The Gospel of John 11:28-57
John 11:28-57 · Vern Peterman · Jun 23, 2013
Gospel of John (2013), No. 24
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492635521167

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

John 11, 28 through 57. This is the other part of the account with Lazarus, who was initially sick and then died. Let's first take a look at some of the slides here, because I think there's some material here that would be good as a backdrop for us. This is Jerusalem, Bethany, which is the place that Mary and Martha and Lazarus live just a couple miles east of Jerusalem. And so that's shown there. There's also a couple other things shown. One that shows Ephraim, which is mentioned later on in and the passage we're looking at, the remark that I would make is we don't know that that's the ephraim that it's talking about. So as we find in many situations, just like here in the United States, there are more than a half dozen Denver's in the United States, but a lot of times multiple names of places, and the same was true there.

There is Bethany that is near Jerusalem. There is also a Bethany to the east of the Jordan River. OK? Bethany beyond the Jordan, mentioned in the Gospel of John chapter 1. So just some interesting insights there just from the uncertainty about which one are we talking about.

In this case, the account with Martha and Mary and Lazarus definitely did take place in this Bethany just to the east of Jerusalem. So that's known. Here is the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Bethany is. mentioned not only here, but in Luke chapter 10. It is the place of the resurrection of Lazarus, as we'll see later in this chapter. And the feet of Jesus were washed there.

That's in the next chapter that we get to. So we have those identifications. Here's sort of an aerial view looking east. You have Jerusalem and the Old City is viewed from here. Here is the Temple Mount, which currently has the Dome of the Rock. and the Mosque of Omar to the right of that. And then here's the Mount of Olives. That's the place where Jesus ascended from the disciples.

And by the way, that's the place where he will come back. Zechariah chapter 14. That's the place where he will come back in his second coming. And the tradition has it that when the Messiah comes back based on that prophecy, that he will resurrect all the bodies that are there. So that's why the Jews during the New Testament era would all want to be buried on the Mount of Olives, because they wanted front row seats when the Messiah resurrects all the bodies, right? So anyway, that's that.

Here is the Dead Sea off in the distance. You can see just from the aerial view, and though it's quite a bit lower, it's still visible elevation-wise. Here's Bethphage, which is another nearby village, and then Bethany right next to each other. So from Bethany to Jerusalem was a little less than two miles, so it was a good place to stay for making the trip into Jerusalem. right nearby. Now here's the old road to Bethany and that's likely the very one that was traveled by Jesus and his disciples as they came in. This you have a few pages back on your page three or four, a few pages back and what this shows is the Passover season is just about to begin.

And it's mentioned in John 11.55, and we'll see it again in 12.1. And this is the last Passover of Jesus' ministry, the Passover that would be the Last Supper. And with Jesus' death the following day, likely mounting evidence says April 3rd, 33 AD. Then you have also on that same page, you got this kind of annual calendar, and what we have here is the Feast of Tabernacles is in John chapter 7, John chapter 10 is Hanukkah that Craig covered for us, and then chapter 12 is when we get into the actual time of the Passover.

So, then I want to walk through, this is kind of the week up to and including the time when Christ is crucified. And this is the traditional chronology that I'm going to go through. There are people that propose things like a Thursday crucifixion and a Wednesday crucifixion. Having looked at it, I'm convinced that the traditional chronology, and I'm not just all about tradition, but that that is the correct one. So at any rate, that's what I'll present here. Friday before Jesus was crucified, so a week before his crucifixion, that's when he met Zacchaeus in Jericho.

And then Saturday, and that's what we'll read about today, Lazarus in Bethany. And then Sunday is what's called the triumphal entry. I'm not so sure it was all that triumphant. But the triumphal entry, people somehow cough and sputter if I call it Donkey Sunday. So anyway, that's that date. And then Monday, he drove out the money changers. And then the next one, Tuesday, is the Olivet Discourse.

This is where he tells them about the future. And it talks about the Jews on into the tribulation period just before Christ's second coming. So that's what he spoke to them about. So he was on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem when he gave them what's known as Matthew 24 and Matthew 25, the content of those two chapters. Wednesday, he went to the temple in Jerusalem. He went there.

There's no other significant event aside from going there. Thursday was the time of the Last Supper. And John, uniquely, as we'll find out, records a lot more of what Jesus said at the Last Supper than the other gospel students. So what's there is unique, and it's also some very precious stuff. This is where Jesus said, for example, I am the way, the truth, and the life. This is where he said, I am the vine, you are the branches.

Yes? Was the Last Supper also Passover? Yes. Yes, it was. It was celebrating a Passover. Yeah, what happens, of course, they count their days in Judaism by sundown. That would have started the Passover, but the actual Passover day would have continued into Friday up until sundown. But yeah, the Last Supper was a Passover. Yes. Yeah.

They crucified him on a Passover, but because the next day was Sabbath, that's when they had to make sure that people, rather than the usual where they took days to die, they had to get him and the others off of the crosses and dead before the end of the day so that the bodies could be off the crosses before sundown. Then the crucifixion and burial on Friday. And then Saturday would have been in the grave. This is the time when the Jews arranged to have Roman soldiers come and guard the tomb on that day. And then Sunday, the resurrection.

Now, this is the passage here, John 11, 43 through 44. And when he said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. It is not known with certainty but is actually, I would say, probable based on the evidence that this is actually Lazarus' tomb, the tomb that he was called out of. It is there by tradition. Something like that is a little bit difficult to make absolute certain of, but it seems likely to be the case.

Here is the inside of that tomb. Yeah. When he died the second time, was he buried there or was he buried someplace else? We have no idea. Yeah, we have no idea. It may have been, but yeah, can you imagine Lazarus, oh no, I'm dying again, you know? But anyway, yeah, we have no idea because it doesn't really say. This would be a kind of an artist's depiction of Lazarus, you know, coming out of the tomb there.

Resurrections in the New Testament that return people back to this life. Jesus returned a 12-year-old girl to this life. It's recorded in Mark chapter 5. Jesus raised the son of the widow from Nain to this life. That's Luke chapter 7. And then Peter and Paul each had a resurrection to this life, Tabitha, in Acts chapter 9. And Paul returning Eutychus to this life, Acts chapter 20. So, interesting, that was something that happened several different times as recorded in the New Testament.

And this is actually then not the first resurrection to this life in Jesus' ministry. And then when you include the apostles, it wasn't the last either. So there was some precedent for it and a continuing pattern. Christ was not raised back to this life, but to a new kind of life. And we are identified with him not in a resurrection to this life, but identified with him in a resurrection to a new kind of life.

This is a dramatic depiction of Martha meeting Jesus. And here we talk about probabilities. This is almost certainly the ossuary box, the bone box, of the Caiaphas of the New Testament. was discovered about 20 years ago, something of that sort. It has written on it the name of Caiaphas. That's not shown. It's ornately carved, which was more typical of someone who was moneyed and of status. The bones that were found inside were of a Jewish man of the right age.

So everything seems to fit that this is actually the ossuary box of the Caiaphas. The pattern in those days was to take someone, as they did with Jesus, wrap them up, put them in a tomb, seal the tomb, and wait a year, go back in a year later, take the bones that remained, and put them in a box for long-term storage. So that was the pattern. It was called an ostuary box, and that would be the long-term storage place for the bones.

Here's the one for Caiaphas, and then the one on the right is the one, and again this is a matter of probabilities, but very likely, Jesus' brother James. The one on the right. Let's see. Then, the ossuary box of Miriam, daughter of Yeshua, son of Caiaphas, has also been found. That was two years ago. was found in the Elaw Valley. That's the valley where David fought Goliath.

So very interesting to see these little confirmations historically of the reality of the personalities. These are not just people whose names were made up for a story, but actually real people. These are steps to Caiaphas house which may be genuine. I would say it has less certainty less certainty than some of the other things I've shown you here. And by the way, that's only about 200 feet away from the place where it's fairly certain that Jesus and the disciples had the Last Supper.

OK, let's take a look now at the handout. What we'd seen in the passage from last week, John 11, 1-27, Jesus had been told in advance by this messenger that Lazarus was sick. So at the news, Jesus says, oh, I better hurry up and get there, right? No, what does he do? He says, okay, thanks for telling me, I'm going to stay here, right? And Lazarus is dead, and I'm glad. is what Jesus says. I'm glad he tells the disciples for your sake so that you might believe. Can you imagine that? Lazarus is dead and I'm glad. What a way to start any kind of address but that's what he did.

So here as they proceed towards Bethany knowing at this point in time that Lazarus is in fact dead So Jesus approaches Bethany, Martha comes out to see him, and near the end of their conversation they had this interaction. This is at the end of last week's passage.

John 11, 25-27, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? So she, that is Martha, said to him, Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. We pointed out last week that I have believed is perfect tense, a completed past action with ongoing results into the future, implying permanence. I believed it's still having an impact. I believe in that belief is permanent. An amazing statement on her part, that what you are the Christ, the Messiah, you are the One, the Son of God, Deity. and even he who comes into the world, coming now for the first time, and who will come again.

So at this point, we carry on John 11, 28-32, when she said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him. I'm not quite sure what the plan was, why he stayed there, whether there's part of the conversation we're not privy to, like Martha may have said something like, stay here. I'll go get Mary. Or maybe Jesus decided, no, I want to have a little bit of a private conversation instead of heading in there. And so in that case, I'll just wait here.

So at any rate, she would have less trouble finding him if Martha had given any indication of where she had seen him. So then verse 31, Then the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

We see more of the same kind of attitude. And in fact, we're not done seeing that. If he had just been here in time, he wouldn't have died. But now that he's dead, it's just too late. I wish it had come sooner. Of course, Jesus deliberately didn't come sooner. Now, one thing you will notice, was Martha aware that Jesus could do miracles? Yes, she was. But did she call him the miracle worker? No. She called him the teacher. Now, there's something significant here, and it's not readily apparent. It's one of the situations where, if we understand the culture, this is of great significance.

The rabbis refused to teach women. But what did these women call Jesus? The teacher. So Jesus did something that was entirely contrary entirely contrary to the pattern for a rabbi. He actually taught women. Would actually teach women, the other rabbis refused. No, I'm not having any women for disciples. But Jesus did. Which is probably one of the things that offended the other rabbis terribly.

What are you doing teaching women? So that's extraordinary that here is the teacher in its definite article, in the Greek and in the English, the teacher, the one who teaches us. I think that because earlier in this passage twice it said that Jesus loved Lazarus and Martha and Mary. One of the ways that they knew that Jesus loved them is that Jesus would teach the women too. Including these women. Including these women. Now, we're going to see that if only you had been there attitude come up again here. Let's take a look at John 11, 33-37.

Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping. He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, See how he loved him.

But some of them said, could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man also from dying? Same attitude, right? If you had been here, you could have stopped this. You could have prevented this. You could have done something while there was something to be done. Right? I have a question.

Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and troubled and he wept. Does Jesus have a spiritual problem? Does this indicate a spiritual problem on Jesus' part? Shouldn't he be, I mean here he is, he's deity, shouldn't he just be unmoved and in fact he knows he's going to resurrect Lazarus, why get upset?

Ah, yes, yeah. He was a human being and this is indicative of that. As a matter of fact, let's turn it the other way. Suppose he was completely unmoved and emotionless about this whole thing. That would be because he was too aware of the sadness and sorrow that sin had brought into the world. Yeah, think about it. He knows he's going to resurrect him and people are going to go, wow, in minutes. Right? Real quickly, this whole thing is going to get turned around. And yet, in view of what's there in front of him, he's troubled. He's weeping. And it's because he is not just deity, he's also fully man. We say fully God and fully man. So he is touched.

And the other thing that this also tells us is that The things that we're going through, is Christ just emotionless and stoic about? When we're going through stuff, does He just say, well, you know, I don't care. Or, you know, I can't be bothered. Or, you know, I don't feel those things. So the reverse situation is when we go through things, Christ is not unfeeling and uncaring about what we're going through.

This is also an example of a total lack of arrogance and dishumility. I mean, just think, he's going to be able to walk out there and in God's will be able to raise this man to life. I mean, there's no personal arrogance, pride, or anything there. It's just the opposite. It's total humility. I think these words, there's not a lot of verbiage put to it, but it's very important insight. Christ is not just sitting up there unfeeling about this. He's not just, you guys, you don't know how this is going to get good real fast here. Don't worry about that. He's not chuckling away. He is in sync with that. And there's also something else.

Who was it that created the whole universe? It was through the Son of God that everything was spoken into existence, right? Colossians 1, by him and through him all things were created. So now here the Creator is seeing this stain of sin and its impact. So you've got this whole village and people coming from surrounding areas weeping over death having entered this creation. And he's seeing it up close, not only as God, but as man.

The doubters weren't helping the situation, they were spreading negativism right here. Yeah, look at it. Mary, Martha, and now the other doubters. Everybody was saying, you know, if only you'd come, but there was no sense of, you know, there was no anticipation of what he was about to do. Okay, let's take a look at the top of page two there. Let's look at the passage, John 11, 38-44.

So Jesus, being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Frequently what they would do is they would take, if there was a cave, they would take the cave and widen it out and put in places for it to be used with little landings and stairways and things like that, so they would carve it out some more. So the stone was lying against it. What was the reason for the stones in those days? Why would they roll up a stone against an opening like this?

Probably keep people and animals. Yeah, keep people and especially scavenging animals that would go and tear the body up and maybe even move it and that sort of thing. And while it was possible for a person to get in there, it was less likely and it wasn't something you'd do just casually. It was going to be a project.

So you got that. So Jesus says in verse 39, removed the stone. So Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he's been dead for four days. Don't you realize this is going to stink? So Martha has some resistance to what Jesus is about to do. She's apparently not anticipating what he's about to do. Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?

Let's ask about what kind of believing this is. If you believe, didn't she say that she already believed in the perfect tense? What did she believe? That he was the Christ, that he was the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world, both in his first and second coming. So she already believed those things, and therefore the basis for that being that she believed unto salvation, right? She was saved by faith. Does she need to believe here again in order to be saved or to keep her salvation? No. No. What's this believing about? Since she already believed before and it was perfect tense, permanent, ongoing results. What's this belief about? It's not a first class, conventional sentence. Since she believed.

Yeah. In other words, well, this one here, when you look at that, If you believe, and you probably will, right? You will see the glory of God. Right? Yes. So the first one, perfect tense, would be a belief of two justifications. And the second one, present tense, would be a belief in sanctification. Yes.

This is a growth belief. This is a growth belief. So let's take a lesson for ourselves as believers. When I say believers, I mean believers in the terms of we are saved. We believe so as to be saved. There is an ongoing belief that has to do with our spiritual growth and sanctification.

That's what he's talking about here. So they remove the stone and then Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but because of the people standing around I said it so that they may believe that you sent me." When he said these things, he didn't say Amen. What's the matter? Oh, anyway.

When he said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! Now, what does that tell you that he cried out with a loud voice? Now remember, the stone's been rolled away. He yells, Lazarus, come forth. Why? If you didn't say Lazarus, there would have been a massive eruption all over the time period. Okay. So, yeah, here's Lazarus specifically. This tomb may actually, in fact, hold other bodies. Right? But Lazarus is the one I'm calling out here. Now, let me ask you this question. Is Lazarus hearing this command? Yes? No? What do you think? We'd have to hear him respond.

Very interesting, to kind of ponder that. I'm not sure we have a definite answer, but here's Lazarus who, I mean, he's been dead four days, right? What was Martha expecting as a stench? And yet, there doesn't seem to be like any massive delay when Lazarus comes out. So very interesting. Let's ask another question.

When Jesus was resurrected, the stone was rolled away. Was it so Jesus could get out? No. What was it rolled away for? So people could see that He had been resurrected. So that's why the stone was rolled away. Is that what happened here? Pardon? Partially. Okay. Was the stone rolled away so that people could see? Or was it rolled away so that Lazarus could get out? He could get out. Why?

Because he was resurrected not to a new life, a new creation life, but to this life. So the stone had to be rolled away because he had this kind of a body and not the one like you and I are going to have yet. It makes me kind of wonder if a statement about Jesus' death doesn't have to do with the fact that Jesus knows that if he raises Lazarus, he's going to have to die again.

So in other words, he's going to have to go through that same process again. Yeah. He's still bringing him back to this life. Right, but he's going to have to die again. So that process he's got to go through again and he's going to have to not do it twice. Isn't it interesting? Here's Lazarus.

He's going to get resurrected back to this life. He's going to die again and then get resurrected again back to a new life. What an amazing thing. What's that? I always thought he wept in sympathy for Martha and Mary. Oh, certainly. Yes. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I believe that's correct. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think he spoke Lazarus coming to life for the witnesses there to make it really obvious what he was doing? Because he prayed out loud. Yeah, he prayed out loud. Now, was it evident from his prayer what was going to happen? Was it evident from his prayer what was going to happen? No, but it showed that he was dependent on the Father's will.

Okay. Now, let's ask something else. How many people were included in Jesus' desire that people believe with regards to this resurrection of Lazarus? Let's ask this. Had Jesus told the disciples that he wanted them to believe? Yes, that was last week's passage. He had told the disciples, as a matter of fact, I'm glad Lazarus is dead and I'm glad.

Why? Because this is an opportunity for you to believe. And then, now, with the people that are gathered there, it's an opportunity for them to believe, including Martha, who specifically was not anticipating this. But there was an opportunity for the people there to believe, including the disciples. They had already told them, this is why we're waiting, because I want you guys to believe. So this was all about believing, which by the way, isn't that the purpose that John wrote for? These are written that you might believe. Then, Lazarus did what? He said, Is that what happened? What happened? Lazarus came forth and then what did Jesus say?

Unbind him. How many pounds of stuff was Jesus wrapped with? About a hundred pounds of stuff. And it was cloth, and then they would have aloe, and then they would put a bunch of myrrh all over as well. And so by the time you have all the cloth and the aloe and the spices, including myrrh, you had about a hundred pounds. So here's Lazarus, you know, and he's got, you know, he's been dead for four days, right? So he's, you know, okay, now I'm resurrected, and I've got about a hundred pounds of stuff wrapped all over me. And so that's why Jesus says, unbind him, he's going to have a tough time getting out of this stuff. Wow. Okay. Page three. So John 11. 45 and 46, top of page 3.

Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he had done believed in him. So the disciples, the ones, you know, Mary, Martha, and many of the other Jews that were there believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. Why would they do that? Yeah, it's interesting I mean here's the first so the Pharisees when they hear this news thing Oh, wow, this Jesus is just a wonderful guy. Is that what they how they respond?

Isn't it amazing here Jesus resurrects a man that they know has been dead for four days and Instead of saying, you know This Jesus is one astounding fellow. I better reconsider this. Instead the response is, now we really got to kill him. Right? This is all the more reason to take him out. This is highly disruptive to our political structure here and the power that we have. And he's teaching women. I mean, it's just, he's disgusting. So, now we turn a corner.

John 11, 47-53, therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council. The chief priests, by the way, were the Sadducees. And they actually had one chief priest at a time, but they took turns among the Sadducees, because they were the minority. And then the Pharisees were greater in number, but were never the chief priests.

So, and they were saying, what are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. This thing is getting away. If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. This is highly upsetting. So these guys are starting to lose it. They're starting to panic, frankly. Well, so, calm-headed Caiaphas.

Yes? That's correct. That's correct. The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection. So after this event, obviously this was a real shocker to most of them. Yeah, this is real disturbing. Yes. But what's interesting, it doesn't cause them to believe in Jesus as the Christ and in resurrection. That doesn't work. Or they did understand that and they decided not to act on it.

Yeah, we've got a political situation and that's really the priority here. And what Jesus did was very interesting. I can't quite explain it, but I'm still going to be a Sadducee and Jesus is going to die. That's just the way it's going to be. So here's Caiaphas. That's the one who's ossuary and possibly the steps to his house are shown there. So here's Caiaphas.

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, so they say chief priest, it's not because they had multiple chief priests at a time, but they took turns, and the turns were taken among the Sadducees. So here's Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people and that the whole nation not perish. Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being a high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation. And not for the nation only, but in order that he might also gather together in one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on, they planned together to kill him. And their plan will succeed in a matter of days.

The Jewish leaders walked a tightrope between maintaining control of the political tools available to them and losing control to the Romans. See, what they had to do was to keep control even though their ability to do that was limited. They had to keep control because if they didn't, the Romans were right there to just pull it all apart and say, hey, we're just taking charge here. So they walk this tight rope and they, boy, we've got to keep control here or we're just going to completely lose it.

The Romans will come. Because after all, they've got the Fortress Antonia right there overlooking the temple courtyard and the temple itself. And the soldiers are right there and there's a stairway between that temple courtyard and the Fortress Antonia where the Roman soldiers are on towers overlooking the whole thing. And they just run right in at the centurion's command and just Alright, you guys are done. And so that's what they're afraid of here.

And so Caiaphas says, no, no, no. We're not going to panic about this. Jesus will die for the sake of the nation. So that we'll keep our control, is what he's thinking. So, now, At this council, the Sanhedrin took Caiaphas' guidance and made a plan to kill Jesus. So John 11, 54.

Therefore, Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim. And as we mentioned, we're not quite sure which one that is. And there he stayed with the disciples. So in the bigger context of the Gospels, We take this to mean that Jesus didn't walk freely or openly among the Jews.

We know from the events that we saw before that Jesus actually did go there in Jerusalem, even on Monday, drove out the money changers. But he had to do so very carefully. He had to get out there in public, in public kinds of places, or away, so they wouldn't be caught.

They had to go there during typically daylight times, where there wouldn't be such an issue, because how were they planning to capture Jesus? What time? Of day or night? At night time, right? And they were planning on getting him away from the crowds. at a moment when he was away from the crowds and so Jesus could go in among them but he had to pick his times and his situations very carefully until his time, his hour had come which we're going to see in chapter 12 and 13 it says his time and his hour had come so But we have here at the last part of page 3, Jesus' hour and time was coming quickly, but he would die at the right time. Romans 5, 6 says he died at the right time. So Jesus was actually picking that time. It's not that he was avoiding being killed, but he was picking the right time. So John 11, 55 and 57, the top of page four. Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves.

So they were seeking for Jesus and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, what do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all? Do you think he'll stay away? Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he was to report it so that they might seize him.

Essentially, we would call that a warrant for Jesus' arrest. A warrant for Jesus' arrest. But because of the crowds, it was something they had to pick the situation carefully. And Jesus selected times and circumstances where it was difficult for them to nab Him until the right time. Until the right time. All right, something that I'll point out to you.

We have an appendix here, pages 5, 6, and 7. These are the Apostle John's unique connections to the Sanhedrin. And we quote not just from the Gospel of John, but also from some of the other Gospels, including Matthew, and make reference there also to Mark. John had special knowledge and connections inside this Jewish ruling group, the Sanhedrin. He, as opposed to the other Gospels, talks about Nicodemus several times. The other Gospels don't mention Nicodemus at all. This conversation where Caiaphas says some things is something that John records.

And when Peter wants to get into the high priest's courtyard, who gets him in? John. Peter, they look at Peter and they say, we don't know you, you're not getting past the guard gate here. Then John comes up and says, Peter's okay. Okay. But we recognize John. Why? Because John had connections.

So John, from the beginning of the Gospel of John, and even into some of the other Gospels, on into the last part of the Gospel of John, he reveals that he's got special connections with the Sanhedrin. And he's actually face recognizable among the staff and people of the Sanhedrin. And he reports things about what goes on with the Sanhedrin that the other authors of the Gospels do not. So anyway, I'll leave that to you to peruse and check out for yourself. But it's fascinating that John's got these connections. to the Sanhedrin that the other authors don't seem to have.

Yes? At the time of the Passover, had Judas been contacted yet? They were looking to seize him. If anyone saw him, they might seize him. Had they contacted him? And we're going to see that shortly because what happens is the arrangement is made such that he gets up basically in the middle of the Passover celebration, the Last Supper. He gets up in the middle of the Last Supper to go out and do his deed. The arrangement had already been made at that point in time. So he gets up right in the middle of that time, and I think the reason that they had him particularly set up is twofold.

One is he would be able to say, hey, you know, we've got a good arrangement here for for you guys to come and get him when there's not a lot of crowds, get him away from the crowds. And furthermore, they brought hundreds of people to come arrest him, which of course they didn't need.

But a lot of them would not necessarily recognize, you know, this is specifically Jesus, but Judas would. And so Judas would point him out with a kiss. This is the one, yes. And I think it's kind of interesting that Judas would have seen that Jesus now was not going to be the person that he wanted him to be. Because he's moving away, he's in this quiet area now. He's obviously not going to become the person that Judas wants him to be. Yeah, and let's think about this. What has been Judas' advantage to him personally so far? Pardon?

Yeah, one is the money, because he was the treasurer, okay? So, hey, you got the hand and the till, that's one thing, the money situation, okay? Now, he could make some money by being the betrayer, which in fact he did, right? For 30 pieces of silver, he betrayed Christ. So he could make some money, and it looked like the money-making opportunity of this, being Jesus' disciple, was coming to an end. So, I need to continue to make money, is Judah's thought. And how do I do that? Oh, I'll sell out. And at least that will be my last fling.

He was saying that Jesus' death was going to be a substitutionary atonement for the sins of Israel. Do you think he was making the connection with Old Testament Scripture? Oh no, I think he had no idea what he was saying. He was making an expedient political statement.

Guys, this is how we are going to save our skin. This is how we are going to stay in power. This is how this whole thing is going to work out. We're going to have Jesus die so that we get to keep Him in our place of power. We're going to have Jesus die so that the Romans don't come sweeping in because this thing gets out of control.

And so I'm sure Caiaphas thought it was only selfish. As a matter of fact, later on, in a matter of days at the trial, Caiaphas asked Jesus, Are you the Christ? the Messiah? And I'll remember he's a Sadducee. Do the Sadducees believe in a Messiah? No. So no matter what Jesus responded, he wasn't going to give any value or credence to it anyway. If Jesus said no, that would be fine with Caiaphas because he didn't believe in a Messiah. If Jesus said yes I am, he'd say well then you're obviously fake because there isn't one, right? So either way, Caiaphas was going to take either answer as some kind of a problem. Yeah, did you start to raise your hand?

Okay. Well, he was right, partially. He was thinking of it more as a temporary affordment. Yeah, basically, killing this guy is going to save us. But he was thinking in terms of political tensions and keeping control and all that. this is some sort of an eternal salvation.

Mary? Yeah, and it's interesting because the high priest of Jews should have known the scriptures and Christ fulfilled all the Tantanic miracles and they were prophesied before and then it's like, oh, we've got to get rid of this guy. But, you know, he raised Lazarus from the dead. I mean, they didn't even think, well, I guess he could raise himself, or God would raise him from the dead.

Yeah, their thinking was very small. It's, we're going to maintain control and, matter of fact, multiple times Jesus would do some kind of a miracle and rather than saying, man, this guy does miracles, there must be something behind it. That's all the more reason to kill him. Yeah.

The Sadducees only believed in the first five books, the books of Moses, and not the rest of the Old Testament. That's part one. And part two, their interpretation of the Old Testament was non-miraculous and non-angelic. Everything was, you know, look, you're born, you're here, God gives you a life here on the planet, and then you die, and that's it. And you'll be blessed if you follow the law, and you'll be cursed if you don't follow the law, here in this life, on this earth, in this land.

That's it. That's the Sadducees. And there's no Messiah, there's no miracles, just, you know, what you see is what you get. Yeah. If you're cursed, if there's no afterlife... Oh, but you're cursed in this life. Yeah, you're cursed in this life. Yeah.

But even today, the rabbis in Jerusalem may exclude Isaiah 3. Yeah, what did happen is the Jews would not They saw Isaiah 53 as talking about the Messiah up to about 1850. And then they said, no, this is talking about the people of Israel. Isaiah 53 was then interpreted because of all the noise and racket from the Christians. They said, this isn't about the Messiah resurrecting, this is a figurative language about Israel.

And that's not the first place that it showed up. It had showed up earlier, but the predominant interpretation of Jews changed about Isaiah 53 around 1850. And it's since then that they've done that. Now, interestingly, about a decade back, I went and talked to an Orthodox rabbi here locally, and I wanted to talk to him about Isaiah and about the book of Daniel.

And he says, yeah, those are our holy books, and I won't talk to you about them. He just didn't want to talk about it. And that was his way of dealing with me as a Christian. Just wouldn't discuss it. So yeah, I think the thing is you've got to remember what the Sadducees, they're only looking at the first five books, and they're discounting anything that might indicate that there's a Messiah. They're discounting anything in those first five books. They were skeptics, I guess is the way you'd put it. Anything that talked about a resurrection, You know, a frequent statement in the book of Genesis, first book of the five, right, is he was gathered to his people. Well, if he was gathered to his people, he's with the people, right?

But they interpreted that as just a physical thing. You know, he puts you on the ground alongside the other people. So, that's how they interpreted that, rather than seeing it as an indication that there's a resurrection. So it's really not surprising that they would not see the spiritual aspect of things, but only the physical. Yeah, everything very physical minded. Very physical minded.

So what does Jesus do in addressing you know, the Sadducees, he says, look at the Old Testament, the first five books, God says in those books, I am, present tense, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not dead and gone, but still spiritually alive, and you are wrong.

And that shut him down, and that really ticked him off. That really ticked him off, because he had no answer for it. So his whole interpretation just turned on a verb tense. But that was sufficient. Well, we've run out of time, so let's pray. Lord, thank you for what you've made plain. This is really an astounding passage. here, and really remarkable. These are dramatic events beginning to unfold here as we get into this part of the Gospel of John. And yeah, we have some indications about what's to come, and yet I think as we step our way through the details, it will continue to be fascinating. We just thank you for the richness of what you've revealed for us, and we thank you for this time. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.