John Chapter 12
John 11:53-57 - After the sign of raising Lazarus from the dead and fearing the whole world will go after Jesus, the chief priests and the Pharisees begin to plan together how they will KILL Jesus.......
vs.54...JESUS THEREFORE no longer continued to walk PUBLICLY among the JEWS, but went AWAY from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called EPHRAIM - and there He stayed with the disciples. John 11:54 - the country near the wilderness, into a city called EPHRAIM and stayed with the disciples.
NOW....the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went UP to JERSUALEM out of the country BEFORE the PASSOVER to PURIFY themselves. John 11:57 - the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if ANYONE KNEW where JESUS was, he should REPORT it, that they might SEIZE HIM!
As we begin JOHN, CHAPTER 12......
They were in the home of Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. We looked at some characteristics of these two sisters in our last lesson of Chapter 11.
Picture this act of worship in your mind....
There is one of the 12 disciples that has a problem with this.
What is his name?
What was Judas intending to do? (vs.4) -
What was his complaint about the act of worship Mary performed?(vs.5) -
Deep in his heart, there was a hidden motive. Was he really concerned about the poor according to verse 6?
What was the character of Judas?
Was he a good steward of his responsibility? (vs.6) -
So, Jesus knows that Judas is being hypocritical toward Mary.
The great crowd of Jews that had gathered in Jerusalem to purify themselves for the Passover Feast coming.....heared that Jesus was there.
They not only came to see Jesus, but who else were they interested in seeing? (vs.9) -
What did the Jewish religious leaders want to do to Lazarus as well?(vs.10) -
WHY?
vs. 12......."on the next day".....this would be 5 days before the Passover.....JESUS was coming to JERUSALEM from Bethany (remember about 2 miles)
If this is 5 days before Passover......in 5 days it will be FRIDAY, the day of Passover, and the day our PASSOVER LAMB, the LORD JESUS CHRIST WILL BE CRUCIFIED!
As these OLD TESTAMENT Scriptures are being fulfilled.... "Hosanna! Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord, even the King of Israel."
Purposefully so that another prophecy would be fulfilled.......
"Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." (See Zechariah 9:9 in the Old Testament)
JESUS WAS OPENLY ANNOUNCING TO THE PEOPLE THAT HE ACCEPTED THEIR WORSHIP AND THAT HE INDEED IS THE KING OF ISRAEL (John 1:49),the PROMISED MESSIAH! No doubt, many of the pilgrims that had come to Jerusalem that year for Passover believed that NOW would be the TIME their PROMISED Messiah would defeat the ROMAN RULE and set the nation of Israel FREE......
Something they missed...NO CROWN until THE CROSS....
While the Jews were celebrating their KING's reign on earth (they thought)....
Jesus was WEEPING.
The name Jerusalem means "city of Peace" or "foundation of peace"; and the people were hoping Jesus would bring them the physical PEACE that they needed.....However, JESUS WEPT over the city of Jerusalem because He saw what lay ahead of the nation because they didn't RECOGNIZE the day of their VISITATION by their MESSIAH... and WE SEE IT EVERYDAY ON THE NEWS, don't we? ......war, suffering, destruction, and a scattered people.
AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, the angels cried "peace on earth", but it did not mean "peace" from war..........
.. During Jesus' MINISTRY on earth, he announced "war"....
Before leaving the earth, He warned His disciples of things that their nation would endure before the end of time (all written out in Matthew 24...."wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine....etc.........)
BUT...THE NEXT TIME ISRAEL SEES THE KING, WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE?
This time will be followed by 1000 years of Jesus being the King of all the earth, reigning from Jerusalem, and with Satan bound for the 1000 years and the Saints of God ruling with Jesus...there finally will be PEACE ON EARTH!
Of course, Revelation, and Biblical Prophecy is a whole other subject.
Our focus in John is the FIRST COMING OF THE LORD JESUS, which the nation of Israel, for the most part, did not recognize because they were blind to the many Scriptures that talked about
HIS SUFFERING before HIS GLORY.........
And the repeated pattern of New Testament teachings in regard to our indentification with our Lord Jesus is: suffering before glory! Don't let your religious blindfold keep you from seeing that! Let's look up just a 'few' of many and write them out!
What does it mean to take up our cross and follow Him?
It means that as the world hated Him, it will hate us. It means that before we are glorified, we must undergo the death of our physical bodies so that we can be raised immortal, without sin, no longer under the bondage of sin and death. But praise God, we can walk in the victory each day as we 'die' to our 'self' and continue to follow after the Lord, not looking at the temporal decay of these bodies, but looking forward to the glorification, the eternal life that we have been promised!
Read & comment on Galatians 2:20 -
Read & share how the 6th chapter of Romans shows we identify with Jesus in our faith and walk -we are no longer to walk in the flesh and after the sins of the world, but walk in the newness of Light that faith in him brings to our daily lives.
There are so many verses. We could do a subject study JUST on Suffering and Glory. Look up a few and make some comments:
Acts 5:41-
Acts 9:16-
Romans 8:17-
1 Corinthians 12:26 -
2 Corinthians 1:6 -
Philippians 1:29 -
"For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
1 Peter 1:6,7 -
1 Peter 4:12-19 -
If we must suffer as a Christian, then what did it mean when Jesus told us in this chapter, John Chapter 12 - that "NOW, the RULER of this WORLD would be CAST out?"..(vs.31). What do you think it means?
Does Satan have power over us anymore?
Is he still the ruler of this world for right now?
Has the power of sin and death been broken in your life?
Yet, has it been broken in everyone that you know?
What is the difference?
Because of IDENTIFYING with the DEATH of Jesus and that bringing the same suffering that He endured.......
WE IDENTIFY WITH HIM ALSO IN THE RESURRECTED LIFE HE BRINGS.
Satan is cast out of the believer in Christ. He has no more power over us! The cross was his defeat for all that will believe in the Lord Jesus Chirst. We will be discussing this in greater detail as we look at the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection coming up in the Gospel of John.
___THE BOOK DIVIDES HERE FOR A SPECIFIC REASON.___
We have overviewed 3 years of PUBLIC Ministry. The other three Gospels could be laid beside this book and would give us even more details about the Public life and ministry of our Lord, the Son of Man.
____NOW, we will spend 3 days of PRIVATE, INTIMATE Ministry....____
with JESUS and HIS OWN....as He prepares them for what life will be like without Him on earth any longer...He will send another in the Father's Name - THE HOLY SPIRIT.
This is the promise for us! This is the New Covenant in His blood! There is so much to learn from John 13 on.......don't be discouraged .... He has not left you without power over sin, power over living in this sinful and godless world. He will never leave you or forsake you! He broke the penalty of sin, gives us power over sin in the Holy Spirit, and one day, He will take us out of the presence of sin. OH HAPPY DAY!
We gotta finish John Chapter 12 Before Getting Too Carried Away!
John 12:16- When would the disciples finally understand Jesus riding in on a donkey and fulfilling the humility of His first coming?
What were the people who had seen the resurrection of Lazarus doing?(vs.17)
When others 'heard' about that SIGN, what were they doing?
What was the response of the Pharisees? (vs.19)
Some Greeks were going up for the FEAST also. A Gentile could become converted to the Jewish faith through circumcision and observing the laws of Moses, which would include keeping the feasts (As we have seen, these were all shadows - "pictures" - pointing to the coming of the Messiah - JESUS)
These Greeks wanted to see Jesus also.
Over and over we have read..."My hour has not yet come"......
NOW: "THE HOUR HAS COME FOR THE SON OF MAN TO BE GLORIFIED."
His hour has come!
After Passover, they celebrate Unleavened Bread (Jesus without sin), then they celebrate: FIRST FRUITS!
Read I Corinthians 15:20-23
When He dies, is buried, and resurrects on the third day which will be FIRST FRUITS (literally on the Jewish calendar).....those who believe in Him will be among the "much fruit" that He will bear!
It isn't easy for Jesus to face this HOUR..
Yes, the glory will follow, but much SUFFERING lies ahead as He dies for the sins of the whole world. HIS SOUL BECOMES TROUBLED (vs.27) But he says...
Jesus prays to the Father "Father, glorify Your Name"....
The crowd of the people HEARD it. Some thought it was thunder; others thought it was an angel speaking to Him.
JESUS spoke of being lifted up and drawing all men to Himself.
At crucifixion, the body is nailed to the cross and then lifted up to be placed in the ground! The crowd knew he was speaking of death because they argued that "the Christ" would remain "forever"!
Jesus went on to explain about being the LIGHT OF THE WORLD and then He went away and HID HIMSELF......... (vs.36)
Although He has performed so many SIGNS before their very eyes, did they believe in WHO HE WAS? (vs. 37)
What prophecy in Scripture did this fulfill? (vs.38-41)
We are told that Isaiah SAW HIS GLORY and spoke of HIM (Jesus)!
Did some of the rulers believe? (vs.42)
But at this time, they were not confessing their belief. Why not? (vs 42,43)
Whose approval do you seek? God or man's?
Jesus had hid himself, but he also CRIED out either before He hid himself or from somewhere that He was hidden...........
We have seen the last recorded sign that John put in this Gospel -
THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD
Once again, write out the purpose John wrote this Gospel:John 20:30,31 -
Do you BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?
Will you CONFESS that before men?
Have you followed the Lord in water baptism to signify that you have identified with Him in his death, BURIAL, and resurrection?
If you are a believer and you have decided to FOLLOW Him, you are promised a few things: persecution, suffering, being hated, insulted.....
But also, the next chapters of John are the COMFORTING words given to His disciples and to US......We have not been left alone, we will receive and be empowered by THE PROMISE - THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD!
GET READY TO GO INTIMATE AND LEARN HOW TO LIVE IN THE POWER
OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST!
Your Summary and Prayer:
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