John’s Gospel – Lesson 17

The miracle of Lazarus resurrection resulted in some watershed events among the leadership of the Jews. To raise someone from the dead that was so obviously dead was a sign that was hard to ignore. It was hard to ignore but not impossible to misinterpret and misrepresent.

 

John 11:45-53

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

 

The response to the sign of Lazarus was divided among those who believed and those who didn't believe and reported to the Pharisees the magnitude of the problem Jesus was creating. The various ironies or sharp contrasts between the truth and the meaning of what was said I think we find these verses very interesting.

 

1. The Jews were concerned that the signs and wonders that God had provided as a testimony to the truth of Christ's teaching would cause people to believe that God had sent Him and accept what He said as true,
   
2. The Jews worried that Jesus will cause problems with the Romans. However, they were also waiting for the Messiah to deliver them from the Romans. So when the Messiah who came to set the captives free showed up the captives were concerned that their captors would be upset by Him, and
   
3. The high priest prophesied that it was better for one man to die in order to save the nation. This was true in a sense that he did not understand but it rang true to the other Pharisees and they made plans based on their flawed understanding of the prophecy.
   

 

Remember that God will be glorified in each man's life. God will either be glorified by your calling Him Lord and serving Him or God will be glorified in the judgment that is poured out as a result of your lack of repentance and sin. God was going to be glorified in the life of Caiaphas the high priest and the other Pharisees but not because of their submission to the Lordship of Christ.

 

John 11:54-57

Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?" Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

 

The plan to kill Jesus resulted in his withdrawal to a town northeast of Jerusalem and near the wilderness as he prepared for Passover. Then Jesus started back toward Jerusalem.

 

Currently there is a Techno-Pop musician known for vulgarity who calls herself Peaches. She is getting ready to do her one-person version of Jesus Christ Superstar. She was quoted in Saturday's NY Times as saying, ""I'm not trying to push buttons with this, I see it as one of the basic human stories: someone with good intentions tries to put forward something that he believes in, and then it all goes wrong." What Peaches is showing is that she has no more clue about the "what and why" of Christ than Caiaphas did. Jesus accomplished all that He set out to do and now we are entering into the portion of John in which He prepares to lay down His life as an atoning sacrifice.

 

First Jesus moved back to Bethany from Ephraim so that He was just a few miles from Jerusalem

 

John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."

 

This event was made possible because Jesus didn't destroy His relationship with Mary and Martha when He came into Bethany and was blamed by them for Lazarus' death. Martha was serving and Mary, moved by the Holy Spirit, took ointment worth about 1 year's wages and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair. This is not the same as the event found in Luke 7:36–50 but is the same event as found in Matt. 26:6–12 and Mark 14:3–9. I think there are a couple of reasonable assumptions to make here.

 

1. "Therefore" in the sentence following the view of Jesus and Lazarus at the table indicates that Mary (Martha too) was moved emotionally at the sight of her brother and Jesus sincerely enjoying each other's company.
   
2. The quantity of ointment was likely purchased for Lazarus's burial but not used in all the confusion surrounding that death.
   
3. The disciples' reaction was natural and was not limited to Judas (Matthew 6:28) although he was the vocal one.
   
4. The idea that Jesus carries our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4) and turns our sorrow into joy (Jeremiah 31:13) is so wonderfully illustrated by Mary taking the sorrow of death represented by this perfume that could only mask the smell of death even with the wages of a full year and then pouring it out with the sorrow turned to worship and joy on the head and feet of our Savior.
   
5. I also am blessed that without a word the blame and bitterness toward a perceived failure of God to meet our needs is turned into a sacrifice of praise and identification with His atoning sacrifice for us.
   

 

John 12:9

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

 

The appropriate response of the crowds in response to the signs only caused the Pharisees to seek to eliminate the Messiah and the sign. But on the next day Jesus moves to Jerusalem.

 

John 12:12-15

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

"Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!"

 

Psalm 118:26 is the source of the text used in praise but they appended "the King of Israel" to the praise. This would have been particularly upsetting to the Pharisees and then the manner of Christ's entry into Jerusalem was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 approximately 500 years before the birth of Jesus

 

John 12:16-19

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him."

 

As the people were praising Jesus the people who had seen Lazarus raised from the dead were witnessing and the crowds were growing larger and larger. This was very depressing for the Pharisees who felt they were losing control but of course they never really were in control in the first place.

 

John 12:20-26

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Notice that the comments of Jesus here were produced by the news that the gentiles were asking to see Him. The Holy Spirit was beginning to move. Jesus speaks of His sacrifice and the discipleship of believers under the power of the Holy Spirit that will follow. These Greeks were just the first few raindrops of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was to come.

 

John 12:27-36

"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."

 

Once again, Jesus is making it clear that He is willingly laying down His life and that it is not being taken from Him. His soul was troubled by the prospect of bearing your sins but not in the creation of the universe. I think that helps keep the seriousness of our sins in clear view. This is the third time that the audible voice of God was heard in confirmation of the works of Jesus. The first was His baptism (Matthew 3:17), then at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), and here as He prepares to offer Himself up.

 

Note that the word "draw" is a forceful word. Pray for salvations with confidence and faith that God will accomplish it by His power and not by your power.

 

The crowd didn't like what they heard. It didn't fit with their preconceived notions of what the Son of Man was supposed to do. They had the light of the Word but they refused it and fell back on a broken understanding. They didn't embrace the Messiah because He didn't look and act in the manner they thought He should act. They couldn't be instructed because they wouldn't bow their understanding to the Word. So they stumbled through unbelief. They were ready for an earthly king who pushed all their enemies out and gave them what they wanted but they weren't ready for a Lord who would confront their sins head on.

 

We often underestimate the Holiness of God and the seriousness of our sin. We begin to think, erroneously, that a just God can forgive us and accept us as we are. Our acceptance before God is because of the payment for our sins that Jesus makes for us and the merit of His perfect life lived for us.

 

He is our high priest, familiar with the weaknesses of His people constantly making intercession at the right hand of the Father on our behalf, constantly sending forth the Holy Spirit to glorify God in our justification and sanctification as we each work out our salvation. I pray we'd yield with complete abandon to the Holy Spirit.