Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00017B
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00:01 And, welcome back, Dr. Paulien.
00:02 So, let me restate the questions. 00:04 What was in-- in Judas' heart 00:06 that eventually led him to-- to betray Jesus? 00:10 Well, we know from this text that he was motivated by money. 00:13 You know, people say the three great motivators 00:16 of nonreligious people are money, sex and power. 00:20 We know he is motivated by money 00:22 and it appears he is also motivated by power 00:25 because if he believes Jesus is this messianic king, 00:28 who can conquer the Romans. 00:30 It's kind of like, "Let's get the show on the road." 00:32 And by betraying him, 00:34 he is hoping to see Jesus step up 00:38 and do what He is supposed to do 00:40 and flatten the Romans and get on with the business. 00:42 When he sees that Jesus is allowing Himself 00:45 to be abused and tortured, Judas is heart-stricken. 00:49 He realizes that he made a huge mistake 00:51 and that's when he tosses the-- 00:54 you know betrayal money back. 00:56 So he's motivated by-- by a political kind of Jesus, 01:01 a political kind of religion, 01:03 and this, of course, does admit in the end 01:05 because he is the opposite of what John is looking for, 01:08 someone who can set aside those motivations, 01:11 be motivated by the character of God and-- 01:13 and by doing the right thing. 01:15 So let us move on then. 01:16 Not only it seems that 01:18 the Pharisees were trying to kill Jesus, 01:20 but now they seemed to kill Lazarus. 01:22 Well, verses 9 to 11 are startling turn of events. 01:25 "Now, a great many of the Jews knew that 01:28 he was there and they came not for Jesus' sake only, 01:32 but that they might also see Lazarus, 01:34 whom he had raised from the dead. 01:36 The chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also 01:40 because on account of him, 01:42 many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus." 01:45 That's almost comical, really. 01:47 I mean how are you going to kill somebody 01:50 that has a friend who can raise him from the dead 01:52 any time he wants, you know. 01:55 The logic is failing here, 01:57 but they're clearly struggling to get control of the situation 02:00 that in their minds is out of control. 02:03 Now, the next part of this chapter is the triumphal entry 02:07 and we're just gonna have to skip over that 02:09 because that's covered in Matthew, Mark, and Luke as well 02:12 as a lot of interesting things John does with it, 02:15 but unfortunately in a 30-minute program, 02:17 a chapter of John is a lot of material. 02:20 However, let me say to those who are watching 02:24 that what we plan to do is put the scripts, 02:28 the extensive scripts, with all the texts 02:30 and explanations on my website, 02:33 which is interestingly enough, thebattleofarmageddon.com, 02:38 and by the time these programs are on the air, 02:41 we plan to have the scripts available to you 02:44 so that you can study the things 02:46 that we can't cover in these programs. 02:48 And also, I think the videos themselves. 02:51 At some point, we would hope to have streaming 02:53 of these programs as well to go with that, yeah. 02:56 So about this triumphal entry we're going to skip now. 03:00 So where are we going then? 03:01 Let's go to verse 20 03:02 because that's a major turning point. 03:05 It says, "There were some Greeks 03:07 among those who went up to worship at the feast. 03:10 They came to Philip, 03:11 who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. 03:15 "Sir," they said, "We would like to see Jesus." 03:18 Philip went to tell Andrew, 03:20 Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus." 03:24 So here's an interesting development. 03:26 You have some Greeks that come to see Jesus. 03:29 This is a new development. 03:31 He said earlier, "Other sheep I have, 03:33 which are not of this fold." 03:35 That maybe a reference to the second generation, 03:37 it may also be a reference 03:38 to Greeks and Romans and Gentiles, 03:41 who up to that point were not part of Jesus' entourage. 03:45 So this coming of the Greeks is an exciting moment 03:49 and you can almost think at this point, "Wow. 03:52 Why doesn't Jesus drop everything 03:54 and follow these people to Greece 03:56 and then the things will really take off." 04:00 But Jesus doesn't react that way. 04:01 Notice verses 23 and 24. 04:04 But Jesus answered them saying, 04:05 "The hour has come that the Son of man should be glorified. 04:09 Most assuredly I say to you, 04:10 unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, 04:14 it remains alone, but if it dies, 04:16 it produces much grain." 04:19 Now, in Chapter 11, the chief priests 04:23 and so on to say, you know, the world is going after Him, 04:27 especially triumphal entry. 04:29 Actually the part that we just skipped over. 04:30 The world has gone after Him. Here's the acted parable. 04:34 "The Greeks are coming." 04:36 Instead of being excited by this, 04:38 Jesus says, "The hour has come." 04:41 What is the hour? 04:43 It's the hour of His suffering, 04:45 of His torture, and of His death. 04:49 What do the Greeks have to do with this? 04:52 Somehow, the coming of the Greeks 04:55 triggers for Jesus the sense, it's time to go to the cross. 05:00 He sees the Greeks as a temptation of Satan 05:04 to steer Him away from the cross. 05:06 "Hey, don't go to the cross, 05:08 you can go out and evangelize the world. 05:10 Wouldn't that be more important?" 05:11 Yet, the cross is the thing that matters the most. 05:15 And so, he goes right there. 05:17 He says, "Unless the grain falls into the ground and dies, 05:20 it remains only a single seed, 05:23 but if it dies, it produces many seeds." 05:27 And then he goes on, verse 25, 05:29 "The man who loves his life will lose it 05:32 while the man who hates his life in this world 05:34 will keep it for eternal life." 05:37 So, Jesus here is seeing that if he could go out 05:42 and do this ministry, but He would go out alone, 05:47 He would be the focal point. 05:48 When He is in Greece, He can't be in Palestine. 05:50 When He's in Palestine, He can't be in Egypt, 05:53 but if He dies, the analogy is, 05:55 "You put a seed into the ground, it dies, 05:58 that seed is gone forever, 06:00 but out of that seed comes a plant 06:02 that produces many, many, many seeds." 06:05 So, Jesus at the cross being put into the ground, 06:09 you know, He dies, is buried, etc. 06:12 By being put into the ground, 06:14 Jesus unleashes many, many seeds through the Holy Spirit, 06:18 the disciples will replace Jesus' ministry, 06:22 and disciples will go out into the world 06:24 and they can be in all places at the same time 06:27 because there are many, many disciples. 06:29 Today, there are some two billion 06:31 Christians in the world, 06:32 now we recognize not all of them 06:34 are true to the name that they profess, 06:37 there are certainly millions and millions 06:39 of faithful Christians around the world. 06:41 So in every place, you can have the witness of Jesus 06:44 because of that one sacrifice that He makes. 06:47 So, Jesus clearly sees the most important thing 06:51 is the glorification that will happen on the cross, 06:55 and when that happens, 06:57 then the whole world can be reached. 06:59 So the coming of the Greeks at this moment 07:01 actually tells Him, you know, if the Greeks are ready, 07:05 it's time for Me to die. 07:06 It's time for things-- 07:07 things are reaching critical mass 07:10 and now we can move ahead 07:11 and do that which most needs to happen. 07:15 Then, in verse 26, comes interpretation. 07:19 You know, John sees a story and an interpretation. 07:22 Verse 26, he says, "Whoever serves me must follow me 07:28 and where I'm, my servant also will be. 07:33 My father will honor the one who serves me." 07:37 Jesus is saying, "The one who wants to follow me 07:41 should be with me where I'm." 07:44 Where is Jesus? He's going to the cross. 07:48 If you want to follow Jesus, 07:49 you don't want to be politically powerful, 07:52 you don't want to be economically powerful. 07:54 If you want to follow Jesus, you go to the cross. 07:58 Where's the acted parable of that, 08:00 of the believer following Jesus to the cross. 08:05 That comes in Chapter 13 with the foot washing service. 08:09 There, Jesus acts out the self sacrificing love 08:15 that He demonstrates on the cross. 08:17 It's acted out in practical every day way, 08:20 the way John always does. 08:22 You know, Lord's supper, picnic lunches, 08:25 go to the cross, wash feet. 08:28 The washing of the feet is a practical everyday example 08:32 of what taking up your cross is all about. 08:34 It's putting aside your own ambition 08:37 and putting your focus on the needs of others 08:39 and this is what Jesus does in the foot washing 08:41 and there as we will see in the next program, 08:44 He says, "What I have done to you, do for each other." 08:49 Just as I have washed your feet, 08:51 so you are to wash each other's feet. 08:54 So the mission of those who follow Jesus, 08:57 the spiritual mission that John is bringing about 09:00 is that all who read his gospel 09:03 will end up doing what Jesus did, 09:05 following Him to the cross, 09:08 and some scholars, they call this, a cruciform existence 09:13 that we are to live a cruciform life, 09:16 that our life follows the model not only of Jesus' life, 09:19 what would Jesus do, 09:21 but it follows the model of the cross as well. 09:25 If you would follow me, 09:26 take up your cross and follow me. 09:30 We're not gonna make it through this whole chapter, 09:32 but just going on a few more verses, 09:34 why don't you read 27 through 30. 09:37 "Now, my soul is troubled and what shall I say. 09:40 Father, save me from his hour, 09:42 but for this purpose, I came to this hour. 09:45 Father, glorify your name. 09:47 Then, a voice from heaven saying, 09:49 "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." 09:53 Therefore, the people who stood by 09:54 and heard it said that it had thundered. 09:57 Others said, an angel had spoken to him. Okay. 10:02 So, Jesus here is going through Gethsemane. 10:07 See, John doesn't have Gethsemane. 10:10 In Chapter 18, he tells the story of the garden, 10:12 but there's no anguish there. 10:14 John doesn't have the temptation. 10:15 He doesn't have the Lord's Supper. 10:17 He skips a lot of those details that are in the other gospels, 10:20 but they're under the surface here. 10:23 Here, we see the anguish of Jesus. 10:25 He is troubled. He realizes now He's going to the cross. 10:29 He doesn't say, 'Father, if you're willing, 10:32 let this cup be taken from me." 10:33 But you can see the anguish there. 10:35 It isn't easy to follow the way of the cross. 10:39 It's not guaranteed that a person would choose that. 10:44 In fact, if your eye is on the things of this world, 10:46 if your eye is on money, if your eye is on power, 10:50 if your eye is on the approval of others, 10:53 then the cross may not seem a very good place to be, 10:58 but all those other things are temporal, 11:00 they're shallow, they never truly satisfy, 11:03 what truly satisfies is the way of the cross. Amen. 11:07 And, Dr. Paulien, Jesus did say, 11:09 "If any one wishes to follow me, 11:12 he should count the cost." 11:13 That mean there is a cost to following Jesus, 11:16 but at the same time, there is a great reward. 11:20 And friends, we want to thank you for joining us 11:22 in this Bible study in the Gospel of John. 11:25 This is very powerful that indeed 11:27 God is making that call to you 11:30 and to me to follow Jesus and despite the cost, 11:34 there's a great reward. God bless. |
Revised 2014-12-17