Scripture Introduction
Back in January we resumed our study in John at chapter seven. Since then we have moved verse by verse, arriving now at the end of chapter eleven. (Next week, Lord willing, we will begin a summer series on the Dynamic Church.) Here is a convenient place to pause, because we are at a major break in John’s story.
John’s Gospel began with a prologue, the first 18 verses. Then he writes what we call, “The Book of Signs.” Through chapter 11, John records seven of Jesus’ miracles. Each proves his divinity and points to his ministry. Today we conclude the Book of Signs; Jesus’ only other miracle is his own resurrection from the grave. Chapter 12 transitions us to the last week of his life and changes the focus from Jesus’ public ministry to the preparation of the disciples for his passion and their new life in the Messianic community.
In concluding his description of Jesus’ public ministry, John reminds us of two things. First, who Jesus is. God has come to die for and redeem his people. We must understand the person and work of Christ. Then, second, John confronts us with the necessity of response. Some believe in Jesus, and their lives were forever altered. Others hate the Lord and ensure their own destruction by plotting his. A third group appears to do nothing, they are intrigued by the drama but indifferent to his claims. But when push comes to shove, they too will turn against the Messiah. How will we respond? [Read John 11.45-57. Pray.]
Introduction
We are a “creedal church.” In other words, we write down what we believe the Bible teaches. We insist that all of these documents and their statements are “subject to and subordinate to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the inerrant Word Of God,” (“Preface” to the PCA Book of Church Order). Nevertheless, we know the value (even the necessity) of stating exactly what we believe.
The Disciples of Christ is a denomination known for complaining about creeds and confessions. They have the somewhat clever slogan, “No creed but Christ,” for they claim creeds should never exclude anyone. But if you read their materials, they actually have creeds; “No Creed but Christ,” turns out to be a marketing gimmick. For example, the insist: “Christians must be baptized by immersion,” certainly a creed. But Americans like to make up their own minds on matters of religion, so the Disciples keep their creeds quiet and secretive.
Our practice is exactly opposite. We know that anyone can claim to believe the Bible and to follow Jesus, yet deny truths basic and essential to Christianity. So we state our beliefs as clearly and specifically as we know how, in a confession of faith. It is not perfect; it can be changed; it remains under the authority of the Bible — yet it explains our beliefs. I remind you of these issues, because verses 49-51 reveal a doctrine of God’s sovereignty which offends human sensibilities.
ESV John 11.49-52: 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.
That narrative wraps around a core of God’s sovereignty over all creatures and actions. In other words, God so controls everything which comes to pass that even evil Caiaphas, spewing hatred of God’s grace in Jesus — even Caiaphas, does the will and work of God. Our Confession of Faith explains the doctrine taught in these verses:
3.1: God, from all eternity, did — by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will — freely and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass. Yet he ordered all things in such a way that he is not the author of sin, nor does he force his creatures to act against their wills; neither is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.
3.2: Although God knows whatever may or can come to pass under all conceivable conditions, yet he has not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future or as that which would come to pass under such conditions. (From the © 1993 Modern English Study Version of the Westminster Confession of Faith, prepared by the Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.)
Both Caiaphas and the Confession teach that God orders all things; now I remind you that the sovereign Lord “now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Two things for us to note:
1. We Must Understand Jesus’ Person and Work
John devotes many words to explaining the person of Christ. But let’s be honest, many professing Christians find such doctrines boring. There is a cute saying, “Boring people is the preacher’s greatest sin.” And one of England’s most faithful pastors, Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Preaching and Preachers, 52) says: “If the people are not attending places of worship I hold the pulpit to be primarily responsible.” So I must pray and labor for sermons that set truth on fire.
At the same time, you must realize that sinners naturally shun truth and find every excuse to harden themselves against it. If you are bored by the story of God becoming man in order to redeem a lost world, you probably should confess your coldness to God and ask for a changed heart.
Additionally, let me remind you that it is, “The Spirit of God who makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ; of conforming them to his image, and subduing them to his will; of strengthening them against temptations and corruptions; of building them up in grace, and establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation” (Westminster Catechism Question 155). The real work of the pulpit is not sermon preparation, but prayer. Please, pray with and for me as I prepare to preach. With those thoughts in mind, what do we need to know about Jesus?
First, Jesus is God in human flesh.
On Thursday night, as I led a funeral service, I felt overwhelmed by the sense of needing to know if this is true. The bodies lies in the casket; the life is gone and the used shell remains. Is there anything else? How do we know for sure that those who love God and put their faith in the work of Jesus will live forever in God’s presence with fullness of joy?
John wrote so you would know and believe. ESV John 20.30-31: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in his name.” Jesus’ miracles insist that his is the living Savior:
• First, Jesus changes water into wine at a wedding, to point you to the fact that overflowing joy and contentment are found in Christ alone.
• Second, Jesus heals the son of a government official, to point you to the fact that he has authority and power over all people, places, and times.
• Third, Jesus heals a man lame for decades, to point you to the fact that his wholeness is for those who know they cannot help themselves.
• Fourth, Jesus feeds thousands from a few loaves and fishes to point you to himself as the only source of the plenty you so long to have. He shows you that you need not look at yourself and your insufficiency when he makes plenty out of that which is least.
• Fifth, Jesus walks on the water in the midst of a storm to point to himself as the one to be feared rather than life’s trials and troubles.
• Sixth, Jesus opens the eyes of the man born blind, to point you to himself as the only one who can give spiritual site to all who are blinded by sin.
• Seventh, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, to point to himself as the source of life.
And note well (verse 47) even Jesus’ enemies acknowledge his miracles: “The chief priests and the Pharisees…said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.’”
Our problem never is a lack of proof — what more could Jesus do? No extra evidence would convict and convert; they already agreed with the evidence. They saw him raise the dead. The problem is their hardness of heart. Faith in Jesus as the Christ would mean losing power and prestige: John 11.48: “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.” Though it appears in different forms, the same reasoning keeps people from following Jesus today.
• If I talk about Jesus at school, my friends will laugh.
• If I preach Jesus at work, I might lose my job.
• If I tell my neighbors that we learn about and love Jesus at my church, I might lose those friends forever.
• If I love Jesus too much, God might take my children to the mission field.
• If I obey Jesus, I might have to give more of my money to the church’s building program.
What do you fear losing if you follow too close to Jesus? When God walks with us, we tend to lose what we consider precious. The person of Christ presses us toward a decision.
Second, understand that Jesus did a great work.
The prophesy comes from the most unlikely source, an enemy of Jesus. Yet it reveals the world’s greatest truth: God lived and died as man to save a people for his glory.
Every time and place has its great spiritual struggles. One of ours is against the growth of Islam. To the Muslim mind and world-view nothing could be more foolish than to believe that God was born as a baby, lived a perfect life, and was brutally murdered for the redemption of mankind. Their whole philosophy says, “Our God is too great to die.” But long before Mohammad, Greek religion said the same. And modern liberals agree — their antipathy to the cross makes me shiver.
From the World Counsel of Churches: “One of the most pernicious aspects of Christian teaching has been this imposed theology of sacrifice and suffering.”
From a theology professor in the Philippines: “Many sections of the institutional church continue to glorify the cross, but this must stop…. The harsh realities of violence that patriarchy and oppressive society have brought to women and to powerless people in society only remind us that the cross of Jesus is just one of the many crosses of his time. It is not unique… Following the Pauline discourse, Augustine insisted that Jesus voluntarily chose his humiliation and death, ‘for he was to have that very cross as His sign; that very cross a trophy, as it were, over the vanquished devil.’ Augustine’s view of the cross has served the patriarchal church well in disempowering women while it endorses the glorification of the cross…. I find it ludicrous to imagine that Jesus meekly volunteered to be tortured and killed.”
And at the ReImagining Conference (a meeting of mainline denominations) Delores Williams dismissed Christ’s atonement altogether: “I don’t think we need a theory of atonement at all. I don’t think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff…. We just need to listen to the god within.”
I only quote those samples to remind you of how it offends sensibilities that my only hope of life is God’s death. No one likes being reminded that humanity’s natural response to God’s presence is seething hatred culminating in the cross. People get angry when Jesus insists that the only thing they bring to salvation is their sin, and that they never chose God apart from his sovereign grace.
Yet the work of Jesus can overcome even the most horrendous hostility. I hope that our church will learn Stuart Townend’s hymn: “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss; the Father turns His face away, as wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory. Behold the Man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders; ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished; His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no pow’r, no wisdom; but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart: his wounds have paid my ransom.”
Others may follow a god too great to die. Christians follow a God so great that he died. We must understand who Jesus is and what he did.
2. We Must Decide for Jesus and Follow Him
Three groups are mentioned in these verses; Pastor John MacArthur calls them the many, the murderers, and the multitudes.
“The Many” are noted in John 11.45: “Many of the Jews…believed in him.” They saw the miracles, they heard his teaching, they believed the Old Testament Scriptures. “Yes,” they said, “Jesus is the Messiah promised, God’s solution to my sin and rebellion.” They realized that “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse” (Galatians 3.10) because none can fully obey. So they placed their hope of acceptance, not in their good deeds but in his, knowing “that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 216).
“The Murderers” are those who plotted Jesus’ death. Their passion was pragmatism; they used religion to get the goods. And Jesus stood in the way of their plans for advancement. They wanted to be thought well of by influential leaders. They played religious politics, saying what needed to be said to get their agenda advanced. We are not surprised by their animosity, for Jesus opposed their hypocrisy. They make themselves enemies of God, but God will use their hatred to display his supreme love when he fulfills the promise of being the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The final group are “The Multitudes.” About one million people gathered in Jerusalem during Passover. Their curiosity was peaked over the latest gossip — they wanted in on the scoop about the guy claiming to be messiah: “Is this Jesus fellow coming to Jerusalem? What do you think?” It is always that way. There will always be people who like to hang near Christians to see what will happen. Sometimes they appear indifferent; at other times they are intensely curious. As long as nothing pushes them too hard, they like being around godly people. True believers may be more wholesome, accepting, kind, and pleasant to associate with.
Yet listen to how MacArthur explains their final state: “They showed intense interest in Jesus, but no commitment. They were, in fact, ultimately indifferent to him; many who eagerly anticipated Jesus’ arrival and hailed him as Messiah would soon cry out, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him!’ (19.15). Their fickle devotion proved that, despite their superficial concern, they were actually just as hard-hearted as their hostile neighbors” (486).
As we come to the end of the Book of Signs, I want to ask you which group you are in.
Probably most here would say, “I am one of the many who believed.” I’m not going to argue; but I will insist that you remember it is only by grace that you are so. Do you affirm what Stuart Townend said: “Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers”? Do you know that left to your own free will, you hate God and godliness? Do you accept your partnership with the murderers of God, until God changes your heart and gives you the gift of faith? Do you believe in a sovereign God and electing grace?
But maybe some of you are with the multitude. We like being religious, because it is clean and neat. But what about when Jesus presses against your wallet? What about when your preferences are not valued in the church? What about when your pastor points out sin that you don’t want to confront? Will you say, “Away with him,” or “We’re finding another church?” The day will soon come when walking with Jesus means giving up something precious. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. How will you respond when the crowds call out for a crucifixion? You think about that. Amen.
Preached by Pastor Glenn Durham on May 18, 2008, at The Church of the Covenant, PCA, Cincinnati, Ohio. This transcript may be downloaded and/or copied for reading and personal use, provided it is not changed, sold, or quoted without credit, and that this note and the following copyright notice is included. ©2008 by Glenn Durham. All rights reserved.
