John 12 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00John 12:1
2. 0:02Jesus therefore 6 days before the
3. 0:05Passover came to Bethany where Lazarus
4. 0:08was whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
5. 0:11So they made him a supper there and
6. 0:13Martha was serving. But Lazarus was one
7. 0:17of those reclining at the table with
8. 0:19him. Mary then took a pound of very
9. 0:22costly perfume of pure nard and anointed
10. 0:26the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet
11. 0:28with her hair. And the house was filled
12. 0:30with the fragrance of the perfume.
13. 0:34But Judas a scariot, one of the
14. 0:36disciples who was intending to betray
15. 0:38him said, "Why was this perfume not sold
16. 0:43for 300 dinari and given to the poor
17. 0:46people?"
18. 0:49Now he said this not because he was
19. 0:51concerned about the poor but because he
20. 0:54was a thief and as he had the money box
21. 0:58he used to piler what was put into it.
22. 1:02Therefore Jesus said let her alone so
23. 1:06that she may keep it for the day of my
24. 1:08burial
25. 1:11for you always have the poor with you
26. 1:13but you do not always have me.
27. 1:17The large crowd of the Jews then learned
28. 1:20that he was there, and they came not for
29. 1:23Jesus' sake only, but that they might
30. 1:26also see Lazarus, whom he had raised
31. 1:29from the dead. But the chief priests
32. 1:31planned to put Lazarus to death also
33. 1:35because on account of him, many of the
34. 1:38Jews were going away and were believing
35. 1:40in Jesus.
36. 1:43So at the end of the previous chapter,
37. 1:47we are told that the chief priests
38. 1:49essentially put a warrant out for
39. 1:51Jesus's arrest. And the warrant is, if
40. 1:54anyone knows his whereabouts, you must
41. 1:57tell us.
42. 1:59And immediately we are introduced to
43. 2:01Judas because that's going to be the
44. 2:03nature of his betrayal. He's going to
45. 2:06divulge where Jesus was. And then we
46. 2:10have this scene where Jesus is at the
47. 2:12home of Lazarus and Martha and Mary. And
48. 2:16Mary is showing this incredible honor,
49. 2:20not only because she had seven demons
50. 2:22cast out of her, but because her brother
51. 2:24has been raised from the dead.
52. 2:27And she was not necessarily a righteous
53. 2:30person before this. The other gospels
54. 2:33indicate that she was still in a pretty
55. 2:35messed up situation. She had a past.
56. 2:40But what's powerful is that Judas
57. 2:44cloaks
58. 2:46his judgment and contempt of the Lord in
59. 2:51righteous concern for the poor. He
60. 2:55pretends to be burdened about the use of
61. 2:58money and how this too much is going to
62. 3:02this man and it should be going to
63. 3:04others.
64. 3:05And John tells us that didn't have
65. 3:08anything to do with why he spoke up. He
66. 3:10said this because he used to piler the
67. 3:13money. He was a thief.
68. 3:17And then we're told that the crowds are
69. 3:20wanting to come see Lazarus
70. 3:22as a spectacle who was raised from the
71. 3:24dead. Let's go see him. But it says the
72. 3:27chief priests planned to put Lazarus to
73. 3:31death also
74. 3:33because on account of him many of the
75. 3:35Jews were going away and were believing
76. 3:37in Jesus. This is how vicious their
77. 3:41competition is. They're afraid that
78. 3:44they're going to lose their place and
79. 3:45their nation
80. 3:47if they don't stop Jesus. So, they're
81. 3:49willing to kill the man raised from the
82. 3:52dead rather than acknowledge that when
83. 3:55someone is raising people from the dead,
84. 3:57God has to be with him. Oh, no, that's
85. 4:00not an option. They would sooner kill
86. 4:03Lazarus a second time
87. 4:08than answer why they don't have the
88. 4:11power and he does.
89. 4:13On the next day, the large crowd who had
90. 4:16come to the feast, when they heard that
91. 4:18Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the
92. 4:21branches of the palm trees, and went out
93. 4:24to meet him, and began to shout,
94. 4:28"Hosana!
95. 4:29Blessed is he who comes in the name of
96. 4:32the Lord, even the King of Israel."
97. 4:36Hosana means save us now. Blessed is he
98. 4:40who comes in the name of the Lord, even
99. 4:42the King of Israel.
100. 4:45Jesus finding a young donkey, sat on it,
101. 4:48as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of
102. 4:51Zion. Behold, your king is coming,
103. 4:54seated on a donkekeyy's cult."
104. 4:57These things his disciples did not
105. 5:00understand at the first. But when Jesus
106. 5:03was glorified,
107. 5:05then they remembered that these things
108. 5:07were written of him and that they had
109. 5:10done these things to him. John is saying
110. 5:14in the moment we didn't get it. We
111. 5:16didn't know why he rode a donkey. We
112. 5:19didn't understand the meaning of the
113. 5:21palm branches. They were in the days of
114. 5:24the moment. They didn't get a lot of
115. 5:26what was happening, but they understood
116. 5:29it after the fact. So the people who
117. 5:32were with him when he called Lazarus out
118. 5:34of the tomb and raised him from the dead
119. 5:37continued to testify about him. For this
120. 5:41reason also the people went and met him
121. 5:43because they heard that he had performed
122. 5:46this sign. This was a watershed moment.
123. 5:50This was a turning point. This is when
124. 5:52the multitudes are starting to confess
125. 5:55that this is the king of Israel. So the
126. 5:58Pharisees said to one another, "You see
127. 6:01that you are not doing any good. Look,
128. 6:04the world has gone after him." So
129. 6:07they're accusing each other. We haven't
130. 6:09done enough. We haven't stopped this
131. 6:11heretic. We haven't quenched this
132. 6:14movement. And now the world is going
133. 6:16after him.
134. 6:18You see the envy, the jealousy. They
135. 6:21don't want the crowds going after him.
136. 6:24Anytime that religious people are
137. 6:27activated, to hurt, to slander, to stop,
138. 6:32to attack others, whenever those others
139. 6:36are getting good publicity, you can know
140. 6:38the motivation that is going on in their
141. 6:40heart. It's exactly what the Pharisees
142. 6:42were facing.
143. 6:44Now there were some Greeks among those
144. 6:47who were going up to worship at the
145. 6:49feast.
146. 6:51These then came to Philillip who was
147. 6:54from Bethida of Galilee and began to ask
148. 6:57him saying sir we wish to see Jesus.
149. 7:03So, it's not just the Jews, but there
150. 7:06are Greeks in Jerusalem. And there's so
151. 7:08much of a movement and there's so much
152. 7:10excitement. Palm branches, confessions,
153. 7:14multitudes swarming the streets. The
154. 7:17Pharisees are freaking out. And all of a
155. 7:20sudden, these Greeks are like, "We want
156. 7:23to see this guy too. We are anxious."
157. 7:26And they come to Philillip. We would see
158. 7:28Jesus,
159. 7:30sir. We wish to see Jesus. Philip came
160. 7:33and told Andrew.
161. 7:35Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.
162. 7:40And Jesus answered them, saying, "The
163. 7:42hour has come for the Son of Man to be
164. 7:44glorified.
165. 7:46Truly, truly I say to you, unless a
166. 7:51grain of wheat falls into the ground,
167. 7:55the earth, and dies,
168. 7:58it remains alone.
169. 8:02But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
170. 8:07He who loves his life loses it, and he
171. 8:12who hates his life in this world will
172. 8:16keep it to life eternal.
173. 8:19If anyone serves me, he must follow me,
174. 8:23and where I am, there my servant will be
175. 8:27also. If anyone serves me, the father
176. 8:30will honor him.
177. 8:33So this is cryptic language, but we have
178. 8:36some Gentiles coming and for the first
179. 8:38time asking, could we please see Jesus?
180. 8:41And they ask Jesus, the Greeks want to
181. 8:44see you. And Jesus answers. And what
182. 8:47he's saying to them is the answer to the
183. 8:50Gentiles.
184. 8:52He's saying
185. 8:55if I don't die then I am a grain of
186. 8:59wheat and I'm just one person and
187. 9:02there's a vast world
188. 9:04that needs to see me. But if I die then
189. 9:08I will bear much fruit and the Greeks
190. 9:11will see me in you.
191. 9:15The Greeks will see the fruit that this
192. 9:18becomes when I give up my life.
193. 9:23He says, "You can't love your life or
194. 9:25else you're going to lose it. But if
195. 9:27you'll lose your life, you're going to
196. 9:29find it for eternal life." And then he
197. 9:32tells them, "If anyone serves me,
198. 9:39if anyone is serving me, he must follow
199. 9:43me." Now, he's been saying for six,
200. 9:46seven chapters that he's going to a
201. 9:50place that the faithful are going to
202. 9:52follow him in, but the unfaithful are
203. 9:55not. And that's not just a place of
204. 9:58sacrifice and death, although it is
205. 10:00that. It's also a place of resurrection
206. 10:02and glory and the power of the spirit.
207. 10:06If anyone serves me, he must follow me.
208. 10:09and where I am there my servant will be
209. 10:13also. If anyone serves me, my father
210. 10:16will honor him. So he's saying what the
211. 10:19Greeks are going to see is you who
212. 10:21follow me. You're going to be my
213. 10:23servants and you're going to be in the
214. 10:25same place that I'm in in a place of my
215. 10:27father's honor where they're going to
216. 10:30see the spirit and glory of God on you
217. 10:33like they see it on me.
218. 10:37Now my soul has become troubled and what
219. 10:42shall I say? Father save me from this
220. 10:45hour but for this purpose I came to this
221. 10:50hour. Father glorify your name.
222. 10:57Then a voice came out of heaven. I have
223. 11:00both glorified it and will glorify it
224. 11:03again.
225. 11:05So the crowd of people who stood by and
226. 11:07heard it were saying that it had
227. 11:08thundered. Others were saying, "An angel
228. 11:11has spoken to him." Jesus answered and
229. 11:14said, "This voice has not come for my
230. 11:18sake, but for your sakes.
231. 11:20Now judgment is upon this world. Now the
232. 11:24ruler of this world will be cast out.
233. 11:27and I if I am lifted up from the earth,
234. 11:31I will draw all men to myself.
235. 11:36So he's saying, you're going to be the
236. 11:38witness of me that the Greeks need to
237. 11:40see, but in order for that to happen,
238. 11:42I've got to go through something. And he
239. 11:45began to be very troubled. And he says,
240. 11:47should I ask the father to save me for
241. 11:49this hour? But this is the purpose for
242. 11:52which I came. He's going to remove the
243. 11:55guilt. He's going to remove the sin and
244. 11:57the judgment that blocked our access to
245. 12:00the father, to the spirit. And when that
246. 12:03blockage is removed, then we're going to
247. 12:06have access. Then the spirit of the
248. 12:08father is going to come to us and Christ
249. 12:11in us will be our hope of glory.
250. 12:14So he says, "Father, glorify your name."
251. 12:17And the father says, "I have glorified
252. 12:19it because my spirit is in you." That's
253. 12:22a glorification of it. But I will
254. 12:24glorify it because it's going to spread
255. 12:26to many more. Christ in us, the hope of
256. 12:29glory. Jesus answered and said, "This
257. 12:33voice came as a witness. It wasn't for
258. 12:35my sake. It was for you." And then he
259. 12:38says, "Now judgment is upon the world.
260. 12:41Now the ruler of this world is going to
261. 12:43be cast out." How is the ruler of this
262. 12:46world going to be cast out? It sounds
263. 12:47like he's about to be lifted up. If he's
264. 12:50going to be lifted up, he's going to
265. 12:51suffer on the cross. Lifted as they
266. 12:54raise that horrible instrument of
267. 12:57torture up. But when he raises that
268. 12:59instrument of torture up, the ruler of
269. 13:01this world will be disarmed because he
270. 13:05will bring his great arsenal of power
271. 13:08against the son of God. And the son of
272. 13:11God will rise from the dead and prove
273. 13:14that the devil is not stronger, that
274. 13:16life has overcome. So he's going to be
275. 13:19cast out. Cast out of that place of
276. 13:22rulership in our hearts. Cast out of
277. 13:25that place of controlling people through
278. 13:27the fear of death as Christ accepts
279. 13:30death and then destroys death when he
280. 13:33brings life and immortality to light
281. 13:35through the gospel.
282. 13:38And he says, "If I be lifted up, I will
283. 13:40draw all men to me. If I'm put on the
284. 13:43cross, everybody's going to see who God
285. 13:46really is and what he's done in paying
286. 13:49the debt.
287. 13:50But he was saying this to indicate the
288. 13:53kind of death by which he was to die.
289. 13:56The crowd then answered him, "We have
290. 13:58heard out of the law that the Christ is
291. 14:00to remain forever. And how can you say
292. 14:03the Son of Man must be lifted up?" So
293. 14:06they clearly knew he was talking about
294. 14:08death on a cross.
295. 14:10Who is this son of man?
296. 14:13So Jesus said to them, for a little
297. 14:15while longer, the light is among you.
298. 14:19Walk while you have the light, so that
299. 14:22darkness will not overtake you. He who
300. 14:26walks in the darkness does not know
301. 14:28where he goes. While you have the light,
302. 14:31believe in the light so that you may
303. 14:34become sons of light. They asked him,
304. 14:38"Who is this son of man?" And he said,
305. 14:40"You need to become sons of light." But
306. 14:43it's going to happen if you'll walk in
307. 14:46what I'm doing and bringing and being
308. 14:48right now. If you'll accept it, if
309. 14:51you'll step into it, it won't just be
310. 14:54who is the son of man. It'll be you will
311. 14:56become sons of God.
312. 14:59He was going to bring many sons to
313. 15:02glory.
314. 15:05Father, glorify your name. I have and I
315. 15:08will.
316. 15:10These things Jesus spoke and he went
317. 15:12away and hid himself from them.
318. 15:16But though he had performed so many
319. 15:18signs before them, yet they were not
320. 15:21believing in him.
321. 15:23This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah
322. 15:25the prophet which he spoke. Lord, who
323. 15:30has believed our report? And to whom has
324. 15:33the arm of the Lord been revealed? For
325. 15:37this reason they could not believe. Why?
326. 15:42For Isaiah said again, "He has blinded
327. 15:45their eyes and hardened their heart so
328. 15:49that they would not see with their eyes
329. 15:51and perceive with their heart and be
330. 15:54converted and I heal them."
331. 15:57These things Isaiah said because he saw
332. 15:59his glory and he spoke of him. Isaiah
333. 16:03saw the glory of God which refers to the
334. 16:07spirit of almighty God coming on
335. 16:11the weakness of mortal flesh.
336. 16:16And Isaiah saw that glory. He saw that
337. 16:19it could happen in his vision.
338. 16:22But it says that they can't perceive
339. 16:24because of the hardness of their heart.
340. 16:27Perception and understanding, seeing and
341. 16:31comprehending, it starts with the heart.
342. 16:35It says he has hardened their heart. Has
343. 16:38God come and hardened people's heart
344. 16:41against their will? No. No. God is
345. 16:45pleading with them to believe through
346. 16:47Jesus.
347. 16:48He's begging them to walk in the light.
348. 16:51But their own prior commitment to their
349. 16:54plans, to their power, to their place,
350. 16:57to their nation, to their envy, that is
351. 17:01being tested when they encounter grace
352. 17:04that is intended to turn them to life.
353. 17:07And instead,
354. 17:09they love the darkness because their
355. 17:11deeds are evil.
356. 17:14That's the judgment. He doesn't judge
357. 17:15them. And God doesn't tempt anyone. God
358. 17:18doesn't come and forcibly make our
359. 17:20hearts hard. He makes our hearts hard by
360. 17:23giving us an opportunity to repent and
361. 17:26we choose to stay in our sin. He makes
362. 17:29our hearts hard in a figure of speech,
363. 17:31in a manner of speaking, by raising
364. 17:33Lazarus from the dead and giving us a
365. 17:35miracle we can't deny and revealing we
366. 17:38didn't need more miracles. We needed
367. 17:41repentance for our own self- worship.
368. 17:45These things Isaiah said because he saw
369. 17:47his glory and he spoke of him.
370. 17:49Nevertheless, many even of the rulers
371. 17:52believed in him, but because of the
372. 17:54Pharisees, they were not confessing him
373. 17:57for fear that they would be put out of
374. 17:59the synagogue.
375. 18:01For they loved the approval of men
376. 18:05rather than the approval of God.
377. 18:09That's why their hearts were hardened.
378. 18:12And Jesus cried out and said, "He who
379. 18:17believes in me does not believe in me,
380. 18:22but in him who sent me.
381. 18:26He who sees me sees the one who sent me.
382. 18:32I have come as light into the world so
383. 18:36that everyone who believes in me will
384. 18:39not remain in darkness. Everyone,
385. 18:44not a few, not a select couple whom God
386. 18:47has chosen, not limited atonement,
387. 18:50everyone
388. 18:52who believes in me will not remain in
389. 18:55darkness. If anyone hears my sayings and
390. 19:00does not keep them, I do not judge him.
391. 19:04For I did not come to judge the world,
392. 19:07but to save the world. He who rejects me
393. 19:11and does not receive my sayings has one
394. 19:15who judges him, the word I spoke, is
395. 19:19what will judge him at the last day. For
396. 19:22I did not speak on my own initiative,
397. 19:25but the Father himself who sent me has
398. 19:29given me a commandment as to what to say
399. 19:33and what to speak.
400. 19:35I know that his commandment is eternal
401. 19:39life. Therefore, the things I speak, I
402. 19:43speak just as the Father has told me.
403. 19:49His whole point is this isn't me.
404. 19:55I am a conduit. I am a manifestation, a
405. 20:00vessel.
406. 20:01But it is the voice of God that is
407. 20:04calling to you. It is the voice of God
408. 20:07that you are rejecting. And I'm not
409. 20:09going to judge you. But because you
410. 20:12heard the word and rejected it yourself,
411. 20:16you have that which judges you, the
412. 20:19truth that the voice of the Almighty
413. 20:21broke into your world, and you chose to
414. 20:25plug your ears and ignore it.