What will you do with Jesus John 11 45-57

I bring you greetings from the African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, where my family and I have the privilege of serving and having served for the last six and a half years. And I'm also bringing you greetings and thanks from all the folks who were here over the weekend for the conference. This weekend, you guys were incredible hosts, unbelievably hospitable to us, and it spoke volumes about the kind of church that this is. And I'm saying that as one of many who've said that over the course of the weekend, and I'm just privileged to be able to be here with you on this Lord's Day to be able to say that to you directly. Now, if you have your Bibles with you, open your bibles to John chapter eleven, John, chapter eleven. If you haven't been here, you may not be aware. Of course you are now after the video. The church is in the midst of a series in the Book of John, preaching through the Book of John, and we now come to the end of chapter eleven. This is right after really that dramatic point in John, the Raising of Lazarus, and this's what chapter eleven is most known for. But now we're about to transition here at the end of chapter eleven, and there are a couple of things to know about the Book of John in order to understand the significance of this transition. The first thing is that we've now come to the end of the seventh signs around which John has organized his gospel. John doesn't organize his gospel the same way that the other gospel writers organize theirs. This is why, sometimes, you know, people will look at the Book of John and something will happen in a different order, different chronology, and I'll say, aha, contradiction in the Bible. They just love that contradiction in the Bible. There it is because something happened out of work. John's very clear about what his goal is. His goal is to organize his material in such a way that you will see Jesus Messiah and that you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Luke tells you clearly, for example, what his goal is in his prologue right to write out an orderly account. Luke says, my goal is to give it to you in the chronological order in which it was, in which it occurred. That's my goal. To trace everything back and give you that history and that order and that chronology. He's a historian, he's a physician, he's a man of science. That's what he's doing. John says, I'm going to show you some things so that you will leave. And so his order. Anybody who reads this gospel sees that it's ordered around these seventh signs. The first sign Jesus changes water into wine in chapter two, second sign Jesus heals the official. Sun in chapter four, third sign. Jesus heals at the pool of Bethesda. The fourth sign the feeding of the five thousand in chapter six. The fifth sign also in chapter six, Jesus walking on water. The sixth sign Jesus healing the man born blind in chapter nine. And then the seventh sign, which we're just on the tail end of, is the raising of Lazarus. And so this text is incredibly important because now John has actually made his case. These are the signs, These are the reasons that you ought to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. And he works his way up to this last sign, this sign of resurrection. These other signs show us that you know Jesus has power over sin, that he has power over nature, and the natural world, the world. He has power over the spiritual realm, but now all of a sudden he shows that Jesus actually has power over death itself. There's a second transition that we've come to, and that transition is in the literary structure of John. In terms of his chronology. The first eleven chapters takes place over years, Chapter twelve takes place over days, and in chapters thirteen through eighteen takes place over a matter of hours. So I'm going to date myself and expose a little bit about myself. But I think you'll get the point if you live in right. So you may not be holy enough to get this point, but I'm gonna make it anyway. But it's like we're slowing down and coming out of warp speed. If you didn't get that, you ain't living right. If you don't get a Star Trek reference, I don't know how much help there is for you. But it's so obvious that this is what's happening in John's gospel. And so the end of chapter eleven here is important because we're making that transition. We're about to slow way down and get into the nitty gritty of Jesus' last days. Finally, the text highlights what is arguably John's major theme and the way that he communicates his goal. Belief by those whom you would not expect to believe, and a failure to believe by those whom you would expect to believe. He hints to this in chapter one. He sort of lays this out before he does it chapter one, verses nine through thirteen. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. To his own and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, excuse me, not of the will of man, nor of the flesh, but of God. There's the contrast, that great irony he introduces right there in the first chapter. Jesus came to his own and they didn't receive him. But to as many as did receive him, there's irony there. He came to his own and his own didn't receive If anybody was going to receive him, it should have been his own, and his own didn't receive him. And you, well, if his own didn't receive him, certainly nobody else did. Well. Obviously others did, because he says to all who did receive him. There's the contrast. Now that's in chapter one. In chapter two, some simple men believe, the disciples believe John two twenty two, when therefore he was raised from the dead. This is after the turning water into wine. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scriptures and the word that Jesus had spoken. So in chapter two, after the changing of water into the wine, John says, later on, they get this because of what happened. Well, then what happens in John chapter three. Nicodemus, the leader of the Jews, he ought to have believed, but he didn't. He should have gotten it, but he didn't. John three ten. Jesus answered him, are you a teacher of Israel? And yet you do not understand these things? If anybody should get this, you should get this. You're not just a student of the Word, you're a teacher of Israel. And you don't get this. And as if that contrast wasn't enough. He frames it. He frames the unbelief of Nicodemus, first on the one hand with these simple men who believe, and then on the other hand, in chapter four, with a Samaritan woman who not only believes, but because of her her village beliefs. Again, John could not be more obvious in his intent. This contrast is meant to make a point. Here are these signs that prove who Jesus is, and yet those who ought to get it don't, and those whom you wouldn't expect to get it do which raises a question That is the question of this last section in chapter eleven, and that question is what will you do with Jesus? What will you do with him? And John uses that same theme here at the end of chapter eleven, and we get not two groups of people, but three groups of people. In order to press this point. Now, I'm going to go through this a bit like john Righteous Gospel. We won't go just straight through the whole thing. We'll look at all of the verses here from verse forty five on through to the end of the chapter, but we're going to look at them not necessarily in their order, but we're going to look at them in relation to the three groups that are highlighted. And so the first group is the masses. The masses were conflicted about Jesus. Many of the Jews were forty five 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. There's this contrast. Many of the Jews believed, but some of them went to the Pharisees to tell what he had done. Now jump down to verses fifty five and fifty six. Now, the passover of the Jews was at hand. Now that will be important later on. That is critical here. The passover of the Jews was at hand. So here in chapter eleven where we're slowing down, it's been years, right, and at the end of this section there's passover. And then when we see Jesus slowing down to the last hours, guess what he's experienced with his disciples Passover. Passover. Now, the passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the passover to purify themselves. This is one of those one of those religious feast religious holidays that brought everybody to the Temple from wherever they were, they would come to Jerusalem and come to the temple. And by the way, the psalms, a number of the psalms are referred to as psalms of ascent, if you heard that terminology, psalms of ascent. These were the psalms that you would sing as you were on your way up to Jerusalem for one of these high holy days. So you're coming up to Jerusalem for the Passover, and you sing the psalms of assent as you get closer. To the temple. So when he went up. To purify themselves before the Passover, 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? They're looking for him and they don't see him. Is he coming? They're they're they're waving, wapering, they're they're vacillating. And this is the keep with the many. In fact, the phrase many of the Jews only appears in John's Gospel, and it's almost exclusively associated with the raising of Lazarus. But there's one exception, and that one exception is the resurrection of Jesus. So this idea of the many in John's Gospel, many of the Jews the many the The idea here is that there is the raising of the dead, the raising of Lazarus, which is merely a foreshadowing of the ultimate resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And people vacillate about this, which is utterly baffling, because this is the sign of signs. The phrase seems to emphasize John's point about belief versus unbelief. It's a reference to this nameless, faceless crowd that never stakes out their ground. Chapter eleven, verse nineteen. Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. Then we have this reference in eleven forty five, and then again in twelve ten and eleven. So the chief priest 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. And then in nineteen twenty, the one that's associated with the resurrection of Christ or the crucifixion, many of the Jews read this inscription. This inscription the King of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. And we know that there was opposition to this sign. Was the opposition don't write king of the Jews? Right, He said he was the king of the Jews. So this reference here to the man is this reference to those who vacillate, to those who can't make a decision, to those who are the unidentified masses. We can't nail him down. What do we do with this? I'll tell you one thing you do. Don't try to decide who Jesus is by polling the masses. That's not the answer. John writes his gospel not so that you can get together a focused group and see what everybody thinks and then make a decision. No, John writes his gospel so that you can see what Jesus has done, that you can hear what Jesus has taught, and then you make a decision, not based on polling the people, but based on the evidence that is presented. There are many who can help you and aid you and point you to the truth. Amen, your parents, Praise God. If you had parents who taught you, and catechized you, and discipled you and dragged you to church. Amen. But their faith is not yours. Friends, co workers, family members, classmates. Praise the Lord for all of those if they point you to the person in work of Jesus Christ. But you will not stand before God and give an account for who your friends were or what your friends believe. Social media is filled with opinions, so many opinions that it's impossible to make decisions about so many things. But social media is not where we go to establish our understanding of who Jesus is. John says, look at what he did, and look at what he taught, and don't be like the many who vacillate between opinions. In the end, following the many leads you astray. Faith in Christ is a personal matter, not a corporate one. It only becomes a corporate matter when you have entered in through the narrow gate, Amen, because then you enter into that corporate body of those who believe. Now, while the masses were conflicted about Jesus, the Council was not conflicted at all. Also was threatened by Jesus. That's the second group. Look at verse forty seven forty seven to fifty three. 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. Now remember the Romans occupy at this time, they're under Roman rule. Now they were allowed to have their own councils, they were allowed to have their sanhedron because Rome had a rule about religion, the rule of religiolicity or legal religions. You could practice your religion in Rome in the Roman Empire under Roman rule if it was religilicite, but you could not if it was religio illicitay, if it was an illegal religion. So the Jews are concerned about Jesus and his popularity spreading and the Romans. Getting wind of it. Because just as the Romans were famous for their arches and for their aqueducts and for their roads, they were notorious for their ability to put down anything that threatened the empire. And interestingly enough, the chief priests and the Pharisees were more concerned about the possibility of losing their place and their power among the Romans than they were with whether or not this was really the Messiah. But one of them, Cayphus, 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 in the death those sentences. Those two they shouldn't just go together. He prophesied rightly that Jesus would die for the nation and for the nations to bring them in. Next line says they made pledge to kill him verse fifty seven. He's also tied to this. 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. This phrase chief priests and Pharisees. It occurs seven times in the Gospels. Five of them in John. The two others occur in Matthew. In John chapter seven they plot to arrest him, and John chapter eleven they put out the warrant. We just saw this, And in John chapter eighteen they execute the warrant. Look there in John chapter eighteen, verse three, So Judas having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the pharisees. There's that phrase, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Interestingly enough, it was not the Romans that arrested Jesus. It was the chief priests and the pharisees. It was the council because they were threatened by him. Jesus was not crucified because the Romans looked at him and said he's a threat to us. He was crucified because the council looked at him and said he's a threat. And the council said he's a threat because he was a potential threat to the little scraps of power that the Romans allowed them to exercise. Now this helps us make sense of another passage of Scripture, Acts Chapter four, verses fifteen seventeen. But when they had again, Peter and John they've healed the men at the Beautiful Gate. They've been called in before the Sanhedrin, verse fifteen. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, what shall we do with these men? For or that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in his name, same power structure, holding on to the same power. They've gotten rid of Jesus. He's been crucified, and now all of a sudden, the problem is worse than it was before. Brothers and sisters, Check your own heart. Do you see Jesus as a threat? A threat to your position, to your power, to your possessions, to your pride. So many are conflicted about coming to in Jesus because of what it will cost them in terms of control, in terms of power, in terms of sovereignty over their own life. It's the exact same thing. He's a threat. Do you need Jesus to fit into your plans and the programs, or have you merely come to him in repentance and faith. Do you see Jesus as means to an end, someone that you can use, or as one who's free to use you as he wills. Now the crowds and the council have their responses to Jesus. John's hope is that your response would be reflected in this third group, the disciples. His hope is that like them, you would believe, and that in believing. You have life Verse fifty four. 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 his disciples. And the rest of John's gospel is largely devoted to that time that he gave to his disciples the communion and fellowship and intimacy that they had with Jesus. Because they believed they weren't like the many who wavered and vacillated. They weren't like the council that was in open opposition, but they believed they clung to Jesus, they followed him. We alluded to or pointed out John's allusion to the passover earlier on in the text and how we're going to come back to this idea of the passover. It may just seem like a throwaway word when you read the end of John chapter eleven, but when you recognize what John is doing here, you see that this word screams in the text. In the beginning of John's Gospel, John chapter one and verse twenty nine. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. And in at the end he closes the frame. This is at the beginning of his gospel. At the end of his gospel in chapter nineteen, verses fourteenth or sixteen. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, behold your king. They cried out, away with him, Away with him, crucify him. Pilots said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus. Kipha says, not realizing that he's prophesying what's going to happen better than one man died for the nation. He says that as preparations for the passover are going on, and Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, and then at the end, those whom he represent at the passover say, put him to death, crucify him. And they do. Lazarus is raised, and then there's a passover, and then Jesus has passed over, and then he's raised. The message is clear. Jesus has power over death, and more importantly, Jesus has power over sin, which leads to death, which is why there's hope of the resurrection. So the question is a simple one. What will you do with Jesus now that you know this, now that you see this, now that the picture is clear that he is the Messiah, that he does have authority over death, hell, and the grave. What are you going to do with that? Will you waver like the many, will you war against it like the council, or will you believe it and become a disciple. According to John's thinking, the logic is clear. There's only one answer that makes sense. But here's the problem. If you find your self with the many, or you find yourself with the counsel. Sin doesn't allow you to do what makes sense, but it forces you to do that which is nonsense. Go through this life knowing that the death rate is one per person, nobody gets outlive, and rejecting the only one in the history of the world who has had an answer for the thing that all of us face and all of us fear. Don't let Sin make a fool out of you. Ignore the many, reject the council, embrace the Savior.