End of Jesus’ Public Ministry

This morning we are going to look at Jesus’ closing of his public ministry.

He has entered into Jerusalem as the Humble Messiah on a donkey.

He had recieved praise from the crowd.

Their excitement had mounted b/c they believed that he was the messiah that had come to restore Israel.

They believed He was going to reestablish them as a nation and a people.

The gentiles had come to him and now Jesus’ hour has arrived.

The time to start his death march.

So this is his last hurrah, his last public discourse before Jesus begins what’s known as the Farewell Discourse and preparing his disciples for his departure.

Now I am going to admit that this section of scripture is difficult for many to wrap their heads around.

Jesus is going to make some more bold statements.

Remember a couple of weeks ago we talked about the cross being the dividing line in history.

That is going to become more apparent today.

Jesus’ march to the cross is going to bring judgment.

Now when we think about judgment many people can be uncomfortable.

One of the favorite lines of people today is “Don’t Judge me”

We don’t like Judgement.

Specifically we don’t like negative judgments.

Why don’t we like to be judged?

B/c when we are judged it reveals where we fall short.

Where we lack.

Where we are deficient.

And the reality it we all make judgments all the time.

And our judgement as fallen humans can be short sighted.

They can be self serving.

They can be wrong.

So what we need is a good and perfect judge.

The world needs a Just Judge.

A judge that is not hamstrung by sinfulness and selfishness.

And we have that perfect and just judge in Jesus.

And Jesus is granted the power to judge b/c of his obedience to the father, even obedience to the cross.

John 12:32–36 CSB

32 As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die. 34 Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

Lifted up to Draw People

We touched on this passage a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted us to look at it once again.

It really opens our eyes to what is going to happen.

Jesus tells us that he is going to be lifted up.

This is an allusion to him being raised on the Cross.

The cross will draw all kinds of people to him.

Not just the Jews, but people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.

Remember, the reason Jesus came was to die.

This was to accomplish the will of the Father that people would be restored into a right relationship with the Father.

As is a theme throughout John’s gospel, the crowd is confused about what Jesus is saying.

The messiah wasn’t supposed to die.

He was supposed to come in power and reign forever.

They wanted to know How is Jesus’ death going to be beneficial to the Jewish people?

Jesus then goes into another teaching about him being the light of the world and the importance of people living in the light.

So that the darkness, that is the wickedness of the world.

The sin of self doesn’t overcome us.

And the only why that people can walk in the light is to believe in the light.

And when they believe, that is trust Jesus fully, they can be children of the light.

This is a direct call back to the prologue in John 1:12-13 “12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.”

So Jesus reveals to us a truth that people either live in the light or live in the dark.

They are either brought to the light through trust in Jesus or they remain in darkness b/c of unbelief.

This plays into the closing Section of Chapter 12.

That is the judgement that Jesus came to show you are either in the light or in the darkness.

And as John wraps up the first section of his gospel, he is asking you the reader or hearer, where are you?

Do you believe?

Are you in the darkness or do you belong to the light?

John 12:37–38 CSB

37 Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Unbelievable Unbelief

John is flabbergasted by the lack of belief found in those who witnessed Jesus’ signs.

Even though Jesus had done the miraculous.

Even though Jesus had demonstrated his divine origin.

Even though Jesus had taught and with authority.

It didn’t matter to some, b/c they didn’t believe in him.

John here is telling us that they should have believed.

They had all the evidence.

They had seen all the signs.

They had the truth staring them in the face and yet they still didn’t believe.

Here’s something we need to understand, it doesn’t matter the evidence.

It doesn’t matter the arguments.

I could sit here and prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is who he said he is and if you don’t want to believe you won’t believe.

We can look a the world around us and see the handiwork of God.

We can hear testimonies about people’s lives being changed.

We can witness miracles and still some will refuse to believe.

This should prove to us beyond a shadow of any doubt that belief is absolutely a heart issue.

You can’t argue, convince, compel, or coerce people into belief.

It is a gift of God or a rejection by the wickedness in their hearts that cause belief or unbelief.

That should comfort us in our witnessing to people.

Some will believe.

Some won’t believe.

If they don’t believe Jesus, they won’t believe you.

But there will be those that do believe.

Those that are open to the power of the gospel.

Regardless, There is human responsibility when it comes to belief in Jesus.

But a good question is why do some believe and some don’t believe, John appeals to Isaiah 6 to help us answer that question.

I’m gonna be honest, we may not like the answer.

But remember, this is God’s Word and we don’t have to like it to trust and believe it.

John 12:39–41 CSB

39 This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said: 40 He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him.

Judicial Hardening

John tells us that they were unable to believe b/c God didn’t allow them to believe.

He blinded their eyes, hardened their hearts.

Does that truth make you a little uncomfortable?

God blinds eyes and hardens hearts so that they are unable to believe.

I want to try and help ease the tension a little.

I want you to see that when John presents this argument that there is a natural flow of thought.

The hardening of hearts and blinding of eyes happens after the rejection of Jesus.

The people John is talking about here have already had the message and signs brought to them.

They have had all the evidence laid out before them.

Jesus is the Messiah the son of God.

And they reject him.

They deny him.

So God does what he pleases and he hardens their hearts and blinds their eyes.

If they don’t want to believe then he will help their unbelief.

This isn’t a foreign concept in the bible.

In fact, I’m going to take you two places one in the OT and one in NT to help you see that God has done this before.

In the Exodus story, we read that God hardens Pharaoh's Heart.

Moses goes to Pharaoh and asks that he release God’s people from slavery, but Pharaoh refuses to do so.

But I want us to see that before God hardens his heart, Pharaoh had already hardened it.

So God simply hardens it further after Pharaoh has already decided to stand against God and his mission.

For a New Testament example we will look at Romans 1.

Romans 1:18–25 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

v.24 -God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts.

God simply gave them over. Allowed them to have what they wanted.

He didn’t soften their hearts.

He didn’t open their eyes.

He gave them over.

They had the responsibility to believe, but instead they suppressed the truth.

They desired their flesh, sin, and rebellion more than they desired God.

So God hardened their hearts all the more.

It’s not like they didn’t know the message.

They didn’t know the truth.

They didn’t know they were enemies of God.

Rather they didn’t care.

So God gave them over.

Now here’s something I want you to grasp.

This isn’t surprising to God.

These quotes John uses are from Isaiah were some 700 years before Jesus’ birth.

God knew that his people were going to reject the messiah.

He knew that they weren’t going to believe.

He knew that he was going to have to harden their hearts and blind their eyes.

In fact, this very thing happened to Isaiah.

When God called Isaiah.

God told him to go and proclaim repentance to the people.

But they aren’t going to listen to you.

They are going to reject you.

They are going to reject the promise of forgiveness.

So Isaiah was a doomed prophet who was hated by his people.

They rejected his message.

Much like they did to Jesus too.

God always knows and expects that some people will receive his message of salvation and some will reject the message.

Charles Spurgeon once said

““The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins”

The gospel message will undoubtedly bring up in people one of two responses.

Acceptance or rejection.

Hearing the gospel message does something to us.

We either love it and embrace it or we hate it and reject it.

And let me help you see this if you hear it and ignore it you are rejecting it.

Don’t believe that at a later date you will respond to it.

Don’t think that the message of Jesus doesn’t deserve a response right now.

We cannot presume upon God’s kindness.

He will not be mocked.

If you are compelled by the message of the gospel lean into it today.

Don’t delay because there is a real danger that your heart will be hardened.

Now for those of us that are believers we need to be encouraged by the gospel message.

Listen to v.41

jn 12.41 “41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him.”

Isaiah was able to preach the gospel.

He was able to face rejection.

He was able to endure hatred and persecution b/c he saw the glory of God.

The quote in v. 40 is from Isaiah 6:10.

And you may not be aware, but Isaiah 6 is where Isaiah had a vision.

Isaiah saw the Lord seated on his throne in the temple.

And there were Seraphim standing around him.

These are 6 winged creatures and 2 of their wings covered their face, 2 covered their feet, and 2 allowed them to fly.

and they proclaimed some of the most beautiful words

Isa 6:3 “3 And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.”

Seeing this Isaiah says

Isa 6:5 “5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.”

One of the seraphim then cleanse his lips with a glowing coal, and God commissions Isaiah to bring the message.

Isaiah is obedient knowing that his ministry is going to be fruitless.

Eventually Isaiah is murdered for preaching the message.

And tradition tells us that he was sawed in half for his faithfulness to God.

But why did he continue to preach.

Why did he continue to proclaim.

Why did he continue to call people to repentance knowing they were going to reject him?

Because he saw the glory of God.

He saw the beauty of the message.

He saw the preincarnate Christ in that throne room and he knew that regardless of the people’s response God was working.

Once we have witnessed the glory of God we can’t help but do the things that God has called us to.

Remember we don’t do ministry for ourselves.

We don’t preach the gospel for ourselves.

We don’t tell others about Jesus for ourselves.

We do it for the glory of God.

And if we remember why we do it then we will be able to endure.

John gives us a glimpse into peoples reaction to Jesus before Jesus final plea to the crowd.

John 12:42–43 CSB

42 Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise more than praise from God.

False Faith

This is a curious couple of sentences.

B/c it seems as if even though people believed in Jesus they didn’t fully believe.

But one of the the things that we have to remember when reading through the gospel of John is that belief is that true belief is always continued belief.

Some of these rulers may have believed, but did they actually.

There were some that were changed forever.

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.

But there were other’s that simply gave lip service to belief.

And this is given credence by what John says in v. 43.

They loved human praise more than praise from God.

So they may have said they believed.

They may have acted a little bit like they believed, but when push came to shove they wanted to please man more than God.

They wanted to keep their comfort.

They wanted to avoid being thrown out of the synagogue.

Jesus tells us in Matt 10:33 “33 But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.”

We can always tell who really loves and is devoted to Jesus by what they are willing to lose to follow him.

Do they have a shallow faith or a deep faith.

Is their faith going to last or will it be tossed away by the craziness of the world.

Do they love the praise of man more than the praise of God?

Where do you rest in this question?

Do you love God so much that you are going to follow him no matter what?

That’s the essence of faith. Trusting God regardless of circumstances.

Regardless of what it will cost you.

Regardless of how people will look at you or treat you.

Are you seeking God’s praise and approval or someone else’s?

....

Jesus ends his public ministry with one last call out to believe in him.

John 12:44–50 CSB

44 Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. 50 I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

Mission and Message

Jesus gives a summary of his mission and message in these last 7 verses of John 12.

I’ve spent the last 8 months explaining them so we are going to speed through them.

john 12:44-45 “44 Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 And the one who sees me sees him who sent me.”

The first thing Jesus reminds us of is that he has a divine origin.

He is sent by the Father to accomplish the will of the Father.

He has come into the world for one purpose to bring glory to the Father and that glory is seen in those who believe in him and accept his message.

If you reject Jesus, you reject the Father.

This is a big deal for the Jewish people, b/c they don’t want to reject the father, but they are rejecting Jesus.

So by their rejection of Jesus they are blinded by the fact that they reject the Father.

You can’t have God and skip out on Jesus.

If you want the Father you have to accept the son.

jn 12:46 “46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.”

Jesus also reminds us that he is the light of the world.

He has come to dispel the darkness.

He has come to expose the wickedness.

And if we reject him we live in the darkness.

But if we receive him we live in the light.

jn 12:47-48 “47 If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

Jesus also came to judge.

Jesus, in his first coming, came to bring salvation to all who will believe.

He came to provide the way of salvation.

But if people don’t accept him. If they don’t believe him then they are falling under judgement.

Jesus’ coming, his words, his teachings, will be the judge we will see on the final day.

Either we will be found faithful, or we will be found wanting.

Today is the day to decide are you going to listen to and believe Jesus or are you going to continue to reject him?

Are you going to face Jesus as a friend or be condemned b/c of your unbelief.

There’s no two ways about it.

Either you will be saved or you will be judged.

Jn 5.22 “22 The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,”

You will be judged based on what you do with Jesus.

Based on how you respond to his message.

Why?

B/c his message is the same message of the Father.

John 12:49-50 “49 For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. 50 I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.””

Jesus speaks what the father has given him.

He speaks truth.

Love, compassion.

Judgement and wrath.

Our calling is to accept Jesus’ words.

To listen to Jesus’ commandment.

To obey and submit to the God of the universe.

And if we don’t then we will face judgement.

But if we do we will receive eternal life.

Where are you today?

Do you know Jesus as lord and savior?

Have you given your life over to him?

or are you still waiting?

What are you waiting for?

Jesus is calling you right now.

Answer him.