Jesus Came to Save the World

Good morning Ambassadors! My name is Justin, I’m one of the pastors here at ABC and I want to welcome you here onsite and online, and say thank you for joining us. I’m grateful to be able share with you again this morning from the book of John. Last week, we explored the story of the raising of Lazarus, and both observed and applied what we could from the text. We saw the heart of God for those whom He loves; we saw the faith and heart of Martha and the close relationship Jesus had with Mary and Lazarus.

Today we are finishing the twelfth chapter, which coincides the end of the Book of Signs and signals the beginning of the book of Glory. The first 12 chapters of the book of John are comprised about encounters and Jesus teaching those around Him about the Father, about His purpose in being sent by the Father, and the power that He had to forgive. The book of glory points us directly to Jesus as He slowly but surely reveals more fully his… ummm..... Glory! Here at the end of chapter 12 we see Jesus’ last public teaching of “the Jews,” as He has just shared His woeful assessment of the religious leaders and teachers of His day - those whom He knew were plotting His arrest and execution, in spite of no fault being possibly found with Him. With that in mind, let’s read here starting in verse 44

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.”

Here at the beginning of the text, we see that Jesus “cried out.” Why does the Apostle John describe it like this? Because this was a public declaration and a teaching moment for all who were within earshot. And you can bet that “the Jews,” the pharisees and the scribes were easily within earshot of Jesus. In verses 36-43, we saw that Jesus was so upset with their unbelief that He hid from them and waited out their unbelief almost in an attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff. But here in this declaration and in this sharing, it’s almost like Jesus is calling out those who believe but will not admit it publicly, for fear of the teachers’ and scribes’ rebuke.

Let’s get into our first question this morning:

What did Jesus want His audience to know? (What does He want us to know?)

Let’s start again in verse 44

John 12:44 ESV

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.

Jesus immediately talks about the Father - further highlighting His relationship with Him and furthering the agenda of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. Others have already declared this, both his disciples and his close acquaintances (Martha declared this without reservation in the last chapter).

Jesus was not on earth to judge, but there will be judgement for those who reject Him

John 12:47 ESV

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.

It’s an interesting concept Jesus is talking about here, saying He doesn’t judge someone who hears and does not keep His words. But if you think about it, Jesus was talking about people like you and me. I’m grateful that I was fortunate to understand the gospel at a young age and placed my faith in Jesus as the only way. But since then I have not heeded the Word of Christ perfectly (or even well I would say). I continue to sin, pursue my own passions, and work towards ends that serve me and my comfort. But because I belong to Christ, because I’ve heard and accepted His Word, His grace covers those shortcomings and mistakes.

Jesus doesn’t come to judge me and others like me because we’ve accepted the free gift of grace that places our penalty, our judgment on the cross, where it was crucified with Christ. Jesus then moves into the opposite.

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.

The modern society shies away from speak fo judgment, but Jesus confronts it head on. There are 2 types of people in this world, those who receive Christ and those who do not. Jesus used the terminology of rejection, especially for those around Him. Jesus came down, became flesh, and lived among people, and yet many of those who were closest to Him, saw Him and rejected Him. What He says here is that one’s rejection of Him brings down the judgment that was meant for him in the first place.

C.S. Lewis says in the The Great Divorce -

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”

What does Lewis mean here? Exactly what Jesus has said in verse 48! Our modern world has such a difficult time in tackling difficult issues that create any semblance of accountability, yet Jesus here makes it a fundamental issue. One of the most counter-cultural things we can do is to maintain humanity’s accountability for sin, and call others to repent of that sin so that can be rescued from it.

So What does Jesus’ mission mean for us and the world?

John 12:47 ESV

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.

We are re-iterating this verse once again because it should be so inspiring, mind-blowing, and humbling to consider that God would do this for us. Jesus’ mission began with being born of the Virgin Mary; living a sinless life; operating a ministry of signs, discipleship, and sacrifice; giving Himself up to die, and then rising again to once and for all defeat the power of sin and death. All of these things

Jesus has fulfilled His mission to pay for sins, now it’s for us to receive Him

Now What is our role in Jesus’ mission?

Not to judge as Jesus judged, but to call others into belief and obedience, SO THAT they would not receive judgement but light and life

Shine the Light wherever darkness is present

John 12:46 ESV

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

One way of doing this is to do exactly what Jesus did in the following text, washing the Disciples’ feet. When we think of Jesus, do we think of Him as being worthy of being washed, not worthy of doing the washing. But Jesus did this because it was a foreshadowing of what His death would mean. He died worthy of life so that we, worthy of death, might live.

John 13:12–15 ESV

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

We shine the light through:

Loving one another

Serving those in and out of our community

Pointing everyone to the gospel and the love of God shown in it