Sunday, April 30, 2017



2017.04.30                          John 12: 12- 26
               Five days to the Cross
Good Morning…. I am glad to be with you this morning… I have Good News for You! His name is Jesus… We are on a great adventure… We are Experiencing the Life and ministry of Jesus… Once again this morning we are studying the Gospel of John…
We are very close to the cross of Christ  Open your Bible to John’s gospel chapter 12… We have come to the last week of His life in Jerusalem… Jesus is headed for the cross on Friday…  We have already begun this twelfth chapter… Last week… We looked at the supper that Jesus had with Mary and Martha and Lazarus at the home of “Simon the former Leper”… Clearly Jesus had cleansed him… No one had ever heard of healing a Leper… He had a wonderful time on that Saturday spending time with those He loved… They showed that they were genuine disciples… Martha served… Mary worshipped at Jesus feet… and Lazarus had great fellowship with the one who had raised him from the dead…
There was huge crowd already gathered in Bethany…  They had come to see Him… There was also a massive crowd of perhaps hundreds of thousands in the city of Jerusalem…  They were getting ready for the many events leading up to Passover...     The year is A.D. 30…  It is Jesus final Passover…  It is the time that God has planned for Him to die…  He will be killed as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world… All of the sacrifices that died through those years could not take away sin...  They pictured Jesus´ death on the cross… He is the one true sacrifice…
It is His sacrifice that allows God’s mercy, compassion, loving-kindness, and grace to reach the sinner and provide eternal life… 
Two weeks ago… On Palm Sunday…. We looked looked at the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem… This morning we will revisit the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem… That is fine because… It is one of the most important events in all of human History… It was prophesied by Daniel 500 years before Jesus was born… So looking back at the Triumphal entry… Let´s read John´s account… look with me at John 12:12…
John 12: 12-26   NKJV   slt 2000
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”
14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
The raising of Lazarus has put an exclamation point on His three years of impossible miracles… Incredible… He raised Lazarus from the dead… It is His last great public miracle…    
When He comes into the city of Jerusalem…  Word was spreading everywhere… The crowds heard about raising Lazarus from the dead…  This could be the Messiah…  He arrives to their, “Hosannas, hail the Son of David,” This is a Messianic title….  They are thrilled...  They are hopeful… Many believed in Him… At least on the surface… Many of them were only fans of Jesus…  
By the time Jesus comes to the end of His earthly ministry… He had ministered to hundreds of thousands of people all over Galilee… Here at this Triumphal >Entry…. There are huge crowds that have now hailed Him as King Messiah… And yet when we get to the early church in the Book of Acts…  There are 120 believers in Jerusalem and 500 in Galilee…  Perhaps a few more… But a very few in comparison to the many who had heard His words of Life 
Now we all know how they responded His entry that day… scroll down to v12-15…
In verse 13… He was greeted with cries of “Hosanna.”  By the way…. The triumphal Entry is recorded in all of the Gospels…  It was a Glorious day…. Finally Jesus has allowed Himself to be proclaimed for Who His…. The Great King Messiah… And yet by Friday… Some of this crowd will be screaming…  Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!”  We don’t want this man to reign over us.  “We have no king but Caesar.” John 19:14–15…    
They did not understand the big picture… We had a street outreach yesterday… Thank you everyone who helped… It was awesome… It is always an eye opener to talk to people about Jesus… I received a fresh reminder of the very narrow way people look at Jesus… They do not want to be told about the need to repent and turn from sin… Culture has almost totally rejected the fact that Man is sinful by nature…
I witnessed to a man yesterday who was very upset to hear that the wages of Sin is death… He said… I don´t like that… I don´t want to hear that… That is offensive to me… You people should not be talking like this… I grew up Evangelical… That is not the Jesus I learned about… People want a Jesus who is warm and loving… He like many “Christians” do not understand the Gospel… He like many in the crowd with Jesus that day… Are either unwilling to repent… Or they have not counted the cost of following Jesus yet…
Look with me at the Ambassadors for Christ passage… in 2 Corinthians 5… Paul said we Christians are not crazy to warn you… read the whole chapter when you can… for the sake of time let´s begin at v14…
2 Corinthians 5: 14-21                    NKJV  slt 2000
14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Like Paul… We are not crazy to warn others… It is the love of God that moves us… He moves us to reach out to this lost and dying world with the Good News…. There is mercy and forgiveness to be found… It is at the foot of the cross… That is why we plead with people to repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord… That is why we ask every week that Jesus would fill our mouths with His words of life… And as Jesus… said… “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me… Luke 9:23… Wenn einer von euch mit mir gehen will, muss er sich selbst verleugnen, jeden Tag aufs Neue sein Kreuz auf sich nehmen und mir nachfolgen.
Back to John 12… verses 16-19…
The scriptures were all being fulfilled in every detail… Some of these things did not make sense to them at the time…. But v16… after it is all over then … They said…. Now we understand… I know that this is true in our own lives… Often we have no idea why the things that we are going through could ever be part of God´s good and grace filled plan… But they are… That is what we see all through the scriptures… Well on this day… They were ready to crown Him King Messiah and put a real royal crown on His head… But sadly… Instead in just a few days…. They will put a crown of thorns on Him instead...
They were ready to lift Him up on His forever kingdom  throne…  They ended up lifting Him upon a cruel Roman cross…   From “Hosanna to the King… To “Crucify Him!”
 When Jesus entered Jerusalem that day…. He was giving them one last chance to repent and turn from their sin…
Israel was given a final offer…  The leaders made a final rejection…   Verse 17 tells us the people were talking about the resurrection of Lazarus...   The people who had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb… They spread the word…  This had a tremendous effect… Many came to Him… verse 18… 
Were people attracted to Him?  Absolutely… Were they stunned by Him?  Of course they were…  Had they ever seen anything like it?  Not at all… A man who raises dead people… a man who heals everyone who came to Him…    There was never a person like this… This is the most attractive human being that ever drew a crowd on the planet, but in the end… For most them… their interest was only superficial…
Let´s look ahead at John chapter 12, verse 42…
John 12: 42,43                            NKJV   slt 2000
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Even some of the religious leaders believed… But their position and power was far more important to them… They loved the approval of men more than the approval of God… And like many others…  They believe in Jesus in some sense...  But they will not commit to Him... 
That is because they were unwilling to commit their lives to Him…  They had a superficial interest in Jesus… But it never turned into repentance from the heart… It did not become genuine saving faith… Back to John 12…v19… scroll down…
v19… you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
They did not know what to do about Jesus… Nothing was working… And now He is being proclaimed King And Messiah…
By now all of the leaders were trying to stop Jesus…
But they could not stop the plan of God...  No matter what they did…  They tried to arrest Him…  They couldn’t do it…  So   they rejected Jesus…  God will move through their rejection to take the gospel to the world… He will move in the hearts of the Gentiles… He will bring bring the world to Christ…  It is not yet true… But soon the whole world will hear about Jesus…. And will come to Him… 
Notice what happens immediately in verse 20...  scroll down for v20-26
v20… Now there were some Greeks There were some Gentiles...   It means all non-Jews…  There were some Gentiles among those who were going up to worship at the feast, proselytes…  They were called God-fearers...
Did God know Israel would reject their Messiah…?  Yes   of course…  That’s why God prophesied the time would come when He would call a new people who were not His people… Romans 9 and Hosea 2…  Do you remember what happened in John 4… Jesus first revealed Himself as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman… She was not Jewish… In John 10 when He was talking about being the Good Shepherd, He said, “I have sheep of another fold,” He was talking about the Gentiles…   
So here in verse 20… Right after the final rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders… Jesus greets these gentiles… Jesus begins to reveal Himself as the Savoir of the World… Showing that He saves everyone who cries out to him…   Now we have a new day This is the dawning of a new eraGentiles seeking Jesus… v21…
v21… Sir, we wish to see Jesus
Whatever they had already heard about Jesus… they wanted to learn more about Him…   Maybe they knew Haggai 2:7...  You know what that verse speaks of?     It’s Messianic...  When the Messiah comes… He will be the desire of all nations... 
Jesus was about to become known as the Savior of the Gentiles  The world is beginning to come to Him… and here are some non-Jews who demonstrate it…
This is the beginning of the church… It is made up of Jews and Gentiles… These Greeks become the symbolic first fruits of the global harvest to come… v23…
v23…“And Jesus answered them saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’” 
“Son of Man” is a Messianic term found in Daniel 7... 
Daniel ch 7 says…  The Son of Man will be glorified in His kingdom and establish it forever and ever… Jesus again goes on the prophesy His coming death… …
v24… “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.”  It is finally time to establish my Kingdom… But there will not be a kingdom unless I die first...   He will be glorified in His substitutionary death in our place...
That’s why in Luke 24: 25-27… He told those disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the Messiah must suffer and die…   He puts our sin away by the sacrifice of Himself…
This is why the cross is so Important…    It is a stumbling block to those who refuse to repent… Most people will not even admit that man is sinful… But it is the truth and Jesus says it…. You cannot save yourself…  I must die…  This is the wonderful power of Calvary’s cross…     The harvest comes only through His death and resurrection…  That was the joy that was set before Him and why He endured the cross… Hebrews 12: 1,2…
After Jesus predicts His death… He gives this invitation… Notice verse 25…
V25… 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life…
Then in verse 26, “26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me…  and then again toward the end, “If anyone.”   
This is a wide open  invitation… but it is an invitation to die.  It is an invitation to die…  If you love your life…    You lose it…  If you love the life you have… you lose your life forever...  If you hate the life in this world… if you hate what your life is… If you charish your life of sin and selfishness… If you refuse to give it up…. You will die godless and hopeless… but if you hate that kind of life… and you  abandon it for Me… You will receive eternal life...  It isn’t simply believing that Jesus is…  It is necessary that you turn from your sins and repent and believe the Gospel… It is the first step… Then as we call Him Lord… We also learn to do what He tells us to do… Why do you call me Lord… Lord… and not do what I tell you to do… Luke 6:46…   This is why there are so many false converts…  They love the life they have in this world… and they are unwilling to abandon it…. The scriptures are clear… It is not that someone cannot believe… It is that they refuse to repent and turn from their sin and pride and rebellion…
Look with me at one last scripture… Luke 9:  
Luke 9: 23-25                                    NKJV  slt 2000
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
Salvation does not come to people who merely believe in the Lord Jesus Christ… but rather to ( Sondern?) people who turn from their sin… repent and call out to God to forgive them and save them from sin and self…
That is why Jesus said… Count the cost…  It involves hating your life in this world… giving up your life… and following the Lord Jesus Christ… verse 26… The benefits of genuine repentance include peace and Joy and  life eternal…    And one more thing… If we serve the Lord Jesus… ThenIm…  the Father will honor us… That is way better than the praise of men… Follow the Lord Jesus Christ… deny yourself…  For some… We may even face death for the sake of the gospel…
The Pharisees were right… The world has begun to go after Him…  What about you… Today is the day… Tomorrow is promised to no man… Repent and cry out to Him… He will forgive you and wash your sins away… Let´s pray…

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