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Running Into The Wall John
12:27-50
How do you make decisions?
By the time Ted arrived at the Bills game, the first quarter was almost
over.
"Why are you so late?" his friend asked.
“I had to toss a coin to decide between going to church and coming to
the game."
"How long could that have taken you?"
"Well, I had to toss it 115 times."
It is interesting that our methods often reflect our desired outcomes,
don’t they?
This was certainly true for the Jewish leadership when it came to the
subject of Jesus. As you may remember in our previous studies in the
gospel of John, the leaders had already determined to kill Jesus. It was
a “done deal” in their minds, but the “how” it was going to get done was
still undecided.
They had decided that they were going to wait until after the Passover,
but then an event happened that forced their hand, so to speak. It was
the Triumphal Entry. Jesus rode into Jerusalem, on the back of a donkey,
thus proclaiming Himself as King and Messiah. This was just too much for
the leadership.
So after the “Triumphal Entry,” panic sets in among the leadership.
It was their conclusion, “Look the whole world has gone after Him.” It
certainly was an overstatement. The whole world had not, but this event
was too much for the Jewish leadership. They had to do something now.
The wait was over. They just could not let this rising popularity of
Jesus go unchecked. He was going to destroy everything they stood for if
they didn’t stop Him.
So the time had come.
They were going to do it. But, they may have felt it was going to be a
surprise to Jesus, but it wasn’t. Do you know why? It was because the
time had come. Jesus knew the hour had arrived. He knew He was facing
death.
And in so doing, He makes a final appeal. It is an appeal that reaches
down to the ages of us today. It is time to believe. Jesus knows that we
will wait and wait. He knows we will put it off. He knows we will wait
until a more convenient time.
But now is the time to believe in Jesus.
The challenge before us today is “how.” How do we do this? How do we
connect with belief?
Today we will find in our study of John 12:27-50 three issues that we
approach in order to connect with belief.
The first issue is IGNORANCE (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."
Jesus was faced with those that were ignorant of the urgency of the
situation. As we read through this passage, we see that Jesus
anticipates the trouble that is coming.
The text here tells us that because of what is looming ahead for Jesus,
He is in a continuous state of turmoil. His soul is continually
troubled. You see, Jesus had no illusions about what was coming. This
was going to be a terrible ordeal. The horror of hell was coming, and He
knew it. It was inevitable. It was inevitable because it is why He has
come. This is His commission. This is the hour that must be faced and
passed through.
We see, though, that Jesus understands the priority. He knows that His
role belongs to the loving, sovereign plan of God. He will glorify the
Father. He will bring honor to the Father. So, He prays to the Father,
knowing that His daily strength has found its source in Him.
So, as Jesus prays, the Father answers. He encourages the heart of Jesus
by affirming His pleasure. He is the beloved son who was willing to
endure what lay before Him.
Interestingly, no one else really understands what is going on. It was
heard as a sound, but not as words, so as a result, the event received
various interpretations. And though it certainly would have been an
encouragement to the heart of Jesus, He tells them that it was for their
sake, and not His.
Why? Because something huge was on the verge of happening. They were
being given the evidence that they were about to experience something
out of this world.
It is at this point that we are confronted to understand we live in a
world that is deluded by Satanic values. We are manipulated by them. And
we have no idea how helpless we are to change. Thankfully, though, Jesus
is determined not to leave it that way…then and now.
Jesus looks forward to the defeat of Satan.
The mechanism for this defeat was the cross. Jesus knows that the cross
is coming. And so does Satan. But because Satan is neither omniscient,
nor omnipresent, it is apparent that he does not fully understand the
consequences of the cross. To him, the cross looks like a victory.
What is meant for evil, and what is evil, turns out to be for the
greatest good of all time. Satan will be a huge loser when Jesus is
lifted up. Jesus again is referring to the cross. He was going to take
the sin of the world upon Himself.
There are those, of course, that simply don’t understand what is going
on, or what Jesus is about.
They think that the Messiah is going to live forever so this talk about
death is confusing to them. Not only that, they want a conquering hero.
They want all their troubles with Rome to disappear.
They are right in one sense, of course. The Messiah is eternal. But
their preconceived notions of what Jesus must be like leaves them
confused and perplexed.
Nevertheless Jesus communicates that opportunity is waning for His
listeners.
Now is the time to believe. Time is short. They should not wait. They
should take the opportunity to believe while the light is clearly
shining.
II. The second issue is disbelief (36-43).
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe
in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be
fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom
has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" Therefore they could not
believe. For again Isaiah said, "He has blinded their eyes and hardened
their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their
heart, and turn, and I would heal them." Isaiah said these things
because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of
the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did
not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for
they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes
from God.
Jesus was faced with those that refused to believe. And there truly are
things that are hard to believe. But, the disbelief in Jesus should have
left heads scratching.
Even though there was plenty of evidence, Jesus was surrounded by
disbelief.
The refusal was stunning, so Jesus hides Himself. He knows what is
coming, but He will not die until the time is absolutely right to die.
He will not be seized before His time. He will die when He wills.
The text reveals to us the guilt of His opponents. They did not believe,
and yet John wants us to understand that we should not be fully
surprised. Prophecy from Isaiah demonstrated this unbelief.
God was in their midst. He was in human flesh. Yet, they failed to see
it. But it’s not that they couldn’t. They wouldn’t. And it was because
they wouldn’t, that they eventually couldn’t.
Then the text clues us in on that there were some that believed Jesus,
but they lacked courage to act on it.
As we look at the grammatical construction of this text, John presents
us a paradox. He points to a genuine faith. There were some men in the
highest circles of the Jewish leadership that believed in Jesus. It is
apparent, then, that the ministry of Jesus was not without its effect
even in the highest circles. But the faith of these men was apparently
immature. They were not ready yet to face the opposition because they
feared excommunication from the temple.
The third issue is appeal (44-50).
And Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in
me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I
have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may
not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them,
I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save
the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a
judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I
have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has
himself given me a commandment — what to say and what to speak. And I
know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say
as the Father has told me."
Jesus now faces His listeners with one last tender appeal. These last
verses are really a summary of the whole of Jesus ministry. The author
John gives them to us so that we might not miss the essence of Jesus’
ministry as He prepares for the cross.
Jesus has come to do the work of the Father. Throughout His ministry,
Jesus has been revealing God. Jesus has been uncovering the reality of
the supernatural world. He is unveiling things as they really are.
So, when you trust in Jesus, you trust in God the Father. And when you
trust in Jesus, He helps us out of the darkness.
Do you like walking around in the dark? It is a challenge, isn’t it? You
stumble around. You walk into walls. You bump into furniture. Sometimes,
you really get hurt.
And this is the picture of the world without Jesus. People don’t know
where they are going. And, the truth is, if they don’t find the light,
they really are going to get hurt – eternally!
Jesus has come to bring light to darkness.
Jesus does not want people to continue in darkness. He has come to
deliver them from it, not to imprison them. So Jesus exhorts us to go to
the light while we can. He gives us opportunity over and over again to
believe.
Jesus has come to save. Jesus has come to save us from ourselves. He has
come to save us from our sin. As the apostle Paul writes in Galatians
3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse
for us — for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"
And again Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to
be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness
of God.
He did this because of His great love. He would not leave His creation
helpless and hopeless. He has come to help. Now, all we need to do is
respond.
APPLICATION:
Do you think you have all the time in the world?
You see, anytime you understand that God is speaking to your heart, that
is the time to respond. If God is speaking to your heart right now…now
is the time to believe in Jesus. For when God is speaking, when His word
is illuminating your mind, and touching your heart, this is the time to
move. When you are seeing reality from God’s perspective, it is the time
to seize the moment. Don’t let it pass. Act on it. For it is so very
dangerous to pass on the opportunity!
Are you staring at the evidence instead of moving on it?
God’s Word, over and over again, ushers us a warning. If we keep saying
“no” to God in our life, we will become hardened to the truth. And we
won’t recognize it anymore. Don’t let this happen to you! If God is
working in your heart, now is the time for decision.
When Antiochus invaded Egypt, the Romans delivered an ultimatum to the
ambitious Syrian who would be a king. Hoping to gain time, he told the
Roman tribune that he needed to think over their demands. He would give
them an answer later. The tribune took swift action. He drew a circle in
the sand around Antiochus and said, "Decide before you step out of that
circle."
God is holy, almighty and glorious. His throne is the immovable center
of the universe. He rules over all. And lovingly, He graciously offers
humankind salvation and forgiveness through His Son, Jesus.
God draws a circle around us called life, and he tells us to make our
decision concerning Him before we step out of that circle. So, what is
your decision? Do you believe?
It is time…it is time to put away your ignorance and learn about Jesus.
It is time…it is time to put away your disbelief and examine the
evidence with both your mind and your heart.
It is time…it is time to hear the invitation of Jesus and respond.
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