Dr. Voddie Baucham - What will you do with Jesus - John 11 45-57
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Speaker 1: I bring you greetings from the African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia,
where my family and I have the privilege of serving
and having served for the last six and a bringing
you greetings and thanks from all the folks who were
here over the weekend for the conference this weekend. You
guys were incredible hosts, unbelievably hospitable to us, and it
spoke volumes about the kind of church that this is.
And I'm saying that as one of many who've said
that over the course of the weekend. And I'm just
privileged to be able to be here with you on
this Lord's Day. to be able to say that to
you directly. Now, if you have your Bibles with you,
open your Bibles to John chapter 11. John chapter 11.
And if you haven't been here, you may not be aware.
Of course, you are now after the video. The church
is in the midst of a series in the book
of John, preaching through the book of John. And we
now come to the end of chapter 11. This is
right after really that dramatic point in John, the raising
of Lazarus. And that's what chapter 11 is most known for.
But now we're about to transition here at the end
of chapter 11. And there are a couple of things
to know about the book of John in order to
understand the significance of this transition. The first thing is
that we've now come to the end of the seven
signs around which John has organized his gospel. John doesn't
organize his gospel the same way that the other gospel
writers organize theirs. This is why sometimes people will look
at the book of John and something will happen in
a different order, different chronology, and they'll say, aha, contradiction
in the Bible. I just love that. Contradiction in the Bible.
There it is. Because something happened out of order. John's
very clear about what his goal is. His goal is
to organize his material in such a way that you
will see Jesus as the Messiah and that you will
believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Luke tells you clearly,
for example, what his goal is in his prologue, right?
To write out an orderly account. Luke says, my goal
is to give it to you in the chronological order
in which it was written. In which it occurred. That's
my goal. To trace everything back and give you that
history and that order and that chronology. He's a historian.
He's a physician. He's a man of science. That's what
he's doing. John says, I'm going to show you some
things so that you will leave. And so his order,
anybody who reads this gospel sees that it's ordered around
these seven signs. The first sign. Jesus changes water into
wine in chapter two. Second sign, Jesus heals the official's
son in chapter four. Third sign, Jesus heals at the
pool of Bethesda. The fourth sign, the feeding of the 5,000
in chapter six. The fifth sign, also in chapter six,
Jesus walking on water. The sixth sign, Jesus healing the
man born blind in chapter nine. And then the seventh sign,
which we're just on the tail end of, is the
raising of Lazarus. And so this text is incredibly important
because now John has actually made his case. These are
the signs. These are the reasons that you ought to
believe that Jesus is the Messiah. And he works his
way up to this last sign, this sign of resurrection.
These other signs show us that Jesus has power over sin,
that he has power over nature, the natural world, the world.
He has power over the spiritual realm. But now all
of a sudden, He shows that Jesus actually has power
over death itself. There's a second transition that we've come to.
And that transition is in the literary structure of John.
In terms of his chronology. The first 11 chapters take
place over years. Chapter 12 says, takes place over days,
and then chapters 13 through 18 takes place over a
matter of hours. So I'm gonna date myself, expose a
little bit about myself, but I think you'll get the point.
If you're living right. Some of you may not be
holy enough to get this point, but I'm gonna make
it anyway. But it's like we're slowing down and coming
out of warp speed. If you didn't get that, you
ain't living right. If you don't get a Star Trek reference,
I don't know how much help there is for you.
But it's so obvious that this is what's happening in
John's gospel. And so the end of chapter 11 here
is important because we're making that transition. We're about to
slow way down and get into the nitty gritty of
Jesus' last days. Finally, the text highlights what is arguably
John's major theme and the way that he communicates His goal,
belief by those whom you would not expect to believe
and a failure to believe by those whom you would
expect to believe. He hints to this in chapter one.
He sort of lays this out before he does it.
Chapter one, verses nine through 13. The true light which
gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He
was in the world and the world was made through him,
yet the world did not know him. He came to
his own and his own people did not receive him.
But to all who did receive him, who believe in
his name, he gave the right to become children of
God who were born not of blood, excuse me, not
of the will of man nor of the flesh, but
of God. There's the contrast. That great irony he introduces
right there in the first chapter. Jesus came to his
own and they didn't receive him. But to as many
as did receive him. There's irony there. He came to
his own and his own didn't receive. If anybody was
going to receive him, it should have been his own.
And his own didn't receive him. Well, if his own
didn't receive him, certainly nobody else did. Well, obviously others
did because he says to all who did receive him.
There's the contrast. Now, that's in chapter one. In chapter two,
some simple men believe. The disciples believe. John 2, 22,
when therefore he was raised from the dead, this is
after the turning water into wine, when therefore he was
raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had
said this and they believed the scriptures and the word
that Jesus had spoken. So in chapter two, after the
changing of water into wine, John says later on, they
get this because of what happened. Well then what happens
in John chapter three? Nicodemus, the leader of the Jews,
he ought to have believed, but he didn't. He should
have gotten it, but he didn't. John 3.10, Jesus answered him,
are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do
not understand these things? If anybody should get this, you
should get this. You're not just a student of the word,
you're a teacher of Israel, and you don't get this.
And as if that contrast wasn't enough, he frames it.
He frames the unbelief of Nicodemus. First, on the one hand,
with these simple men who believe, and then on the
other hand, in chapter four, with a Samaritan woman who
not only believes, but because of her, her village believes. Again,
John could not be more obvious in his intent. This
contrast is meant to make a point. Here are these
signs that prove who Jesus is. And yet, those who
ought to get it don't. and those whom you wouldn't
expect to get it do which raises a question that
is the question of this last section in chapter 11
and that question is what will you do with Jesus
what will you do with him? And John uses that
same theme here at the end of chapter 11, and
we get not two groups of people, but three groups
of people in order to press this point. Now, I'm
going to go through this a bit like John writes
his gospel. We won't go just straight through the whole thing.
We'll look at all of the verses here from verse
45 on through to the end of the chapter, but
we're going to look at them not necessarily in their order,
but we're going to look at them in relation to
the three groups that are highlighted. And so the first
group is the masses. The masses were conflicted about Jesus.
Many of the Jews, verse 45, therefore, who had come
with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,
but some of them went to the Pharisees and told
them what Jesus had done. There's this contrast. Many of
the Jews believed, but some of them went to the
Pharisees to tell what he had done. Now jump down
to verses 55 and 56. Now the Passover of the
Jews was at hand. Now that will be important later on.
That is critical here. The Passover of the Jews was
at hand. So here in chapter 11, where we're slowing down,
it's been years, right? And at the end of this section,
there's Passover. And then when we see Jesus slowing down
to the last hours, guess what he's experienced with his disciples? Passover. Passover.
Passover now the Passover of the Jews was at hand
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before
the Passover to purify themselves this is one of those
one of those religious feasts religious holidays that brought everybody
to the temple from from wherever they were They would
come to Jerusalem and come to the temple. And by
the way, the Psalms, a number of the Psalms are
referred to as Psalms of Ascent. Have you heard that terminology?
Psalms of Ascent. These were the Psalms that you would
sing as you were on your way up to Jerusalem
for one of these high holy days. So you're coming
up to Jerusalem for the Passover and you sing the
Psalms of Ascent as you get closer to to the temple.
So many went up to purify themselves before the Passover.
They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another
as they stood in the temple, what do you think?
That he will not come to the feast at all?
They're looking for him and they don't see him. Is
he coming? They're waving, they're vaporing, they're vacillating. And this
is the keep with the many. In fact, the phrase
many of the Jews only appears in John's gospel. And
it's almost exclusively associated with the raising of Lazarus. But
there's one exception. And that one exception is the resurrection
of Jesus. So this idea of the many in John's gospel,
many of the Jews, the many, the idea here is
that there is the raising of the dead, the raising
of Lazarus, Which is merely a foreshadowing of the ultimate
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And people vacillate about this.
Which is utterly baffling. Because this is the sign of signs.
The phrase seems to emphasize John's point about belief versus unbelief.
It's a reference to this nameless, faceless crowd that never
stakes out their ground. Chapter 11, verse 19. Many of
the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console
them concerning their brother. Then we have this reference in 1145.
And then again in 12, 10, and 11. So the
chief priest made plans to put Lazarus to death as
well because on account of him, many of the Jews
were going away and believing in Jesus. And then in 1920,
the one that's associated with the resurrection of Christ or
the crucifixion, many of the Jews read this inscription, this inscription,
the King of the Jews says, For the place where
Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was
written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. And we
know that there was opposition to this sign. What's the opposition?
Don't write king of the Jews. Write he said he
was king of the Jews. So this reference here to
the many is this reference to those who vacillate, to
those who can't make a decision, to those who are
the unidentified masses. We can't nail them down. What do
we do with this? I'll tell you one thing you do.
Don't try to decide who Jesus is by polling the masses.
That's not the answer. John writes his gospel, not so
that you can get together a focus group and see
what everybody thinks and then make a decision. No, John
writes his gospel so that you can see what Jesus
has done, that you can hear what Jesus has taught,
and then you make a decision not based on polling
the people, but based on the evidence that is presented.
There are many who can help you and aid you
and point you to the truth. Amen? Your parents. Praise
God if you had parents who taught you and catechized
you and discipled you and dragged you to church. Amen.
But their faith is not yours. Friends, coworkers, family members, classmates.
Praise the Lord for all of those if they point
you to the person and work of Jesus Christ. But
you will not stand before God and give an account
for who your friends were or what your friends believed.
Social media is filled with opinions so many opinions that
it's impossible to make decisions about so many things. But
social media is not where we go to establish our
understanding of who Jesus is. John says, look at what
he did and look at what he taught and don't
be like the many who vacillate between opinions. In the end,
Following the many leads you astray. Faith in Christ is
a personal matter. Not a corporate one. It only becomes
a corporate matter when you have entered in through the
narrow gate. Amen? Because then you enter into that corporate
body of those who believe. Now, while the masses were
conflicted about Jesus, the council was not conflicted at all.
The council was threatened by Jesus. That's the second group.
Look at verse 47. 47 to 53. So the chief
priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what
are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
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. Now remember, the
Romans occupy at this time. They're under Roman rule. Now
they were allowed to have their own councils. They were
allowed to have their Sanhedrin. Because Rome had a rule
about religion. The ruler religio licite, or legal religions. You
could practice your religion in Rome, in the Roman Empire,
under Roman rule, if it was religio licite. But you
could not if it was religio illicite, if it was
an illegal religion. So the Jews are concerned about Jesus
and his popularity spreading, and the Romans getting wind of it.
Because just as the Romans were famous for their arches,
and for their aqueducts, and for their roads, they were
notorious for their ability to put down anything that threatened
the empire. And interestingly enough, the chief priests and the
Pharisees were more concerned about the possibility of losing their
place and their power among the Romans than they were
with whether or not this was really the Messiah. 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 were scattered abroad. So from that
day on, they made plans to put him to death.
Those sentences, those two sentences, they shouldn't just go together.
He prophesied rightly that Jesus would die for the nation
and for the nations to bring them in. The next
line says, they made plans to kill him. Verse 57
is also tied to this. Now the chief priests and
the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where
he was, he should let them know so that they
might arrest him. This phrase, chief priests and Pharisees, it
occurs seven times in the Gospels, five of them in John.
The two others occur in Matthew. In John chapter seven,
they plot to arrest him. In John chapter 11, they
put out the warrant. We just saw this. And in
John chapter 18, they execute the warrant. Look there in
John chapter 18, verse three. So Judas, having procured a
band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests
and the Pharisees, there's that phrase, went there with lanterns
and torches and weapons. Interestingly enough, it was not the
Romans that arrested Jesus. It was the chief priests and
the Pharisees. It was the council because they were threatened
by him. Jesus was not crucified because the Romans looked
at him and said he's a threat to us. He
was crucified because the council looked at him and said
he's a threat. And the council said he's a threat
because Because he was a potential threat to the little
scraps of power that the Romans allowed them to exercise.
Now this helps us make sense of another passage of scripture.
Acts chapter four, verses 15 to 17. But when they had, again,
Peter and John, they've healed the man at the beautiful gate.
They've been called in before the Sanhedrin. Verse 15. Verse 15.
But when they had commanded them to leave the council,
they conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do
with these men? For that a notable sign has been
performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And we cannot deny it. But in order that it
may spread no further among the people, let us warn
them to speak no more to anyone in this name.
Same power structure holding on to the same power. They've
gotten rid of Jesus. He's been crucified. And now, all
of a sudden, the problem is worse than it was before.
Brothers and sisters, check your own heart. Do you see
Jesus as a threat? A threat to your position, to
your power, to your possessions, to your pride? So many
are conflicted about coming to faith in Jesus because of
what it will cost them in terms of control, in
terms of power, in terms of sovereignty over their own life.
It's the exact same thing. He's a threat. Do you
need Jesus to fit into your plans and programs? Yes.
Or have you merely come to him in repentance and faith?
Do you see Jesus as a means to an end?
Someone that you can use? Or as one who's free
to use you as he wills? Now, the crowds in
the council had their responses to Jesus. John's hope is
that your response would be reflected in this third group.
The disciples. His hope is that like them you would believe.
And that in believing you would have life. Verse 54.
Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews but
went from there to the region near the wilderness to
a town called Ephraim And there he stayed with his disciples.
And the rest of John's gospel is largely devoted to
that time that he gave to his disciples. The communion
and fellowship and intimacy that they had with Jesus because
they believed. They weren't like the many who wavered and vacillated.
They weren't like the council That was an open opposition.
But they believed. They clung to Jesus. They followed him.
We alluded to or pointed out John's allusion to the
Passover earlier on in the text. And now we're going
to come back to this idea of the Passover. It
may just seem like a throwaway word when you read
the end of John chapter 11. But when you recognize
what John is doing here, you see that this word
screams in the text. In the beginning of John's gospel,
John chapter 1 and verse 29 says, The next day,
he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
And then at the end, he closes the frame. This
is at the beginning of his gospel. At the end
of his gospel, in chapter 19, verses 14 through 16.
Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.
It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews,
behold your king. They cried out, away with him, away
with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I
crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no
king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them
to be crucified. So they took Jesus. Caiaphas says, not
realizing that he's prophesying what's going to happen, better that
one man die for the nation. He says that as
preparations for the Passover are going on and Jesus has
just raised Lazarus from the dead. And then at the end,
those whom he represent at the Passover say, put him
to death. Crucify him. And they do. Lazarus is raised
and then there's a Passover. Passover. And then Jesus has Passover.
And then he's raised. The message is clear. Jesus has
power over death. And more importantly, Jesus has power over sin,
which leads to death. which is why there's hope of
the resurrection. So the question is a simple one. What
will you do with Jesus? Now that you know this,
now that you see this, now that the picture is
clear that he is the Messiah, that he does have
authority over death, hell, and the grave, what are you
going to do with that? Will you waver like the many?
Will you war against it like the council? Or will
you believe it and become a disciple? According to John's thinking,
the logic is clear. There's only one answer that makes sense.
But here's the problem. If you find yourself with the many,
or you find yourself with the council, sin doesn't allow
you to do what makes sense. But it forces you
to do that which is nonsense. Go through this life
knowing that the death rate is one per person, nobody
gets out alive, and rejecting The only one in the
history of the world who has had an answer for
the thing that all of us face and all of
us fear. Don't let sin make a fool out of you.
Ignore the many. Reject the counsel. Embrace the Savior.