, and then to the Greeks" (Acts 1.8). This was all within the will of God. And notice vs. 21; they desired Him..."Sir, we would see Jesus"! Do you desire Jesus? Do you wish to see Jesus? Well look no further; you can see Him right here in the Book, and, I pray, in your church, and in the lives of the saints. All you need to do, is open your spiritual eyes!

Remember that we read back in chapt. 1.11-12...(read).

God's purposes and timing are right on track. You and I are right where we need to be, in order to see Jesus, just like those Greeks.! The veil of the temple would soon be torn in two, which would allow those Greeks, and us too, to have direct access to Him; we don't have to go looking for permission anymore, thank-you Jesus! He tells the whole story, as recorded there in vs. 23..."The hour has come...". Those Greeks had the green light; The "Sir, we would see...", had turned to the ..."Come unto Me..."!

All the miracles, all the teaching and all the truth is summed-up right here..."The hour is come..."; and it had come for all, and when Jesus was glorified, it was in order for us and for those Greeks to be glorified, if they chose to believe and receive. And so, men and women and children still come to Jesus, not because "seeing is believing", but because "believing is seeing"!

King, indeed!

52. Lesson 25..."For the Poor You Always Have With You...", John 12.1-11

Have you ever tried to determine from your study of the Word of God, a simple definition of worship? Well let me save you the trouble...there is none! As important as the matter of worship is, you would think that there would be a neat little definition for it, somewhere in scripture. I guess the fact is, it is simply too broad a concept to put in a box. For example, we have in John 12, the first 11 verses, a very good picture of worship in its various forms, as the story of Lazarus and Mary and Martha continues.

The resurrection of Lazarus has taken place and life in their home goes on as it had for years, except for one thing...Jesus had come for supper, and it's from this point on that we see the transition taking place in Jesus' life...from a humble carpenter's son from the Galilee to "the glorified Son of Man" (vs. 23); the Saviour, as it turns out, for all mankind! In this passage we see Him seated there in Bethany, along with His most intimate friends, and by the time we arrive at vs. 12, we see the "much people" who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, hailing Him as the King of the Jews. And finally, in verses 19-21, the interests of the people of the world, represented by those "certain Greeks", in this miracle-making Man called Jesus. "The whole world", as the Pharisees testified (vs. 19) were talking about Him. But before any of that happens, we have this short passage at the beginning of the chapter, that gives us a very clear picture of worship, as God intended it to be, and really, as we still perform it (if you would call it a performance!) in the church, today. So let's consider, first of all...

1. The reality of worship (vss. 1-3)

You know, Lazarus is very nearly a perfect picture of what happens to every believer in, and after, his own personal resurrection moment. There was Lazarus sitting at the supper table, in the very presence of the Lord! Just to be where Jesus is! To celebrate with Jesus what He has done for us; to fellowship, to serve, and most important of all, to worship the Master. Even to learn from Him in the course of His last few days on earth...truth concerning His coming death, the giving of Holy Spirit, the importance of personal peace, the matter of abiding faithfulness, facts about eternal things and about His eventual return for His church. All pretty heady stuff! It's no wonder that Lazarus sat at the table with Him, hanging on His every word! And also, as always, Martha serving. Talk abut worship! Sitting and learning at the table of the Lord is one thing...but serving the table of the Lord is quite another! And I don't mean "the fellowship of the Lord's supper", either. In another passage, Jesus had spoken of her as being..."cumbered with much serving", but believe me, to Martha, service was no burden. Just as Lazarus was worshiping by sitting and learning, Martha was, for her, undertaking a very simple, practical and important function...one in fact, that we today probably see as "priority #1". And I don't believe it came from any fleshly, carnal purpose, either. Rather, out of a moving of her spirit, by Holy Spirit. Her pleasure was in bringing pleasure to others, in the Name of Jesus! And that, my friends, is worship! But then, there was Mary, sacrificing the family's most precious commodity as an act of worship to Jesus. And I think we could all agree, that if sitting and learning is an important aspect of worship, and if service is an important part of worship, then sacrifice must be the greatest form of worship of them all!

Let's just think like Mary for a minute. She had often listened to the Words of Life that Jesus had spoken; she had sat with Him at their supper table on other occasions; she had shed tears along with him at the grave of her brother and had rejoiced at his resurrection from that hillside grave; in fact, I'm sure she had experienced some of the closest times of fellowship with the Lord that anyone other than His disciples had ever had. And now, what was there left but a one pound box of very costly ointment, much too precious for her own use, even to embalm the body of her brother Lazarus, but not too costly for Jesus! So she went and found that box of spikenard (as we read in the Gospel of Mark), broke it open and used it to anoint His feet. One hundred pence worth...a whole lot of wages in that day, I'm sure. Worship is right! Not only sitting, or serving, but sacrificing beyond your means. And then, wiping His feet with her hair! We speak of extremes in worship, today; well I think Mary was the inventor of it! She worshipped in excess; maybe even wasteful extravagance. But you see what sacrifice involves...surrender; and that's it's #1 component, when you think of it...surrender to the way and the will of the Lord! And that, I guess, includes your wealth; at least it did for Mary.

"And the house was filled withe the odour of worship". What is worship, to us? Well just think of the things that Mary did not come to do...she did not come to hear a sermon, although the original teacher was there; she did not come to ask Him for anything, although there had been a time she had asked Him for her brother's life; she did not come to fellowship with the saints, as great a comfort as that may be; she did not come to clear her head of the problems of the world, or of her family's own personal headaches. What she did do was come to offer to Jesus the thing that was most valuable to her; for Lazarus, it was his loving, listening, learning presence with the Lord; for Martha, her never-ending service of love; and for Mary, the one thing she had been hoarding-up for some occasion that may never come, if not for Jesus' presence at her supper table that day. That's the reality of worship!

2. The reaction to worship (vss. 4-6)

That's it; short and sour! "Why wasn't this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?! As if! Mary's worship was not for sale! Love is never wasteful! Generosity is never wasteful! It's perfectly clear, from what we know of Judas, that he had no love for Christ, or for the things of Christ. And no appreciation for the things that were done for Christ. You know, there are many professing Christians today who have a Judas-like spirit, rather than a Christ-like spirit. They don't seem to have a Mary heart, or a Martha heart, or a Lazarus heart for the Lord. Many people seem to emphasize some "nobler cause" in the name of Jesus, whether it be a pretended love for the poor, like Judas, or maybe even, as the old saw states..."charity begins at home", with our own needs first. There's no need to be fanatical about your worship, many would say, even today! I guess we need to realize that, the more real the worship, the harsher the reaction. That is, by Satan, of course, and his ilk. In this case, as we'll soon see all the more clearly, Judas was just an agent of Satan, after all. You have to wonder how, during those three years spent together, none of the other eleven disciples ever clicked-in to his true identity! It just goes to show, even more certainly, how Jesus is truly the only One to truly discern the heart of a man. And Judas' heart was subject to "like passions"...the lust of the flesh, and of the eyes, and of the pride of life, just as we are.

Do you realize that these are the first recorded words of Judas in Scripture? He had nothing whatever to hide behind, anymore. And it would be only too soon, that he would speak his last recorded words..."I have betrayed the innocent blood!" (Matthew 27.4) But he was appointed by God for that very occasion.

Read vs. 7...Even Mary was appointed for that occasion, anointing the head of the Master..."against the day of (His) burial". Others would come on a future day, expecting to find Him dead and in the tomb, but Mary was a messenger, even without knowing it, to the crowd that had gathered at her table for supper that night; a true prophet of things yet to come.

You know, the whole mind of God was focusing on the events of that day, including the worship of Lazarus and his two sisters. And this was no time for ridicule, or for covetousness or for sinful thoughts and attitudes of any kind! Jesus knows, and He will address those attitudes and intents, either sooner, or later.

Read vs. 8...Jesus wanted those disciples to know, and He wants us to know, that there is a time and a place for everything. If we don't sincerely seek to know, and to be known by God in and through our worship, then neither can there be no sincerity in our good works. If we can't identify with Him in our quiet time, He will not be identified with us in our words, and our works, and our worship. We are even called to identify with Him in His suffering in order to share with Him in His glory! And one would have to wonder just how much longer the opportunity will be there!

There is a time to give and a time to receive; a time to sit and a time to sacrifice, and as the Prayer says..."God grant us the wisdom to know the difference"! Even such a high purpose as relieving poverty cannot take priority over worship, unless it is undertaken as a form of worship; not just dropping our twonie to relieve our guilt, or out of convenience, or to get rid of a nuisance telephone call. As Jesus says back in vs. 8, poverty isn't going away, until He returns.

3. There is a result from worship (vss. 9-11)

The first result is curiosity..."what the...?" "why the...?" "who the ...?" "Lazarus? Dead? Alive? Sitting? Show me more!" This, sadly for some people, is the only result that worship brings...an idle curiosity. The sight of a once-dead man, sitting and supping with the Saviour. And just so, when a person is made spiritually alive, there is a natural curiosity on the part of his family and friends to get a good, long look..."is she or isn't she?" "does he or doesn't he?" "will she or won't she?" And more often than not there will be a commotion and a consultation, just as we see here in these verses. In Lazarus' case, consultation to put him to death; to be put on the "hit list", along with Jesus.

You know, we read in John 4.23,24..."But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Who Jesus is and what Jesus does, is what and who the true worshippers of God become. For Lazarus, his second chance at life resulted in hatred by the enemies of Jesus, but also, a widespread belief in Jesus, on the part of many of the Jews. But faith and worship are not a mixed blessing...it's the only blessing there is to be had, for a lost people on the way to a lost eternity!

51. Lesson 24..."One Man Should Die For the People...", John 11.45-57

The resurrection miracle that Jesus had performed there in Bethany, was pretty awe-inspiring, and the effect of it has been pretty well portrayed up to this point. But now, when we should be hearing from Lazarus, the scriptures are silent! Just think of all we could have learned from him, about life after death! About the light at the end of the tunnel, that we hear about! Of how it felt to be tucked away in the bosom of Abraham! Lazarus resurrected, only to have to face the pains of life and of death, all over again! Well, God has His purposes, and as I have said many times before, they're way beyond our understanding. In any case, it didn't suit the purposes of God for us to know the details of eternity; it simply goes to prove the truth of Holy Spirit's account. Because if it had been simply John the man recording this event, you can be sure that he would have told us "the rest of the story".

Read 11.45...

Notice how Holy Spirit focuses our attention on Jesus. That is, after all, the intent of the word of God. All throughout this Gospel, we have seen the growing hatred of the Jewish establishment toward the Saviour, and although it would soon lead to His physical death, there would still be those who would believe on, and receive Him. The scripture says that..."many would believe on Him". Now that's a function of grace and of faith you just can't analyze.

Read vs. 46...

..."but some..."; and aren't there always! The word "but" is a pretty ominous word..."but Lord...but I...but you...but some." These were probably some of the other Judases that the aristocracy had hired to keep an eye on Jesus' comings and goings, and beings and doings. The fires of Hell were already licking at their heels! Could those ever be saved? As horrible as their deeds were, we can never discount the grace of God; Jesus even died for them!

Read vs. 47(a)...

Here we have identified for us, the two most powerful factions in the Jewish faith...the Sadducees, who according to Acts 5.12, were of the priesthood, and did not believe in the resurrection of the body (remember Lazarus?), and their arch rivals, the Pharisees. Really, you could put them all into a bag, and shake them up; what one didn't think of, the other did. And they were bitter rivals; but do you know what? Their hatred for Jesus was the common denominator; they buried the hatchet in order to hatch a plan to try and defeat the very purposes of God! Oh, don't tell me that there are those, even today, who would try and defeat the eternal purposes of God?! A pox on them, I say! But do you know? even this was just another fulfillment of the many prophecies of God. We read back in Psalm 2.2 that..."the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and His Christ". And that would include Pilate and Herod, when their turn comes, as well.

You know something else? the evidence in favour of Jesus' being the very Son of God, was overwhelming. In fact, the council that met that day to plan His murder, should have been planning His inauguration ceremony! Instead, they beat themselves up for allowing Him to live this long! Well, let's look into their deliberations. Holy Spirit makes a point of spelling-out this conversation, because you can be sure that John wasn't there in person.

Read vss. 47-54...

Notice something astounding in vs. 47? They accepted the fact of His miracles! Just as the scripture has told us..."Though one rise from the dead, still we wouldn't believe!" (Luke 16.31) How can we not believe in the total depravity, that is, the total lostness of man, before Jesus? Souls are not won, even by the greatest demonstrations of power, but rather, by the demonstration of weakness, powerlessness, humility and disability. You see, strength is fleeting, power is fleeting, wealth is fleeting, this world is fleeting...but our humble Jesus...we should melt in His presence, stand in awe of His love for us, and worship Him because of His all-embracing grace! We know that He is the Miracle-Maker, because we are His miracles! Just like Lazarus, we have passed from death into life. We don't have any need to argue the truth of scripture, because He is Truth, and we are the evidence of it.

But notice vs. 48. Here we have the revelation of the real concern of this temple council...the Romans. We have come to a pretty hard place, when we look for favour from Caesar, rather than peace from God! Any sign of trouble in that tiny puppet state of Israel, particularly as the crowds started to gather for Passover, could result in BIG trouble. And yes, they had good reason to fear, but even so, their fear wasn't so much for God's promised land, or the Covenant People, as it was for their own position, influence and power. In their minds, they owned the things that really belonged to God... the wealth and the name and the ritual were all their being and doing, in their own eyes!

Israel, at that time, was under Roman authority, and it hasn't been the nation God had intended it to be, since then, perhaps the treaty of 1948, excepted. In fact, over in chapter 18.36, Jesus will teach a lesson that all of us should take a page from, when He said..."My Kingdom is not of this world...". So regardless of what that council, or even you, believe, please take into account, "the whole counsel of God". His Kingdom in still "under construction", of which Psalm 2 is a sober reminder...(read).

Back to Jn. 11.49-53, we see how Holy Spirit can even use the enemies of God to identify His purposes. Here we have the chief of the priests, squashing their statement..."You know nothing at all". In fact, he was the last on earth to prophesy the death of Jesus "for that nation"; and not for "that nation" only, but for all "the children of God, scattered abroad". What was meant for evil, was to result in good. To the council, it was a brilliant suggestion, but for the rest of the world, and for the rest of time, it was to be the only solution for the wages of sin...the only way to God.

You know, this subject is very, very deep, and human beings have stumbled over it in every age. But the scriptures are very clear...all things are of God, and nowhere is that more clearly seen, than in the treatment of our Lord Jesus..."at the hands of wicked men" (see Acts 4.26-28). All these things had been decreed by God, before the beginning of time. Just as Joseph's brothers had hoped to defeat the eternal purposes of God by selling him into Egypt, it came to pass, in Joseph's own words, that..."God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive"! A large portion of the human race die unsaved, just as though Jesus had never died for them. But He died anyway, that those who would be saved, would be saved! His precious spilled blood was, and is, enough for all. He frees, and will free, every captive who wants freedom. Zechariah 9.11 says..."As for thee, also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein there is no water". And this is just a sampling from the word of God! Jesus was not a victim, nor was He just another lamb to the slaughter...He was a Reason, and a Ransom, paid for the eternal redemption of sinners who would believe and receive! Remember, God had an express purpose in sending Jesus to earth to die; and Jesus died with that purpose in His heart and mind and will; and that purpose was fulfilled, in that Israel should be redeemed, and that..."the children of God scattered abroad should be brought together in one family" (vs. 52). And so, as we read in vss. 53-54...(read). Every jot and every tittle of the word of God is filled with meaning!

We know, of course, that Jesus' "hour had not yet come". And we don't know when our own "hour" will come. One thing is certain however, that all of us who have met God by His grace, will one day meet Him in all His glory! The temple elite had received testimony of His resurrection power, but it had only served to add fuel to their hatred and fear. And so, what is life and spiritual health to us, was death and spiritual corruption for them, as it is for all who reject Him.

What a blessing it is to know that the very plans of Satan are overruled by the very plans of God!

50. Lesson 23...”The Fairest of Ten Thousand”, John 11.28-44

Read John 11.26-27...

The questions that Jesus asks, always serve to measure our faith. And just as was the case with Martha, here, our thoughts are no match for His thoughts, no matter how hard we try to make sense of them! In fact, we have to learn to think like our Lord; while He's thinking here, of here-and-now power, Martha's thinking of there-and-then power. Here-and-now problems are of no consequence to Jesus. But Mary's faith, and our faith is limited to what we see and hear. She couldn't and we can't, see or think beyond the four walls, or out to that cemetary. She couldn't stretch her understanding to include the fact that Jesus was the Inventor of life as she knew it, as well as life as she could never imagine it! And He's the very same Jesus we know today, about to teach a lesson about love and grief and power beyond her wildest imagination!

Well, as we had seen back in vs. 20, Martha, in her rush to meet the Lord, had for awhile, forgotten all about her sister Mary. But when Jesus began to teach her eternal truths, she realized that Mary should be there, to fellowship with, and to learn from the Lord, as well. So, as we read in vss. 28-29...(read). Now the fact that she called Mary secretly, is significant, because according to vs. 19, there were many Jews in the house, some of whom probably were not in sympathy with Jesus, so it was probably best if they weren't alerted. On the other hand of course, both Mary and Martha had a special relationship with Christ, and would have wanted to spend some time with Him alone, grieving the loss of their brother. You know the hymn, "Fairest of Ten Thousand to My Soul"? Well that's about Jesus, literally, and that's how those sisters seem to have felt about Him.

Read vs. 30...

Jesus had not moved, from the time that Martha had left Him. You see, Jesus knows what is beyond our ability to understand. He had a purpose in coming to earth, and death is of no consequence to Him. And He wasn't interested in undue drama, either. The fact was, and still is, that Jesus is concerned about real, live people. We'll see that, for certain, very shortly, in this series. But we also see, from vs. 31, that the Jews who were gathered at the home of the bereaved, followed Mary out, supposing that she was going to the gravesite. You know, this whole scene was orchestrated by God in heaven, to be played-out in His own good time. This last of Jesus' miracles before His resurrection, was to be very public, performed before many witnesses. And now, their time had come.

We can see from vs. 32, just how filled with grief, Mary was. And you know, "at Jesus' feet", is not a bad place to be, and Mary was often to be found there, washing and anointing Him. Mary knew how to worship! But you know, on this occasion she could only think of what might have been..."If only"; the language of the people. If only we had faith the size of a mountain, we might move a mustard seed! "Give us more faith, Lord". Well let me tell you a little secret...faith takes faith! We simply don't have the will to practice it. "Lord, why didn't you heal my brother, like I asked you to?" Well, let me say it again...death is of no consequence to Jesus. Without a doubt, the reason He permitted Lazarus' death was already revealed to us back in vs. 4 (read). This may not be always apparent to us, with our dim spiritual vision, but you can be certain that God's purposes are greater than our purposes, every time!

Read vss. 33-35...

This is an outstanding statement...one of the few that we read about the Saviour's humanity..."that He groaned in the Spirit...was troubled", and that..."Jesus wept". We read elsewhere in the scriptures that all of creation groans and travails over the consequences of sin. But here we read of the Creator Himself, so affected by the awefulness of death!

Did you know that vs. 35 is the shortest verse in scripture? Well let me tell you, it may be short, but it speaks volumes about Who and why Jesus is...and what, and how, we are. He is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness, goodness and temperance; we are flesh, and of the flesh, and "the works of the flesh are manifest in us". When we weep, it is for the dead; when Jesus weeps, it is for the living.

There are three times in the New Testament when we read of Jesus weeping...here in this passage, then, over Jerusalem, as we see in Luke 19.41, and in Gethsemane, as revealed in Hebrews 5.7. Jesus' grief was for those who grieved, who could only see through the glass darkly. He is "the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief", as we read in Isaiah. And the Jews, in vs. 36 exclaimed...(read). Jesus had a perfect human heart; He wept with those who wept. And He is the same "yesterday, today and forever".

Read vs. 37..."(but) some of them said...".

Some simply cannot, or will not accept, or will not expect, any thing, or any good, from any one. Pick, pick, pick! Everything Jesus did had a down side to the fault-finding, harping, carping critics. Foolish, fickle, faithless people. Jesus doesn't give account of Himself; just the opposite, in fact (13.7)! That should be sufficient, for faith to act upon!

Read vss. 38-44... And so, "Jesus, groaning in Himself, came to the grave". And then..."Take away the stone". You know, He could very easily have commanded that stone to roll itself away, or He might have commanded Lazarus to come forth, through the stone, but Jesus was, very simply, obedient to the purposes of God.

In vs. 39, we have one last protest from Martha, and that one sentence characterizes every one of us..."But Lord..."; how sad unbelief is! In the case of Martha, the dead man's own sister, placing one more obstacle between Him and a resurrection miracle. But Jesus replied..."Get thee behind Me, Martha. I have My Father to glorify!" Jesus wouldn't have hurt Martha for anything, but He was obedient to His calling. You know, we are so easily distracted from our calling. I guess we really are no different from Martha, or from Mary either, for that matter; we're just flesh and blood. But Jesus was not just flesh and blood; it was His will to do the Father's will, and so, as recorded for us there in vs. 41, "He lifted up His eyes...".

Jesus is perfect, and He is perfectly faithful to Father God. And He left us a perfect example of prayerfulness. This miracle, as well as any other miracle, cannot be attained without the power of Almighty God. Our Lord called on Father God, having perfect faith, in perfect obedience to His will. And as we read in vs. 42...with perfect confidence. I guess we don't have much faith in our faith, do we? We really don't need a mountain-sized faith; all we need is the faith we have.

When we get to John 17, we'll see Jesus' great prayer for all believers, and we should be thankful today, that He still intercedes in faith, for us; and that God hears, as He says in vs. 42..."hears Him always". Note there, that Jesus qualifies His words to God; learn from this. We don't need to make a lot of noise about our praying, and Jesus knew that, but He chose to pray aloud on this occasion..."that they might believe".

And finally, the dramatic call in vs. 43...of course, the loud voice was for the people's sake, not for God or for Lazarus. And notice that He called Lazarus by name; if he had not, all of Hades might have appeared before Him! "And he that was dead, came forth"! The prince of death was forced to give over his captive; the grave, for Lazarus, in that instant, had no more power over him! You just have to ask the question..."How could any sheep of His ever perish, in such a hand as that?!"

What we have demonstrated in this chapter, is the fullness of Satan's power, defeated by just a sampling of God's power. "The wages of sin" represents all that Satan can muster, and that's the way it has been, since the Garden. He was a murderer from the beginning, we're told; he's the destroyer; he's the accuser; he's more than a deceiver, he's a liar, and "the father of all lies", and "the prince of darkness", while Jesus is everything Satan is not, and even more that that!

You know, what we have in John 11 is a perfect picture of the perfect work of Christ. We are sick, as well, just as Lazarus was, only our sickness is the sickness of sin; and our sickness is unto death, just as Lazarus' was. And our death places us into a hole in the ground, just as Lazarus' did, until we are resurrected in that day. The difference is, our resurrection will be permanent, and will translate us into the very presence of our Lord!

(1 Thessalonians 4.16-17).

Read vs. 44...

Note that Lazarus came forth, still bound in his graveclothes, unlike Jesus at the time of His resurrection, and us at our future resurrection. That's a statement on the state of the resurrected Lazarus..not a new state, but simply a return to his former condition, with the napkin and the graveclothes still on him...because he would need them again!

And Jesus said..."Loose him, and let him go." What an awesome truth it is, that Jesus alone, can speak the word to free those who are dead in sin. There is no higher privilege known to man than to roll away the gravestones preventing our progress, so that Jesus can do His work. Notice that, all throughout this passage, Jesus used at least three of the senses of the Jews that were gathered there, to prove this last of His miracles...the smell of the stink of the grave, the sight of the once-dead man, resurrected, and the feel of his resurrected flesh and his soiled graveclothes. There was no way that any argument could be made, that a miracle had not taken place!

So when Jesus comes again for His church, He will command the strongholds of Satan to..."Let them go", and go we will, into the very arms of our Lord!

49. Lesson 22..."Jesus...the Resurrection and the Life", John 11.11-27

In John 11, Jesus is setting the stage for His own resurrection; either you believe in His resurrection power or you don't...that's the way it is. And that's what this chapter is all about...the true fact that Jesus is the "resurrection and the life" (vs. 25).

Now, resurrection can only take place where a death has occurred, and just as would be the case in our day, the death of Lazarus brought only helplessness and loss and grief, whereas on the other hand, resurrection reminds us of hope and joy and eternal life! And so, in this second passage from John 11 we find that Lazarus has died; then, in vs. 16, Thomas offers that he and the other disciples should accompany Jesus to Bethany, in order that they may die there too (probably implying the risk of stoning by the Jews). Then, in vs. 21, we have recorded, Martha's visit with Jesus on the road outside their home. And just like us today, even in the presence of the Lord, the only thing on her mind were the problems of life, death and loss. Well we should know that physical death is a perfect picture of spiritual death, come about as the wages of sin, the sentence of God on Adam, as the father of the entire race of mankind. And you know, our condition, as unsaved men and women is far worse than even the doctors of divinity teach and preach, and yet, when any of us think of the cure for eternal death, our thoughts go no deeper than the need to teach or to preach, the gospel. But it is not, you see, what we do, but what Jesus did; He bled and suffered and died and rose again! Jesus bears the fruit of salvation in the life of the faithful believer, and it will be Jesus Who bears us through to eternity future. And this is what we have in view here in John Chapter 11...Jesus, Who gives life!

Well Lazarus was as dead as dead can be; his body was already moulding in the grave (vs. 39), and his family and friends were completely helpless, other than to comfort one another in their loss. But you know, the very end of ourselves is not a bad place to be, and often, the sooner we get there, the better! The sooner we realize our helplessness, the sooner God will be able to do for us; the sooner we change from a state of self-sufficiency to a state of God-sufficiency, where we begin to see and to experience the glory of God (vs. 4).

Now, in vs. 11 we read the statement of Jesus..."...our friend Lazarus sleepeth", and there are several things we can suppose that Jesus intended, by referring to "sleep", rather than "death". First of all, sleep is a temporary state...a welcome rest from the work and worry of the day, lasting maybe, from a few minutes here and there, to a few hours. Secondly, sleep is something we look forward-to, even to be thankful for; it's our friend, and that's how we should look upon death as well, as believers. Death has no sting; it opens the door to eternity-future; we only lie down, to rise again. Which brings us to the third aspect...sleep only serves to prepare us, refreshed and ready for a new day...in the case of the believer, life in the very presence of the Lord!

And so Jesus says in the last phrase of vs. 11..."I go, that I may awaken him". Even a mosquito can rouse us from sleep, but it take Jesus' own resurrection power to conquer death! Of course, as we see from vss. 12-14, the disciples misunderstood the truths of scripture, or the things of the faith. So long as you continue to keep company with Jesus, the foggy details will eventually be made clear to you. In fact, He understands, and as we see in vs. 15, He is prepared to be very patient with us, and to use some pretty unorthodox means to help us come to the truth.

As we read vs. 15, we have to ask why Jesus should be glad for the disciples' sake. Well, He is glad that now they will be able to witness for themselves, the greatest manifestation of His glory, short of His own resurrection. We are completely baffled by the ways and the will of God; so much so, that we refuse either to believe it, or to receive it. This vs. just goes to show how the Lord sometimes uses the circumstances of life to help us develop faith. Those disciples were brought along gradually. Very unlike that once-blind man of chapter 9, the disciples' eyes were opened slowly, to see and to trust who Jesus was (see ch. 2.11). That's the way with the development of faith, so don't get discouraged if you don't quite get it. Even the first ones of the faith had to walk with Jesus in order to learn (His ways) this Truth.

In vs. 16 we read of "Doubting Thomas", as we sometimes call him, who always seemed to look on the dark side...Lazarus is dead, Jesus is going to die, and we're going to die too! Just goes to show how difficult it is for a man to understand the great thoughts of God. And how much unbelief there is, even in the hearts of believers! But even at that, Thomas' heart was with His Lord.

If you leave this study empty-handed, worrying about death and burial instead of anticipating resurrection and life, then you've missed out on a great truth...death means nothing to Jesus; burying means nothing to Jesus! We talk about life and death, whereas Jesus talks about death and life! Death is a dead issue for Him; resurrection is a life issue, for us. The devil wants to sidetrack us with "death-talk"; Jesus wants to keep us on track, with "life-talk"! You know, we really do need to make huge allowances for the difficult states of individual believers. Every member of the Body of Christ is at a different level of development and understanding, and yet, from a God's-eye-view, together, we all look like a church, all having one Lord, and (hopefully) all sharing the same love for one another.

Finally, after four days of malingering in Jordan, Jesus travelled to Bethany, which was situated near Jerusalem, and there, He found that many Jews had gathered in order to be of some comfort to the sisters of Lazarus...and pretty poor comfort at that, from what we read in vs. 33. At this point, their faith in the resurrection power was pretty weak, so I don't know what effect they had on Mary and Martha, with attitudes like that. Of course, Martha's faith was just as limited, as we see from her response to Jesus, there in vs. 21. In vs. 23, Jesus' first statement to her was..."Thy brother shall rise again"! and she replies...(vs. 24). Jesus was offering her real comfort, but "O we of little faith!" Here a little, there a little.You know, faith comes out of discipline; light comes by degrees. That's why Paul wrote to the Corinthians..."I could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not meat; for you were not able to bear it; neither yet are you able." It must be disheartening to our Lord, to see our faltering steps. He knows that we're, each one, a work in progress. And Martha, just like us, misunderstood..."Of course, he'll rise again in the resurrection of the last day." Look again at vs. 22, where she said to Jesus..."Whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God..."! It just goes to show that we all need to spend more time, like Mary, at the feet of Jesus. Martha was still very much under the influence of Judaism, just as we have our various "isms", today, which have become such a threat to the present church...liberalism, modernism, new ageism and easy believeism.

Remember the woman at the well, back in chapter 4? She was a lot like Martha, when she said..."I know that the Messiah cometh, which is called Christ, and when he comes He will tell us all things". Oftimes it's easier to believe in the "there and then" than it is in the "here and now". It takes a lot more faith to believe that Jesus intends to resurrect Lazarus today, rather than that promised resurrection in a future day. As Jesus reminds her, just as He did the woman at the well..."The hour cometh, and now is..."; "I am the Resurrection and the Life...". Notice how Jesus reels us in, little by little. First, He touches her grief, then He gentles her into deeper faith; from grieving, to believing! We should blush in shame! What He wanted Martha to grasp was that all power comes from Him. We need to focus our attention on Jesus, rather that the dead and buried. I suppose that Martha could very well have prayed along with the grieving father in Mark 9.24..."Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!"

Do you know what Jesus wanted to do for Martha in that moment? First of all, He wanted to strengthen her faith, just as He still wants to strengthen our faith. She was on resurrection ground, not burial ground, and in that moment, her faith was strengthened, as we see from vs. 27. She had heard Jesus speaking, for perhaps the first time. Jesus had taught these truths before, as we saw back in chapt. 5.25, where He stated..."...the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear, shall live." That was a different context, of course, but as I've said, spiritual death and physical death, both, can only be overcome by the authoritative work of God.

Secondly, Jesus wanted Martha to see her faith in action. The world says, seeing is believing, but Jesus says..."Believe, and you will see!" Thirdly, Jesus wanted to prepare Martha for His own death and resurrection. If she was grieving now, she needed a miracle of grace to prepare her for the loss of her Lord, "the Christ", "the Son of God" (vs. 27) that she had come to know and to love and to depend so fully upon. God would not allow His body to corrupt in the grave, and she needed to come to the truth pretty quickly, that He was to have a new body, and that Lazarus would eventually have a new resurrection body as well! "He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live!"

"Believest thou this?" Martha did, and her faith was about to be rewarded!

48. Lesson 21...Jesus Can Even Raise the Dead!

What a great story this is! The written account of the greatest and last of the miracles that are recorded for us in the Gospel of John, prior to Jesus' own death and resurrection, starting with ch. 18.
 
Beginning with ch. 5 we see the increasing hatred of the Jews toward the Lamb of God and the Shepard of the Sheep, and the eventual witness from His own mouth, of the fact that He is no other than God in the Flesh (10.30). That, after all, has been His eternal purpose, and who could prevent its fulfillment?! Man's anger toward the Son of God only serves to reveal who we really are, and to reveal Who He really is. As we see from His statement in 12.23, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!"
 
Just imagine the tireless grace of God in contrast to the tiresome disobedience of man! Dead in trespasses and sins, disregarding the Light and the life-giving Truth of the Word of God, and the Jews' very refusal of the One sent by the Father for their redemption! As we read in 15.24, they had hated both Him and His Father, and the miracles that he performed only served to drive the wedge deeper between them and Him. It just goes to show...the darker the night, the brighter the Light! And so it was, that the Lord saved His greatest and last miracle for the end of His ministry. Previously we had seen Him turning the water into wine (ch. 2), healing the nobleman's son (ch. 4), restoring the impotent man (ch. 5), multiplying the loaves and fishes (ch. 6) and giving sight to the blind man (ch. 9).
 
Now, Jesus had raised the dead before...Jairus' daughter in Mk. 5, and the widow's son, of Nain in Luke 7, but in the case of Lazarus we very nearly have a forerunner of Jesus' own resurrection, in that he had been dead and buried four days, and corruption of the body had already begun. But what was that to God?! In this case, Holy Spirit had been careful to identify Lazarus, as being Lazarus of the Town of Bethany, being the home of Mary and her sister, Martha. And although this is the first time these two sisters had been mentioned in the Gospel of John, they had been spoken-of in Luke 10. There, we're told that, Martha had "received Jesus into her house". Now let me tell you, Martha and Mary and Lazarus must have been true followers of the Lord, because not many homes were open to Him. In fact, not only had men "hid, as it were, their faces from Him" and "esteemed Him not", but He was also "despised and rejected of men" (Is. 53). Of Mary, it is said in Luke 10.39, that she had "sat at Jesus' feet", and heard His word", just as we read of her in Jn. 11.2, apparently having a deeper appreciation for Jesus' teaching. Perhaps she had greater spiritual discernment, but in any case, we're told in Luke 10.40 that Martha was "cumbered with much serving", so that she said to Jesus, "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister has left me to serve me alone? Ask her, that she help me!"  You know, there are well-meaning Christians today who are "burdened with their much serving". I guess that's due to the emphasis that's been placed on Christian service, a lot of which is of the flesh; that is, for the sake of self-approval, rather than for the love of God and the love of others and the love of the Gospel. And that seems to have been the concern of Jesus for Martha, as we read in Luke 10.41.
 
This is very solemn. Notice that the Lord didn't commend Martha for her "much serving". Instead, He tells her that she is distracted and worried from giving her attention to too many things. She was trying to do more than what God had called her to do. So if you, dear brother or sister, feel like that, then maybe you are very simply "running to where you haven't been sent". It is obvious from vs. 42 that, "Mary had chosen the good part", which is, first and foremost, to receive from Jesus. At this point, Jesus was ministering to her, and later on, we see where Mary ministered to Him. The point is, that we have to be prepared by God to minister to others. Our own vessels need to get filled first, and that's our Lord's own teaching!

Well, let's get back to John 11.3...
 
This is a real appeal to the heart of our Lord. Remember, Jesus knew this family intimately; He had a relationship with them, and they had real confidence in Him as a result of that relationship, that many Christians lack today. They didn't even call Him to their home, or ask Him to provide a healing. They just gave their burden to Jesus and left it up to Him to do what He deemed best. (What a lesson!). But there's something else in these verses. Notice that their appeal was that, "He whom Thou lovest is sick", not "He who loves Thee...". It's all a matter of Jesus' love for us, not our feeble love for Him, that draws His attention to us. Those sisters knew that if a person doesn't respond to a need out of love, he need not respond at all; not out of a sense of duty, or obligation or some half-hearted necessity or some formal relationship, either one.
 
Do you believe today that God is your Refuge and your Strength, a very present Help in time of trouble"?  You know, Jesus is not "...a High Priest who is not touched by the feeling of our infirmities". We have quite an example of this very thing in Jn. 20, when our resurrected Lord met Mary on that very morning, at first light, and He asked her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" He knew full well why she was weeping but He wanted her to tell Him, herself. He wanted her to cast her burden on Him, just as she and Martha had done, here in our passage.
 
Take a look at vs. 4...what a strange thing for Jesus to say, knowing full well that Lazarus was going to die! But those sisters had no idea what Jesus' plan was for Lazarus, or for them, but His desire was that they simply trust Him in faith. Learn from God on this point. He has a connection with every detail of our lives, even in death, because He loves us, just as clearly as it is stated in vs. 5, that, "He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus".
 
And then, to us, Jesus does what seems to be another strange thing...vs. 6. Was Jesus being cold, or ignorant, or neglectful? You know, it really is true that, sometimes God allows us to come to the end of ourselves...emotional and spiritual bankruptcy. remember the question of the disciples, aboard their sinking ship, "Master, carest Thou not that we perish?!" Pretty foolish when you think of it! We should hang our heads in shame, when our happiness is dependent on our happenings; when our faith falters with our fears! And why did Jesus linger for two days? remember, He came down, to lift God up!
 
How differently Jesus acted than you and I might have, when called to the bedside of a dying friend. In fact, note what He is recorded as saying, there in vs. 7, "Let us go into Judea again". Not, "Let's go to Bethany", or "Let's go to Lazarus", as you might expect. In fact, it's obvious to the disciples that Jesus' reference to Judea could mean only one thing...that, since the Jews were plotting for His life (10.31), the Lord should have more sense that to place Himself at further risk, not to mention the fact that they may be at risk, themselves!
 
You know, I'm sure that there were probably times when those disciples questioned their own wisdom, in following Jesus. We don't often think of that, because we often feel the same way they did...puzzled and perplexed about the Lord and His work and His will and His ways. After all, God's ways are not our ways, are they? And we can obviously see, from the response there in vss. 9,10. That one had them perplexed, and it has me perplexed too! The only thing that I can think of, is that Lazarus' day had not yet come, just as Jesus' Own day had not yet come. Our time is measured, just as the hours of the day, and even Jesus wasn't about to upset the balance. A work had been given Him by the Father, and He had every intention of seeing it through to the end (17.4). Lazarus' life was not in the balance...it had been assured from eternity past; and Jesus' life was not in the balance, either. He was walking in the light of God's will, wherein was no way He could stumble!
 
What a lesson for those disciples, and for us, too. If we refuse Jesus, and choose instead, to walk in darkness, stumbling is inevitable. What an invitation from Jesus to His disciples in every age!

47. Lesson. 20..."Jesus, the Son of God!", John 10.22-42

In the first part of John 10, Jesus identifies Himself to us as "the Door of the Sheep" {vs. 7), and as the Good Shepard" (vs. 11) but in the last half of this chapter we see Him as the "giver of eternal life (vs. 28) and as the Son of God (vs. 36)...(note ch. 5.17, 18). And as we see from vs. 22, the scene is still at Jerusalem, and it was the time of the Feast of Dedication, "the winter of (their) discontent" (Richard iii)! The "Feast of Dedication" had been mentioned only two other times in scripture (1 Kings and 2 Chronicles), so there must be some reason for Holy Spirit referring-to it here. As I've already mentioned, we're entering into a more private phase of Jesus' ministry , with the ending of Chapter 10 and the beginning of chapter 11 (note 11.53, 54). So now we need to really consider the two great purposes of Jesus' life...first, to reveal Himself to the world as the promised Messiah, which was by that time, accomplished; secondly to offer Himself as the last Sacrifice for sin, which is from here on, very much within sight.

Jesus has already identified Himself as "the Lamb of God", thereby separating Himself from the rest of the flock of Israel; in vs. 36 He notes the fact that He is the One Who "the Father had sanctified", and in vs. 40 He is shown to us as leaving Jerusalem and "going away beyond Jordan", and He won't be back until He returns to be crucified. So from this point forward He is "dedicated" to the cross, now just weeks away. Winter is the last of the four seasons and as we read in Jeremiah 8.20, "the harvest is past, the summer is ended and (so far as the Jews were concerned anyway), they were not saved". What a predicament to be in, to have to have missed the harvest, or to have not been harvested, and winter has come and the fields have been put to bed! Those Jews really did miss an opportunity!

Vs. 23..."And Jesus walked...". There are only two references to Solomon's porch, in the New Testament...the first in Acts 3.11, at the time of the miraculous healing of the lame beggar by Peter and John. The second, Acts 5.12, is one of my favourite verses of scripture...a pretty big contrast with what we have with us today... "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch." Here in John 10 we're told that the Jews were very much out of accord, with Jesus. In fact, they were opposed to Him, as we will see in vs. 31; three very different views of the Jesus People, there in Solomon's porch! So, like the Jews in vs. 24, how long will we keep on doubting? If you were to ask me right now, I would come and lay hands on you. But you know, what that very question, in and of itself reveals once again, is Satan's influence on the hearts of man. Jesus' response in vs. 25 is all too clear..."I have already told you!" You see, They had no intention of ever believing and receiving, as He had already given many opportunities to do-so; and as the Lord states clearly in vs. 26, the reason they do not is because they are not from His sheepfold. They are from "that other sheepfold"...Judaism, or New Age-ism, or easy believe-ism or some other "ism". He couldn't tell it any more plainly than He has in this chapter, and the fact is, they just refused to believe! For them to demand (vs. 24) that He show them, or tell them "plainly" would have been for the sole purpose of gaining more evidence to take to the Roman government to have Him arrested. All the signs He had already performed were more than enough to prove He was Who He claimed to be, yet they hadn't been enough to break the sinner's heart. There are all kinds of proofs of the existence of the Devine Creator, and there are a thousand truths that prove that the holy, inspired Word of God, really is the holy, inspired Word of God! And there are millions of witnesses of God's saving grace having saved their eternal souls, while there are millions more who continue to live in their sins; and more often that not, just like Adam, continue to transfer the burden of their unbelief to someone or something else..."the woman that You gave me...". But Jesus answered them...(vs. 25); the Lord had already addressed their questions, not to mention their accusations, eg. 5.46, 6.51 and 8.56. All of these statements spoke plainly of Jesus as the Prophesied One, of Old Testament scripture. And so He answered them in vs. 26...just as He had done before, in 8.43, 44.a; they heard not because they were not of God and they believed not because they were not His sheep. Obviously, as vs. 27 states, if they had been His sheep, they would have heard His voice and followed Him.

You know, in these few verses, 27-29, we have explained to us four truths for the sheep of God. First of all, the Believer is Christ's sheep, and it is His duty to care for the flock, and when we hear Him we recognize His voice. Secondly, Jesus' sheep prove they are, because they follow Him, and there are no exceptions...Jesus' sheep follow Him! Thirdly, He gives His believing sheep eternal life, which means they will never perish. Fourth, no one or no thing is able to pluck them out of His, or the Father's hand. Now that sounds like a pretty secure hold that He has on us! And to put the icing on the cake, vs. 30.."I and the Father are One", even considering what we have reported-of Him ahead in 14.28..."My Father is greater than I!" At the same time, both superior yet equal. That truth gives us a very clear statement of how the Shepard, and the Owner of the flock share the very same relationship with, and attitude toward, the sheep...They both have the same mind and the same devotion toward those under Their care; very much different from the attitude of the false shepards of Israel, who would put their sheep out of the synagogue (9.34), because he told the truth and refused to do the wrong thing.

And then we're told in vs. 31 that..."the Jews took up stones to stone Him." What wickedness Jesus endured from those He came to die-for! Who could imagine that a man's heart could be so hard and so cruel as to murder a complete Innocent, for stepping on their toes? And yet, here are the Jews doing just that, and within the very confines of the very house of God! Jesus had done those Jews no wrong; they hated Him without cause. They hated Him because of His holiness, and due to their own sinfulness (7.7)! But notice Jesus' soft answer in vs. 32. Just what were, and are the "works" of Jesus? Well just consider His virgin birth, His perfect life, His deeds toward others and His wonderful teaching, and the Jews were perfectly aware of it all, as we read in vs. 33. It just goes to prove again that, "the carnal mind is enmity against God", and so it had been from the time of His birth. We're told in Matthew 2 that in His infancy there was a movement organized by King Herod, to have Him killed; the very first words spoken by Him in the Nazereth synagogue (Luke 4), at the very beginning of His public ministry, resulted in a murder attempt! Even Psalm 88, one of the prophetic Psalms says in vs. 15, "I am afflicted and ready to die, from My youth up!" And then, our Lord gave those Jews a proof text, a quote from their own Law, as recorded in vs. 34 (taken from Psalm 82); and as He said to them in vs. 35..."the scripture cannot be broken." Now I don't know the mind of our Lord, but I do know one thing...so far as any one of us are concerned, the Word of God is our final recourse for appeal. If you believe that this word is the Divinely inspired Book, with absolute authority for our day-to-day, and spiritual lives, then just as those Jews knew, we must believe the purpose and intent of Jesus' testimony!

"Therefore, they sought again to take Him" (vs. 39). Soon He would practically deliver Himself to be arrested, tried, condemned and executed, but as we know, His time had not yet come, so..."He escaped out of their hands." Vss. 40-42 tell us that..."He went away.,."; He left Jerusalem and didn't return till the appointed time. But we're told that..."many believed on Him there", away beyond Jordan, and so it is, even today...those who reject and those who accept, all gathered together, with their own questions concerning "the Son of God"!

46. Lesson 19..."Jesus, the Good Shepard", John. 10.11-21

The passage that we're about to begin studying, finishes up our Lord's confrontation with the Pharisees, following their excommunication of the once blind man from the synagogue. And we'll see, that Jesus didn't back down from the task of revealing their true identities, and contrasting their unfaithfulness with His own trustworthiness. And we have seen this already, in verses 1-10, where they are depicted as strangers in vs. 5, thieves and robbers in vss. 12, 13, while Jesus speaks of Himself as the Door of the Sheep in vss. 7 & 9, and as the Good Shepard in vss. 11 & 14.

Now, the shepards referred-to here were the shepards of Israel, but by casting this poor sheep out of the synagogue for doing what was right and refusing to do what was wrong, they had shown to him, to the crowd and to Jesus, exactly what kind of spirit they were filled-with; and this is just one example. In them, and in their behaviour, the prophecyof Ezekiel 34, was being fulfilled. It would be good to read the entire chapter, but let's just check out the first four vss., to start with...(please read). This was a prophecy concerning the eventual state in which Israel would find herself, under the selfish leadership of the religious elite. But then Ezekiel goes on to prophesy of the True Shepard of Israel, the Good Shepard and the Door of the Sheep...read vss. 11-12, 15-16 and 30-31. And this is not the only figure of the Shepard in the Old Testament, although we won't take the time to do a survey.

Now the first few words of Jn. 10.11 give us the fifth usage by Jesus, of the words, "I am" in the Gospel of John, which serve to define His relationship with, for example His unity with Father God..."I am the Good Shepard". Now the word "good" is, to us a very common one..."that is very good"..."that was a good meal"..."she is a good mother", and so on, and it's no less common throughout the Word of God, being used about 600 times in all its contexts. I guess that it's as scriptural a word as you're likely to find.

The first use of the word "good", in the the New Testament is in Matthew 3.10..."Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire". The first time it's used in our Gospel of John is in Jn. 2.10, at the wedding feast..."Every man sets forth the good wine at the beginning...but you have kept the good wine til now". So the word "good", in this context is clearly, what every one of us should be, in Jesus! He said of Himself..."I am the Good Shepard", and He would like to say of us..."These are My good sheep...the excellent sheep...sheep worth dying for! And as the Good Shepard, I have a calling on Me"; do you have a calling on you?? Jesus identifies Himself as a shepard called, appointed and sent by God, with the care of His sheep as His own, very personal and solemn responsibility...a Shepard worth following/sheep worth dying for! You know, the Saviour, at this point in the Gospel of John was very close to the point of "giving His life for the sheep". That had been the real announcement of God by the prophets concerning His Christ, and He lived up to His calling. What an example for us today, who also have a calling to live up-to.

But...but...he that is a hireling...(read vs. 12). Now keep in mind that the hireling does not own the sheep, and as such, his concern for them is in no way equal to that of the Good Shepard, or the Door, or the Proprietor of the sheep. But we need to be careful not to interpret Jesus' use of the figure, carelessly, because it is not the mere act of the giving and receiving of a pay cheque, that makes one a hireling; it is the love of the hire more that the work; soley for the sake of the hire.

What Jesus is saying, is that we don't need to be concerned with trying to identify the hireling, because eventually the hireling will identify himself! He is a mercenary; he's either only there for the money, or perhaps the prestige that goes with the job. So, when he sees the wolf coming, he flees, because as we see in vs. 13, and as we have already stated..."he cares not for the sheep". Now this is a very profound principle, when you think of it. And that is, a man does what he does because of what he is; when the testing comes he reveals what kind of stuff he is made-of. Your conduct will come out of the strength of your character; your allegiance to the fellowship that is the church, will come out of the strength of your character, and your allegiance to Jesus will come out of the strength of your character...that is, whose you really are, after all! By our fruits we are known. What kind of juice comes out when you are squeezed? It's not true, and we know it's not, that it's the clothes that make the man, because he may be the wolf, in sheep's clothing; or even worse, dressed like a shepard!

You know, in this parable the sheep may never have known this hireling for who he really was, if it were not for the wolf. You see, we should be grateful for the time of testing, because the false shepards are out there, just like the wolves are (Acts 20.29...to the elders of the church at Ephesus..."For I know this, that after my departing, grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flesh"). I find this all very searching.

Now as I've said before, I know practically nothing about sheep or their care, in the literal sense, but I have made some observations that seem to relate pretty well to us, who are spiritual sheep, and that is, that sheep are generally harmless, they are helpless and they are hapless (not hopeless!) ...and I think that pretty much describes the average Christian...caught up with the world and oblivious to the snare of the devil. That's precisely why we need a Shepard who is worthy of his hire! And thank you Jesus, You are exactly the Shepard we need. Just look at His resume, there in vss. 14-16...He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him; and He is willing to die for the sheep, and He brings all His sheep safely to the fold, from every quarter! Now there's a Shepard you can depend on!

Just consider the theology of vs. 16..."and there shall be one fold, and one Shepard"...that is, one flock under the same Keeper...no more Catholicism, no more Judaism and no more any other "ism". According to the very scriptures He has already broken down "the middle wall of partition" between us and them, so to speak. There is simply the whole family of God, conceived in the mind of God from eternity past.

And then..."they shall hear and obey". Now there's a prophecy worth waiting-on! The work that the Father gave the Son will be completed, regardless of the stubbornness of those Pharisees, or the wiles of Satan. What a day that will be!

Notice vs. 17..."Therefore does My Father love Me..."; that is, because His obedience was "unto the cross". Just as we see there in the next verses, His death wasn't only necessary, but it was voluntary! Jesus was not one of the harmless, helpless sheep, remember; He is the Good and the True Shepard Who laid down His life for the sheep; faithful in birth, faithful in life, faithful in death and best and most of all, faithful in resurrection...just as we heard Him prophesy in chapter 6.38. And as always...vss. 19-21...(please read). Very terrible is the condition of man.

Notice it was "the many" who described Jesus as a madman. But there were "others" who had received even a small measure of light. They were a minority group there that day, and I'm proud for sure, that He had even some who were prepared to believe in Him. Won't you join that select group?

45. Lesson 18..."Jesus, the Door of the Sheep...the Good Shepard and...the Son of God", John 10

1. The Door of the Sheep, vss. 1-10

To some, this passage can be a little confusing because of the figures, or the images used here in this teaching, and so we need to do a bit of interpretation in order to get to the bottom of it. And interpretation always starts with a question. For example, to whom is Jesus speaking? Why does He speak of a sheepfold? What does He mean by "climbing up some other way into it"? What is meant by "the door"? What is "the sheepfold" that He speaks of? Questions like this help us to focus our attention on the One Who is in view here, and the truth is, that both Israel and the church need to know about His purposes on this earth.

"Verily, verily I say unto you", v.1; Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees of ch. 9.40, and the situation at the time was the expulsion of the formerly blind man, from the synagogue, 9.34. Jesus considered those Pharisees to be false shepards over the flock of Israel, or as He calls them, "thieves and robbers", sneaking in over the walls of the sheepfold, rather than coming in by one of the three doors referred-to in these verses. By contrast, in the next verse (v. 11), we will see Jesus refer to Himself as the True Shepard, Who is even willing to lay down His life for the sheep!

Now, about these three doors I have spoken-of; first, there is the "door of the sheepfold" in v. 1; there is "the door of the sheep", in v. 7 and finally, there is "the door of salvation", in v. 9. Now remember that back in ch. 9, the Lord had healed a man who had been blind, and that man came to eventually profess a saving faith in Jesus. But the Pharisees were so angry over the whole thing that they cast the poor man out of his synagogue, in a jealous rage. And so Jesus revealed them for who they really were; they were the blind ones (9.41)! It was their pride, and their false claim on the sheepfold that caused their sinful behaviour! It was their self-confidence and their complacency that would again, as we shall soon read in 10.31, cause them to "take up stones again to stone Him", while many other sheep, spoken-of in v. 42, "believed on Him there".

Well lets take another look at the sheepfold. Remember who Jesus is speaking-to here...the Pharisees...the Jews. Now the sheepfold cannot be the Kingdom of Heaven, because thieves and robbers cannot enter in there; nor can it be the church, because the true shepard does not lead his sheep out of it, as we read in v. 3. And so the sheepfold must be Israel, the chosen ones of God. And Jesus, in this passage, is simply using another figure of speech to describe to the Jews, what is now so apparent to us, in terms of our eternal future....that the way to that eternal future is by the Door, v. 9. Jesus, the true Shepard of the sheep had presented Himself to Israel in exactly the manner described-by Old Testamant prophecy...born of a virgin, out of the covenant people, out of the line of Judah, in the City of David, born under the Law (Galations 4.4), circumcized the eighth day and finally, presented by His mother at the temple. And for Him, Holy Spirit had opened the door to the hearts of man, and as we have read in v. 3, the true sheep hear His voice and He calls His sheep by name and He leads them out; out of bondage, into freedom; out of sin, into righteousness; out of darkness into light; and out of death into life! These are the marks of the True Shepard, right there in that third verse, and Jesus is telling the Jews that He is the True Shepard, and the Good Shepard and the Rightful Shepard, having rightful ownership of the sheep.

Now sheep won't follow a stranger...they run away; I suppose they would need to be driven, as verses 4, 5 imply. There are many examples in scripture of Jesus calling His sheep out of Judaism, and it's been that way with God's intended, all down through the ages...not just that "many are called but few are chosen", but that, "by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved".

Now, I've said before, I don't know much about sheep, but I do understand this much about Jesus' teaching on shepards...first of all, a shepard is one who is given access to his sheep as a result of the true calling of God, unlike the Pharisees described in this passage. Secondly, a shepard is of the sheep...he has their true welfare at heart, and he is concerned with their best interests. Third, Holy Spirit will open the door for him to be involved in ministry and in service. Fourth, his sheep hear his voice...they recognize and respond to his ministry. Fifth, he calls his sheep by name...they don't only know him, but He knows them! Sixth, he leads them into the green pastures of the faith, where they can find nourishment and rest. Seventh, he goes before them, setting a Godly example of faith and of faithfulness. And finally, he gives his life to his work...all that he does, he does it wholly for them; and, "a stranger will they not follow".

You know something? I really believe that a true sheep (because there are false sheep as well as false shepards!) can discern between the good, the bad and the ugly (especially the ugly!), but as v. 6 says, those Pharisees..."they understood not". Those who are not true shepards of God will, very simply, be confused by the truth of God, even when it is plainly presented to them. And not much has changed, either.

Notice the relationship between verses 7 and 9, and 8 and 10. In 7 and 9 Jesus speaks again of the Door, and the importance of entering in by Him for salvation. For the Jews, as I've said, that same Door is the way out of the bondage of Judaism, and this should be their proof text, even today, of the calling and the ministry of the Lord Jesus. On the other hand, just as one would expect, in verses 8 and 10 we need to be aware of the dangers presented by the thief and the robber. Don't forget! Satan has his angels too, and they can present themselves as a pretty attractive lot; but look at their objectives, there in v. 10.

Just take a look at a couple of nearly parallel passages...Matthew 23.13,14 and

2 Corinthians 11.13-15. These are pretty solemn warnings. And the prophecy of Zechariah 10.2 is fulfilled..."therefore (the Jews) went their way as a flock; they were troubled, because there was no shepard". But ther's a promise in verses 3 and 6..."But I will strengthen the house of Judah...I will save...I will bring...I have mercy...for I Am the Lord their God, and will hear them". Jesus gives us in v. 9, a six-point sermon concerning the future of those same people; first, "I Am the Door..."; then, "...by Me..."; then, "...if any man enter in..."; then, ..he shall be saved..."; then, "...and shall go in and out..."; and finally, "...and find pasture". And what a sermon it is! And it's all about Jesus (Numbers 27.15-17)!

It's also worthwhile noting that here, in these first 10 verses of Chapter 10, the third and the fourth of the "I Am" references are found in this gospel..."I Am the Door", and "I Am the Good Shepard"; and of course, in v. 10, "I Am come...that they might have life and have it more abundantly"!

Who among us could resist the promise of a more abundant life as asheep in the Good Shepard's own flock!