I AM the Christmas Way and Vine

Flow

Songs

Kids ???

Intro

IntroRVProphecy / HopeBethlehem / PeaceAngels / JoyThe Fourth candle of advent is the Angels candle, which also represents Joy.KidsIn the true story of Xmas, tell me about the ShepherdsIs there “love” in the Christmas story? Name all the ways you can think of [Jn 3.16; Joseph and Mary; God’s love for Mary+]RelightProphecy / Hope (purple)Bethlehem / Peace (purple)Angels / Joy (pink)LightShepherds / Love (purple)

Intro

Review? []

Bread of Life

Light of the World

Gate

Good Shepherd

This week: Way and Vine

Way and Vine

Old Testament Background

Old Testament Background

WTL: story (OT system; see HS testifying); ; not the way to the Father

Dan 12:1-4

​Daniel 12:1–4 NET“At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape. Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake— some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse. And those bringing many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever. “But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will dash about, and knowledge will increase.”

WTL: story (OT system; see HS testifying); ; not the way to the Father

Vine: Story: God’s Garden / choice vine (; ; ), but not the end-game to get to the Father; where’s the fruit?

InterpDead will rise to everlasting life or everlasting contemptNot until the End TimesOnly clear passage in all of OT RE the Resurrection of all people, one way or the otherSo, if, for example, your brother is laying dead in a tomb and some guy you’ve known and loved as family comes up to you and says something crazy like, “I am the resurrection and the life,” you would have no means by which to conclude, “Hey, cool, I’m going to get my brother back in about 10 minutes.” Rather, you might think it was quite the insensitive remark - especially if this friend refused to come while your brother was sick.Res of Man x2 is part of a much larger battle between the angelic forcesThere’s this scroll, like the book in Rev - name in = you’re in

I AM

Set up

​John 11:1–16 NETNow a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.(Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”(Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he remained in the place where he was for two more days. Then after this, he said to his disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! Are you going there again?” Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.But if anyone walks around at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After he said this, he added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him.” Then the disciples replied, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” (Now Jesus had been talking about his death, but they thought he had been talking about real sleep.) Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas (called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.”

Love candle - repeated that JC acting out of his lovePurpose?: to show the glory of God (Jn 11:4) Result?: so that you may believe (Jn 11:15) The claim

WTL: —> believe (, , ) —> know, do >

Jn 11:17-27

​John 11:17–27 NETWhen Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already.(Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,so many of the Jewish people of the region had come to Martha and Mary to console them over the loss of their brother.)So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house.Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you.” Jesus replied, “Your brother will come back to life again.”Martha said, “I know that he will come back to life again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.”

Vine: —> abide, love

I AM the Resurrection and the Life

What’s in the middle? ; HS; in you; obey-love; peace

Only Dan 12:1-4 to go on Not a rich theology@End TimesNo framework for an individual before eschatonMaybe seems a bit insensitiveI AM - it’s me - I’m the resurrection From Dan 12:1-4Both to everlasting life and everlasting contemptHis Question: Do you believe in who I am?Not in what I can do for youSpecifically the I AM question

I AM - it’s me - I am the way, garden - access and fruit

Back it up?

Vine: greater things (ch 14.12-14)

WTL: die in order to live; miraculous deeds ()

Vine: greater things (ch 14.12-14)

Echoes in the Christmas narrative

​John 11:38–44 NETJesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.)Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.”Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me.I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Resuscitation, not resurrectionStill, a miracle to back up his I AM claimLike the Bread & LightWhat did JC say the Purpose was? (Jn 11.4) [demonstrate the glory of God]How does this demonstrate the glory of God? (not power, but glory) [reveals JC as the Resurrection and the Life; reveals who JC is]In the context of the intense spiritual battle: Not just, “Yay, we get eternal life.”Rather, “Yay, Jesus defeats all of the spiritual enemies of our souls, including the demonic protectors of evil and even death itself!”Glory!What did JC say the Result would be? (Jn 11.15) [that D’s may believe]Believe what? They were already his followers, ready to die for him (or so they thought) [who he is]Some did (Jn 11:45)

​John 11:45 NETThen many of the people, who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in him.

But also so that others would reject (Jn 11:46-57) - plot to kill

​John 11:46–57 NETBut some of them went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary and our nation.” Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is more to your advantage to have one man die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.”(Now he did not say this on his own, but because he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation,and not for the Jewish nation only, but to gather together into one the children of God who are scattered.)So from that day they planned together to kill him. Thus Jesus no longer went around publicly among the Judeans, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples. Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually.Thus they were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple courts, “What do you think? That he won’t come to the feast?” (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should report it, so that they could arrest him.)

The result was an intensification of the grand spiritual battle - believers believe more, enemies determine to killWhat JC wants us to believe is so objectionable - that it can only intensify the spiritual battle of the spiritual forces. If he just wanted us to believe in loving your neighbor and not murdering each other so much, then no one would find that objectionable. Our faith must go beyond this into the space where it becomes objectionable - that if you’re not with Jesus at this level, you have to be opposed to him. We have to go that deep! Jesus being the Resurrection and the Life demands a kind of belief that even nice people will find objectionable.

Echoes in the Christmas narrative

[Open]Dan 9:24-27Luke 1:45; 2:13-14; 2:52Luke 2:25-35 Dan 9:24-27, the seventy weeks: timing, plus Son of ManIncarnation to create a body that would then be crucifiable / resurrectionable / baptizable / circumcizable in the temple, a real body that had to grow in wisdom and stature (Lk 2:52)

WTL: Mary & Eliz; “but I say to you”?, fulfills the Law, (read Xmas narratives)

​Luke 2:52 NETAnd Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and with people.

Purpose? [see glory] in Xmas narr? (Lk 2:13-14)

​Luke 2:13–14 NETSuddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”

Result? [believe in who JC is] in Xmas narr? (Lk 1:45) - Mary’s faith as exemplar, key to narrative

Vine: Being Israel; give HS so we can abide * 2

WTL: Mary & Eliz; “but I say to you”?, fulfills the Law, (read Xmas narratives)

​Luke 1:45 NETAnd blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Intensify spiritual battle? Simeon (Lk 2:25-35)

​Luke 2:25–35 NETNow there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.So Simeon, directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law,Simeon took him in his arms and blessed God, saying, “Now, according to your word, Sovereign Lord, permit your servant to depart in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples: a light, for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” So the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected.Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul as well!”

Rise and fall ~ 2-fold resurrection in Dan 12.1-4 Intensification of the Spiritual Battle - rejectable, objectionable, he will be opposed by not only worldly people but evil forces and angels who protect evilPierce mom: RE? [] the cross, which will lead his resurrection, which will lead to the resurrection of all whose name is on the scroll

Impact

Do you believe in who he is?The question he posed Martha while Laz still very dead and stinky in the tombEven if he hasn’t done anything for you lately, like Martha?What does it mean to believe that JC = resurrection and life?[open]No fear in deathWe can spend every moment of time here kata his pleasureWe can live by the ways of his Kingdom nowAOT Believing in just what he can do for us: (Jn 11:28-37)

​John 11:28–37 NETAnd when she had said this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, saying privately, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.”So when Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. (Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still in the place where Martha had come out to meet him.) Then the people who were with Mary in the house consoling her saw her get up quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed.He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.Thus the people who had come to mourn said, “Look how much he loved him!” But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus from dying?”

WTL: With God

Vine: Wandering / fruitless / impact; we’ll never bear fruit trying to be the vine

WTL: With God

JC wept b/c they only believed in him as much as what he could do for them - they weren’t yet believing in who he is, and that allowed them to despairWill I still declare “Jesus is my life” even when my life hurts?JC came to > give us resurrection // BE (I AM)“In” RE Rom 6:4,8: in Him, buried and raisedIf you could have Jesus or Resurrection, which would you choose?Have Jesus, but when you die here, it’s done vs. Resurrection forever, but no JesusOf course, we’re supposed to say “Jesus”But this shows the absurdity of thinking that resurrection is something Jesus gives us rather than something Jesus is (“I AM”)

JC came to > bear fruit through us to glorify his Father / BE / I AM

JC came to > bring us to his Father

Being made Complete in Christ through the Holy Spirit

You have been raised to new life already

Rom 6 is in the past tense - “we have been raised”; baptism pictures itJC already is the resurrection for usSince we’ve already been raised with Christ, it’s not just that Jesus gave us a new kind of life already but that He gave us Himself … already!We are resurrected now because we have Jesus now - He is the resurrection and the life nowAnd we will be fully resurrected with new glorified bodies when Jesus returns

Roll away the stone even though there’s a stench

WTL: What is the “but I say to you…” in XYZ? OR, CSL on hanging onto temporal before praying for the eternal and the “dying” we need to do in order to live; God fills empty hands

Jn 11:39

​John 11:39 NETJesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.”

WTL: What is the “but I say to you…” in XYZ? OR, CSL on hanging onto temporal before praying for the eternal and the “dying” we need to do in order to live; God fills empty hands

Vine: Sabbatical removed a lot of false vines - what false vines are we trying to suck nourishment from? See a vine wrapped around a lamppost, trying to suck nourishment from it; winery tour; bearing fruit includes proclaiming Christ

Hear the voice of Jesus calling you now from every form of deathWalk out of the tomb of death nowLet him give you life in all the areas of your life now that stink or are just plain deadHe can resurrect what’s dead in you now because He is the resurrection now and futureThis resurrection life is conveyed by the HS who indwellsGive him full access to your deadness in order for him to give you resurrected lifeThis is how he completes us: he loves you, and he wants you to have life b/c he’s the Resurrection and the LifeThis is the impact of Christmas, when coupled with Easter - JC came to be resurrected life w/in us

Concl

JC is our

[Open prayer]

Blessing