John 12:44-50
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Recap:
Recap:
We are coming to the end of .
So far in this chapter we have seen a change of circumstances in the life and work of Jesus.
At the end of chapter 11, the Jewish rulers have came together and formed a council sue to the fact that Lazarus has been raised from the dead and the Jewish leader believers realize that the fanfare and the following that Jesus has and will have will be like never before.
The purpose of the council is to direct themselves and coordinate their plan of attack on Jesus.
They do all of this because of their rejection of him.
So then we come to :
The opening of the chapter is a scene where Mary anoints Jesus for the task that will ultimately lead to his death and His burial. Jesus is preparing to make His way to the cross. In fact chapter 12 in john marks that turn in the life of Jesus and in the book itself.
Following His anointing Jesus gets on a donkey and makes his way to the city of Jerusalem during the time of the passover.
During this event, the people cheer and cry out Hosanna to Jesus. The welcome Him as the coming King, but in their hearts they have rejected who he ultimately is and who he came to be.
Then Jesus began speaking and when Jesus speaks His word divides. In fact it always does this.
Those who hear and believe, with those who cannot hear or believe.
Jesus speaks of his glorification and the necessity of His death, and the Father confirms his plan to Him, and that Jesus is doing precisely what he would have him to do.
But the people can’t get the minds or the more importantly, their hearts wrapped around the idea of why the Messiah would die.
WHile
They have a false sense of righteousness, and apparently they have misunderstood their need for a Savior.
so last week we discussed the sad reality that God further judges those who reject Him by blinding them further, by deafening them further, and by hardening their hearts, because these people would rather have the approval of men than the approval of God.
So now we come to verse 44.
Remember how we ended last week. Some of the leader count him worthy of belief, but turn away because they are more concerned with their position in the synagogue than with their position in relation to God.
In verse 44, Jesus responds.
And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.
Jesus takes a moment to let them know that believing in Him ultimately in a belief in the Father.
These Jews prided themselves on knowing the Father.
But if they reject the Son, they have rejected the Father.
We believe in the Triune God as one.
1st person of the Trinity is the Father.
2nd person of the Trinity is the Son.
3rd person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit.
We don’t separate these because they are not separable.
Believing in the Son is believing in the Father and the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, rejecting the Son is a rejection of the Father and the Spirit.
So when people say things like:
I believe in God but not in Jesus.
They don’t believe in God.
muslims say the worship the same God. No they don’t, because they do not believe in Jesus.
Rejection of the Son is rejection of the Father.
good jews
In fact, there is no other way to get to the Father except through acceptance of the Son.
We submit to the Lordship of Christ and in doing so we submit to the Father and the Spirit.
In fact, Jesus himself says this:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
But here is the blessed truth for all of those who do believe in the Son.
They do gain the approval of the Father, because the Father approves the Son.
Why would me believing in the son make me approved by the Father?
Because the Father approves the Son, and when I blieve in the Son I become one with the Son.
This is the glorious part of salvation.
When we believe in the Son, the Son righteousness is imputed to us and we now stand having the righteousness of and approval of the Father because we are one with Christ.
It is at this point that we can can truly appreciate who God is and enjoy seeing and understanding who God is.
In other words:
“He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.
Again, it through the Son, that we can know the Father.
The Son reveals to us who God is.
We are given the ability to see him
This is what Paul means in
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
He makes the invisible God known through His incarnation.
This is why we celebrate the incarnation of the Son at Christmas Time.
He is Immanuel. He is the Word Made Flesh.
The author of Hebrews says it this way:
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
Jesus is the “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”
This is exactly why Jesus has come into the world.
He has come to bring to light that which was previously dark.
Jesus has came to be the Light. He has come so that they may know.
“He comes to make His blessing known, far as the curse is found.” Joy to the World
“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
Couple things here:
The Implication is that before Christ we are in darkness.
We are dead in our trespasses and sins.
We are blind.
We are lost.
Christ has come to bring light where there was once darkness.
Characteristics of darkness:
Sin
Lack of concern for the things of God.
Pretty much your life before Christ.
This happens through belief.
We are rescued from our darkness and we recognize the Light of Christ.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
We have been called out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
Out of shame, out of sin, our of darkness, into truth, into righteous, into light
Thats what happens when we become believers.
But what if we do not.
“If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
What if we don’t believe? What if we don’t obey His word?
“If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
Joh
Verse 47 tells us that Jesus first coming was not mean for judgment.
In fact Jesus told Nicodemus this same thing in .
“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
His first coming is not to condemn and judge.
Jesus is there at that point and time to bring the message of light to the darkness.
He is there to reveal to us the rescuing power of God.
But look what he says in verse 48.
“He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
We learn something in verse 48.
There are people who do reject Christ.
This seems obvious, but practically we do not live this way.
There are people who are outside of Christ.
It seems that when someone dies they are immediately given a p
I know we live in the south, where we drink sweet tea, we all love mama and we go to church.
But there are people in our families who have rejected Christ.
The same people in the previous verse we are told as the ones who do not obey Christ.
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
I dont care how much you say you love Christ. The question at the end of the day and the proff is that you obey him.
Second thing we learn: God is judge.
There will be a judgment.
There is coming a day where every one will stand before God.
These Jews should know this.
For the Lord is our judge, The Lord is our lawgiver, The Lord is our king; He will save us—
The Lord arises to contend, And stands to judge the people.
We should know this as well.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
Let’s take a moment to discuss this judgment
No one will escape the judgment.
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”
All sin will be punished. Every word. Every deed done or undone.
“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Judgment will be by the Words of Christ.
All Falsehood will be judged by the truth of the Word of Christ.
His word has been true.
It was true when Christ spoke it.
It will be true when we are judged by it.
The question is: on what side of the Word of Christ are you?
Have you listened and obeyed?
Have you heard but rejected?
One day they will know.
One day they will know.
“For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. “I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”
Jesus’s words are the tool for judgment, because His words are the Father’s words.
In fact he is the WORD of God.
I hope all this is connecting for you.
Jesus is the Word of God sent from God who is God.
to reject the Word is to be judged by the Word.
To submit to the Word is to be saved by the Word.
Application:
For the believer, We submit to His word daily.
We live life by His Word, in accordance to His word, and in light of the judgment that is coming by the Word.
You cannot live the Christian life well apart from the Words of Christ. We are saved by the Words of Christ initially, continually, and eventually.
For the unbeliever, You need to understand that Jesus Christ’s word is true. Every word He said was true, is true, and will be true.
To reject His word is to be condemned by His word.
He has came to save, but rejection will result in judgment.