 Yes, let's begin once again. So before the break we were seeing that Jesus took the decision that he did out of love. He knew that there are two grieving sisters waiting for him over there and yet he choose to stay two more days and then go. We see earlier in John chapter 4 an event where you have a noble man coming for his son. He says, my son is dying. Please come quickly and Jesus just speaks a word and says, you know, your son is going to be well. So it takes about one day for that man to return back home and then his servants tell him that your boy is now well. He asks, he inquires at what time did my child get well and he gets to know that around the same time that Jesus spoke, in fact the wording over there says the hour when Jesus had spoken that was the hour when his son had got healed. So it would have been so easy for Jesus to just speak a word to the messengers and say Lazarus is going to be fine. And that's it, you know, and that in that very moment, in that very instant Lazarus would have become well. So in love, loving them, caring for them, he chooses to allow Lazarus, you know, to die for a little while. Knowing that they are grieving, he delays by two days. Jesus does not always deal with our pain and grief in the way we would like him to. But it is very important to remember that this is a good shepherd. You know, so whatever he does, he does it so that his name is glorified. He glorifies his name by showing compassion and mercy and kindness. That's the description that he gives about his name, you know, in the Old Testament. When Yahweh is describing himself, he says, this is who I am. This is what my name represents. And he speaks about kindness and mercy and compassion and justice. And so out of that justice comes the judgment where he judges those who are wicked. But it is all about compassion and doing that which is right and supporting that which is right. And so it's about helping those who have been wronged, you know. So it's all about goodness. That is who the Lord is. And so when we are going through very hard and difficult times and we feel as though we have been left alone in our grief, it is good to remember verse 5 where it says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. You know, so specifically each of them is named individually, each of them individually mattered to Jesus. And yet he chooses to handle the situation in this particular way so that his name may be glorified. And his name is the name which, you know, represents compassion and mercy and kindness. So it is important that we remember these facts when we are going through our own times of trial. So now in his scheduled time, Jesus says, let's go, you know, and wake up Lazarus is how he puts it. And so the disciples say, no Lord, let him sleep because if he sleeps then he will get well. They didn't really have the modern medicines that we do for them. I think most of the time all they could do is just allow the person to rest and hope that the person recovers. So they say, you know, let him rest Lord. And then Jesus very plainly says in verse 14, no Lazarus is dead. And in verse 15 he says, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him. So he says, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there on any occasion when you're when you've been going through a trial and you feel as though the Lord was not there for you. Remember that it is for your sake that he has permitted a certain event because he is the good shepherd. He is the gate, you know, for the sheep. No wolf can ever come near you. The principality of power can attack you as long as you are safe within his enclosure. You know, so it is very, very helpful for us to remember who our Lord is. He is the shepherd who is the gate. He literally is lying there as a shield between us and the evil one. So whatever he permits it, he permits it for our sakes so that we can grow into his image. So that we can have the reward which he has already prepared for us so that we can have the future that we are meant to. You know, these are assuring things that we can remind ourselves of when we read this passage. So he says, nevertheless, let us go to him. And we have this beautiful words of Thomas. No, he says, let us also go that we may die with him because, you know, Thomas is very sure that the 12 hours of daylight are. You know, Jesus says the 12 hours of daylight are still there. Don't worry. We won't stumble. But you know, Thomas is not not not sure about that. He's pretty convinced that they'll all probably get killed. But look at his loyalty. He says it's all right. If Jesus is going, we'll also go with him. If we have to die, so be it. You know, and so they all come back over here to this place. And so in verse 17, we are told that it's already now been four days that the body has been kept in the tomb. So now, OK, if we can have someone read out from verse 18 up to verse 20. Yes, John chapter 11 versus 18 up to 20, please. Verse 18. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Now, Martha was now Martha as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. Yeah, we get the impression that these are well known people. A well known family because, you know, Jews have come all the way from Jerusalem to be with them in their time of grief. They're also probably a little wealthy because later on, you know, Martha's able to, I mean, Mary's able to pour the expensive perfume on Jesus. So I think they're probably a well off family. So you have a lot of Jews who have traveled those two miles from Jerusalem to come and be here with these people. So there's a large audience. I mean, there are many people gathered over there who are going to be witnessing what's going to happen next. Verse 20, it says, then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. That's because, you know, Mary still does not know that Jesus has come. Only Martha hears about it and she immediately goes out to meet him. Generally, when there is a depth in the family and, you know, the morning is going on, the family stays indoors, you know, stays there in the house. And it's the people who come and, you know, pay their condolences and, you know, comfort them. But here we see Martha, you know, her respect for him is so great. She goes out, even though she's the one mourning, you know, she goes out to meet him. And this is the conversation that takes place. So if we can read out all the way from verse 21 up to verse 27. 21 to 27, please. Verse 21. Now, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? I said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. Yeah. So here we see Martha saying, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. So she is very disappointed that, you know, her brother could not be healed. But this has not shaken her faith in the Lord because she says, but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. It almost sounds like as if she's going to be asking him for, you know, the resurrection of her brother. But that is not really her thought because she's only thinking about his resurrection in the last day on the judgment day. She is not thinking about his immediate resurrection now because later, you know, she says by now the body will be stinking so we should not be opening the tomb. So she is not expecting an immediate resurrection at this particular time. So what does she mean by the sentence then? But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. So she is saying, even though things did not go for us the way we had hoped, I still believe that you are God. I still believe that whatever you ask the Father, it is given to you. So in a sense, she's just declaring and saying that I still believe, Lord, in your divinity. I believe that you have come from the Father and that whatever you ask from the Father, it is always given to you. Jesus on the other hand says your brother will rise again. And she says, yes, Lord, I mean, I know that because I know that you are from God. So therefore on the resurrection, on the day of the judgment, you will resurrect him. So she does have this assurance. But Jesus again emphasizes and says, I am the resurrection and the life. And so he is making the point, the one who believes in me will live even though they die. And so he says, do you believe this? She does not catch what he is saying. She just simply again repeats and says, you are the Messiah, the Son of God who is to come into the world. So she has understood his Messiah ship most clearly. She believes that he is from God and whatever he asks of God, it will be granted to him. She has understood all of that, but she has not grasped all that he can be for her and for her family. So this can happen to us. We know the Lord, we love the Lord, we have been learning from the Lord and growing in him. But have we caught all that he is? We may know it intellectually, but I mean, has it become so real to us that now we are walking in that and we can act it out. We can practice it. So, you know, even as I'm saying these words, I'm also very much in the learning process. There are things which I still know intellectually. There are things which have not yet become so much a part of me that I can just open my mouth and claim it and it will be so. So that is something that we are all growing into. That is why it is so important to know when Jesus says, abide in me. And then I will abide in you and then it says you will bear much fruit. So this fruitfulness comes from the level of abiding that we do. So our aspiration should be to always become more and more connected to the wine, to stay in him, to know him deeper and deeper. Because then we start bearing much fruit. Even to the extent of being able to raise the dead. All that comes out of that abiding. Literally the sap of the wine, the sap, that life giving sap which is there in the wine, it flows into the branches. So this is something. This is the level that Martha had not yet reached. And so we all need to aspire to grow more and more into the Lord. The things which are told about him in the scriptures no longer remain as information in our minds, but become such a part of us that it literally flows out of our lives. So moving on to verse 33. It says, therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. So we will see shortly later that he groans again for a second time and that's for a different reason. But over here, the first time when he groans, it is because of this. He sees her weeping. He sees her broken heart. He sees the Jews weeping, the ones who had loved Lazarus, known him personally. Maybe even from childhood they had known him. They are all weeping. When he sees the pain of all of that, it says he groans in the spirit and he is troubled. The two words that are used over there, the Greek words that are used over there are very strong words. The first word, the word which is used for groaned, that is a complicated word in Greek. Not even sure how to pronounce it. Embrymaomai or something of the sort. So now basically that word, it almost indicates anger and indignation. So it's not just a word which talks about sadness. This is almost an angry word. That is the word. So it is that kind of a groaning. It's like a groaning of indignation and anger. And the second word, that would be the word troubled. And in Greek, that indicates agitation where something is literally being stirred up. That's the word which was used earlier in John chapter 5 where they had this myth that someone came and would come and some angel would come and stir up the waters where the waters are literally shaken. Where you can visibly see the waters being shaken. That same word which is used in John chapter 5 verse 7, that's the word which is that is being used over here. So he is groaning and the word used over there indicates anger and indignation. The second word is saying that he is troubled and that's the word which talks about deep agitation where you're being stirred up. This is his response when he sees Martha weeping and all the Jews who cared about this family weeping. So is he angry with them for weeping? Is he feeling that they are not placing their faith in God and so is it that kind of an anger? No, because you see two verses later, he too weeps. So it's not the weeping which is causing him to feel so indignant and angry. He is in fact angry at sin and death and the works of the evil one which are causing these people to suffer as they are suffering. So he is so indignant on their behalf. He is so hurt on their behalf. He's agitated that they are being subjected to all of this and so it's such a lovely thought to carry away when we are having our time of pain and grief and we are weeping. What we had hoped for did not happen. Things did not work out exactly the way we wanted. The shepherd permitted certain things to come through the gate. So we've had to go through some period of some season of pain and then when we are weeping this is God's response. He did not approve of what was done to us. Whatever the evil one did to us and our family, he did not approve of it. He permitted it for our sakes to glorify his name in some manner. So they good will come out of it. We can have that assurance and while we are going through that pain, he doesn't just sit back and say the good is going to come out of it in the end. So let them suffer for a while. No, he's involved in it, in that suffering with us. He feels what we are feeling and so he is indignant on our behalf. So this is the attitude of our shepherd when we are going through our times of trial. And then in verse 34, he says, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord come and see. So he wants to go to the place where Lazarus has been buried. And in another one minute or so, you know, he's actually going to raise him up from the dead. So there's really no need for verse 35 at all. Why is Jesus weeping? I mean, in another one minute, the man is going to be alive. Lazarus is going to be alive. So there really doesn't seem to be any need for tears, but Jesus weeps. And this is what the Jews say in the next verse. They say, then the Jews said, see how he loved him. You know, that indignation, that anger, the deep agitation that he felt in his heart, it caused him to literally weep. Even though he knows what he's going to do next. So you see, he participates in our suffering and our pain. It's not this Greek God who is, you know, the Greeks, they considered their gods to be stoic. You know, that's the term that they have, S-T-O-I-C. You know, where the Greek gods, they feel nothing. You know, they can just sit over there and just be. That is the, you know, and the ancient Greeks, they considered that strength. So if you really want to know what strength is, you've got to have feel nothing. You know, care about nothing, you just are. And that's supposed to be some kind of supreme existence. And here you have this living God who is the exact opposite of stoic. He literally gets involved in your pain. He literally participates in what you're going through. He's indignant on your behalf. He, and even though he has permitted something, you know, for the glorification of his name, for your sake, he has permitted it. While you're going through it, he's very much in it with you. And in fact, you know, Romans 8, we learn that in fact he's interceding for us when we are going through that whole thing. So he's not on the outside watching. He's inside with us in that trial, in that pain. To an extent, you know, where the physical Jesus weeps. I mean, this is definitely not a stoic God. This is a God who's very much involved in our lives. So beautiful to have this as our living God. I mean, what if we had a Greek God, you know, he's not that. It's such a privilege that we have. And that's why these people who stand in front of the throne of God, you know, in the heavens, they just can't control themselves. They keep praising him, worshipping him, declaring that he is holy. They just can't stop because when they're literally there in his presence, they can see who he is with their eyes and they can't control themselves. And that's why they go on praising and worshipping. And it's not a boring exercise because they keep catching a glimpse of who he is. And it's like a fresh revelation to them each time they see who he is. And here, you know, when we are living on the earth, we don't have the direct view, you know, and we are surrounded by all these trials of life. And things are not going the way we thought they would go. And we think that we are alone. For two whole days, Jesus did not turn up, you know, and they were grieving over there. So they were hurting. But this is the heart of Jesus. He cared so much about them that he wept even though he knew that in the next one minute he's going to be raising him from the dead. And that is why truly, truly the Jews say over here, see how he loved him. And it shows the love that he had for the two sisters and for Lazarus. But then you have the other category of people over here. And that we see in verse 37, you know, they are the ones with the hardened hearts. And they say, oh, could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying? Because, you know, in the previous chapter, he had the chapter before last, you know, where he had cured a man who was blind from birth. So they are being critical in this thing. If he loved him so much, he could have done something about it. But see, he didn't do anything about it. That shows that he's a hard-hearted person. And he claims to be from God. See, look at the words that they are speaking about him. And this is what Satan says to us about our Lord when we are going through trials. You know, that evil voice which whispers in our ears and says, you know, he's the one who's done miracles. He could have done something about your situation if he had wanted to. But see, he didn't. And now this time Jesus groans. The same word is being used over here in verse 38. Then Jesus again groaning in himself came to the tomb. So again, it's the same word. It's indicating anger. It's indicating indignation. And here it is anger and indignation at their unbelief in who he is and what he stands for. He's a God who stands for goodness, righteousness, justice, mercy, compassion. He's not a stoic, cold-hearted God. And they are very wrongly judging him. So when these thoughts come to us, these negative thoughts come to us in our time of grief and pain, you know, we need to cancel those right. You know, we need to pluck those thoughts out from the root and declare and say, no, we know the kind of God we worship. He is a good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. So these negative thoughts which, you know, people speak, the thoughts which come in our mind from Satan saying that he could have done something about your situation if he had wanted to. But he chose not to. That is a wrong attitude of unbelief. And it causes the Lord to be indignant and angry. So it is not a right attitude for us to have. Rather, we should continue to look to him in faith, trusting that he will do for our sakes. Like he says to the disciples, I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there to heal him before he died. So God always has his own purposes. And so we need to hold on to who he is. We need to have faith in his character, in his compassion. So we come to verse 39. And then maybe you could have someone read out all the way from verse 39 up to verse 43. Yes, verse 39 up to verse 43. Verse 39, Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there is a stench for he has been dead for days. Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I know that you always hear me. But because of the people who are standing by, I said this that they may believe that you sent me. Now, when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes. And his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, lose him and let him go. Yes. So Jesus stands over there in front of the open tomb. And you have the stench coming out of the body which has decayed for four days, especially in that hot Mediterranean region. So standing over there, Jesus says, I thank you, Father, that you have heard me. And then he says, I know 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. So if you remember earlier, the Jews had said, tell us plainly who you are. And Jesus had said, I am the Father, we are one. So now Martha had caught that concept. Because when she comes to meet with Jesus, she says very openly, whatever you ask of the Father, I know the Father gives it to you. So she had caught it. But those Jews who had blinded themselves to the truth, they were not willing to accept it. So now Jesus is making it very, very plain. He's opening his mouth and he's saying, Father, you have heard me. He's not begging and saying, Father, please hear me. No, you see there is no, this is not a prayer. This is a declaration. So here he's not praying to the Father and saying, Father, please hear me. No, he's declaring and saying, I know that you hear me. And the reason I'm saying it out loud is that the people will know that you hear me and that you do what I ask of you. It proves it is evidence that you I am from you. So he's making it extremely plain. They wanted him to be plain, right? He's being highly plain. It can't get plain attendance. So after having said that, having shown the people that he has the Father's full backing, he now cries out with a loud voice and commands Lazarus to come out. And Lazarus obviously has to obey. So even though he's all tied up with all those grave clothes, to the best of his ability, he comes out. So it would not have been very easy to walk out with tied up in that way. But he can't disobey the command of the Lord. I mean, it's the creator God crying out and saying, come out. And so he comes out. So we see this happening here. And look at the responses of the people. So maybe we can read out versus 45 to 48. Yeah. If someone could read out for us versus 45 to 48. Verse 45. Then many of the Jews who had come to maybe and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what shall we do for this man works many signs. If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. Yeah. So we see two sets of people. There are those who cared about Mary and her family. And when they see this good thing, which Jesus did for them, they believe in him. They see his heart. They see his works. They hear his words and they are true sheep. You know, so they're able to catch the truth in what he is doing and what he is demonstrating. And they believe in him. But then you have the other category of people whose hearts are so hardened. Even though they have seen the same things, they have heard the same things because their hearts are hardened. They are not true sheep. They are not open to what he is revealing to them. So they go back to the Pharisees and they tell what Jesus has done more like a complaint. So they want to kind of go and give that information to the Pharisees so that action can be taken. So then the chief priest and the Pharisees, they call a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Now up to this point, we have seen that on various occasions, you had the Jewish leaders and scribes and Pharisees opposing Jesus, you know, in different places. Different places are named and the people in those places, the religious leaders in those different places have been protesting against Jesus and been opposing him. They've even tried to stone him on different occasions. But now these are the top people. Okay, so now it has finally the opposition has been growing gradually and now it has come to the top level. So here it's not just some ordinary, you know, leaders and Pharisees of some particular region. These are the main leaders. It talks about the chief priests and the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin. Now this is your council, one of the main councils which took care of decision making and all of that. So they gather together and they have a meeting. It's rather strange. I mean, here they are discussing a miracle which is extraordinary in every way. And it doesn't even occur to them to spend about five minutes talking about this and asking themselves, oh, after all this has happened, maybe we should rethink our attitude. That is not even there. I mean, that thought is not even there. Rather they are saying, here is this man performing many signs and what's going to happen as a result of this? Everyone is going to start following him. They concern us that people are going to start following him. They are not happy. They are not rejoicing. They are not willing to reconsider. It shows that they have finished making up their minds a long time ago. And that is a very, very dangerous attitude. No, let us not finish making up our minds about the Lord. Each time we go to the scriptures, you know, let us read it like a seeker, hoping that God will reveal something new, that God will maybe straighten out some perspective which is still slightly twisted, not completely clear. There's so much more that the Lord wants to reveal to us. So let us not be people who have finished making up our minds. So each day when we have a quiet time and we go into the Lord's presence, let us go with a heart that is willing to learn. Let us go like as true sheep who are ready to hear His voice, who are willing to maybe readjust our thinking and our perspective and our opinions. So that would be helpful. Here on the other hand, in this meeting, the people have already finished making up their minds that they want to stay in power. And so nothing else matters. What matters is that they should be able to hold on to their power because that's what they are concerned about. So in verse 48, they say, if we let Him go on like this, go on like what? Continue to perform miracles, continue to help people, continue to heal and deliver. If we go on letting Him do this, everyone will believe in Him. And then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation. Now why should it matter to the Romans whether the people are following Jesus or whether the people are following the Pharisees? As the Romans, as conquerors, all that really matters to them is that they should get their tribute on a monthly basis. The taxes and the tributes and all of that should come to them. And there should be peace in the land. As long as there's peace in the land and their subjects are behaving and staying calm and giving the money which is due to the Romans, it doesn't really matter to the Romans whom they believe in, whom they follow. So why are the Pharisees saying over here, the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation. The Romans will only intervene and they will take away the temple and nation if there are riots, if there is rebellion, if there's a lot of unrest and military action is called for, then they will come in and take away the temple and the nation. But Jesus never preached violence. Jesus followers were in fact peaceful people. They were not rioters. So exactly who's going to be initiating all these riots and rebellion, the Pharisees themselves? Because you see, when everyone starts following Jesus, they will have to go and stir up the crowds. They will have to create a position so that people will go and fight against the followers of Jesus. And then there will be rebellion, then there will be confusion, then there will be need for military action and the Romans will have to step in and take some serious steps. So it's rather very foolish. It's going to be these leaders who are going to be stirring up the rebellion and they are the ones who are going to be causing unrest and why are they going to be taking this drastic step? Because that's the only way they can somehow create enough opposition to shut down Jesus. That's what they want. It shows the level of desperation for power. I mean, these people have become blind to everything else. All they want is to hold on to their temple and nation, not because they care about the temple or the nation, but because they want to hold on to power. It's a very terrible, serious attitude that they have chosen to take up. And so now you have the high priest speaking up. This is the high priest. This is not one of the priests. This is not just one of the lower officials. This is your highest spiritual leader in the land, because the high priestly hood, it comes down from Aaron. So this is the highest post, the spiritual posting person can hold in the Jewish nation. And this man was at the top. He speaks up and this is what he says. So yeah, if we can maybe read out verses 49 to 53, please. 49 up to 53. Verse 49, And one of them, being high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people. And not that the whole nation should perish. Now this, he did not say on his own authority that being high priest, that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one, the children of God who were scattered abroad. Then from that day on, they plotted to put him to death. So in the meeting, the people, the leaders are agitated and they say, oh my, everyone is going to start believing in him. And once that happens, you know, we will have no other choice but to step in. And when we step in, there will be violence. And then the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation. What are we to do? And this is the solution which the high priest offers. He says it is better that the man dies. Because if he dies, then the whole nation will be safe. There will be peace. And so when he utters those words and he says, it is better for one man to die for the people than that the whole nation perish. He is in fact declaring and saying that this person will die for the people. He will die for the nation. And so out of his mouth, out of his rather sinful mouth, this word of true prophecy comes out. So sometimes God uses unholy instruments to fulfill his holy purposes. So yeah, that is why it emphasizes that in verse 51 and it says, I know John emphasizes over there in the rights he says, Caiaphas did not say this on his own but as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation. So even though this high priest was completely corrupt, completely evil, because he is holding that particular position of high priest, God speaks through his mouth and declares that Jesus will die for the nation. And not only for the nation but also for all the other scattered children of God. Because Jesus had already declared and said there are other people and they also, I will bring them and they also will be part of my flock. So we can be in positions in ministry and we may have gone far away from God the way Caiaphas had but because we are in that particular position in ministry, God may continue to use us. So just because things are going well in ministry, it is wrong to just assume that everything is right between God and me. No, we should humble ourselves and every day when we go into his presence, we need to examine our hearts and say, Lord if there is any wicked way in me, please show it to me, bring it to life so that I may repent, so that I may change. This is a process that we need to go through on a daily basis. Because in a lot of cases, God allows the person to continue doing well in ministry because that person has so many people under him and so God wants to impart so much to those people. And so God continues to use this corrupt person simply because there is no other leader positioned over there at that particular point of time. And so even though the man himself is corrupt, the gifting which has been given, the ministry gifting that has been given, God continues to use it to cause the people who are there to be blessed. You know, all those sheep who have come over there innocently not realizing that this man, that this leader is an evil leader, you know, just to help them. God continues to use that person in that ministry position but he himself may have gone far away from God. So that could happen to any one of us. So that is why it becomes vital that every day we go back into his presence and we make sure that we are attached to the wine, that we are abiding in him, that we are remaining in him and his words are remaining in us. Are we following his words? Are we practicing them? Are we living in line with what his word upholds? Because only then will we be true ministers. Okay, so we should be careful that just because things are going well in our ministry, we should not just automatically assume that things are right between God and us. It is good for us to examine ourselves in his presence every single day. This is something that all of us must do. You know, however powerful and great our ministries may be. Alright, so now the leaders begin to plot for the top leaders are now plotting for Jesus' death. Okay, so earlier it was just a little bit of a position here and there but now that you have the main leadership itself involved now the hour of Jesus' crucifixion is drawing near. And so if we could have someone read out verses 54 onwards, you know, up to the end of the chapter, we only have a few verses left. Yeah, so if someone could read out verse 54 onwards, please. Verse 54, therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews but went from there into the country near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim and there remained with his disciples and the Passover of the Jews was near and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. Then they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple. What do you think that he will not come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it that they might season. Okay, so now the leaders have issued orders saying if anyone gets to know exactly where he is, let us know so that we can arrest him. So knowing all of this, Jesus has chosen to withdraw from public and he is now hidden away in some portion in the wilderness. So it says instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness to a village called Ephraim where he stayed with his disciples. So Jesus knows that once he goes to the Passover, the events are going to start rolling one by one and his crucifixion is going to take place. So now he wants to spend some time with his disciples and talk to them, teach them some final things that are very, very important. So from now, the next few chapters, he's going to be imparting important vital teachings to them. So now he's staying in this village and he wants to prepare them for the ministry which they are going to do because now his ministry on earth is coming to a close. In future, his ministry is going to be only a ministry of intercession where he'll continue interceding for all of his sheep in the heavens but his earthly ministry is coming to an end and the full fledged ministry of his disciples is just going to be beginning. So he wants to prepare them for it and so John is going to be devoting the next few chapters to some very, very important things that Jesus spoke to them, imparted to them and so we as his disciples also need to catch these teachings. So the chapters which will be coming later, now onwards, these are all very important chapters where Jesus imparts very vital truths to his disciples to prepare them for the ministry which is ahead. So this is basically how the chapter closes. So if anyone has any questions at all, you could maybe raise a hand, post it in the chat. Otherwise, we can close with the word of prayer. Okay, let's close with the word of prayer. Lord, we just thank you so much that you who are the eternal, infinite, almighty God you chose to be a loving and compassionate God. I mean Lord, you don't need to be anything. I mean you are all and no one needs to dictate to you who you should be and yet in your heart you chose to be compassionate towards us. You could have chosen to be just almighty and express your power. You could have chosen to just be all powerful and impose yourself upon us but Lord, you chose to take an attitude of compassion and mercy and kindness towards us. Thank you, O Lord, for your great love, O Lord. Lord, it shows who you are that at your very core, O Lord, you are the God of compassion and love. You are wholly set apart. There is none like you, O Lord. None can compare with you. The level of your set apartedness, your holiness, O Lord, is beyond description. So, O Lord, in you, you carry all of love and what love is meant to be. In you, O Lord, you carry all of wisdom and all that it involves and someone like that, O Lord, that eternal God has chosen to become our personal shepherd. Lord, what a privilege we have, O Lord, that you, instead of staying on your throne, chose to become our shepherd and be our gate and shield us from the evil one and we can go in and out through this gate and find pasture is what it says in John 10. Thank you, O Lord, that you have chosen to be that kind of a God even though you could have been anything, anyone, because you are all in all. Thank you, O Lord, that you have chosen to have this kind of an attitude towards us. In spite of our sinfulness and our imperfections, we thank you, O Lord, for your great mercy and love. And so, O Lord, the least that we can do because of who you are, the least that we can do is offer ourselves as living sacrifices so that a pleasing aroma will rise up to you from our lives, our choices, our daily sacrifices, help us a lot to live lives that honour you and please you, O Lord. Enable us a lot to be sheep who are so responsive to your voice, to your correction, to your encouragement and it causes to hold on to you, O Lord, in faith. Thank you, O Lord, that you will do all these things in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much and we will meet again next week. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you.