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Sunday, October 19, 2008
*Believing in Jesus moves us into the light*
John 12:44-50
/46 //I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness./
John 12:46 NIV
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*When you open your Bibles* to the New Testament, you find that the *first four books* are *stories* of the *life of Jesus* as He lived here *on this earth*.
We call these books *the Gospels*, the Good News stories *of Jesus*.
The *first three* Gospels are further referred to as *the Synoptics* because they share so much *in common* as a *summary* of the *life of Jesus*.
The *fourth **Gospel* is John’s Gospel and *His approach* to telling the story of Jesus focuses on *why believing in Jesus is an absolute necessity* if we want to find *eternal life*.
His *comp**il**ation* of the stories of Jesus *highlight* His intimate *relationship with His Father* and how *He represents His Father* as the *only means* of our being able to *share* in a similar *relationship with the Father*.
Now, in case you didn’t *catch that*, I just *said a mouthful*.
I said that *of the* *four Gospels*, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the *Gospel of John*, rather than being a *precise chronology* of the life of Jesus, is *organized more* around *how we can believe in Jesus as the Son of God* and how that *believing* in His name *brings us into a life-giving relationship* with God the Father for eternity.
That means that *sometimes* we will find *stories of Jesus* that *seem out of place* when we lay on it the *template of the chronology of Jesus’ life* that we find in the *first three* Gospels.
Thus, the Apostle *John* does *not* appear to feel *obligated to adhere to a strict timeline* of Jesus’ life story as he seeks to *convince us* that *Jesus* is indeed *God’s Son* who has come as the *Passover Lamb* to take away the sin of the world.
In short, you will *find the story of Jesus* as told *by John* to *read quite differently* than the way Matthew, Mark and Luke tell His story.
In the *text* we look at *this morning* we have a *classic example* of how *John does not* feel it to be a necessity to *follow a strict chronological outline* in telling his story.
Let’s *get into the actual text* of John’s Gospel.
*Turn* with me to *chapter 12*.
Nearing the *end of the chapter*, stop at *verse 35*.
Here Jesus is *telling the crowd* that had gathered around Him as He was *approaching Jerusalem* on Palm Sunday that . . .
*/John 12:35-36 (NIV)/*
/35 //. . .
, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer.
Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you.
The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
36 //Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.”
When He had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid Himself from them.
/
Now, *if John were* *following* a strict chronology, you *wouldn’t expect* to have Jesus *seemingly continue* with His *preaching* to the crowd.
*Yet, 8 verses later*, John has Jesus crying out, *raising His voice*, making a *strong statement* about *His mission* and *His relationship* to His Father.
But, if we *understand* that John is *compiling stories* about Jesus to *help us believe in Him as God’s Son*, *chronology* is *not the litmus test* of authenticity, rather it is the *consistency* of John *staying true* *to his objective* in writing.
As we have already observed, chapter 12 functions as *a bridge chapter* between all that has happened in *chapters 2-11* and all that will happen in *the remainder of the book*.
Chapter 12 *connects the two halves* of the book.
*If we can get a good handle this 12th chapter,* it may well help us *understand the entire book*.
In serving as *the bridge chapter*, we saw how it (chapter 12) functions as *the turning point in the Gospel* of John.
More specifically, in verses 23-26, Jesus *announces Himself* as the *turning point in history*.
What John is making clear in this chapter is that *Jesus came to this world* to be the *turning point in our lives* and *in every life* on this earth.
/23 //Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 //I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.
But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
25 //The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
*26 */*/Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be.
My Father will honor the one who serves Me./*/ /
In these *centerpiece verses*, Jesus declares that *He is the fork in the road* for every human being.
Not only has *His hour come* when He will *lay down His life* for all of us, but in doing so, *Jesus stations Himself right in the middle of our path and creates a crises for each of us*.
What we do with Jesus *will determine our eternal destiny*.
If our *love for our own life* overrides our *love for Christ*, we will *lose* our life.
But, if we *chose Christ over* our love for our own life, we will *keep our life* for an eternity with Christ.
In *our text for today* from *verses 44-50*, I am quite *convinced* that what we have here as *part of this bridge chapter* for the entire book is *a statement* of the *life of Christ* that both *summarizes His life up* to this point and *launches** us into the death story of Jesus* in the context of the *Passover feast* taking place in Jerusalem.
Gerald Borchert says, *Clarity in the gospel message* is undoubtedly the purpose of this closing section of the *centerpiece of the Gospel*, which is the *reader’s preparation* for the forthcoming *Passover* of the Lamb.[1]
Thus, *when we read* the words in *verse 44*, /“Then *Jesus cried out*,”/ it should be read as a *summary statement* of all that has happened *up to this point*.
*Eugene Peterson* takes the liberty to have *verse 44* say just that in his *paraphrase* /The Message/: /“Jesus *summed it all up* when He cried out, . .
.”/
And *what exactly* is this *summary statement* of Jesus?
The title of my sermon *abbreviates the summary statement* this way: *Believing in Jesus moves us into the **L**ight*.
I have *outlined* this summary statement in *three parts*.
*God’s Desire, God’s Provision and God**’**s Command*.
I. First, *God’s Desire*.
/44 //Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but in the One who sent Me. /
/45 //When he looks at Me, he sees the One who sent Me./
Clearly here, *God has entrusted to His Son* a most *significant role*.
*In the* *assignment* that God has given to His Son, we see *the desire of God*.
*God’s desire** **is that we believe in His Son*.
But, it goes further.
God’s desire is that we *become intimately related to the Triune God*: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
*Up to this point* in the Gospel of John, we have seen that *believing is always in a verb form*.
It is an *action*, strongly implies that *believing is not simply an acquisition* of a piece of *information* or *knowledge*.
Rather, it is *an active expression of faith and trust*.
It is *not accidental* that Jesus speaks of *believing IN Him*.
It truly is about *entrusting our lives into* His care.
Our *political campaigns* are attempts to *convince us* that we can *believe that our candidates* will fulfill their promises.
They would like us to *entrust our future to their leadership* and believe that they *will maintain our confidence* in them for the duration of their *term in office*.
But, we have come to understand that *political campaigns are so often overflowing with empty promises *that there probably *isn’t a one of us* who would *freely entrust our checking accounts* to any candidate for political office.
One of the *most tangible demonstrations of trust* is to turn the *control of our financial assets* over to someone else.
That’s why *the giving of the tithe* is such an *act of faith* in God.
Jesus said it well when He said, *Luke **12:34** (NIV) *34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Even when we *give our treasure to another*, we *stay attached to that treasure*.
That’s *why Jesus is asking* us to *give Him our money*.
He knows that *if we give Him that*, we will give Him *our very lives*.
That is an *act of faith* and *trust*.
That is what *believing in Jesus* is all about.
*Entrusting our lives to Jesus* and letting Him *be in control*.
The *payoff* for this faith is that we *become attached to God the Father* and *receive His life*.
So, the *first part* of Jesus’ summary of His mission is that *God’s desire is that we believe in His Son and *become intimately related to the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This statement *highlights the relationship* of the *Father and* the *Son*.
It speaks of a *unity* between them.
It speaks of *Jesus as God’s representative*.
He was *sent on a mission* to make known to the world *God’s desires*.
God was *entrusting to His Son* such an extremely *important role* that were a person to *reject the Son* he would be *rejecting the Father*.
Thus, *Jesus’ mission* wasn’t merely to be *seen with physical eyes*, but to be *welcomed as Lord* by the *whole body*, physically and spiritually.
The *most obvious testimony of belief* is *trust and* *obedience*.
So, first, *God’s desire* is that we *believe in His Son*.
II.
The *second part* of Jesus’ summary statement is *God’s Provision*.
*/46 /**/I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.
/*
/47 //“As for the person who hears My words but does not keep them, I do not judge him.
For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
/
/48 //There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.
/
God is *providing* us with something we *can find nowhere else*.
*Apart from God’s provision* we remain in *darkness*.
Out of *God’s merciful love* for us, He (*GOD*) *provided** Light* in the person of *His Son* so we can *get out of the dark* permanently.
Because of Jesus, there is *no good reason* for us to *remain captive* to the *darkness of sin*.
He *came as light* and He has *invited us* to *welcome the Light*.
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