The Death That Gives Us Eternal Life - John 12
-- Anticipation that Jesus would be glorified
-- The Glory of Jesus, Part Two
Introduction
A. When Jesus raised Lazarus from death, He did so for "the glory of God and for the Son of God to be glorified by it." John 11:4
B. Jesus returns to Bethany in John 12 a few months later, six days before the Feast of Passover, during which Jesus was crucified.
C. Jesus repeats the previous teaching that demands death to live. The theme is the foundation of the new life that Jesus taught: the life that God has, which he sent to earth in the words of Jesus his Son and thus is the light of the world. That life is also called "eternal life."
I. Mary anointed Jesus' feet. John 12:1-8
A. "The house was filled with the smell of perfume."
1. The work of love, though small, has a great effect. It blesses everyone in the house.
2. Mary's work was very personal. Precious was the pure nard for a woman. Anointing Jesus' feet was very generous, but she dried his feet with her hair. The woman's hair is precious to all women.
B. The thief Judas Iscariote did not appreciate Mary's work of generosity and love because he did not love Jesus like this and was greedy. He was carnal and did not appreciate the life Jesus offered to the sinful world.
1. Worldly people do not appreciate works of light and life.
2. Judas spoke ill of the work. He accused Mary and Jesus of not loving the poor.
3. Jesus answered defamation by saying:
a. The work of love was sacred. Mary had kept the custom for the day of Jesus' burial. Love can be generous without guilt. It is not miss-spent, it is not a waste of resources when offered to Christ.
b. John 12:8, "For ye shall always have the poor with you, but ye shall not always have me."
-- The poor always held a high place in Jesus' plans. Luke 6:20, "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."
-- Luke 14:13, “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
-- Jesus himself became poor to make us rich, 2 Corinthians 6:10; 8:9.
-- God chose the poor rich in faith, James 2:5; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.
-- However, Jesus was with them, the one who died for them. He was not man but God in the flesh, worthy of worship.
c. Worshipping Jesus blesses us and saves us from the sin and darkness of this world. He blesses us because Jesus' command teaches us how to overcome sin and live the life that is eternal life. He saves us from Satan's deceptions, the deceptions of the flesh that make us walk like fools, the wicked, and the dead.
II. The name Lazarus was on the lips of all the Jews of Jerusalem. John 12:9-19.
A. "Great Multitude of The Jews": They came to see Lazarus.
1. The consequence of hearing of Lazarus' resurrection and seeing Jesus with him, the dead now alive, was that “many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.” V11
2. Whom were they departing from? They were turning away from the disbelievers: the priests, the Sadducees, the scribes, the elders, and the Pharisees. They were drawing near to Jesus and his disciples, the God of their fathers, and the covenant with Abraham.
B. "Great crowds" greeted Jesus praising him, saying, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!"!”
1. The prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled, "Be not afraid, daughter of Zion; Behold your King comes, mounted on a donkey's colt." Your King comes, Jesus Christ, the anointed One of the Lord. Christ means anointed with the implication that God had chosen Jesus and anointed him to serve as King of his people, the new Israel.
2. Although glorious, the disciples did not understand the significance until after his Resurrection, "when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done them to him." The theme of glory is repeated. It was the glory that was shown when he gave himself up to the death of the cross and with glorious power God raised him from the dead.
He was declared the Son of God, Romans 1:1-4: “he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
3. John 12:17, “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.” Glorious was the power of the sign. The public could not ignore it.
-- v18, “The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.” The reason that they were drawing near to Jesus was the publicly proven evidence that God was giving His testimony that Jesus was all that He had said about himself: He was the Son of God and the Messiah of the prophecies.
4. However, the Pharisees with their eyes closed by envy and their carnal illusions, said, "the world is going after him." They did not appreciate the glory, the light, and the life offered to them by Jesus. The Pharisees were absorbed in their own glory and the praises of men. Matthew 23:5-12, 28, “They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi] by others.” ... “So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
III. Dying to live - John 12:20-35
A. Certain "Greeks" (gr.- Hellenés) refers to the Gentiles, perhaps proselytes "at the door," that is, still uncircumcised. They were not the Jews who spoke Greek and had adopted the customs of the Greeks as found in Acts 6:1, (gr.- Hellenistan): "murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in daily distribution."
1. They sought to see Jesus, like those of Persia when he was born in Bethlehem. Matthew 2:1 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men] from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
2. They draw Jesus' attention to the greater vision of his purpose. He came to save not only the Jews but also the whole world. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he has given his only begotten Son..."
The prophecy of Genesis 22:18 that God made to Abraham, “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
-- Earlier in John 10:16, Jesus had declared, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
B. John 12:23, "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."
1. What glory? The glory of dying? Or the glory of being raised from the dead the third day? Here it means the glory of bringing much fruit to the glory of God.
2. v.24, “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.” The fruit would be glory for God and for Himself. However, first death: it was necessary to die on the cross, and THEN life, the resurrection. Life is offered to all men disposed to hear his voice and take advantage of forgiveness and the new life in Christ.
3. v.25, "He who loves life" means "he who holds on to life as if it were precious and refuses to give it over to the purposes of God his Savior and Redeemer."
-- "you will lose it" means "you will lose what true life is."
-- "and he who abhors his life in this world shall keep it for eternal life." "To abhor life" means "compared to loving life.” It means a willingness and desire to please God more than life itself. It means wanting to accomplish God's purposes that preserve life.
-- "In this world" means earthly life, physical life, the life which, when we are threatened with death, we are afraid, and fear weakens us. We fall into sin. We lie and betray the loved ones. Almost every sin of weakness is the result of wanting to save and improve physical life.
-- "For eternal life he shall keep it." It means living the true life to gain the heavenly life: that is, the holy and righteous life according to the "divine nature." 2 Peter 1:3-4, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to[a] his own glory and excellence,] 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
-- So, the life that Jesus offers demands that we be renewed. We have to give up the old habits and accept the new way of life. This is how Christ teaches us, Ephesians 4:20-32, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
-- It is the new creature of 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 6 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
-- The new creature is the one who is born again, John 3:1-5. He is the same one who is born of God, 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1-2. He who is born again is born of God and knows God and is known to God. As the sheep hear their shepherd, John 10, they hear Christ and obey the Words he left us. 1 John 4:6, "Weare of God; He who knows God hears us; He who is not of God, does not hear us. In this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
4. John 12:26, “ 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.”
-- "Follow me": Where was Jesus going at the time? As a matter of fact, He was on his way to the cross, death. Jesus invites His disciples to accept the consequences of following Jesus, which is to die with Him as He was going to die. In any case, He invites us to consider our bodies already dead to the desires that impede service. Colossians 3:1-5, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
-- "Where I am" means that Jesus went to heaven. Jesus in advance encouraged his disciples to think of happiness on the other side of the trial. He also said, "My Father will honor you." That is, Jesus lived in the joy of anticipating the heavenly reunion and the ability to present his disciples to the Father.
5. John 12:27-30, "Now my soul is troubled." The hour of disgrace and shame was approaching. It's very hard to contemplate.
-- v28, "Father, glorify your name." The obedience of Jesus would be glorious, when the Son of God surrendered to the shame of the cross. In Gethsemane, Jesus later said, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” … “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Matthew 26:39, 42. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians (Phil. 2:5-11), “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” There was glory for Jesus in obeying God unto death, and there was glory when he overcame Satan and his followers when he took away the spoils, saving those who were lost in sin. There was glory in the resurrection and ascension and in establishing his church.
-- “Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” Why give glory to the Son of God? Because he's God! Because he is Creator, the Almighty, Sustainer of Creation, and of men. The Father glorified the Son by the works he gave him to do: the miracles, wonders, and signs. He was going to glorify him by raising Him from the dead on the third day.
Some witnesses said it had thundered. Others said an angel had spoken to him. God's very voice gave glory to Jesus with the strength and character of thunder. The voice came because of them who listened to the words of Jesus.
6. John 12:31-32, "Now is the judgment of this world (gr. Kosmou, the order of this world); now the prince of this world will be cast out."
-- "The world" in John: (1:10) "the world did not know him", (3:16, 17) "God loved the world," (4:42) "Savior of the world,"(6:33, 51) "gives life to the world," (7:7) "the world hates me,"(8:12) "the light of the world,"(12:47) "save the world"
-- "the prince of this world," (John 14:30; 16:11) In Ephesians 2:2, "the prince of the power of the air" and Ephesians 6:11-12, “the schemes of the devil..." “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
-- "Judgment of this world" Jesus would judge the world by being the innocent Son of God condemned to death on the cross by envy and hypocrisy, feigned justice. That judgment began when the world crucified Jesus, but there will be punishment, the result of judgment, when Jesus returns to judge the world. Jesus left us a prophecy of the punishment of Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 23:28-31. Judgment always begins with the house of God, the people of God, but the last judgment will finally be when God will destroy all the elements of heaven and earth, 2 Peter 3.
Acts 2:22-23 gives us a brief statement of the judgment of the world. He said that God condemned them by raising him from the dead, v24, 32, but also by pouring out the Holy Spirit, v. 33.
-- "the prince of this world will be cast out." The prince of this order, the order of sin and death, disorder and rebellion. The word "world" (kosmou) means order. Satan is the prince of destruction that results from sin. The life we must abhor is life in "this world." (v 25) Jesus is not of "this world." (John 8:23) We must not love the “world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) Satan is the prince of carnality, of the sins of greed. He will be "thrown out" that is, he would lose his influence through the triumph of Jesus and his glorious gospel. Hebrews 2:14-15, it would be a triumph over the fear of death. Colossians 3:1-5 triumph through Christians' willingness to die to sinful desires. Romans 6:1-18, We triumph through the death of Jesus into whom we are baptized in water for forgiveness of sin and with a commitment to begin a new life. The saints in the prophecy of Revelation 12:11 triumphed through (1) the blood of Jesus, (2) their testimony, and (3) because they did not love their lives even to death. (see John 12:25)
IV. John 12:32-36 Lifted up from the earth
A. v.32, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
1. John 3:9-15. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you] do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Although Jesus presented the truth of heaven, men did not respect it as true as it was. God recognized that weakness of men and to make faith possible in the message of heaven, He lifted up Jesus on the cross.
2. John 8:25-29. They asked Jesus, "Who are you?" He answered them as in John 3 that he was sent by the true God with a message that judges the sins of men. Jesus walked among them as a faithful messenger communicating precisely what he heard the Father say. He again gives them the prophecy that when they lift up the Son of Man (Christ Jesus), they would know that Jesus is Jehovah and that all that he had done was done because the Father taught him..
3. John 6:44-45 (41-51) "comes to me." The Father taught them through the words of Jesus. Jesus' teachings were the "Bread of Life" that descends from heaven, that is, from the Father. When they knew the truth, they would come to Jesus to follow Him and obey Him. This is what "believe in me" means.
B. v.33, “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”
1. "Lift up" means nailing him to a wooden stake (cross) and suspending him high up on that beam in what was called, "crucifixion." It was a way to kill him slowly and shamefully, with maximum humiliation, affront and pain. Only in this way could God release the great power of the gospel to save men (Romans 1:16).) Men surrender their desires and dreams. "Christ crucified" (1 Corinthians 1:23-24) is the only message powerful enough to transform man into the image of God (2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Peter 1:3-4).
2. The disciples did not yet want to accept the death of the Beloved Christ. Even the apostles were not ready to accept the cross. (Misunderstood the prophecies of Isaiah 9:6, 7 and Psalm 89:36; 110:4; et.al.)
-- John 12:35, “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”. Jesus taught them "the truth," the understanding they still lacked: the truth about the death of the Lamb of the true Passover, the truth about the King and his Kingdom, not of physical power, but of the power of righteousness, holiness, faith, the power of the divine nature."
-- John 12:36, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” Even if they did not understand everything, it was the faith that makes us obey and follow Him in whom we believe. In order not to stumble in the darkness of our ignorance, we must continue to hear his voice. We must put into practice everything that He teaches us despite the contrary voices of the world around us.
V. The Disbelief of the Jews, John 12:37-43
A. Jesus withdrew from the public. They did not see him anymore until Jesus' arrest.
B. “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him” V.37
1. They witnessed the glory of the Son of God, John 1:1-14.
2. In the vision of Isaiah 6:1-10, the prophet saw the glory of God on his throne. When God gave him his calling as a prophet, he declared that listeners would not heed his message. Like the Jews of Jesus day, they couldn't believe. God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, as He did with Pharaoh in Egypt, by presenting the message they did not want to hear. He who does not love the truth rejects the words of God.
-- God helps them ignore and misunderstand. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, declares, “and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
C. John 12:42-43, “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; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”
1. Although they saw his glory in God in Christ Jesus and believed him, they sought more the glory of men and the honors they offer. Most people are not on the path Jesus offers. “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” (Matthew 7:13)
2. It was not in their interest to confess Jesus, because men dishonored those who confessed Jesus. Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:14)
VI. Summary of Jesus' message. John 12:44-50
A. To believe in Jesus (v44) is to see Jesus. Jesus is the light that illuminates the sight, because Jesus teaches the truth that removes ignorance from what is the will of our Creator and Eternal Judge. When Jesus says, "see," He means listening to his teachings and heeding what is heard, obeying, and becoming the new man. (Ephesians 4:20-24) “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” To remain in darkness is to continue in the practice of sin and rebellion. It is to not do what God wants us to do, but to continue in the deception that justifies error.
B. John 12:47, “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them,” means the one who hears but does not repent of the sinful practices that Jesus Christ corrects in his teachings. It also refers to the listener who does not continue to be faithful in obedience to the principles of the new man, both in the worship offered to the Lord and in the priorities of daily life. This is the man who is not "born from above."
1. 1 John 3:4-11, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
2. The concepts of being born again, believing in Christ, knowing Christ, seeing Christ, and being righteous – all those concepts mean the same thing, obeying the teachings of Jesus. There is no life in sin. There is no life in ignoring God's scriptures. Eternal life is in putting into practice what Jesus taught in the Holy Scriptures.
C. John 12:48, “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.”
1. 2 Corinthians 5:10 "before the judgement seat of Christ." (Romans 14:10)
2. Revelation 20:11-15 "The Book of Life"
D. John 12:49-50, “the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
1. v. 50, "His commandment is eternal life." The source of eternal life is the commandment the Father commanded with his Son from heaven. Life was in the Father and in the Son (John 1:4) and "the life was the light of men." Light obviously refers to the message Jesus brought to the world, which He preached in the Sermon on the Mount and in all the teachings afterwards. By listening to that message and putting that truth into practice, one knows God, walks in light, and has the life that God has, eternal life.
2. It was therefore important for Jesus to speak exactly what God had given him to speak. “What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
Conclusion