Resurrection for Real Life: Great Assurance

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0:00Good morning, New Creation. It's great to be here with you. So, if you're wondering where everyone is, a lot of people are at the youth retreat. So, you know, instead of looking at this as like, oh, where is everybody? We can look at it like, oh, we know where those people are. They are having a retreat. They are enjoying themselves. We should give thanks, church, that this church has so many young people in it. So many kids who wanted to go to a retreat, leaders who wanted to teach them and lead them.

0:36It's a good thing. So, they're retreating. They're worshiping at Lake Anna. We're worshiping here. But it's great to be few in number this morning because of what that represents. It represents the young people at our church, which we're so grateful. The present and the future of our church.

1:00So, we are here and we are wrapping up John 11 today. This is the fifth sermon of the five-week series on John. And it's the resurrection. The series is called Resurrection for Real Life. Now, last week was the big, if you were here last week, you know last week was the big moment. Last week was the passage where he raises Lazarus. So, you might wonder, well, what else is there to talk about really, John? Like, move on to the next thing. Jesus did his big thing.

1:40Well, John wants to tell us what happened after the miracle. What happened then, John? How did people respond? That's really what this passage is about. How did people respond? We're going to use this passage to kind of explore how we respond to Jesus and how we can respond the right way. How we can trust him. So, before we read it, before you open it up, maybe you're already skimming it. How do you think people are going to respond? I mean, I've never witnessed someone four days dead walking out of a tomb.

2:17Have you? How do you think people are going to respond? But remember this. Remember not just the miracle, but this. The raising of Lazarus shows that Jesus is someone with great power, great authority, someone who's bringing change, someone who deserves to be listened to.

2:45When we think about those things, you think, oh, I don't always respond very well when I encounter those things. Let me give you an example. When I was working in my previous career, it was at a pharmaceutical plant just south of Petersburg. And it was a German-owned company. And so sometimes they would send their promising young German executives over and fill a spot somewhere in the org chart. It's like a developmental role for a couple years, and then they would go back.

3:23We had a new president one time that was this kind of person, new executive director, a new department head. And with every new person, new leader that came in, there was speculation. A shakeup is going to happen. What is she going to want to do? What is he going to want in this organization? People were thinking about a reorganization. It led to a lot of hand-wringing, a lot of anxiety, a lot of chatter around the water cooler. What's going to happen when they come?

4:01Everyone was worried about their job. Everyone was trying to assure themselves that they were okay. People were saying things like, he can't get rid of me. I do this job. She can't fire me. Otherwise, who would do this? He can't cut our group. We do this really important thing. Fill in the blank. People had this response just at the thought of a new leader coming in, a new person of power over them. Immediately, they were starting to get nervous.

4:35I was one of those people sometimes when it was my department that was getting a new leader. What is going to happen? How safe is my job? Change is threatening. Let's just admit that. When we encounter someone or something that disrupts the status quo, we resist. So here's the thing for us today. When Jesus comes knocking at your door, do you tense up? I do sometimes when Jesus comes barging in to some part of my life that I had not invited him into.

5:21What is he going to disrupt? What is this going to mean for me? We get insecure. Sometimes around Jesus. We prefer things the way that they've been. But listen, we can trust him. And rather than just me telling you that and asserting that, we're going to use this passage to show us why we can trust him. Let's find out what happened after Lazarus walked out of the tomb. How did people respond? How should we respond? This is the word of the Lord for us today.

5:53It's true in every part. It comes to us from a God who is truthful always, holy always. He doesn't lie, but he also comes to us with his steadfast love, his abounding mercy and grace for us. Let's listen. Let's receive from him. Let's pray together for open ears, soft hearts to receive from our Father. Starting in verse 45 of John 11. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

6:40So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.

7:19He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim. And there he stayed with the disciples.

7:52Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, what do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all? Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know so that they might arrest him. Pray with me.

8:31Lord God, make us humble before you with hearts open wide for you to challenge whatever you need to challenge, strengthen whatever you need to strengthen, heal what you can and desire to heal.

8:55Lord, remember us in our weakness. Remember us in our need. And Lord, help us to remember not only your power, but your great love for us. We need the continued work of the Spirit in us. Draw our eyes to you, Lord. Make every word that you speak to us good news, no matter what it means for our lives, no matter what it means for us. No matter how you convict us, encourage us, draw us in, Lord. No matter what you say to us, Lord, I pray that we would receive it as good news.

9:43Jesus, do your work in us and among us today. If your word goes forth, with power, with love, with the working of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray.

10:04This passage is about great assurance. This is the assurance, that's the real life concern. This passage really wanted us to look at John 11, not just about some doctrine, something you would find in a theology book, but for it to be resurrection power that really touches parts of our lives that we need. His power, His love, His truth to come to bear on. And today, we look at the assurance that we need to trust Him. To actually trust Him and follow Him.

10:41So, we're going to talk about three things. The pushback, the prophecy, and the plan. We'll start with the pushback. Recently, the YouTube algorithm has put something in front of me that I have come to enjoy. Not everything that the YouTube algorithm suggests is worth your time. But I've enjoyed this. It's this short form video series called Subway Takes. Has anybody seen Canons? You recognize it. Anybody else other than the Canons? Talk to the Canons about Subway Takes.

11:19So, Subway Takes. Here it is. A guy named Kareem Rama, he goes on to the New York City subway and he interviews people. That's the whole premise. It always starts with, and they have microphones on these little, you know, the little disposable metro cards. It always starts with him asking, so, what's your take? To the person that he's in, just an ordinary person. And then they give their opinion about something. Some topic that they've chosen some opinion, some random opinion that they have.

11:53It can be hilarious. It can be thought-provoking. It can be offensive, what people say that they believe. But it is always very divisive what they say. Here's some of the examples of what people have said on this show. So, what's your take? And the person says, I think all drinks should be fizzy. That's what one person said. One person said, salad is meant to be eaten with your hands.

12:25The internet should have a curfew. I thought that was, they were like, that person said, eight o'clock. The internet should just be shut off. And then the interviewer was like, well, what should people do? And they're like, he goes, I don't know, read a book? Like, play a board game? Talk to people? That's not a bad idea. Another one, another, another subway take that hits a little closer to home was that somebody said, we need to introduce height zones at concerts.

12:56You can tell why that hits me. Because I've sat down in seats and I've heard from behind me, oh. So somebody thinks that we should institute height zones at concerts. Now, the host always responds either one thing or the other. He always responds either 100% agree or 100% disagree. And then they have a little conversation about it. Actually, it's pretty neat, the conversation, because sometimes the views get moderated and people get convinced the other direction.

13:26But the point is that he's asking people, he's giving people a platform, just tell me what you believe about something. Something that you think should be done one way or the other, right? And it divides. I mean, he reacts how he reacts. Either he loves it or he hates it. Jesus is divisive. He walked around and he created division all the time. Jesus was not making people hold hands and sing kumbaya everywhere he went. He was dividing people all the time.

14:00Households, communities, because of what he said, because of what he did. Responses were split. Some people loved him. Some people scorned him. Doesn't this surprise you? I mean, he was healing people. He was casting out demons.

14:26Why would he be, why would he divide people? What's not to love about a guy going around healing people, casting out demons, overcoming disease, calming storms? Why? Why do people respond negatively? Now he's done the greatest miracle that he's done so far. He brought Lazarus back from the dead. The man had been buried for four days. Right? This is amazing.

15:00And yet, like all of his other miracles, all of his other sayings, it divides people. This great sign has elicited two responses, fear and faith. John says, some believed in him. People are saying, this is it. He's the one. He's the one we've been waiting for. This is it. Sign me up. I'm team Jesus. I'm on board. Tell me where to go, Jesus. Tell me what to do.

15:38But not everyone. Some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Now kids in the room, what do you call a classmate who goes and tells the teacher what somebody else did? A snitch, a narc. I was looking for a tattletale, but I'll take... Show me narc.

16:05all of those things apply. What is that a response of? That's a response of fear. These religious leaders were their guides. They're intercessors. They're protectors. It was them between the Roman authorities and the people. These people are saying, look, leaders, Pharisees, listen up. This is a person with power we don't know how to respond to. We don't know what to do. What is he going to do? What disruption is he going to cause? Do something about this.

16:45Put down your scroll and go do something about this. Take note. Even witnessing someone rising from the dead isn't enough to convince some people. This really shows the extent of our resistance to the living God.

17:13So now the council is summoned. This is the Sanhedrin. This is all of the people who are decision makers and leaders among the Jewish people. Every kind of Jewish authority mentioned in the Gospels would have been in this council, right? Pharisees, Sadducees, Sadducees, the clerks, the scribes, the high priests, the elders. This meeting has one topic. This is a short docket of this meeting. Item one of one. What are we to do with Jesus? They don't deny the signs.

17:55They don't call it an illusion or smoke or mirrors. There have been too many witnesses at this point, right? Even if they didn't see them all themselves, they know that people have seen them. It is uncontrovertible. And now a guy who has been four days dead is alive again. They know these things are real, but to them it's not good news.

18:21They don't even pause to consider whether Jesus is telling the truth about who He is, that maybe He is the promised deliverer of the Old Testament. Maybe He is Daniel's son of man. Maybe He is Isaiah's servant of the Lord. Maybe He is Ezekiel's shepherd. Maybe He is David's son. No. They have dismissed all of those questions. It can't be.

18:54All they see is what they stand to lose. If this keeps going, the people who follow Jesus are going to be a movement. Everyone's going to believe in Him. The Roman government will notice and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. Scripture says. Based on the grammar, this is not the collective hour. The grammar makes it clear. They're not talking about all the people. This is about their status as leaders.

19:29They are leaders of a minority group in a larger empire. Right? Their power is me. eager. They are still ultimately a people that's subjugated under this synchronicity nation. The Romans have given them the freedom to worship as they like and that is about it.

19:50It's not much power. But they prefer that power to Jesus' power. Jesus' power is unfamiliar and it certainly means the end of their reign. And you know what? They're right. Now this is the point where I ask you to look inward. Does that sound familiar?

20:18I see Jesus coming. I hear Him knocking and all I can think of is what I stand to lose. What is this going to mean for me? What do I have to give up? I know what my power means. It's not much, but I know what life looks like when I'm in control. Jesus' power is strange and unfamiliar.

20:44There's no telling what He might ask me to do. And we're right. Every bit of that is right. Whenever Jesus comes near, it leads to a power struggle. That's why Jesus is divisive. In ancient Palestine, in the ancient Near East when Jesus walked the earth, and right now, these men at least recognize it for what it is. Right now, most people in America say they like Jesus. Yeah, He's a great guy. Love that guy. A moral example, a wise teacher. Boy, I wish He could come right now and set this person straight and this person straight.

21:40Everyone says they like Jesus. Why? Because they're keeping Jesus at a distance. And they're sicking Him on whoever they want to sick Him on. The closer He gets, though, the more His power feels threatening to my way, to my beliefs, to my assumptions, to the way that I've put my life together. And ultimately, to my security. We prefer familiarity over change, and we certainly prefer Jesus being in charge. To us being in charge, to Jesus being in charge.

22:20This is true whether you're encountering Jesus for the first time or the thousandth time. It took me a long time, literally years, to say, I will leave my career and my paycheck and my stability and the future that I have mapped out for myself and go into vocational ministry.

22:47But then again, it also took me a long time to say, I will leave my assumption that I'm fine the way that I am and go into counseling. Or to say, I will leave my belief that I'm completely right and respond to my wife, to my kids, to my friend, to my neighbor, to my enemy with repentance. All of that is a power struggle.

23:25The power of Jesus brings life and health and healing and wisdom. Does it not? You know that to be true. But only when we relinquish our own autonomy, our own control, our own self-justification, we hear Him call and we suspect that going with Him is going to upend our life. And we're right in big ways, in small ways, in open ways, secret ways, ways that everyone can see and ways that only God sees.

24:03An encounter with the miracle working Savior leads to a power struggle. And the rest of this passage, it gives us two reasons to yield to Him. To submit to Him and say, okay, Jesus, I still don't know what this is going to mean for me, but I'm going to follow You.

24:27I'm going to stop clinging to the meager scraps of power that I have and receive Your resurrection power in my life. Let's talk about the prophecy. Caiaphas was the high priest, one of the big wigs of the council. His voice, his opinion, carried a lot of weight. He sees the most direct solution. It's obvious to him. It's a little ruthless, but he isn't afraid to say it. To him, this is just a simple calculation. A small evil done for a greater good.

25:06It's better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. And with that statement, Caiaphas has become an unwitting prophet.

25:21He doesn't know it, but this is God speaking through him. Not that he's a robot or like a ventriloquist dummy or something like that. But like the prophets in the Old Testament, his words have a meaning beyond what he even knows. His counsel has an outcome beyond what he even intends. And we know this because John tells us he did not say this of his own accord, but prophesied. Caiaphas has added to the long list of prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus, but not like he expects.

25:59It's true. Jesus is going to die for the nation, but not to preserve their meager autonomy under Rome. Jesus is going to establish a holy nation. Way back after the Exodus, God spoke to Moses and he said, Moses, tell the people this. Tell the people, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

26:34Well, what happened? Did they keep his word? Did they keep the covenant? No, they didn't. They broke it. In steps Jesus who came in full obedience to fulfill the covenant in our place. And that's why Peter says you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. Do you see the similarities of those two things? Book ending Christ right in the middle. Yes, Jesus came to die for the nation, this nation, the holy nation that he would establish.

27:14And in Peter's letter, he is writing to all who have put their faith in Christ, Jews and Gentiles. And that relates to the other thing that John says here in chapter 11, that Jesus would die also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. This gathering of others outside the nation of Israel is exactly what Jesus said he would do in John 10. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice so they will be one flock, one shepherd.

27:53This too agrees with God's plan in the Old Testament. God told Abraham not once, not twice, but three times in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

28:09This gathering that God had long foretold is happening in Jesus. And all of this is happening, why? Because they decide to kill him. These men don't know it but they're working for God.

28:27Their resistance is playing right into God's hands. It's working out his plan. Caiaphas' sinister plan to keep them in power. It's actually moving forward God's redemptive work. The council's fear and anger, it's only leading them to sing from God's sheet music.

28:49They have agreed without knowing it to do God's bidding to accomplish the plan of salvation that the sinless Jesus, fully God, fully man, would be the intercessor for sinners. So this is the first reason to trust him. This is why we can trust him. God's purposes will always prevail.

29:12Always prevail. There is nothing and no one outside his rule. Why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain? Even opposition is folded into his purposes.

29:31They work for him even when they don't know it. So this leaves us with a choice. We can either resist and be overtaken or we can yield and be blessed.

29:45Resistance is futile. God says that to you in love, people. Not as a bully, but as a shepherd. Don't you think the sheep are more unhappy when the shepherd with his crook has got to push them against their will versus them following as he leads?

30:21Those are the two options. The shepherd's staff or the shepherd's crook around your neck. But it's good news. It's good news to be invited into his work. To be blessed by following him. By going along with his redemptive work instead of being one more voice like Caiaphas, like the council, saying something prophetic that God is going to use and fold into his work, but kicking against the goads. Resisting.

31:04This is an amazing offer that we can work with God and be blessed by God. Here's the second one. Let's talk about the plan. To the rest of the council, Caiaphas is making all the sense in the world. He's right. This is the best way. It must be done. I'm glad it wasn't me that suggested it, but you're right, Caiaphas.

31:35John tells us from that day on they made plans to put him to death. I want to tell you this. I really think that verse, verse 53, is the most important verse of this whole chapter.

31:48From that day on, they made plans to put him to death. John is putting in big neon letters. Jesus' death is imminent and certain now. You might have heard of the shot heard around the world. Came in the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 19, 1775. And what did it start? It started the Revolutionary War. In April of 1861, the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter and it triggered the Civil War. In June of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Bosnia and it led inevitably to World War I.

32:36Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was the event that led inevitably to His crucifixion. And Jesus did it knowingly. Jesus knows what He's doing. This is part of why He went out of love to Bethany but not after waiting some time. He knew all along that He was going to be put to death. He's been saying it over and over to the disciples. But it wasn't just foreknowledge. He is in control. He intentionally pushes over the first domino.

33:25Listen, when He went to Bethany, He intended not only to bring life to Mary and Martha's family, it was not just to show His power to the community in Bethany. He also did it to direct His own path to the cross so that He could bring eternal life to all who believe.

33:54Lazarus was Jesus giving Himself for you and for me, for sinners. The rest of this passage tells us about the moves that He makes, the questions of the people, the scheming of the authorities as they're trying to spring their trap.

34:14Verse 54 says Jesus didn't walk openly anymore, but don't misread that. He is not protecting Himself. He is waiting until the proper time. Jesus never acted out of self-preservation. He uses His power for self-giving, self-emptying, self-sacrificing for us. That's why you can trust Him. It's not just because God folds all things into His purposes, even resistance, so you might as well go along with them. That is a reason. But the other reason is that Jesus, out of love, He gives Himself for you.

34:57He knew what was going to happen when He raised Lazarus. And be honest, who else does this? No one. What other leader? What other boss? What other friend with such great power and control in their hands uses it to put themselves in harm's way? Knowing full well what's going to happen and doing it willingly out of great love so that you could be delivered. Friends, you can trust someone like this. When that kind of Savior comes knocking on your life, when you feel His power, when you know that it's going to mean some change for you, remember that He gave Himself for you.

35:56Even here in John 11, He gave Himself for you. This did not happen to Jesus. it leads to insecurity. Who can preserve themselves from harm from death? Who can stand before God and live? But here's the good news, Jesus set into motion the events to become our intercessor.

36:30Before we could even ask, before we even knew, while we were still enemies, Christ tied for us, and so He initiates His own suffering and His own death. These religious leaders here in John 11, they're a cautionary tale.

36:52They clung to power and they lost it big time. In 70 AD, the temple was destroyed. Their way of life, their power was gone. This is the path for anything and anyone who tries to hold on to power. But Jesus says this, whoever seeks to preserve his life will keep it.

37:27Now that verse has got to weight to it, doesn't it? That's a sobering truth. If you read that and it both feels like good news and also makes you want to swallow hard, then I've got good news for you. You're reading it correctly.

37:52There's a power struggle contained in that verse. Jesus' power versus our power. But do you know what makes it easier to embrace knowing that he used his power to give you life?

38:11The only way you could have life by losing life is because Jesus gave his life. And it took a step forward with Jesus' own will in John