John 12:42-43

Yesterday’s verses spoke of the danger of rejecting God to the point where He hardens your heart. Today we’ll look at John’s observation about why men will reject Christ.

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;  for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. (John 12:42-43)

Oh man! This is just so sad, because it’s so true! How often do we worry about what others think of us? In this case, those who could clearly see that Jesus was the Messiah, nevertheless denied their faith for fear of being excommunicated. Their place in the religious community was more important than Truth. They were afraid of the religious leaders - the very men who should have been leading them to the Truth.

Embracing the Truth means having to let go of lies. Sometimes those lies are important rituals that we have been raised in and cling to. Yet anything which denies even in the smallest way Who Jesus is and what He completed on the Cross, anything that says I must add something to His work of salvation, anything that says there is any other mediator between man and God is a lie. It says that Jesus didn’t do enough; He is not enough.

When Jesus died on the cross He said, “It is finished,” not “It’s just begun.” He did not say, “Okay, people, now get busy doing things in the temple to get right with God.” He came to remove the burdens that had been place on us, not to add to them. The religious leaders, as we have seen, had an agenda. They were out to murder Jesus, because He was interfering with their hold on the people. He was taking away their power over the people. And, apparently, those in this particular crowd who rejected Christ’s claims, did so because they feared that power.

The Bible tells us to fear God, not man. Where in your life can you see evidence that the opinion of men has more sway over you? Is it at work, where you hide your faith for fear of what your boss or coworkers would think? Is it within your family? Is it even within your church?

Maybe you have been drawn to Christ, but you fear making that step of complete commitment because you are afraid of how it will turn your life upside down. You fear that it will ruin your marriage (hey, God loves your marriage way more than you do), or you fear it will ruin your social ties. Yes, it probably will ruin some. There is a cost to following Christ. But the payoff is eternal life that begins NOW and a relationship with your Heavenly Father that surpasses anything the world has to offer.

Let’s be on guard against that fear of men. It sneaks in so easily and feeds on our insecurities. Satan knows just how to get to us, doesn’t he?    

John 12:37-43

Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. (John 12:37)

John tells us, in chapter 20, verses 30-31, that Jesus did many more miracles. But he chose to write about certain ones in order that we might believe. Even though these crowds had seen more than enough evidence, including the resurrection of Lazarus, they would not believe. It’s not that they, or anyone else, would be convinced if they just had enough evidence. There is PLENTY of evidence that Jesus is the Son of God and God the Son. It’s not that they CAN’T believe, it’s that they WON’T believe. Well, Jon Courson writes that if people WON’T believe, eventually there will come a day when they CAN’T believe, because God will close their eyes to the truth. And John tells us that very thing in this passage:

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 
“He has blinded their eyes

    and deadened their hearts,

so they can neither see with their eyes,

    nor understand with their hearts,

    nor turn—and I would heal them.” 


 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. (vs.39-41)

This is a sobering truth. You can reject the message of Christ only so many times before God will harden your heart so that you CAN’T believe!

When I was a teenager and in college, I was approached three times by those “pesky” Campus Crusade for Christ people that confronted kids on the beach during spring break or on campus at UCLA with the “Four Spiritual Laws” tract! [You need to know that I now financially support two missionaries for this organization :) ] Each time I somehow got rid of them without them “closing the deal.”

I was even once accosted by a hippie member of the cult “Children of God” on Bruin Walk one day. Now HE was persistent!! He was part of this group out of Texas that went around the country in a hippie bus picking up teens from college campuses to join their cult. Just to get rid of him, I prayed with him to receive Christ right there in the middle of campus! He instructed me afterwards to meet him the next morning to get on the bus! He called my sorority house looking for me the next morning when I didn’t show. My sorority sister informed him that I was at the football game. He was angry and said, “She’s supposed to be with us telling people about Jesus!” My sorority sister answered, “Maybe she’s telling people about Jesus at the football game!”

I laugh about that now, but it scares me to think how many times I did not want to be “bothered” with the truth! There came a day, however, when I knew for certain that I needed to make a real decision. When my older daughter, Molly, was a baby, I realized how important it was that I raise her the right way. I desperately wanted to raise her in the Truth - and I knew there could only be one, since God is not a God of confusion. There couldn’t be MANY different, conflicting ways to God. During my search, I met a woman who read convincing scriptures to me, and she ended with Revelation 3:20:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (KJV)

Somehow I KNEW when she read that verse that if I said, “No,” to this invitation, I would truly be saying, “NO,” and closing the door of my heart. I’m so thankful to God that He was so patient with me and that He had not already hardened my heart to the point that I could not believe!

How about you? Have you heard the gospel message many times and not responded because it just wasn’t the right time, you didn’t want to be bothered, or you were afraid you’d become one of those “Jesus freaks?” Don’t mess with God! If you continue to say “No,” there will come a day when you CANNOT say, “Yes!”    

John 12:31-36

Jesus finishes this discourse with the crowd by pointing them to the Cross.

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.  But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”  He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. (John 12:31-33)

Jesus was telling them that finally sin was about to be judged. I think we tend to forget that ALL sin - the sins of the entire world, encompassing all of history - past, present, and future - would be laid upon Jesus to be judged. All of us have felt the incredible burden of the guilt of even one sin. When we think back (and maybe not so far back), we can think of something (or many things) we did that caused us absolute agony because of the guilt and shame. Now think about how that horrible feeling for ALL of humanity was heaped on our LORD, who was Himself innocent! The Cross would actually separate Him from His Father!

Jesus did this willingly, because we needed salvation. He was about to break Satan’s hold over those who would believe. He was going to completely cleanse and make righteous those who had been in bondage. And He promised here that He would draw all men to Himself on that Cross. Courson writes about how it truly is the message of the Cross - forgiveness and cleansing from sin - that draws people into our churches. It’s not the hip youth group or the rockin’ music - it’s the message of the Cross. People are so hungry to hear it!

The crowd was confused by Jesus reference to His death, because they were looking for a Messiah who would save them politically. They only saw the one coming of the Messiah. They missed the Lamb of God who would be slain, because they were expecting the Lion of Judah.

The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 


Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.  Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. (vs.34-36)

Courson writes, “Jesus doesn’t answer them directly, because, you see, He Himself is the Answer. He answers as if to say, ‘You guys want to talk about theology, but I want to talk about relationship. While you have Me, link yourselves to Me. Stay close to Me. Enjoy Me.” (Courson, P. 543)

In other words, walk in the Light while you can! And He could say that to us today! We’ll see tomorrow that TODAY is the day of salvation. You can’t put it off, because none of us knows when our time on earth will be up. This has been brought home to me so much this past year. I’ll soon be attending my sixth funeral of the year - and only one of those was for an elderly person!

Yesterday our school staff lost a very dear, gentle teacher after a long battle with cancer. Jenny was only 48. This has been an extremely difficult year for our school. Death sucks! For those who go to be with the LORD there is celebration, but for those left behind there is mourning. Thank you, LORD Jesus, that your death guaranteed our eternal life when we put our faith in You.  

John 12:27-30

We have a Savior who understands us. As Jesus turned toward the Cross, He struggled, just like we do!

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:27-28a)

If Jesus could take His struggles to the Father, so can we! I have not met the challenge of a terminal illness, but I’m imagining that the struggle for a Christian might be like we see here. We KNOW that what awaits us on the other side is beyond anything we could ever imagine. When we see Him face to face it will be glorious. But because we have not passed through the portal of death yet, we DON’T know what that passage will be like. We cling to what we know and the pull of earth is strong. At the same time, however, our hearts yearn for our eternal home. How did Jesus get beyond this? He remembered what His purpose was: to SAVE us by taking the judgment for our sin on the Cross and to glorify the Father in it.

And note that He says, “Father, glorify your name,” not, “Glorify my name!” We live in a time in which everyone wants his OWN name glorified! Everyone wants his 15 minutes of fame - and Satan has provided the means to keep us focused in that direction with social media. You can be out to the world via Facebook, Twitter, texting, YouTube - and, yes, blogging! While I believe God can and does redeem the media for His purposes, since He is sovereign and cannot be thwarted, Satan, nevertheless, makes good use of our desire to glorify our own names.

 As believers, we have the certainty of being disciplined by our Father whenever we step out of His will in this way. He has a way of pulling us back and reminding us whose we are and why we’re here! Sometimes it just takes a gentle nudging from the Holy Spirit, but sometimes it takes a trip to the shed! As soon as Jesus said, “No it was for this very reason I came to this hour,” He was again resolute in His determination to finish the job He came to do. May we always remember His example!

As soon as He refocused and prayed, the Father answered - the third time in His ministry that the Father affirmed Him publicly (at His baptism, the Transfiguration, then here).

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. (vs.28b-30)

The world does not hear God speak to you, and people may tell you, when you feel God’s call on you life, that you are just imagining it. If God is speaking to your heart, asking you to step out in some kind of ministry, and you are sure it is Him, you can bet your boots that immediately there will be those who will try to rob you of that joy and that mission. Be prepared for it!

If your goal is to glorify the Father, don’t let anyone keep you from that path. We know that even the disciples, who loved Him, tried to keep Him from the Cross. But it was for the Cross that He came. How wonderful that the Father affirmed His mission once more to help Him move forward. He will do that for you, too. If you are questioning whether or not that voice you are hearing is His, ask Him for confirmation in His Word and through His people. He will provide it!  

John 12:20-26

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.  They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”  Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. (John 12:20-22)

It would be so easy to just skip past these verses, but remembering that John was extremely selective I checked out what Jon Courson had to say about this group of Greeks coming to see Jesus. Glad I did! He points out that at Jesus’ birth, the Gentile Magi came from the East to seek Him out and worship Him. Here, just before His death, Gentiles come from the West. Whether or not they came to worship or just out of intellectual curiosity (which would be a Greek mindset), Jesus makes it clear that the only way to truly follow Him is the way of death.

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (vs.23-26)

God’s ways are so not our ways! And unless we view everything from the perspective of the Cross, we’ll miss what He has for us. When He divides, He does it to multiply; when He subtracts, He does it to add; and if we want life, it must be through death. Jon Courson writes that in this final public discourse Jesus gives the secret of life: “Get a life,” people say. And Jesus tells us how. “Get a life,” He says, “not by asserting yourself, not by pampering your self, not by changing yourself - but by dying to self.” (Courson, Application Commentary: New Testament, P. 540).

If we live only for self - that’s all we’ll get: one life that ends in death. But if we die to self, we will not only find eternal life, but there will be multiplication of life as we bring others to Christ. If we want eternal life, we must follow Jesus into death. Courson points out that there are so many questions we will have throughout our lives, for which we may never get answers. “Why did my child die, Lord?” “Why am I in this loveless marriage?” “Why didn’t I get that job I’ve been praying for?” “Why did the cancer return?” If we will just take it all to the Cross, and remember that it is in dying that we live, we will be able to trust Him. How can we NOT trust the One Who loved us so much that He resolutely turned toward the Cross, knowing the agony He faced there, in order to bring us to the Father?

In the next passage we will get a glimpse of His agony, along with His focus.  

John 12:12-19

In John 5, when Jesus was answering the Jewish leaders who had questioned His credentials for claiming to be God, Jesus pointed them to the Scriptures which testified of Him. More than 300 Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled during Jesus’ first coming - with many more yet to be fulfilled at His return. Here, in today’s passage, we see some that were when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, being hailed as the King who had come to save His people.

Remember that Jesus had been visiting Lazarus and his sisters in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem. The buzz about Lazarus had reached the masses gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. According to projections based on what the Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote, there were possibly more than two million in the city observing Passover week. And then Jesus comes:

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 
    “Hosanna!”
    “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
    “Blessed is the King of Israel!”  Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
    “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
 
   see, your king is coming,
 
   seated on a donkey’s colt.” (John 12:12-15)

Most of us will find a reference in our Bible’s to Psalm 118 here. Particularly, verses 19-25 of that Psalm speak to this event.

Open for me the gates of righteousness;
 
   I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
 
 This is the gate of the LORD
 
   through which the righteous may enter.
 
 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
 
   you have become my salvation.


   The stone the builders rejected
 
   has become the capstone;
 
 the LORD has done this,
 
   and it is marvelous in our eyes.
 
 This is the day the LORD has made;
 
   let us rejoice and be glad in it.


   O LORD, save us;
 
   O LORD, grant us success.
 
 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
 
   From the house of the LORD we bless you. 

The word for “save us” in this Psalm is the word, “Hosanna.” The Jews in Jerusalem that Sunday were welcoming Jesus as their Savior, the “gate of the LORD.” Other Old Testament prophecies fulfilled on this day were from Zechariah 9:9 and Isaiah 62:11. The crowds greeted Jesus with worship and praise. And yet, these are the same who would cry, “Crucify him!” just a few days later!

My pastor, when teaching on this passage just this past Palm Sunday, pointed out that It’s not shouting ‘Hosanna’ on Sunday that matters - it’s following the Light on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as well! How many of us who claim to be followers of Christ prefer to keep Him in a Sunday box? We faithfully go to church each Sunday, but leave Him there as they go through the rest of their week not giving Him a thought. Are we truly walking in the awareness of His presence each day? Do we give thank and praise throughout our days, even when our days seem to go completely awry? Are we trusting Him to save us, or are we looking to our jobs, our own skills, or our families as the source of our strength?

While I’m certain the disciples were blown away by the reception Jesus was getting, John tells us that they did not really comprehend this event until later. The fickle crowd was so excited to see Him, but the Pharisees not so much:

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 


Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (John 12:16-19)

Standing in that crowd that day were a group which was NOT happy! The religious leaders, who should have been shouting praises the loudest, were instead whispering murderous plots!  

John 12:3-11

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3)

Mary adored Jesus! She loved being at His feet, not only to listen attentively to His every word, but just to unashamedly worship Him. Here she brought out her extremely costly jar of perfume, probably her precious dowry, and lavished it on Jesus’ feet. Such perfume was used in burial, and, in fact Jesus affirms that this jar was intended for his burial (vs. 7). But she was using it early in preparation.

It seems that Mary was one of the few who understood. During all of that sitting at Jesus’ feet she had learned what the disciples had not yet caught: Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die. Jon Courson reminds us that Mary of Bethany would NOT be one of the Marys at the cross. He conjectures that she must have known that the cross was not the end of the story. So she used up the perfume before Jesus died. What an act of worship! That worship was costly, not only because of the price of the perfume, but because it also brought her criticism:

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. (vs.4-6)

When we worship unashamedly, we can also expect some criticism. Courson remind us that this was also true of David. When he danced in joy before the LORD, wearing only his undergarments (2 Sam 6), his wife, Michal, who was Saul’s daughter, mocked him, disgusted by his display. She remained barren until the end of her life, whereas David continued to worship his God. In the same way, Judas, motivated by money, rather than worship, came to a pathetic end. Courson writes, “Those who critique or find fault with worship will experience barrenness, dryness, and a lack of productivity.” (Application Commentary: New Testament. P. 538) Those who think you are some crazy fanatic because you love Jesus miss out on the joy of the LORD!

Judas acted disgusted about the “waste” of money when there were so many poor who could have benefitted from the sale of the perfume. But Jesus rebuked him, knowing Judas had no real concern for the poor:

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” (vs.7-8)

Mary understood this. She seized the moment to show her love for Jesus. Having “wasted” the perfume, she may have even cost herself a future husband! She was trusting that God, Who had provided the money to buy the perfume, would also provide everything else that she needed. This is what tithing is: an act of worship that trusts that God will provide everything for us financially, even as He provides the means for us to worship Him with our giving. We can never outgive God! As Mary worshiped Jesus with the perfume, the fragrance not only blessed Jesus, but herself and all who were present as the sweet smell permeated the house. Do you hold onto your money to protect it or does it freely flow through your hands in worship as you bless others in Jesus’ name?

Remember that Bethany was only two miles from Jerusalem. And as Jesus and his friends enjoyed the fellowship and the joy of Lazarus’ resurrection, people who had heard Lazarus’ story began to gather outside:

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him. (vs.9-11)

Now the religious leaders had a growing problem. They not only plotted to kill Jesus, but they would have to also murder Lazarus in order to end the whole movement! Where would it stop? Tomorrow we’ll see the crowds welcoming their Messiah as Jesus enters Jerusalem.