Seven Miracles - Pt 26

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. (John 11:47-53 ESV).

Today we come to the second truth of this passage: Substitution is at the heart of the Christian faith. I hear people from time to time mention the concept of “karma.” “Karma” means action, work or deed; it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual. This is entirely foreign to the Christian faith. We don’t get what we deserve; Jesus got it on our behalf! Look at our reading again. Caiaphas said, “It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish” (v. 50). Then John tells us he was really speaking the words of God: “He prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation” (v. 51). In the mind of Caiaphas, the substitution was they would kill Jesus so the Romans wouldn’t kill them. He wanted to substitute Jesus for themselves. In the mind of God, the substitution was this: I will kill my Son so I don’t have to kill you. God substitutes Jesus for his enemies. The truth is that God killed Jesus? I know it sounds harsh to speak of God killing Jesus. Killing so easily connotes sinning and callous cruelty. God never sins. And he is never callous. But this is the truth of Scripture. Even Isaiah uses this harsh language: “We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.” Isaiah 53:4,6,10). God “smote” him. God “crushed” him. This is the very center of our Christian faith: God substituted Jesus for us. The encouragement we draw from this is that this is the depth of God’s love for us. The impact of this truth is the erasing of our fear. If God could love us so deeply and sacrificially, how could anything harm us? This takes away the greatest of fears. Death no longer has any power over us. Jesus took that penalty as his own and conquered it on our behalf forever!

Seven Miracles - Pt 25

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. (John 11:47-53 ESV).

The last miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of John is the pivot point in Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is always a little amazing how easily the religious leaders missed the incredible message of Jesus. I believe the reason they did is rooted in the same error we often make. We simply cannot find a way to see the temporary nature of this life. What we have now is not the end. This truth brings us to the first of the five principles and applications I mentioned earlier: God did not just turn this national crisis for Israel’s good and our good, he was in it from the start planning it for good. Notice carefully what John says about Caiaphas’s words in our reading today. Caiaphas says, “It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish” (v. 50). And, then John says something amazing, “He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied” (v. 51). He prophesied. In other words, God brought these words to his mind. God put them there. And God has a meaning. At one level, these are Caiaphas’s words with his meaning. And at another level, these are God’s words with his meaning. And the point I am making here is that these are the words that sealed Jesus’ death. Caiaphas wanted Jesus dead, and out of the way, and so he spoke these words. God wanted Jesus dead and risen and reigning forever, and so he spoke these words. Caiaphas prophesied, that is, he spoke God’s words, and God said: “It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” God said that. “Better that Jesus die.” Better. It was better than any other plan in the universe. Therefore, the death of Jesus was not mainly a tragic set of events which God turned for our good. It was a loving set of events which God planned for our good. He did not just predict it. He unleashed it. This word of prophecy tracked Jesus down into Gethsemane and put him under arrest. There was no escape. This was the word of God. “It is better that he die.” This is the good that God was working on our behalf! That kind of love is unimaginable; and, it is ours! Hold on! God knows what he is doing!

Seven Miracles - Pt 24

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our lace and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. (John 11:38-44 ESV).

The underlying circumstance is very important to understand before we get too deep into the applications. Lazarus has been raised from the dead by the omnipotent word of Jesus (v. 44). Many people witnessed this first hand. Some believe in Jesus; some run off to tell the Pharisees what he had done. What happens next shows the fear that finally brought Jesus to his execution (vv. 47–48).The “Council,” or the Sanhedrin, was the equivalent of our Supreme Court. This is no longer mere mob violence as we saw in earlier chapters, where they were about to stone Jesus. What’s at stake is not the truth. The goal of this council is survival. They saw Jesus as a direct and immediate threat to their survival as a nation. Jesus has now become one to be feared as a destroyer, not one who came to save them. In response to this threat Caiaphas, the high priest, pronounces the judgment. Little did he know he was merely another tool in God’s hands to accomplish the ultimate purpose of Jesus (cf. vv. 49¬–50. Though the others wanted to go slowly and watch how things unfolded, Caiaphas rebukes them and then says, Here’s the solution: kill him. Better that one die so the nation won’t. We kill him so that the Romans won’t kill us. Substitute Jesus for us. This is the key of substitutionary atonement. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. This becomes the basis for our strength in hard times, for our comfort in the face of our own sin, and, for our confidence that God keeps his promises. It sets the course for our large-heartedness when you are tempted to be narrow and self-centered; and, for our joy in the very personal and particular love that God has for us in Jesus. That’s why we can sing “Amazing Grace”!

Seven Miracles - Pt 22

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:38-44 ESV).

We have reached the final miracle in John’s Gospel, the raising of Lazarus form the dead. It may take us a while to get through this sign. However, we will begin today with the shortest verse in the Bible. It is found just before the actual account of the miracle. Jesus seemed composed as he approached the town. The sister of his dead friend met him outside. He consoled her with truth and grace. But then he saw the other sister, manifestly more emotional. And he began to weep. These two words, Jesus wept. (cf. John 11:35) carry a world of significance. While it is the shortest verse in all of the Bible, it is also one of its most powerful, and insightful. Here we find a remarkable glimpse into the glory of the Lord of the universe. It does show us the truth of Isaiah’s prophecy that Jesus would be “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). However, we cannot miss that this sorrow was not his own. Because his love is great, he made our pains his own. Isaiah went on to write, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). It should of great comfort to have a sovereign who not only knows our frame and what is in us, but also shares in our flesh and blood. God himself has taken on our humanity in this man. With this humanity he also shares our emotions, even our sorrows. We are finite and frail. God gave us these emotions. We celebrate. We grieve. We rejoice. We weep. And we do so with Jesus as one of us. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus clearly manifests human emotions. When he heard the centurion’s words of faith, “he marveled” (Matthew 8:10). And he says in Gethsemane that his “soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38). No one shows us the truly human emotions of Christ like his beloved disciple John. That he loved dead Lazarus and his two sisters could not be any clearer than in this sign. Even the witnesses saw it and remarked, “See how he loved him!” Jesus did not weep because he lacked faith, but because he was full of love. In love, he weeps with those who weep. “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” (v. 33). This is our message today. If you are weeping, you have the great God and Savior, Jesus, who weeps with you. And, he has the power and mind to do something about it!

Seven Miracles - Pt 23

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:38-44 ESV).

Just yesterday, after Mary read the devotional for the day, asked, “How many miracles are you going to do!” My reply was somewhat deadpan. I said, “There are only seven in John.” Here reply was classic “Mary.” She simply said, “Well, you’re on twenty-two.” Actually we have taken our time and unpacked each of the miracles a bit more than usual. And, as we come to the close of our series with the raising of Lazarus from the dead, we will need to spend a few more mornings in examination of the application of this climactic act of Jesus. There are actually five applications of this text that I want to bring to your attention in the hope that you will be both encouraged and challenged. I hope you will be encouraged in your own difficulties and trials; and, I hope you will be challenged to recognize the greatness of God’s gift of grace through Jesus’ work on our behalf. Here are the five applications in brief form: The first application has to do with the unstoppable purpose of God not just to turn bad circumstances for your good, but to be in them perfectly and sovereignly from the start for your good. The second application has to do with a critical piece of Christian theology. It is the concept of substitution. It is that belief that God took the life of his own Son, so that he would not have to take ours. The third application has to do with the existence and the future of the Jewish people as we see in our world today. It will both point to God’s existence and his covenant keeping faithfulness. The fourth application has to do with the blood-bought diversity of the global church and our gladness in the greatness of God’s heart. The fifth application has to do with the particular design of God inside the universal offer of the salvation to unfailingly save His the children, no matter where they may be scattered throughout the world. Today, merely meditate on the power and grace of Jesus in this sign. Everything indicated there was nothing that could be done to “save” Lazarus. Jesus merely had to speak and Lazarus came out of the tomb!

Seven Miracles - Pt 21

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (John 9:35-38 ESV).

As we come to the close of our examination of the sixth sign in John, there are five conversations, and step by step the blind man’s sight of who Jesus is becomes clearer, and his courage to defend him becomes stronger, until we reach the climax with his worship of Jesus as the Son of God. 1. The first conversation is between the man and his neighbors (vv. 8-12). They were arguing about whether he was the blind beggar. He insisted he is the one who as blind. So they ask how his eyes were opened. And he answers, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes” (v. 10). So at this point, he simply calls him “the man.” 2. The second conversation is between the man and the Pharisees (vv. 13-17). They too ask him how he could be seeing if he were blind. He tells them. They are divided by his answer. He can’t be from God; he broke the Sabbath. Something important has happened in this interchange. His heart is being changed. Now Jesus is a “prophet,” one sent by God. 3. The third conversation is between the Pharisees and the man’s parents (vv. 18-23). They question if this is really their son. They answer that he is, but they don’t know how he was healed. They were fearful of the Jews, so they lied (v. 22). This makes the son’s courage all the more amazing. They are on their way. But their son is moving much faster. 4. In the fourth conversation we see the full-blown courage of the beggar standing up to the most religious and educated people of the land! (vv. 24-34). And we see the full-blown blasphemy of the Pharisees. Amazingly he responds to this threat with his most famous statement of all: “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The power of a personal testimony over a bad argument is always greater. And now they become hostile. The blind man was seeing more and more clearly. And their blindness was hardening. 5. This leads to the last conversation between Jesus and the beggar (vv. 35-38). And one thing that makes it so significant is that Jesus initiates it. The man has been threatened and cast out of his lifelong religious community. But Jesus seeks him and finds him (it’s no accident that the next chapter is about Jesus as the Shepherd who gathers his sheep). And that’s the last thing we see or hear of him. That is the point of the story. Jesus does the works of God. Jesus is the glory of God. Jesus is to be worshipped. The man was blind. And then he called Jesus “the man.” And then he called him a prophet. And then he defended him at huge risk. And then fell down and worshipped. This is why Jesus came into the world. He is seeking worshipers. Are you such a believer? You can be. Trust him today!

Seven Miracles - Pt 20

No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. (Proverbs 21:30-31 ESV).

Yesterday we saw the first reason why Jesus healed this blind man with mud he mixed on the Sabbath. Today we see the second reason for the mud. It is to show that God usually uses means in doing his wonderful works in this world. Jesus could have simply spoken and the man’s eyes would have been opened. However, we see most of the wonders of God in the Old Testament were brought about by the use of human means. This is the meaning of our reading today. Solomon reminds us that “the horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” God is decisive in the victory, but he uses means. He doesn’t need the horse, but he uses the horse. You see, there is some truth to “an apple a day makes the doctor stay away.” Thin for a moment about the bigger picture of the truth revealed in Jesus using the common mud to heal the blind man. This means that God does not reject the physical world he has made. He uses the means of food to sustain life. And, he uses a thousand remedies to bring about healing, from sleep to penicillin, from Riboflavin to radiation, from sunshine on the skin to cough syrup for the throat. And lest you think this removes the mystery of God’s wonderful work, consider boring down through layer after layer after layer of physical causes for why antibiotics work against strep. Forty or fifty layers down into the molecular, subatomic activities of the smallest particles, or non-particles, there comes a point where there is no explanation inside this closed material system. The final explanation is always God. And if our hearts are alive and humble and worshipful, we will not stop until we see God at the bottom of everything. It is no small thing, to believe that God uses means to accomplish his purposes. Jesus used mud. Then, Jesus sends him away to wash in the pool of Siloam. The name of the pool meant sent and John bothered to point that out. Perhaps because the reason the pool was called Sent is that the water in the pool was sent there by stream from a distant spring. In pointing this out, Jesus may have been making a comparison between the pool called “Sent” and himself as the one “sent” from the Father as the living water (cf. John 4:10-11). If that’s right, then the water signifies not just cleansing; and, it is not just healing, but life. When you meet Jesus and receive him for who he is, you live, and you see, and you begin to be healed, and will be healed completely before he is done with us at the resurrection.