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You'll turn with me once again, please to the book of John. John chapter 10. We are not big on surprises here, so You knew where we were going. John chapter 10. We continue in our study of this text of Scripture and once again, we'll ask the Lord to bless our time together.
My grace heavenly father once again as we handle your word we ask that you would give us a proper Respect for your truth or that we would recognize we are handling that which is holy. Or that you would give us obedient hearts.
Understanding minds at this time may be used to your honor and glory. We pray in Christ's name. Amen this morning we worked through a section of Scripture that Some people have found to be somewhat difficult somewhat hard to follow.
I Had someone comment after the sermon was posted this morning that they would love to see me debate a particular individual who is fairly well known for a Different interpretation one which I did not agree with and in fact Argued against this this morning.
So already the the sermons are getting out there it is an interesting thing to recognize that in our day What is said behind this pulpit will be listened to many other places. In fact, I was I Think it was in South Africa.
It's sort of hard to remember is it was South Africa or London one of the two places because those are my places. I were one of those two places I was talking with someone after some lecture or maybe after a debate or something and Greeting people and we were mentioning the I think the series that we did here on God's law and In the process talking to the individual.
They said yeah, you know I I started listening the sermons there and I really enjoy that Don Fry fellow. He is quite the preacher and it's like well, there you go. You've got got somebody somewhere overseas that appreciates the ministry of the word here, so We may be we may be small in number in this room but through the Medium that is available to us.
The the audience is it's much larger if not immediately at this point in time. Certainly over the next number of days and and weeks and even years into the future so we we keep that in mind we looked at this section of scripture and we dealt with the reality of Jesus's encounter in the the portico of Solomon the discussion of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and It's interesting when you look at the next section of John chapter 10 in our mind.
Once again because of the chapter and verse divisions, we sort of break all of this up and as a result we sort of miss What John's purpose is in the ordering of this in this material? Because Jesus then goes again to the other side of the Jordan.
To the place where John was first baptizing and and he was abiding there. He was remaining there and many came and and they were saying that John indeed did no sign but everything that John said concerning this man is true and many believed in him there and it seems to us we've sort of moved away from What we were talking about this morning at this point in time, but I would like to suggest.
This is just a brief interlude in our minds Chapter 11, which hopefully automatically when you think of John chapter 11 you think of the raising of Lazarus. That's Another thing that's that's another subject.
For John, it's not. It is it is exactly what he is transitioning us into and what we what we need to see is the connectedness of Jesus's statements in John chapter 10 about being the Good Shepherd and giving life abundantly to his sheep and all the things that have come before that John chapter 6 and having eternal life and fellowship with him and John chapter 5 the dead will hear his voice and rise again.
John is is is building these themes and he's he's rolling them on top of each other and he's interweaving them together and Chapter 11 will function as a as a connection point where you see this and remember chapter 9 was Focused upon the healing of a man the blind man and Then the rejection of this man by the Jewish leaders that then became the context of Jesus saying those who have come before me Were thieves and robbers and so on so forth.
And so the beginning of chapter 10 was a condemnation of these people who are supposed to be leaders, but they end up basically Misleading the sheep and not not Shepherding the sheep in a proper way then at the end of the chapter.
They're identified as false judges because they accused Jesus of blasphemy when in fact It's a father who has sanctified him and sent him into the world. And then you're going this is this is really a crescendo if we don't if we think that that has ended at the chapter 10.
Then chapter 11 just becomes a story that just sort of exists unto itself and we sort of look at it there. But the reality is that one of the most stunning things About what we're gonna see in chapter 11, and I'm sort of getting ahead of myself here somewhat.
But I'm trying to help you to see the the big picture here. One of the most stunning things to me is that in chapter 11 It's not that it's not the raising of Lazarus. I mean, that's that's an amazing thing and The fact that Jesus does it publicly that he does it in such a way that that he has he's demonstrating absolute confidence in his relationship with the father because if he were to can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus had stood outside that grave and Said Lazarus come forth and nothing happened.
Silence can you imagine the mockery? Can you imagine that the never-ending? Recriminations that would have come from his enemies. I mean wouldn't it wouldn't have been a little bit safer To have done this privately, but Jesus doesn't do any of that as we will see so it's John's intention.
But what's what's amazing is not just the public nature of the resurrection and all the rest that stuff. There's a theme. What is it? What does it lead to? Do the Jews go? Wow, he is the Messiah we accept him.
No. They don't they say What are we gonna do this man? Everyone's gonna believe him. We got to destroy him. You Want to see the depth of the depravity you want to see the depth of the blindness that comes From having the light in its fullness and closing your eyes against it.
That's what you're gonna see and so verses 40 through 42 Would strike us as just a just a little transitionary statement. But in reality, it's just a it's it's a pause and It moves the action from Jerusalem, and it gives us the reason why this has happened.
The Jews want to kill him and so he escapes from their their grasp and he goes over to where John at first was baptizing and he abides there across the Jordan and This brief statement is made that there were people who Had Heard John's witness and it is interesting to note.
I You see it here and you see it in the book of Acts. Remember in Acts chapter 19 Paul encounters a an an odd little group of John's disciples. Way out in the middle of nowhere. I mean you can only imagine we can sort of we can sort of speculate that what had happened here was You had Jews who had come for one of the feasts or something like that and they had Heard John's message something along those lines and so they had been baptized.
They had received John's baptism. And then they had gone back to where they'd come from because people traveled from all over the world to come to Jerusalem for the feasts and things like that and They had remained faithful to what little they had been told by John and Had that meant that they were now sort of separated away from their Jewish brethren.
We don't know but we just know that John had disciples even decades later after his death far away from his place of ministry, which is a fascinating thing to notice and the Gospel of John clearly has a Sub theme running through it of seeking to make sure that all those people that had heard John preach Would understand that he was the forerunner he pointed to Jesus and therefore to truly follow John would be to follow John's own direction in following after Jesus and so I think that that sub theme sort of Comes up to the surface here because Jesus goes to where John had been baptizing so there have been people who would have known of his ministry there and Many of them were saying well, you know John didn't do any sign but everything John said concerning this man has turned out to be true and so there is this this testimony of the fact that Jesus is fulfilling the words that John had Uttered concerning him, but then we have this this interesting statement of verse 42 and Many believed in him there now you might say only only I could come up with a way of complicating such a simple statement, but The reality is that we have pointed out a number of times before in our studies in the Gospels that in the Gospel of John There seems to be a fairly consistent utilization of two different forms of the word believe.
When true faith is in sight as in John chapter 6 the one believing in me the present tense is used and It refers to an ongoing faith a vital faith the one believing in me the one coming to me. This is the one that has eternal life.
Now that's not the form that's found here the verb that is found here is the most basic form of the Greek verb and Normally, it refers simply to a simple action in the past without any reference to whether that action is an ongoing thing or not and It appears at other places in the Gospel of John remember in John chapter 2 when Jesus Performed the miracle at the wedding in Cana.
There were people who saw that and they believed in him same form of the verb that's used here. But then it says Jesus did not literally believe himself to them or entrust himself to them because he knew what was in men's hearts and So what we have in John chapter 2 is a kind of Point action faith.
Wow I see something. So I'm going to believe but doesn't have an ongoing result and in John chapter 2 Jesus does not respond to that by entrusting himself to them. He knows what's in the hearts of men, and he knows that's not a true saving faith.
But then even more significantly than that we have John chapter 8 and In John chapter 8 when the Jews hear Jesus engaged in dialogue with other Jews. Specifically when when Jesus is talking about his relationship to the Father it says having heard these words many believed in him and Again, it's that same point action verbal aspect of belief.
And what happens in John chapter 8 is Jesus. It doesn't say he didn't entrust himself to them like it did in John chapter 2. But in John chapter 8 Jesus presses them on this kind of faith, and he says If you abide in my word Then you are by my disciples indeed you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
And as soon as these who had believed Were challenged to abide. What was the result? Well rebellion. The first words out of their mouth were us we we need to be set free we don't we don't need to be set free and their self-deception the fact that they were still looking to themselves immediately came to the fore because.
Even though they were living the time where if a Roman soldier had walked up to them at that very point in time said carry My pack. Yes, sir. They would have had to do it. They actually say to Jesus. We've never been enslaved anyone.
It's like you don't know your history very well. Do you? There's there's you know the the Maccabee anybody who knews knew the intertestinal period knew that there had been periods of enslavement and now they were enslaved to the Romans and and so there was there was self-deception involved and what's amazing is By the end of the chapter they're picking up stones to stone Jesus.
So here you have people who have believed but then when faced with the reality of what that means Demonstrates that they do not have a truth-saving faith. So when we look at verse 42 We have to ask ourselves the question Was this true saving faith?
Well, unfortunately The text doesn't give us an answer in Chapter 2 we can tell because Jesus says he did not entrust himself to them. Well, if the if the shepherd does not entrust himself to them, that means there's no relationship between himself and those individuals.
They're not as sheep. And in chapter 8, yeah, they're they're picking up stones to stone and pretty pretty obvious what that nature of that faith is and So what do we have here many believed in him there?
I Don't know. It's not John's Intention to reveal to us what the whole situation was with these particular individuals. So why make this statement? Well, let me suggest that like I said verses 40 to 42 seemed to be a Transitionary statement that that takes Jesus from Judea here across the Jordan so that When news comes concerning Lazarus, we know where Jesus is and We know why he's there because part of the conversation with his disciples is going to be once Jesus says We're going back Bethany being very close to Jerusalem.
The disciples are like have things really cooled down enough. I mean they were seeking to kill you just a matter of days ago. And so we this is a part of establishing the context for what's going to be happening especially Almost belaboring on John's part the reality that Jesus is in control of this situation in regarding Lazarus.
That this wasn't something that he just stumbled upon. That Jesus is in control. He knows what's going on with Lazarus and he has a purpose just as they had a purpose in the healing of the blind man in John chapter 9, he has a purpose in staying where he was and This section provides us with the foundation for that.
And and again if we didn't have Chapter and verse divisions that would be far more obvious than it normally is In the text as we read it today. But it also tells us that Jesus goes to a safe place and it's a safe place in more than one way it's a safe place because there are people here that says they they believed in him and Without telling us what the nature of their faith was or anything else.
The point is there was no opposition here. This was a safe place to be and I have to wonder what the disciples were thinking At this point in time. What were the disciples thinking? We're so focused upon the conflict between Jesus and the Jews and what it means in the teaching of Jesus and then of course the raising of Lazarus and things like that that Sometimes the the disciples get left off to the side as to what would they be thinking in the midst of this situation?
They haven't yet really come to an understanding of the suffering of the Messiah and and When you think about the the outline of the Gospel of John. We're getting toward the end of Jesus's public ministry that's going to be wrapped up in John chapter 12, and so there's there's not that much time left and So Jesus is going to begin that period of private ministry to disciples and even with the intensity of The teaching in that private ministry there is still great confusion on the disciples part so deep is their traditions as to what the nature of the messianic mission was to be in and everything like that and So we're getting toward that the end of that time period.
What are they thinking? They've already had the disappointment of John chapter 6. They've already seen the popularity of Jesus waning. They're now seeing that the very leaders the nation that they thought would be the ones that would would come to Jesus's side and go Hey, let's all let's all get together let's all you know, let's let's overthrow the Romans and all the rest of that stuff and we'll lead you now and things like that's not happening and there there must be some level of confusion and maybe even disappointment in the disciples minds at this particular point and I don't think they enjoy being the objects of the wrath of the very leaders of their people.
There might even be some some level of embarrassment on their part that their their Master is in such strong conflict. That the leaders are seeking to kill him. What were they thinking? When they see their own leaders picking up stones.
Because the thought has to cross your mind if you want Jesus's disciples when they're done stoning him am I next and They don't have a full understanding Yet of what Jesus is doing in his ministry. And so they're probably somewhat thankful to be somewhere else to be someone somewhere that is the conflict is not strong and There's gonna be some resistance on their part of going back into the heat of battle shall we say in John chapter 11.
But it does remind us That there were times when Jesus took his disciples Out of that that meat grinder of conflict. He didn't always explain what his purposes were, but he took them out and they had to trust him.
They had to trust that he was in control of what was taking place that God was accomplishing his purpose even when they did not understand exactly what that purpose was and Even once the word comes at the beginning of chapter 11 and there is that delay.
It's interesting to me that the the gospel writer does not tell us. What was going on during that time period? What was the nature of Jesus's teaching at that time? What was the nature of the ministry that he had amongst the people?
It's just passed over. Was there was that was it private ministry to disciples was their public ministry? We're just not told. It's not that we need to know but it does make us it does make us wonder once again.
The disciples would have been wondering the disciples would have been thinking about these things. These are all questions that will come up especially as we move into chapter 11. But I do want to just make one comment.
I want to focus upon one thing this evening as we finish up chapter 10. There are a number of these places in the New Testament where the the mystery of faith I guess we could call it is presented to us.
Many believed in him there. We're not told again because of the form the verb of it we just don't know but. Was this preparatory to what was going to happen in the future as the? Once Christ accomplished his redemptive mission and He has given his life as sacrifice.
He's been raised from the dead. He's ascended to the Father the Spirit has come and dwelt the disciples and and then in God's providence. Persecution comes against that early church, and they are they are driven out of Jerusalem.
And as they go out into these areas have you ever wondered as? They encountered people especially in places like this as they cross the Jordan they enter into this area. And they begin preaching the gospel.
Were these the people that had been prepared? Maybe even years before through the preaching and ministry of John the Baptist. If you had been one of John's disciples, and he had used that phrase the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.
How could you have understood that at that time. How could you have understood that before? The cross. Oh We it's easy for us to say well you just had to do is read Isaiah 53. It's right there. We read it before the Lord's Supper all the time.
I mean come on. We've almost got it memorized right. Yeah, it's easy for us to look at it that way and go. Oh that they should have known and Jesus does upbraid the the disciples on the road to a mess.
You know you're slow to believe and let's look at all the scriptures. But then he has to open their hearts and minds to understand but it really makes me wonder if you are one of those people that had heard John saying the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world and.
Then maybe even a few years later here comes one of the disciples. And he tells the story of what he saw in Jerusalem. And he says it's our own leaders who delivered him up to the Romans to be crucified.
But He rose again the third day He's alive. I saw him myself and He's commissioned us to preach the good news to Israel. Wouldn't you now understand? Wouldn't you be able to hear and understand what it was?
That John was talking about the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. How many of those individuals? Who had heard the preaching and the teaching. How many of those? Of the 5 ,000. That listened to Jesus all day long.
We know there weren't 5 ,000 men who got in the boats and rode across the lake to Capernaum so we know that those people walked away from Jesus obviously. But what about the 5 ,000 that weren't a part of that?
They just they heard the teaching and the preaching there there had to have been many people who heard Jesus teaching and preaching and. Yet, they were sort of they're sort of on the fringes. They were sort of on the outside and they were they were interested but you know you.
You had to keep fishing and you had to keep farming and it was a subsistence life. And if you didn't if you didn't take care of business you'd you'd find yourself starving and so you know it was sort of easy to put those things off the side and just do the things you're supposed to do and.
Then years later here come these well, they're they're Jews. And all of a sudden they're talking about all these texts from the Old Testament and they're saying he's fulfilled all these things and and he's died and he's risen again and and and we're Proclaiming repentance and faith in his name for forgiveness of sins and I Wonder how much ground had been broken up how much seed had been planted how many of those we know from the book of Acts?
There were priests. There were leaders who entered into the church. And yeah, some of them Ended up being Judaizers and and and false brethren, but there were others who were true believers. Wonder how much time passed before they would have heard Jesus teaching and then a few years later.
They hear about what happened in Jerusalem and now his followers are saying He's risen from the dead. They've seen him and he's coming again. Wonder how many of those early believers? Having turned and repentance and faith to Christ could then tell the story of it and I'm one of those who heard Jesus Preach.
No, I didn't follow him at the time. But all the words that he spoke now now that I'm his follower. I think about them and oh. And if you thought about something else There's a lot of question about the accuracy of what the Apostles record for us of the ministry of Jesus.
But something is frequently forgotten. Is That those disciples went out and as they preached these are the people they were preaching to though there in those first decades right there in the very area where Jesus had ministered and There were people who had heard Jesus preaching and teaching these things.
Who had been amongst the large number of people that were well John tells us when Jesus preached there was this Division amongst the people. Ah, he has a demon that. Can demons open blind eyes? These aren't the words of a demonized people and so there was Conflict and there obviously been a lot of people that were sort of in the middle going.
I don't know. But the point is they would have heard Jesus and if the disciples came along and they were making stuff up as they went along. We're often told well, you see the disciples are trying to start a new religion you see.
A Brilliant idea they came up with Crucify the Messiah. Yeah foolishness to the Gentiles and a scandal of Jews. That's how you start a new religion. Yeah, it's just it's a brilliant theory, but it's a sadly out there in many of the universities.
But what's often not taken into consideration is that that original audience? Would have included people like we have right there in John 10 42. People who believed in in Jesus in the sense that they heard John's testimony they heard his teaching.
They didn't become disciples but they had heard his teaching and if his disciples now come along saying he said these things and They're trying to preach the people who heard Jesus speaking. They would have gone.
He didn't say that. That that wasn't his message. But we have no evidence of that ever happening. We have no evidence of the disciples having to engage in conflict with people who are saying oh no no no no no that that's not What Jesus actually taught?
Instead it seems rather clear that Once people heard what had happened to Jesus and what the fulfillment of that message was they saw the connection between that and Jesus teaching and and they understood and so the point is in a one little verse when you think about the historical realities of.
In one little verse you have a a little light. That can be shown upon the seeds of disbelief and doubt that are so common In our universities and in our even sadly in our seminaries today. And it also reminds us of one other thing.
I know I've said it before I Appreciate your patience and hearing it over and over again but the gospel message that we preach Is not some mythology that was developed 2 ,000 years ago. The Greeks had mythology and when you look at the Greek stories, they'll talk about one day Zeus was up on Olympus and he said this and Then he did that and a few days later this happened and so on and so forth.
What do you have in the New Testament? You've got names dates and places. Names dates and places. In the fourth year of such-and-so when the certain person was governor in such a place a person went to such and such a place.
And these these are places you could find on a map. They're not mythical places. It's not Mount Olympus shrouded in clouds. You can find this spot believe me you go over there today and they've built some type of a trinket store.
To sell people who are coming through trinkets, you know. Come get some water from the River Jordan from where Jesus did something in John chapter 10 type stuff. It's out there. Believe me, but the point is Our faith is a faith that is absolutely grounded in the fact that God has acted in human history.
It's not a myth. It is objective not subjective. Oh. It has a subjective reality. I have a subjective encounter with Christ all the rest of stuff, but it's based upon the reality of how God has acted in History that was so different not only from the Greek religions that preceded it.
But from the Gnostic religions that followed it. The Gnostics could care less about history fact objective things teaching doctrine. No, it was all about me. And sadly when you look at what's happening in the church today, it's gone back to it's all about me.
There's a movie out right now called the shack and it's based upon a thorough perversion of the Doctrine of the Trinity a Disrespectful perversion of the Doctrine of Trinity and universalism and it's all Focused upon the individual.
God is made to answer to the individual it's all this mythology and man and it's man-centered and Oh. But it touches the heart. It gets the emotions going. And people love it. People love it. This little transitionary statement reminds us.
These things happened in time. There is objective reality. God has acted in history and Therefore he can call us to respond in faith because he has acted in such a way as to establish his truth that remains the case this very day and if we as the members of this church Honor God's Word and stay focused upon that we will find ourselves ever less popular.
With an evangelicalism that seems to be more and more focused upon the self and more and more focused upon Reforming the Christian message to make it less offensive. The world around us it is offensive.
For us to say God acted decisively in history and that means you every single one of you Is accountable for what he has revealed? That's offensive to the world. And it seems to me that there are many in evangelicalism that recognize that and therefore they are backing off of those strong statements of Scripture.
All of that from a transitionary statement, yes, I know. But what we're going into in John chapter 11 tremendous story, but here's the point. Lazarus well Let's just use the words of Scripture. Lazarus stunk he had been in the tomb long enough that his body was decaying.
It was a real tomb in a real hillside. No, I doubt it's probably any of the ones that again the people over in Israel say hey come here. It's right. This is one right time that we don't have an address on it but the point is it's placed in the context of Reality, it's somewhere near Bethany.
Maybe someday. I don't know how it's gonna work in the eternal state. We'll be able to look at it right there. That's what happened. I don't know. But the point is John presents it as reality. And when he said and when said to Jesus Lord he stinketh.
Don't don't don't roll the it's gonna smell. That smelly reality tells us this really happened. It was a real body and it was really dead and then it wasn't dead anymore. So much so that Lazarus can come forth slowly.
You don't move fast in your grave clothes. But the point is it happened it's not just some spiritual story that we can turn into something it makes us feel good. It may make us feel good. But the only reason it should make us feel good is because it really happened.
That's the thing to remember. That's the thing to see even in short. Transitionary statements, let's pray together our Heavenly Father. We Once again, thank you for the reality. That what we believe is not a mythology that we simply use to assuage our consciences.
Mythology that we use to help us deal with the difficulties of life. But these things happened. We can trust and in fact because they happened. We and everyone else is accountable what you have done and testified concerning your son Lord we know this is offensive to the world around us.
Do not allow us father to be to be scared to be frightened to be cowered by the world. May we first and foremost be concerned about your honor and your glory the fidelity of our proclamation of your truth knowing that.
That is the only power you've given to us that can change the hearts and minds of men and women boys and girls. So as we have opportunity even in this coming week, may we be bold witnesses may we do so with wisdom.
But may we testify of what you have done in Jesus Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.