 John chapter 11 We begin reading verses 45 and 46. I'll give you an introduction and we'll move on into our study So let's begin here in John chapter 11 at verse 45 and again I'll read verses 45 and 46 and we'll get into our study And John writes then many of the Jews who had come to Mary 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 now as we set the The scene here. We need to remember that Jesus had just raised his dear friend Lazarus from the dead and In the raising of Lazarus Jesus is actually giving to us a bit of a picture of what is going to take place in the future Resurrection now he'd already said back in chapter 5 verses 28 and 29 Do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and Come forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation So Jesus has already begins begun speaking concerning resurrection and all and so they just saw a visible picture of the dead coming to life and as that took place as This says in verse 45 Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did well many of them believed in him You see the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead Convinced them that Jesus Christ is Messiah Now notice it says many who saw the things that Jesus did believed in him as Messiah And so their hearts were turned toward him as they were there grieving over the death of a very dear friend You see when a friend or a loved one dies many times people become open to the gospel of Jesus Christ they listen and Many times they'll receive the Lord We've seen in funeral ceremonies that that we have performed in this fellowship that I have that I have performed I've seen people come to faith in the Lord as they heard the message of life and That takes place You you would be blessed and surprised to know many times in funeral services They come and their hearts are open there They're they're sorrowful over the loss of someone they love very dearly and then they hear the message of hope and They see that this friend of theirs that they cared about had a sincere faith in Christ And it provokes them to hear what it said and many times people come to faith in those particular events There's just something about a funeral that makes people think about eternity It reminds me of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament Ecclesiastes 7 verse 2 Where it says it is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals For you're going to die and you should think about it while there's still time Very practical maybe morbid to some but very practical advice It's it's better to go to the house of mourning than to a party Because you contemplate your end and begin to realize that your time on earth is Limited and that's exactly what is taking place These people are seen what took place and then they see that Lazarus was raised from the dead and the miracle of that Resurrection of Lazarus spoke to their heart and there there are some who see something like that And they believe in Jesus Christ who said I am the resurrection in the life But then verse 46 goes on to say but some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did So instead of believing they became more Antagonistic toward him and they went and reported him to the religious officials They were hardened in their opposition to him and they sided with the traditions of the Pharisees You see for them if their religious leaders are not right then nobody can be We live in a time like that too right now don't we where we can speak to people and we can say to them What our faith has taught us concerning Jesus what the word of God says concerning him, but they will respond sometimes I've had it perhaps you have had it said to you too Well, I'm gonna go along with the traditions I've received from my mom or my dad or my own religion and People do that. They do that all the time The if it's this mentality if my religious leader isn't right then nobody's right Well Luke chapter 5 verse 39 Jesus said this he said no one having drunk old wine Immediately desires new for he says the old is better and that's how a lot of people are I remember when I had a friend of mine who was sharing with me the gospel of Jesus Christ And and I was raised as a Catholic and so, you know, he kept sharing with me And I found it to be a bit difficult even a little You know, I just got I would get up tied over I didn't want to hear it And so I wanted to come up with some answers to the things that he was saying to me And so I went to see my own priests my parish priest and and I still remember going to To the church st. Pius the 10th church in Santa Fe spring. Some of you might be familiar with that And that's where I went to church as a kid That's where I got my first communion and my confirmation And that is the church that regarded me as one of its members and I went there and I spoke to the parish priest And I said to him listen, I have a situation I've got this Protestant because I was fighting words back then, you know, Protestant Catholics We didn't get along and I said, you know, uh, I've got this Protestant talking to me about Jesus And I'm pretty upset about it and I want you to give me stuff so I can go back and show him how wrong he is And I still remember that because I wanted to fight. I wanted to fight with my friend I wanted to show him he was wrong And so I went to the priest and I still remember him leaning back in his chair and putting his arms And kind of resting as he looks at me and then I think I might have mentioned this recently comes to mind though How that he said to me, you know, I've tried all kinds of things buddhism Hinduism He says I came back and so will you and and that's when I walked out and I said he doesn't know the truth That's when I walked out. I said because listen, man, if you know If you know that I just sounded like Biden didn't I listen man, but if Listen corn pop no I'm sorry that makes me laugh. But anyway We'll edit that from my from my study But when I walked out I thought if you listen, I thought if you know what truth is You're gonna hold fast to it You're gonna present it if you know it. But if you don't know it It's obvious too And that's what helped me to begin to question whether I really knew what truth was And that's what helped me to be more open Because I used to think if my religious leaders aren't right Then nobody can be right And these people go directly to their religious leaders and they begin to report Jesus christ For what he has done and there's a division. There's a division over what Jesus did And again, that's that's a common result when people are put into the place Of confronting his claims Jesus made it clear that people would be divided over him He even went so far as to say not just people in general But those who are closest to you Remember in luke 12 51 through 53 how he said do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you not at all But rather division For from now on five in one house will be divided three against two And two against three Father will be divided against son and son against father Mother against daughter daughter against mother Mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law There will be division over the lord jesus christ and so that's what's taking place Some believed and some went to the Pharisees to tell them what jesus had done to report against him Well verse 47 the the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered a 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 And one of them kaif is being high priest that you're 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 So I want you to notice this as we look at this look at look what takes place They hear of the miracle the chief priests gather a council When they gather this council, it's made up the of the influential religious leaders It's the high priest members of the leading families and the Pharisees the Pharisees are a religious Denomination in israel at that time. They were very influential though They were what we would today refer to as a a religious minority within the religion The Sadducees had many more followers than the Pharisees, but these Pharisees had tremendous influence And so they gathered together in order that they might plan on how they're going to influence the people to reject jesus christ They did it Out of rebellion. They did it out of spiritual hardness. They wanted To plot against the lord that reminds me of psalm two verses one through four Where the psalmist said why did the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves the rulers take counsel together Against the lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us He who sits in heaven in the heavens shall laugh The lord shall hold them in derision You know, there's an old saying your arms are too short to box against god and that's true The lord will hold them in derision. You think you can rebel against me and you think that you can win Well, it says in verse 47. What shall we do? This man works many signs in other words They know that he's performing miracles and they don't deny that jesus performed miracles. They admit it But they consider the miracles that jesus performs They consider them to be demonic in origin In matthew 9 34 it says the Pharisees said he casts out demons by the ruler Of the demons and so they believe that jesus is doing something but that his power is not from god They believe that something is happening But the power is not from the lord And so they're concerned verse 48 if we let them alone like this everyone will believe in him So they're seeing the evidence, but they're closing their eyes to it. They're hardening their hearts Against him and once again that still takes place to this day You get saved your life begins to change. It's as a matter of fact, it's absolutely changed But there are those who will look at that and they'll say no, that can't be true. That can't be so that can't be real Or they may say well, that's because he's in a cult now I cannot tell you how many times over the years in the history of this church I've had people say that their relatives are warning them against coming to hear me teach in the church Because we're a cult. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that and they're right now They see a change they see a Work in in in the god is doing but they want to deny it So they they can't say that it isn't happening. So they'll simply say well satan is behind all of that And they're saying it they're saying the romans will come and take away our place notice that And when they say that the romans may come and take away our our place and and our nation This is interesting because there are different ways to interpret what they mean when they say take away our place When you read your bible, for example Our place or place Could refer to the temple Which is called in scripture this holy place or this place Acts 6 verses 13 and 14 for example It says they put forward false witnesses who said this man Incessantly speaks against this holy place And the law for we have heard him say that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place And alter the customs which moses handed down to us So the so the temple has been referred to as this holy place or this place So it would mean that they were afraid that the romans would destroy the temple If we follow after jesus the romans may see as guilty of insurrection and come and destroy this place this holy place That would mean they were afraid that the romans would destroy the temple and ultimately as we Read history that actually happened it happened in ad 70 Titus of Rome ordered the destruction of the temple There was a man by the name of josephus He is what is referred to as a priest a scholar as well as a historian and he lived Around 37 to a hundred ad and in his book Josephus wrote these words. He said One of the soldiers without staying Without waiting for any orders Without any concern or dread upon him at so great an undertaking and being hurried on by a certain divine fury Snatched what snatched somewhat out of the materials that were on fire And being lifted up by another soldier He set fire to the golden window Through which there was a passage to the rooms that were round about the holy house on the north side of it As the flames went up toward the jew Upward the jews made a great clamor such as so mighty an affliction required and ran together to prevent it And now they spared not their lives any longer nor suffered anything to restrain their force Since that holy house was perishing for whose sake it was that they kept such a guard upon it And what happened is as it says a soldier threw a fiery brand in it caught some it caught some drapes on fire Ignited and there was a lot of gold inside of the temple and the heat was so intense That the gold itself was melted And there was so much gold there that once the fire Ended the romans went in and began to pry apart stones And they chipped away and were able to get the gold that had melted in and had melted into the cracks of the stones And that temple was destroyed and so when they're speaking here And they're speaking concerning this holy place and they might come and take it away There are some who will say that they were referring to the temple They're afraid that they're going to lose the temple and in one way that actually again did happen in the year ad 70 But it can also speak concerning their status or their influence in the nation They would be afraid and i lean more towards this by the way They would be afraid that their place would be taken their status Because they were a great influence and we're going to lose our place We're going to lose our status here if they if we lose it to this itinerant rabbi named jesus We're going to lose our influence in this nation because people are beginning to listen to him and they're rejecting our teachings Well, that would be what is called the sin of envy on the part of the religious leaders And when you read your bible you discover that it's the sin of envy that led them to handing jesus over to the romans We see that in mark 15 verse 10 Where it says he knew that the chief priest had handed jesus over because of envy I lean more in the direction Of them saying if we allow jesus christ to get the preeminence in the way that he's earning it We are going to be regarded as nothing and he will be exalted And man is of such nature that we will rebel against our creator and we don't want to be less than him When you receive christ's lord and savior it requires humility on your part in order to say i've been the master on my own throne but now i'm going to Get off that throne so you can take your rightful place That's called humility and the Pharisees are not known for their humility Jesus addressed them as very proud and arrogant And jesus made it very clear especially when you read matthew 23 of what kinds of people they were And jesus exposed them and even was was so bold as to call them hip hypocrites when he spoke of their religious practice I've said this to you before remember it that in the in the nation of israel There were three things that you did no less than these three things that you would do That would make people say that you are a holy person that you are a righteous person There are three basic things you would pray you would fast and you would give your alms or your gifts or your charitable contributions Those were the three things in jewish religion That caused people to regard you as holy And what what is it that jesus said about that he said don't be like these hypocrites They stand on the street corners and they pray He says so they get attention from men. I say they get the reward When they give they given an ostentatious open way to gain some some Honor from men That's how they give when they fast he says they make themselves look sad and they walk around town So people know that they're fasting those are the three things That was an evidence of religious faith during the time of christ And jesus would speak to them and he'd say you guys and he does this he says he says you you circle Or the globe to make one convert and what you have converted him you make him twice the child of hell that you yourself are He said your white wash tombs beautiful on the outside But on the inside you are filled with dead men's bones and all kinds of decay. That's not flattering No wonder the Pharisees didn't like jesus Because he would say that to their face I really wonder if some of the christian tv programs radio programs or rallies would ever invite jesus to come and speak Think about it for a minute And jesus was up here. Hello hypocrites. I Oh, I see i've got a white wash tomb over there. I don't know, you know, how many white wash tombs we have today, you know, I But that's how he taught That's why it's so important for us to go through the whole council of god Because you can always select passages that appeal to your flesh But when you go through the whole council, you see both the good and that which convicts and that's a good thing We need both we need encouragement But we also need conviction And so this is what takes place here. And so they're saying we don't want him To gain the ascendancy because we can lose our place in this nation The jewish authorities knew that the people appreciated what jesus was saying Matthew 21 46 says it like this when they sought to lay hands on him They feared the multitudes because they took him as a profit So they're aware that his ministry is inflaming what is called messianic expectations And arguments concerning jesus had become more common We saw in john 9 verse 16 Some of the Pharisees said this man's not from god because he doesn't keep the Sabbath Others said how can a man who's a sinner do such things and there was a division among them? So this was already taking place So they feared pilot because he could be harsh when solving problems amongst the jews and they didn't want to inflame him History records how on one occasion pilot had sent troops to kill some that he considered as enemies of roam These people were from galilee. They may have been what are called the zealots And pilot dealt quickly with them and dealt ruthlessly with them And it left such an impression that when you read your bible luke 13 verse 1 says this There were present at that season some who told him about the Galileans whose blood pilot had mingled with their sacrifices See he was known for being blood thirsty He was known to be very harsh And so the authorities were concerned that he'd do the same to them So verse 49 one of them kyophus Being high priest that year said to them as you know nothing at all So kyophus was a high priest. He occupied that position from around 18 bc until around 36 bc He was a sabbous sad you see and he considered himself intellectually superior to others He called them witless brainless creatures. That's a kind way to speak of people I meant 36 ad by the way And so he was not a kind man. And so he's speaking and he says, uh, you don't know anything you guys are are without knowledge Verse 50 Nor do you consider that it is expedient for us? Now, this is important to see 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 we'll look at that for a minute rudely aggressively kyophus begins Express what is at least in the way he thinks obvious And what is it that is obvious? We need to get rid of jesus Jesus must die And he's saying It's better to sacrifice one man than to lose an entire nation That's what he says in verse 50. He says one man should die for the people Now pilot wasn't speaking from a religious perspective of jesus dying on the cross for the salvation of man He was speaking from a practical perspective He's saying sacrifices one man so the nation Can be preserved But what he doesn't realize is he's speaking from inspiration It says it in verse 51 This he did not say on his own authority but being high priest that year he prophesied that jesus would die for the nation And so he doesn't even realize that he's speaking from inspiration Virtually speaking this is why jesus came to earth This would speak of a substitutionary death Man salvation rests fully On the necessity Of the atonement for our sins Why is that? Let me talk to you about that for just a moment because this is a very important phrase here And it's a prophetic word coming from a man who doesn't even realize that he's speaking by the provocation of the holy spirit One of the things we need to understand is the bible points out that every human being is a sinner And you don't become a sinner the moment you sin you sin because you're born a sinner There are arguments about that some of you perhaps have spoken to people and maybe you at one time owned that as a belief system for yourself You thought that you became a sinner The moment you sinned But the bible doesn't teach that there are certain cults that do but the bible doesn't teach that The bible teaches that I sin because I am born a sinner. That's what I am Psalm 51 verse 5 I was brought forth in iniquity in sin. My mother conceived me Romans 5 12 Therefore just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men because all sin That's a theology that speaks concerning our human nature when adam sinned His human nature our nature his human nature Is passed on to every person? And so I sin because I have what is called the adamic nature I am a son of adam and because adam fell All humanity fell in him And because we all fell in him and because you can only beget after your own likeness When his wife was giving birth to children. They were all born with sin natures So our lineage when you want to do your ancestry dna It's going to go all the way back to adam And so when you do your ancestry you need to realize that your daddy was a sinner And his daddy was a sinner and his daddy was a sinner all the way back to our first daddy adam adam was a sinner And he gave me Through my birth a sin nature and that's what romans 5 12 says. So I sin Because by nature That's what I do And I've heard people argue I really I've seen educated people argue That that were born with a blank slate And that we actually become something as people basically write on this slate and Through the way we were raised we began to live certain ways and we become thieves because We were taught to be That's just not true We became liars because we were taught how to lie well one when you're a child you don't even know what truth is What you see is what is expedient? What's best what's easiest for me because I am self-seeking from from birth Somebody said that babies these little babies he said when they're they're nursing babies He said this baby you see the raging babies some of you mamas You you were probably surprised the first time you saw the temper your little baby had That's this precious little lamb got so mad they had to kill you if they were big enough they They'd just rage against you they just gonna rage, you know, I have a grandson Brand new grandson. He's only what a month and a half or so two months at the most now That guy's mean My little grandson he gets mad very easily Very easily and my my daughter crin it's her baby. My daughter crin speaks to me And she said daddy was I like this and I said yeah Just like that just like that. He has to be held constantly if she puts him down he gets mad And I just him. Thank you god. You do answer prayer Because I pray that you the Korean would have a baby just like her. Thank you Jesus Because Korean Korean we would have to put her in her car seat at three months four months old on the kitchen table while Marie and I ate If she was anywhere else outside of her little rocking thing that we used to put next to us If we put her somewhere else, she'd be screaming at us I had to put her on the table Looking at us while we were eating and she would just keep an eye in case somebody's having fun That was Korean human nature And it's showing itself for what it is And so Korean he asked that she really did she said daddy was I like this I said absolutely Absolutely one time your mama. I went to work and I lived close to work. I've told you this before but it's true I went to work. I came back at lunch. You were you were your mama was still nursing Marie was still nursing Korean three hours And then I went back to work. I came home a little after five And Marie was still nursing. She had never gotten off the couch She and I walked in and Marie it looked like a spider had taken all of her fluid from and Marie looks at me All sunk and eyed and everything I haven't moved haven't moved Look what happens and Marie would draw away from Korean and Korean would start. Ah, she started screaming So my Jackson is that way too And it's human nature. Nobody can tell me that he learned that from somewhere It's our nature And we do what we want and we want what we want right now And the bible makes it clear That's our nature. We all are born with the sin nature. That is people will argue. Well, that's self preservation But we continue that into adulthood We continue that until the day we die if we're not redeemed Fighting for what is mine. You can't have it put two children in a room in one toy and see what happens UFC got nothing on those babies fighting They're going to go after it and a kid can have a whole pile of his toys and one kid comes walking in And every one of those toys now become more important to him no matter what that other kid wants That's the one that kid wants where'd that come from their mother? No, where'd that come from? It came from human nature. That's what it is And so the bible makes it very clear visions 2 verse 3 among whom also We all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're by nature children of wrath just as the others So we're sinners the word sin is most commonly defined as missing the mark It's the condition of all mankind Again, we're born with sin natures Romans 3 23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god Ecclesi Ecclesiastes 7 20 there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin And then second There's something that happens because of our sin and that is it makes separation between god and us And also create separation between us and others In isaia 59 one and two behold the lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save Nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear But your iniquities have separated you from your god your sins Have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear Jeremiah 5 25 simply says your sins have withheld good from you And so sin makes separation because we've all missed the mark and then third the end result is death Romans 6 23 says the wages of sin is death and then finally After death comes judgment Hebrews 9 27 says it is appointed to men to die once but after this the judgment So christ was offered once to bear the sins of many to those who eagerly wait for him He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation It's appointed unto men to die once So this is what's taking place So verse 50 again kyphus said it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people And as it says this was a spirit inspired utterance this happened Jesus was offered up to bear our sins and we are called to trust in him Yes, it is expedient for us that one man should die for the nation that jesus would die on a cross for us So that we might have life and not perish his the bible says that jesus gave himself as a ransom He took upon himself human flesh And he died on our behalf And he became our mediator In Hebrews 2 14 and 15 the writer says In as much as in as much than as the children have partaken of flesh and blood He himself likewise shared in the same That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death That is the devil and release those who through fear of death Were all their lifetime subject to bondage jesus took upon himself human flesh and died on our behalf Now as he's speaking verse 51 says this he didn't say on his own authority But this was actually because he was a high priest and being a high priest He prophesied that jesus would die for the nation But pilot intended to be political truth God intended to convey deeper meaning And he unknowingly prophesied The atonement the sacrificial death of jesus For us because he says In verse 52 Not for that nation only But also That he would gather together in one the children of god who were scattered Abroad Now notice how john broadens the meaning of his death He didn't die for israel alone But notice he said also that he would gather in one the children of god remember Jesus earlier had said in chapter 10 verse 16 He said other sheep i have which are not of this fold Them also i must bring and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd I've shared this with you before i said i shared it recently i'll remind you of it for just a moment It was a mystery that was withheld in the old testament that was revealed in the new That the jews would actually become one with the gentiles I've shared this before i'll say it again to get to the point i want to make In the old testament the jews are referred to as the people of god But the gentiles are those who are without god When references made in the old testament about jew and gentile humanity was divided into the two There's the jew And then there's the gentile The jew is a jew not simply through lineage or through Genetic heritage but jew is one paul makes it clear in the book of romans who has faith in god Well, that wasn't real clear in the old testament And so what you have is you have the jews the jews were given the law the jews were given the prophets The jews that were given messiah as jesus took upon himself you in flesh as a jewish man But when jesus came and died on the cross What jesus did paul says to the ephesians as he broke down the wall of separation between the jew and the gentile And the two became what is called the one new man So there is no longer jew and there's no longer gentile There is the one new man So in the old testament humanity is divided into jew and gentile In the new testament humanity is divided into jew Gentile and the church the church is made up of The one new man either the jew The gentile have given their lives to christ messiah And we are now one in christ a mystery in the old testament and and you you you were gentiles in here most of us Uh, we wouldn't understand that Because we were raised You know in a nation that at least in its foundations and underpinnings had Uh church kind of background and a lot of people were raised in churches. We never knew that But in the old testament The jews had no dealings with the non jews in a religious sense because they were the people of god And so in the new testament when when people were coming to faith in christ It was a mystery And even when paul would go and preach and you could see this in the book of acts when he would go and he would preach and he would Go to the synagogues because as he said to the romans to the jew first and also to the gentile He would go to the synagogue whenever he went into the town and he would want to speak first to his own people According to the flesh because he says how much he loved these people He says i have a heart for them might even give up my own salvation if they would get saved This is the depth of love he had for the jewish nation But When he would say god has sent me to speak to the gentiles Then the people would riot and get upset because there's no way that the jew and the gentile are supposed to have relationship And you see that actually happening in the book of acts paul was almost killed in a riot one time Because they started saying he brought a gentile into the holy place into the temple And they wanted to kill him because they had seen paul walking with some gentiles And they began to accuse him of bringing him in to a place that they were forbidden that was strong during the time of paul And yet he was inspired by the spirit of god to speak concerning the fact that no there's no longer jew There's no longer gentile. There's now the body of christ. We are one in him We have to be careful with that We have to remember that and and this is something that We all know in this fellowship, but i'll say it and move on some other things But we have to be careful that we don't forget That we are brothers and sisters in christ with whomever is genuinely saved And it doesn't matter what their ethnic background is should never matter Because there's something greater than my ethnicity and that is my relationship with god through jesus christ Who changes our lives and makes us one and that is So important for us to remember we have to understand that and we need to remember that And so here we have a man who because he's holding the office of high priest making a prophecy that he doesn't even realize That he's making and the reason is because he was it says in verse 51 again High priest he prophesied that jesus would tie for the nation, but he goes on to expand it And not for that nation only but also that he would gather together and won the children of god Who are scattered abroad he was going to bring people together to become One that there would be one flock and one shepherd He was going to break down that wall of separation. He's creating that one new man Ephesians 2 15 By his death he ended the whole system of jewish law that excluded the Gentiles His purpose was to make peace between jews and Gentiles by creating in himself One new person from the two groups And so verse 53 Then from that day on they plotted to put him to death 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 the jews was near And many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves and 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 might report it or he should report it that they might seize him And so they're plotting now officially plotting To put him to death. They want to take him They're going to plot to discover how they're going to be able to do that And they're going to be able to try him In order that they may put him to death because they have had enough of jesus and what he's done And it was over the miracle of what had happened in the raising of Lazarus from the dead Because they could not speak against that miracle and because they couldn't speak against it They had to formulate plans to stop the one who raises the dead to life Jesus is aware of that notice verse 54. So he no longer walks openly among them He went from there into a country into the country Near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim. I was looking up where this particular city is Ephraim and there's a whole lot of discussion amongst the commentators because the older commentators didn't know where it was and the more recent commentators through archaeological Discovery say that it's a little bit to the northeast of the city of jerusalem It's down there in the south that's where jesus went into an area there where he could be ministering in relative security for a little while In verse 55 the Passover of the jews was near and many went from the country up to jerusalem Before the Passover to purify themselves And it says and They sought jesus spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple. Can you picture that that happens even here in church? Not this kind of discussion, but I picture that they're there in the temple area They're having fellowship and discussion and they're speaking to people They know probably friends and hall and they begin to ask honest questions Well, what do you think that he'll not come to the feast? Why because it's well known that the officials are after him So they're saying do you think he's going to come or do you think he'll stay away? They're having discussion concerning jesus christ, but as all this is taking place the stage has been set It's almost time for jesus to die Now notice again that john tells us this Passover Is nine this Passover is at hand That's the third Passover that's mentioned in the gospel of john Which helps us to know that jesus's ministry lasted at least three years You see we're told by luke that jesus was around 30 years old when he began his ministry When you look at john you will count that there are three passovers that he mentions He mentioned one in chapter two He mentioned one in chapter six and now he mentions another one here in chapter 11 That tells us that jesus's ministry went two years more than likely three years That helps us to know because you'll hear this in bible studies that jesus was around 33 when he died That's how we know because you count the passovers And john spoke of three of them So you're able to say that he went to at least three After the age of 30. So he's more than likely around 33 years of age Which is a place of moving towards full adulthood and maturity So the festival is at hand And people are congregating verse 56 is he going to come to the feast Well under these conditions they think it's unwise for him to show up But he does In chapter 12 we're going to read these words In verse 27 Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say father saved me from this hour But for this purpose I came to this hour Was it going to show up Absolutely Was he afraid of being put to death? No Why wasn't he afraid because that's why he came All the way back when you look at john the baptist Seeing jesus and what did he say when you saw him you hold the lamb of god Who takes away the sin of the world? Jesus knew that he was born To die He didn't avoid it But as a matter of fact he longed for it He longed for it His desire was to embrace the will of his father And his desire this is beyond me his desire was to ransom us He came for the purpose of dying He didn't come for the purpose of living But he came for the purpose of dying I had a friend of mine when I was going to biola many years ago now Who told me that he believed That part of jesus's agony in the garden Was because he enjoyed being alive so much That he just didn't want to die I never believed that it didn't believe it when I was 23. I don't believe it now Because jesus said I have a baptism to be baptized with and how I am constrained until it be accomplished It was his pleasure to lay his life down on the cross for us He despised the shame and he embraced the cross So that in his shedding of his blood and giving of his life He was able to make many of us free in him Because his blood that was poured out was adequate to wash and cleanse us from all of our sin And he came for that purpose And I don't ever want to take it for granted at one time I did as a young man I was angry at god and I went and spoke to one of my bible professors there at biola And I shared some things with them about how mad I was at god because I shared this just recently I used to get mad at god kind of often And so I was angry at god because I thought he had it in for me And uh, and I spoke to him about that And uh, and my my friend my my professor friend said to me No, he said David, um Do you need to understand that that Jesus was put to death as an innocent man and pain happens to us too And he died on a cross for you. And I still remember saying to professor more dr. Moore I still remember saying to him. Yeah, he died because that's his job That's a bit blasphemous I was stupid I was a kid. I was immature. I was wrong That wasn't his job That wasn't his job. That was his choice And it was his choice Because he wanted to please his father Because he was the perfect sacrifice And in doing so he brought many people to himself and presented them to his father He died in our place so he was deeply desirous of embracing a cross And you and I know that the nails did not keep him on that cross What kept him was submission to his father And love for us That's why he died on the cross That's why he took upon himself human flesh Then he might dwell amongst us That we would be able to see what the glory of god is all about Because the glory of god is revealed in jesus christ and his sacrifice for us And the love that he shows us guys i never forget this The love that he shows us transcends all loves that we understand We we use different words in the greek different words are used for the word love you have the word phileo The word phileo is where you get the word friendship You have the word eros the word eros speaks of sexual love physical love You have the word Storje which is a word that speaks of a lesser kind of love a kind of a friendship affection But you also have the word agape And the agape is what god has for you God so agape this world it's the sacrificial love Where god jesus laid down his life voluntarily no man takes my life for me jesus said i lay it down And i pick it up again i have authority from my father to do this So jesus embraced a cross for you Was it easy of course not Of course not The pain that he went through was it something easy no It was an agony that none of us would ever want to go through Why did he do it because when he did it he did it out of obedience to his father and out of love for us And when he died on that cross He won for us salvation When he rose on the third day He gave to us an awareness that life conquers death When he ascended he sent the holy spirit to dwell within us to empower us by his spirit And enable us to live victorious lives Because in the flesh we can't please him but by the power of his spirit All things are possible and we learn those things and the things at one time that we were in bondage to In christ we can conquer because in jesus christ we are more than conquerors And we have the ability to overcome because we are Overcomers in him and he doesn't leave us alone in the midst of our struggles Our sadness our sorrows our pains our senses of rejection We have a wounded healer who understands us that we can take our hearts to and say god I feel so wounded. I feel so pain. I feel so much software And he says and I understand but I am your comforter And I will bring you to the other side just hold fast and you'll see my powerful hand to deliver See, that's the god that we serve. So will he come to the festival absolutely? Why because he knows it's his time And he's going to lay his life down for us and that's the savior That we worship jesus christ