Welcome to Day 2156 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Gospel of John – 24 – Seeking Before Hiding – Daily Wisdom

The Gospel of John – Part 3 Authentication of the Word – Seeking Before Hiding

Today we continue our series, the Good News according to John the Apostle. Last, we saw the religious leaders in Jerusalem come to a breaking point. They were losing control over the Jews, and their important positions with Rome. In Chapter 11:47-48, “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. ‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.’” We also saw that one of Jesus’s 12 disciples broke down with his greed. After seeing Mary anoint Jesus with $50k of perfume, he was ready to betray his Rabbi, who he had followed for at least three years. Today the tide is turning as we see Jesus entering Jerusalem as King. Our scripture for today is John 12:12-50, starting on page 1671 in the pew Bible. I will read it in sections throughout the message as we have done in other lengthy passages.  12:12–19 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival 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 on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 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 these things had been done to him. Now the crowd, that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead, He continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this 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’s narrative suddenly shifts from the fragrant banquet room in Bethany to a bustling street leading into Jerusalem, where thronging worshipers had come in anticipation of the Passover feast. As with other feasts, worshipers wondered if Jesus would attend and eagerly watched for His arrival (John 7:11; 11:56). Upon His arrival, they lined His path to the city with palm branches and clothes, shouting “Hosanna!” which means, “Save us.” Their shouts included words from a messianic psalm (Ps. 118:26). Jesus had entered the city of Jerusalem many times during His ministry, but this “triumphal entry” to the capital of the Hebrew nation differed in one primary respect. He no longer visited as a worshiper; on this day, He claimed it as King. However, unlike a conquering warrior king, He entered the city on a symbol of peace. He rode on a humble donkey rather than sitting high in the saddle of a prancing white steed or riding in a stately chariot behind a team of horses. John quotes Zechariah 9:9 to stress that Jesus fulfilled a well-known messianic prophecy. “Daughter Zion” is a tender expression for the citizens of Jerusalem. The events of this day wouldn’t make any sense to the disciples until after Jesus ascended to heaven and they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. On the other hand, the Pharisees understood the event’s meaning too well. But unfortunately, their reaction belies their true motive. They prized the approval of men above all else. Above truth, above the Law, above even the welfare of Israel. Because the arrival of the Messiah would shift the people’s loyalty away from them, leaving them powerless, they had no other option but to eliminate Jesus. This next event probably happened the following day.  12:20–22  Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 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. These “Greeks” may have been “God-fearers,” Gentiles interested in converting but, for whatever reason, unable. For example, eunuchs were not eligible. More likely, however, these were proselytes. Full participation in the Passover feast was open to any Gentiles who joined themselves to God’s covenant with Abraham through circumcision and water baptism by the first century. Why they approached Philip and not one of the other disciples is a conjecture. Perhaps they were drawn to his Greek name, which means “lover of horses.” Philip then took them to Andrew (another Greek name, meaning “manliness”), and the pair took the proselytes to see Jesus. 12:23–26 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, 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.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their 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. Somehow, the curiosity of the Gentiles signaled to Jesus that His “hour” had arrived. Throughout His ministry, Jesus had been anticipating the time when He would be “glorified” (2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20), which He defined as suffering death, rising again, and then ascending to heaven (7:39; 12:16, 23; 13:32). The Lord appears to direct His response to the broader audience, while ignoring the proselytes completely. It’s likely that Jesus met with the “Greeks” in private, and that John chose to highlight the significance of their coming to Him rather than the details of their conversation. Jesus had come to the Jews with the gospel, which had accomplished its purpose; it attracted “His own” while repelling nonbelievers. If Jesus’ path to the cross consisted of a series of gates, only one remained. A prophecy was fulfilled when the Gentiles came to see Him and perhaps even believed. It was a prediction quoted by Jesus during the cleansing of the temple in John 2. (Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46): Remember, John included this event toward the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. He drove out the money changers and those to sell animals from the Court of the Gentiles to purge the corruption and open up God’s worship to all nations. This cleansing was an important symbolic act, as we can see in the following: Isaiah 56:6-8 “I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.” Jesus knew that once this final element of the Father’s plan had fallen into place, nothing stood between Him and the cross. His dreadful hour had arrived. In celebration of that moment, Jesus outlined the rest of Christian history in just three sentences: He explained the theological basis of His substitutionary death on behalf of sinners (John 12:24), “Very truly I tell you, 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.” Next, he articulated a primary principle of the kingdom that He would apply personally, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Finally, he called for believers to follow His example through discipleship, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” I was out of wheat stalks, so let me use an ear of corn for an object lesson of Jesus’s teaching. From a single kernel, 1-2 ears per stalk, 700-800 seeds per ear, if all 1500 of those kernels were to be planted by the 3^rd generation, there would be 2,252,200 kernels of corn. The kingdom of God would grow in this manner. 12:27–30 After the cleansing of the temple, Christ proceeded into the temple. “Now my soul 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!” 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. The realization that nothing stood between Jesus and the cross gave a touching glimpse of His humanity. In a particularly transparent moment, we see the Lord overcome by dread; He knew He would face agony on a cosmic scale, far more than the physical pain of crucifixion. Nevertheless, it was for this agony He came to earth, a fact the Father verified in a voice heard from heaven. Some understood words, while others heard only thunder. 12:31–33 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. Jesus reaffirmed His earlier teaching that the proclamation of truth is a form of judgment by which individuals decide their fate through either belief or unbelief (3:18–19; 5:24; 9:39; 12:48). His use of the phrase “lifted up from the earth” is another instance of an intentional double meaning. In the literal sense, the phrase was a familiar idiom for crucifixion, a death He would endure on behalf of all. He calls “all people” to die with Him by proxy (Rom. 6:3–8). In other words, anyone may appropriate His atoning death (which paid the complete penalty of sin) to their account through belief. Those who choose not to believe will not benefit from this gift of grace, thus judging and condemning themselves. Yet, figuratively, the phrase “lifted up from the earth” also describes His rising from the dead, ascending to heaven, and calling “all people” to join Him there. Jesus declared that His substitutionary death—appropriated through belief—is the fatal blow to evil. Evil obviously lingers for a time, but its demise is inevitable. However, the death of evil can be a present reality for the believer, who finds they are no longer enslaved by sin through faith in Christ (Rom. 6:8–9). John 10:10 My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 12:34–36 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah 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. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. The crowd immediately understood the literal portion of Jesus’ assertion that He, the Christ, would be “lifted up from the earth.” However, their challenge reflects a theological problem concerning the Messiah, which persists among Jews today. The Messiah described in the Old Testament is a warrior king who will conquer Israel’s foes, lead them into prosperity, and rule from the throne of David forever. Yet He is also a suffering servant who will die on behalf of His people. How can a dead man vanquish any foe and rule from any throne? To solve the conundrum, many Jews theorized—as many do today—that the Messiah would be two individuals acting in concert. However, the Jews in Jesus’ day hadn’t considered that a single individual might die on behalf of His people and then rise from the grave to become their everlasting King. Unfortunately, the people in Jesus’ audience didn’t pick up on the symbolic aspect of His statement. (They did not understand the 1^st and 2^nd coming of the King.)   After Jesus completed His revelation, He retreated to the safety of seclusion, not to avoid death—He came to earth to die—but to invest His final hours preparing His disciples. 12:37–43  Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened 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.  Yet, at the same time, many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God. The remaining verses in Chapter 12 are a two-part postscript to the end of this section of John’s narrative. The first part (12:36–43) consists of John’s editorial comments regarding the state of belief among the people of Israel. The second part (12:44–50) summarizes Jesus’ teaching throughout His ministry of three-plus years. Excursus: A Tale of Two Hearts When the Bible states that the Lord “hardened” someone’s heart, what exactly does it mean? At first glance, it would appear unjust. How can the Lord justify punishing someone for rejecting Him when God had “hardened” the person’s heart? Perhaps the best example of divine hardening can be seen in the contrast between Moses and Pharaoh. These two men began their lives under similar circumstances. Both grew up in the household of the Egyptian sovereign. Both received an education in the schools of idolatrous priests. /Both enjoyed a standard of living far above the mud-pit existence of slaves. Both became heir to all the privileges of royalty. However, their paths diverged when God intervened in the life of one. Though Moses was guilty of murder, the Lord hid him on the other side of nowhere and devoted forty years to transforming his character.   Pharaoh, on the other hand, continued his privileged existence in the palace of Egypt and eventually became its sovereign. He did not suffer the humiliation of becoming a fugitive; he did not endure the hardscrabble existence of an itinerant shepherd in the wilderness. Instead, he spent forty years living just as he had before. When the proper time arrived for the next stage in God’s redemptive plan, He brought the two men face to face. Moses demanded the release of the Israelites, but Pharaoh refused, claiming the right of sovereignty over them. At that moment, the Lord could have batted an eyelash and reduced Egypt to a piece of lint on the history page. Instead, He responded with a series of afflictions, which gradually increased in severity. His stated purpose in Exodus 9:16, “But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” Pharaoh stubbornly dedicated himself to evil in direct opposition to God’s redemptive plan. This was Pharaoh’s personal choice. He chose evil; God did not choose it for him. However, the Lord “hardened” him; God solidified his resolve to pursue the evil deeply embedded in his heart. And the Lord was completely righteous in doing so. He does not owe grace to anyone. Therefore, He was no less just to allow Pharaoh to remain in his chosen evil and suffer its consequences. Moreover, the Lord turned Pharaoh’s evil into an opportunity to assert His sovereign claim over the Israelites and demonstrate His power to triumph over evil. In Romans, Paul recounts the divergent paths taken by Moses and Pharaoh to vindicate the righteous character of God (Rom. 9:14–18). Their story does this in two ways. First, it demonstrates God’s grace; He intervened in the life of both men, giving both ample opportunities to humble themselves and accept His right of sovereignty. Second, it demonstrates God’s justice; He responded to each man according to his choice. By the end of Jesus’ ministry, He successfully divided believers from nonbelievers, willing hearts from rebellious hearts, and He confirmed each individual in their choice. He received willing hearts with grace while “hardening” others (John 12:37–43). And by hardening, Scripture declares He solidified the resolve of each rebellious person to pursue the evil deeply embedded in their heart. John quoted two passages from Isaiah to explain the unbelieving response of Israel’s religious leaders. Both support his explanation that the nonbelievers were “blinded” and “hardened” by God and, therefore, could not believe. While this sounds patently unfair—How can someone be prevented from believing and justly punished for unbelief?—one must understand the nature of divine “hardening.” In the case of Jesus, the truth became how hearts were either softened to the point of surrender, or hardened in their chosen state of rebellion. John qualified his indictment of the Jewish leaders by noting that some believed secretly and remained silent for fear of losing...