Unlike Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Gospel of John tells
little about the week between the Triumphal Entry that we celebrate today, Palm
Sunday, and His Resurrection Day the following Sunday. Actually, there are six
chapters in John that tell of that one week, but five of them, chapters 13-17,
tell of the Passover Jesus shared with His disciples the night He was betrayed and
only one, chapter 12, tells of the week leading up to that night. That’s five
of the twenty-one chapters of John devoted to that Passover, and those chapters
are absolutely amazing.
Last week’s blog was about Jesus raising Lazarus from the
dead. The affects of that carry over into John 12 where we see that many came
to see Jesus on the day He entered Jerusalem
on the colt. They came in large numbers to see the Man who raised the dead back
to life. As they gathered, John 12:13
says they began to cheer and shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord! The King of Israel !”
By the way, “Lord” in this quote from Psalm 118:25-26 is the holy name for God,
YHWH. As they did, others from Jerusalem
who had come for Passover, came out to meet Him also, and joined the shouts of,
“Hail to the King!” Read John 12:12-18.
Meanwhile, the Pharisees were further enraged by their
jealousy of Jesus. All of their plotting and planning to kill Him amounted to
nothing thus far. Now, as they stood fuming, watching the masses cheer Him,
they realized they had much to do if they were going to be rid of Him. The evil
and murderous intentions of the Jewish religious leaders makes a striking
contrast to the Greeks, gentiles that is, who came to worship at the Passover
and desired to see Jesus.
Jesus then declares that, “the hour has come.” The hour that
He should be glorified, that is. It is clear by the following statements that
Jesus is talking about His sacrificial death, burial, and glorious resurrection
later that week. He illustrates with a grain of wheat that dies in the ground,
it breaks open, ceases to be a seed and becomes a plant which then produces
more seeds. That is what Jesus came to do: to die, be buried and then burst
forth in Life, giving Life to many others. Jesus came to die as the sacrifice
for our sin so that, though faith in Him, we could be redeemed to the Father.
The fact that Jesus left His place in Heaven at the right-hand of the Father’s
Throne for the sole purpose of dying on the Cross to free us from the penalty
of sin and death is evident when He says, “Now My soul is troubled, and what
shall I say? ‘Father save Me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I came to
this hour. Father, glorify Your name” (John 12:27 -28). Glorifying the Father by redeeming sinful
mankind by grace through faith is the reason He came.
We must not, however, neglect the statements Jesus made in
John 12:25-26, “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life
in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him
follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone loves Me, him
My Father will honor.”
The obvious questions for each of us are these:
1. Do you understand that Jesus is the only one
through whom we have access to the Father, for He alone is “the Way, the Truth,
and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus” (John 14:6)?
That means you cannot be forgiven of your sin or have victory in death by your
own “good merits.”
2. Do you understand that Jesus, God the Son, is
the only One who could accomplish your redemption because He alone was sinless
perfection? He is fully God so that His death could make redemption available
to all mankind, and He is fully man so that He could die and understand the
temptations we all face, thus being the perfect High Priest.
3. Do you understand that, having put your faith
in Jesus as your Saviour, you are to love Him with all of your heart, soul,
mind and strength? That having died to sin through Him, you are also raised to
new life through Him. You are set free from your former slavery to sin and now
give yourself to righteous living through the power and leading of the Holy
Spirit. Your old life is to be done way with so that you now live for Him.
4. Do you believe?
5. If you do believe, are you doing your all to
be faithful to Him, which involves following His example. He came to glorify
the Father by redeeming those enslaved to sin and death who Trust in Him. We
are called to be His ambassadors, bringing glory to the Father by telling
others of the redemption accomplished by Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
Jesus did not look forward to taking upon Himself the sins
of humanity when He went to the Cross. According to Luke 22:42 He prayed to His Father, “take this cup away
from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” Jesus was sinless, but
He knew the hour was upon Him that He would take all our sin and pay the price
that was due: death. Our forgiveness is only possible because the price was
paid through His blood.
You and I can still be a witness of that truth today, even
with quarantines and instructions to remain home. We still have the world at
our fingertips through cell phones and social media. We can still talk with our
Heaven Father through reading the Word, prayer and interaction with each other,
even if it is within the guidelines of “social distancing” right now. My prayer
is that all this time of separation, let’s call it germination time, will
blossom into a bounty of opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus this
summer.
One more question, do you refuse to be a witness of the
Life-giving Gospel of Christ because of fear? Is it like sitting at that desk
in ninth grade, fearfully waiting your turn to give a speech? Does that fear
keep you from witnessing to friends, family and strangers?
In those moments, do you, by contrast say, “Father, take
this cup away from me; nevertheless, not Your will, but mine be done?”
May the Lord give you boldness as you yield your life to
Him, for “he who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this
world will keep it for eternal life.” The hour has come for us to germinate.
Grace, Peace and Boldness,
Pastor Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment