Three Keys to Believe
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Introduction
Last Week
Jesus got word that His friend Lazarus was sick.
Jesus stayed around the Jordan for two extra days before heading out to see Mary and Martha
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, after being buried for four days!
Now our story picks up!
John 11:45-57
45 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? 48 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.”
49 One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God. 53 So from that day on they plotted to kill him. 54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.
55 Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. 56 They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple: “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival, will he?” 57 The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.
John 11:
Let’s Pray
John 11:45-46
45 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
Key #1
Key #1 Many Believed
Two Types of People
Those who believe in Jesus
Those who don’t believe in Jesus
Which one are you?
Those that follow Jesus follow His commandments - and if you attend Wednesday nights you know we spent weeks looking at the 50 commandments of Jesus!
Repent, follow me, rejoice, let your light shine, honor God's law.
Be reconciled, no adultery, keep your word, go the second mile, love your enemies, be perfect.
Practice secret disciplines, lay up treasures in heaven, seek the Kingdom of God, judge not, Don't throw pearls to pigs.
Ask, seek, knock, do unto others, choose the narrow way, beware of false prophets.
Pray for laborers, be shrewd as serpents, fear God, listen to God.
Take my yoke, honor your parents, beware false teaching, deny yourself.
Do not despise children, go to those who offend you, forgive offenders.
Beware of covetousness, honor marriage.
Lead by being a servant, make church a house of prayer, pray in faith.
Bring in the poor, render unto Caesar.
Love the Lord, love your neighbor.
Await my return, Be born again,
Celebrate the Lord's supper, keep my commandments.
Watch and pray, feed my sheep.
Make disciples, receive God's power, teach disciples to obey, Demonstrater God’s Power
http://swapmeetdave.com/Bible/Commands/index.htm
Followers of Jesus follow His commands - some of us need to read the commands of Jesus again and follow them.
Some of us are not followers of Jesus - like the Jews who ran off to the Pharisees to tell them what He had done.
John 11:47-48
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? 48 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.”
Key #2
Key #2
Key #1 Many Believed
Key #2 - Even the Sanhedrin believed in the miracles
This is the only time the Sanhedrin is mentioned in John.
The Sanhedrin was made of two groups numbering 71 people -
The Sadducees
They were the priests, very political, wealthy, and aristocratic negotiating with the Romans.
Jewish historian Josephus said this in The Wars of the Jews Chapter 2:8, 14 - “The behavior of the Sadducees to one another is rather rude, and their intercourse wit the equals is rough as with strangers.”
We are about to see this when the High Priest speaks.
The 2nd Group are the Pharisees
They were the scribes, the followers of the law, they followed the law to the letter
And the High Priest - Caiaphas
Caiaphas - was the High Priest for 18 years - taking over the High Priest role from his father-in-law Annas
Verse 47 - This man is doing many signs.
They did not dispute the signs.
They did not dispute the healing of the blind man or the raising of the dead
They recognized that Jesus was performing miracles
Verse 48 - If we let him continue we might lose our place and our nation.
So let’s get this straight -
Jesus turns water to wine.
Jesus heals a blind man.
Jesus brings Lazarus back from the dead
They are worried that people might follow Him, that the Romans will then come in to squash the Jews that are letting this guy do these miracles - they will lose their place and their nation.
That’s quite an indictment on Jesus
We recognize that you are doing some pretty amazing miracles, but we can’t have people following you or we might not get to keep our wealth, and our position, and our temple, and our nation.
For non-believers these things are important right
Following Jesus means you may get made fun of
Following Jesus means following His 50 commandments - some of which are pretty tough
Following Jesus means that my family may disown me
Following Jesus means that I might lose my desires and dreams
Following Jesus means that I might lose my life
If you think the cost of following Jesus may be too high
Then you are no different today than the Pharisees and Sadducees
Jesus could not be allowed to continue His ministry - they may lose all the things that make them “them”
Let’s look at the exchange with the High Priest and his response
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? 48 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.”
49 One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God.
49 One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God.
The High Priest was the spokesman for God
John, the author, recognized a double meaning in Caiaphas’ words.
- “It’s to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.”
The whole nation would perish in AD 70 - 40 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus
Caiaphas wanted Jesus to die to save the nation - but Jesus died to save our souls.
Not just ours but the entirety of of the scattered children of God.
Caiaphas - while the High Priest, was also the spokesman of God - even though the words he said, were condemning Jesus, they were also the words that would lead to Jesus saving us.
John saw this in the prophesy of the High priest.
John 11:53
53 So from that day on they plotted to kill him.
DA Carson said the following in his commentary on John
DA Carson
"Jesus is not to be arrested in order to be tried; He is to be tried because He has already been found guilty." - D.A. Carson The Gospel According To John
The Sanhedrin had spoken - they were going to kill Jesus
Death was the verdict, without a trial
That’s not the type of judge I want
My verdict is death, you may now present your case.
Now imagine if you will - that you have 70 people plus the High Priest - and the plotting has begun.
How long do you think it took for the church grapevine to begin working - that they were going to kill Jesus?
Remember Nicodemus the member of the Sanhedrin that secretly went to Jesus at night and during that discussion with Jesus we get .
It’s possible that Nicodemus was there that night - as a ruler of the Jews
Nicodemus is mentioned in , we are now in - just 8 chapters later and the Sanhedrin, which Nicodemus is part of now is plotting to kill Jesus and Nicodemus will be at the tomb of Jesus in
My point is that there may have been at least one Jesus sympathizer out of the 70.
The grapevine woks both ways
So look what happens.
John 11:54
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.
The word was out - they were plotting to kill Jesus
No longer just your random threats of stoning like we have looked at the last couple of weeks.
Now they are actually plotting the death of Jesus
Two Points on the Plotting of Jesus Death
Plotting Jesus’ Death
Jesus was not going to die any sooner than the will of God.
Jesus was not going to die just because they wanted Him dead.
________
1. Jesus was not going to die any sooner than the will of God.
Jesus has often talked about His hour had not yet come
Jesus was not going to die any sooner than the will of God.
Even at the first miracle at the wedding in Cana Jesus said to His mother, my hour has not yet come.
Jesus was not going to die any sooner than in the will of God.
2. Jesus was not going to die just because they wanted Him dead.
Jesus was not going to die just because they wanted Him dead.
Just because they were plotting to kill Jesus didn’t mean that it was going to happen, not yet.
They had tried to stone Him before and Jesus eluded them, and slipped away
Just because they wanted Him dead, didn’t mean that God was going to let that happen, not yet anyway.
John 11:55-57
55 Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. 56 They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple: “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival, will he?” 57 The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.
This Passover was different than all the Passovers since the time of Moses
The Messiah had come
Jesus was required to be in Jerusalem
The common folk Jews were headed into Jerusalem early to begin to purify themselves
The church grapevine was alive and well
“What do you think, will Jesus come to the festival?”
“What do you think, I heard that the Pharisees want Him dead!”
“Did you hear what Caiaphas said, “it’s better for one to die than the whole nation!”
“Did you hear we are to report Jesus if we see Him?”
Just like today - the grapevine was alive and well.
There was an anticipation - what is going to happen.
You have Jesus
A rabbi - going through Judea and calling out the Pharisees
A rabbi - that hangs out with drunkards and sinners
A rabbi - that hangs out with Samaritan women at the well
A rabbi - that claims to be the Son of Man
You have Jesus
Versus - the Sanhedrin
A High Priest who has held his position for 18 years -
During the Roman Rule - the average length of tenure for the High Priest was just 3 years
Caiaphas had ruled 6 times longer than the average High Priest
For some of us we can’t even imagine what it would be like to have the same pastor for 18 years!
Pastor Frank Lescallette & Pastor Charles Ivey had the longest tenure at Hillside with 8 years - can you imagine if either one of them stayed and preached for another decade?
Our average tenure of a Pastor at Hillside over the last 65 years is only 4.5 years.
If Pastor Frank preached for another decade can you imagine how many eyes would be wide eyed like Ruth during baptism since he would really hold you down when he baptized?
Imagine a pastor staying for an additional 14 years!
18 years Caiaphas was the head of the entire Jewish religion
Who is going to go up against him?
What about the Sadducees
Those rich, aristocrat priests wheeling and dealing with the Romans
What about the Pharisees
All those rule followers, and law followers better than everyone else
Jesus versus the entire Jewish religion
What do you think?
Will Jesus show up for the Passover?
Will He really go up against the High Priest and his family, his followers, his tattle tellers?
Key #3
Key #1 Many Believed
Key #2 - Even the Sanhedrin believed in the miracles
Key #3 - What do you believe
This is the greatest question you need to ask yourself
Do you believe in just the miracles of Jesus, like the Sanhedrin?
Changing water to wine
Healing the blind
Raising the dead
Do you believe in Jesus?
That is a huge difference!
One is a belief that something happened
The other is a belief that the person that made those things happen is also the Messiah, the Savior
Conclusion
We know that Jesus is going to show up for the Passover
Will you stand for what’s right?
Will you stand against the ugliness of this world?
Will you follow the 50 commands of Jesus?
Or will you bow down to the Westernized culture?
Following the almighty dollar
Being a slave to debt, drugs,
He is going to the cross to pay for our sins
Everyone of us deserves to be on that cross for our own sins and yet Jesus took our place
He paid the debt that none of us could pay
He rose from the dead beating death - and is currently sitting at the right hand of God waiting for His time to return
The questions is - will you believe in His works, or will you believe in Him
We need to get the answer right, salvation and eternal life depends on it.
Let’s Pray