John 12:9–11 Sermon

Sermon Text

John 12:9–11 ESV

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.

Introduction

Last week we covered John 12:1-8.

Jesus, six days before the passover, had gone to Bethany.

He was with Lazarus who He raised from the dead and they had a dinner for Him where Martha (who was the sister of Lazarus) she was there serving them.

Then Mary (the other sister of Lazarus) went before Jesus and did something that was not custom.

She took a took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

She had poured so much of it that the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

This act showed us two things.

First, it showed us that Mary thought of Jesus to be worthy of it

A pound of nard was equivalent to almost a years wage

Second, because this was not customary to do to someone, what Mary did here was unique.

Pouring or smearing ointments in someone was not custom

But it was customary to do it to someone who had died for burial

Jesus, when correcting Judas who wrongly criticized Mary for wasting it, He told Judas to “leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.”

We highlighted the truth of Jesus being worthy of all that we have.

But when someone does not know Jesus for who He is, they will criticize those who do believe this and they will call a life devoted to Christ a waste.

The main message of the gospel of John is found in John 20:31,

“The message is that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Mary found Jesus Christ to be life and she gave Him what was most expensive and gave of herself to the point of wiping His feet with her hair.

Those who do not see or believe Jesus to be worthy will not understand.

They will only criticize and also show their hatred for God in not only criticism but in deed.

Our passage today shows us what it looks like to be so blind to Jesus that it drives those who are blind to undo the amazing work done by Christ, all for the love of self.

It shows us the depth and evil of self preservation.

Outline

1. The Crowds (v.9)

2. The Plan (v.10)

3. The Motive (v.11)

1. The Crowds (v.9)

Read Verse 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.

One of the things we have seen in the gospel of John is that it was common for crowds to follow Christ.

And what we have seen is that there were mixed signals coming from the crowds when it came to what Jesus was doing.

John 6:2 ESV

2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

Jesus put them on blast later in verse 26.

John 6:26 ESV

26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

There were crowds that accused Him of having a demon (John 7:20).

And there were those in the crowd that believed.

In our text today this crowd (who were Jews) learned where Jesus was.

He was in Simon the Lepers house located in Bethany.

Which also tells us how they would even go to Simon’s house even though he was known as Simon the Leper. Being that lepers were considered unclean.

We know that this was the house Jesus was in because of the account of Mary anointing Jesus feet. The parallel accounts found in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 has Jesus there.

For the crowd of the Jews to go even to a man who was known to be a leper or had it shows us how much they wanted to go and see, not only Jesus, but Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead.

It infuriated the religious in power in Jesus’ day to see crowds go to where Jesus was.

If you remember in chapter 11 when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, many of the Jews who had gone with Mary, saw what Jesus did there. And many believed in Him (John 11:45).

After John 11:45, we get a sneak peak into conversations that the chief priests and the Pharisees had about what Jesus was doing.

John 11:45–48 ESV

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

Sadly, what we are seeing here is that they were blind which Jesus dealt with in John chapter 9.

They could not see Jesus for who He was.

Even some in the crowds couldn’t see. We see this in John 11:46, where some of them went to the Pharisees and they told them what Jesus had done. Knowing that the Pharisees wanted to arrest Jesus.

What we are seeing here is what happens to someone who does not see what Mary saw when anointing Jesus’ feet.

They saw a threat to their power and authority

But Mary saw His worth

They saw loss when seeing the crowds believing and following Him

But Mary saw Christ as worthy to be followed

She believed this so much that she gave to Christ what was costly

The chief priests were so blind to the truth of Jesus that they even sought to put to death someone who was raised from the dead.

We see this in verse 10.

2. The Plan (v.10)

Read Verse 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well

So lets think about this a moment.

Jesus arrives to Lazarus’ tomb and Lazarus was in the tomb four days and Jesus tells them to roll away the stone.

There was a concern that the odor may be too much to bear

Then He calls Lazarus to come forth. Lazarus comes forth and is unbound and now lives, eats and sits with Jesus.

And many who saw this believed.

Question: What would your response had been if you were there as a witness?

Would you have believed?

Would you have had no doubt about Jesus and who He said He was?

Would that have been enough for you to believe?

One thing that the gospel of John has made very clear is that belief in Jesus is a work of God.

Belief is not determined by your ability to perceive but it’s only God who has mercy.

They made plans to kill Jesus and Lazarus because they were blind to who Jesus was and they were blind to the purpose of why Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

At the core to their being blind, the cause of it, is a love for self.

We know this because the chief priests were preoccupied with the crowds leaving them. They were afraid of losing their positions and status with the crowds.

A love for self can blind someone even to the point of wanting to kill someone who was just raised from the dead.

We see that insanity here in our text.

A love for self (self exaltation) will blind you to the truth of Jesus Christ.

Jesus made it absolutely clear that a love for self is antithetical to the gospel.

To follow Him which the chief priests did not do and wanted badly for others not to do; following Him entails self denial.

Matthew 10:38 ESV

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

The engine behind blindness to who Christ is, is a love for self.

a cross-less life

a life preoccupied with only your own need for others to praise you

a life loved more than a love for God

In following Christ, one must carry their cross which is evidence of self denial and proof that Christ is enough and it for the believer life.

A life of self denial is rooted in knowing the worth and value of Jesus Christ

The chief priests made plans.

they wanted to arrest Him

they wanted to put Him to death

and they wanted to put Lazarus to death as well

This is proof that they did not see Jesus as worthy of their worship.

The chief priest are mentioned ten times in the gospel of John.

Not once does it mention them in a favorable way.

They always sought to arrest and kill Jesus, all because they were blind to Christ and all they could see is what they would lose if Jesus continued what He was doing.

Question: Do you remember who the chief priests were?

They were in charge of temple worship. They were the leading representatives of the Jewish people. Not just before man but before God.

Those who were in charge of temple worship, wanted to kill the Son of God who was the object of worship.

So in duty they were doing what they were supposed to do. But they were not worshipping. They were performing duties.

This is the danger of what we call nominalism.

Nominalism is the idea that universals or general ideas are mere names without any correspondence to reality.

You can call yourself a Christian and live without anything that corresponds or proves that profession.

You can do that but what that is called according to Jesus is hypocrisy.

Matthew 23:25 ESV

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

You may look religous on the outside but inside? Well, this is what was going on here with the chief priests who were in charge of temple worship.

This still happens today.

Today we have many who’s lips praise God but their hearts are far from God.

This is such an issue in out country today.

Everybody knows Jesus!

Question: So what is the answer to this problem?

The answer is found in the verses before today’s passage and it happened six days before the Passover where these chief priests would perform their duties.

The answer is found where a woman gave all that she had.

John 12:3–8 ESV

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.”

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.

She took expensive ointment (almost a years wage) and smeared the feet of Jesus with it. In the other accounts we see that it wasn’t only His feet but also His head.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

She knew of His worth. And in my opinion, she knew of His death. Pouring ointment on someone’s head and feet was not a common act with someone who was alive.

But a dead person was anointed before their burial which this seems to imply. It explains also why she was crying at His feet. Weeping happened when someone died.

Question: How does this answer the problem of nominal, name only faith?

It shows us that genuine faith is evidenced by the acknowledgment of who Jesus is, to the point of considering what is of value as nothing. And that Christ is worthy of everything we have.

The unregenerate cannot understand this. The chief priests could not understand this.

Judas could not understand this.

They called what Mary did a waste.

Judas said “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

Judas wasn’t even asking because of a concern for the poor but it was because he was a thief.

What Jesus says next shows us why she did it.

Jesus said “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

In other words, it wasn’t wasted.

Her giving everything she had was simply an act of worship.

She worshipped God while those who were supposed to worship God rejected Him. And wanted to kill Him and undo what we had done so that they could keep what they had.

They were blind to what Mary knew.

Instead of giving up all that they had, they instead wanted to kill, not only Jesus but Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.

All because they wanted to keep what they had. Because what they had fed into their love for themselves.

Mary’s service to Christ was how they should have served. Especially because they were priests.

While they were being religious and nominal, performing their duties, Mary was in tears giving all that she had to Him. Because He was worthy and because He would be buried.

But thankfully, He would also rise again!

This is the answer to a name only, religious profession.

Worship compelled by grace. Proving itself in a cross bearing life. Losing all in the world because of gaining Christ.

The chief priests were about duties but Mary was about worship. True worship because she was given the truth of who Jesus was.

The chief priests made plans to also put Lazarus to death and they wanted to because...

3. The Motive (v.11)

Verse 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Who would have thought that they would want to kill the One who they were supposed to believe in.

Listen. Our motives prior to salvation is the same.

We were living for ourselves. We were no different than the chief priests here.

Even if we ourselves saw Lazarus being raised and living. We would have also wanted him and Jesus dead.

Romans 3:10–18 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

But thank God for His love towards us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!

He loves us! And because He loves us He will keep us!

Romans 8:35–39 ESV

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is heartbreaking to see that they were that close in that they did what the Scriptures told them to do when it came to duty but their hearts were far from God.

But brothers and sisters let fall at the feet of Christ and realize the truth that He is the truth and that without Him we can do nothing.

Many came to know Christ and believed. Yet there were those who did not.

Mary worshipped with all that she had. With what was valuable by giving it up. Smearing it on His head and feet and wiping it with what she had which was her hair.

That’s where we need to be. Not performing duties while being cold to the beauty and truth of who Christ is. But worshiping Christ and being thankful for His burial which is the message of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,