John 12. Over the next ten chapters, John captures extended discourses between Jesus and the disciples

Transcription

1 Jhn 12 As Jhn recrds Jesus unavidable march tward the crss, he takes great care t recrd many details frm Jesus final week that the ther Gspel writers verlked Over the next ten chapters, Jhn captures extended discurses between Jesus and the disciples In particular, at the Last Supper and in the Garden befre He is betrayed, Jhn captures very intimate mments absent frm the ther Gspels Als, the High Priestly prayer Jesus prays with the Father is recrded nly in Jhn And Jhn adds imprtant details t ur understanding f the trials and crucifixin f Jesus Finally, Jhn ffers fascinating detail n the days fllwing Jesus resurrectin All these things await us in the secnd half f this study, but tday we return t Jesus having entered Jerusalem n the Sunday befre Passver Over the past three mnths, the pressure has been building t find Jesus The Pharisees have asked fr help And the crwds are waiting t see if Jesus wuld appear fr Passver Nw that He has entered the city, a cnflict is inevitable And it s because f this building pressure that Jesus knws His death is cming shrtly S we pick up again tday as Jhn relates a brief and interesting encunter that happened after Jesus triumphant entry int the city 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Jhn 12 2 f 19 Jhn 12:20 Nw there were sme Greeks amng thse wh were ging up t wrship at the feast; Jhn 12:21 these then came t Philip, wh was frm Bethsaida f Galilee, and began t ask him, saying, Sir, we wish t see Jesus. Jhn 12:22 Philip came and tld Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and tld Jesus. Jhn 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hur has cme fr the Sn f Man t be glrified. Jhn 12:24 Truly, truly, I say t yu, unless a grain f wheat falls int the earth and dies, it remains alne; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jhn 12:25 He wh lves his life lses it, and he wh hates his life in this wrld will keep it t life eternal. Jhn 12:26 If anyne serves Me, he must fllw Me; and where I am, there My servant will be als; if anyne serves Me, the Father will hnr him. As Jesus death appraches, a grup f Gentiles (Jhn calls them Greeks) appraches t wrship Jesus They aren t sure where t find Jesus, s they ask Philip where He can be fund This is a curius and almst ut-f-place event in Jhn s Gspel N ther writer thught t mentin it S we might wnder why Jhn chse t include it? Well, it reminds us f anther grup f Gentiles that came frm afar seeking t wrship the Lrd in Israel This visit happened at the very beginning f Jesus earthly life They t had t ask where He culd be fund Thse magi were a testimny t the pwer f the Messiah t reach the wrld, even the Gentile wrld utside Israel Nw at the end f Jesus life, He has accmplished that purpse yet again Gentiles were nw streaming t Jerusalem t find and wrship the Messiah We re tld in Zechariah and elsewhere that the Gentile natins will stream t Jerusalem t wrship the Messiah 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Jhn 12 3 f 19 The fulfillment f that prphecy awaits the Kingdm But even nw it s fulfillment is prefigured by the arrival f these Gentiles When the disciples brught the news t Jesus that even Gentiles were cming t Him, it becmes the catalyst fr Him t annunce the hur f His death had cme It seems that the Gentiles arrival t Jerusalem demnstrated that Jesus n lnger belnged t Israel alne He was nw prepared t die fr the sins f the whle wrld, as Jhn says in His letter In v.23 Jesus declares the Sn f Man will be glrified in death and resurrectin Hw Jesus must have feared what He was speaking cncerning Himself? He knew this must happen and it s what He s been mving tward this end even frm the beginning Nevertheless, His bedience t that missin is abut t be srely tested in His humanity T help explain the beneficial purpse fr His death, Jesus teaches thrugh a parable Jesus uses the example f a seed It s very purpse fr existing is t give life But befre that seed can serve its intended purpse, it must be buried, which is a picture f dying Paul uses this same analgy in 1Cr 15 t explain bdily resurrectin S Jesus is saying He s prepared t die and be buried s by His death He wuld bear much fruit, which must be the greatest f all understatements Jesus als says that this ne Seed will fall int the earth by itself Generally, farmers sw individual seeds in their wn hle in tehe grund 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Jhn 12 4 f 19 In applying that agricultural practice t Himself, Jesus is explaining that He expected t be abandned by everyne Thugh there were adring crwds nw and even His devted disciples, they were abut t disappear Why was Jesus ging t be alne? Because sinful always flesh places greater imprtance n earthly gals ver spiritual gals Jesus is abut t sacrifice Himself s that thers may live, s Jesus lectures these men t d the same knwing they will sn turn their backs n Him Paradxically, Jesus says that death is the way t life He means it in three primary ways First, He means if smene lves earthly life, then he will miss the pprtunity t gain eternal life In a sense, Jesus is defining the repentance that leads t salvatin Repentance is a humbling f neself t recgnize that the life we knw n earth is nt true life We cme t agree we are sinners destined t eternal death We must be willing t let this ld self g t the grave And instead, we embrace new life in Christ As Paul says, we are buried with Christ s we can be raised with Him Secndly, Jesus is saying we must be willingly t die t self s we can fllw Christ We n lnger seek fr the lifestyle the wrld ffers If we seek after that life, then we wn t seek fr the life that cmes by abiding in Christ We dn t depend n this wrld t find ur satisfactin We dn t measure rewards by what we gain fr urselves in a wrld destined t burn up 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Jhn 12 5 f 19 We must all adpt the attitude that everything in this wrld is wrth frfeiting fr the sake f what Jesus ffers in eternity Finally, the church must be prepared t fllw in Jesus ftsteps by ging t the grave if required t supprt the missin f the church It s ften said that the bld f Christian martyrs has watered the seed f the church The death f Christians in the face f persecutin is cmmnly a surce fr salvatin in a new generatin And whenever Christians demnstrate that their lve fr Christ is greater than their lve fr their life, Gd uses that testimny t bring mre suls life Our death can becme a surce f new eternal life fr anther Jesus summarizes this final pint saying that whever turns t Jesus shuld expect t fllw in His ftsteps in v.26 N servant can avid ging where the Master ges Jesus leads His peple and s wherever we re drawn t serve, we can knw He is bringing us there These wrds are clearly lking frward t the time when these men will be withut Jesus n earth Nevertheless, He will still be leading them And He des the same fr us tday By His Spirit, He leads us int the mments where He intends t perfrm ministry thrugh us And the Father will hnr the ne wh serves Christ That hnr may be evidenced n earth t sme extent But regardless, it will be evidenced in Heaven With death n His mind, Jesus nw begins t explain the purpse in His cming death Jesus explanatin ges ver the heads f the crwd and even the disciples But Jesus is merely planting seeds with these statements 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Jhn 12 6 f 19 Jhn 12:27 Nw My sul has becme trubled; and what shall I say, Father, save Me frm this hur? But fr this purpse I came t this hur. Jhn 12:28 Father, glrify Yur name. Then a vice came ut f heaven: I have bth glrified it, and will glrify it again. Jhn 12:29 S the crwd f peple wh std by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; thers were saying, An angel has spken t Him. Jhn 12:30 Jesus answered and said, This vice has nt cme fr My sake, but fr yur sakes. My Bible says Jesus describes His sul as trubled, but the Greek wrd fr sul has a wide variety f meanings It can mean sul, life, heart and even mind S it als can mean the whle persn I think that s hw Jesus means it here His sul r spirit was cmmitted t the missin, but His humanity His Persn was trubled by what He knew lay ahead The Greek wrd translated trubled means frightened Our Lrd was frightened but the pain f the beatings The terrr f the scurge Unimaginable suffering f the crss Our Lrd was Gd, but He was als a man, and His pwer as Gd nly served t magnify His suffering First, Jesus knew that this time (this hur ) was cming Hw much wrse is it t knw that a terrible thing lies in yur future? Better t nt knw befre it happens, right? Furthermre, Jesus had the pwer t stp it at anytime Ntice Jesus asks rhetrically what shuld He say t the Father? Shuld He call t the Father and ask Him t save Him frm this hur? 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Jhn 12 7 f 19 Hw much harder still is it fr smene t cntemplate a hrrible death knwing yu have the pwer t stp it What cmpels smene t g frward? Lve Jesus lve fr the Father cmpelled Him t bey despite His suffering Jesus says it was fr this purpse He came t this pint If Jesus hadn t been willing t g thrugh with this plan, He never wuld have begun it Cnsider the cntrast between this secnd Adam and the first Adam The first Adam was cmpelled t bey the Father And he lived under ideal cnditins Nthing in Adam s existence made beying Gd s wrd difficult Nevertheless, he disbeyed...withut hardly a thught But Christ came as the secnd Adam t reverse the mistake f the first But Jesus circumstances were a prduct f the first Adam s mistake Jesus entered a wrld f sin, nt paradise Jesus came t die in suffering, nt t live in perfectin And Jesus persevered in bedience thugh it trubled His sul Therefre, Jesus desn t say Father save Me, but says Father glrify Yur Name Jesus insists that the Father cmmand His Sn t d what brings Him glry He speaks these wrds as a petitin t the Father And s then the Father answers with wrds that all can hear He says He has glrified His Name and He will again This is the third time that the Father has answered Jesus frm Heaven The first was at His baptism The secnd at His transfiguratin 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Jhn 12 8 f 19 And nw as Jesus rejects the temptatin t avid the crss Only Jhn recrds this third incident It s interesting that in all three cases, but especially in this case, these supernatural dramatic revelatins frm Gd are veiled They are bviusly intended t shw the Father s endrsement f His Sn and His bedience And yet the audiences are always unsure f what they are hearing r seeing Or they miss it altgether Ntice in v.29 the crwd is debating what they heard and they assume it was said fr Jesus benefit Why wuld Gd prduce such a display and yet veil it frm its witnesses? Even Jesus says it was fr their benefit and nt fr His Jesus didn t need an answer t His prayer fr He knew the will f the Father The peple needed t knw that the Sn was ding the Father s will Yet it was veiled t them The reasn is because the Father glrifies Himself thrugh His Sn The Sn represents the Father As the writer f Hebrews says Heb. 1:1 Gd, after He spke lng ag t the fathers in the prphets in many prtins and in many ways, Heb. 1:2 in these last days has spken t us in His Sn, whm He appinted heir f all things, thrugh whm als He made the wrld. Heb. 1:3 And He is the radiance f His glry and the exact representatin f His nature, and uphlds all things by the wrd f His pwer... That s what the Father means when He says that He has glrified His name and will again 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Jhn 12 9 f 19 Jesus has been glrifying the Father in all that He has dne And He will yet glrify the Father even mre by what He s abut t d n the crss Which is what Jesus meant as well when He asked the Father t glrify His name He meant give Me the strength t make it t the crss S this supernatural display was anther seed planted fr the disciples t knw that the Sn s death was a part f the Father s plan We need t understand that what s abut t happen will cmpletely rck the disciples wrld The last thing they re expecting is fr their Messiah and Lrd t die As we ll see later, it leads them t cnclude that the entire mvement is lst Can yu imagine what it meant t a Jew t think their Messiah had failed in His missin? That will be the depth f their hpelessness after the crss S even nw the Father and Jesus are preparing these men t understand the true purpse behind the events Then Jesus mves int explaining the purpse in His cming suffering and death Jhn 12:31 Nw judgment is upn this wrld; nw the ruler f this wrld will be cast ut. Jhn 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up frm the earth, will draw all men t Myself. Jhn 12:33 But He was saying this t indicate the kind f death by which He was t die. Adam s sin brught the wrld under Gd s judgment And nw the Father was preparing t bring that judgment Except that the judgment wuld rest entirely n Christ He was literally t becme Atlas, hlding the wrld n His shulders By His death, the Lrd wuld als cast ut the enemy f the wrld 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Jhn f 19 The enemy s pwer was established when he rbbed man f fellwship with Gd And that pwer is taken away when men are recnciled t Gd And since ur sin is that barrier, we can say that the enemy s pwer lies in the way he brught men int sin And likewise, Jesus pwer ver the enemy is evidenced in His ability t remve the penalty fr sin Therefre, Jesus explains that if He is lifted up n a crss, then it will serve t draw men t Him As the wrld cmes t understand that Jesus has taken their penalty upn Himself, many will flck t Him in thankfulness This is the draw f the Gspel It tells the wrld that they have been frgiven f sin They have nthing t fear frm Gd, since all the wrath they deserve has been taken upn Christ This reminds us that if we try t preach the Gspel withut discussing the reality f sin and the penalty that sin deserves, we gut the pwer f the message The death f Christ is pwerful and cmpelling nly when we understand what it accmplished n ur behalf We can all applaud the ne wh dies sacrificial in defense f thers - Like a sldier falling n a grenade t same a cmrade But we are persnally devted t the One wh wuld die n ur behalf It s different when the life that was saved if ur wn S ur presentatin f the Gspel must include the reality that all men are destined fr eternal death in fire and trment fr sin And that nly by the death f One in ur place can that penalty be avided And Christ s lved the wrld, that He died in ur place 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Jhn f 19 S that as He was lifted up, He wuld draw men t Himself All this strange talk f dying and the Sn f Man has the crwd pndering, s they ask Jesus t explain Jhn 12:34 The crwd then answered Him, We have heard ut f the Law that the Christ is t remain frever; and hw can Yu say, The Sn f Man must be lifted up? Wh is this Sn f Man? Jhn 12:35 S Jesus said t them, Fr a little while lnger the Light is amng yu. Walk while yu have the Light, s that darkness will nt vertake yu; he wh walks in the darkness des nt knw where he ges. Jhn 12:36 While yu have the Light, believe in the Light, s that yu may becme sns f Light. These things Jesus spke, and He went away and hid Himself frm them. At the suggestin that the Messiah was ging t die, the crwd says wait a minute, we thught the wrd says the Messiah will live frever And nw yu re telling us yu have t be lifted up (which the crwd tk t mean dying) This bthered them t n end It seemed like Jesus was vilating scripture, which began t wrry them And the term Sn f Man was cnfusing them, thugh Daniel uses this term t describe the Messiah It s prbably n cincidence that this is the last mentin f a crwd fllwing Jesus in the Gspels It wuld seem that this discussin f His death wrries the crwd t the pint that they are n lnger interested in fllwing Already, the seed is beginning t be buried alne Sensing their fickleness, rather than answer their questins Jesus presents the crwd with the call f the Gspel nce mre Jesus calls them t walk in the Light Of curse, we are very familiar with the metaphr f light by nw It means t knw the truth f Christ T live in the light f spiritual truth 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 Jhn f 19 And the fact that the Light is nly amng them a little lnger makes this call all the mre imperative We sit here tday faithful fllwers f a Jesus we ve yet t see These peple were standing mere feet frm Him as He spke Dn t yu wish yu culd be in that mment, t see Jesus walking the earth as a man? What a privilege these peple had! But they shrugged their shulders and left S Jesus went away and hid Himself frm the peple The time fr cnvincing the crwds was ver...death was near This generatin was witness t Gd incarnate, and yet they walked away unimpressed Hw can any human being stand in the presence f the Creatr f the Universe and nt fall n his face? Why did crwds hear Jesus and see Him and nt accept Him? We see this theme f why sme believe and ther d nt returning again in Jhn s narrative And the same answer cmes in the next passage Jhn 12:37 But thugh He had perfrmed s many signs befre them, yet they were nt believing in Him. Jhn 12:38 This was t fulfill the wrd f Isaiah the prphet which he spke: LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED? Jhn 12:39 Fr this reasn they culd nt believe, fr Isaiah said again, Jhn 12:40 HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM. Jhn 12:41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glry, and he spke f Him. Thugh Jesus perfrmed s many signs and spken s many wrds, still the crwds were nt believing in Him 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 Jhn f 19 And the fact that s many rejected Jesus was a result f Gd s svereign will The prphet Isaiah was called t write prvcative wrds cncerning hw the Messiah wuld be received when He arrived Isaiah asks in chapter 53 wh believes the reprt that the Messiah has arrived fr Israel? The questin is rhetrical, fr the answer will be bvius Virtually n ne in Israel believes when the Lrd arrives fr that natin But the fact that Israel desn t receive their Messiah wasn t chance r the whim f an individual s desires r cnclusins N, Jhn says that the natin s rejectin f their Messiah was an utcme prduced by the will f Gd In v.40 Jhn qutes Isaiah 6 where the prphet says that Gd Himself has blinded the eyes f Israel And Gd hardened the heart f Israel And He did these things s that they wuld nt see Jesus as Messiah And they wuld nt believe that He was Messiah Fr if they had dne s, then the Lrd wuld have been bligated by His wn wrd t heal them S nt t pint a fine pint n it, the Lrd prevent Israel frm receiving their Messiah They heard, but they didn t understand They saw, but they didn t believe And this was all dne t fulfill prphecy in Isaiah, which said that the Messiah wuld be rejected by Israel And in case we re in dubt that Isaiah knew what he was talking abut, Jhn says Isaiah saw Jesus glry and knew f it Isaiah knew exactly what was cming in the Messiah 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 Jhn f 19 Which is why everything Isaiah wrte is perfectly accurate t the events f Jesus life Of curse, the questin in ur minds is why did the Lrd say He wuld d such things t Israel and then carry them ut? Hw can the Lrd be just t reject His wn peple? Well, the answer begins with a prmise spken t Abraham In the cvenant Gd made t Abraham, He said Gen. 12:2 And I will make yu a great natin, And I will bless yu, And make yur name great; And s yu shall be a blessing; Gen. 12:3 And I will bless thse wh bless yu, And the ne wh curses yu I will curse. And in yu all the families f the earth will be blessed. The prmises spken t Abraham mentin that thrugh him Gd wuld bless all the families r natins f the earth Gd cmmitted Himself t bringing a blessing t the whle wrld thrugh the descendants f Abraham Gd fulfills that prmise by bringing the Messiah t all natins The Gspel is traveling the wrld fulfilling Gd s wrd t Abraham even tday S Gd needed a plan t send the Gspel beynd the Jewish peple But if the Gspel was ging t g t the wrld, it needed time t get there And it required the Messiah t deliver it But if Israel had received their Messiah when He came t deliver the Gspel, then the Lrd wuld have been bligated t receive them accrding t His prmises As Isaiah said, if Israel heard the message and receive it, then the Lrd wuld heal them 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

15 Jhn f 19 And nce Israel receives their Messiah, the Kingdm will cmmence S, secndly, the Lrd needed a just way t reject His wn peple fr a time t permit the pprtunity fr the Gentile natins t receive the Messiah He prmised them Therefre, the Lrd entered int a cvenant with Israel at Mt Sinai In that cvenant, the Lrd delivered the Law And if the peple agreed t the Law, they were prmised t receive the Kingdm and the blessings f the Land But if they brke the cvenant, then the Lrd wuld be just in bringing the natin thrugh a perid f judgment The natin agreed t this cvenant, and then prmptly brke it When they brke it, they gave Gd just reasn t enact the judgments spelled ut in the cvenant Thse judgments include a lng perid in which the natin is set utside Gd s mercy, called the Age f the Gentiles, described in Daniel And it s during this age that the Messiah appears t Israel Gd rchestrated the Messiah s appearance t Israel t fall within this perid f judgment fr their sin under the Old Cvenant s that He culd be justified in rejecting them That s what Isaiah means when he says that the Lrd blinded the peple f the natin He was keeping His wrd t judge the natin fr disbeying the Old Cvenant And simultaneusly the Lrd was keeping His wrd t Abraham t bring the Gspel t the natins f the Earth S the peple f Israel were set aside by the Lrd s that they wuldn t receive the Gspel when it was ffered Because Israel rejected it, then the message had time and pprtunity t g anther peple, the Gentiles As Paul says quting Hsea and Isaiah 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

16 Jhn f 19 Rm. 9:25 As He says als in Hsea, I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, MY PEOPLE, AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, BELOVED. Rm. 9:26 AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE, THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD. The Lrd called the Gentiles, wh were nt His peple, because He prmised t d s S that the Gentiles wh were nt lking fr a Messiah fund Him While the Jewish peple, wh were suppsed t be awaiting their Messiah, lst Him in that generatin This plan f Gd explains why the natin culd be s blind t their wn Messiah, as Jhn as demnstrated But all is nt lst fr Israel Fr as Gd prmised salvatin t the Gentiles, He als prmised the Kingdm fr Israel S ne day the Lrd returns t bless Israel, as Paul says Rm. 11:7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has nt btained, but thse wh were chsen btained it, and the rest were hardened; Rm. 11:8 just as it is written, GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY. Rm. 11:9 And David says, LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. Rm. 11:10 LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER. Rm. 11:11 I say then, they did nt stumble s as t fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgressin salvatin has cme t the Gentiles, t make them jealus. The stupr the Lrd gave t Israel will last nly until the purpses in that stupr have been met 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

17 Jhn f 19 And the purpse is t bring the Gspel t the Gentiles wrldwide Ntice again that Paul reiterates that Israel s rejectin f the Messiah was by the hand f Gd But this stumble wasn t intended t bring the natin t its end Instead it was a temprary measure t fulfill Gd s prmise t the Gentiles But at sme pint the Lrd will return t Israel and cmplete His plan f redemptin n their behalf As Paul cncludes in Rmans 11 Rm. 11:25 Fr I d nt want yu, brethren, t be uninfrmed f this mystery s that yu will nt be wise in yur wn estimatin that a partial hardening has happened t Israel until the fullness f the Gentiles has cme in; Rm. 11:26 and s all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. Rm. 11:27 THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS. When Gd s plan fr the Gentiles is cmpleted r fulfilled, He will return t Israel and bring them the Gspel again, as the Messiah cmes frm Zin The Secnd Cming f Christ will be the mment the Lrd fulfills His prmises t Israel It will als be the mment when the judgments f the Law are brught t their end All these details are explained in much greater detail in the Revelatin study nline Nevertheless, Jhn refers t this grand plan f Gd t explain the therwise unexplainable circumstances we re seeing here As the natin f Israel runs frm their Messiah despite the clear evidence that Jesus is the One they have awaited With blinded eyes and hardened hearts, the crwd dissipates, and Jesus retreats int privacy preparing fr His death 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

18 Jhn f 19 On the ther hand, the fact that many rejected Jesus desn t mean that n ne accepted Him f curse Gd s plan t bypass Israel fr time didn t mean that Gd turns His back n the entire natin In fact, Paul teaches that the Lrd always keep sme f Israel within the family f Gd This He des t ensure that the natin never ceases t exist in fellwship with Him We call this believing element within Israel the remnant Rm. 11:4 But what is the divine respnse t him? I HAVE KEPT fr Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL. Rm. 11:5 In the same way then, there has als cme t be at the present time a remnant accrding t Gd s gracius chice. Therefre, the remnant was present even in Jesus day, as Jhn explains at the end f the chapter Jhn 12:42 Nevertheless many even f the rulers believed in Him, but because f the Pharisees they were nt cnfessing Him, fr fear that they wuld be put ut f the synaggue; Jhn 12:43 fr they lved the apprval f men rather than the apprval f Gd. Jhn says many f Israel were believing in Him, even amng the rulers f Israel Yet we dn t see the leaders f Israel stepping frward t embrace Jesus as Christ And the reasn fr the Pharisees nt cnfessing Jesus publicly was fear and peer pressure We knw f Nicdemus already And later we learn f Jseph f Arimathea And Jhn indicates there were thers as well This is sber reminder that even amng believers the pressure t cnceal ur allegiance t Christ can be great 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

19 Jhn f 19 Even in the very presence f the Messiah, sme fllwers lved the apprval f the wrld mre than the apprval f Gd Cnsider that statement fr a mment When yu silence yur cnfessin, yu are frfeiting the apprval f Gd When yu cnceal yur witness, yu re frfeiting the apprval fr Gd When yu seek t please the wrld rather than Gd, yu are fllwing in the ftsteps f the Pharisees But what s abut t fllw will put everyne t test D they fear men r fear Gd? D they desire the apprval f men r Gd? Are the willing t fllw in the ftsteps f their Lrd? Next time, we begin the Last Supper, which cntinues fr five chapters, the lngest scene in Jhn s Gspel 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.