John Part 24
Notes
Transcript
We are going to read chapter 12 tonight,
but I want to recap what happened in chapter 11
because the details of that chapter
will matter in this chapter
First, Lazarus died
Jesus resurrected him from the dead
Mary and Martha are the sisters of Lazarus
Many people believed in Jesus because of the resurrection of Lazarus
However, some did not
In fact, Some wanted to kill Jesus after this.
And John gave us some crucial details
about the motivation to kill Jesus.
When we understand the political climate
Of a Roman Occupied Jerusalem
And see that instead of service as High Priest of Life
They were only serving as a puppet for Rome
We can understand that, based on what John tell us
That these religious leaders were worried about losing their power
They had see this story before
A man claims to be the Messiah
He gets a following
And then he marches into Jerusalem
and starts a riot thinking people will join him
and they will fight to win their idependence from Rome
and then put him on the throne
However, each time this story played out
The would be Messiah dies
The Riot is broken up
And as punisment
The Jewish leaders are at best—
removed from office
and at worst—
Put to death along with the would be Messiah.
So, the Jewish Leaders knew how that story ended
And they were very concerned that Jesus was going to try and rise up
and start a revolution
And they said, we will all lost our place and our Nation.
Meaning, they would no longer be allowed to lead the Jews
A puppet leaders who were actually answering to Roman rule
And they would lose their nation, or what little bit of Jewish culture they had left.
So, to protect their little bit of power
and their little bit of tradition
They thought, we’ve got to get rid of Jesus.
Now, what can we learn from the motives of the Jews.
I think one thing we can apply to today is this…
If you choose a little bit of power over Jesus
You are missing out on so much more power that you could have had…
he wants to give you Power after you receive his Spirit
and it is way more power than you could have holding onto the things of this world.
Now, in light of that story in chapter 11
and the motive behind killing Jesus
Which was preservation of power and position
Let’s read the next story John shares…
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,
5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
So, compare Mary to the Jews in the last chapter.
They held tight to their little bit of power
She laid it all down at his feet and took the form of a servant
Was Judas acting the same as the Jews in the last chapter?
The poor you always have, but you do not always have me…
So, what John is showing us here in these series of stories
and even the stories within the stories
is that we’ve got this choice to make
Are we going to hold onto all we have
or will we give it all to Jesus
And so we see this struggle taking place
where most people are not willing to give it all to Jesus
And remember
This is all happening the week before Jesus gives everything to us.
Whatever you value in this world
Pales in comparison to what Jesus wants to give those
who will surrender all to him.
9 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.
They didn’t just want to kill Jesus
They wanted to kill Lazarus.
And this is why.
Because of Lazarus
Many were believing in Jesus.
and, that was putting their own power in jeopardy
Now, When Jesus takes a person from death
back into life
It causes people to believe
And the same is true about your own testimony…
The Return of the King
The Return of the King
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
To ride on a horse was sometimes an emblem of war;
on a mule or donkey, though,
It was the emblem of peace.
Kings and princes commonly rode on them in times of peace,
and it is mentioned as a mark of rank and dignity to ride in that manner
here are some OT examples:
3 After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.
4 And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.
14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years.
33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
So Solomon, when he was inaugurated as king, rode on a mule,
1 Ki. 1:33. Riding in this manner, then, denoted neither poverty nor degradation,
but was the appropriate way in which a king should ride,
and in which, therefore, the King of Zion should enter into his capital,
which is the city of Jerusalem.
And in our text, they noticed this
and called him:
King of Isreal in verse 13.
In Matthew’s account, he quotes from the OT
to show that this was how God said he would enter Zion
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
Now, John also quotes this passage in John 12:15
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
And this is a prophecy from Zechariah 9.9
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
So, not only did this symbolize Jesus as King
and Coming in Peace
Not War
This was also to fulfil an OT prophecy according to Matt and John
In that prophecy Zion is Jerusalem
The King is Jesus, the Son of David
And he is mounted on the colt or foal of a donkey
Which represents peace.
Now, the second time he comes
He won’t be riding a donkey
He is coming on a white horse
with a sword
and It won’t be for “peace”
But for war.
A war against Satan and the Antichrist
But the first time Jesus came
He was on a donkey
and he came in peace
to save us from sin.
So, Jesus is came in peace
And he is being praised by the people
They give him this triumphal entry
All details about this entry are fit for a king
From the putting on him of their garments
to the laying down of the branches
To the shouting of Hosanna
Which simply means “Save us”
All of these customs can be found in the Bible as things Jews did for Kings
So, of course, this got some attention
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
So, in the moment, they did not realize that Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem
was symbolic of him being the King of Isreal
Or the Prince of Peace
or the fulfillment of OT prophecy
It was only after they were filled with the Holy Spirit
that they realized it.
Which happens after Jesus is gloried.
17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.
18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
So, the Pharisees think that this show
Of Jesus being hailed as King
Was evidence that Jesus was seeking wordly fame
And remember,
They thought he would do what other’s before him had done
and try to come take over Jerusalem
from the Romans
and for a long time
i thought that is what the Jewish leaders wanted
but John makes it clear
that they did NOT want that
Because it would cause them to lose their own positions of power
But Jesus was not seeking worldly power
He did not come on a horse
He did not start a riot with people
His battle was not against the Romans
He healed their soldiers
and later sends Peter in Acts 10 to preach the Gospel to them
He wants the Romans to be saves just as much as the Jews
And he came riding on a donkey
not a horse
When Jesus does come on a horse
The battle will not be against humans, even then.
it will be against Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet.
And the humans who have bowed down to them
Jesus does not care if you are American, Euopean, African, Latino, or Jewish
He cares only about one thing
Will you bow down to him
or bow down to the forces of evil
And as evil as the Romans were
They were not any more evil than the Jews who killed JEsus
Sin is sin
and the solution is the blood of Jesus
and it was provided to all people
of all nations
Which is what John tells us in the very next scene…
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
So, here, after the Pharisees wrongly assumed Jesus was going to fight the Greeks
Which, btw, was a synecdoche for Gentiles in general or non Jews.
So, in the same way that I might ask for a coke, and you bring me a pepsi
and I wouldn’t think anything about it
They would say, he is a Greek, and he might not be from Greece at all
but might actually be from Asia or Africa.
Greek just mean “not a Jew”
In the same way the word Gentile means “not a jew”
This isn’t true in every case,
but largely it is used this way in the Bible
based on the context.
So, here, after the Pharisees wrongly assumed Jesus was going to fight the Greeks or Gentile Romans
And then some Greeks ask to see Jesus
Because they had heard about the raising of Lazarus from the dead
and The Disciples were wondering if Jesus would even talk to them
and Jesus uses it as a teaching moment.
He says, first of all, the hour is come.
For the Son of man to be glorified
And remember, John has been preparing us for that hour since chapter 7.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Whoever believes doesn’t apply to Jews only
it means WHOEVER
They will receive the SPirit
and this can’t happen until Jesus is glorified
and then…
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
So, here we are
Jesus is about to be glorfied
and this moment will make something true
that was not previous true
We go from a covenant for only the Jews
to WHOEVER believes in Jesus
And WHOEVER means WHOEVER
It doesn’t mean, the predestined elect
It doesn’t mean only those in one denomination
It doesn’t mean only those from one nation
It means… WHOEVER
The next 3 verses are related to Jesus’ words in Matthew 16.24
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
So, the whoever has a small catch.
You’ve got to deny yourself
take up your cross
and follow Jesus.
Jesus said it this way in John 12.24-26
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
This is not just talking about what Jesus was going to do when he died.
He says, if ANYONE serves… they gotta die too
Not a death on a bloody cross
but we must deny ourselves and follow Jesus
If you love your life, Jesus says… you’ll lose your life
but if you hate your life… you will keep it for eternal life
And this is the exclamation point on the them of chapters 11 and 12.
The Jews loved their place and their nation
and wanted to kill Jesus to keep their power
Judas loved money and wanted to keep it
Mary, though, loved Jesus
and he didn’t care how much that oil cost
in that alabaster box
She poured it out because Jesus is so much better
