Jesus' Last Words to the Jews (Jn. 12:34-50)

This is my personal summary of Rev Dr Stephen Tong's sermon on 15 January 2012 in STEMI Expository Preaching at True Way Presbyterian Church. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.

Passage: John 12:34-50

“Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.” (Jn. 12:37)

A preacher’s greatest sadness is that nobody wants to listen. But from God’s perspective this is the reverse. God is the sovereign one who gives opportunity to hear and hardens the heart. It is the Creator of all mankind who says this. As creatures made in the image of God, humans forget they have only the image and are not God.

Here is the conflict of sovereignty. We think we are sovereign we think we can choose God while actually it is God who choose. We live in a society that is man-centered. They think they have abandoned God but the Bible says that it is God that has abandoned them. They think they have the power to rebel against God but it is God who have left them to their own ways. Nothing happens outside of God’s will. He is the Lord of time and space, of humanity and nature, of history and geography. He declares that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the One who started and finish His works. He is indeed the God of the universe. In His wrath He preserves some people. In His overwhelmeing love He rejects some people. This is frightening. Many people fall in the hands of the God of judgement but are not aware of how horrible that is. Who knows the power of His wrath? We ought to fear God and give glory to Him.

Often we only look at the exterior. We despise the uneducated and the poor. The Lord deliberately came poor and uneducated. The Jews could not recognise who Christ was. When they could not see the arm of the Lord, they could not see God’s message, they thought the work of God was hidden. However, Isaiah said it is in God’s sovereignty that these people did not believe and perish. There are a lot of opportunities for the Jews to listen to Jesus but they became more arrogant and resistant to Him.

Jesus was calm, He did not react but simply explained the truth to them. Jesus warned them, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.” (Jn. 12:44-45)
The work of God is believing in the one He sent. The response to Christ is the greatest demand of God. The Jews did not realise the horrifying consequences of their unbelief.

Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” (Jn. 12:46-50)

Here Jesus addressed the Jews very clearly. This is the last preaching, the last opportunity, the last warning to the Jews. When men are ignorant of this, they think they abandon God but actually they abandon themselves. God removed the lampstand from Jerusalem and Athens, the two great cities at that time. Instead Galilee which was despised became the place where lasting influence came about. The disciples of Christ from Galiless have surpassed tje Greek philosophers. There are more people today with the names of Peter and John than those with the names of Aristotle and Plato.

True wisdom produces holiness, righteousness and is found in the salvation of God (1 Cor. 1:30). All true wisdom is found in the Word of God, which is fully revealed in Christ. Greek seek wisdom and Jews seek miracles but we preach Christ crucified. He was crucified because people judged Him based on what outward appearance. But this Nazarene has the greatest influence in the world. We must see the guidance of God with our eyes of faith.

This is the last time Jesus spoke to the Jews. There was no more opportunity after this. He spoke no more to them when He was on trial because their time was up. How many opportunities have we been given? We have to answer to all that on the last day.

The Glory of Christ (Jn. 12:20-28)

This is my personal summary of Rev Dr Stephen Tong's sermon on 27 November 2011 in STEMI Expository Preaching at True Way Presbyterian Church. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.

Passage: John 12:20-28

Jesus said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” (Jn. 12:26) Only those who serve Jesus would be honoured by God. If you do not honour Jesus Christ, God would not honour you. Here is where true value lies. If you honour Christ, you honour the value system God has set.

This is the mystery of Christ. The glorification of Jesus Christ came through suffering. He suffered under the will of God and this is His glorious pathway. This is the greatest truth in humanity. Many people want to be honoured and be glorious but very few are willing to suffer. Glory without pain and sufferings are superficial. Isa. 53 portrays Jesus as the suffering son of man. He suffered the most and will be the most glorified. God created man with glory and honour but they are not superficial things men see with physical eyes.

Jesus Christ is the seed that fell to the ground and died. At this point, Jesus said, “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (Jn. 12:27-28)

This prayer is related to existential consciousness. It is a reaction towards one’s existence. We often pray to God to deliver us from sickness, from sufferings and agony. We live in space and time and go through difficulties in life in time-space constraint.

Time and space are human life’s two great possesions. Our life is as long as our time. Jesus said by worrying we cannot increase our time by one moment. People tend to look at their possession in material terms and seldom look at it from the perspective of time and space. The Bible teaches that our consciousness of time and wisdom are linked. How we understand the limitation of our time relates to gaining wisdom. “Lord teach us to number our days aright that we might gain a heart of wisdom.” (Ps. 90:12). Much lost opportunity is lost time yet people tend to focus on their material possessions without realising this loss.

Jesus has a great consciousness of his own existence. Religiousity includes the understanding of eternity. We want to break free, we want to surpass. Jesus said, “Father save Me from this hour.” The existentialists use the term ‘anxiety’. It is not worry. Anxiety is more difficult to measure and more unfathomable. In German it is called angst.

Existentialists has angst because they are conscious they exist. They are conscious of their existence but do not understand the meaning of their existence because they see that inexistence will swallow them up. They cannot understand this chasm between existing and not existing.

One can only be swallowed by something greater. If existence is swallowed by non-existence, non-existence is greater than existence. How can that be? Existentialists therefore discuss nothingness as though it is something greater than existence. They discuss nothingness as though it is something concrete. Existentialism discusses how existence is swallowed into inexistence and studies inexistence as the greater existence. How great is that anxiety.

When Jesus prayed “Father save Me from this hour” He is acutely aware of His existence. Then Jesus said, “No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” Christians should learn to understand that our time and existence are ordained by God. Jesus is conscious that He came to suffer.

Our existence is not merely related to other material things. We receive wisdom when we realise our relationship with God who created us. Jesus is the Word that came into time. The relationship between Jesus and His sufferings cannot be segregated. He came for that very hour. He said, Father glorify Your name.

“Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.” (Jn. 12:28-29)

Why are some prayers not answered? Why did Jesus receive immediate response from heaven? His prayer is true prayer, a prayer that is pleasing to God. How many people really pray for the glory of God? We often just pray for our own needs. Jesus pray for God’s glory. His prayer was answered because it went right into the heart of God.

What does it mean by God’s reply, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” This is the concept of “already and not yet”. God has glorified His name and that refers to Christ’s incarnation. God said He will glorify it again and that refers to Christ’s death. That is the other glory. This is very different from our concept of glory. How can a lowly birth and humiliating death be God’s glory?

When Jesus was born in the manger, the angels sang “Glory to God in the highest, peace of God to those on whom His favour rest.” What sort of glory is that? This is the paradox of the Bible. The mystery of God is hidden in this thing. The highest King has come to the lowest place. This is the most glorious thing.

And God’s name will be glorified again through Christ’s death on the Cross. In Luke 24 Jesus said the Son of God enter into glory through His sufferings. And He is our glory. Through His death we enter into glory. There is no price greater than the blood of Christ which redeems us from sin and gives us eternal life. The church which grows through suffering for Christ is a true church. May we become people who will glorify God.

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Jn. 12:12-26)

This is my personal summary of Rev Dr Stephen Tong's sermon on 13 November 2011 in STEMI Expository Preaching at True Way Presbyterian Church. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.


Passage: John 12:12-26

God established David’s throne and promised that his kingdom would once more become glorious. Israel expected Messiah to come to recover the historical glory of Davidic kingdom. After the return from Babylon, Jewish scholars studied the Messiah and recognised the Messiah’s coming as a glorious one which would surely revive Israel. But this is a one-sided concept that is why the Jews could not recognise the true Messiah when He came. They looked down on Him because of His human background. They concluded nothing would come from Nazareth, from the son of a carpenter. It was a tragedy to measure value in this way.

Why did Jesus ride on a donkey and not a horse? Jesus was willing to ride on a donkey which nobody has ever ridden. He entered Jerusalem as the Prince of peace, not the King of war. People on the road welcomed Him and shouted hosanna (Jn. 12:12-13). From human perspective this was the greatest glory Jesus received on earth.

But unlike man’s concept of glory, Christ’s concept of glory Jesus is in suffering. The first step of His glorification on earth was His incarnation, God become flesh. The angels sang glory to God in the highest when He was born in the lowest place, the smelly manger.

The second step was the glory in His death. When people came by the masses to welcome Jesus, the Pharisees were displeased. Their words revealed their arrogance. They could not be happy when others are praised. They believe their religion is right and only they should get praises. Jerusalem was in a mess then. Some people wanted to kill Jesus, some wanted to praise God and some people were there for the passover. But Jesus knew He was the Lamb of the passover and the time was coming for Him to die.

This principle has never changed. Without the cross there is no resurrection. No life without death. No glory of God without suffering.

Many people from all over the world came to gather at Jerusalem for the passover, including the Greeks (Jn. 12:20). Why would the non-Jews obey the law of the Jews to come to Jerusalem for passover? These were non-Jews who were pious and God-fearing. Cornellius was such a person. He feared God. Peter said, “God accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.” (Acts 10:35) This does not mean their good deeds save them. They still need the salvation of Jesus. The Bible said the entire world is under sin.

The Greeks discovered that their religion was not good so they looked for something different in the Jewish religion. 400 years before our Lord, the Greeks had 3 great philosophers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. These three great philosophers were different, but they were common in one way. They recognise that truth must be consistent and true good must bring true happiness. True happiness consists in having wisdom which includes life ethics. In the past, they were seeking wisdom. Unfortunately our education system is more about academics, it is not about seeking wisdom.

Socrates had sparked the thought to seek the purpose of life in many Greeks who continued to learn for 400 years till Jesus came. 400 years before and 400 years after Christ are considered the golden age of philosophy. People seek to understand the purpose of existence. In western philosophy, the golden aim of existence is to be happy. One group says happiness comes from hedonistic lifestyle (Epicurian). Another group believes true happiness comes from true good (Stoics) which sets high standard for morality. And a third group doubts everything (Skeptics). This influences western though greatly, to seek the good, to seek joy and happiness and to doubt all things.

These highly learned and intelligent Greeks were looking for Jesus. They found that their false gods did not give any answer. They were looking for purpose of life. They found Phillip. Phillip found Andrew and both went to Jesus. When they met Jesus, Jesus said “the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” (v.23) This refers to His death. He was not filled with anxiety. He was not interested in philosophy discourse. He knew He was called for the lost sheep of Israel.

So He said to the Greeks, “Very truly I tell you, 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.” (Jn. 12:24) Here Jesus gave them the philosophy of life. There are two principles, anyone who loves their life will lose it, he who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life (Jn. 12:25). No religion or philosophy ever said this. Eventually every religion and philosophy of man is still man-centered. However, Jesus points away from man-centredness. He said lose your life and you will receive it.

When your time is up your money means nothing, your power means nothing. A person who live a life of decadence will one day has everything he has strived for taken away, like the rich man who hoarded wealth would lose his life the very night God wanted it.

Our Lord Jesus was born gloriously and died gloriously in God’s eyes. He went from glory to glory, the first glory in incarnation and the second glory in His death. This is very different from political leaders and sinners of the world.

Jesus was not interested in philosophical discourses. He came to die in order to give eternal life.

Preparing for His Death - Part 3 (Jn. 12:1-8)

This is my personal summary of Rev Dr Stephen Tong's sermon on 6 November 2011 in STEMI Expository Preaching at True Way Presbyterian Church. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.

Passage: John 12:1-8

In the Bible, top 3 women whose words were recorded most in the Bible are:
1. Rahab
2. Queen of Sheba
3. Mary the mother of Jesus

A major utterance of Mary the mother of Jesus is the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), where Mary said something that even the Roman Catholics could not deny - that she needed a saviour (Lk 1:47). Note that since long time ago the Roman Catholics believed that Mary was divine and had been debating whether she ascended into heaven and did not die, just like Enoch. This debate ended when in 1953, the pope at that time dogmatized that she ascended into heaven and did not die. The dogma next developed into a concept that stated that Mary is the co-redeemer besides Jesus: Jesus is a redeemer and Mary too is a redeemer (the Co-Redemptrix doctrine).

This is completely against the Bible. Firstly, in performing the miracles our Lord Jesus Christ did not need her at all. In John 2 at the wedding in Cana, when Mary asked Jesus to help with the wine shortage, Jesus replied, 'Woman, what does this have to do with me? ...' (or translated 'Woman, what have you got to do with me?') This is because just before performing miracles, Jesus exercised his divinity. Miracles can only be performed by God and man/woman has no part in them. Secondly, while Jesus was preaching and his mother and brothers were looking for him, Jesus answer was based on his divinity, 'Who is my mother? ...' Here Jesus clearly expressed his divine nature as above his mother who was just human. Thirdly, when Jesus was 12 and stayed behind at the temple, his answer reflected that his father was God the Father, even as he obeyed his earthly parents. Lastly, when Mary the mother of Jesus was last mentioned in the Bible (i.e. in Acts 1:14), she joined the disciples in praying before the Pantecost. This implied that she was just a human.

Feet are a man's dirtiest body part and hair is a woman's most glorious body part. But Mary from Bethany offered her hair (highest glory of man) for Jesus' feet (the lowliest part of man) in being used by God to anoint Jesus.

Another Mary used by God is Mary Magdalene. She was used by God to be the first person to tell the world that Jesus Christ had risen after his death.

Preparing for His Death - Part 2 (Jn. 12:1-8)

This is my personal summary of Rev Dr Stephen Tong's sermon on 30 October 2011 in STEMI Expository Preaching at True Way Presbyterian Church. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.

Passage: John 12:1-8

To anoint Jesus, Mary bought a very expensive kind of pure nard, broke the bottle and used all of them on Jesus. As the fragrance filled the whole room, it symbolised how much she loved the Lord. It must have been the moment that Jesus most appreciated his whole life as he spent much of his time with the poor and smelly, ministering to them.

In the Bible there were many people used by God. Most of them were men, and a few were woman. Even though they were women, they were still used by God in very special ways. No other religion held women in such high esteem, granting them opportunity to serve God. Before God, man and woman are equal in status. However their roles are different: Man is the head of the woman. When brothers and sisters serve together in the ministry, the sisters do not need to compete to be leaders over the ministry; the former are to be submissive to the brothers. Reformed theology (归正神学) aims to follow this principle in the ministry too - there is a difference between the Reformed theology (归正神学) and [some] Presbyterian church (长老会): The former does not ordain female reverends but the latter has already permitted that.

Still, women were used in very special occasions by God. Among them is this Mary from Bethany.  She was such a silent woman, she would listen to the Lord intently when he taught. In the whole Bible only one sentence of her is recorded, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died' (John 11:32). However she was the one used to anoint Jesus.

From a person's words we can tell how a person is like. Rahab, even though she was a prostitute, spoke gracious words to the spies that sought refuge at her house. The Queen of Sheba who went to seek an audience with Solomon in search of wisdom spoke humbly too. Mary the mother of Jesus, praised God very wonderfully upon hearing the news that she will bear Jesus Christ in her womb (the Magnificat) even though it was a sacrifice on her part [of bearing the shame of bearing a baby as a virgin].

In contrast, Judas spoke words that destroyed the whole atmosphere that evening. Judas was quick to speak and did not take any action. But Mary kept quiet and let her actions speak instead. Very few Christians are like her today - quiet but full of actions. In the church today we seldom find people like her. Those who like to quarrel don't serve in any ministry but those who serve, would not quarrel.

I believe the words in v6 were added by John later on. This is because in chapter 13 we read that when Jesus said one of them would betray him, nobody knew it was going to be Judas. Only when Peter motioned to John to ask Jesus did Jesus reveal it to John.

Jesus' reply were greatly comforting words to Mary. The implication is that whatever sadness happens to us the true comfort will come from Jesus Christ. What she did was to anoint Jesus Christ.

When a person becomes a priest/prophet/king, he must be anointed. The Bible tells us only one occasion when a prophet was anointed - Elisha (by Elijah). This does not mean that prophets do not need to be anointed; it can only be concluded that only Elisha was anointed through a religious rite. In reality, a prophet does not need to be anointed by man because his anointing comes direcly from God. When a person was sent as a prophet, the Holy Spirit moved upon the person and that was his anointing. However priests and kings are different. A priest require another priest to anoint him. A king needs the high priest to anoint him. Now Jesus was all: a prophet, a priest and a king. As king, God himself has anointed him as no one in his era would have been qualified to anoint Jesus. This was recorded in the first messianic psalm - Psalm 2. As prophet, it was also God himself who anointed him as we can see from John 1:1-3 that the Word became flesh and the Word came from God and the Word was God. Prophet in Hebrews means God's spokeperson. Now Jesus himself is the Word that bsecame flesh and that he came from the Father. This will become clearer towards the end of John 12. As a priest, a priest represents two parties. Before man he represents God and before God he represents man. On behalf of God, he tells us God's grace, promises, and commands. On behalf of man he is a mediator between man and God. On one hand he represents God by preaching the Word of God, on the other hand he represents man and his sin. Jesus came to the world for his life so that he could die physically for man. Jesus also came to the world for his death so that man can be saved. From the third angle, Jesus came to the world through the virgin Mary, so that he could take our sins upon himself. Ps 45 and Heb10:7 tell us that when Christ came to the world, he thanked God for giving him the physical body so that he could take on the sins of man. Therefore his death was a priestly death, his burial was a burial of the final mediator, and his resurrection brought the end to the priest genealogy.

John recorded a few times that the Jews were asking if Jesus would like to die, because in their Christology the Messiah would not die. But if Jesus did not die, he would have not carried out his duty as a priest.

Mary's anointing of Jesus was not a simple outpouring of perfume unto Jesus; it was part of the priestly duty itself. She had a part in that. Mary knew her responsibility well. Hence Jesus told Judas to leave her alone while anointing Jesus.

John the Baptist was the only one in history ever moved by the Holy Spirit while still in the womb. We can see this when Mary the mother of Jesus went to meet Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist. Elisabeth said, 'The mother of my Lord has come to meet me.' At that time, John the Baptist was moved by the Holy Spirit to jump in her womb. The implication is that the Gnostic were wrong - it was not that Jesus become divine only after the Holy Spirit came upon him (The Gnostic relied on Jesus's words on the cross, 'My Lord My Lord why do you forsake me?') Jesus was already divine even before birth as we see from Elisabeth's words.

God did not use Annas and Caiaphas to anoint Jesus because they were dishonest people and hated Jesus.

Preparing for His Death (Jn. 11:47-12:8)

This is my personal summary of Rev Dr Stephen Tong's sermon on 23 October 2011 in STEMI Expository Preaching at True Way Presbyterian Church. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.

Passage: John 11:47 – 12:8

John said the law came from Moses but the grace of salvation came from Jesus Christ. One who could not understand the New Testament cannot really understand the Old Testament. Through Jesus Christ we understand God’s salvation in human history. We see this principle in Lu. 23:24. Jesus appeared before His disciples and explained the Psalms, the Prophets and the history books. The starting point in understanding the Old Testament is from the resurrection of Christ.

After He resurrected Lazarus, the Jews plotted to kill Him. At the end of John 11, He withdrew temporarily and was not easily found (Jn. 11:54). This is not a flight to safety. He would appear again before the Passover. This would be the forth time within 3.5 years of ministry. The first time He went to Jerusalem, He cleansed the temple. The forth time, He cleared the temple again. In His last visit He would be crucified.

Many people put their faith in Jesus because of Lazarus’ resurrection and many Jews also wanted to kill Jesus because of this. The Pharisees and priests had ordered that anyone who saw Jesus should report to them so that they might arrest Him (Jn. 11:57). They wanted to kill Him but because murder is against the law they used Pilate to kill Him instead. Pilate told the Pharisees to judge and punish Jesus themselves according to their own law and the Pharisees said according to their law they could not put Jesus to death.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany where Lazarus, Mary and Martha lived. Martha served and Mary prepared a perfume. Here Mary poured Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. This is 6 days before Jesus’ death. This is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. She was very sensitive to God’s timing. The servant of God should do things according to God’s will and timing. Most people do not understand this and end up doing things in their lives out of line with God’s ways and timing.

The perfume was worth a year’s wages. Our her love for Jesus, she saved all her money and bought the expensive perfume to anoint Him for the death of Jesus. This true High Priest would be crucified soon for the sin of the world. Who would anoint Him? God has prepared this woman to anoint Him. No one else knew He was about to die.

Jesus was born from the womb of Mary who was submissive to God’s will. She was anointed for His death by another Mary who loved Jesus. And Mary Magdalene, the woman out of whom Jesus cast out 7 demons, was the first woman who saw the resurrection of Jesus. The most obedient and the most defiled were all used by God. These women were blessed indeed.

She broke the bottle. She did not want to leave anything behind as a memory for her contribution. The way Martha and Mary loved Jesus were different. Martha was always visibly the hardworking one who served. Mary was unreserved and quietly working hard and saving up to anoint Jesus with all she had. This sacrifice is very rare. Jesus said when the gospel was preached to the end world, what Mary had done will also be told in memory of her.

Judas protested, saying the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Judas himself did not help or care for the poor but he rebuked Mary for not using the money to give to the poor. John said Judas said that because Judas was the money keeper and often stole. Who realised Judas was the thief? Even on the day He was betrayed, His 11 disciples still did not know. They were simple-minded. But Jesus knew.

Jesus said, “Leave her alone, it was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” (Jn. 12:7-7) The lesson here is we should seize the moment to serve God or we will lose the opportunities.

Jesus Resurrected Lazarus (part 3) (Jn. 11:11-46)

This is my personal summary of Rev Dr Stephen Tong's sermon on 16 October 2011 in STEMI Expository Preaching at True Way Presbyterian Church. It was preached in Chinese with English translation.

Passage: John 11:44-53

Jesus calmed the sea, showing Himself to be the Lord of nature. He raised the dead, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walked, showing Himself to be the Lord of life. So His disciples believed Him to be the Son of God.

The biggest miracle happened in John 11 where He resurrected Lazarus who had been in the tomb for 4 days. After this, there were bipolar reactions. One side believed in Him and the other side determined to kill Him. His destiny has been set. Many people put their faith in Him but many wanted Him dead. They wanted to kill Lazarus too. Why did they react that way? On what basis did they oppose Him after such a miracle accomplisment?

From John 2 onwards there had been two reactions against Him, those who believed and those who opposed Him. However, even to those who believed, the Bible said Jesus did not give Himself over to men for He knew the hearts of all men (Jn 2). Again in John 3, when Nicodemus came to Him and said nobody could accomplish the miracles He did if he were not from God, far from being flattered Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you are not born again you cannot see the kingdom of God.” Self-righteous intellectuals will find it hard to humble themselves to learn the truth.

John 5-11 record many debates which are not recorded in the synoptic gospels. Jesus received stern response from the Jews. He was called demon-possessed, an illegitimate child, looked down upon as a Galilean where no prophet had ever come from. Judging Jesus from these human angles they never understood who Jesus is. Our Lord is patient and continued to discourse with the Jews. He challenged if any of them could convince Him of sin and nobody could. Finally in John 11, He performed the greatest miracle by raising Lazarus, and from then on they were determined to kill him.

Jesus healed a paralytic on Sabbath day in John 5. He healed a blind man on Sabbath in John 9. Far from breaking the Sabbath, Jesus brought people into true Sabbath. The greatest rest had occurred for these people who were never able to enjoy true Sabbath in the past. The Jews who plotted to kill Jesus were the ones who truly broke the Sabbath. Jesus said they saw the speck into their brother’s eye but could not see the plank in their own eye.

According to the Jews who opposed Him, Jesus broke the law by breaking Sabbath. As a result, they wanted to murder him. But paradoxically, their intent to murder was breaking the law too. They killed Jesus not because Jesus broke the law but because He was a threat to their culture.

After resurrecting Lazarus, many believed in Jesus. Since the creation of mankind nobody has done this so He must surely be the Son of God. But is this true faith? In the eyes of God this is not sufficient. Jesus said, “if you do not witness miracles you cannot believe.” This is not true faith. So although they believe, Jesus did not give Himself to them. In John 8, Jesus said to the Jews that their father is not Abraham but the devil. Jesus said this to the Jews who believed in Him too, not only those who opposed Him.

We ought to examine ourselves. One day when we come before the Lord, would we hear Him say, “depart from me I never knew you”?

Apostle Paul said we are to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith. If you think you belong to Christ, you need to search yourselves and think how you belong to Christ. If you only believe because you see miracle, there is no much value in such faith. We do not belong to Christ unless we have the spirit of Christ. Jesus said not all who called Him Lord would enter the Kingdom of God but those who do the will of His Father in heaven. This is not about salvation by works, but it implies that true faith results in obedience.

The Jews went to the Pharisees as they were concerned to see more and more people following Jesus. When the servant of God is not thinking about the glory of God but their own glory the church is headed for destruction. Many pastors are using the church as a means to make money. Who is willing to suffer for the Lord?

Caiaphas, the high priest of the year, said that it is better for one man to die for the people than the whole nation perish (Jn. 11:49-50). Caiaphas did not believe in Jesus and was speaking in nationalistic spirit to preserve Israel so they plotted to kill Jesus. But what he said indirectly prophesied Jesus’ death, which was God’s purpose so that His people might be saved from sin. Prior to His birth, it was already prophesied that Jesus would save His people from sin. John saw that Jesus would die not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles.

The Jews wanted to kill him however because it is against the their law to kill, they get the Romans to kill him. This is the greatest political plot in history. Religion made use of politics to carry out the greatest injustice. It was religious leaders who killed Jesus, not the politicians, as Pilate himself acknowledged that he could not find any fault in Jesus and he washed his hands from that guilt. The Lord was calm under the judgement of the Jews. He would one day come back and be our Judge.