FBCWest 584 | Jesus Foretells His Type of Death
Recorded On: 12/10/2023
Bulletin
Hymn # 85 “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
SCRIPTURE READING – John 1:1 – 5 & 14
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“Overcome”
“Love Is War”
“He Shall Reign Forevermore”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“Jesus Foretells His Type of Death”
“At the Cross (Love Ran Red)”
Benediction “There Is Freedom”
Sermon Notes
John 12:27 He is troubled by what is to come, but that is why He came
John 12:28 Jesus asks the Father’s name be glorified. The Father responds He has and will
John 12:29 & 30 The Father spoke audibly, but some are confused
John 12:31 – 33 Jesus foretells the kind of death He will suffer
John 12:34 Crowd believes the Messiah will never die
John 12:35 & 36a Jesus says walk and believe in the Light
John 13:36b Jesus hids Himself
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
As Jesus is in Jerusalem, He's going to be confronted with a decision that will change history one way or the other.
But He makes His decision based on a particular principle. Now there are times when we are faced with critical decisions that may not change history but will probably change the course of our lives. I think it would be good to see what type of principle Jesus uses when we're confronted with such decisions.
If you have your Bibles, and you should, please turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 12 and we're going to start with verse 27. Again a limited number of verses, again just because it's a limited number of verses doesn't mean it's not important because Jesus is teaching and preaching and discussing things.
And so again the context is that He has entered in Jerusalem and that triumphal entry and then the Greeks wanted to meet with Him and talk to Him and we're a continuation of His conversation. We don't know if it's a continuation of His conversation with the Greeks or with people in general but John wants us to know this conversation that Jesus has. And so he says this, "And now my soul has become troubled. And what shall I say, Father save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour." Now you see Jesus is troubled here and He admits that He's troubled and later we will see that He again has this situation because He has come to die for our sins and I don't think we can appreciate that enough.
Certainly the physical agony was tremendous and certainly the shame that He bore was significant
but there is that sense of that He was going to be sin for us and that all of God's punishment would be laid upon Him.
I don't think we appreciate because we see the other side but Jesus as a man struggles with what is required of Him and He admits that it's required of Him. But He also understands, He goes, "But this is why I came.
I didn't come for you to get me and me to get you.
I didn't come to say a bunch of fancy words.
I came that you might have life and have it abundantly but to do that I must sacrifice myself for your sins." So He understands that and so He decides in a principle that I think we should all accept
not only by saying that's right but to do when we are faced with difficult situations.
Because let's face it, if Jesus said, "Father, you sent me but I don't want to go," history would be different.
You and I would still be in our sin.
There would be no reason to meet here and we wouldn't be meeting here because He wouldn't have died for our sins and He wouldn't have raised from the dead. And so at this crossroad He makes a monumental decision and let's see how He bases that decision.
"Father, glorify your name."
It's not, "Father, I don't want this," but it's, "Father, glorify your name."
And maybe when we are faced with life, difficult decisions instead of saying, "Well, what's best for me? What will cause me the least amount of pain? Which will cause me the least amount of sorrow and shame?" We would say, "Father, what decision would glorify you?"
And let's face it, that's a very difficult principle to use because we all want it easy. We all want it what's best for us.
But Jesus made the decision based on what glorifies the Father and why the Father sent Him and what was necessary for you and me. But notice not only when He says, "Father, glorify your name," then a voice came out of heaven, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."
The Father confirms to Jesus, "You're going to glorify my name and I'm going to continue to glorify it and I will glorify it again." And as I shared with you when I was in communist China, He glorified it again. And God will continue to glorify His name even when things seem to be.
This is the third time that God has spoken in reference to Jesus.
He spoke at Jesus' baptism, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased."
He spoke at the transfiguration, "Listen to Him."
And now He says in an audible voice, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."
So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered and others were saying, "It is an angel who has spoken to Him."
Notice when God does something, there always seems to be confusion.
When people who don't know God think that it's probably thunder, it's probably a natural occurrence. Everybody explains things it's a natural occurrence. And if it's not a natural occurrence, it could have never have happened.
But others who kind of understand, miss who's speaking, they say it must be an angel.
And in reality, it's God Himself.
God Himself is comforting and advising His Son that I'm glorifying it and you're doing it.
And Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for my sake but for your sake." So Jesus number one tells them it wasn't thunder and it wasn't an angel.
The voice was spoken for your sake. Jesus said, "I didn't need to hear audibly from the Father.
The Father and I communicate constantly.
What the Father says I do, what the Father is I go."
The voice was sent so that you might know that the Father is being glorified by His Son.
Now Jesus continues to say, "Now judgment is upon this world.
Now the ruler of this world will be cast out." You see there's going to be a significant thing that's happening.
It used to be that Satan could just go willy-nilly wherever he wanted.
He's going to be cast out.
And judgment has come upon the world. Now Jesus will tell us that He didn't come to judge the world but to save the world. But judgment will come based on what we do with Jesus coming into the world.
And so He says, "There is things happening. Judgment will be coming upon the world and that liar, that one who is the leader of the rebellion will be cast out."
Then He announces the type of death that He will suffer.
And I notice, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, withdraw all men to Myself.
Now there's two things that He says that we kind of miss because of the language. It says, "If I am lifted up from the earth."
Now the immediate thought which is correct is that when He is lifted up on the cross,
but it also means when He is lifted up from the earth. So when He is lifted up on the cross and when He is lifted up from the grave, He will gather all men to Him.
It's both events that causes us to come to Him. And then He says, "We'll draw all men to Myself." Now all can mean one of two things. All can mean non-exclusive or can mean without exclusion.
He doesn't mean without all in the sense of everyone. He means all in the sense of without distinction, without exclusion. You can come if you're a Jew. You can come if you're Greek. You can come if you're a Gentile. You can come if you've been a God-fearer. You can come if you're a flat sinner.
He will draw everyone to Himself.
But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
So He tells us that His death will not be by stoning. His death will not be by being hit by a chariot. His death will be by being lifted up by being crucified. And His statement, "We are told this because we are gone as making sure we don't miss the point."
But the people who are standing around, "Hit it, Miss." As He says this, "The crowd then answered Him, "We have heard out of the law that the prices remain forever. And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" And so they're going, "Well, we heard somewhere that in the law the Christ will live forever."
So maybe you're not this person. And so who is the Son of Man? Because we thought the Son of Man was the Christ and we're confused.
Now they're getting this verse not from the law but from the psalm. I believe it's Psalm 69.
It talks about the Christ remaining, the Messiah remaining.
You see, they don't understand the whole plan of God.
The whole plan of God is that He is there to be a propitiation for us to die for our sins and to rise from the dead and as we've said, sang, and to reign forevermore.
So the Christ will fulfill this.
It's not a matter of never dying, it's a matter of remaining forever. And this verse is always still there. I remember time flies, it was probably longer ago than I thought, but it was a few years ago that there was a man, a rabbi in New York City who claimed to be the Messiah.
And then something terrible happened to him. He died.
So his followers kind of tried to hide it from everybody else that he died.
And it's interesting that Jesus told them that there will be others who will claim to be the Christ.
The Christ remains and reigns forevermore because He followed the whole counsel of not God, not one verse.
So Jesus is going to respond to them and say, "So Jesus said to them, for a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light so that the darkness will not overtake you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going." So Jesus says, "I am the light, I am with, been with you. Walk in me. Understand what I'm doing."
Instead of saying, "Well, who is?" Because Jesus has been saying who He is. They keep asking the wrong question.
They should say, "Well, this is our understanding. So help us to understand."
They don't, because everybody thinks they know it all.
Especially people who have never read the Bible. Or the people who have read it one time. I love that. Or read the Bible once.
Great.
I read a lot of books once that I have no remember of what I read.
Some books I wish I would have read again because they were pretty important and I forgot most of what was in it.
The Scriptures are so packed with wisdom that our finite minds need to not just read it, but to be enveloped. To walk in the light. Not to turn the lights on and to go into a different room, but to walk in the light.
So the darkness will not overtake you. Because He's saying if you walk in the darkness, you don't know where you're going.
"For you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light."
He's making an invitation. Notice Jesus always invites people to come.
You have the light, believe in the light, so that you might become sons of light. It's not a matter of just saying, "Oh, I have wisdom. I have become enlightened." He's just saying, "No, that you might become changed." That not that you become enlightened, but that you become sons of light. That you become children of God.
He's asking us to not turn over a new leaf, but to be different.
To have a new birth.
Not just a change in our way, but children of light.
So again, these words as Jesus is going closer and closer to Passover, and closer and closer to His crucifixion, what He has to say is important.
Maybe we should learn in this to ask the right question.
As Jesus did, to make decisions based on glorifying God.
Make decisions on what will make us children of the light. Tons of the light, rather than being, "I'm smarter than the person next to me."
Then Jesus does something we would not expect of Him. These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid from them.
But why did He do that?
Because God was on a very specific timetable.
You see He couldn't become too popular, because there would be mounting pressure to crucify Him early.
He also couldn't be too hated too soon, because again, they would try to change the timetable.
And God is in control, and He will go out to the temple and teach and preach, and then will withdraw. And He'll go back and withdraw until the time is right that God has set for everything to happen.
Sometimes, the best things we can do is not feasible.
Let God do what God does in God's time.
But I want it right now.
And if we really understood what Jesus was doing, we would say, "If I'm going to be saved from my sin, then let's crucify you now, so that I can be free from my sins."
That's not God's time, please.
In reality, once you become free from your sins, and once you understand what God has done for you, you have said, "God, Your sacrifice was worth it, because I came to you, and I'm not worth it."
And if the whole world, all 6 billion plus of us now and all that has ever lived, came to you and became children of yours based on your sacrifice, it still would not have been worth it, because the Son of God has infinite back.
But you see, God did not compare what He was giving up with what He was giving.
God so loved the world that He gave.
It wasn't a worthwhile exchange that He did it in me. Because at the cross, at the cross, His blood ran away.
That I might know love that I've never, ever, ever experienced, and I have been loved, and I have lost love.
But all the love I've had that has been very valuable and very important in my life, has