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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.

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We covered the first half last year.

8

Before we get into it though,

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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

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points, the crucial times that set your

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future direction?

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There are ones that most of us share.

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Being born is an easy one,

16

probably leaving school.

17

Moving out of home for the first time if

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you've done that.

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Sometimes those key moments are big and

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obvious.

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Sometimes they're not so obvious.

22

As I was in my last year of school, I was

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having a chat with someone at church about

24

my future plans.

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I told them I was going to train as a

26

primary school teacher.

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They said, well, you should teach Sunday

28

school then.

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Go and have a chat to Janice, who's in

30

charge of the Sunday school team.

31

I didn't know then

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that she was telling me to go and meet my

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future wife.

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There are moments in our lives that at the

35

time look tiny,

36

but are actually crucial to our future

37

direction.

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So what happens

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if we miss those moments?

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If we don't see them as important?

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If we don't act at the right time and then

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miss out?

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Our whole lives could go hurtling in a

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completely different direction.

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In today's story,

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Jesus doesn't miss his moment.

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He understands the time perfectly.

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He sees what's happening and what he needs

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to do with crystal clear

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20/20 vision.

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And he urges us to see as clearly as he does.

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And so,

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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.

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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,

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proof that He really is the one who can

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give you eternal life,

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proof that He carries the same authority

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that's only held by the one true God,

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What more could you ask for?

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For many,

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the answer was nothing.

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They saw or heard about the sign, and they

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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

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Jerusalem as an unknown,

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but he made a big splash when he cleared

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the temple of people who were abusing it.

102

During the argument that followed,

103

Jesus alluded to another sign,

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a sign that approved his authority over

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God's temple,

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a sign we haven't seen yet.

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People asked him for a sign and he replied

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in chapter 2 verse 19,

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Destroy this temple and I will raise it up

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in three days.

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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

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and he miraculously fed thousands of people

118

with five loaves and two fish.

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When Jesus explained that knowing him was

120

far more important than a hearty meal,

121

though,

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most people lost interest and walked away.

123

Jesus asked his twelve disciples if they

124

wanted to leave along with the crowd, and

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Peter gave this brilliant answer in chapter

126

6 verse 68:

127

Lord,

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to whom will we go?

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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,

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is Jesus going to come? Will he turn up?

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Will we get to see him?

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The chief priests and Pharisees have given

145

orders that if anyone does see him,

146

they need to report him.

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Jesus has been hiding out for a little while.

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He's both

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a wanted criminal

150

and a huge popular celebrity.

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So what's he going to do?

152

Six days before the Passover begins,

153

Jesus arrives at Bethany.

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Bethany's only about an hour's walk from

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the gates of Jerusalem,

156

just up over the Mount of Olives.

157

It's also the place where Lazarus lives,

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with his sisters, Mary and Martha.

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Lazarus, of course, is the one who Jesus

160

raised from the dead.

161

Naturally,

162

there's no more honored guest that this

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family could have visit.

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It's hard to imagine just how thankful they

165

must be.

166

They prepare a special meal to celebrate

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Jesus' arrival.

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Martha's busy serving the dinner.

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Lazarus is reclining at the table with Jesus.

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How's that for a remarkable picture?

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The one who was raised from the dead,

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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.

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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.

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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,

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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.

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It shows the foolishness of their position.

335

There's this guy with the power of life and death,

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and we think we can kill him.

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Oh, and there's this guy who's actually

338

already died, but who's been raised from

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the dead.

340

We need to kill him as well.

341

This is madness.

342

It's blindness.

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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