The Savior's Cry

John 12:20–26 ESV

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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.

John 12:44–50 ESV

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

We are at Passover. The Triumphul Entry has just taken place. There are some Greeks present at the feast desiring to see Jesus. There is fear amoungst the Jews to speak of Jesus. The soul of Jesus is troubled.

Before we expand out the text I want to review the application from the text over the past three weeks.

We have spent three weeks in the Gospel of John learning every day Christian living insights from the miraculous works and teachings of Jesus.

WEEK 1:

SELFISHNESS: selfishness is not of God’s nature but is wholly and fully of the nature of man. Selfishness is that evil twin to pride and must be thought of correctly for a healthy Christian walk. - Yet with selfishness bing of the full nature of man, the problem or observation sought then is how does Jesus being fully man, refrain from acting in the fullness of the fallen nature of man which is selfishness. - To be selfish is to regard ones own interest either as chief, meaning above all else, or regarding ones own interest alone. Such regard is the influencer of ones actions, regarding to one a private or even public advantage. - To be honest, many would be fine with saying that Jesus acts selfishly and that is to our good. However there is a great distinction here between selfishness and just or righteousness. To act in selfishness for a just or righteous purpose appears to be a great contradiction. For example to make a seemingly wise decision for the benefit of self, in scripture is more closely related to the actions and decision making process of Adam and Eve than that of Christ our Lord. - We are inherently selfish beings but God is not. Our selfishness is inherent in that selfishness has been passed down to us by Adam. If we go back to the fall of man we see that Satan in his deception deceives Eve by twisting this truth. He seeks to paint God as selfish and thus encourage Eve to step out of “God’s selfishness” in regard for herself and Adam. This is painted as better for them as if being “like God” will enable them to be better than God in not being as so called selfish as God.

Yet with selfishness bing of the full nature of man, the problem or observation sought then is how does Jesus being fully man, refrain from acting in the fullness of the fallen nature of man which is selfishness.

To be selfish is to regard ones own interest either as chief, meaning above all else, or regarding ones own interest alone. Such regard is the influencer of ones actions, regarding to one a private or even public advantage.

To be honest, many would be fine with saying that Jesus acts selfishly and that is to our good. However there is a great distinction here between selfishness and just or righteousness. To act in selfishness for a just or righteous purpose appears to be a great contradiction. For example to make a seemingly wise decision for the benefit of self, in scripture is more closely related to the actions and decision making process of Adam and Eve than that of Christ our Lord.

Let me explain:

We are inherently selfish beings but God is not. Our selfishness is inherent in that selfishness has been passed down to us by Adam. If we go back to the fall of man we see that Satan in his deception deceives Eve by twisting this truth. He seeks to paint God as selfish and thus encourage Eve to step out of “God’s selfishness” in regard for herself and Adam. This is painted as better for them as if being “like God” will enable them to be better than God in not being as so called selfish as God.

Who: Jesus & a 38 year invalid (later the Pharisees)

he layed amoungst the blind and the sick on the outskirts of a healing pool. For 38 years people had ran by him, nobody had stopped to help him. Jesus came to him. Note: This man could do nothing on His own.

Time/Day: The Sabbath

The man wanted to be healed but had no one to heal him.

He recognized that he was crippled

He recognized that he could do nothing about it and was in need of another

Jesus said,

Take up your bed, and walk

See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you

My Father is working until now, and I am working

Pharasees claimed that Jesus broke the sabbath.

Jesus said:

The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but the Son does as the Father does.

The Father loves the Son and shows the Son what He is doing, the Son does them, that we may marvel.

The Father has given judgment to the Son that all my honor the Son

The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him

These words heard and believed are eternal life.

The cripple was fully dependent on Christ, Christ is dependant upon the Father, the Pharisees are dependant upon themselves and thus distort the scriptures by their own selfishness

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life”

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life” (note: they search because “they think” not because “God said”…belief is absent…) “it is they (the scriptures) that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (why? because it’s not what they think…they can’t see for their own self thinking.)

note: they search because “they think” not because “God said”…belief is absent...

“Little people worldly wise, you cant see through your shadowed eyes, Little people cant you see, He has come to set you free” - Chuck Girrard

“it is they (the scriptures) that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. why? because it’s not what they think…they can’t see for their thinking.

“it is they (the scriptures) that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Summary

why? because it’s not what they think…they can’t see for their thinking.

we are selfish, God is not. Both truths are just as equally important.

we are selfish, God is not. Both truths are just as equally important. When I say that we are selfish beings, I am not meaning that we are selfish because of our actions.

When I say that we are selfish beings, I am not meaning that we are selfish because of our actions.

An action of itself as demonstrated in the interaction between Christ and the religious leaders is not selfish or unselfish.

Rather we are selfish down to every fiber of self which creates a bondage to selfish action and a war within ones own self. This is the war that Christ is addressing within the religious leaders. Ultimatley, even in there study of the Scriptures, they still want the glory, even in the service of others, we still want the credit...

Selfishness does not so much describe how we treat others as much as it prescribes an illness within self that can/is as a result harmful to others and self.

Allow me to illustrate:

The heart seeks to tell us what we feel

The mind seeks to tell us what to think

The Word of God tells us what to know

However our feelings seek to determine our thinking and our thinking our knowledge. (Adam and Eve)

Or...

Our thinking seeks to determine our feeling and our feeling our knowledge (the religious leaders)

Now notice that selfishness (like all diesease) begins by a micomunication from within self.

Wires get crossed.

The heart is jealous of the mind

The mind of the heart

Feelings of thought

Thought of feelings

and both are jealous of what belongs to God.

The message is simple. We are sick. And when left to self, we cannot help but to go astray each to his own way.

Selfishness is a battle within us.

The cure is as described by Christ in

“I can do nothing on my own.”

or the sister passage

or the sister passage :

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

This is why we must be so determined to do as we are instructed in , to renew our minds. Our decisions when based on what we think (a phrase far to common today “I think...”) whether purposed for good or bad cannot help but be rooted in selfishness which is of the fallen. However a mind renewed, a word believed is a soul strengthened a self died to and a life began for the work of Christ.

WEEK

MY VIEW, YOUR VIEW, THEIR VIEW THE VIEW: Our “world view” or “God view” effect every decision that we make, or every decision that we make reflects our “world view” or our “God view. - Every decision making process begins with one decision (often overlooked) and that breaks us down into one of three castegories that we will opperate from. These three categories become or are representative of our world view or as is often not recognized our view of God, His Word, and His place in our lives. - There are three view points present in this world. Three. Not yours, mine, ours and theres and millions of others, just three. - Of these three view points or world views, only one is worth holding to, only one is worth having, only one is truly for your benefit and only one leads to life. - However, all three are seeking a benefit. All three are promising benefits and in the course of life, world entanglements, and the deception of our own hearts, decerning which view we are operating from becomes as or if not more complicated than makeing the decision itself. (However if we are able to discern which view we are operating from then the work of decision making will be done for us). - Of these three views, two opperate from a fixed position and one from a position of constant fluxuation and debate. - Of these three decision making processes I will break it down in a way that it will be easy to follow with this mornings scripture: - The first we will call 1. The View of Jesus 2. The View of the World 3. The View of The Crowd. - Usually as Christians we seek to make a wise decision by balancing all three of these. We seek what does Jesus say, mix that with how we feel the world demands that we opporate and balance that with what the crowd thinks…of which we are one. As we will see this morning this is an impossible way to opporate. It does not work. Ultimatley you will fall into one of the three categories and nobody “accidentily” falls into the first. - In other words to think that one can say: “I want to opporate in harmony with what the world requires of me and I know that this will be pleasing to my friends and family and will enable me to reach all of my goals and dreams and in that I will be like Jesus.” That is absolute nonsense and Christian ignorance at it’s finest to put it mildley.

Who: Jesus - his brother - the disciples - Jews

However, all three are seeking a benefit. All three are promising benefits and in the course of life, world entanglements, and the deception of our own hearts, decerning which view we are operating from becomes as or if not more complicated than makeing the decision itself. (However if we are able to discern which view we are operating from then the work of decision making will be done for us).

There are three view points present in this world. Three. Not yours, mine, ours and theres and millions of others, just three.

Summary: Here is what we learn:

Of these three views, two opperate from a fixed position and one from a position of constant fluxuation and debate.

In regard to His family (his unbleieving family) Jesus did not act or decide things based upon their approval or even their knowledge of it.

As for the world I would have you observe the Jews. These are those who would set the standard for what was acceptable to even speak about Jesus. In vs.13, the crowd is so affraid of the Jews (the world) that they would not speak openly of him. The Jews/World here being that which sets the standard or expectation or social acceptance of the crowd.

Yet we get to observe the murmerings or decision making process of the crowd. It is all based on he said, she said. With the Messiah amoungst them, nobody has sought the Word of God…with the Word of God in flesh before them they disreguard the Word of God to debate who the Word of God is.

Notice the ultimate drive in the thinking of the crowd…fear. For fear of what would be done to them, for fear of acceptance, for fear of what would become or no become they were blinded to the truth. For fear of the world and fear of the crowd evil prevails in ones life.

Further, we learn. The decision of who Jesus was, was already made. The decision of when Jesus would lay down His life was already made. All of the attempted decision making that happens in this passage is a spinning of wheels leading only to ones own blindness, deception, and death. Why?

And here is what we learn. The decision of who Jesus was, was already made. The decision of when Jesus would lay down His life was already made. All of the attempted decision making that happens in this passage is a spinning of wheels leading only to ones own blindness, deception, and death.

Why?

Because no one sought to seek God over evil (the world)

Because no one sought to seek God over public opinion

Because all revereance or feared the world and each other more than God.

Now Jesus my friends teaches us how true and right decisions are made. It has nothing to do with what you want, dream about, or lust for. It has nothing to do with your interest, background or how you were raised. It has nothing to do with the approval of unbelieving family, murmers of the crowd or standards and demands of the world. It has nothing to do with what you determine success will be or what life should look like. It has everything to do with:

Now Jesus my friends teaches us how true and right decisions are made. It has nothing to do with what you want, dream about, or lust for. It has nothing to do with your interest, background or how you were raised. It has nothing to do with the approval of unbelieving family, murmers of the crowd or standards and demands of the world. It has nothing to do with what you determine success will be or what life should look like.

It has everything to do with:

Do you reverance God?

Do you trust God?

Do you seek God?

Do you put all else off in order to be fully dependant and obedient to God in everything?

And let me just highlight that this decision making process has to do with everything from what you say, to what feast you attend to when you die.

This decision making process has to do with only one decision by which every other decision is determined,

Do you live for the purpose of God alone, by the grace of God alone, in full submission to God, by faith in His Word alone? Yes or No

But what is the result? To live so extreme, to have years of world view erased, to surrender the approval of family and friends and even world success and world benefits, what is the result? How is this hopeful, loving and promising? But remember the result of our text.

But what is the result?

To live so extreme, to have years of world view erased, to surrender the approval of family and friends and even world success and world benefits, what is the result? How is this hopeful, loving and promising? But remember the result of our text.

To live so extreme, to have years of world view erased, to surrender the approval of family and friends and even world success and world benefits, what is the result? How is this hopeful, loving and promising?

But remember the result of our text.

The Jews by using their decision making process of the evils of the world and the crowd by acting in intrest of itself and fear of the world murdered their Messiah.

The Jews by using their decision making process of the evils of the world and the crowd by acting in intrest of itself and fear of the world murdered their Messiah. But Jesus, in acting in full submission to the Father. In doing nothing of His own accord but in seeking the Father in every step,

But Jesus, in acting in full submission to the Father. In doing nothing of His own accord but in seeking the Father in every step, conquers the world and all of its evil, His brothers come to know Him as the Messiah, salvation is brought to the masses, and His Father is well pleased bestowing all glory and power unto Him.

Jesus conquers the world and all of its evil, His brothers come to know Him as the Messiah, salvation is brought to the masses, and His Father is well pleased bestowing all glory and power unto Him.

Therefore is the most wise and loving decision by us today to surrender to Jesus and every detailed teaching of His as revealed in scripture. In deed it is the most life impacting, most loving, rewarding and sucessful decision for you, your family, your friends, the crowd and the world than any other decision that you could ever make.

Here is what I am telling you. Surrender to Jesus today is the best, most life impacting, most loving, rewarding and sucessful decision for you, your family, your friends, the crowd and the world than any other decision that you could ever make.

Of these three decision making processes I will break it down in a way that it will be easy to follow with this mornings scripture:

WEEK 3:

WHEN THE WHOSE WHO IS THE HOW TO:

The first we will call 1. The View of Jesus 2. The View of the World 3. The View of The Crowd.

Who - Jesus, Pharisees, Blind man, Jews, Blind man Parents

Usually as Christians we seek to make a wise decision by balancing all three of these. We seek what does Jesus say, mix that with how we feel the world demands that we opporate and balance that with what the crowd thinks…of which we are one. As we will see this morning this is an impossible way to opporate. It does not work. Ultimatley you will fall into one of the three categories and nobody “accidentily” falls into the first.

Summary: The Pharisees are concerned with the mechanics rather than the who. The did not know how to determine the season. If they would have sought to know who Jesus is then the how to would have taken care of itself…for the Lord can not break his own sabbath. Instead they use the how to in order to elevate themselves. - We opporate from a how position when we should opporate from a who position. - We say “How will I surrvive” - How will I make it through, how will I afford, how will I persevere, how will I learn, how will I be good enough, how will I obtain this or that, how will I raise all of these children, how will I know what to do and when to do it....how how how - How do I protect myself, how do I look, how do I get, how do I accomplish....how how how. How is a trap door to selfishness, a mind manipulation into how to figure out your own form of godliness that is good for your own gain.How is the push of the crowd and the world that always needs a justification other than the who. The how is the cry of self dependant, not the cry of the faithful child. With one who answered, beleived, trusted in and hung onto all of our how’s are answered. That who is Jesus. Now remember: the who is not a catchprhase Jesus - it is Lord Jesus, Savior Jesus, Rabbi Jesus, High Priest Jesus. It is Jesus fufilling all of these offices in our lives. That means we surrender to His Lordship, His Teaching and rest in His covering and provision.

In other words to think that one can say: “I want to opporate in harmony with what the world requires of me and I know that this will be pleasing to my friends and family and will enable me to reach all of my goals and dreams and in that I will be like Jesus.” That is absolute nonsense and Christian ignorance at it’s finest to put it mildley.

We say “How will I surrvive”

How will I make it through, how will I afford, how will I persevere, how will I learn, how will I be good enough, how will I obtain this or that, how will I raise all of these children, how will I know what to do and when to do it....how how how

How do I protect myself, how do I look, how do I get, how do I accomplish....how how how

how is a trap door to selfishness, a mind manipulation into how to figure out your own form of godliness that is good for your own gain.

how is the push of the crowd and the world that always needs a justification other than the who. The how is the cry of self dependant, not the cry of the faithful child.

With one who answered, beleived, trusted in and hung onto all of our how’s are answered.

When you begin to answer all of the how’s that the world will through at you with the one true who, then a weight is lifted and the mind and heart are renewed and your eyes are set in the proper place for seeking.

When you begin to answer all of the how’s that the world will through at you with the one true who, then a weight is lifted and the mind and heart are renewed and your eyes are set in the proper place for seeking. - When we go by the how, then we begin to list out what we like, we list out the opportunities that we see, and we figure out how we would have it. That is futile, it is vanity. Even if we accomplish it we are as the phariseess developing our own traditions and ways and missing the savior. This is why Jesus said to Peter not how have I saved you, but “who do you say that I am.” Who is Jesus? - When we go by the who of Jesus then we are forced to seek more of who Jesus is and in knowing who Jesus is we know the Father and when we know the Father our eyes are opened to His works and the cares of this earth grow strangley dim in the light of His glory and grace. - When we remember the “who”, then we remember the “how” the how much he has loved us, the what he has done for us, the when of every moment that He has promised to be with us and not forsake us, and then we know and have strenght for the therefore living as He has called us to. - Remember the who and remember the cross, remember the empty tomb, remember the resurrection, remember pentecost and two thousand years of faithful believers. Remember the who and the how will almost appear silly. - It is my prayer for us church that we won’t be the ones that know all of the how to’s, but rather that we know the one true Who. - That we learn to ask who is leading me in this, rather than how do I make it. And when we are faced with the “how to” we answer with the “who”...

WEEK 4:

When we go by the how, then we begin to list out what we like, we list out the opportunities that we see, and we figure out how we would have it. That is futile, it is vanity. Even if we accomplish it we are as the phariseess developing our own traditions and ways and missing the savior. This is why Jesus said to Peter not how have I saved you, but “who do you say that I am.” Who is Jesus?

John 12:20–26 ESV

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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.

John 12:20-

When we go by the who of Jesus then we are forced to seek more of who Jesus is and in knowing who Jesus is we know the Father and when we know the Father our eyes are opened to His works and the cares of this earth grow strangley dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Greeks came to a Jewish feast, they came to worship, but in their worship they were looking for Jesus…they wanted to see Jesus.

When we remember the “who”, then we remember the “how” the how much he has loved us, the what he has done for us, the when of every moment that He has promised to be with us and not forsake us, and then we know and have strenght for the therefore living as He has called us to.

Jesus knows how to tell the seasons (the Jews have been refusing to see, while the Greeks are seeking and desiring to see)

The hour of glory has come - The word glory or glorified is speaking of the manifestation or the revelation of all that God is - the full goodness of who He is. The hour of the revelation of the full goodness of God has now come.

Now notice the process of glory as defined for us - because it is far different from how the world thinks of glory.

John 12:24 ESV

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.

John 12:24

Glory is found in the revelation of who one is. As the seed falls to the ground and dies, it exposes the fullness of the life inside, on the other hand the bad seed that falls to the ground reveals no life, no fruit, no glory. The diseased seed that does not die remains only a seed and rots into the ground that it fell.

Glory is revealed, glory being revealed is not show, but is a revelation given through a journey, it is a perseverance, it is the grit of reality. It’s not a mystical awe, it is the revelation of what is that causes the awesome wonder.

This is the glory of Christ. He is the good seed that has come down and in coming down, he lays His life down that all of who He is may spring forth to be revealed to all.

Now the second part of this is going to have direct application to you and I, but you must remember the first.

Glory is the revelation of who God is, it is the revelation of His goodness, the full manifestation of His perfect will. The Son of Man is glorified in revealing who God is.

Humanity seeks glory by trying to reveal who we are, or in trying to display ourselves as something greater than what we are. We seek glory by attempting to gain something in this life, by trying to reveal that their is something in our life in this world. To this Jesus says

John 12:25 ESV

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 12:

What does this mean to love or hate your life?

If you prefer your life in this world over God then your life will be lost with the world. Look at verse 42 to get context into who He is speaking to:

John 12:42 ESV

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;

John 12:

When we know who God is, when we know what God says and for fear or whatever reason we determine to muddy the waters of what God says or to compromise or to outright ignore it for fear of preserving what we have here then we have loved this life and rejected the eternal.

But we still need further direction so that we don’t get lost in our own brainstorming...

What does it mean to hate this life? Again I bring in the word prefer…To prefer eternal life over the life that this world has to offer means what?

John 12:26 ESV

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.

John 12:26

Serving Christ.

Friends, just as Christ, we have no glory in this world. This world despised Christ so it will despise us. Christ did not seek glory here and nor do we. We serve Christ. Just as Christ we through our service, through out obedience make manifest the goodness of God. But remember that goodness of God in Christ was made manifest upon a cross in this world. If you love your life, you will loose it. The goodness of God was made known in the overcoming of death. If you hate your life you will find it eternal.

Friends, Christians what I am trying to say is that we have or ought to have nothing in common with the world. Our mission is not to relate to the world but to serve Christ, and service to Christ is defined by Christ in two words: “Follow Me.” - Follow Jesus.

Our slavery is that we are inherently selfish and prideful. We want to create the path that we want to go and the Jesus that we want to so called follow.

Our slavery is that our view of the world and life has been painted by our own lust and the doctrines of the world.

Our slavery is that we cannot see who Jesus is, we cannot see his goodness because we are so concerned with the “how to’s” of surviving in this world.

The liberty of Jesus is in the revelation of the goodness of Jesus. The joy of Jesus for us is in being the fruit beared out by Jesus and that is only done in abiding in Jesus. The hour of the Son of Man being glorified, found the Son of Man saying, Father, glorify your name.

Church we need to wake up, we need the smelling sauce.

Our Savior Jesus the Christ - God’s own Son cried out the message of salvation:

John 12:44–50 ESV

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

JOhn 12:44

Now as for belief, allow me to give you this warning, for often we overlook the message of Pharoh and how he hardened his own heart in disbelief and further in God hardened the already rejecting heart of Pharoh. Often we overlook that today if the voice of God, the word of God is heard, then today is the day of salvation. Often we think today or tommorrow. But as we are speaking of belief, I must warn you against disbelief:

John 12:27–30 ESV

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.

John 12:27

Notice that the crowd, the crowd who will chant “crucify Him” has not only seen the miracles but has actually heard Him cry out to the Heavenly Father and heard the Father respond.

John 12:30–36 ESV

Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.

:30

Jesus had already spoken on eternal life, in displaying His death, he did not remove his eternal remaining but rather gave further insight to his teaching of the seed falling to the ground and dying. Thus when the crowd questions him still (having just heard from heaven) Jesus warns again that the light is only amoungts them for a little while. They are concered with the how over the who.

Jesus now departs:

Remember the who and remember the cross, remember the empty tomb, remember the resurrection, remember pentecost and two thousand years of faithful believers. Remember the who and the how will almost appear silly.

John 12:36–41 ESV

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

John 12:36-

It is my prayer for us church that we won’t be the ones that know all of the how to’s, but rather that we know the one true Who.

Now in chapter 12 from verse 36-the end the word believe will be used eight times.

First we learn the unbelief of the people. The would not, they could not, they should not beleive.

Despite all of the clear evidence they had refused to believe…as a matter of fact even their disbelief is evidence that should have caused belief.

Disbelief should make us question our belief & our disblelief.

When one begins to resist the light, there is what theologians have called a judicial blindness that God can set over the eyes of those who do not take truth seriously. We see here and in a number of other passages, that there are those who would not believe and those who would not confess their belief. Both are disbelief.

Let me give you this final word on disbelief:

John 12:48 ESV

The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

John 12:

Every word of God that we hear and do not believe…Remember believe means to follow for both those who refeused to believe and in fear didn’t confess belief were guilty of disbelief. Every Word of God we hear and do not believe/follow is our judge.

Why now dear professed Christian would you not follow the Word of God?

Because you do not believe it.

Why would you not believe it?

Because you believe another word to be better, you give yourself to another determing that to manifest more goodness than the Word of God itself.

Why would your determine such a thing?

Because there is something in this world that you love more than the Word of the eternal, that you trust more and see as more promising than following Christ.

Won’t you repent of this today? Listen this is our struggle. We are selfish, strong in our views, and stuck in the how to’s, but Jesus has made manifest His goodness and it is able to free us from ourselves if only we would believe.

Well, I want to believe, I try to believe but how do I know if I do?

Do you desire to abide in Christ?

Do you prefer the eternal promises over the promises of this world?

Do you serve Jesus?

Do you follow Jesus - His teachings & His example wherever He takes you?

If you answer these questions yes then you will find yourself continually saying no to a host of other things while your eyes become increasingly opened to the glory of God and it is in pursuit of that revelation and on the basis of that revelation that we run until we arrive at that great eternal glory. Amen.

That we learn to ask who is leading me in this, rather than how do I make it. And when we are faced with the “how to” we answer with the “who”...

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