Category Archives: Gospel of John

The wonderful children’s book Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of a woman from Maine who decided to leave the coast and move to the prairies a sort of mail-order bride.

Before going to become the wife of a widowed prairie farmer, she exchanged letters with him and with his young son and daughter. She told them about her cat and the ocean, and the children wrote to ask if she could braid hair and sing.

As the time approached for Sarah to make her trip west to become part of a family she had never met, she wrote,

“Dear Jacob, I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall.  Sarah”

Can you imagine their anxiety as they were going to meet the train the day Sarah arrived? What must have been going through their minds? The four people involved in that drama had little idea what to expect.

Our text, John 1:19-51, begins with a sense of uncertainty and confusion. Something great and wonderful was happening to the people who were involved in these events, but they were uncertain how to respond to them. Jesus entered a world that was anxiously awaiting something; the only problem was that the people did not know exactly what that something was.

This section of John begins to show us through the perspectives of struggling eyewitnesses who this Jesus of Nazareth really was.

John the Baptist is one of the most important persons in the New Testament; he’s mentioned at least 89 times. John the Baptist is one of six persons named in John  who gave witness that Jesus is God: He had the special privilege of introducing Jesus to the nation of Israel. He also had the difficult task of preparing the nation to receive their Messiah.

John the Baptist’s parents were Zacharias and Elizabeth, both older people, neither of whom expected to have a baby (Luke 1:7).  John was actually born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:36). Luke informs us that from his boyhood until the day of his public ministry John lived in the deserts (1:80).

During this time, he was clothed in camel’s hair, wore a leather belt, and ate a steady diet of locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6). He gave a fire-and-brimstone call to repentance in order to prepare the way for the Lord (Matthew 3).

John had the special privilege of introducing Jesus to the nation of Israel. He also had the difficult task of preparing the nation to receive their Messiah. He called them to repent of their sins and to prove that repentance by being baptized and then living changed lives.

John the Baptist has an interesting biography. He was the prophesied forerunner of Jesus (Isaiah 40:3-4; Malachi 3:1; 4:5). It was his job to clear the way for Jesus by preparing people’s hearts through preaching.

He entered the world through the priestly line. His father, Zechariah, was from the course of Abijah (1 Chr 24:10) and his mother descended from Aaron (Lk 1:5). Their barren state and miraculous pregnancy is described in Luke 1 and Matthew 1.

Jesus and John were related in some way (probably cousins), and John was his elder by about six months (Lk 1:36). He was circumcised on the eighth day and set apart as a Nazirite (Lk 1:15). All else we know about John’s early life is found in Luke 1:80.

John began his prophetic ministry in a.d. 25—the 15th year of Tiberias Caesar (Lk 3:1). He attracted large crowds (Mt 3:5) as he preached and baptized in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan (Jn 1:28).

His preaching is summarized in the phrase, “The kingdom of God is coming” and his ministry by immersion of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4). So forceful was his preaching that many took him to be the reincarnation of Elijah, Jeremiah or another prophet (Mt 16:14).

Jesus says that he was the greatest person ever born of a woman (Mt 11:11). An interesting fact, however, is that John never performed a miracle (Jn 10:41). His greatest act, perhaps, was his baptism of Jesus. With that act his ministry wound its way to a conclusion.

Although he continued to baptize (Jn 3:23; 4:1), he recognized that he had accomplished that which was set before him to do (Jn 3:30).

Herod’s antics and the vindictiveness of his evil wife, Herodias, caused the death of the last OT prophet. John was beheaded at the castle of Machaerus on the Dead Sea.

Although he died through treachery, he successfully completed his God-given task. He prepared for and pointed out Jesus, the true light.

John the Baptist was a very prominent and respected individual. Many came to him to hear him preach, even though his message was a call to repentance. They were content to follow John, and even open to the possibility that he was the Messiah:

People from all over Judea and Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan river, as they confessed their sins (Mark 1:5).

 

While the people were filled with anticipation, and they all pondered in their hearts whether perhaps John could be the Christ (Luke 3:15).

33 “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 (I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) 35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light” (John 5:33-35).

The amazing thing about John the Baptist is that he never performed a miracle or a sign; he only preached and baptized:

40 Jesus went away across the Jordan River again to the place where John had been baptizing at an earlier time, and he stayed there. 41 Many came to him and began saying, “John performed no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man was true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus there (John 10:40-42, emphasis mine).

The man “was a man” and only a man. A strong contrast is being made between what had been said about Christ and what is now being said about John.

• Christ “was in the beginning”; He was “with God” and He “was God” (John 1:1-2).
• John “was a man” who had come into existence at birth, just as all men have the beginning of their existence at birth. John was the son of a man, whereas Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). John was not a divine being, not even an angel. He was a mere man.

The man, however, was “sent from God”; and he was sent on a very special mission.

Two facts show this. The word “sent”. The phrase “from God” (para Theou) means “from beside God. “

John was not only sent by God, He was sent from the very side and heart of God. He was only a man, but a man of high calling and mission, of enormous responsibility and accountability. He was a man sent by God, not by man.

He was a light, not the light!

There was a group of men who wished to give John the Baptist too high a place.  John the Baptist himself gave no encouragement to that but rather did everything to discourage it.

But the Fourth Gospel knew that that tendency was there and took steps to guard against it.

It can still happen that men may worship a preacher rather than Christ.  It can still happen that men’s eyes may be fixed upon the herald rather than upon the King of whom he is the messenger.

John the Baptist was not in the least to blame for what had happened; but John the evangelist was determined to see that none should shoulder Christ from out the topmost niche.

John summarized what John the Baptist had to say about Jesus Christ (John 1:15–18).

John 1:15–28 (ESV) — (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

First, He is eternal (John 1:15). John the Baptist was actually born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:36); so in this statement he is referring to our Lord’s preexistence, not His birth date. Jesus existed before John the Baptist was ever conceived.

Jesus Christ has fullness of grace and truth (John 1:16–17). Grace is God’s favor and kindness bestowed on those who do not deserve it and cannot earn it. If God dealt with us only according to truth, none of us would survive; but He deals with us on the basis of grace and truth. Jesus Christ, in His life, death, and resurrection, met all the demands of the Law; now God is free to share fullness of grace with those who trust Christ. Grace without truth would be deceitful, and truth without grace would be condemning.

In John 1:17, John did not suggest that there was no grace under the Law of Moses, because there was. Each sacrifice was an expression of the grace of God. The Law also revealed God’s truth. But in Jesus Christ, grace and truth reach their fullness; and this fullness is available to us. We are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8–9), but we also live by grace (1 Cor. 15:10) and depend on God’s grace in all that we do. We can receive one grace after another, for “He giveth more grace” (James 4:6). In John 1:17, John hinted that a whole new order had come in, replacing the Mosaic system.

Finally, Jesus Christ reveals God to us (John 1:18). As to His essence, God is invisible (1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27). Man can see God revealed in nature (Ps. 19:1–6; Rom. 1:20) and in His mighty works in history; but he cannot see God Himself. Jesus Christ reveals God to us, for He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and “the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3). The word translated “declared” gives us our English word exegesis, which means “to explain, to unfold, to lead the way.” Jesus Christ explains God to us and interprets Him for us. We simply cannot understand God apart from knowing His Son, Jesus Christ.

The word Son is used for the first time in John’s Gospel as a title for Jesus Christ (John 1:18). The phrase “only-begotten” means “unique, the only one of its kind.” It does not suggest that there was a time when the Son was not, and then the Father brought Him into being. Jesus Christ is eternal God; He has always existed.

At least nine times in John’s Gospel, Jesus is called “the Son of God” (John 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31). You will recall that John had as his purpose in writing to convince us that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:31). At least nineteen times, Jesus is referred to as “the Son.” He is not only the Son of God, but He is God the Son. Even the demons admitted this (Mark 3:11; Luke 4:41).

John gave the record of four days in the life of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the first disciples. He continues this sequence in John 2 and presents, as it were, a “week” in the “new creation” that parallels the Creation week in Genesis 1.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

On the first day (John 1:19–24), a committee from the Jewish religious leaders interrogated John the Baptist. These men had every right to investigate John and his ministry, since they were the custodians and guardians of the faith. They asked him several questions and he clearly answered them.

“Who are you?” was a logical question. Was he the promised Messiah? Was he the Prophet Elijah who was supposed to come before the Messiah appeared? (Mal. 4:5) Great crowds had gathered to hear John, and many people had been baptized. Though John did no miracles (John 10:41), it was possible the people thought that he was the promised Messiah.

John denied being either Elijah or the Messiah. (In one sense, he was the promised Elijah. See Matt. 17:10–13.) John had nothing to say about himself because he was sent to talk about Jesus! Jesus is the Word; John was but “a voice”—and you cannot see a voice! John pointed back to Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa. 40:1–3) and affirmed that he was the fulfillment.

Having ascertained who John was, the committee then asked what he was doing. “Why are you baptizing?” John got his authority to baptize, not from men, but from heaven, because he was commissioned by God (Matt. 21:23–32). The Jewish religious leaders in that day baptized Gentiles who wanted to adopt the Jewish faith; but John baptized Jews!

John explained that his baptism was in water, but that the Messiah would come and baptize with a spiritual baptism. Again, John made it clear that he was not establishing a new religion or seeking to exalt himself. He was pointing people to the Savior, the Son of God (John 1:34). We shall learn later that it was through baptism that Jesus Christ would be presented to the people of Israel.

The phrase full of grace and truth modifies “the Word.” It also softens the glare of glory. The Greek word for “grace” (charis) parallels a Hebrew word meaning “lovingkindness”; the word in Greek also means “that which is a free gift.” The Greek word for “truth” (aletheia) means “reality” and “genuine”; John’s Gospel connects it with the idea of divine revelation (8:32; 17:17; 18:37). Those enlightened realize Christ as the divine reality. In union with Christ, we experience his grace and truth. By his power we can show his life to others.

GLORY

Although we have not yet been granted the privilege of seeing Jesus as the disciples did, someday we will. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12 ). In the meantime, we have the testimony of those who were with Jesus. Jesus prayed for those of us who would believe in him through their witness (17:20). In his prayer, Jesus anticipated the time when we would see his glory (17:24).

For now, even the “poor reflection” of his glory is enough to change us. As we allow his words to become part of us, as we obey his commands and seek to honor him, we will discover in ourselves a growing eagerness to stand before him and to experience his glory fully (Philippians 3:12–14) and share in it too (2 Corinthians 4:17).

1:15 (John testified to him … “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)  This verse interrupts the flow of the narrative—for verse 16 naturally follows the end of verse 14 (“full of grace and truth … and of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace,” ). John probably decided to insert John the Baptist’s testimony at this point to underscore a major theme in the prologue: Christ’s eternal existence.

John the Baptist declared that Christ ranks ahead of me because he was before me. Although Jesus was humanly born after John the Baptist, Jesus existed from eternity past. For this reason, Jesus outranked John the Baptist.

1:16 Of His fullness.  The Greek word for fullness is pleroma; it indicates superabundance and completeness. John used a root form in verse 14, “full (pleres) of grace and truth” (). John stretched the language to its very limit in attempting to capture the facts about Jesus and, at the same time, the lasting impact Jesus had on those who followed him. When John spoke of Jesus’ “fullness,” he was affirming that he had never found Jesus lacking in any way. John’s description conveys a subtle invitation for us to trust Jesus’ ability to meet our needs.

It is a greater work of God to bring men to grace, than being in the state of grace, to bring them to glory; because sin is far more distant from grace than grace is from glory. John Trapp

FULLNESS

The Gnostics used the word fullness to describe the totality of all deities. Gnosticism was the widest known of the so-called mystery cults. Although exclusive in membership, the Gnostics were inclusive in theology. Instead of receiving the truth that “the Word became flesh,” they invented a religion of “the word became secret.” They made “fullness” a protected mystery; but Jesus made “fullness” a living reality!

Both John and Paul used pleroma to describe Christ—proclaiming that Christ embodies the fullness of God (see Ephesians 1:23; 3:19; Colossians 1:19; 2:9). Because all of God’s fullness dwells in Christ, we can find every spiritual reality we need in him. He embodies all of God’s power, wisdom, mercy, and love. He fills everything in every way (Ephesians 1:23). The infinite God allows us to draw on all of his attributes and resources.

We have all received.  At this point, John includes all the believers, not just himself and the apostles (for whom he was spokesman—1:14). All believers receive Christ’s fullness, but no single believer can receive all of Christ; it takes the whole body of Christ to appropriate his fullness and to express it (see Ephesians 1:23).

Nothing can deplete Christ—no matter how much the believers receive of him, he keeps on giving. His strength is not diminished by helping us. Believers do not need to seek any other source of spiritual power but Christ. Paul said: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete [or made full] in Him” (Colossians 2:9–10 ). Christ himself fulfills our Christian life; we do not need to seek anything beyond him.

Grace upon grace.  The Greek text literally says “grace in place of grace,” which could mean “grace replenishing grace” (a continual supply of Christ’s loving-kindness) or New Testament grace replacing Old Testament grace—in the sense that Christ’s dispensation of grace supersedes Moses’ or anticipated grace is replaced with fulfilled grace (see next verse). Either way, we need to realize that the grace given by Christ can never be exhausted because he is full of grace. When we are exhausted and “on empty,” Christ is always present to fill us with his grace.

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  This statement presents a contrast and begs the question: Can the law given through Moses and the grace and truth from Jesus Christ be complimentary? John introduced one of the central questions Jesus would answer: Because law and grace seem to contradict, what action should people take?

Both law and grace express God’s nature. Moses emphasized God’s law and justice, while Jesus Christ came to highlight God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness. Moses could only be the giver of the law, while Christ came to fulfill perfectly the law (Matthew 5:17). The law revealed the nature and will of God; now Jesus Christ reveals the nature and will of God. Rather than coming through cold stone tablets, God’s revelation (“truth”) now comes through a person’s life. As we get to know Christ better, our understanding of God will increase.

1:18 No one has ever seen God.  This statement seems to contradict passages like Exodus 24:9–11, which says that the elders of Israel “saw God.” What then does John mean? Very likely, he is affirming the fact that no human being has seen the essential being of God—i.e., no one has seen God as God. Some men experienced “theophanies” (special appearances of God in various forms), but no one saw the essential being of God. As Calvin put it, “When he says that none has seen God, it is not to be understood of the outward seeing of the physical eye. He means generally that since God dwells in inaccessible light, he cannot be known except in Christ, his lively image.” Only the Son, who is himself God, can communicate his glory to us.

God the One and Only.  This is more precisely rendered, “an only one, God.” All the earliest manuscripts support this reading; other manuscripts read, “the only begotten Son.” The first reading is preferred. Whatever the translation, all the earliest manuscripts indicate that Jesus is called God, as well as the One and Only. Thus, Jesus’ deity is again affirmed (see 1:1).

Who is in the bosom of the Father.  This picturesque language portrays the Son as a child in close dependence on his Father—enjoying a close and warm relationship with him. It also reflects the image of two close companions enjoying a meal together. According to an ancient custom, the one who reclined next to the master at a meal was the one dearest to him.

Has made him known.  The Greek reads, “He has explained [him].” This tells us that the Son is God’s explainer; he came to earth and lived among men to explain God to us—with his words and by his person. No one can know God apart from Christ, God’s explainer. Again, this mirrors verse 1, where the Son is called “the Word”—the expression of God, the communicator of God.

In the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, the invisible God is now visible to men. Moses longed to see God more fully and was granted a partial glimpse (Exodus 33:17—34:7). In Christ, we see God dwelling among men in human flesh. It is more than we could ever have hoped. It is more than we shall ever be able to grasp. It is a wonder that will inspire our worship throughout time and eternity.

The incarnation is perhaps the most wonderful truth of history. Its implications are deep and wide:

• It tells us that God desires to communicate himself to us and because of our diminutive nature, was only able to do that by speaking at our level and becoming one of us.
• It tells us that God truly understands our nature and sufferings (Heb 2:17-18).
• It tells us of the seriousness of our sins, because Christ came to die for them.
• It tells us of God’s love for man—he is involved in human history. In fact, he is a major player.
• It tells us that the bridge between divinity and humanity is crossable. We therefore have the hope of future fellowship in God’s presence.

 JOHN THE BAPTIST DECLARES HIS MISSION / John 1:19–28 / His stirring summary accomplished, John launched into telling the gospel. He had already introduced John the Baptist in the prologue. His overall description of the wilderness preacher leaves out the physical notes of the other Gospels (see Mark 1:1–11; Luke 1:5–25, 57–80; 3:1–20) but focuses instead on his unique role as herald of the Messiah. The messianic expectations of the time, combined with his initial success in attracting large crowds, made John the Baptist the subject of speculation: Could he be the Messiah?

In the encounter recorded in this Gospel, John the Baptist accomplished three objectives: (1) he firmly denied being the Christ; (2) he identified himself as the herald predicted by Isaiah, who would announce the Messiah; (3) he announced the presence of the Messiah, yet he did not publicly identify Jesus even though he baptized Jesus and heard God’s verbal stamp of approval on him. As the ministry of Jesus begins, we see the final days of the ministry of John the Baptist.

1:19–21 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”  John the Baptist’s calling in life was described to his father even before John was conceived. An angel had told John’s father, Zechariah:

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:13–17 )

John’s mission was to give testimony to Jesus Christ (1:7). He was Christ’s first and most important witness. John disavowed any personal status; he constantly pointed men to Christ.

The Jews, as used here and in many other places in John, designated the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. The priests and Levites were respected religious leaders in Jerusalem. Priests served in the temple, assisted by the Levites. The leaders who came to see John were Pharisees (1:24), a group that both John the Baptist and Jesus often denounced. Many Pharisees outwardly obeyed God’s laws in order to look pious, while inwardly their hearts were filled with pride and greed.

These leaders came to see John the Baptist for several reasons: (1) As guardians of the faith, they needed to investigate any new preaching (Deuteronomy 13:1–5; 18:20–22). (2) They wanted to find out if John had the credentials of a prophet. (3) John’s growing following presented them with a possible threat if he chose to use his influence with people against the religious leaders. (4) They were also probably jealous and wanted to see why John was so popular.

“I am not the Messiah.”  Their question indicates that the Jews were looking for the Anointed One (Greek, ho Christos, “the Christ”). John wanted to make it perfectly clear that he was not the Christ; rather, he was one who prepared the way for the Christ.

“Are you Elijah?”  John’s role and actions reminded these religious leaders of what had been written of Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:11). The Old Testament predicted that Elijah would come to prepare the way for the Messiah (see Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6). John the Baptist, in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17), had come to prepare the way for the Christ, but he did not claim to be Elijah.

“Are you the prophet?”  In the Pharisees’ minds, there were four options regarding John the Baptist’s identity: He was (1) the prophet foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), (2) Elijah (Malachi 4:5), (3) the Messiah, or (4) a false prophet. John denied being the first three personages. His questioners wanted him to claim a special identity; he was perfectly content in his role. He simply called himself, in the words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’” (Isaiah 40:3 ).

The leaders kept pressing John to say who he was because people were expecting the Messiah to come (Luke 3:15). But John emphasized only why he had come—to prepare the way for the Messiah. The Pharisees missed the point. They wanted to know who John was, but John insisted on pointing them toward Jesus.

1:22 “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.”  Those sent by the religious leaders of Jerusalem confronted a man sent by God; they had run out of stereotypes and were ready to listen. Although their attentiveness was hostile, John gave them an answer.

1:23 “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”  John quoted Isaiah 40, a portion that introduces the Messiah’s forerunner and herald. In Isaiah 40:3–11, this herald announced the coming of the divine Shepherd. In ancient times, a herald (or forerunner) would go before a dignitary to announce his coming and to clear the way before him. John was the Messiah’s herald and forerunner; he came on the scene to announce Jesus’ coming and to exhort people to prepare the way to receive him.

MAKE IT MATTER

Whenever you are tempted to feel indispensable, remember John the Baptist. The fact that God uses us to do his work is no excuse for pride. God does not need us or have to keep us around. So we should make the most of the time we have.

John remained a loud “voice in the wilderness” right up until his death. His sacrifice presents us with a question: Was a shortened life too high a price to pay for hearing God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?

1:24–25 Some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him.  This reading (found in the earliest manuscripts) indicates that some of the emissaries were Pharisees who began to question John further. Because John had publicly made some kind of claim about his role, he was subject to being grilled.

“Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”  Since John did not claim to be the Christ, the prophet, or Elijah, the Pharisees wanted to know why John was baptizing. John had not invented baptism. Gentiles converting to Judaism were baptized as an initiation rite. But John was calling upon Jews to be baptized. Since this was new, they demanded an explanation from John.

1:26 “I baptize with water.”  After this, we expect a reference to Jesus’ baptism “in the Spirit” because this is stated in the Synoptic Gospels after the mention of water baptism. But the announcement of Jesus’ baptism in the Spirit does not come until 1:33.

It was John’s function to provide the means for God’s cleansing through water baptism; it would be Jesus’ function to provide the people with an infusion of the Spirit.

“Among you stands one whom you do not know.”  The Son of God had taken up his abode among his own people, the Jews; but they did not realize it. This recalls John’s tragic words in the prologue (1:11–12): Jesus’ own people did not recognize him or receive him.

1:27 “I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”  In ancient times, a slave would perform many menial tasks for his master, but unstrapping a sandal was considered an extremely menial task and was usually done by oneself, not a slave. In saying that he was not even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals, John vividly pictured his subordination to Christ.

John knew who he was in comparison to Jesus—even though Jesus called him the greatest man ever born (Luke 7:28). We, by comparison, are far less qualified. We should never have a high opinion of ourselves; like Paul, we are “less than the least” (Ephesians 3:8 ).

A man is humble when he stands in the truth with a knowledge and appreciation for himself as he really is. Anonymous

1:28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan.  Bethany is the reading in the earliest manuscripts. The reading was changed from “Bethany” to “Bethabara” in some manuscripts because scribes did not want readers thinking this was the Bethany near Jerusalem. The exact location of a “Bethany on the other side of the Jordan” has never been determined. All we know is that it was east of the Jordan River.^[1]

 

^[1] Bruce B. Barton, John, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 13–20.

C. S. Lewis wrote these words in his classic book Mere Christianity: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about [Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool; you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to” (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1960, pp. 40–41).^[1]

It is foundational to the Christian faith and crucial to your personal faith that you understand and embrace the truth that Jesus Christ is fully God.

“A Savior not quite God is a bridge broken at the farther end.”

John Mitchell put it (An Everlasting Love [Multnomah Press], pp. 13, 14), “If Jesus is not God, then we are sinners without a Savior…. If Jesus were only a man, then He died for His own sins. And we are still in our sins. We have no hope.”

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. {5} The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not under-stood it.”

In a great piece of music the composer often begins by stating the themes which he is going to elaborate in the course of the work.  That is what John does here.  Life and light are two of the great basic words on which the Fourth Gospel is built up.

They are two of the main themes which it is the aim of the gospel to develop and to expound.

1:4  In him was life. Light and darkness are recurring themes in John’s Gospel. God is light (1 John 1:5) while Satan is “the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). People love either the light or the darkness, and this love controls their actions (John 3:16–19).

Life is used 36 times. What are the essentials for human life? There are at least four: light (if the sun went out, everything would die), air, water, and food.

Jesus is all of these! He is the Light of life and the Light of the world (John 8:12). He is the “Sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2).

By His Holy Spirit, He gives us the “breath of life” (John 3:8; 20:22), as well as the Water of life (John 4:10, 13–14; 7:37–39).

Finally, Jesus is the Living Bread of Life that came down from heaven (John 6:35ff). He not only has life and gives life, but He is life (John 14:6).

Those who believe on Christ are the “sons of light” (John 12:35–36).

You would think that blind sinners would welcome the light, but such is not always the case. The coming of the true light brought conflict as the powers of darkness opposed it.

A literal translation of John 1:5 reads, “And the light keeps on shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it or understood it.”

The Greek verb can mean “to overcome” or “to grasp, to understand.” Throughout the Gospel of John, you will see both attitudes revealed: people will not understand what the Lord is saying and doing and, as a result, they will oppose Him. John 7–12 records the growth of that opposition, which ultimately led to the crucifixion of Christ.

Whenever Jesus taught a spiritual truth, His listeners interpreted it in a material or physical way. The light was unable to penetrate the darkness in their minds.

This was true when He spoke about the temple of His body (John 2:19–21), the new birth (John 3:4), the living water (John 4:11), eating His flesh (John 6:51ff), spiritual freedom (John 8:30–36), death as sleep (John 11:11–13), and many other spiritual truths.

Satan strives to keep people in the darkness, because darkness means death and hell, while light means life and heaven.

This fact helps explain the ministry of John the Baptist (John 1:6–8…more on him at another time). John was sent as a witness to Jesus Christ, to tell people that the Light had come into the world.

The nation of Israel, in spite of all its spiritual advantages, was blind to their own Messiah! The word witness is a key word in this book; John uses the noun 14 times and the verb 33 times.

John the Baptist was one of many people who bore witness to Jesus, “This is the Son of God!” Alas, John the Baptist was martyred and the Jewish leaders did nothing to prevent it.

Why did the nation reject Jesus Christ? Because they “knew Him not.” They were spiritually ignorant.

Jesus is the “true Light”—the original of which every other light is a copy—but the Jews were content with the copies.

They had Moses and the Law, the temple and the sacrifices; but they did not comprehend that these “lights” pointed to the true Light who was the fulfillment, the completion, of the Old Testament religion.

As you study John’s Gospel, you will find Jesus teaching the people that He is the fulfillment of all that was typified in the Law:

• It was not enough to be born a Jew; they had to be born again, born from above (John 3).
• He deliberately performed two miracles on the Sabbath to teach them that He had a new rest to give them (John 5; 9).
• He was the satisfying manna (John 6) and the life-giving Water (John 7:37–39).
• He is the Shepherd of a new flock (John 10:16), and He is a new Vine (John 15).

But the people were so shackled by religious tradition that they could not understand spiritual truth. Jesus came to His own world that He had created, but His own people, Israel, could not understand Him and would not receive Him.

They saw His works and heard His words. They observed His perfect life. He gave them every opportunity to grasp the truth, believe, and be saved.

Jesus is the way, but they would not walk with Him (John 6:66–71). He is the truth, but they would not believe Him (John 12:37ff). He is the life, and they crucified Him!

The Light is still shining! Have you personally received the Light and become a child of God?^[2]

Creation needs to receive life from the Word—for he is the source of life. Christ gives physical life to all. But he also gives eternal life to all those who believe in him. The Greek term used for “life” is zoe; it is always used to describe the divine, eternal life in the Gospel of John.

Jesus used this specific term during the Last Supper when he told his disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6 ).

In this gospel the word life (zoe) occurs more than 35 times and the verb to live or to have life (zen) more than 15 times.

The John’s gospel begins and ends with life.  At the very beginning we read that in Jesus was life; and at the very end we read that John’s aim in writing the gospel was that men might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).  The word is continually on the lips of Jesus.

• It is his wistful regret that men will not come to him that they might have life (5:40).
• It is his claim that he came that men might have life and that they might have it abundantly (10:10).
• He claims that he gives men life and that they will never perish because no one will snatch them out of his hand (10:28).
• He claims that he is the way, the truth and the life (14:6).

What then does John mean by life?

Quite simply he means that life is the opposite of destruction, condemnation and death.  God sent his Son that the man who believes should not perish but have eternal life (3:16).  The man who hears and believes has eternal life and will not come into judgment (5:24).

The man who lives a Christless life exists, but he does not know what life is.  Jesus is the one person who can make life worth living, and in whose company death is only the prelude to fuller life.

He gives life to as many as God has given him (17:2).  At the back of it all there is God.  It is as if God was saying:  “I created men that they should have real life; through their sin they have ceased to live and only exist; I have sent them my Son to enable them to know what real life is.”

We must ask what this life is.  Again and again the Fourth Gospel uses the phrase eternal life.  Clearly whatever else eternal life is, it is not simply life which lasts for ever.  A life which lasted for ever could be a terrible curse; often the thing for which men long is release from life.

In eternal life there must be more than duration of life; there must be a certain quality of life.

Life is not desirable unless it is a certain kind of life.  Here we have the clue.  In the true sense of the word only God is eternal; therefore eternal life is that life which God lives.

What Jesus offers us from God is God’s own life.  Eternal life is life which knows something of the serenity and power of the life of God himself.  When Jesus came offering men eternal life, He was inviting them to enter into the very life of God.

The second of the great Johannine key-words which we meet here is the word light.  This word occurs in the Fourth Gospel no fewer than 21 times.

1:5  The light shines in the darkness.  John used the past tense in the previous sentence, saying that Jesus was the light of all people by virtue of being their Creator; but John shifted to the present tense: the light shines in the darkness.

The timeless light has invaded our time, and we can see it in our darkness. Christ’s life and message are still effective.

John could see it around him in his day as he witnessed the strength of the Christian church—planted, thriving, growing. And it is still present tense today—for Christ’s light still shines in our dark world.

As the light shines, it drives away the darkness for the unsaved world is blinded by the prince of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 5:8).^[3]

We need to realize that God never leaves Himself without a witness to the world. Jesus is the light to every man. John 1:9: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” 

Jesus’ coming dissipated shadows of doubt about what God was like. We see what God is like in Christ! His coming also showed man that death was only the way to a larger life.

Light means understanding and moral insight, spiritual vision. But more than just shining or reflecting, the light of Jesus penetrates and enlightens hearts and minds. Everyone who comes into contact with Christ can be enlightened.

Christ is the one universal light. There is no other. As Creator, Jesus not only provides light but he also makes people light sensitive. The blindness Jesus later attributes to the Pharisees (9:35–41) includes an intentional turning away from the light, pretending to “see” something else.

Let us see if we can understand something of this idea of the light which Jesus brings into the world.  Three things stand out.

• The light Jesus brings is the light which puts chaos to flight. In the creation story God moved upon the dark, formless chaos which was before the world began and said:  “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).

The new-created light of God routed the empty chaos into which it came.  He is the one person who can save life from becoming a chaos.  Left to ourselves we are at the mercy of our passions and our fears.

• The light which Jesus brings is a revealing light. It is the condemnation of men that they loved the darkness rather than the light; and they did so because their deeds were evil; and they hated the light lest their deeds should be exposed (3:19, 20).

The light which Jesus brings is something which shows things as they are.  It strips away the disguises and the concealments; it shows things in all their nakedness; it shows them in their true character and their true values.

We never see ourselves until we see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus.  We never see what our lives are like until we see them in the light of Jesus.  Jesus often drives us to God by revealing us to ourselves.

• The light which Jesus brings is a guiding light. If a man does not possess that light he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going (12:36).

When a man receives that light and believes in it, he walks no more in darkness (12:46).

One of the features of the gospel stories which no one can miss is the number of people who came running to Jesus asking:  “What am I to do?”

When Jesus comes into life the time of guessing and of groping is ended, the time of doubt and uncertainty and vacillation is gone.

The path that was dark becomes light; the decision that was wrapped in a night of uncertainty is illumined.  Without Jesus we are like men groping on an unknown road in a black-out.  With him the way is clear.

What is seen by the light of Jesus? When Christ’s light shines, we see our sin and his glory.

^[1] John MacArthur, John: Jesus—The Word, the Messiah, the Son of God, MacArthur Bible Studies (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2000), 9.

^[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 285–286.

^[3] Bruce B. Barton, John, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 5–6.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth?” asked Solomon as he dedicated the temple (1 Kings 8:27). A good question, indeed! God’s glory had dwelt in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34), and in the temple (1 Kings 8:10–11); but that glory had departed from disobedient Israel (Ezek. 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22–23).

Then a marvelous thing happened: the glory of God came to His people again, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

That is one major theme that runs throughout John’s Gospel: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and if you commit yourself to Him, He will give you eternal life (John 20:31). In this first chapter, John recorded seven names and titles of Jesus that identify Him as eternal God.

Much as our words reveal to others our hearts and minds, so Jesus Christ is God’s “Word” to reveal His heart and mind to us. “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).

A word is composed of letters, and Jesus Christ is “Alpha and Omega” (Rev. 1:8), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

According to Hebrews 1:1–3, Jesus Christ is God’s last Word to mankind, for He is the climax of divine revelation.

John called the Son of God, who was with God his Father in the beginning, the Word.

John may have had these ideas in mind, but his description shows clearly that he spoke of Jesus as a human being he knew and loved (see especially 1:14), who was at the same time the Creator of the uerse, the ultimate revelation of God, and also the living picture of God’s holiness, the one in whom “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17 ).

Jesus as the logos reveals God’s mind to us.

To strict Jewish readers, “the Word was God” sounded like blasphemy. Strongly monotheistic {there is only one God}, they found it difficult to even speak about God without running the danger of offending the One and Only.

Certainly God “spoke” words, but to say “the Word was God” equated the two realities; the Hebrew mind resisted any such thinking about God.

One of the most compelling reasons to believe the doctrine of the Trinity comes from the fact that it was revealed through a people most likely to reject it outright.

In a world populated by many gods, it took the tough-minded Hebrews to clarify the revelation of God’s oneness expressed through Three-in-oneness. We humbly bow before the one God, but we do not presume to easily comprehend his essential being.

To John, this new understanding of “the Word” was gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ. Although it had been right in front of philosophic minds for centuries, they had been blind to it.

Jesus revealed the truth in the light of his identity. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the express image of God’s substance (Hebrews 1:3), the revealer of God, and the reality of God.

The theme of the real identity of Jesus dominates the Gospel of John. We should be grateful that the Son of God has expressed the Father to us and made him real to us. Otherwise, we could not know God intimately and personally.

John did not identify this person immediately, but described his nature and purpose before revealing his name (see vv. 14, 17). As the Word, the Son of God fully conveys and communicates God.

What does John mean by “the Word”? Theologians and philosophers, both Jews and Greeks, used the term word in a variety of ways.

The Greek term is logos. In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, “the Word” is described as an agent of creation (Psalm 33:6), the source of God’s message to his people through the prophets (Hosea 1:2), and God’s law, his standard of holiness (Psalm 119:11).

The Greeks used “the Word” in two ways. It could mean a person’s thoughts or reason, or it might refer to a person’s speech, the expression of thoughts. As a philosophical term, logos conveyed the rational principle that governed the uerse, even the creative energy that generated the uerse.

In both the Jewish and Greek conceptions, logos conveyed the idea of beginnings—the world began through the Word (see Genesis 1:3ff., where the expression “God said” occurs repeatedly).

John may have had these ideas in mind, but his description shows clearly that he spoke of Jesus as a human being he knew and loved (see especially 1:14), who was at the same time the Creator of the uerse, the ultimate revelation of God, and also the living picture of God’s holiness, the one in whom “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17 ). Jesus as the logos reveals God’s mind to us.

The Word was with God. By using this expression, John was explaining that the Word (the Son) and God (the Father) already enjoyed an intimate, personal relationship in the beginning.

The last verse of the prologue (1:18) tells us that the Son was at the Father’s side; and in Jesus’ special prayer for his followers (chapter 17), he expressed that the Father loved him before the foundation of the world.

Not only was the Son with God, he was himself God. According to the Greek, this phrase could be translated “the Word was divine.” John’s Gospel, more than most books in the New Testament, asserts Jesus’ divinity. Jesus is called “God” in 1:1; 1:18; and 20:28.

Jesus is the eternal word, the creative word, and the incarnate word.

The Son of God in Eternity

As we step into John’s gospel, we immediately slide through a time tunnel that transports us to eternity past. In eternity–before man, before creation, before time itself–there existed the everlasting, triune God.

The first predicate of the LOGOS is eternity. This passage is one of the summits of Scripture. In fact, it probably reaches the highest of human thought. What is the thought that reaches the height of human concepts? It is this: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is…

• the Word of God
• the Creator of Life
• the Very Being and Essence of Life.

If Jesus Christ is the Word of God, then men must hear and understand that Word or else be lost forever in ignorance of God Himself.

Christ was preexistent. This means He was there before creation. He had always existed.

“In” the beginning does not mean from the beginning. Jesus Christ was already there. He did not become; He was not created; He never had a beginning. He “was in the beginning with God” (cp. John 17:5; John 8:58).

1:2 Here at the beginning John says three things about the word; which is to say that he says three things about Jesus.

(1) The word was already there at the very beginning things. John’s thought is going back to the first verse of the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). What John is saying is this—the word is not one of the created things; the word was there before creation. the word is not part of the world which came into being in time; the word is part of eternity and was there with God before time and the world began. John was thinking of what is known as the pre-existence of Christ.

(2) John goes on to say that the word was with God. What does he mean by that? He means that always there has been the closest connection between the word and God. Let us put that in another and a simpler way—there has always been the most intimate connection between Jesus and God. That means no one can tell us what God is like, what God’s will is for us, what God’s love and heart and mind are like, as Jesus can.

(3) Finally John says that the word was God. This is a difficult saying for us to understand, and it is difficult because Greek, in which John wrote, had a different way of saying things from the way in which English speaks.

When Greek uses a noun it almost always uses the definite article with it. The Greek for God is theos and the definite article is ho. When Greek speaks about God it does not simply say theos; it says ho theos.

Now when Greek does not use the definite article with a noun that noun becomes much more like an adjective. John did not say that the word was ho theos; that would have been to say that the word was identical with God.

He said that the word was theos—without the definite article—which means that the word was, we might say, of the very same character and quality and essence and being as God.

When John said the word was God he was not saying that Jesus was identical with God; he was saying that Jesus was so perfectly the same as God in mind, in heart, in being that in him we perfectly see what God is like.

So right at the beginning of his gospel John lays it down that in Jesus, and in him alone, there is perfectly revealed to men all that God always was and always will be, and all that he feels towards and desires for men.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Word (vv. 1–2). He existed in the beginning, not because He had a beginning as a creature, but because He is eternal. He is God and He was with God. “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

Jesus Christ is the creative Word (v. 3). There is certainly a parallel between John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1, the “new creation” and the “old creation.”

John 1:3 (ESV) — All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

1:3  All things came into being through him. The New Testament portrays the Son of God as the agent of creation, for all things were created through him (see 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). Everything came into being through Christ and ultimately depends upon him.^[1]

God created the worlds through His word: “And God said, ‘Let there be …’ ” / “For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33:9).

God created all things through Jesus Christ:

Colossians 1:16 (ESV) — For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Jesus is not a created being. He is eternal God. The verb was made is perfect tense in the Greek, which means a “completed act.” Creation is finished. It is not a process still going on, even though God is certainly at work in His creation (John 5:17). Creation is not a process; it is a finished product.

Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word (v. 14). John 1:14 (ESV) — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

He was not a phantom or a spirit when He ministered on earth, nor was His body a mere illusion.

John and the other disciples each had a personal experience that convinced them of the reality of the body of Jesus (1 John 1:1–2).

Even though John’s emphasis is the deity of Christ, he makes it clear that the Son of God came in the flesh and was subject to the sinless infirmities of human nature.

In his Gospel, John points out that Jesus was weary (John 4:6) and thirsty (John 4:7).

He groaned within (John 11:33) and openly wept (John 11:35).

On the cross, He thirsted (John 19:28), died (John 19:30), and bled (John 19:34).

After His resurrection, He proved to Thomas and the other disciples that He still had a real body (John 20:24–29), howbeit, a glorified body.

How was the “Word made flesh”? By the miracle of the Virgin Birth (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–38).

He took on Himself sinless human nature and identified with us in every aspect of life from birth to death.

“The Word” was not an abstract concept of philosophy, but a real Person who could be seen, touched, and heard. Christianity is Christ, and Christ is God.

The revelation of God’s glory is an important theme in the Gospel. Jesus revealed God’s glory in His person, His works, and His words.

John recorded seven wonderful signs (miracles) that openly declared the glory of God (John 2:11).

The glory of the Old Covenant of Law was a fading glory, but the glory of the New Covenant in Christ is an increasing glory (see 2 Cor. 3).

The Law could reveal sin, but it could never remove sin. Jesus Christ came with fullness of grace and truth, and this fullness is available to all who will trust Him (John 1:16).

 

 

^[1] Bruce B. Barton, John, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 4–5.

Above All by Michael W. Smith

[Verse 1] Above all powers, above all kings Above all nature and all created things. Above all wisdom and all the ways of man You were here before the world began.

[Verse 2] Above all kingdoms, above all thrones Above all wonders the world has ever known.  Above all wealth and treasures of the earth There’s no way to measure what You’re worth.

[Chorus] Crucified, laid behind a stone You lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose, trampled on the ground You took the fall and thought of me. Above all

Genesis 1:1a and John 1:1a: In the beginning

The words “In the beginning” echo Genesis 1:1, especially to Jewish Christians; however, these words in John 1:1 do not refer to the act of creating but to the one who existed and who was present when creation took place, that is, the Word.

One might expect to read “In the beginning … God,” but instead is surprised to read In the beginning was the Word,¹ and this title is more fitting here than the titles “the Christ,” “the Son of Man,” “the Son of God,” etc. John’s prologue seems specially composed to introduce and to summarize the person and work of Jesus who is the Christian’s gospel.^[1]

It is possible also that the words “In the beginning” are meant to recall the opening of the Gospel according to Mark.²

Each of the four evangelists opens his Gospel by pushing the activity of Jesus back to the beginning: Mark to the ministry of John with its baptism of Jesus, the descent of the Spirit, and God’s acknowledgment of Jesus’ sonship.

Mark 1:6–8 (ESV) — Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 1:13 (ESV) — And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Matthew and Luke open with the conception and virgin birth of Jesus. John begins in a stunning way –with God in eternity. Not many books so begin!^[2]

Strategic to John’s background and setting is the fact that according to tradition John was aware of the Synoptic Gospels. Apparently, he wrote his Gospel in order to make a unique contribution to the record of the Lord’s life (a spiritual Gospel) and, in part, to be supplementary as well as complementary to Matthew, Mark, and Luke.^[3]

Redemption Planned

What was happening before God spoke the universe into existence? That may seem like an impractical hypothetical question, like “How many angels can stand on the point of a pin?” but it isn’t.

After all, God doesn’t act arbitrarily; and the fact that He created something suggests that He must have had some magnificent purposes in mind.

God existed in sublime glory. God is eternal; He has neither beginning nor ending. Therefore, He is totally self-sufficient and needs nothing more than Himself in order to exist or to act.

“God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made,” wrote A.W. Tozer, “but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself.”

God needs nothing, neither the material universe nor the human race, and yet He created both.

If you want something to boggle your mind, meditate on the concept of the eternal, that which has neither beginning nor ending.

As creatures of time, you and I can easily focus on the transient things around us; but it’s difficult if not impossible to conceive of that which is eternal.

Contemplating the nature and character of the Triune God who always was, always is, and always will be, and who never changes, is a task that overwhelms us. “In the beginning God.”

Moses wrote, “Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God” (Ps. 90:2, niv).

Frederick Faber expressed it like this: “Timeless, spaceless, single, lonely, Yet sublimely Three, Thou art grandly, always, only God in unity!

The God of the Bible is eternal and had no beginning. He is infinite and knows no limitations in either time or space. He is perfect and cannot “improve,” and is immutable and cannot change.

The God that Abraham worshiped is the eternal God (Gen. 21:33), and Moses told the Israelites, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27, niv).

Habakkuk said that God was “from everlasting” (Hab. 1:12, and see 3:6), and Paul called Him “the everlasting [eternal] God” (Rom. 16:26; see 1 Tim. 1:17).

The divine Trinity was in loving communion. “In the beginning” would be a startling statement to a citizen of Ur of the Chaldees where Abraham came from, because the Chaldeans and all their neighbors worshiped a galaxy of greater and lesser gods and goddesses.

But the God of Genesis is the only true God and has no “rival gods” to contend with, such as you read about in the myths and fables from the ancient world. (See Ex. 15:1; 20:3; Deut. 6:4; 1 Kings 8:60; 2 Kings 19:15; Ps. 18:31.)

This one true God exists as three Persons: God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. (See Matt. 3:16-17; 28:18-20; John 3:34-35; 14:15-17; Acts 2:32-33, 38-39; 10:36-38; 1 Cor. 12:1-6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 1:3-14; 4:1-6; 2 Thes. 2:13-14; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:1-2.)

This doesn’t mean that one God manifests Himself in three different forms, or that there are three gods; it means that one God exists in three Persons who are equal in their attributes and yet individual and distinct in their offices and ministries.

As the Nicene Creed (A.D. 325) states it, “We believe in one God—And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father—And in the Holy Ghost.”

The doctrine of the Trinity wasn’t clearly revealed in the Old Testament, because the emphasis in the Old Testament is that the God of Israel is one God, uncreated and unique, the only true God.

Worshiping the false gods of their neighbors was the great temptation and repeated sin of Israel, so Moses and the prophets hammered away on the unity and uniqueness of Israel’s God.

Even today, the faithful Jewish worshiper recites “The Shema” each day: “Hear [shema], O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4-5, nkjv).

The God revealed in Scripture has no peers and no rivals.

But the Old Testament does give glimpses and hints of the wonderful truth of the Trinity, a truth that would later be clearly revealed in the New Testament by Christ and the apostles.

The “let us” statements in Genesis (Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; see also Isa. 6:8) suggest that the Persons of the Godhead worked together in conference; and the many instances when “the angel of the Lord” appeared on the scene indicate the presence of the Son of God. (See Gen. 16:7-11; 21:17; 22:11, 15; 24:7; 40; 31:11; 32:24-30; Ex. 3:1-4 with Acts 7:30-34; 14:19; 23:11; 32:33-33:17; Josh. 5:13ff; Judges 2:1-5 and 6:11ff.)

Messiah (God the Son) speaks about Himself, the Spirit, and the Lord (Father) in Isaiah 48:16-17 and 61:1-3; and Psalm 2:7 states that Jehovah has a son. Jesus applied verse 7 to Himself when He challenged His enemies who did not accept Him as the Son of God (Matt. 22:41-46).

In Genesis 1:2 and 6:3, the Spirit of God is distinguished from the Lord (Father), and this same distinction is found in Numbers 27:18; Psalm 51:11; Isaiah 40:13; 48:16; and Haggai 2:4-5.

Though the word “trinity” is nowhere used in the Bible, the doctrine is certainly there, hidden in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament.

Does this profound and mysterious doctrine have any practical meaning for the believer today? Yes, because the three Persons of the Godhead are all involved in planning and executing the divine will for the universe, including the plan of salvation.

The divine Trinity planned redemption. The wonderful plan of redemption wasn’t a divine afterthought, for God’s people were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4; Rev. 17:8) and given by the Father to the Son both to belong to His kingdom (Matt. 25:34) and to share His glory (John 17:2, 6, 9, 11-12, 24).

The sacrificial death of the Son wasn’t an accident, it was an appointment:  Acts 2:23 (ESV) — 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Acts 4:27–28 (ESV) — 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

He was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).

In the counsels of eternity, the Godhead determined to create a world that would include humans made in the image of God.

The Father was involved in Creation (Gen. 1:1; 2 Kings 19:15; Acts 4:24), but so were the Son (John 1:1-3, 10; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2) and the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2; Ps. 104:30).

God didn’t create a world because He needed anything but that He might share His love with creatures who, unlike the angels, are made in the image of God and can respond willingly to His love.

The Godhead determined that the Son would come to earth and die for the sins of the world, and Jesus came to do the Father’s will (John 10:17-18; Heb. 10:7).

The words Jesus spoke were from the Father (John 14:24), and the works He did were commissioned by the Father (5:17-21, 36; Acts 2:22) and empowered by the Spirit (10:38).

The Son glorifies the Father:

John 14:13 (ESV) — 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 17:1 (ESV) — 1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

John 17:4 (ESV) — 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

The Spirit glorifies the Son:

John 16:14 (ESV) — 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Persons of the Holy Trinity work together to accomplish the divine will.

According to Ephesians 1:3-14, the plan of salvation is Trinitarian: we are chosen by the Father (vv. 3-6), purchased by the Son (vv. 7-12), and sealed by the Spirit (vv. 13-14), and all of this is to the praise of God’s glory (vv. 6, 12, 14).

The Father has given authority to the Son to give eternal life to those He has given to the Son:

John 17:1–3 (ESV) — When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

All of this was planned before there was ever a world!

When you seek to fathom the depths of the divine eternal counsels, you will be overwhelmed. But don’t be discouraged, for over the centuries, good and godly scholars have disagreed in their speculations and conclusions.

Moses said it best: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29, nkjv).

Summarizing some of the points of continuity between the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation may be helpful:

• In the Gospel of John, John begins with Jesus at creation, as the Creator. He begins, as it were, in Genesis, at the beginning of recorded biblical history. In Revelation, John focuses on the close, the consummation of history.
• In Genesis, we have the fall; in the Gospels, we have a new Genesis, a new beginning, where a new faithful “son” comes in the image of God, and where sin is dealt with by His sacrificial death. In Revelation, this salvation is fully realized with a return to the Garden, but now it is a perfect Garden.
• In John, we have God coming down from heaven to earth, not to condemn, but to save men. In Revelation, we have God coming down from heaven, to take saints to heaven, and to judge the wicked.
• In John, we have John leaning on Jesus’ breast; in Revelation, we have John fallen at the feet of Jesus as a dead man.
• In John, we have God tabernacling among men, with His glory veiled. In Revelation, we have God seen in Christ, unveiled, in all His glory and splendor, so great that the sun is no longer needed, for the light of the glory of the Father and the Son.
• In the Book of Revelation, John writes of the difficult times ahead and the need for perseverance and endurance, followed by a description of the blessings which come to those who overcome. There is a “river of the water of life” (22:1), and a “tree of life” (22:2). There is no temple, nor is there any sun or moon, because the Father and the Son are the temple, and the “Lamb” is its “light” (21:23).

The very things John has highlighted in the first chapter of his Gospel are also highlighted in the closing chapters of his last work—Revelation.

¹ E. Haenchen, A Commentary on the Gospel of John. Hermeneia, German edition, 1980 (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), p. 116.

^[1] Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause, John, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 1998), Jn 1:1.

² C.K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John (New York: Macmillan, 1955), p. 131.

^[2] Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause, John, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 1998), Jn 1:1.

^[3] John MacArthur, John: Jesus—The Word, the Messiah, the Son of God, MacArthur Bible Studies (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2000), 2–3.

This story of Mary anointing our Lord shortly before His death can have a profound influence on our walk with the Lord because of a statement from a sermon by the late Chinese preacher, Watchman Nee. It’s found in the last chapter of his book, The Normal Christian Life titled, “The Goal of the Gospel.”

Nee points out that in the parallel accounts in Matthew (26:6-13) and Mark (14:3-9) and Luke (7:37-39), all the disciples joined Judas in scolding Mary for wasting this expensive perfume on Jesus when it could have been sold and the money given to the poor.

But Jesus defends Mary by replying Matthew 26:13 (ESV)  Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Nee says (p. 186) that Jesus “intends that the preaching of the Gospel should issue in something along the very lines of the action of Mary here, namely, that “people should come to Him and ‘waste themselves’ on Him.’” Or, to state it another way (p. 187), the gospel is “to bring each one of us to a true estimate of His worth.”

If Jesus is the pearl of great price and the treasure hidden in the field, then it’s not a waste to sell everything you have to buy that pearl or buy that field. Jesus is worthy for you to devote all you are and all you have to Him.

So this is a story about how not to waste your life.

It’s also a story about motivation: why do you do what you do for the Lord? Do you serve Him for the satisfaction you get when you see results? It is satisfying to see Him use you, but that’s the wrong motivation.

Do you serve Him because it helps others? Again, it’s gratifying to see others helped, but that’s the wrong motivation for serving Him.

The truest motive for serving Christ is because He is worthy of everything you can do for Him and because you love Him and want to please Him because He gave Himself for you on the cross. We learn this from Mary’s act of devotion.

But John contrasts Mary’s act of devotion with Judas’ self-centered focus and with the evil plans of the chief priests, who now not only want to kill Jesus, but also Lazarus, whose resurrection was resulting in many believing in Jesus. So the story’s lesson is: A life spent in selfless devotion to Jesus is not wasted, but a life spent on self is totally wasted.

This story illustrates Jesus’ words in Mark 8:35-36 (ESV)  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Jesus repeats this idea (John 12:25), “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.”

What does Mary show us? She denied herself and “hated her life” for Jesus’ sake by her extravagant act of devotion to Him, and she gained that which would not be taken from her.

Judas greedily wished that he could have pocketed some of Mary’s gift. In a few days, he would sell Jesus for a paltry sum of 30 pieces of silver, which he would eventually throw to the ground and leave. But he forfeited his soul.

1. You will not waste your life if you spend it in selfless devotion to Jesus.

To put it another way, to “waste” your life on Jesus is to save your life. Mary’s act reflects four components of selfless devotion:

A. Selfless devotion is costly.

Mary’s anointing Jesus with this perfume was costly in at least three ways:

1) Selfless devotion costs you financially: “Do I treasure Jesus more than my stuff?”

Pure nard was a spice that came from the Himalaya Mountains in the far north of India. It had to be imported to Israel at great cost. We don’t know where Mary got this 12-ounce jar of perfume. Perhaps it was a family heirloom. Judas estimates that it could have been sold for 300 denarii, which was equivalent to about 300 days’ pay for a working man (Matt. 20:2).

The Lord rebukes them (John 12:8), “For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” He was not saying that we should not help the poor, but He was saying, “I am more worthy of your unselfish devotion than all the world’s poor put together!” He was accepting the worship that Mary gave Him because she rightly saw that He is worthy of all that we can give Him and even more. As Isaac Watts put it (“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”): Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small: Love so amazing, so divine Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Many years ago, a minister went down and watched what each person put in or didn’t put in the offering plate as it was passed. Some of his people were angry, others were embarrassed, but all were surprised.

Then he went to the pulpit and preached on the Lord standing near the treasury in the temple and watching what each person put in, including the widow and her two mites. He reminded them that the Lord watches the collection every Sunday to see what His people give.

So let me ask: Is your devotion to the Lord costing you financially? If others looked at how you spend your money, would they conclude that you must love Jesus a lot?

2) Selfless devotion costs you socially: “Do I treasure Jesus more than my pride?”

Matthew and Mark say that Mary anointed Jesus’ head, but John says that she anointed His feet. There is no contradiction if she anointed both. Matthew and Mark mention Jesus’ head because anointing the head signified kingship.

John mentioned her anointing Jesus’ feet because it was the lowly task of a servant to wash a guest’s feet. In the next chapter John tells how Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an act of great humility that we should follow.

But Mary didn’t use a towel. Rather, she wiped the Lord’s feet with her hair. Respectable Jewish women never let down their hair in public. In fact, it was considered a mark of a woman of loose morals (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans], p. 577).

But Mary was so caught up with her devotion to Christ that she didn’t stop to consider what others might think about her.

So ask yourself, “Do I treasure Jesus more than my pride?” Or, am I more concerned about what others think about me? People may think you’re a zealot or a religious fanatic. But what matters is what Jesus thinks about your selfless devotion to Him.

3) Selfless devotion costs you some criticism: “Do I treasure Jesus more than my reputation?”

Judas led the attack, but the other disciples echoed his criticism. Matthew 26:8 reports, “But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, ‘Why this waste?’”

They were only being pragmatic and sensible. The money could have benefitted many poor families. But instead, it was all wasted on Jesus. Or, was it wasted?

B. Selfless devotion stems from personal love and gratitude.

Although the text doesn’t state it directly, Mary’s action obviously stemmed from her love for Jesus and her gratitude for His raising her brother from the dead.

Love for Christ should be the motive in all that we do for Him. Judas postured himself as being concerned for the poor, but even if he had given some of the money to the poor, he would not have been motivated by love for Christ. People can give great sums of money to the Lord’s work, but their real motive may be that they want others to know how generous they are.

But the Lord looks on the hidden motives of our hearts, not on our outward actions.

C. Selfless devotion flows from knowing Jesus personally.

John 12:7 (ESV) Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 

Mary had just poured out the precious perfume, so she couldn’t keep it to anoint Jesus after He died. And, how much did she understand about Jesus’ impending death when none of the disciples saw it coming?

Mary knew more about the infinite worth of Jesus than even the apostles did at this point. Her personal knowledge of Jesus, gained by sitting at His feet, led her to this act of selfless devotion.

If you want to follow Mary’s example of devotion to Jesus, you have to follow her example of sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to His word. Every time we encounter Mary in the Gospels, she is at Jesus’ feet—first, learning from Him; then, pouring out her sorrow to Him; and now, expressing her love and devotion to Him.

You won’t love the Lord as you should unless you’ve spent much time at His feet. You do that by spending consistent time in the Word and in prayer.

D. Selfless devotion results in action.

Mary didn’t just think about this radical display of love, but then allow reason to prevail and not do it. Rather, she did it! Good intentions are nice, but it takes good actions to produce results. This story highlights three results that flow from selfless devotion: one from Mary, one from Martha, and one from Lazarus:

1) Action results in the fragrance of Christ surrounding your life.

John 12:3 says, “And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Can people smell the fragrance of Christ on you? You ask, “What does it smell like?” It smells like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23): Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Does your home smell like that? Do others sense from the fragrance of your life that you spend much time at Jesus’ feet, worshiping Him in selfless devotion?

2) Action results in witness for Christ.

Here, we’re looking at Lazarus. The text tells us three things about him:

1. First, Jesus had raised him from the dead (John 12:1).
2. Second, he was reclining at the table in fellowship with the Lord who had raised him from the dead (John 12:2).
3. Third, his resurrected life resulted in many coming to see him and believing in Jesus as a result John 12:9-11 (ESV) When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹  because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
4. You will totally waste your life if you spend it on yourself.

John tells us about Judas’ greed in verse 6: He really wasn’t concerned about the poor, but he was a thief. He had the money box and used to help himself to the funds. If Mary had given her perfume to sell and give to the poor, some of that money would have ended up in Judas’ pocket!

But now the future looked dim. Jesus kept talking about His death, not His reign. This incident pushed Judas over the top. When Jesus came to Mary’s defense with more talk about His death, Judas decided to go to the authorities and betray Jesus.

Conclusion

Mary’s action reveals the proper basis for evaluating your actions: Did you do what you did because you love and treasure Jesus? She didn’t do this out of duty or pragmatism, but out of sheer devotion for Christ.

Mary did what she did because she had a perception of Christ that even the apostles at this point lacked. She knew that He was worthy of extravagant love. She gained this knowledge of Christ by sitting at His feet. When Jesus is your treasure, you will spend your life in selfless devotion to Him.

“If Jesus can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing”

During a good portion of my lifetime, science has been used to oppose the Bible and the Christian faith. In thousands of classrooms across our country, professors and teachers have asked their students, “Does anyone here believe in the Bible?” or “Is anyone here a Christian?”

For too many years now, unbelieving scholars and teachers have been scoffing at Christians and their faith, hoping to shame us into silence. They wish to convince themselves and others that faith is “believing in what isn’t real or true.”

Is our faith ill-founded? Does our faith hang by an intellectual thread? Is faith required because there is too little evidence to support the claims of the Bible? Not at all!

In this message, I am going to suggest something absolutely amazing, at least in the light of those scholars who are also scoffers. I am going to suggest that faith in Jesus Christ is the only reasonable response to biblical revelation. I will further say that it is unbelief that is unbelievable, and that faith in Jesus Christ is the only “reasonable” response to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In our text, Jesus raises Lazarus from the grave with a prayer and a shout. Providentially, a crowd is present at the grave sight, not only to witness this miracle, but to participate in it.

As a result of this amazing miracle, many of those who are there come to a faith in Jesus and the Messiah. Some do not, and these folks report what has happened to the Jewish religious leaders, who set in motion a plan to arrest and kill Jesus.

By their own words, these leaders of Israel reveal that their unbelief is not due to a lack of evidence, but stems from their desire to protect their own selfish interests.

It is the life-threatening illness of Lazarus which results in a desperate message from Martha and Mary, urging Jesus to come back to the little village of Bethany, just a stone’s throw from Jerusalem.

Jesus deliberately delays His journey to Bethany until Lazarus dies. When He finally arrives near the home of the two sisters He loves, Lazarus has already been buried for four days. Both sisters are perplexed by our Lord’s delay, but both nevertheless reaffirm their faith in Him. By the end of verse 37, Jesus has just arrived at the tomb where Lazarus is buried. It is here that we take up the account.

* THE GREAT ACT (11:38-40)

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. {39} “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” {40} Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?””

Lazarus is buried in a cave, with a stone covering the opening. This sounds strikingly similar to the burial sight of our Lord (e.g. Matthew 27:60). The raising of Lazarus almost looks like a dress rehearsal for the resurrection of our Lord in the near future. Jesus orders the stone to be rolled away. We can’t be sure who Jesus orders to move the stone, or who actually does move it. It could be the disciples, of course, but it may just as well be others, such as some of those who have come to mourn with Mary.

I am inclined to think that Jesus deliberately employs those other than His disciples to remove the stone. Doing this would seem to require some measure of faith on their part. Today, we must go through a very strict legal process to gain access to a body once it has been buried. In Judaism, contact with a dead body is defiling. Besides that, it is disgusting, especially after four days. I suspect those who removed the stone received a good whiff of the smell of decaying flesh. These witnesses will not easily be persuaded by a “swoon theory” or any attempt to explain away the literal death (and raising) of Lazarus. Such personal involvement in this process makes these participants even better witnesses to the miracle which is about to occur.

It is Martha, however, who objects to our Lord’s instruction to remove the stone. She protests that too much time has passed. The body will certainly smell very bad, she explains. But beyond this, it just seems to reopen a very painful wound.

It seems quite obvious that Martha is not expecting Jesus to perform any miracle here, and certainly not the raising of one who has been dead for several days. Earlier, Jesus assures her that if she believes, she will see the glory of God (verse 40). By calling this to her attention once again, Jesus is seeking to stretch her faith. Martha relents, and the stone is removed.

Our Lord then lifts His eyes to heaven and begins to pray to His heavenly Father. Having prayed in this manner, Jesus now cries out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (verse 43).

It has quite often been observed that if Jesus had not specified “Lazarus,” every dead body in the region would have arisen from the dead. In shouting with a loud voice, Jesus reveals His confidence that the Father will hear Him, and that Lazarus will rise from the dead.

The witnesses to this resurrection are very much involved in the outworking of the miracle. They see and hear Jesus calling Lazarus out of his tomb. They help roll the stone away from the tomb, and they remove the cloth that has been wrapped around the body of Lazarus.

Of all the “signs” recorded in the Gospel of John, none was greater than what happened at Lazarus’ tomb. Three times in chapter 11 Jesus claimed that these events took place so that people might see “the glory of God” (11:4, 15, 40). Each step of the way we have seen the glory of God in Jesus’ teachings and miracles; but up to this point in the Gospel of John, the raising of Lazarus is where the glory of God–the presence of God in Christ–shines most brilliantly.

* THE JEWS (11:41-57)

   The emphasis from this point on was on the faith of the spectators, the people who had come to comfort Mary and Martha. Jesus paused to pray: “So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. {42} I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

He thanked the Father that the prayer had already been heard…but when had He prayed? It’s likely that it was when He was told that His friend was sick (11:4). The plan was likely revealed to Him, and He obeyed His Father’s will. His purpose now was clear: He wanted the unbelieving spectators to know that His Father had sent Him.

He called out His name and he came out: “When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” {44} The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Everything Jesus did was due to the power of God and designed for the glory of God. 

If this Jesus can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing.

The same thought is Biblical in nature: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” 1 Cor. 15:19. Death is man’s last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), but Jesus has defeated this horrible enemy totally and permanently.

It  was an unquestioned miracle that even the most hostile spectator could not deny!  “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.”

As with previous miracles, the people were divided in their response. “But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. {47} Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. {48} If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

The Pharisees are informed about the miracle at Bethany and quickly call for a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Up to this point, they have not been able to come to a united stand (see 7:45-53), but all that ends here. Up till now, they have been eager to arrest and kill Jesus, but have been unable to do so (see 5:18; 7:11, 30; 8:40, 59; 10:31, 39). They now resolve to change that, and very soon.

John’s account allows the reader to be a “fly on the wall,” overhearing the private conversation that takes place in this emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin. The words that they speak are incredible, almost beyond belief. They express no doubt about the power of our Lord, or the legitimacy of the signs He has performed. They do not deny that the evidence in support of His claims is piling up. In fact, they virtually admit that it is all true.

But in spite of all this evidence, they refuse to bow the knee to Jesus as the Son of God. They refuse to repent of their sins and seek His forgiveness and salvation. They refuse to give up their positions and power.

They acknowledge that if Jesus is not put to death, the entire nation will believe in Him. This may be hyperbole, but they know they are rapidly losing ground. They must act decisively, and they must act soon. If not, they can kiss life as they have known it goodbye. They fear that if the entire nation acknowledges Jesus as the King of Israel, this will precipitate a strong reaction from Rome, which will end the “good times” for them. Ironically, it is not the nation’s acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah which brings about the downfall of the nation, but their rejection of Jesus as God’s Messiah. In but a few years, Rome will march on this nation, capture Jerusalem, destroy the temple, and kill countless Jews. And all this is because Israel rejects her Messiah.

Caiaphas is the High Priest this year, and as the High Priest, he now lays out the course of action which seems necessary: Jesus must die. Far better to sacrifice one person than the entire nation, he reasons. Our Lord’s death seems to spell life (as it is presently) for the rest. What Caiaphas doesn’t realize is that at the very moment he is proposing the death of our Lord, He is being used of God to utter (as the High Priest) a profound prophetic truth. It was God’s plan and purpose that one man—Jesus Christ—should die for the entire nation, and that out of His death many will find eternal life. Caiaphas is speaking for God in spite of his unbelief and rejection of Jesus. Note the arrogance of this man, even as he speaks prophetically. You don’t have to be a believer to be used as God’s mouthpiece. Ask Balaam (or his beast of burden—see Numbers 22–24). And so it is that from this day forward, this very diverse group of Jews is united in its one common purpose of killing Jesus.

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! {50} You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” {51} He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, {52} and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. {53} So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”

The official decision that day was that Jesus must die (see Matt.12:14; Luke 19:47; John 5:18; 7:1, 19-20, 25). The leaders thought that they were in control of the situation, but it was God who was working out His predetermined plan. Originally, they wanted to wait until after the Passover, but God had decreed otherwise.

Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. {55} When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.” {56} They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the Feast at all?” {57} But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.”

Now the Passover Feast of the Jews was near; and many from the country areas went up to Jerusalem before the Passover Feast to purify themselves.  So they were looking for Jesus; and, as they stood in the Temple precincts, they were talking with each other and saying:  “What do you think?  Surely it is impossible that he should come to the Feast?” Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he should lodge information with them, that they might seize him.

Jesus did not unnecessarily court danger.  He was willing to lay down his life, but not so foolishly reckless as to throw it away before his work was done.  So he retired to a town called Ephraim, which was near Bethel in the mountainous country north of Jerusalem (cp. 2 Chronicles 13:19).

By this time Jerusalem was beginning to fill up with people.  Before the Jew could attend any feast he had to be ceremonially clean; and uncleanness could be contracted by touching a vast number of things and people.  Many of the Jews, therefore, came up to the city early to make the necessary offerings and go through the necessary washings in order to ensure ceremonial cleanness.  The law had it:  “Every man is bound to purify himself before the Feast.”

These purifications were carried out in the Temple.  They took time, and in the time of waiting the Jews gathered in excited little groups.  They knew what was going on.  They knew about this mortal contest of wills between Jesus and the authorities; and people are always interested in the man who gallantly faces fearful odds.  They wondered if he would appear at the feast; and concluded that he could not possible come.  This Galilean carpenter could not take on the whole might of Jewish ecclesiastical and political officialdom.

A point we need to make here: the rich man in hades had argued that “if one went to them  from the dead, they will repent.” (Luke 16:30). Lazarus came back from the dead, and the officials wanted  to kill Him!

   And what about today? Jesus, too, has come back from the dead! The stage has been set for the greatest drama in history, during which man would do his worst and God would give His best!

————————————————

   While this passage contains some wonderfully good news, it requires that we first face something we may not want to face.

   The painful truth is that we will all die! Life is fatal. However young, strong, and healthy we may be at this moment, someday we will die! It may be today or tomorrow or eighty years from now, but we all will die.

   We try in many ways to avoid having to face this terrible truth. We try to convince ourselves that if we exercise enough, eat the right foods, wear our seat belts, drink purified water, and put on sunscreen when we go outside, then we will be protected from death. In the end, nothing can protect us from the fact that the death rate in this world is 100 percent!

   You are probably thinking, “I do not want to hear this today! I have had a hard week, and now I am being reminded that I will die!” I would not bring up such a painful, distressing subject if the gospel did not provide the answer to it. Jesus, in the marvelous story in John 11, proclaims to people of all time, “I am the resurrection and the life.” It is wonderful news, but we had to be reminded of the bad news first in order to appreciate it.

  The story of Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb helps us to confront our own fears of death. Because of what Jesus did then and still does today, we do not have to deny the reality of death in order to be happy in this life.

   As Christians, we do not run from death; we face it. We do not pretend that it will not happen to us; we proclaim to the world that we have an answer to it. This new attitude is seen in the following two examples from the writings of Paul:  (Rom. 8:38-39)  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, {39} neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(1 Cor. 15:54-55)  “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” {55} “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?””

Several years ago a young couple wanted to talk with their minister after the morning service. They had moved  in from out of state because the wife had landed a good job. But after a short time on the job, she was terminated, from her perspective, without cause. She was angry and bitter towards God because they thought that they had followed Him in moving here. Now they were without work and without funds to move back home.

The minister shared with them that the Lord was in control of their difficult situation and that He had many lessons to teach them if they would trust Him. The husband had a good attitude and seemed teachable, but the wife wouldn’t listen. She kept insisting that God had let them down. Later the husband came for further counsel because she angrily left him to return to their former location.

That woman was a sad example of how we as Christians should not respond when sudden trials come into our lives. The Bible gives us another option: Rather than growing angry and withdrawing from the Lord, we can draw near to Him in submission to His sovereign hand, knowing that He cares for us.

It’s okay to draw near to Him with tears of grief and confusion. The main thing is to draw near with a sub-missive heart, trusting in His sovereign love and care for you.

Mary, the sister of Martha, did that when Jesus came to Bethany after the death of their brother, Lazarus. Martha first went to the Lord as He came into their village, but Mary stayed in the house. Then after her interview with Jesus, Martha came and whispered to Mary (11:28), “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

Mary did not say, “I’m too angry right now even to talk to Him!” Rather, she did what we should do in our times of trouble: She got up quickly and went to Jesus (11:29). She fell at His feet weeping and repeated what Martha had said (11:32), “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

The significant thing is that Jesus did not rebuke her for her tears or her lack of faith. Rather, we read in the shortest verse in the English Bible (11:35), “Jesus wept.”

While commentators differ in interpreting Jesus’ emotions here, as I’ll explain, I believe that John wants us to see Christ’s compassion for these sisters in their loss.

This story pictures what Hebrews 4:15-16 declares, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Our text teaches us that …

The call and compassion of the Teacher should cause us to draw near to Him in our trials.

In difficult times, John wants us personally to apply Martha’s words (11:28), “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

1. Christ is the Teacher and He calls us to come to Him and learn from Him in our trials.
2. We learn the most in the school of Christ when we draw near to Him in our trials.

Martha did not say, as she easily could have, “Jesus is here and is calling for you.” Rather, she calls Him, “The Teacher.” Jesus is the Teacher par excellence and His most effective lessons are often when we’re hurting the most.

We all tend to be rather self-sufficient. Many years ago there was a TV commercial (I can’t remember what it was advertising) where mother was trying to give advice to her young adult daughter and the daughter would reply in frustration, “Mother, please, I’d rather do it myself!”

We’re often like that with the Lord—we think that we can do it by ourselves, without His help.

But then trials hit and we realize the truth of Jesus’ words (John 15:5), “apart from Me you can do nothing.”

It’s at these overwhelming times that we can learn the most about Christ’s all-sufficiency, if we draw near to Him.

Anonymous poem speaks here: Until I learned to trust, I never learned to pray; And I did not learn to fully trust ’til sorrows came my way. Until I felt my weakness, His strength I never knew; Nor dreamed ’til I was stricken that He could see me through. Who deepest drinks of sorrow, drinks deepest, too, of grace; He sends the storm so He Himself can be our hiding place. His heart that seeks our highest good, knows well when things annoy; We would not long for heaven if earth held only joy.

And so, in a time of trials or grief, realize that you’re enrolled in the school of Christ and He has just given you a great opportunity to learn more about His all-sufficiency.

1. Christ tailors His lessons for each student according to the student’s needs.

Martha was the take-charge, get things done, sister. She was the one (Luke 10:38-42) who was busy getting the meal prepared when Jesus visited their home, while her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him teach. She scolded the Lord on that occasion because He didn’t tell Mary to get up and help her. But the Lord gently rebuked Martha for being worried and bothered about so many things, while Mary had chosen the better part.

In John 11, when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she got up and went to Him. Jesus dealt with her on a doctrinal level, claiming to be the resurrection and the life, and then challenging her (11:26), “Do you believe this?” He knew that she needed this doctrinal foundation so that she would glorify Him in this trial.

But when Mary fell at Jesus’ feet in tears, He sympathized with her and wept, without any discussion of biblical truth. He knew that she needed to feel His compassion and that she later would glorify Him because He entered into her sorrow.

Two applications: First, recognize that the Lord always deals with you according to your personality to teach you what you need to grow in every trial. All parents who have more than one child know that each child is different. You can’t deal with them in exactly the same way because they are wired differently and they learn differently. The Teacher does that with His children. He tutors you individually, in a way that you can best learn the lessons. But you need to try to understand, through prayer and the Word, “What does the Teacher want me to learn through this trial?”

Second, we should be sensitive to the unique personalities of others when we try to comfort or help them in difficult situations. Some may need a word of encouragement, whereas others don’t need any words, but just for you to be with them and cry with them. There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to helping others in their time of need. So pray for sensitivity and wisdom as you try to help.

But for us to trust Jesus as our Teacher in times of trial, we have to know Him. The more we know who He is, the easier it is to trust Him. Thus John shows us that…

2. The Teacher who calls us to Himself is fully God and fully man; thus He can help us in our trials.

This chapter shows us both Jesus’ humanity and His deity. We see His humanity very plainly in 11:34-35, where Jesus asks the location of the tomb and then He weeps. But we see His deity earlier in the chapter, when He knows that Lazarus is dead and that He is going to raise him from the dead (11:11, 14); and when He tells Martha that He is the resurrection and the life and that whoever believes in Him will live even if he dies and will never die (11:25-26).

Many years ago, I read this paragraph by Alfred Edersheim, (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Eerdmans] 1:198), and I’ve always remembered it as I read the gospels: “It has been observed, that by the side of every humiliation connected with the Humanity of the Messiah, the glory of His Divinity was also made to shine forth. The coincidences are manifestly undesigned on the part of the Evangelic writers, and hence all the more striking. Thus, if he was born of the humble Maiden of Nazareth, an Angel announced His birth; if the Infant-Saviour was cradled in a manger, the shining host of heaven hymned His Advent. And so afterwards—if He hungered and was tempted in the wilderness, Angels ministered to Him, even as an Angel strengthened Him in the agony of the garden. If He submitted to baptism, the Voice and vision from heaven attested His Sonship; if enemies threatened, He could miraculously pass through them; if the Jews assailed, there was the Voice of God to glorify Him; if He was nailed to the cross, the sun craped his brightness, and earth quaked; if He was laid in the tomb, Angels kept its watches, and heralded His rising.”

The fact that Jesus is fully man means that He can identify and sympathize with our problems. The fact that He is fully God means that He is sovereign over and can help with them. (Of course, the God who made us completely understands us and is full of compassion towards us: Psalm 103:13-14 (ESV) As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. ¹⁴  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

 But Jesus’ humanity especially qualifies Him to sympathize with us: Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  

Three aspects of Jesus’ humanity shine from our text (I’m drawing these headings from James Boice, John [Zondervan], one-vol. ed., pp. 749-753, who seems to be following C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit [Pilgrim Publications], 35:338-346):

1. Jesus experienced grief and deep feelings, just as we do.

Isaiah (53:3) prophesied that Jesus would be “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” The fact that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus shows that whatever our grief may be, Jesus knows it and He enters into it with us.

But at this point, we encounter some difficult interpretive matters. The world translated “deeply moved” (11:33 & 38, NASB, ESV, NIV; “groaned, NJKV) is difficult to understand. It’s only used three other times in the New Testament and in those places it has a meaning that does not seem to fit here.

In Matthew 9:30 & Mark 1:43, it means, “strictly charged” or “sternly warned.” In Mark 14:5, it refers to the scolding of the woman (Mary) who anointed Christ with expensive ointment. The parallel (Matt. 26:8) uses a different word to say that they were indignant with her. In the LXX, the word refers to anger or being indignant (Dan. 11:30; noun in Lam. 2:6). Thus many commentators think that in John 11:33 & 38, Jesus was angry or indignant (The New Living Translation). Some think that He was indignant with the unbelief expressed by Mary and the others (11:32, 37); or He was angry with the death that God decreed because of man’s fall into sin.

But S. Lewis Johnson (sermon on this text, online at sljinstitute.net) mentions a Professor Black from the University of St. Andrews who studied this word thoroughly and concluded that it does not have the nuance of anger. And since anger does not seem to fit the context here, some argue that the word can refer to being deeply moved (as the NASB, ESV, & NIV translate it). The word was used in extra-biblical Greek to refer to the snorting of a horse preparing for battle. Calvin (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], p. 442) views it as Jesus gearing up for the conflict as our champion in the battle against sin and death.

One other suggestion is worth considering. F. Godet (Commentary on the Gospel of John [Zondervan], 2:184) questions why Jesus didn’t feel the same emotion towards death at the other two resurrections that He performed. He says that here Jesus realizes that raising Lazarus will precipitate the hostility of His enemies that will lead to His own death on the cross. The accompanying verb (11:33, “troubled Himself”) is also used as Jesus contemplates His impending death in John 12:27 & 13:21. Thus perhaps Jesus is deeply moved both by the sisters’ grief and by what He knows will happen after He raises Lazarus. R. H. Lightfoot (cited by Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans], p. 557, n. 69) commented, “The expression used here implies that He now voluntarily and deliberately accepts and makes His own the emotion and the experience from which it is His purpose to deliver men.”

So while we cannot be certain of the exact meaning of John’s word, we can know that our Savior was not a Stoic. Even though He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus, it didn’t prevent Him from entering into the sisters’ grief. He experienced deep feelings and grief, just as we do. And even though He knows that one day He will wipe away all of our tears (Rev. 21:4) He still sympathizes with us in all of our sorrows.

1. Jesus was not ashamed to display human emotions.

Jesus could have restrained His tears. After all, He knew that He would soon raise Lazarus. Besides, His tears could be misinterpreted as weakness or frustration on His part, as some of the Jews surmised (11:37). But Jesus did not worry about that. He was completely human (without a sin nature) and His tears show that it’s not wrong to express our feelings as long as our hearts are submissive to God. The NT states three times that Jesus wept (here; Luke 19:41, over Jerusalem’s unbelief; and Heb. 5:7, in the Garden of Gethsemane), but never that He laughed (but, see Luke 10:21).

It’s worth noting that John uses a different word (11:33) for weeping to describe the loud wailing of Mary and the mourners than the word in 11:35, which could be translated, “Jesus burst into tears.” Jesus wept, but He was not wailing in despair. In the words of Paul (1 Thess. 4:13), believers are to grieve, but not as those who have no hope. It’s interesting, also, that while the shortest verse in the English Bible is John 11:35, “Jesus wept,” the shortest verse in the Greek NT is 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always!” Those verses are not contradictory! As Paul put it (Rom. 12:15), “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Jesus entered into the sorrow of these sisters. As we become more like our Savior, we should not become more stoical, but rather people who express godly emotions.

1. Jesus’ love underlies all His actions.

In 11:36 we read in response to Jesus’ weeping, “So the Jews were saying, ‘See how He loved him!” And they were right, because John has previously underscored Jesus’ love for Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (11:3, 5). In fact, Jesus’ love for these dear friends was the reason He stayed two days longer where He was, allowing Lazarus to die (11:6). Love always seeks the highest good for the one loved, and the highest good for anyone is that he or she gets a greater vision of God’s glory and thus grows in faith. Both of these aims were behind Jesus’ delay in going to Bethany (11:4, 15, 40).

But some of the Jews questioned both Jesus’ love and His power when they said (11:37), “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” They couldn’t reconcile Jesus’ love and power with Lazarus’ death. And in a time of severe trials, the enemy may whisper to you, “God must not love you or He isn’t able to prevent trials like you’re going through. You shouldn’t trust Him!”

But at such times, never interpret God’s love by your difficult circumstances, but rather interpret your circumstances by His love (modified from, C. H. Mackintosh, Miscellaneous Writings [Loizeaux Brothers], vol. 6, “Bethany,” pp. 17-18). He could have prevented your trial. But as H. E. Hayhoe wrote (“Sentence Sermons,” exact source unknown), “He will never allow a trial in your life without a needs be on your part and a purpose of love on His part.”

Thus, Christ is the Teacher and He calls you to come to Him and learn from Him in your trials. And, the Teacher who calls us to Himself is fully God and fully man; thus He can help us in our trials. Finally,

3. In your trials, come to the Teacher just as you are, quickly and submissively.

Martha’s words to Mary (11:28) are the Lord’s words for us when we’re hurting: “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

1. Jesus is always present and is waiting for you to come to Him in your trials.

Jesus was there, but Mary had to get up and go to Him. And even though you may not feel His presence, He is always present and available to give grace if you go to Him in your trials.

1. Come to Jesus just as you are and share your feelings with Him.

Mary went immediately when she heard that the Teacher was there and calling for her. She didn’t say, “I’ve been crying for four days. My mascara is streaked, my eyes are red and swollen. I can’t go to Jesus like this! I need to go and make myself presentable!”

But we often do that with the Lord. We’re in the midst of a trial or problem and we think, “I can’t go to the Lord until I get myself more together. I’ll wait until I’m calmer and more in control of my emotions.” But grace is for the undeserving, not for the deserving. Go to Jesus with your tears and He will weep with you.

If you’ve never come to Christ for salvation, the only way that you can come is just as you are. If you try to clean up your life or make yourself more presentable to Him, you don’t understand His grace. As the old hymn (by Charlotte Elliott) goes,

Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come.!

1. Come to Jesus quickly.

Mary “got up quickly and was coming to Him” (11:29). She had friends at her side who were consoling her. She could have thought, “What will they think if I leave them and go to Jesus?” Or, she could have thought that their consolations were enough. But as comforting as our friends may be, they are no substitute for the Teacher who calls us to Himself. Don’t delay: Go to Jesus quickly! The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll experience His comfort and compassion.

1. Come to Jesus’ feet.

Mary went and fell at Jesus’ feet (11:32). Every time we encounter Mary in the Gospels, she is at Jesus’ feet. In Luke 10:39, she was “seated at The Lord’s feet, listening to His word.” In our text, she pours out her grief at Jesus’ feet. In John 12:3, she anointed Jesus’ feet with the expensive ointment and dried them with her hair, as she prepared Him for His burial. In this, she is an example for us: First, learn God’s word about Jesus. Then you’ll know Him so that you can take your sorrows to Him in a time of grief. That will lead you to worship Him as the one who died for your sins.

Conclusion

A mission executive from the United States was visiting a school in Kenya where he was listening as teenage girls shared how they had been blessed by hearing the Bible in their own language. One girl testified that the verse that had the greatest impact on her was Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Another said that the verse that had the greatest impact on her was John 11:35, “Jesus wept.” She said that when she wept in the night, she knew that Jesus was weeping with her.

The mission executive wondered why these two girls were mourning and weeping. He thought that maybe they had chosen these verses to share because they were short and easy to remember. But the school’s teacher leaned over and whispered to him that both of these girls had lost their parents to AIDS.

Jesus’ compassion comforted them in their losses. In the same way, the Teacher calls us to come to Him with our tears. He cares for us and He will cry with us. Come to Him!

 

 

 

The 1993 movie “Shadowlands” tells the bittersweet love story involving the writer C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. At the beginning of the film, Lewis was lecturing on the subject of pain in a hall full of people. He told them, Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. … We are like blocks of stone out of which the sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel which hurt us so much are what make us perfect.

In the course of the movie, Lewis met Joy Gresham, and she began to fall in love with him. Lewis, a confirmed bachelor, was at first interested only in a friendship with Joy. One day, as the two were sitting down for afternoon tea in his apartment, Joy exploded in frustration at Lewis. She shouted, I have only now just seen it–how you have arranged a life for yourself where no one  can touch you. Everyone that’s close to you is either younger than you or weaker than you or under your control.

Slowly, Lewis came to realize that Joy was right about the way he had insulated his life from feelings and pain. Later, when Joy was in the hospital with cancer, Lewis proposed marriage to her; and in 1956 they became husband and wife. The next four years were wonderful years for them, in spite of the ever-present cloud of cancer that hung over their bliss.

During this time they took a late honeymoon trip to see a beautiful valley which was depicted in a painting on their wall. Rain began to fall as they were walking in the field, so they sought shelter in a shed where hay was stored. While they sat there, Joy insisted on discussing her coming death. In a steady voice, she said, Let me just say it before this rain stops and we go back…. That I am going to die and I want to be with you then too. The only way I can do that is if I’m able to talk to you now…. I think it can be better than just managing. What I’m trying to say is the pain then is part of the happiness now. That’s the deal.

—————————————————

“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha

No man can have a greater gift to offer his fellowmen than rest for weary feet; and that is the gift which Jesus found in the house in Bethany, where Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Frank Viola has written a book that calls Bethany our Lord’s favorite city. Lazarus fell ill, and the sisters sent to Jesus a message that it was so. 

Mary and Martha and Lazarus appear here for the first time in John’s Gospel.[1] They will appear once again in chapter 12, a fact to which John calls our attention in verse 2 of our text. It seems that Jesus has come to know Lazarus and his two sisters quite well, and that they have been privileged to enjoy the company of Jesus whenever He traveled to Jerusalem. Their home in Bethany, a couple of miles from Jerusalem, may have been just far enough from Jerusalem for Him to safely spend the night, out of the grasp of those who wanted to kill Him.

{2} This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. {3} So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

It is lovely to note that the sisters’ message included no request to Jesus to come to Bethany.  They knew that was unnecessary; they knew that the simple statement that they were in need would bring him to them.  Augustine said it was sufficient that Jesus should know… for it is not possible that any man should at one and the same time love a friend and desert him. 

1. F. Andrews tells of two friends who served together in the First World War. One of them was wounded and left lying helpless and in pain in no-man’s-land. The other, at peril of his life, crawled out to help his friend; and, when he reached him, the wounded man looked up and said simply:  “I knew you would come.” 

{4} When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

When Jesus came to Bethany he knew that whatever was wrong with Lazarus he had power to deal with it.  But he went on to say that his sickness had happened for God’s glory and for his. 

If this Jesus can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing.

The same thought is Biblical in nature: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” 1 Cor. 15:19. Death is man’s last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), but Jesus has defeated this horrible enemy totally and permanently.

In what Jesus said and did, He sought to strengthen the faith of three groups of people:

1. THE DISCIPLES (11:1-12).

{5} Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. {6} Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. {7} Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” {8} “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?” {9} Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. {10} It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.” {11} After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” {12} His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.””

Just recently Jesus has been in Jerusalem, but He left when the Jews sought to kill Him (10:31, 39-42). It is hard to believe they would not know that returning to Bethany would put Jesus in grave danger. Nevertheless, they inform Jesus in a way that lets Him know they expect Him to return to them immediately: “Take note, Lord! The one You love is sick.”

I am convinced in my own mind that they assume Jesus will immediately respond, so as to save the life of Lazarus. After all, as they remind Him, Lazarus is a man whom He loves[2] (verse 3). The sisters of Lazarus must expect one of two things. Either they expect to see Jesus coming as quickly as He can get there, or they expect Him to send word by the messenger that He is coming shortly. Notice our Lord’s words to Martha later in this same account:

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” (11:39-40, emphasis mine)

Our Lord’s words are very carefully chosen. Jesus is not assuring these women that Lazarus won’t die. He is assuring them that even though Lazarus will die, this will not be the end of the matter. He is also informing them that this crisis has a divinely-intended purpose—to bring glory to God the Father through the glorification of the Son of God.

As we come to verse 6, we have a real tension with which we must grapple.[3] John makes a point of telling us that Jesus deeply loves Lazarus and his sisters. His love for Lazarus is mentioned by Martha and Mary in verse 3, and John then repeats it even more emphatically in verse 5.

In spite of this, and the urgency of the situation, Jesus deliberately delays His return to Bethany. He waits two full days, so that when He does arrive in Bethany, Lazarus is “good and dead.” How can Jesus love these people so much and yet speak and act in a way that causes them such pain? That is the tension with which John leaves us for a while, as he moves on to the discussion between Jesus and His disciples in verses 7-16.

We may find it strange that John shows us Jesus staying two whole days where he was when he received the news about Lazarus.  Reasons to explain this delay. 

• It has been suggested that Jesus waited so that when he arrived Lazarus would be indisputably dead.
• It has therefore been suggested that Jesus waited because the delay would make the miracle he proposed to perform all the more impressive. The wonder of raising to life a man who had been dead for four days would be all the greater.
• The real reason why John tells the story in this way is that he always shows us Jesus taking action entirely on his own initiative and not on the persuasion of anyone else.

When Jesus finally announced that he was going to Judaea, his disciples were shocked and staggered.  They remembered that the last time he was there the Jews had tried to find a way to kill him.  To go to Judaea at that time seemed to them-as indeed humanly speaking it was-the surest way to commit suicide.

Then Jesus said something which contains a great and permanent truth.  “Are there not,” he asked, “twelve hours in the day?” There are three great truths implied in that question.

(i)  A day cannot finish before it ends.  There are twelve hours in the day, and they will be played out no matter what happens.  The day’s period is fixed, and nothing will shorten or lengthen it.  In God’s economy of time a man has his day, whether it be short or long.

(ii)  If there are twelve hours in the day there is time enough for everything a man should do.  There is no need for a rushed haste.

(iii)  But, even if there are twelve hours in the day, there are only twelve hours.  They cannot be extended; and therefore, time cannot be wasted.  There is time enough, but not too much; the time we have must be used to the utmost.

Jesus goes on to develop what he has just said about time.  He says that if a man walks in the light, he will not stumble; but if he tries to walk in the night, he will stumble.

Jesus is saying that a man must finish the day’s work within the day, for the night comes when work is ended.  If a man had one wish it might well be that he might come to the end of each day with its work completed.  The unrest and the hurry of life are so often simply due to the fact that we are trying to catch up on work which should have been done before. 

No doubt the disciples were perplexed about several matters:

– If Jesus loved Lazarus, why did He permit him to get sick?

– Why did Jesus delay to go to the sisters?

– For that matter, why didn’t He heal Lazarus at a distance, as He did the nobleman’s son (4:43-54)

– The record makes it clear that there was a strong love relationship between Jesus and this family (11:3, 5, 36)

– Yet our Lord’s behavior seems to contradict this love?!

To appreciate what these three meant to Jesus, ask yourself a simple question: if you had an emergency at 2:00 a.m., whom would you call? Jesus would have called these three close friends.

{13}“Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. {14} So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, {15} and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” {16} Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.””

Jesus then tells His disciples that Lazarus has “fallen asleep,” and that He is going up to Bethany to “awaken” him. They eagerly take Jesus literally. They jump on this statement: “Well, if he’s asleep, then he’ll be okay, so we don’t have to go up to Bethany after all.”

For these men, who have no desire to risk their lives by going back to Judea, our Lord’s words are indeed welcome. John parenthetically informs us that this is not at all what Jesus means; it is just what they hear.

I should probably pause here momentarily to point out that the raising of Lazarus is not a “first” in the Gospels. Jesus had already raised the dead son of the “widow of Nain,” as recorded in Luke 7:11-16. This was followed by the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43).

Jesus finds it necessary to speak plainly to His disciples, so He tells them that Lazarus is dead (verse 14). He adds that He rejoices in the fact that He is not at Bethany. His absence, He tells them, is for their benefit. His delay has been by divine design, so that they might believe. It is apparent that the faith of the disciples continues to grow, the more the person and work of our Lord becomes evident to them.

At that moment the disciples might well have refused to follow Jesus; then one lonely voice spoke up.  They were all feeling that to go to Jerusalem was to go to their deaths, and they were hanging back.  Then came the voice of Thomas:  “Let us, too, go that we may die with him.”

At this moment Thomas displayed the highest kind of courage.  In his heart, as R. H. Strachan said, “There was not expectant faith, but loyal despair.”  But upon one thing Thomas was determined-come what may, he would not quit.

   He calmed their fears by reminding them that He was on the Father’s schedule, and that nothing could harm them. They felt Lazarus was still alive, so Jesus makes it very plain! “He is dead.”

2. THE SISTERS: MARY AND MARTHA (11:17-37).

   “On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. {18} Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, {19} and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. {20} When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

   In order to visualize this scene we must first see what a Jewish house of mourning was like.  Normally in Palestine, because of the climate, burial followed death as quickly as possible.  There was a time when a funeral was an exceedingly costly thing.  The finest spices and ointments were used to anoint the body; the body itself was clothed in the most magnificent robes; all kinds of valuables were buried in the tomb along with the body. 

By midway through the first century all this had become a ruinous expenditure.  Naturally no one wished on such an occasion to be outdone by his neighbor, and the wrappings and robes with which the body was covered, and the treasures left in the tomb, became ever more expensive. 

The matter had become almost an intolerable burden which no one liked to alter-until the advent of a famous Rabbi called Gamaliel the Second.  He gave orders that he was to be buried in the simplest possible linen robe, and so broke the extravagance of funeral customs. 

To this day at Jewish funerals a cup is drunk to Rabbi Gamaliel who rescued the Jews from their own extravagance.  From his time on the body was wrapped in a simple linen dress which was sometimes called by the very beautiful name of the travelling-dress.

In the house of mourning there were set customs.  So long as the body was in the house they were forbidden to eat meat or to drink wine, to wear phylacteries or to engage in any kind of study.  No food was to be prepared in the house, and such food as was eaten must not be eaten in the presence of the dead.  As soon as the body was carried out all furniture was reversed, and the mourners sat on the ground or on low stools.

On the return from the tomb a meal was served, which had been prepared by the friends of the family.  It consisted of bread, hard-boiled eggs and lentils; the round eggs and lentils symbolized life which was always rolling to death.

Deep mourning lasted for seven days, of which the first three were days of weeping.  During these seven days it was forbidden to anoint oneself, to put on shoes, to engage in any kind of study or business, and even to wash.  The week of deep mourning was followed by thirty days of lighter mourning.

So when Jesus found a crowd in the house at Bethany, he found what anyone would expect to find in a Jewish house of mourning.  It was a sacred duty to come to express loving sympathy with the sorrowing friends and relations of one who had died. 

The Talmud says that whoever visits the sick shall deliver his soul from Gehenna; and Maimonides, the medieval Jewish scholar, declared that to visit the sick takes precedence of all other good works.  Visits of sympathy to the sick, and to the sorrowing, were an essential part of Jewish religion. 

As the mourners left the tomb, they turned and said:  “Depart in peace,” and they never mentioned the name of the one who had died without invoking a blessing on it. 

It would be to a household crowded with sympathizers that Jesus came that day.

Without question, these two friends had said one thing over and over: “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. {22} But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” here was likely a tinge of disappointment but also some evidence of faith.

When Martha met Jesus her heart spoke through her lips. This is likely something she had thought and now says out loud! We can almost hear the sting of disappointment in her words. “If only” may be the saddest sentiment in any language. Martha must have been hurt by Jesus’ delay in coming to them…Jesus stood there ‘and took it’ as she expressed her pain, her confusion, and her disappointment.

Martha possibly would have liked to say:  “When you got our message, why didn’t you come at once?  And now you have left it too late.”  No sooner are the words out than there follow the words of faith, faith which defied the facts and defied experience:  “Even yet,” she said with a kind of desperate hope, “even yet, I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

When Jesus gave them a response, Martha was quick to think of a solution in the future, in the last days:   “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” {24} Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.””

The response by Jesus is the fifth of the “I Am” statements. It is important to note that Jesus did not deny what Martha said about the future resurrection.

He has declared once for all that death is real, that there is life after death, and that the body will one day be raised by the power of God. But He went one step further: He transformed this doctrine, taking it out of a book and putting it into a person: “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; {26} and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha’s next words reflect a tremendous faith and a deep understanding of spiritual matters. When Jesus asked her if she believed Him, she replied, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world” (11:27). Even before witnessing the marvelous miracle that was about to take place, Martha demonstrated the kind of faith the Gospel of John was written to create!’

The events of Luke 10:38-42 makes it clear that these two sisters were quite different in their personalities. Martha was the worker, the active one, while Mary was the contemplative one who sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to His word.

Note the contrasts between the two sisters:

– Martha was active. She met Jesus at the outskirts of town…Mary remained in the house, lost in mournful contemplation.   

Because of this, we would expect Martha to rush out to meet Jesus while Mary sat in the house, weeping with her friends.

– Martha’s greeting laid emphasis on my brother, a hint of her agressive and possessive personality. Mary’s statement emphasized her brother. This emphasized her tender nature. (Note to teachers: the difference aappears in the word order of the Greek text, in which the last word is the most emphatic. Martha’s words end with the possessive pronoun “my” (vs. 21) while Mary’s words with the noun “brother” (vs. 32).

– Martha expressed a general assent to the hope of the resurrection; Mary prostrated herself before Jesus in adoration and said nothing concerning her expectations.

– Martha was vocal; Mary was tearful.

Both had personal faith in Jesus as a man and a friend, though it is obvious from Martha’s response to Jesus’ command to remove the stone showed that she did not anticipate any immediate restortion of her brother.

When Jesus responded to Martha, saying, “Your brother shall rise again” (11:23), we have no way of knowing how that statement sounded to her. Was it painful? Did it sound like so many of the empty, hollow words one sometimes hears at a funeral home? Could it have sounded like a rebuke for her lack of faith? Whatever her first reaction to Jesus’ words might have been, Martha spiritualized them and replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (11:24).

By proclaiming Himself as the resurrection, Jesus was not promising that His followers would never face physical death, nor was He promising that He would never face death Himself.

Instead, He was claiming that because He would die and rise again, breaking the power of death, His followers would never again have the same relationship to death. Resurrection for them would be much more than a miraculous, one-time event; it would be a new reality about life!

   Martha did not hesitate to affirm her faith:  {27} “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” The words “I believe” are in the perfect tense, indicating a fixed and settled faith. And she immediately went and found her sister: {28} “And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” {29} When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.”

{30}”Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. {31} When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.”

When she met Jesus, she fell at His feet and repeated her sister’s painful words: {32}“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died”.

Mary and Martha were weeping, and her friends joined in the weeping, as Jewish people are accustomed to do. The response of Jesus is quite graphic in the original language: {33} “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”

The word used was to groan within and “be moved with indignation.” Jesus became angry! Why? Because of what sin and death was doing to the people. Death is an enemy, and Satan uses the fear of death as a terrible weapon.

One writer put it this way: “The words denote indignation rather than sorrow. As He looked upon the cemetery at Bethany, a silent memorial to the devastation that death had wrought on the human race, He was angered against man’s great enemy. Death to Him was not an impassable enemy, but a call to battle.”

The identical Greek root word is used in the following ways: Matthew 9:30: “..and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”

Mark 1:43: “…Jesus sent him away at once with a strong  warning…”

This concept also gives us an image of the extend of His care for us: Hebrews 2:14-18: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil– {15} and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. {16} For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. {17} For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. {18} Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

The next two responses by Jesus are interesting: one is surprising and the other expected:  {34} “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. {35} Jesus wept.”

“Jesus wept” is a short statement but very deep in nature. His was a silent weeping (the Greek word is used nowhere else in the New Testament) and not the loud lamentation of the mourners.

But why did He weep at all? He had known for some time that Lazarus was dead…and He knew He was about to raise him up!

It reveals to us the humanity of Jesus; He was entering into all of our experiences and knows how we feel. We see in His tears the tragedy of sin but also the glory of heaven.

Some have suggested that perhaps He was weeping because He was about to call Lazarus back into a wicked world.

The friends saw His tears as an evidence of His love: “Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”“But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

[1] Their only other appearance is the well-known account of Luke 10:38-42, where Martha was distressed because Mary was not helping her prepare the meal.

[2] The New English Bible calls Lazarus “your friend,” which is not a bad way of rendering the term filew, one of the biblical terms employed for love. This distinguishes between this term for “love” and agapaw, which occurs in verse 5.

[3] This same tension is repeated in verses 36 and 37.

“Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter (23) and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade ‘The Jews gathered around him, saying “How long will vou keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

The origin of the Festival of Dedication lies in one of the greatest times of ordeal and heroism in Jewish history.  There was a king of Syria called Antiochus Epiphanes who reigned from 175 to 164 B.C.  He was a lover of all things Greek.  He decided that he would eliminate the Jewish religion once and for all, and introduce Greek ways and thoughts, Greek religion and gods into Palestine.  At first he tried to do so by peaceful penetration of ideas.  Some of the Jews welcomed the new ways, but most were stubbornly loyal to their ancestral faith.

It was in 170 B.C. that the deluge really came.  In that year Antiochus attacked Jerusalem.  It was said that 80,000 Jews perished, and as many were sold into slavery.  It became a capital offence to possess a copy of the law, or to circumcise a child; and mothers who did circumcise their children were crucified with their children hanging round their necks.

The Temple courts were profaned; the Temple chambers were turned into brothels; and finally Antiochus took the dreadful step of turning the great altar of the burnt-offering into an altar to Olympian Zeus, and on it proceeded to offer swine’s flesh to the pagan gods.

It was then that Judas Maccabaeus and his brother arose to fight their epic fight for freedom.  In 164 B.C. the struggle was finally won; and in that year the Temple was cleansed and purified.  The altar was rebuilt and the robes and the utensils were replaced, after three years of pollution.

It was to commemorate that purification of the Temple that the Feast of the Dedication was instituted.  Judas Maccabaeus enacted that “the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year, by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month of Chislew, with gladness and joy” (1 Maccabees 4:59).

For that reason the festival was sometimes called the Festival of the Dedication of the Altar, and sometimes the Memorial of the Purification of the Temple.

But as we have already seen, it had still another name.  It was often called the Festival of Lights.  There were great illuminations in the Temple; and there were also illuminations in every Jewish home.  In the window of every Jewish house there were set lights.

According to Rabbi Shammai, eight lights were set in the window, and they were reduced each day by one until on the last day only one was left burning.  According to Rabbi Hillel, one light was kindled on the first day, and one was added each day until on the last day eight were burning.  We can see these lights in the windows of every devout Jewish home to this day.

These lights had two significances.  First, they were a reminder that at the first celebrating of the festival the light of freedom had come back to Israel.  Second, they were traced back to a very old legend.  It was told that when the Temple had been purified and the great seven branched candlestick relit, only one little cruse of unpolluted oil could be found.  This cruse was still intact, and still sealed with the impress of the ring of the High Priest.

By all normal measures, there was only oil enough in that cruse to light the lamps for one single day.  But by a miracle it lasted for eight days, until new oil had been prepared according to the correct formula and had been consecrated for its sacred use.  So for eight days the lights burned in the Temple and in the homes of the people in memory of the cruse which God had made to last for eight days instead of one.

It is not without significance that it must have been very close to this time of illumination that Jesus said:  “I am the Light of the world.”  When all the lights were being kindled in memory of the freedom won to worship God in the true way, Jesus said:  “I am the Light of the world; I alone can light men into the knowledge and the presence of God.”

“Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, {26} but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. {27} My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. {28} I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. {29} My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. {30} I and the Father are one.””

Jesus’s answer was that he had already told them who he was.  Jesus’s two great claims had been made in private.  To the Samaritan woman he had revealed himself as the Messiah (John 4:26) and to the man born blind he had claimed to be the Son of God (John 9:37).  But there are some claims which do not need to be made in words, especially to an audience well-qualified to perceive them.

This passage shows at one and the same time the tremendous trust and the tremendous claim of Jesus.

In Jesus’ day, people had different understandings of what “the Christ” would be. If Jesus said, “Yes, I am the Christ,” He would be terribly misunderstood by the people who expected “the Christ” to be a powerful, earthly king like David or Solomon.

If He said, “No,” then He would be denying the truth about Himself.

Jesus promised three things.

(i)  He promised eternal life.  He promised that if they accepted him as Master and Lord, if they became members of his flock, all the littleness of earthly life would be gone and they would know the splendor and the magnificence of the life of God.

(ii)  He promised a life that would know no end.  Death would not be the end but the beginning; they would know the glory of indestructible life.

(iii)  He promised a life that was secure.  Nothing could snatch them from his hand.  This would not mean that they would be saved from sorrow, from suffering and from death; but that in the sorest moment and the darkest hour they would still be conscious of the everlasting arms underneath and about them.  Even in a world crashing to disaster they would know the serenity of God.

He also described the nature of the true believers:

– Sensitivity. They hear my voice (vs. 27)

– Fellowship. I know them (vs. 27)

– Obedience. They follow me (vs. 27)

– Life. I gave them eternal life (vs. 28)

– Assurance. They shall never perish (vs. 28)

– Security. No one shall snatch them out of my hand (vs. 28)

Do these verses teach eternal security, with no possibility of “falling from grace?” The verses clearly indicate that this promise is to those who hear the voice and follow the voice.  Those who fall do so on their own volition; it is not because of any failure of the Lord nor because temptation is irresistible. Before all men is the choice of good and evil; some choose good and some choose evil.

The Jewish leaders understood clearly what He was saying: “Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, {32} but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” {33} “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.””

To the Jews Jesus’s statement that he and the Father were one was blasphemy.  It was the invasion by a man of the place which belonged to God alone.  The Jewish law laid down the penalty of stoning for blasphemy.  “He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him” (Leviticus 24:16).

He told them that he had spent all his days doing lovely things, healing the sick feeding the hungry, and comforting the sorrowing, deeds so full of help and power and beauty that they obviously came from God.  For which of these deeds did they wish to stone him?  Their answer was that it was not for anything he had done that they wished to stone him, but for the claim he was making.

Our Lord used Psalm 82:6 to refute their accusation and halt their actions: “Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? {35} If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came–and the Scripture cannot be broken– {36} what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? {37} Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. {38} But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.””

The picture in Psalm 82 is that of a court, where God has assembled the judges of the earth, to warn them that they too will one day be judged. These Jewish leaders certainly knew their own language and they knew that Jesus was speaking the truth. If God called human judges ‘gods,’ then why should they stone Him for applying the same title to Himself?

Verse 36 is critical because it gives a double affirmation of the deity of Christ:

– the Father sanctified (set apart) the Son and sent Him into the world

– Jesus states boldly that He was the Son of God (5:25)

What was their response? “Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. {40} Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed {41} and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true.” {42} And in that place many believed in Jesus.”

This was apparently a place which would provide a safe retreat; the Jewish leaders were not likely to follow Him there. Also it was a good place to prepare for His final week of public ministry when He would lay down His life for the sheep.

The place to which Jesus went is most significant.  He went to the place where John had been accustomed to baptize, the place where he himself had been baptized.  It was there that the voice of God had come to him and assured him that he had taken the right decision and was on the right way.  There is everything to be said for a man returning every now and then to the place where he had the supreme experience of his life.

Even on the far side of Jordan the Jews came to Jesus, and they too thought of John.  They remembered that he had spoken with the words of a prophet; but had done no mighty deeds.  They saw that there was a difference between Jesus and John.  To John’s proclamation Jesus added God’s power.  John could diagnose the situation; Jesus brought the power to deal with the situation.  These Jews had looked on John as a prophet; now they saw that what John had foretold of Jesus was true, and many of them believed.

At the Jordan many people came to Him. This was an act of faith on their part. They said, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true” (10:41).

Their words implied that John had not performed any signs, in contrast to Jesus, who had performed many signs. Significantly, the special word John used for “sign” appears in verse 41 for the first time in chapter 10.

Earlier in the chapter, Jesus’ miracles were called only “works,” because they had not produced faith in the hearts of those who had seen them. However, where faith in Jesus is described in verse 41, the word “sign” reappears.

The conclusion of all the events in chapter 10 is that “many believed in Him there” (10:42).  

By this point in the Gospel of John, those who believed in Jesus had come to understand that the content of true belief is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

They had also come to understand that the cost of this belief could be conflict, division, and even the threat of death. After all, we see them at the end of the chapter with a band of outcasts in the wilderness, following the One in whom they had come to believe.

Even though John presented a tough message about how costly faith can be, his message is, at the same time, one of encouragement. He wanted us to understand that we will be opposed as believers in Christ.

However, it should not surprise us or crush our spirits. Furthermore, the example of Jesus is to stand firm on the truth we believe—even when we are persecuted. His consistent response to violent opposition was to speak truth, and we should do the same.

Jesus is the Door: Have I ‘entered’ in by faith so I can be saved?

Jesus is the Good Shepherd: Have I heard His voice and trusted Him?

Jesus is the Son of God: Do I believe this and is He first in my life?