Latest / Finding Jesus Again / Episode 21; Understanding Jesus
Transcript
- Episode 21: Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 19 of Finding Jesus Again. We are going continue reading today from John chapter 12, starting with verse 9. The large crowd of the Jews then learned that he was there, and they came not on account of Jesus only, but so that they might also see Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews. We're going away and we're believing in Jesus. So here in this scripture we're seeing that the people found out where Jesus was. And yesterday we we read that he was in Bethany with Lazarus and with Mary and Martha, and he was in their home. And people found out, and so they were coming to see Jesus. But they weren't just coming to see Jesus, they were also coming to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. You can just imagine people wanted to see this walking, talking miracle. Well the chief priest had decided that they weren't just going to kill Jesus, but they were also going to kill Lazarus, because Lazarus was a testimony of what Jesus did and who Jesus was. I thought about that and how the enemy is going to want to destroy your testimony. He's going to want to destroy the thing in you that glorifies Jesus. So maybe you've been recovering from addiction, or maybe God's healed you, or maybe just, you know, God's blessed and healed your marriage. Well, the enemy is going to come against that. He wants to kill that. He wants to kill that testimony because that testimony glorifies Christ. And he doesn't want Christ to be glorified. And so you have to defend that. You have to be vigilant. You have to keep your eyes open. You have to be aware. Because the enemy is going to come and he's going to try to destroy your Lazarus. He's going to try to destroy your testimony of Christ. Well, let's read on. Verse 12. On the next day, when the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees, and they went out to meet him and began shouting, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, indeed the king of Israel. Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it, as it was written, Do not fear, daughter of Zion, behold your king is coming, seated on a donkey's coat. These things his disciple did not understand at first, but But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered these things were written of him, that they had done these things for him. So the people who were with him when he ra when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about him. For this reason also the people went to meet him because they had heard that he had performed this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, You see that you are not accomplishing anything. Look, the world has gone after him. So here we see that Jesus is getting ready to make his entry into Jerusalem. They call it his triumphant entry because of the way that the people celebrated him as he came. It wasn't really a triumphant entry, though, because he was actually going to his death and he knew that he was going to be going to his death. So he came in, and everyone was celebrating him. And of course, deep down he knew that. That even though they were celebrating him, that these were going to be the same people that a few days later are going to be crying, crucify him. That's a powerful lesson to be learned here about the people that are celebrating Jesus. There's a difference between celebrating Jesus and believing in Jesus and actually understanding Jesus. Let's walk through that for a minute. First of all, they wanted a king, but they didn't want his kind of king. Israel was under Roman occupation. The Jewish people longed for deliverance. Many hoped the Messiah would restore Israel's political independence. They did they wanted someone to change their circumstances. And then here comes Jesus. He healed the sick, he fed thousands, and just raised Lazarus from the dead. Can you imagine what people thought he could accomplish as a king? So they wanted a king, but they didn't want his kind of king. Number two. Jesus does something unexpected. He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, not a wool horse, not a chariot, not surrounded by an army, but a donkey. John connects this with Zechariah 9 9, a prophecy about Israel's coming king. And here's the beautiful part. Jesus isn't rejecting their declaration that he's a king. He's redefining what kind of king he is. He isn't coming to conquer Rome through military force. He's coming to confront the deeper enemies of humanity, like sin and death. You see, Remember how moved he was in yesterday's episode when he confronted death. That's the enemy that he is coming to destroy once and for all is death. Now, how often do we celebrate Jesus because we believe he'll give us what we want, rather than because we've discovered who he really is? Or how often do we celebrate Jesus because we need something or we want something from him? We can celebrate Jesus when the music's good, when the atmosphere is exciting, when life is going our way. But what happens when Jesus doesn't meet our expectations? Even his own disciples didn't understand. John 12 16 says these things his disciples did not understand at first. They didn't understand it. Think about it. The disciples were physically present, they saw the miracles, they heard his teachings, they traveled with him, and John admits that they don't understand what was happening. Only later, after his death, after his resurrection, did they look back. And it finally made sense to them. This is important because we sometimes treat uncertainty as the opposite of faith. But the disciples demonstrate something different. You can genuinely follow Jesus while still struggling to understand him. And I think we're all still struggling to understand him. None of us can completely understand him. And this journey that we're on is all about finding Jesus and learning to understand him, not to just celebrate our ideas of him, but to celebrate who he really is. And really getting to know his heart. And there's something liberating about admitting that even those who walked with him didn't have everything figured out. Perhaps understanding Jesus isn't something we accomplished once. Perhaps it's a lifelong journey. It's something that we're going to be on forever. Some people follow Jesus because of the spectacle. John explains the crowd was there following him simply because he rose Lazarus from the dead. The Pharisees respond, Look, the whole world's going after him, but their desire to follow him is shallow. How deep is your commitment to follow Jesus? Is it based on what God does for you, or is it a real commitment to follow him, even though you don't always understand who he is and what he's doing in your life? Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These people then came to Philip, who was from Beth Beth Seda of Galilee. And was making a request of him saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. But Jesus answered them by saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, he remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. If anyone serves me he must follow me and where and where I am there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Jesus has been saying that his hour has not come, but now he is saying that it has come, and he gives us an analogy. This also has to do with the Gentiles coming to Jesus also. Jesus says in verse twenty four, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Think about that. A seed can be beautiful, perfectly preserved and protected from the ground. But as long as it remains that way, it will never produce a harvest. Jesus is describing himself. The seed is Jesus. And the falling into the ground represents his death. The harvest represents the many people who will receive life through him. Jesus isn't going to reach the world by avoiding death. He's going to reach the world through his death. The seed must hit the ground. It is what he has come to do. And in verses 25 to 26, Jesus moves from talking about his own death to talking about his followers. He says that whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world is going to keep it for eternity. Jesus isn't telling us to hate ourselves, he's challenging the instinct to make self preservation, comfort, security, and control the highest priorities of our lives. In other words, you cannot follow a self giving Savior while making self protection. The ultimate go of your life. And here's the bigger lesson. Here's what stands out to me about this passage. The Greeks say we want to see Jesus, and Jesus responds, then you need to understand the cross. They wanted to meet a remarkable teacher, but Jesus was preparing to become the crucified savior of the world. And there's a challenge here for us. Sometimes we want to see Jesus in the miracles, we want to see him in the blessings and the victories and the prosperity and the success. But Jesus points us toward a seed that dies. He shows us that the kingdom of God doesn't operate by the world's definition of greatness greatness. It operates through sacrifice, surrender, love, and giving ourselves away. In John twelve thirty two he says, And if I am lifted up, the whole earth will be drawn to me, and that brings the whole passage together. The Greeks come looking for Jesus. Jesus announced his approaching death, and through that death he would draw people from every nation unto himself. The cross wasn't the end of Jesus' mission. It was central to accomplishing it. So the people had a very different expectation of what following Jesus meant. So I want to ask you what your expectation is of following Jesus. What's your expectation? Is your expectation of what you can get out of it? Is it your expectation that God's just going to make your life so much better? That He's going to give you more money, He's going to give you more blessings, he's your magic genie in a bottle. Whenever you need him, whenever you need your fix. You can just rub the lamp and poof he pops out and he fixes everything. But no, it's more than that. Following Jesus is a sacrifice. Following Jesus can be difficult. But we follow Jesus because we truly understand who he is and we want to be like him and we want to be with him. But thank you guys for joining us today for this episode of Finding Jesus Again. And I hope that you, like me, We're starting to get a better understanding of who Jesus really is. That we have to have the same attributes as him, the same motives as him, the same love as him. And we don't always understand it or understand how we're gonna get there, but we're trying and we're moving in that direction.