John 14: The Trinity Revealed Fully

So far, if you’d ask me what the number 1 proof that Jesus was God that can be seen throughout the Gospel of John as a whole, I would have to say it’s the relationship seen between God the Father, Yahweh, and God the Son, Jesus. Throughout the whole book, Jesus has been calling God His Father and Jesus has been explaining how The Father and The Son interact and work with each other. We know God is one (Deut. 6:4), but from John 1-13 alone, the reader sees God the Father and God the Son. From John 1-13 alone (as if the book of John 1-13 alone was our New Testament), Christians would believe in a duality. Yet Christians know from elsewhere in the Bible that there is a trinity. John knows that, too, so in John 14 will introduce the third person of the trinity: God the Holy Spirit. But before we get into the Holy Spirit, let’s take a quick glance at John 14:1-4 and John 14:6.

But before we start anything in John 14, let’s remind ourselves of the setting of the story. It is a Thursday night. Jews would call this night Passover, but Christians would call this night Maundy Thursday. This is the Last Supper, the Lord’s Supper. Where we last left our heroes, Jesus had dismissed Judas Iscariot to go do whatever he was planning, which we know (and the disciples didn’t know) is to betray Jesus. Remember how I mentioned that maybe Jesus dismissed Judas Iscariot so early because Jesus didn’t want Judas Iscariot around to see, hear or be a part of what was happening next? You’ll see why I say that in this chapter because Jesus will really get in-depth, get specific, get private, get personal and also say it the clearest fashion. Perhaps Jesus withheld it from Judas Iscariot because Judas would have no part in it, or maybe Jesus didn’t want Judas blabbing this to the Pharisees and chief priests. After Judas Iscariot left in John 13, Jesus wraps up the chapter by telling the disciples that He is going somewhere where they can’t go, followed by Jesus prophesying that they all will abandon him, even have one disown him.

So now imagine how tense the atmosphere is by the time the reader gets to John 14. Jesus is in a down mood because He knows He is hours away from the most painful time in His human life. The disciples are in a downer mood, too, because, first of all, they see their Lord depressed and second, they’ve just been told they cannot follow Jesus to wherever He’s going. Remember that most of the disciples totally left their lives behind to follow Jesus. They couldn’t just begin where they left off. Those who tried would have to at least start from the bottom and work their way back up. Maybe when some of the disciples heard Jesus say that could no longer follow him, they felt like their entire life had gone to waste. I think Jesus noticed how down and depressed the disciples were after all this bad news, for it puts John 14:1-4 in context.

Since Jesus sees the mood in the room as down and depressed, Jesus tries to cheer the disciples up. First, he tells them that their hearts should not be troubled. The NIV translates the Greek verb tarassesthō as “troubled,” but it also has been translated as “stirred,” “agitated,” or even “indignant” (Interesting note: this is the same verb is used to describe Jesus in John 11 every time it said Jesus was “deeply moved”). It is possible some of these disciples were irked to hear Jesus was abandoning them after they provided years of dedicated allegiance to him. Jesus tells the disciples this feeling is rather unnecessary. Second, Jesus command the disciples to trust in him. He does that by renewing their faith in God and trusting in God, then, through reminding them that Jesus is God, the disciples should trust Jesus, just like they trust God. Jesus is telling the disciples, “Trust me.” Third, Jesus starts talking about something he’s never talked about before: heaven. Jesus describes His Father’s Son like a mansion, a mansion with many rooms. His disciples all have a room prepared for them, and from this, Christians believe that all Christian believers have a room for them. Jesus then describes himself preparing a place for His disciples there. Once the place is prepared, Jesus will come back for his disciples and take them there. It seems like Jesus is telling the disciples about the surprise he has for them in heaven. He’s reminding them of their reward for being faithful to His ministry. This is perfect timing for the setting. The disciples are not to be troubled because Jesus is leaving for their good, so there’s nothing to worry about and no waste at all. Jesus closes the paragraph by saying “You all know the way.” Thomas says to Jesus, “Um, no we don’t,” and then proceeds to ask, “What is the way?” Jesus answers with an “I AM” statement. Let’s take a look at it.

John 14:6-
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The 6th “I AM” statement provides 3 ways to describe Jesus: way, truth, life. I’ve seen some people scratch out the last two and focus on “I am the way” only. I know they are doing this for evangelistic reasons, but I think they are missing out on a big part. The reason that Jesus is the way is because He is the truth and the life. So let’s look at all 3, for all 3 are important. First of all, Jesus is the way. The only way to get to God the Father and the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus. Jesus is the only way to God because God is God and Jesus came from God, as we read in chapters 1 and 3. Also, Jesus is the only one who has seen the Father, as stated in John 1. So to even see God the Father, we must see Jesus. Acts 4:12 and 1 Timothy 2:5 are other places in the Bible that would back up the only way to God is Jesus. The way to God is not only Jesus, but also the way of Jesus. The way to God through Jesus is following Jesus, and this means following Jesus in all aspects. Just as Jesus lived humbly, Christians must also live humbly. Just as Jesus suffered for the faith, so Christians must suffer for the faith. Just as Jesus served people, so the Christian life is to be one of service.

Second, Jesus is the truth. He is God, who founded the world at the beginning. He has decided what is wrong and what is right, what is true and what is false. All truth belongs to God, and thus all truth belongs to Jesus. God the Father spoke the truths to Jesus for the people, and Jesus spoke those truths to the people. People from all over came to Jesus to hear Him speak because they knew Jesus had the truth. Ultimately, Jesus had the true way to life. People from all nations, all races, all cultures and all societies explored different religions, cults and philosophies to find a way to eternal life. All those other ways were lies or falsehoods. Jesus had the truth, the true way to eternal life.

Third, Jesus is the life. John has been building up on this throughout the whole book. It started when John proclaimed in John 1 that Jesus, the True Light, gives life. It escalated throughout the teachings of Jesus, from his “I AM” statements to Christ’s teachings about raising up on the last day. It climaxed in John 11, where Jesus resurrects Lazarus from the dead with his last miracle. The effects were numerous people coming to faith, and those people then shared the gospel with other people. We know Jesus is the life because, as stated in John 1, Jesus was the God who created the world in Genesis 1. Jesus the giver of life, and Jesus is the source of eternal life. The [eternal] life is the end of the way, and both are found in Jesus.

To reunite all 3 parts of the “I AM” statement found in John 14:6, let’s remember the purpose of these “I AM” statements is to prove the purpose of the whole book of John: that Jesus is God the Son. How does the “I AM” statement in John 14:6 show Jesus is God the Son? The only way to God the Father is through God the Son. Jesus has the same truth as God the Father does, the truths of the world. The provider of eternal life must be the giver of life. If Jesus provides eternal life, He must the source of life. The only one who gives life is the creator God from Genesis 1. In John 14:6, Jesus reveals threefold to be God Himself.

Let’s jump ahead to John 14:15, the meat of the chapter. From John 14:15 to the end, Jesus will talk about the Holy Spirit. In John 14:15, I see Jesus defining what salvation is and what it means (or what you have to do) to be saved. As seen in verse 15, being a born-again, saved Christian isn’t just confessing sins or just adopting the beliefs from orthodox Christianity as your own. Being a born-again, saved Christian means loving Jesus and following Jesus. How should people love Jesus? By following the way of Jesus and obey His teachings. How am I sure that Jesus is defining what it means to be saved? Look at verse 16. Christians know that the “proof of purchase” (if you will) of being saved is that you receive the Holy Spirit. So link verse 15 to verse 16. If we love Jesus, follow Jesus and obey Jesus, then we are saved, and then we receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus gives 2 names to the Holy Spirit in John 14: Counselor and Spirit of [the] truth. Both names help describe the Holy Spirit. The Greek for Counselor, paraklete, means “one who comes along to help.” In the Greco-Roman world, this term usually was used for legal help and legal advice, like a lawyer. Thus, some Bible translations have chosen to translate paraklete as “advocate.” The Holy Spirit is the helper to the Christians, who works through Christians. The Holy Spirit is also called the “Spirit of [the] truth.” The Holy Spirit reveals the truth to Christians. The Holy Spirit helps the Christian understand Christian. The Holy Spirit helps the Christian discern between true and false teachers, prophets and apostles. The Spirit of Truth aligns our lives with the Word of God. How is this possible? The name is self-exclamatory. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of [the] Truth. The Holy Spirit has the Truth, just like Jesus does. In fact, on that note, John 14:16,17, in the names alone, show that Jesus is God, that the Holy Spirit is God, and that the Holy Spirit and Jesus are persons in the trinity. First, let’s look at the obvious one. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of [the] Truth. Jesus is the Truth. This Truth is only found in God. Therefore, Jesus and the Holy Spirit must be one and the same. Both of them are God. Now onto the less obvious one. In John 14:16, the Holy Spirit is called the Counselor. In Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah calls the Messiah the “Wonderful Counselor.” This Old Testament Scripture clearly is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. The Holy Spirit is the Counselor and Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. Therefore, Jesus and the Holy Spirit must be one and the same: God. (Note: The reason I keep putting the word [the] in brackets is because a literal translation of the phrase has the word [the] in it. Some scholars have suggested it’s pointing back to absolute truth, or divine truth).

But that’s not all Jesus tells us about the Holy Spirit. The reader can find out more about Jesus beyond the names for the Holy Spirit. Jesus says the world does not accept Him, because the world cannot sense Him, nor know Him. Christians know the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit lives within Christians. The Bible Knowledge Commentary helped to give me a good analogy for this. A person cannot know radio waves are going through their house without a radio, for their can neither see, smell, taste or feel radio waves. They can’t even hear the radio waves without a radio. No one can see television waves going through the sky, yet if someone has a television, they can see what those waves were carrying. No one can see or hear the voicemail or text messages from a cell phone being carried across the airwaves unless they have a phone, and the right phone! In the same way, the world cannot see, hear, smell or feel the Holy Spirit. The only ones who can are the Christians because they have the spiritual life prepared to recognize Him. Also, note that Jesus says the Holy Spirit will be with the Christian forever. It’s not like the Old Testament, where the Holy Spirit would only come to special believers for special missions. Now the Holy Spirit was poured out for all Christians for all time, even unto the end of the age.

One last notice Jesus makes on the Holy Spirit can be found in John 14:26. In the original and immediate context, I believe the true meaning of this passage to mean that the Holy Spirit will guide the disciples to writing the New Testament Scriptures. But I also got to believe there’s some kind of application that come out of it for the modern-day Christian. The Holy Spirit is the teacher and the reminder-er. The Holy Spirit teaches us what the Bible is saying. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit alone will give us perfect interpretations, but it helps reveal to us how to apply the Scriptures in specific situations. The Holy Spirit also helps remind the Christian of what to do and what not to do. The Holy Spirit helps the Christian remember, and even memorize the Scriptures, that Christians may take the Scriptures to heart.

I know this might seem like a cliffhanger for the subject of the Holy Spirit. It might even seem like it’s incomplete. But Jesus does go back to talking about the Holy Spirit in John 16, and I will pick up the subject again there. When we finish the subject in John 16, I will put it all together and make a grand conclusion. But before we get there, there’s a chapter in between: John 15. John 15 is interesting. It has the last “I AM” statement, and through it, it teaches of a different type of trinity of sorts.. Do I have you giving me the “raised eyebrow” look or the “head scratching” look? Good. You’ll have to wait to see it.

John 13: A Betrayer and A Denier

Last chapter focused around the events of Palm Sunday, as well as other surrounding events. John does not see any important events happening in the Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday following, so he skips right to Thursday evening, in which traditional Christians call Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. The Jews know this meal to be Passover, but Christians know it to be the Lord’s Supper or the Last Supper. Interesting enough, John does not mention the Last Supper at all. He must have assumed his readers read about it in the Synoptic Gospels, and with nothing more to add, he leaves it out. Instead, John decides to add a lot of the last teachings of Jesus, which the Synoptic Gospels do not give. John 13-17 are all the last teachings of Jesus, given at the Last Supper. Right now we’ll just focus on John 13, and I want to focus in on Jesus predicting both his betrayer and denier.

Since Jesus talks about the betrayer before the denier, let’s start off with the betrayer, since that’s who Jesus started off with. There’s no need to be hidden with the identity of the betrayer in John. It’s clearly Judas Iscariot. John has been foreshadowing a lot. In John 6:70,71, Jesus calls one of the disciples the devil, which John reveals to be Judas Iscariot. In John 12:4-6, Judas calls out Mary for wasting money. John interprets this to be Judas Iscariot exposing his evil heart. In John 13:2, John tells the reader the devil had prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. This could simply be interpreted as Judas Iscariot making the deal with the Jewish leaders to betray Jesus. Even in John 13:10, while John does not specifically mark Judas as the betrayer, John remembers Jesus saying not everyone was clean, and John interprets it to mean that the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, was not the clean one. So clearly both Jesus and John have been foreshadowing what Judas Iscariot will do in the whole book, but now it will come fully out in a prediction in John 13:18-30. Interesting enough, John, along with Matthew, are the only 2 who specifically and explicitly mention Judas Iscariot as the betrayer by name. Mark and Luke do not mention Judas Iscariot by name in the prediction. Only when he actually betrays Jesus is his name used. Between Matthew and John, Matthew is more specific and more explicit, as Matthew records Judas Iscariot asking if he’s the betrayer, to which Jesus affirms.

It might be obvious to us, but it wasn’t obvious to the disciples. The only reason John makes it so obvious is because he is writing this after the events went down (also, since he’s assumed his readers has read the Synoptic Gospels and know who the betrayer is, instead of keeping a surprise, he shows how it could have been foreshadowed). But John, as well as the rest of the disciples, has no clue. They are lacking a clue so much, that in the synoptic Gospels, each disciple asks Jesus if he himself is the betrayer. Yes, each disciple accused himself before anyone else. Despite all the foreshadowing that made it obvious to the reader, in the mind of the disciples, Judas Iscariot is probably the least likely candidate. He was the treasurer of the group, and a treasurer is a highly valued position in any group. The job, in theory, shows that the group trusts you with their money and their finances. If the disciples were mostly unaware of the embezzlement Judas Iscariot was guilty of, they trusted him with their money and finances, so they saw Judas Iscariot as a trustworthy man. Later on, the text will show the reader that Judas Iscariot was within arm’s reach of Jesus. When it came to seating guests at the table during Bible times, the closer the person was to the host, the more honored the guest was. If Judas was within arm reach of Jesus, he was one of the higher up guests. The disciples must have thought Judas Iscariot was an honorable man. Already we have described (at least, by outward appearances) Judas Iscariot as trustworthy and honorable, which are not the qualities of a betrayer. Although a weak argument, we can even use an argument from the silence to show Judas wasn’t a suspect. Quickly skim through all your Synoptic Gospels. Besides when the Twelve Disciples are called, you’ll notice Judas isn’t mentioned until the Last Supper or the Betrayal. From the Gospels, he doesn’t seem to have an active role in the ministry of Jesus. Besides the words of Jesus, which are only mentioned in John, nothing seems to stick out with him. If you were one of Twelve Disciples in the 1st century, you wouldn’t have suspected Judas Iscariot either. The disciples are so unaware, they have to ask Jesus who it is.

To reveal the identity of the betrayer, Jesus dips a piece of bread in a dish and gives it to the betrayer. This was to fulfill the Scriptures, but also in irony of the custom of the day. In Biblical times, “sharing bread” or “breaking bread” (better translation) was an act done between two close people, like family or best friends. When it was done among 2 strangers, it was to acceptance and welcoming. It’s so ironic because here it represents the opposite. Jesus is not saying Judas Iscariot is a friend or a brother to him. Jesus is not welcoming Judas Iscariot, nor is He showing acceptance of Him. Instead, Jesus breaks breads with him to reveal a betrayer, a enemy or an antagonist. The action of breaking bread also fits very well with the context of the fulfilled Scriptures. Most Bibles will say that the Scripture Jesus is referring is Psalm 41:9. Most scholars will tell you that Psalm 41:9 is about Ahithophel, David’s trustworthy and honorable table companion, who betrayed David and then hanged himself for doing so. The parallels fit very well between Ahithophel and Judas Iscariot. Both betrayed a close companion, and both committed suicide over the guilt of the betrayal.

At the sign, John 13:27 tells the reader that Satan entered Judas Iscariot. Now most scholars will agree (although a few have said differently) that the bread that Jesus gave Judas Iscariot is not what caused Satan to enter Judas Iscariot. The issue is how to define “Satan entered.” The question is how much control Judas Iscariot had. Was Judas Isacariot possessed by Satan, or was he acting upon his own free will, but being tempted by Satan? Scholars have been split 50/50 on the two. A few liberal scholars have taken this metaphorically, simply stating it means that from this point on Judas Iscariot was no longer a disciple of Jesus. While in some contexts it fits, it really denies the evil present in this situation. We can’t go to the Greek, for the best literal translation of the Greek is “Satan entered.” Let’s try the other Gospels. Luke 22:3 does also say that Satan entered Judas Iscariot, but the Matthew and Mark passages paralleling the Luke passage do not mention Satan. In fact, Luke and John seem to be the only ones suggesting that Satan had any kind of hand on this. Since Matthew and Mark do not mention the devil with Judas Iscariot, it would almost seem like the Devil has no role at all. On top of that, in Matthew chapter 26, Jesus calls Judas Iscariot “friend.” It would be odd to call a Satan-possessed person “friend.” Possibly the best answer we can get it combining all the answers in harmony. Yes, Satan did play a role. Yes, Satan did enter him. Yet Satan did not have to put up a fight with Judas Iscariot’s free will. Judas Iscariot did not resist the temptations to betray Jesus. In fact, he entertained them. I think James 1:14 accurately describes what happened to Judas Iscariot. Judas entertained his own evil desires, he was enticed by his evil desires, and his evil desires dragged him into sin. Whether Judas Iscariot intended it or not, I think Judas virtually allowed Satan (“handed over the keys of his body” to Satan, if you will) by giving into sin. Judas Iscariot allowed Satan to use him as a tool, and Satan took full control of the opportunity. Even if Judas wanted to change his mind, it was too late, he was stooped into sin.

But our conversation doesn’t end there. Our next prompt is to ask why. Why would Judas do such a thing? Why would Judas betray a close friend and his messiah and savior? I think this is why many people would simply say “Satan entered him.” Their answer to the question would be, “He wouldn’t and he didn’t. Satan did.” Yet that denies Judas Iscariot’s free will. In the paragraph above, we decided Judas Iscariot’s free will to sin that led him to be controlled by Satan. So now we have to ask what would cause Judas to sin and betray Jesus. There’s been lots of theories on why Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, beside that he was Satan-possessed. First, it could be the sin coveting money. John 12 already revealed Judas Iscariot was concerned about his own personal wealth, so much he would steal from the disciples’ money bag. When the chief priests put a price on Jesus, Judas Iscariot was more than willing to hand Jesus over to get richer. Second, Judas Iscariot might simply have been a good Jew, respecting the Jewish leaders. Judas might have believed that Messiah and the Sanhedrin would get along in perfect harmony. When Judas saw Jesus, who he believed was the Messiah, disagreeing with the Jewish leaders, he had to decide whether the Jewish leaders were wrong or Jesus was wrong. He would decide Jesus was wrong. So when the Jewish leaders requested that anyone with information about Jesus should report it to them, Judas, being the good Jew, followed his leaders and handed Jesus over. Third, Judas Iscariot might have been a zealot, disappointed that Jesus was not the warrior Messiah he was expecting, which in turn could 2 results: either Judas handed over Jesus because Judas saw his an antichrist (false Christ), which is blasphemy, or Judas was trying to force the hand of Jesus, hoping to force him to violence. The last option is not a fourth option, but a combination of all of them. Maybe it was multiple reasons, such as the ones above, that led Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. Yet I can hear people saying that these all excuses to take the blame off of Judas Iscariot and say it’s not his fault.

That leads us to an even bigger question: How much responsibility does Judas Iscariot assume in the betrayal of Jesus? This question is usually put in the form of asking about Judas Iscariot’s eternal whereabouts. Most people have put Judas in Hell. In Dante’s Inferno, Judas is put in the center and worst part of hell. Very few people will say Judas Iscariot is in heaven. I had a friend who did believe and he explained it to me quite well. To believe Judas is in heaven, you have to have a belief somewhere between Calvinist and fatalist. Judas Iscariot destined, even predestined to be the one to betray Jesus. He had to betray Jesus, for it was the only way for Scripture to be fulfilled and for salvation to be brought along properly. If Judas didn’t do this, then salvation would never come. So why should Judas Iscariot be punished for fulfilling Scripture and helping to bring salvation? Why should Judas be punished for a will predestined to him? He should be rewarded because he did what he was destined to do. May I also add to believe this, you have to have a strong belief in double predestination, the belief that not only does God select people for heaven, but also selects people for hell. While I understand their logic, there is holes in their logic that the Scriptures point out. In both Matthew and Mark, Jesus proclaims woe on him, saying it would be better for him to not be born. Some scholars have further contested this view, claiming that while Scripture does say there needs to be a betrayer, it didn’t have to be Judas Iscariot. Other scholars say the sin of betraying Jesus is not an unforgivable sin. What got Judas Iscariot in trouble was that he did not seek repentance, forgiveness or reconciliation. He instead committed suicide. That is why Judas is in hell, not because he betrayed Jesus, but because he did not seek repentance, forgiveness or reconciliation. While I’m satisfied with the Biblical proof, I am not fully satisfied with the logic the scholars give either. I’ll play along with the scholars who say it didn’t have to be Judas, but if it was any of the other 11 disciples, would they have been off the hook for betraying Jesus? And if you ask me, if you read Matthew 27:3-10, Judas does try to seek repentance and forgiveness. When the chief priests do a bad job and condemn him, he believes he is condemned and hangs himself in remorse. I’ve heard a lot of Calvinist scholars, both single and double predestination, say Judas was predestined to betray Jesus, but he still was accountable to his sin of betrayal, so he is in hell. On the other side, Armenian scholars will say that Jesus foreknew Judas Iscariot as the traitor, but he did not predestine him as the traitor. Thus, Judas Iscariot is guilty for his own sin, and thus in hell. Both views seem to be compromising, and I’m not comfortable with either.

There are other questions we do have concerning Judas Iscariot. I don’t have the time or space to go over every option, but one more I will throw out is “When Jesus selected Judas Iscariot as a disciple, did he truly select him as a disciple, or did he merely select Judas Iscariot be the betrayer?” I remember a while back watching a movie made for TV on Jesus from the eyes of Judas Iscariot. When it came time for the calling of the disciples, Jesus cheerfully called each disciple by name, giving them a hug. Last, he called Judas Iscariot, in a solemn tone, merely giving him a pat on the back. Did it go down like that? Did Jesus merely drag Judas along to fulfill Scripture, keeping an emotionless relationship with him? (Interesting note: According to this movie, Judas Iscariot could not perform the miraculous the disciples did when sent out. I believe they did the further the idea Judas was not a legitimate disciple.). The New Bible Dictionary suggests that Jesus did choose legitimately choose Judas Iscariot as a real disciple, yet Judas Iscariot never really met the title of disciple and apostle. For example, Judas Iscariot never called Jesus “Lord” but only “Rabbi.” Judas never saw Jesus as anything more than a teacher. Therefore, Judas was never really saved in the first place. For the most part, I like what they are saying, but they do seem to bounce back and forth between Calvinistic and Armenian, predestination and free will.

Here’s my grand conclusion. Judas Iscariot was legitimately chosen as a disciple by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, being God, was just like God and gave Judas Iscariot a fair and honest chance to do the right thing. Judas Iscariot, however, did not meet the expectation of a disciple of Jesus. He got caught up in his own selfish and sinful desires, whether those selfish and sinful desires be coveting money or overthrowing the political system. In accordance to James 1:14, those selfish and sinful desires enticed Judas Iscariot to sin and dragged Judas Iscariot into sin on his own free will. In accordance to Romans 1:24,26, God handed Judas Iscariot over to his own sinful desires and his own sin. Judas Iscariot got so caught up in his sin that no longer he controlled himself, but he was a slave to sin and a slave to Satan. He got in too deep, so deep, it led him to betraying Jesus Christ. But it didn’t stop there. Judas Iscariot was so steeped into sin that even after betraying Jesus, he could not fully repent or forgive himself. He instead committed suicide. Sin left unforgiving only led him to hell.

Back to the Judas Iscariot in the story. After Jesus gives Judas Iscariot the bread, he gives Judas the nod to do whatever he needs to do. Many scholars believe this is Jesus giving Judas Iscariot permission to excuse himself to set up to betray Jesus. Notice how Jesus excuses Judas Iscariot before any of Christ’s last teachings. If you have a Harmony of the Gospels, you’ll notice Jesus excuses Judas Iscariot even before Communion happens. I do believe these are signs that go back to our questions about Judas Iscariot, mainly his end whereabouts. Jesus excuses Judas Iscariot before Communion or the last teachings because Jesus knows Judas Iscariot will have no part in either of them. This time of communion and teaching is just for the true disciples of Jesus. What do the rest of the disciples think about this? They think Jesus is excusing their treasurer to do something with the money, either buy more food for the Passover Feast or give money to the poor. Both would fit the customs of the day. It was the treasurer’s job to make sure there was enough food and supplies for everyone at the Feast. To fail to do so would bring embarrassment upon the host and the treasurer. The disciples might have thought perhaps Judas Iscariot had to go pick up more food in case they ran out. Also, it was custom to give money to the poor during the Passover feast. The disciples might have thought that maybe Jesus was giving Judas Iscariot permission to leave the Feast to perform that task. Judas Iscariot’s part of the chapter ends with the sentence, “And it was night.” Scholars think John puts this in here for metaphorical purposes, although the Feast did happen during the dinner hours of the evening. Remember that both John and Jesus called Jesus “the [true] light” and call the ways of the world and the ways of sin “darkness.” John is stating that Judas Iscariot went from the light of Jesus Christ into the darkness of sin.

Now Judas Iscariot isn’t the only bad example among the disciples. There’s another highlighted in John 13. Believe it or not, it’s Simon Peter. Let’s take a quick look at him.

Now that Judas Iscariot has exited the building, Jesus wants to get more intimate in his conversation with his disciples. Now Jesus wants to reveal personal and deep secrets about Him and His Kingdom. Jesus makes His disciples aware that He is leaving soon, so he wants to also pass on new, important instruction, as well as remind them of old, important instruction. Jesus emphasizes all important teachings because He knows He will not be with the disciples for much longer, and he needs the disciples to keep following His teachings.

Right here, in John 13:36, I believe is one of those moments where all the disciples are thinking about it, but only one gets the nerve to say it out loud. All the disciples are not listening to the instruction, but rather, they are caught up on the sentence, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” They are in great distress because of this, and if you understand the context, you’ll understand why. These men have left their whole lives behind them 3 or 4 years ago to follow Jesus. They banked their whole lives on following Jesus for the rest of their lives. Most of them have nothing to go back to. If they tried to go back, they’d start all over again. So when Jesus says He is leaving, there is much reason for distress. Some of them might have felt like they threw their whole lives away for nothing. So Simon Peter, as concerned as everyone, speaks up, “Where are you going?” From his tone (as well as verse 37), you can tell he’s trying to figure out a way to go with Jesus.

Now if you have a Harmony of the Gospels, here’s where it gets interesting. Harmony of the Gospel books can be helpful tools to compare parallel passages in the Gospels, however, they are far from inerrant. There is no one right Harmony of the Gospel. All these books will have their own interpretation on the order of events and which passages parallel one another. Such is Peter’s denial. Each Gospel has a prediction of Peter’s Denial: Matthew 26:31-35, Mark 14:27-31, Luke 22:31-38, and John 13:37-38. These books will disagree whether they parallel one another. There are 2 main camps of thought. The first is all 4 Gospel writers are telling the same story from 4 different points of view. The second is that Matthew and Mark are telling about one prediction, while Luke and John are talking about another prediction. Let’s examine each camp closely, first the one that puts them all together, then the one that separates Matthew and Mark from Luke and John.

The first camp does have good evidence to put all 4 together. All 4 have Peter making a pledge of allegiance to Jesus. All 4 Gospel accounts have Jesus saying that Peter will disown or deny him. All 4 Gospel narratives have Jesus telling the reader the denial will happen before the rooster crows. With so many parallels, it’s easy to see why all 4 described as retelling the same exact event.

The second camp also has good evidence to bunch Matthew and Mark together and bunch Luke and John as a separate bunch. Read Matthew 26:31-35 and Mark 14:27-31 together. They are about 98% to 99% the same thing, even down to Zechariah prophecy. Both Luke and John are nowhere near the same wording. Where they do talk about the same things, notice the small detail differences. In Matthew and Mark, Peter simply says he will never fall away. In Luke, Peter tells Jesus he will go to prison and death for Jesus. In John, Peter claims he will lay down his life for Jesus. While you might say they are small details, I see big differences. In both Matthew and Mark, Peter denies Christ’s prediction, while in Luke and John, Peter does no such thing. Context also helps. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus seems to be talking to all the disciples (minus Judas Iscariot). In Luke and John, Jesus seems to be talking directly to Peter. The biggest evidence, though, would be the location. Matthew and Mark record the events happening at the Mount of Olives, before going into the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke and John record the events happening in the upper room during the Last Supper.

Therefore, despite the parallels in all 4 Gospel stories, the best view is to say they happened at 2 different times. This is not a contradiction, but rather a repeat. Jesus predicted Peter’s denial first in the upper room, when Peter claimed that he would go wherever Jesus went, even if it meant giving up his life. The second time Jesus predicted Peter’s denial was on the Mount of Olives, before the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus told the disciples they will all scatter. In response to the second accusation of denial, Peter once again claims he will never disown Jesus, even if it means giving up his life for him. Perhaps there’s a parallel happening there: Peter declares 3 times he will stick with Jesus, Peter denies Jesus 3 times. Maybe Peter denied Jesus for each time he said he would stick up for Jesus. We’ll talk about that more when we get to the actual event.

In closing this chapter, we know there is a betrayer and a denier among the Twelve Disciples. The betrayer is Judas Iscariot and the denier is Simon Peter. This was no new news to Jesus, as Jesus foreknew Judas Iscariot would betray him and Simon Peter would deny him. But Jesus, being the all-knowing God, knew more than just that. Imagine Jesus at the dinner table of the Last Supper. He looks at Judas Iscariot, and He knows Judas will betray Him. He looks at Simon Peter, and He knows Peter will deny him 3 times before the rooster crows twice. He looks at Thomas (called Didymus), and He knows that Thomas will doubt Him when He rises from the dead. Then Jesus looks at all the rest of disciples, and He knows they will all scatter when He gets arrested. In a sense, they will all betray him, they will all deny him, and they will all doubt him. I wonder if Jesus ever questioned himself to why He was sticking with this sad, sorry bunch. Yet Jesus knew that this was totally worth it, for His disciples, and for all mankind. So He stayed true for His disciples, as well as mankind, to bring everyone salvation.

John 12: Palm Sunday

Now that we’re entering the second half of the book of John, John’s writing is going to shift. He’s going to go from the 3-4 years of the ministry of Jesus to the Passion Week of Jesus. He’s going to shift from touring Galilee, Samaria and Judea with Jesus to just staying in the city of Jerusalem. He’s going to shift from action-packed miracles to solely focus on teachings of Jesus. Things are going to slow down, become more local, and become more focused. Since John is slightly changing up his writing style, I am going to do the same. I’m not going to be as concerned with staying inside the chapter boundaries, the section boundaries, the paragraph boundaries or the verse boundaries. One blog post might have a couple chapters in it or it might have only a section or two in it. I might focus a long time on certain paragraphs, a short on some other paragraphs and some paragraphs I might completely ignore. Why? Since John’s writing is more central in time and location, as well as style (teachings), I don’t have to continually set the scene. For the remainder of John, the setting will remain the same, so the context will remain the same. I’m only going to pull out things that are debated, in which all sides need to be heard, or things that need a deeper explanation to fully understand. My hope is to reveal things to you that you’ve never thought about. If there’s nothing new to reveal, it will skipped over.

The first pericope (story) in John 12 stills has Jesus in Bethany. Now since we’re still in Bethany, it is important to set the scene because it’s debatable. Matthew and Mark also tell this story…or so most believe. The stories in Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9 and John 12:1-8 have many commonalities. All take place at Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper. All have a woman breaking open an alabaster jar of perfume (pure nard) and using it on Jesus. All have someone object to the motion, and all have Jesus defending the woman. Yet there are differences. Matthew and Mark just say it’s a woman, while John names the woman as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Matthew and Mark says that the woman uses an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, while John tells the reader it was a pint of pure nard. Matthew and Mark say the woman poured the perfume on the head of Jesus, while John recalls the nard going on the feet of Jesus. John also adds more detail, such as Mary wiping the feet of Jesus with her hair. Mark says everybody watching opposed, Matthew gets specific and says it was only the 12 disciples that opposed, John gets even more specific, calling out Judas Iscariot to the opposer. Yet the biggest difference would be that Matthew and Mark state this happens 2 days before the Passover, while John puts it 6 days before the Passover. What are we to do? Are we to admit that the Gospel writers mixed up their facts and made mistakes in their writing? Never! It just requires some shifting through.

Let’s look at how the scholars have dealt with it. Some scholars have tried to argue that the accounts of Matthew and Mark are the same, but the account of John is a different story. Their proof is Luke 7:36-50. In Luke 7:36-50, Luke also tells a story of a woman cleaning the feet of Jesus with her hair, then anointing it with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, followed by objections. Yet it would be ridiculous to try to say it is the same event as recorded in Matthew, Mark and John. If you thought Matthew, Mark and John disagreed, wait until you see the Luke story. While all stories take place in the home of a Simon, Luke’s story is in the home of Simon the Pharisee, not Simon the Leper (Simon is very common name back then). Simon the Pharisee’s house is in Galilee, while Simon the Leper’s house is in Bethany in Perea. Luke denotes the woman as a very serious sinner, while Matthew, Mark and John make no notation of that (although some have suggested that’s why Matthew and Mark kept her anonymous). Only Luke mentions cleaning with tears, and no one else does. Luke has the opposer being one person, a Pharisee. Definitely from Matthew and John, and possibly from Mark, no Pharisees are present. Matthew and John definitely, and Mark possibly, show the objectors to be supporters of Jesus, no opponents. Furthermore, the objection is different. Simon the Pharisee objects at a sinful woman touching a righteous man. Judas Iscariot, as well as the rest of the disciples, object that it was a waste of money. Lastly, the reaction of Jesus Luke has recorded is way different than the reaction Jesus gives in Matthew, Mark and John. In Matthew, Mark and John, Jesus calls for the disciples to serve Jesus over the poor. In Luke, Jesus says that the sinful woman was more hospitable to Jesus than the so-called righteous Pharisee. So most scholars would definitely agree Luke’s pericope is a totally different story that happened earlier. Yet some people would take it further to show this anointing by women happened more than once so they conclude it happened 3 times. The first time is recorded in Luke, when Jesus was in the early years of the Galilean ministry. The second time is recorded in John, while Jesus is in Bethany six days before the Passover. The third time is recorded in Matthew and Mark, 2 days before the Passover. I will admit, I was tempted to go along with this thinking. They did have a point showing the major differences meant they were different events. Yet I could help but notice that the similarities were too strong to call them different. All of them have the same setting, all of them have the woman using expensive perfume, all of them have the opposition of wasting money, and all of them have the same reaction from Jesus. So Matthew, Mark and John have to be telling the same story, just from different points of view.

Like I said, this takes further sifting, so let’s sift. First of all, let’s talk about John’s use of names. While Matthew and Mark say “woman,” John says “Mary.” While Mark says, “those present,” Matthew says, “the disciples” and John says, “Judas Iscariot.” What’s the deal? Remember, John likes to pick on people, not in a negative connotation, but in for story-telling purposes, like character development. By giving the people names, the story becomes more real to us. So John reveals the woman to be the Mary, the one we all know, the one who sat at the feet of Jesus and listened, the one whose brother was raised by Jesus. John also reveals the objector to be Judas Iscariot. Now I’m saying that Matthew and Mark were wrong by assigning the objections to a large group of people. They easily agrees with one another. I believe that the grumbling about Mary’s actions started among the 12 disciples, as they all indignantly objected to one another. The other people observing, most likely supporters of Jesus, heard the Twelve Disciples grumble, so they followed suit. Finally, Judas Iscariot gets the balls to stand up to Jesus say what’s on everybody’s minds. If everyone was thinking this, and Judas Iscariot was the only one brave enough to say it aloud, you almost want to give kudos to Judas. Yet John uses this moment to reveal Judas is not the stereotype of a good disciple of a righteous man. John reveals Judas to be guilty of embezzlement. Like I said, character development. Also, it could simply be John’s use of details. That would also explain John saying a “pint of pure nard” instead of saying “an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume.” Pure nard was a very expensive perfume, shipped all the way from India. To get even a pint, or a half leader, a person would have to pay 300 denarii, which took about 300 days of work to save up for. This perfume was so expensive, it was put in the finest and most expensive of jars, like an alabaster jar. Simply because John does not mention it doesn’t mean it was not so.

As for where the perfume went, or how Mary anointed Jesus, I don’t think that really matters. If we were to get fussy and care about it, I would compromise and say it went both on his head andhis feet, but still, I think the grander point of this story in John 12:1-8 is all the foreshadowing going on. First and foremost, the whole event is foreshadowing the death of Jesus. Pure nard was a perfume using in burying the dead. Mary anoints Jesus likes He is a dead body. Jesus outright states that soon the disciples will not have Jesus. The ever-present danger Jesus is in becomes more obvious to Jesus, to His disciples and to everyone around him, including Mary. It’s like they all know when Jesus goes into Jerusalem, He’s not coming out alive. On that, the second foreshadowing the reader sees is Judas Isacriot’s role in the death of Jesus. It will be his own greed for money that will lead him to betray Jesus and hand Him over to death.

So that leaves us only to deal with the time frame. Matthew and Mark says it is two days before the Passover, while John says it is six days before the Passover. Well, location could be taken into account. As stated before, it seems like once Jesus enters Jerusalem, he isn’t leaving. In Matthew and Mark’s context, it would seem like Jesus would leave Jerusalem for a day to go visit the village of Bethany during that final week. Yet my ultimate conclusion is going to come from the writing style of John. Once again, I call you to remember the book of John is not a synoptic Gospel, but a supplementary Gospel. Therefore, of all the Gospel writers, John is the least concerned about the proper chronological order. His transition-of-time words have been vague throughout this entire book. If this book were to be written topically, which is most likely was, it would make the most sense to put together the two stories with the same main characters together. In John 12:1-8, Mary, Martha and Lazarus are all present, the same Mary, Martha and Lazarus in John 11. So I do believe Matthew and Mark, who would at least be slightly more concerned about time frame, do have the right time frame. As for Jesus leaving Jerusalem during Passion Week, I say it’s possible. After Jesus cleared the temple shortly after the Triumphal Entry, the Jewish leaders wanted to arrest and put Jesus on trial right there. Jesus probably had to leave the city for a day until things cooled down because it was not his time.

The pericope ends with the chief priests planning to kill Jesus, and Lazarus as well, because Jesus raising Lazarus is bringing so many people to believe in Jesus. I’m not going to talk about in-depth any further because that was already done for last chapter. But I will point out that it further foreshadows the fate of Jesus: Jesus is not coming out of Passover week alive.

By the time the reader gets to John 12:12, the reader hits the story familiar with Palm Sunday: The Triumphal Entry. Notice while all 3 Synoptic Gospels go into detail on the preparations for the Entry into Jerusalem, but John does not. Once again, Johns knows and expects his readers to have already read the Synoptic Gospels. They know how the disciples prepared, and John has nothing new to add, so he skips over the preparation details. I will mention that it seems like the only preparations the disciples made were the donkey ride for Jesus. It was the greater crowd of followers that did the rest. What did they do? They pull off palm branches and palm leaves to put on the ground and to wave. The Synoptic Gospel writers even add some people put their cloaks on the ground. Then they begin shouting and cheering when Jesus enters. I’ve written down what they are saying below from all 4 Gospel accounts.-

-Hosanna!
-Hosanna to the Son of David!
-Hosanna in the Highest!
-Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
-Blessed is the king of Israel!
-Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!
-Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!

If you want any further proof that the Twelve Disciples didn’t orchestrate this, John 12:16 tells the reader that Twelve Disciples saw what was going on and had no idea why this was happening. So what’s so important about this? In this second half of the Gospel of John, John’s going to start to portray Jesus as the Son of God by aligning the Son of God portrait with the portrait of Jesus according the Synoptic Gospels. The Synoptic Gospel that John will agree with in John 12 is the Gospel according to Matthew. Both Matthew and John see Old Testament Prophecy being fulfilled. The explicit one both Matthew and John mention is Zechariah 9:9, in which Zechariah sees the Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Riding on a donkey has a lot of symbolism within itself. In Bible times, a king would either ride into a city on a horse or on a donkey. If the king rode on a horse, it meant he was going in an act of aggression, such as declaring war or taking control as the conquering king. If the king came riding on a donkey, it meant he came in peace, like making a peace treaty or an alliance of some sorts. Jesus did not come to Jerusalem to start a violent revolt to overthrow the Romans, but to peacefully proclaim and establish the kingdom of God on earth. The implicit Scripture being fulfilled is Psalm 118:25,26. Most Bibles have footnotes that connect the crowd’s shouting to the verse. Both Matthew and John have noted this, but they did not write it down. Perhaps they both assumed it was common knowledge to their Jewish reader. Indeed, this Psalm is believed to a Messianic Psalm. Thus, the crowd shouted it when Jesus entered Jerusalem because they believed this man was their messiah.

What do these people do after they give Jesus His parade? They go out and spread the news that Jesus has come to Jerusalem. What’s their tagline? It’s the Jesus who raised Lazarus from the dead! So the people of Jerusalem come out to see this Jesus, hoping to see a miracle. Their faith seems a little shallow, but it’s working. How can a reader know it’s working? Well, for starters, it’s frustrating the Pharisees. So a crowd has assembled large enough to annoy the Pharisees. But on top of that, look at whose attention they get.

The same week Jesus is in Jerusalem, there are also Greeks in Jerusalem. Most likely these Greeks are Greek proselytes (Greeks converted to Judaism), who are in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and worship in Jerusalem, but they could also be Greek philosophers learning about different cultures. Some of these Greeks have heard about Jesus. These Greeks ask Philip if they get see Jesus. Philip asks Andrew, and Philip and Andrew ask Jesus. Let’s pause right there. First of all, notice how popular Jesus is getting. Word is getting around fast about Him. The resurrection miracle really helped, too. It’s nowhere near as many followers as Jesus had around the miraculous feeding, but it’s got to be the second highest spike. Also, we see Jesus getting famous on a bigger scale. While it’s possible these Greeks are from Decapolis, a region east of the Sea of Galilee and northeast of the Jordan River, if these Greeks actually came from Greece, the name of Jesus is getting around fast. People all over the world want to marvel at him. But it’s even bigger than popularity or fame. The Greeks wanting to see Jesus is a sign to Jesus that His ministry is about to explode…in a good way. No longer is it just the Jews looking for the Messiah, but now the world will seek a Christ. But Jesus knows that there’s an important in between step: His death on the cross. Jesus uses the analogy of a kernel of wheat that “dies” and is placed in the ground to produce many more seeds. (Quick note: This is not an error in the Bible, nor does it mean the Bible is not inerrant. This is called the “Phenomenon of Appearance.” A seed looks like it’s not living, and when someone puts it in the ground, it almost looks like it’s being buried. We in the 21st century know it’s not true, but it sure looks like it.) In the same way, Jesus must die in order that many more believers will believe in Him.

In John 12:27,28, Jesus seems to go into a little soliloquy of sorts. When he realizes His time is near, his heart is troubled thinking about taking on the sin of the world, as well as taking upon the pain and suffering of the cross. He states it is very tempting to ask the Father to remove the responsibility, but He stays on task and instead asks the Father to glorify the name of God. A voice from heaven reassures Jesus that the name of God has been gloried and it will be continued to be glorified. Jesus makes clear that this voice from heaven wasn’t to reassure him, but to reassure the disciples and the greater crowd of followers. Yet check out the reaction of the people in Jerusalem. The believers know it’s the voice of God the Father from heaven, but they are the only ones who can make the connection. The non-believers and rationalists try to rationalize it with a natural occurrence, like thunder. The skeptics, those who are 50/50 or those who think Jesus is merely a rabbi or a prophet, try to compromise it by using something indirect, like an angel. Either way, we still see division among the Jews. But the amazing part is that even some of the Jewish leaders, who are unbiased towards Jesus, realize and admit Jesus has to be the Messiah. Yet most of the Jews, especially Pharisees, Sadducees, chief priests and Sanhedrin will not come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. How is this possible?

John continues to go back to the Old Testament prophecy in John 12 to show Jesus is Messiah and God. The two remaining quoted passages are both from the prophet Isaiah. The first is from Isaiah 53:1. Isaiah 53 is most famous for its Suffering Servant passage, describing the Messiah’s death and how it will bring about salvation. John sees it even before we get to the events of Good Friday. John believes that the opener to the chapter is stating that despite the Christ revealing Himself to the people as the Messiah, they will not believe in his message. If you’re thinking that’s pushing it, John gives another passage from Isaiah that’s a little more specific and a little more close. The passage is Isaiah 6:10, and it is quoted numerous times in the New Testament. If Isaiah 53:1 is saying the Jews would not listen to God’s Message, then Isaiah 6:10 is saying the Jews could not listen to God’s Message. Both seem to be true in John 12. John concludes both passages are saying the same thing because Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus, so Isaiah spoke about Him. Wait a minute, I thought Isaiah saw God, not Jesus. Bingo. This is another way John is telling us Jesus is God. Isaiah recognized Jesus is God, the Jews failed to recognize Jesus as God, so now the reader has to choose to decide if Jesus is God or not.

So in closing John 12, Jesus turns to plea to the crowd to listen to Him and follow Him. Jesus knows His time on earth is running short, so he wants to get as many last minute converts as possible until He leaves up totally to the disciples. He is also well aware this is the last chance for many people, for they won’t convert, even after his death and resurrection. Jesus is no longer playing games. He’s not playing games with Pharisees and Sanhedrin, like dodging trick questions or hide-and-seek. Jesus has to get His Father’s business done. With Christ’s final message comes a stern warning: accept the light now or forever walk in darkness. Jesus puts a strong sense of urgency on the gospel. My prayer is we also carry that same urgency.

John 11: Saving The Best Miracle For The Last Miracle

At John chapter 11, we’re halfway through the book of John (more about later), and we’re already at the last miracle. This is miracle 7 of 7. In my opinion, these miracles have been progressively more exciting, as each miracle is more exciting than the last. The later miracles have all gone along with important teachings. All the miracles have shown the reader that Jesus is the Son of God and God the Son. This last miracle will follow suit with all of these. Being the last miracle, I believe it is the most exciting miracle. Like the Feeding of the 5,000 and giving the man blind from birth sight was the “attention-getting” introduction to a teaching of Jesus, so the miracle will be the “visual aid” to Christ’s teaching. Just like all the other miracles proved Jesus was God, so this miracle will prove Jesus is God, and just like the Feeding of the 5,000 and giving the blind man sight, it will be an “I AM” statement to do it.

Let’s set the scene a bit. Let’s talk about the setting, or where it takes place. Most of the story takes place in Bethany. Bethany is a small village near the Jordan River. Bethany is a village in the region of Perea. Latitude-ly speaking, Perea is within the same latitude lines as Judea. Longitude-ly speaking, Perea is east of the Jordan River and Dead Sea, while Judea is west of the Jordan River and Dead Sea. The name Bethany means “house of suffering,” which may serve as irony for this story.

Let’s set the scene further. Let’s talk about the main characters of the story. It’s a small family of sorts (maybe a bigger family, and the Bible doesn’t mention the rest of the family), with 2 sisters and 1 brother. The sisters are Mary and Martha. Mary and Martha are more famous for their story in Luke 10:38-42, where Martha is doing all the work and Mary is just sitting and listening. John 11:2 reveals that Mary is the one who poured the perfume on Christ’s feet and the woman who washed Christ’s feet with her hair and her tears. John does tell this story, but he doesn’t do it until John 12:1-10 (and we’ll talk about it there), but it does go to show again that John is assuming the reader has read the synoptic Gospel accounts and knows these stories. So the reader should know who Mary and Martha are, and so John will tell another story about Mary and Martha. The person the reader doesn’t know is their brother Lazarus. Only 2 times the name Lazarus appears in the New Testament. The one is here in John 11 (going a bit into John 12) and the other one is in a parable in Luke 16. Now we’ll save the debate if Luke 16 is a parable or not, or whether the people are real or not, because this is a study of John, not Luke. But whatever the case, the Lazarus in Luke is different from the Lazarus in John. The name Lazarus means “God assists” which is also fitting. I should also mention for all 3 characters, Jesus knew them, Jesus loved them, and they were all good friends of Jesus.

So naturally when Lazarus is sick and dying, they send word to Jesus. Now most likely, as we will see later, they are calling for Jesus to come a perform a miraculous healing to make Lazarus all better. They know that Jesus can perform miracles like that. He’s performed them on strangers, surely he’ll heal a good friend. That’s why Mary and Martha carefully choose the words to send to Jesus. They use the Greek word phileo, which means “brotherly love” (yes, this is where we get Philadelphia from). In a way, they are reminded Jesus how much Jesus and Lazarus are good friends and love each other. They’re hinting this is a no brainer, you need to come and heal Lazarus. Yet Jesus does not go. He stays where he is for 2 more days. His reason? Jesus knows God’s Plan is for this miracle to not be another healing of a disease. God wants this to be a resurrection from the dead. God knows that He, the Father, and His Son, Jesus will get the most glory out of a resurrection. Yet John makes it clear that Jesus doesn’t because he hates Lazarus and his family or because he’s not friends with them. John makes it clear Jesus loves Lazarus and his family. This time, John uses the Greek word agape, the Greek word for a higher love between God and man. John shows that Jesus loved Lazarus more than Mary and Martha thought He did. So Jesus waiting was not a cruel action, waiting 2 days, waiting for Lazarus to die. If you do the math (see verses 11 and 19), by the time the word got to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, Lazarus had already died. Jesus probably waited to make sure he was dead. Still, it must have been painful the all-knowing God the Son to know his beloved friend was dying, and he had to wait. At the same time, being God, knowing how everything after life works, He was confident in seeing His friend again.

2 days later, Jesus tells his disciples, “Alright, time to go back to Judea!” After their last time in Judea, the disciples have become just as aware as Jesus is about the present danger. They know of all the times the Jewish leaders tried to have Jesus executed, and they know if Jesus steps foot back in Judea, the Jews will be trying again. Jesus uses metaphorical language in verses 9 and 10 to reassure the disciples that as long as Jesus is following God’s Will, God will keep His Will and not let Jesus die until the appointed time. Jesus then throws in for verse 11, “Besides, Lazarus is asleep and I have to go wake him up. Obviously, in verse 12, the Twelve Disciples have once again missed the metaphorical language. “Falling asleep” is clearly a euphemism for dying, used a lot in both the Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus is clearly talking about death, yet the disciples took this literally. They remember hearing Lazarus was sick. So when Jesus told them Lazarus is sleeping, they conclude, “Lazarus needs his sleep so he can get rested up and get better. Why wake him up?” Jesus has to come straight out and tell the disciples that Lazarus is dead, but then he adds, “It’s all good. This needed to happen to help everyone believe.” The section of the chapter concludes with Thomas saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” We call Thomas “Doubting Thomas” because of he doubted Jesus resurrected from the dead, yet in John 11:16, we already see Thomas having doubts. Yes, Jesus does die in Judea, so yes, Thomas was kind of right. Yet I think that Thomas was surprised how long Jesus lasted in Jerusalem. A week was probably longer they he expected. Thomas is kind of doubting God will keep Jesus alive as long as God wants Jesus to be. But let’s not be hard on Thomas. First of all, I bet a lot of the disciples were carrying this doubt. But also, you have to praise Thomas for his dedication. His belief that Judea was a death trap could have caused him to leave Jesus and the other disciples to stay in Galilee. Yet Thomas went to Judea and Jerusalem with Jesus, even if it meant He would suffer the same fate as Jesus.

Before we get into the meat of the story, I’m going to shift my writing style slightly. I’m going into less of a commentary mode and more into storytelling mode. Why? I want us to think emotionally about the story. Too often do we drain the emotion of our stories. Movies and television alike have made these Gospel stories as boring as reading them. Jesus speaks in a monotone voice that carries an echo. The other characters talk in a plain voice, like they know what’s going to happen. That’s not the case. We have a very emotional-filled scene. A man just died, so you already have the funeral feel to it. You’ll be able to tell later that Mary and Martha believe that Lazarus is as dead as a doornail. There’s no hope for him. This story may not be action-packed, but it’s definitely emotion-filled. Let’s enjoy for that as I tell you the story.

Two days later, Jesus made the trek down to Bethany with his disciples. Coming all the way from Galilee, Jesus and His disciples were the last ones there. Family, relatives and friends who lived in Jerusalem, a mere 2 miles from Bethany, had already come. They had come to join Mary and Martha in mourning the loss of Lazarus, but also to comfort them. When Jesus arrived, a messenger sent word to Martha that Jesus has arrived. Martha relayed the news to Mary, “Jesus has come from Galilee and is here right now.” Mary gave a cold stare out of eyes, wet from the tears, and she went back to crying. Mary didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. Martha could tell from her sister’s eyes she wasn’t thinking positive thoughts about Jesus. Perhaps she’s thinking that Jesus is selfish, too concerned about His ministry to help friends. Maybe she’s doubting that Jesus ever loved her, her sister Martha or her brother Lazarus. Whatever the thoughts, she’s too upset to go out and see Jesus. Martha, being the hospitable woman she is, couldn’t turn down a guest like that. She went out to see Jesus.

As Martha saw Jesus in the distance, she began biting her lip and clenching her first. Emotion began to well up in her, and she’s trying everything to hold it back. But when she finally stood in front of Jesus, she couldn’t hold it back anymore. She burst into tears and began to wail and sob. “Oh Lord,” Martha cried out, “if you had only gotten here just a bit earlier, my brother would not have died!” Martha then took a deep breath, sighed, and then said, “But I know now that even God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha’s brain told her that her confession was right, even though her heart was fully there. She was sad that Jesus didn’t come and heal her brother, but she knew that Jesus did not sin for not healing Lazarus, nor did it make Jesus a bad person. Jesus still was the Son of Man and Son of God, as well as a wise prophet and Rabbi. Jesus tried to comfort her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha took another deep sigh and says, “Yeah, yeah, I know. I know Lazarus will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. I know I’ll one day be with Lazarus in heaven.” Martha’s brain told her this was true, but her heart still missed Lazarus.

I have to pause our story for some modern-day application that goes right along with this. It’s a common scene at a funeral. How many times have we seen and heard someone (or even done it ourselves!) go up to the mourning family and friends and throw out lines like, “He’s gone to heaven and he’s in a better place now, “She’s in heaven and one day you’ll see her in heaven too,” “At the end of time, he’ll resurrect,” and/or “This was all part of God’s Will/Plan and God has it all under control.” Yes, I know these are all true and all factual. Yes, I know these statements are meant to comfort. But sometimes these statements can send across the message “Don’t worry,” “Don’t cry,” or “Don’t be sad.” It’s denying those who just lost someone the right to mourn. Yes, I get it that Christians are trying to make a testimony by making funerals a celebration of a Christian’s successful Christian walk, all the way to their eternal reward, yet I think mourning at a funeral can have just as strong and important message. Remember, death is the price to pay for our sins. When we mourn at death, we directly mourn at the price for sin, so we indirectly mourn because of sin. When we mourn at death, we mourn that we are in a depraved and fallen world. When we mourn at death, we admit this world isn’t as good as it claims to be. Christians, don’t deny a person to mourn. While we might want to comfort, and we might know how to comfort, that mourning person still misses the dead person. And who knows, sometimes mourning can be most the comforting thing to do. So maybe instead, join the mourner in mourning. You can tell from the story in John 11 that many of the Jews had been throwing those kind of comforting statements at Mary and Martha, yet what they needed most at Lazarus’s funeral was for someone to join in mourning, just like Jesus did. Speaking of funerals, this chapter has a very famous verse read at funerals in this chapter. Actually, it’s the next verse in our story. So that verse I am going to up exactly as is.

John 11:25-
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”

Alright, let’s talk about this, before we go any further, because this is a key “I AM” statement. Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection.” If anything sets out Christianity as unique to the rest of the religions out there, it’s the idea of resurrection. Resurrection involves coming back to life after death. A lot of religions do not have you coming back to life. Those that do have reincarnation, which coming, or being reborn, as something else. It could be another person, another animal, or another living thing (flower, for example), but it will never be yourself. Resurrection means you come back to life as you. This shows there is nothing wrong with you, and God made you with the intention of you being you. It shows God makes no mistakes, so if he brings you back to life, it will be the real you coming back to life. Let’s get back to Jesus. Jesus did quite a number to resurrection. First, he clarified any Old Testament teachings of it. The Old Testament was very vague about resurrection. The most an Old Testament Jew could say about it is that it would happen at the end of time, like Martha stated. It even caused some Jews, like the Sadducees, to deny resurrection would happen. The teachings of Jesus not only declared it real, but it revealed more about it. Second, Jesus brought the idea of resurrection upon himself. He was the source of resurrection. Jesus already taught in John 3:16, 5:24 and 10:28, and now, Jesus was outright stating it as an overall teaching, not a side message. Jesus tacked resurrection right onto Him. Resurrection and life were only possible through Jesus. Old Testament Jews understood God to be the source of life, and also resurrection. For Jesus to claim He was the source, He was claiming to be God. Third, Jesus took resurrection from a “not yet” future tense, and put it in a “here already” present tense. Martha didn’t have to wait for the end of time to see Lazarus again, it was coming right now. By Jesus raising Lazarus, he affirmed He had the power of resurrection. Alright, back into the story, but may I make one more note to look into the story. Notice Martha’s reply when Jesus asks if she believes. I’m going to put it down exactly as it is in the Bible. You might want to compare it John’s purpose statement, found in John 20:31…

Jesus turned Martha’s head toward him, looked her in the eyes and asked, “Do you believe this?” Jesus needed Martha to believe. Martha couldn’t help but sigh again. She was still trying to push her heart to be on the same level as her heart. “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” Martha still believed Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God, even after all she had gone through those past 4 days. Jesus then said to her, “Where is Mary? I really need to see her, too.” At this, Martha went to find her sister.

Martha found her sister exactly as she left her: in the house, sitting hunched over the table, crying her eyes out. Family and friends surrounded her, quietly mourning, afraid to even attempt to comfort Mary. Martha put her hand on Mary, and Mary looked up to see her sister again. “The Teacher is here, he’s right outside the village” Martha says. “He really wants to see you.” Mary knew that she couldn’t give Jesus the silent treatment any more. She knew Jesus would keep asking for her until she went to Jesus or Jesus found her. Mary swiftly got up from her seat, still in tears, to head off to Jesus. When the fellow mourning Jews saw Mary’s reaction, they knew something was up. They follow her out, to watch out for he best interest.

As Mary saw Jesus in the distance and got closer, her walk became a march. Tears started welling up in eyes, but she wasn’t exactly feeling sad. She was feeling more mad than side. In close range to Jesus, she ran up to Jesus, began angrily pounding on His chest, angrily yelling and screaming, “Oh Lord, if you had only gotten here just a bit earlier, my brother would not have died!” She continued to wail and scream, pounding at the chest of Jesus, until she grew tired, when all se could do was fall at the feet of Jesus in tears, sobbing. When Jesus saw Mary wailing and sobbing in sadness and anger, and when He saw all the mourners also weeping, Jesus began to slowly shed tears as well as well, one by one. Trying to regain his composure, Jesus attempted to speak clearly, “Where have you laid him?” The Jewish mourners, seeing Mary was in no condition to answer questions, said to Jesus, “Come this way, and we will show you.”

The mourning group made a small and slow funeral procession to the burial site, which was a tomb with a large rock rolled in front of it. Approaching the site, Jesus Himself could not hold it back any longer. He too, was moved to the same emotion as the two sisters of Lazarus. He broke down in tears. All the on-looking Jews, who had known both praises and condemnations Jesus had received from the Jewish leaders, finally saw Jesus not just as a teacher was some radical views, but a real life human being. They commented, “See how he loved him!” There was no doubt that Jesus loved Lazarus and his 2 sisters. The disciples of Jesus, who were also mourning, couldn’t help but think to themselves questions. The disciples knew that Jesus was God. They knew that meant He is the one who knew everything about the afterlife, like what happens and where people go. So why was He crying? Most people cry because they don’t know the fate of their loved ones. Yet Jesus knew exactly why He was crying. He was, and thus, He was the creator. He Himself separated the sea from the sky and the sea from the land. He Himself filled the sky with birds, the seas with fish and the land with mammals, reptiles and amphibians. It was a beautiful creation, but look what sin and evil were doing to it. It was bringing pain, suffering and death. The thought brought him to tears. In all that sadness, he couldn’t help but be a little agitated at the Devil bringing all the sin and death into the world. How much he looked forward to getting back at Satan and take him down for ruining His lovely creation!

Once again, Jesus tried to regain composure. Jesus wiped the tears of his face, cleared his throat and said, “Take away the stone.” Everyone there gave Jesus a bewildered look. Martha was brave enough to speak up what was on everyone’s mind. “But Lord,” said Martha, “Lazarus has been dead and in there for 4 days. His rotting body is beginning to decay and smell.” Jesus seemed to snap back at Martha, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” Jesus didn’t mean to be snappy, but he really needed Mary and Martha to believe right now. He needed Mary and Martha’s permission to roll back the stone. Martha gave permission, and strong men among the Jewish mourners rolled back the stone.

Jesus wiped back the tears off his face, but as he did, more tears came rolling down. This time, they weren’t tears of sadness, but tears of joys. If the Jewish crowd knew they were tears of happiness, they would have been confused. Why would Jesus be crying and happy at the same time? Yet Jesus was justified in His emotions and tears. “Father,” Jesus began to pray, “I thank you that you have heard me.” Jesus began to grin under all His tears. He continued, “I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” Now a full smile broke out on the face of Jesus, despite the tears still coming down. “Lazarus,” Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Come out!” Everybody stared into the darkness of the cave. They saw a figure move in the darkness. Was it a ghost? Was it a zombie? No, it was Lazarus, full alive and fully healthy! Now everyone was crying tears of happiness and smiling big smiles, just like Jesus. Jesus said to Mary and Martha, “Help the poor guy. He’s looks like a mummy with all those bandages wrapped around him. Mary and Martha ran to embrace their brother and unwrap the bandages.

In story telling, most of the time the story ends. I can understand why storytellers do this, as the action ends there and the rest of the chapter is men talking. So I’m going back out of storytelling mode and reverting back to commentary mode. The rest of the chapter, verses 43 to 57, serve as a “epilogue” to the raising of Lazarus. The epilogue focuses less on Mary, Martha and Lazarus, although we will hear about them later on, early in the next chapter. This epilogue will give us the inside scoop on the thoughts in the Sanhedrin. Before we look at those thoughts, I thought it would be cool to show you how this passage show the Holy Spirit is at work in writing the Scriptures. The conversation in John 11:43-57 takes place behind close doors among the Sanhedrin. That means only 70 people heard it. So how did John hear about it? Obviously, none of the Gospel writers were involved in this meeting because none of them were Sanhedrin. In fact, they were probably despised by the Sanhedrin. So how did John find out? Well, we could take the easy way out and just say that believer in Jesus, like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimethea reported it to John, but we have no clear evidence that John ever met with Nicodemus or Joseph. I think it’s a safer bet to say the Holy Spirit revealed it to John. After all, the Holy Spirit is God, and God is omnipresent and omniscient. He was present behind the closed doors of the 70 Jewish leaders. There will be more proof of that soon to come.

Let’s link the story to the epilogue. Remember that family, relatives and friends from Jerusalem came into Bethany to mourn alongside Mary and Martha. John 11:47 says that many of these people, when they saw the miracle, believed in Jesus. These new believers spread the word throughout Bethany, Perea, Jerusalem, Judea, and the surrounding areas. What were the results? Many others came to believe in Jesus, but not everyone. The Pharisees and chief priests get word of this, too, and they don’t like it. They recognize this is the biggest miracle yet, so now the stakes are higher. They need to make a decision, and make one fast. So they call an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin, the 70-member Jewish ruling body, including the High Priest. The Pharisees and chief priests make the whole council aware that trying to find contradictions in the teachings of Jesus is not working, trying to set traps is no longer working, and calling out accusations is not successful, either. And that’s just Jesus. Even after threatening to shun any Jew who believes Jesus is the Messiah, Jews are still coming to faith in Jesus. Why are the Pharisees and chief priests so concerned? Are they concerned about the religious or spiritual well-being of the Jewish people? No, they are worried about the political well-being of the Jewish people. The Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, had made many compromises to appease to the Romans, to give them some freedom. The Sanhedrin now feared that Jesus was going to undo all of this. The Sanhedrin was afraid that Jesus would lead His followers into a revolution against the Romans. They predicted that this revolution would fail, and the Romans, in turn, would take away all Jewish freedom and make every Jew a slave to them. So the Sanhedrin turns to Caiaphas for assistance in this problem.

This is Caiaphas’s ruling: “It is better for one man to die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” There’s a lot we can take out of this line alone, as well as Caiaphas’s reaction. First, it’s a good example of original intent vs. prophecy. Usually, when Christians talk about prophecy in the Old Testament, they automatically we explain the verse in terms of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Yet they easily forget that the Old Testament Jews did not know Jesus, nor did they know how the prophecy was going to unfold, so they would not understand it in terms of Jesus in the 1st century AD. They have to be reminded to go back and see it from the Old Testament Jewish perspective. Even though this isn’t an Old Testament prophecy (it’s more like a New Testament prophecy), I want to remind you that we need understand Caiaphas’s words from a Jewish understanding just as much as a Christian understanding, and John would agree with me. When Caiaphas passed his ruling (from the Jewish understanding), he meant that it would be right to execute Jesus in order to prevent the Romans from taking control of the Jewish nation and to preserve Israel. What John sees (from the Christian understanding) Caiaphas saying is that the death of Jesus is necessary for the salvation of mankind, especially the Jews, who have been waiting on their Messiah to bring deliverance. There’s debate to whether “the scattered children of God” means the Jews not in Israel or the Gentiles in other nations, but it is clear that not only with the death of Jesus bring salvation, but it will also bring unity to God’s people.

The other thing I want to pull out from Caiaphas’s ruling is that God has not abandoned His chosen people who are in charge, especially the high priest, despite they hate His Son. In fact, it seems like God is still using Caiaphas. First, God uses Caiaphas to pass a prophecy of sorts. So God is still speaking through his High Priest. But better yet, God is still using Caiaphas in his role as high priest. One of the high priest’s most important task, if not THE most important task was to sacrifice the sacrificial lamb of the Day of Atonement once a year to sprinkle its blood in the Holy of Holies in the temple, so that Israel’s sins may be forgiven. We as Christians know Jesus became the sacrificial atonement. So what Caiaphas is doing, even though he doesn’t know it, gives his first sentence for Jesus to be executed, or should I sacrificed. Caiaphas, the high priest, whose job was to shed the blood of the lamb yearly for the atonement Israel’s sins, would now shed the blood of the Lamb of God for the “once and for all” atonement of the world’s sins. Caiaphas was still doing his high priest duties with Jesus.

So what’s Caiaphas’s and the Sanhedrin’s plan? They are out to shed blood. Not just the blood of Jesus, but also the blood of Lazarus. You would think that’s odd that they would kill a man whose just come back to life, but they seriously were! You can’t find out about this in chapter 11, but it is written in John 12:9-11. Check it out-

John 12:9–11-
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

The Sanhedrin hated the fact that this resurrection was causing so many people to believe in Jesus. So I bet the chief priests’ plan was to kill Lazarus, deny Jesus ever raised Lazarus from the dead, and thus give them room to accuse Jesus to be a false teacher and a false prophet. At the least, it would bring down the numbers of those believing in Jesus. Jesus became well aware of the danger He was in now, so he had to leave Bethany, but He couldn’t go into Jerusalem yet because of the same danger (see John 11:55-57). So Jesus and His disciples go to the nearby desert town of Ephraim and lay low there until the danger level decreases at least a bit.

Let me add an epilogue or a supplementary appendix of my own. This is indeed the last recorded miracle in John, and it was the best for last. It was a resurrection. Yet this isn’t the only resurrection. There are 3 definite resurrections of Jesus, and a possible 4th, depending on your interpretation. The first resurrection is when Jesus raises the widow from Nain’s dead son (Luke 7:11-17). The second resurrection is the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue ruler (Matt. 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56). The third is the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45). If you would include a 4th, it would be Jesus raising Himself, but it all depends whether you would count raising yourself, or if you debate whether it was the Father who raised the Son or the Son raised Himself. So why did John choose a new resurrection, one that none of the Synoptic Gospel writers have? Why not just repeat one (or both) of the other 2 resurrections. I mainly think it’s because John’s central teaching, or I could say John’s “thesis” for the chapter, is the “I AM” statement in which Jesus states “I am the resurrection and the life.” It connects back to his original purpose in John 20:31, that Jesus is the Son of God. But I also think John wanted this pericope to point out another word in his purpose: believe. Notice how many people believed in Jesus after this miracle. It might have been in the hundreds, or even the thousands! It was sure enough to catch the Sanhedrin’s attention. It seems like this miracle was just as popular as the Feeding of the 5,000. Why so popular? For the same reasons that I mentioned in the Feeding of the 5,000. I said the Feeding of the 5,000 was so popular because only a few people can relate to blindness, deafness, muteness or paralysis, but everyone can relate to hunger. For the resurrection of Lazarus, once again, only a few people can relate to blindness, deafness, muteness or paralysis, but everyone can relate to death. Everyone has had someone die, whether it be family, relative or friend, and ultimately, all people themselves will face death. It is a very real reality that everyone faces. Yet Jesus comes along with the solution. He can raise His believers from the dead and give them eternal life. Everybody wants to live forever, so everyone wants to follow the one who can give it. The only way to get it is to believe in Jesus Christ, the one who would die and rise again. But we can’t just believe. We need to follow Jesus, which means to die like Him, so we can rise like Him. In the bigger picture, I see this miracle pointing ultimately to Christ’s death and resurrection.

In closing, I’m not sure if you noticed this, but John 11 is the halfway point of the book of John. We’ve finished the first half and we’re about to going into the second half. There are 2 features I want to give everyone a “head’s up” in the second of John. First, the second half of the book of John will be just in Jerusalem. We will go from touring Israel to remaining in Jerusalem. Second, the second half of the Gospel of John will just be the Passion Week of Jesus Christ, what we Christians know as Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Yes, you heard right, the whole second, a total 10 chapters, is focused on one week. Well, if John did that, that means there is something important about this one week that reveals Jesus is God the Son. Let’s stay tuned and check it out. And who knows, this might get you excited for Lent, Palm Sunday and Easter!

John 10: The Lord Jesus Is My Good Shepherd

If I were to survey Christians and ask them what the most popular or most famous Psalm is, or even if I asked them to name a Psalm of the top of their head, the first one that came to mind, I’m pretty sure I would get the same answer for all 4 questions. The 4 questions would all yield the same answer: Psalm 23. If you don’t recognize the Psalm by its number, you’ll recognize it by its first line: “The Lord is My Shepherd.” This Psalm has become quite famous, so famous you can find lines of it on everything from stationary to home décor. It’s so famous that it’s a popular choice of Bible memory for children. Perhaps you memorized it as a child. Well, it was no different for the Jews in the 1st century. Psalm 23 was well known by all the Jews during the time of Jesus. So when Jesus uses his next “I AM” statement to compare himself as a shepherd, it will perk all the ears of the Jews. So we’re going to take a closer look at this metaphor of Jesus being the good shepherd. I will first put up the key “I AM” verses, and then I will look at this chapter topically to compare Jesus to a 1st century shepherd.

John 10:11,14-
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me”

John 10:7,9-
Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep…I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”

Just as the shepherd enters by the gate, so Jesus has the truth (vs. 2). Back in Bible times, sheep pens were simple areas. Sheep pens were a space enclosed by a high stone fence or stone wall in the shape of a circle or a rectangle. There was only one opening in the wall. The only person that would go through that opening would be the shepherd, or possibly a gatekeeper or hired hand under him. Going through the gate was the “right” way to go to the sheep. Anyone who went through the gate the right way was a good person and good to the sheep. In the same way, Jesus approaches us in the right way. He’s not out to deceive us or trick us. He’s not broad or vague. He’s up front with us. He tells it like it is. He has the truth, the good truth, the saving truth. He gives us the truth to for our own good, to save us from the evil in the world. Jesus is not out to hurt us, but to protect us, so he presents the good news in a loving way. However, there’s a flip side to this…

Just as thieves and robbers go over the sheep pen to steal and kill sheep, so false prophets and antichrists use dishonest methods to win over people (vs. 1, 10). Not everyone (or should I say “everything”) was out to be nice and loving to the sheep as the shepherd. Everything from wolves to thieves threatened the sheep. Some would steal sheep; others would kill them. Both wolves and robbers never entered the sheep pen by the gate. They would use other methods, like climbing over the wall to get to the sheep. What a dishonest method! Ladies and gentlemen, the threat to Christians is just as real today. There are false prophets, false teachers, false apostles and antichrists among us today. Just like thieves and robbers, they use dishonest methods to steal people’s souls away from God. They appeal to the sinful desire, by proclaiming selfish desires as good. They disregard the Bible, claiming it is a weight that holds people down. They are bold and arrogant in their empty words, which they cannot back up. They deny the Sovereignty of God or Jesus, making themselves equal, or better, to them. What seems like a movement to better the world ends up bringing to hurt to the people involved, both in this life and the next. Christians, be on the eye for those who “come over the wall,” whose methods are deceitful, tricky and dishonest. Don’t listen to them. Trust in Jesus, and listen to Him. Focus on the one who goes through the entrance, not the one who goes over the wall. For the one who goes in at the entrance also guards the entrance from those who go over the wall. On that note…

Just as the shepherd is the gate of the pen, so Jesus is the way to heaven (vs. 7,9). There was a reason that thieves and robbers had to go over the wall instead of through the entrance. Back in Bible times, sheep pens did not have a “door” or “gate” as we would think. It did not have a “door” or “gate” with hinges and a knob or latch. The entrance of the sheep pen was merely a gap in the wall. When the sheep were in the pen, the shepherd would sit or lie down in the gap, and thus literally become the “door” or the “gate.” No one or nothing could go in or out of the sheep pen without the shepherd knowing and without the shepherd giving permission. In the same way, Jesus is like the gate. (Quick note: This is why I do not consider “I am the gate” as an “I AM” statement. Since the good shepherd became the gate, I see Jesus simply using synonymous parallelism, meaning he’s using two different terms for the same meaning.) First and foremost, this is seen as salvation. The only way to get to heaven is to go through Jesus. But second, remember that nothing harmful can get through the entrance because the good shepherd stands in the gate. In the same way, Jesus protects anything harmful from entering through the opening. Of course, the really deceitful people will try climbing over the wall. Jesus does protect us from those deceitful people who go over the wall, but we still must be on our guard. How do we be on our guard?

Just as the shepherd knows the sheep, and the sheep know the shepherd, so Jesus knows His followers and His followers know Him (vs. 3,14). Good shepherd knew everything about their sheep. As we know from the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:4-7), shepherds knew how many sheep were in their flock. If the shepherd’s flock got mixed in with another flock, he would still know which sheep were his. Shepherds were usually close to their sheep, even if they knew they would be sent to the slaughter for either food for people or sacrifice for God. Shepherds would name their sheep and treat them like pets, from birth until they were sold. There was a very loving relationship there, and as stupid as sheep are, they at least knew when they had a nice, kind, loving shepherd. The sheep would know their name. The sheep would know the shepherd’s voice. The sheep would come whenever the shepherd called. Like I said, the relationship was very loving, and it was mutually loving. In the same way the shepherd loves his sheep, so Jesus loves us. He knows us by name, and everything about us, even down to the numbers of hairs on our head. He knows us past, present and future. He’s by our side from conception to death, and even after that. And the best part is that, like the good shepherd, he’s called us. Notice how the good shepherd does not call his sheep in a mass, but by name, one by one. So Jesus has called us, not just in general, but specifically by name. Anyone who recognizes how much Jesus loves him or her will truly be motivated to love Jesus in return. The first step to loving Jesus is getting to know him. And the first step to knowing him…

Just as the sheep follow the shepherd’s voice, so should Christians listen to and obey God’s commands (vs. 4b). When the shepherd calls for the sheep, the sheep comes. Whatever the shepherd says, the sheep does. The sheep doesn’t question the shepherd because the sheep knows the shepherd says what is best for it. The sheep doesn’t even need to see the shepherd, for the sheep recognizes the shepherd’s voice. If a sheep is this trustful to its shepherd, so Christians also need to be trustful and obedient to their shepherd, Jesus Christ. Sometimes Christians are tempted to question God’s decision in their life or in the world. We really need to cast those temptations out of our head, for Jesus does know what’s best for us. The biggest temptation to question is when it comes to God’s Law or Christ’s teachings. Sometimes people think that God is keeping us from “fun” or he’s all work and no play. But that’s sin trying to convince that our selfish, evil desires are what’s “fun” and “good” for us. So Christians must shut out that temptation and familiarize themselves with the words of Jesus. How do we do that? First step, read the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word. Second step, remember what Jesus says, whether it is by reading it over and over or having a discussion with someone about what you read. Either way, the repetition will help it stick in your memory. Between repetition and memory, you’ll know what Jesus says for you. Third step, respond in obedience. It’s no good if you read and remember, but don’t do anything about it. As James 1:17 simply puts it, “Do what it says.” Not only does it show that we love God, it also helps us be able to recognize the voice of Jesus. Because we all know there’s a flip side to it…

Just as sheep avoid a stranger’s voice, so should Christians avoid listening to the ungodly (vs. 5,8). Why don’t sheep listen to strangers? Simply put they no the strangers are up to no good. They know most strangers are thieves and robbers who want to steal or kill them, so they avoid them. Christians should have that same hesitance towards the worldly ways of this world. The ways of the world are deep in sin, and they are no good for Christians. Those ways will just lead us further away from God, not closer. Our objective as Christians is to get as close to God as possible in our fallen state. Therefore, we need to not listen to any voice that is not godly. For if we do, we could easily find ourselves deceived. Don’t be deceived. Continue to remind yourself of what God has said of you, and avoid anything that does not match up with it. Don’t worry, though, you’ll have someone to help you: your Good Shepherd.

Just as the shepherd goes ahead of the sheep, so Jesus goes ahead of His followers (vs. 4a). The shepherd is a leader. He leads the sheep out of the pen until they are out. He leads them to the pasture. He is the first one in the pasture to make it is safe for the sheep. He knows all aspects of the pasture, just in case the sheep gets lost or stuck. He keeps a watchful and protective eye over the sheep, just as if they were in the sheep pen. When I think of “goes ahead,” I think of God “going ahead” of the Israelites into the Wilderness and into the Promised Land. Well, since Jesus is God, Jesus goes ahead of His followers in the same way. What better example than the life of Jesus. Jesus, while here on earth, was human just as much as he was God. He had a human body, just like yours and mine. He felt all the human needs: hunger, thirst, tiredness. He dealt with every temptation known to mankind. Jesus knew what it meant to be human, so when he taught, he was realistic because he knew how hard it could get. He met our human needs. He knew what it was like to be sick, so he healed the sick. He knew what it was like to be rejected by society, so he reached out to the social rejects. He knew how bad people wanted answers, so he answered questions. He knew how much people loved a good story, so he told stories. I think if there’s any lesson that can be learned from the life of Jesus here on earth, it could be that Jesus was just as human as we were, yet he lived out His teachings perfectly. If He can do it, so can we, or at least we can try or strive to do our best to get to that point, or something close to it. Most importantly, though, Jesus saw we were hurting ourselves in our fallen and depraved state, so He did something about it…

Just as the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, so Jesus lays down His life for His people (vs. 11-18). If you wanted a dangerous job in the 1st century, believe it or not, shepherding was one of them. The shepherding lands were full of many wild beasts, such as lions, leopards, panthers, bears, jackals, hyenas and wolves. The one thing they all have in common was they all loved munching down on sheep. If you want to know how tough shepherding was, just read shepherding accounts of Jacob and David (Genesis 31:38-40 and 1 Samuel 17:34-37 respectively) to get the picture. A good shepherd would fight off these animals tooth and nail to defend their sheep, even it meant being mutilated and mauled. Bad shepherds or hired hands would flee at the sign of danger, leaving the defenseless sheep on their own to be mauled. Why would a good shepherd defend his sheep? Once again, it goes back to the intimate relationship with the sheep. He loves them and cares for them, so he will do anything to defend them from harm. Jesus does the same. John 10:11 is most commonly translated “for the sheep” but a better translation would be “on behalf of the sheep.” Jesus lays down His life on our behalf, for our own sake. He knows the danger people are in, that is sin and evil. He knew it leads us to death and hell. But Jesus loved us personally, loved us intimately. So He was willing to pay whatever price it would take to get us back, even if it was His life. How ironic, yet fitting, that it is the shepherd, who will be the once-and-for-all sacrifice, for the animal that was usually sacrificed on the Day of Atonement was a sheep. Jesus willingly laid down his life for His people, and God the Father was pleased by this. We too should give Jesus the credit for what He has done by praising and worshipping Him.

Just as a shepherd has other sheep in other pens, so Jesus has followers from other places in the world (vs. 16). I know this one kind of sticks out weird, but I thought it was kind of cool to mention. Sometimes a shepherd would keep his sheep in the same pen with sheep from another shepherd. Sometimes a shepherd would keep his sheep in multiple pens. Sometimes a shepherd would do a combination of both. But when it was time for the sheep to graze in the pasture, he would call all his sheep together as one. Truly, the other sheep in other pens are the Gentiles. How do we know these Gentiles are true sheep? Just like the real sheep of the shepherd, they know the shepherd’s voice and follow. The Gentiles who hear the teachings of Jesus and follow Jesus are true believers. They will join up with Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah, and they will become one. This is what I see happening in Acts. Gentiles from other tribes and nations (other pens, if you will) all over the world, coming together as a new kingdom and a new nation, the kingdom of God. And what made this all possible? The works of Jesus.

What does Psalm 80:1, Ecclesiastes 12:11, Isaiah 40:11 and Jeremiah 31:10 all have in common? All of these Old Testament verses describe God as the Shepherd of His people Israel. All of the Jews knew these verses, and they all knew God as their Shepherd. So when the Jews heard Jesus proclaim that He was the Good Shepherd, all the Jews knew He was proclaiming to be God. If you need internal evidence, just keep reading the chapter. In John 10:30, Jesus says that He and the Father are one, that is, God. In John 10:31-33, the Jews get ready to stone Jesus because they say Jesus claims to be God. Even the opponents of Jesus are claiming Jesus is God, or at least claiming that Jesus is claiming that Jesus is God. Think back to the original questions that I asked you in the introduction of John. Who does Jesus say He is? Who do the opponents of Jesus say that He is? God the Son. Yet another “I AM” statement proves Jesus is God the Son, just like John intended. John will continue to show us Jesus is God the Son with the “I AM” statements right into the next chapter of the book of John.