Exodus 33; John 12
Daily Catechism
QUESTION 55: WHICH IS THE SECOND COMMANDMENT?
Answer: The second commandment is, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thou- sands of them that love me and keep my commandments.”
Scripture: Exodus 20:4-6.
John 12
Ready:
In the previous chapter Jesus demonstrated the grace of God that allows or even orders tragedy and then sustains us. Jesus weeps with those who hurt and yet has a purpose in their pain as he glorifies the Father by resurrecting Lazarus. God works masterfully and sovereignly in our lives for the glory of his name.
Seeing what’s there:
Now in this chapter we see the final public teaching of Jesus and the final stage of his ministry being the arrival at Jerusalem for the week of his passion. There is dinner with the family of Lazarus and many come to know of the miraculous resurrection and many believe. This rush of belief is a serious threat to the Jewish Council and they have a renewed zeal to kill Jesus and now also want Lazarus dead (again) as well. With all the commotion over this miracle there is a great crowd welcoming him at the entry to Jerusalem and the narrator tells us that the disciples did not recognize the significance of this entry until after his resurrection. All thing are clearer when the story has unfolded completely and the Spirit brings remembrance and inspires the revelation! Jesus speaks of his death being needed to bring fruit and to draw is church. Jesus gives and unclear answer and then a clear answer later with an explanation that he speaks precisely what the Father tells him and that he serves the eternal command of God…eternal life by the obedience of faith.
Key Verses:
John 12:1-2, 9, 10-11, 12-13, 17, 24, 25-26, 27-28, 31-32, 34-35, 37-38, 39-40, 44-45, 49-50
Theme:
Jesus comes into the final stage of his ministry and life with a mission to deliver, and to accomplish the eternal command of God…everlasting life to those who take God at his Word by the surrendered obedience of faith.
Thinking about the message:
v1-8. Jesus is honored by the family of Lazarus as the invited guest to dinner at their home. Jesus rebukes Judas for trying to take this occasion to throw up a smoke screen feigning obedience when really he is a scoundrel who has no concern for the poor. I take Jesus’ teaching to say that the poor are with us always and we ought always to be in practice of being of help to them and this special occasion should be no concern when we have a lifestyle of meeting the needs of others. If the occasion is a capstone of the whole lifestyle then that would be different.
v9-11. The omniscient narrator jumps in here and tells us that the resurrection of Lazarus has brought so many people and so many are believing in Jesus that it strikes urgency into the Jewish Council. They perceive the need to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus.
v12-19. So many are coming to see Jesus as the Messiah due to the Lazarus miracle that they gather to welcome him at the gate of Jerusalem and he enters as a king coming to claim his kingdom. In fulfillment of prophecy, we see the meek Jesus not as a King coming to judge but as one coming to die in order to conquer for his people. Many in the crowd tell others about the raising of Lazarus and there is quite a buzz about Jesus in Jerusalem.
v20-26. Jesus seems here to deflect the request to see him because the time has now come for him to die. He is now focused on completion of the mission. He speaks of his death with the analogy of the grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying to sprout into a field of wheat. Indeed, the death of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection as the first born among many brothers (Rom 8:29; 1 Cor 15:20) is the very purchase and accomplishment of our salvation and we are the fruit. He says that those who serve him will follow him. We are united with him in the baptism of death (Rom 6:3-5). We consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God (Rom 6:10-11). So ultimately Jesus’ answer to those Greeks asking to see Jesus is this “If you want to see me, then follow me where I go. Follow me into surrender to the Father and into the obedience of faith. Follow me unto death to this life and life unto God”. Interesting that the glorification of the Son of God requires such suffering and mockery and scandalous treatment. We have a king who accomplishes for us what we cannot accomplish for ourselves (Rom 8:3-4). We have a king who teaches us that there is purpose and meaning in suffering (Rom 5:3-5) and that we are not to fear or run from hardship but we are to trust God (Phil 4:4; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Eph 5:20).
v27-28. Jesus here reveals his agony and in similar fashion to the synoptics account of Gethsemane, Jesus prays to the Father and does not discount his initial troubling but rather he prays against it by laying if before the Father and as he reflects upon his purpose he knows that what he ultimately wants is for his Father to be glorified. This brings him to the conclusion that despite the horror and the shame, there will be glory. The flesh is weak but the spirit is willing. Jesus overcomes the weakness of his humanity and obedience to the will of the Father prevails through prayer and reliance upon his heavenly Father, and ours. Jesus chose the glory of the Father.
v29-34. The voice of God seems like it was possibly indiscernible to the crowd, or most of the crowd, but the narrator has here told us what the Lord said perhaps, as Jesus said, for our sake. We are to know that what Jesus was to face was a glorification more so than a suffering (John 17:1, 5). There was purpose and a goal and a joy ahead. The judgement is Jesus’ obedience unto death. He is the standard by which we are judged and his life condemns those who do not put faith in him. Jesus here evidences that the law of God is not impossible for man to submit to (physically speaking), so that Adam and all after him are duly held accountable for their rebellion (Rom 2:16, 27, 3:19). Yet, Jesus casts down the enemy who’s only power was the law and death by slaying sin in his flesh (Rom 8:3) and stripping its power over his children so that we might see and use the law properly as a guidepost to lead us to Jesus (Gal 3:17-24) and not a ladder to climb to heaven (Rom 3:20). The crowd was separating the title “Son of Man” from “Christ” because they could not understand how the Son of Man could be the Christ if he was going to die. Keep in mind that Jesus has been the Son of God from all eternity (John 1:1-3, 17:5) and that in the fullness of time (at the perfect time) he became the Son of Man by the incarnation (Gal 4:4; Phil 2:5-8).
v35-40. Two possible meanings I see in his words about believing in the light while you have it. One is to understand him to mean that we are to believe before Jesus ascends into heaven, but the more likely is to believe while he is still a protection from wrath and not the source of wrath (Rom 5:9; Rev 19:11-16). Jesus is God’s revelation to the world and our salvation hinges not upon our deeds of any kind but upon our trusting in Jesus, believing what he said and did here on earth during this time when the light walked among us. Jesus deliberately spoke unclearly sometimes because he knew who was to receive the message and who was not to receive it. Some were hardened and only the elect received it (Rom 11:7-8).
v41-43. Sad statement about how believing the truth does not equate to taking God at his Word. There were leaders in the synagogues who believed Jesus but would not follow him or confess him because they were more concerned with their acceptance by men. Faith believes and acts upon it. These men had demon faith (James 2:19; Matt 10:32-33; Rom 2:28-29).
v44-50. Jesus is the light and our knowledge of God himself. He came that we may know God (John 17:13) and be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:18-20). Reference to the eternal command to bring about the obedience of faith (Rom 16:26) and his speaking only what the Father commands makes it clear that he speaks plainly or less clearly according to the will of the Father. In this paragraph he speaks plainly with explanation to himself being the light. His audience now is unspecified because the previous paragraph said that he departed from the group. We shall be judged according to the Word of God. The revelation of God. Jesus himself came to save but the fact remains that his life and his words will judge us in the end. We find salvation through judgement (there is a book out on this premise by James Hamilton Jr.). Exodus through the judgement of Egypt…salvation through the judgement of Christ. This is a repeating theme.
Soli Deo Gloria!
