John 12:37-50 - The High Price of Unbelief

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45am Svc, 2009-11-22

Text: John 12:37-50

This morning we want to learn what God's Word says about the awfully high price a person will have to pay if he does not believe in Christ. This may be helpful for anyone who is still seeking and considering whether he or she should turn to Christ for salvation or not. There are 3 questions every person should should consider carefully in this life: The first question is: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus in order to gain the praise of men, but lose the praise of God? The second question is: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus in order to gain worldly wealth, but lose eternal blessings? And the third question is: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus in order to lose all affiliation to God's Word but gain eternal judgement? We shall begin with the first question which is: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus and confess Him:

I. To Gain the praise of men, But lose the praise of God?

Here in our text we see a group of people who apparently thought that it was worthwhile to do this. Look at vv.37,38 'But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?'

Here John the apostle expresses his great dismay and regret that in spite of the abundance of miraculous signs Jesus had performed, many people still remained stubborn in their unbelief. We will recall that by this time, Jesus had turned water into wine at Cana (ch.2); He had healed a nobleman's son without even having to visit him (ch.4); He had made a man who was paralysed for 38 years walk again (ch 5); He had fed 5,000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes and had walked on the water (ch.6); He had opened the eyes of a man who was born blind (ch.9); and finally, He had raised up Lazarus who had been dead for 4 days (ch.11). And besides these miracles that were recorded in the Gospel of John, there were also many others Christ performed, which were recorded in the other 3 gospels, plus many more unrecorded ones.

One would think that all of these combined together should provide such overwhelming evidence of the truth of the claims of Jesus that none would hesitate to believe in Him. But unfortunately man's heart is so intractably sinful that despite such a strong, solid case for Christ, people still reject Him.

And the more they reject Christ, the more difficult it may become for them to be converted later on. After a person has initially refused to believe in Jesus Christ his heart often becomes more hardened to the gospel. This truth is reinforced by John, as he quotes the Word of God from the book of Isaiah. Look at vv. 39-40: 'Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.' 

One example was the Pharaoh of Egypt in the time of Moses. Despite all the miraculous signs shown to him, incuding the plagues of Egypt, he hardened his heart, and refused to release the Israelites. Because of this, God also hardened his heart from the 6th plague onward. This was a judicial hardening.

Now, this truth has very serious implications for everyone. It means that the attitude of unbelief is extremely dangerous to one's soul. Whenever unbelief is allowed to take root in the heart, it tends to grow and increase until the heart eventually becomes impenetrable to the Gospel of Christ. 

Therefore if you have not believed yet in Christ, please be very careful of the sin of unbelief. It will close your heart's door to Him, and one day that door may become completely sealed up to Him. 

Now, if you do not want this to happen, then you must keep a receptive attitude to the truth. Be willing to listen and consider very carefully, the wonderful gift of salvation from Jesus, and the evidences of His many miracles which support all His claims. Be willing to be led to a response of surrendering your heart to Him. 

Let me give you an illustration. The message of salvation through Christ is like fire. Fire has very different effects on different objects depending on what the objects are made of. If the object happens to be a newly-made pot of clay, the fire will harden the clay, until it becomes so hard and brittle that it breaks to pieces when it falls. But if the object happens to be a candle made of wax, the fire will melt the wax, causing the wax to yield itself to the flame and make it burn even brighter. So let me ask you this: 'Is your heart like wax or is it like clay?' Does the Gospel melt your heart or does it harden your heart? Be careful not to have a heart like clay. Do not condition your heart against the wonderful salvation that Christ brings.

Now you may ask: What can possibly condition your heart against being saved? The answer is found in v.43 of our text: 'For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.' The verse just before this tells us that these people were the chief rulers. It says that they did believe on Jesus. However, their faith was not saving faith because they did not want to confess Him out of their fear of men. In Romans 10:10 God's Word tells us, 'For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' This means that faith that does not produce a willingness to confess Jesus publicly is not saving faith.

And why did the chief rulers not want to confess that they believed what Jesus said? Look at v.42 'Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.' These rulers were afraid of being cast out of the synagogue. This means being excommunicated or ostracised from the community. Was their fear real? Yes it was. Earlier on, in John chapter 9, a man who was born blind was cast out of the synagogue after he confessed that he believed that Jesus was from God. He was not afraid of the consequences of believing in Jesus and confessing Him, in direct contrast to these chief rulers, who were afraid of being cast out.

It is a sad thing that many today have conditioned their heart against believing in Jesus and confessing Him, because they are very afraid of what others will think of them. Some may be afraid of being ridiculed or rejected. Others are afraid of losing the respect, friendship and love of their closest peers. For instance, if you happen to be from a very closely-knit family of staunch Buddhists, you might be afraid that if you believe in Christ you will become the 'black sheep' of the family, causing a lot of heartbreak and strife in the family, and bringing an end to the unity and peace of the family. Why change things, you may say, why 'rock the boat'? It is so painful and inconvenient. 

But whatever the cause of fear may be, one thing must be made very clear: If a person allows such fear to prevent him from receiving Christ, then he is more afraid of men than of God. He wants to gain man's approval, and not God's approval. He wants to please men, and not God.

I hope you can see how foolish it is to do this. Which do you think is better - to be approved by God or to be approved by men? Don't you think that what God thinks of you is far more important that what people think of you? Whatever people think of you will only be helpful for the time you spend here in this world, and after that it will be completely forgotten. But what God thinks about you will be helpful for all eternity, and will never be forgotten.

Bearing this in mind, it is my prayer that anyone here who has not committed himself or herself to Christ yet, will carefully count the cost this morning: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus and confess Him in order to gain the praise of men, But lose the praise of God? It is time for you to consider this question seriously. And as you do this, here is another question that you must also consider: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus:

II. To gain worldly wealth, but lose eternal blessings?

This is another thing that may condition a person's heart against receiving Christ: The prospect of making much material gains in this world. Some would say to themselves: 'Why should I live for things in heaven, or for spiritual things which I cannot see at all? There are already so many things in this world for me to gain and to enjoy in this present life. I want satisfaction, and I want it now.'

Among the 12 disciples of Jesus, there was one whose thinking was just like this. And he was Judas Iscariot. According to the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, it was at this particular point of time that Judas went to the chief priests to make a deal with them to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. There is no record of this transaction here in John 12, but when we come to the next chapter, John 13, we see that Jesus is already at the Last Supper with His disciples. In John 13:21-30, Judas is identified as the one who betrays Jesus.

To see the earlier transaction he had made with the chief priests, let us turn our Bibles now to Matthew 26 and read verses 1-5 'And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.'

Now look at vv.14-16: 'Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.'

What was it that motivated Judas to 'sell' his master to the chief priests? Was it not his greed? Was it not the prospect of making money for himself? From an earlier glimpse of Judas in the gospel accounts, we learn that he was put in charge of finance. Let us look at John 12:6 - 'This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag and bare what was put in.' Judas was the treasurer of the 12 disciples, and it was learned much later that he actually stole funds from the money they had committed to him to keep. That is why John called him a thief in this verse. He was able to cover up his tracks so well that no one suspected him, even at the Last Supper.

But we all know that later on, after he betrayed Jesus with a kiss, he felt the weight of his guilt so heavily that he eventually killed himself. What was it that had caused all this? It was his love for money. God's Word tells us in 1 Timothy 6:10 - 'For the love of money is the root of all evil.' Judas was an example of this. 

And those who refuse to turn to Christ because of their pursuit of worldly wealth are just like Judas Iscariot. Now, I think that no unsaved person would ever take kindly any suggestion that he is just like Judas Iscariot when he refuses to believe in Christ. But when our pursuit of worldly wealth becomes a stumbling block that prevents us from believing in Christ, then aren't we doing the very same thing that Judas did in valuing the 30 pieces of silver more than Christ?

And if we adopt the very short-sighted policy of living for what we can get out of this life, instead of living for blessings in eternity, will we not end up the same way that Judas did? Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, 'What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'

Once again it is my prayer that anyone here who has not committed himself or herself to Christ yet, will count the cost carefully this morning: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus and confess Him, to gain worldly wealth, but lose eternal blessings? It is time for you to consider this question carefully. And as you do this, here is one more question that you must also consider: Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus:

III. To lose all affiliation to God's Word but gain eternal judgement?

This question deals with another thing that may condition a person's heart against receiving Christ: The desire to live one's life freely without being bound by anything at all, and especially without being bound by the Word of God. This is the outcome of the independent spirit of our present time. Among all who have been confronted with the Gospel, the majority will admit that this is the main reason why they are not inclined to believe in Christ. They say, 'I want to live my life in my own way. I want to be my own master. I want to be free to do whatever I want with my life, without anyone telling me what to do. So please don't come and preach to me or tell me what I should do or what I should not do with my life. Just leave me alone.'

But many who say this may not realize that no one is completely free to do whatever he wants with his life, because he is already bound by the sinful nature within him. He cannot be his own master, because sin is his real master. The freedom he claims to have is only a freedom to walk in darkness.

If you want real freedom there is only one way to have it. Real freedom of the soul can only come from believing in Jesus Christ. Look at what Christ said about this in v.46 'I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.' Only by believing in Christ can you be liberated from the awful darkness of sin, and enjoy true freedom.

And those who refuse to listen or to have anything to do with the Word of God are only cutting themselves off from this one and only means of releasing them from the darkness of sin in their lives. And the greatest irony of it all is that they will eventually have no choice but to listen to the Word of God one day, on the Day of Judgment. On that day there will not be any more good news for them from God's Word, but only bad news: The news of suffering the eternal consequences for rejecting Christ and His Word. Let us look at vv.47-48: 'And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.' 

When that day comes, it will be too late for regrets. When you stand before Christ at the Last Day, you can only say this. 'If only I knew and believed a long time ago that one day I would be standing here before God and experiencing His awful judgment, I would have listened to God's Word, I would not have rejected Christ. How could I have been so foolish not to receive Christ and be saved when I had the opportunity to do so? How blind I was to the things that are of real eternal value. All the wealth and fame and power that I was so proud of - where are they now? All are gone forever! There is nothing I can do now. There is none who can help me. The only one has the power to help me is God. But since God is now against me, there is no one else to help. There is no escape from this. I have no choice now but to face Him with much regrets, to pay the high price for my unbelief.'

Sometimes I wish I could transport a person to that future time, so that he can see exactly how absolutely pitiful his plight will be if he does not change his ways right now. But I don't need to do that for all of us here, because here in this Book, God has permanently shown us for all time, the terrible nature of the eternal judgment that will befall us if we do not believe. How glad we should be, that we have been warned about this long beforehand!

And since you now know about what awaits you, it is time for you to consider this very carefully. If you have not yet believed in Christ, think very carefully now, about these 3 questions: Is it really worthwhile to gain the praise of men, but lose the praise of God? Is it really worthwhile to gain worldly wealth for a short time, but then lose eternal blessings? And is it really worthwhile to be free from all affiliation to God's Word but to face eternal judgment by that same Word on the Last Day?

Please count the cost with great care. How will you respond, dear friends? Will you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour or reject Him? If you receive Him into your life now, you will have every reason to look forward to the time when you will meet Him face to face.

Towards the close of World War II a soldier who had spent more than 3 years in the South Pacific, sat in a railway coach with a look of joyful anticipation on his face! The train was speeding to his home town. 'How fast are we travelling?' asked the soldier of the porter. 'We are travelling as fast as the train can go - 160 kmh,' the porter replied. 'How far are we from our destination,' asked the soldier. 'A little over a 160 km, sir.' The soldier took his duffle bag and bundles down from the overhead rack, and said, 'I'm going to be the first one to get off the train!' Why was he so eager to reach his destination? Because his father, mother, brothers, sisters, friends and sweetheart were all waiting to give him a hero's welcome!

But there was another soldier in the same coach. He looked extremely depressed and dejected. He was in handcuffs and there were military po1icemen keeping watch over him. He wished with all his heart that the train would not travel so fast, as he was not eager to reach his destination at all. There would be no friends there to meet him or loved ones to greet him. Only shame, judgment and punishment awaited him there as he was to be court-martialled for a serious crime that he had committed during his military service. Are you like the first solder or the second one? 

Our Lord Jesus says to you, 'Come, let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.' (Revelation 22:17) Will you come to Him today?

John 12:37-43 - Caught in the Public Eye

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2002-06-23

Text: John 12:37-43

The events described in our text took place only a few days before Jesus went to the Cross of Calvary. By this time most of the miracles of Jesus had already been done, including Turning Water Into Wine (2:1-11); Healing the Nobleman's son (4:46-54); Healing the Paralytic (5:1-18); Feeding the Multitudes (6:6-13); Walking on Water (6:16-21); Healing the Man Born Blind (9:1-7); Raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-45). And there were sufficient witnesses and evidence from all these miracles to bring people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were of such great magnitude and power, that it would be utterly unreasonable for anyone to avoid their message - the message that Jesus was truly the Christ, the Son of God who came to save man from sin. And there were many people who responded in the appropriate manner - they believed in Jesus Christ, and they openly confessed their faith in Him by following Him.

But at the same time, there were those who did not do that. They included the Pharisees and scribes, the religious elite in Israel at that time, who utterly rejected Christ, opposed Him continually, and they were later responsible for having Him arrested, tried and crucified. Despite the powerful and compelling witness of the words and works of Jesus, they just refused to believe in Him. Why? Well, there is a saying - There are none so blind as those who will not see. The heart of the problem was the problem of the heart. This is brought out by the quotation of Isaiah in v.40 'He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted' And because of their unreasonable, stubborn unbelief, these people will one day come under God's awful judgment.

But at the same time there were certain people at that time who believed in Jesus Christ, but who did not confess Him. Although they were personally convinced through the multitude of miracles of Christ that He was truly the Son of God, they could not bring themselves to let others know that they believe in Jesus. So no one knew that they believed in Christ. We can call them silent believers, or 'secret believers' because they wanted no one to know that they were followers of Christ.

There are some people today who are just like that. They hear the Gospel, and recognise that it is the truth and the salvation they need. They then commit themselves to believing in Christ, but they do not want to confess Him before the world. They do not want to be baptised, because baptism consitutes a public confession of faith in Christ, and they do not want their faith to be 'caught in the public eye.' They say that their faith is after all, a personal and private matter between them and God alonse, and so no one needs to know that they are Christians. They just want to remain 'secret believers'. To preserve the secrecy of their belief, some may even refrain from coming to church, and from Christian fellowship meetings and Bible study. And when they have meals together with others in a public place, you won't see them bowing their heads to say grace, as this would 'blow their cover' so to speak. Perhaps you may have friends who are like this. Perhaps you may even be doing this yourself.

Some time ago, I read a story about a young Christian man whose church was praying for him, because he took a job during his summer vacation working in the forests as a lumberjack, cutting down trees. They were concerned that this young man would not be able to take the ridicule and verbal abuse that the rough and tough unbelieving lumberjacks were known to dispense against Christians. When the young man completed his stint and came back to church they asked him how his job went, and his reply was 'I had a good time with the lumberjacks' and he added with a smile: 'They did not even suspect that I am a Christian!'

Dearly beloved, can a true believer in Christ remain a 'secret believer' or an 'undercover Christian'? If a person says that he believes in Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour, can he keep that fact all to himself and not let the world know about it for long? To find the answers to these questions, we now need to look at:

I. The Reasons Why Some Are Secret Believers 

A. Their Love for the Praises of Men 

The first reason is found in v.43 'For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.' The ones who believed in Christ here wanted to maintain a public image of themselves to the world that would keep them accepted and loved by everyone. According to v.42 these men were the chief rulers among the people. In such a high position, they enjoyed the respect, the influence and the acclaim of being chief rulers.

To the world, keeping up one's image or appearance is very important. During one of the messages that we had at our church camp last week, I mentioned that one of the things that is much valued by the world is appearance. Many will go to great lengths just to build up a good public image and maintain it. And that is why many spend a lot of time and expense on their outward appearance. They think, 'if I can only reduce my waistline and improve my figure and posture, people will love me and accept me.' Or 'If only I restore my hair, dye it a different colour, and get tatooed eyebrows, then people will love me and accept me.'

But this desire to be loved and accepted by everyone is wrong and sinful, particularly when it is done at the expense of confessing Christ before men. A person who loves the praises of men more than the praise of God is person who loves the world. And God's Word in 1 John 2:15 makes it clear that 'If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.'

Dearly beloved, if you had to choose between receiving the praise of men and receiving the praise of God, which would you choose? If you want to truly call yourself a Christian, you must choose the praise of God. If the praises of men are more important to you, how can you say that you believe in Him? Are you afraid of being deprived of the praise of men? And are you afraid of the ridicule and scorn that might arise from men, when you choose to receive the praise of God? This brings us to the other reason why these people in our text would rather remain as secret believers and not openly confess Christ:

B. Their Fear of the Persecution of Men 

According to v.42 'because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue' The Pharisees were the dominant custodians of the Jewish religion at that time, and they were totally opposed to Jesus.

They absolutely refused to recognise Christ as their Messiah, because he had exposed their hypocrisy and not complied with their regulations. For example, they took issue with Jesus over the miracles of healing that he had performed on the Sabbath day. To them, Christ could never be identified as the Son of God because he was a Sabbath breaker.

Since the Pharisees stood opposed to Jesus Christ, they also despised all His followers. And any Jew who believed in Christ would have to risk being excommunicated from the synagogue. In those days, when a Jew was excommunicated, he could not simply go and join another synagogue. He was an outcast, ostracized by society and no one was to have any contact with him! No one would employ him or do business with him anymore.

The fear of excommunication still exists today for any Jew who contemplates on becoming a Christian Jew. He would be considered a nonentity by all, and the community may even conduct a funeral service for him, to signify that he was already dead! This was so unthinkable to the chief rulers who believed in Jesus that they chose to be secret believers.

Earlier on in the Book of John, there were others who had the same fear 'These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.' (John 9:22) The ones who feared excommunication here were the parents of a man who was born blind and whose eyes Jesus had miraculously opened.

Likewise, there are some people today who choose to take the easy way out because of this fear. They do not want to face any kind of persecution or be marginalized for being Christians. And so they remain secret believers. They do this hoping that they can enjoy all the blessings of God, while at the same time enjoying the praises of men. But this compromise puts them in a very unstable and precarious position. They are neither here nor there, but sitting on the fence. If you are in such a position, ask yourself whom should you fear more? - Should you fear men or fear God? Please understand that if you truly believe in Christ, there is a price you have to pay, a cross that you must bear. Please understand also that as a secret believer, you are taking great risks. Let us spend some time finding out what these risks are.

II. The Risks of Being a Secret Believer 

A. He Will Have To Compromise His Faith After Some Time 

If a person really wants no body to find out that He is a Christian, he will soon have to compromise his faith. If he does not compromise his faith, he will be found out! And so, to keep himself from being found out he is forced to live under false pretences, living in the same manner as all the unbelievers around him. We may liken him to a sheep in wolf's clothing!

If he lives in a home where his family members are steeped in ancestral worship, he would have to hold joss sticks and bow down to idols on the altar during each Chinese festival. He would have to eat the food offered to idols. He would have to visit the temple and visit the graves at least once a year and appear and put on a false appearance of worship. If a secret believer works in an office he will find it difficult to excuse himself from the rowdy and profane conversation they have there. To be fully accepted by them, he would not able to keep himself out of their sinful pursuits. If he were to display any unwillingness to participate these activities he might arouse suspicions in the rest that he is a Christian!

All these compromises will only make life for him more and more miserable. He is constantly filled with guilt that he has sinned against God, and with the fear that he might be found out. But that is not the only misery that a secret believer has. Another risk that makes his life quite miserable is that:

B. He Cannot Have The Full Assurance that He Is Saved. 

If a person does not want to confess His faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, his sincerity in believing in Christ is in question. If he truly believes in Jesus Christ, and loves Christ, and calls Him his saviour and Lord, why does he want to keep quiet about Him?

Let me say this: No true Christian can ever be comfortable to keep his faith a secret for very long. True faith in Christ, cannot be stifled or suppressed, but it will seek to be expressed. Romans 10:9,10 'That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.'

For this reason whenever you lead someone to salvation in Christ, tell that person to let others know that he is now a Christian. This is one good way to tell if he is truly saved or not. If his faith is genuine, he will overcome his fear and will let others know of his new found faith in Christ, beginning with those who are closest to him. But if he refuses to tell a single soul about it, and says 'I want to keep my faith a secret' it is quite doubtful that he truly believes. Now besides the risk of compromise and the risk of not having assurance of salvation, there is one more more risk that the secret believer has to take.

C. He Cannot Fulfill His Role As a Christian.

A Christian is meant to be a witness to Jesus Christ. He is not ashamed to be called a 'Christian' because by this the world will associate him with Christ, and he will fulfill his God-given role of being a witness to Him. How can we fulfill our role and witnesses unto Him if we are afraid to bear His name? In Matthew 5:14,15 Jesus said, 'Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.' By this analogy, a secret believer would be a lighted candle that is placed under a bushel. What use does this have? No one can see the light and benefit from it. It might as well just be extinguished! In a like manner, a Christian who cannot fulfill this role of being a witness for Jesus Christ no matter how small that witness may be, may as well not be a Christian at all. He will have to remain barren all his life, and cannot win a single soul to Christ!

Dearly beloved, I am putting all this in the strongest possible terms so that you will see how dangerous it is to be a secret believer. Please do not take these risks. It is far better to come out into the open and let others know you are a Christian. Even though you may face ridicule, persecution and much inconvenience for doing this, you will be much happier and at peace with God. You will find it really liberating and refreshing, because you won't have to live a lie anymore. You can now have full assurance of salvation, and you can now fulfill your role to shine forth as a light for Christ.

Coming back to our text of Scripture in John 12, about the chief rulers who believed but did not confess Christ, we know that at least two of them eventually did confess Christ openly. They might have endured the misery of being secret believers long enough to know that they should not continue in it.

One of them was Nicodemus, the Teacher of the Jews who came to visit Jesus by night in 3:2. The other was Joseph of Arimathea. Both of these made their faith public just after Jesus died on the cross. Let us look at John 19:38,39 'And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.'

Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man and a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin council, who had objected to the council's decision to condemn Jesus. He had been afraid all this time to openly confess his faith in Christ until this moment, when he no longer wanted to remain a secret disciple of Christ. He had been moved in his heart very deeply when he saw how Jesus died, and this may have given him the boldness to openly confess his faith in Christ. How? By going to the Roman governor for permission to give Jesus a proper burial. Joseph was even willing to use his own new tomb, which he had probably constructed from himself and his family in a nearby garden. 

What about Nicodemus? V.39 tells us that he too was moved to come out in public and risk being criticized and even ostracised by his fellow Jews, in order to prepare the body of Jesus for burial. The Scriptures do not record what happened to Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea after that, and we can only imagine the angry response of the unbelieving Jews against them. But the satisfaction they had of being able now to serve the cause of Christ openly more than compensated for all that they had to suffer.

III. The Readiness You Need to Make Your Faith Known 

And so, dearly beloved, let us learn from the example of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Don't hide your profession of Faith, but be ready to make it known. The Word of God in 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, 'But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear'

I remember the time when I was a soldier in the army, going through national service. Army life is quite different from civilian life. We had to live together in barracks, and we all lived very closely together. There is no privacy and one's life becomes like an open book for everyone to read. When we ate together, everyone would be digging right into their food, and I would be the only one saying grace silently. When we retired for the evening, everyone would be talking or sleeping, and I would find myself the only one reading the Bible with a flashlight in the dark. Everyone of course knew then that I was a Christian, and of course I wondered what they thought about that.

You know, if there ever was a time in my life when I really felt different from all the rest - that was it. And it was not a pleasant feeling. And I think that if I had not been committed to my Lord Christ, I would probably have been tempted to hide the fact that I am a Christian, and hope that no one would ever find out. And since people around me know that I am a Christian, I was really conscious of the fact that people would are watching me life closely and I have to live a life worthy of His name. I knew that I cannot do anything questionable, or else people would be quick to generalize and say: 'So that is what a Christian does.' Well life in the army is full tense situations where one's moral fiber is stretched to the limit. And I thank the Lord that by His grace I was able to bear His name without bringing shame upon it. And by His grace, some of those who were closest to me eventually came to know Him.

My purpose for sharing all this with you is that you will be encouraged not to conceal your Christian identity whether it be in your place of work, or school, or neighborhood. Don't be afraid that someone may give you the nick-name 'Holy Joe' something worse than that. The name of Jesus Christ that you bear upon you, is worth going through all of that.

And may you be even more encouraged go through all that, by the words of Jesus Himself in Matthew 10:32,33 'Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.'

John 12:27-36 - The Hour of Judgment and Glory

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45am Svc, 2009-11-01

Text: John 12:27-36

In the past week the hottest news in the entertainment world has been the worldwide screening of the concert movie of the late Michael Jackson. For 4 months Michael Jackson had been rehearsing for the 50 gruelling performances of this major concert that was to be held in London. If it had proceeded as planned, the concert would have been attended by several million fans, earned over S$230 million for Jackson, generated about 1 billion pounds for the British economy, and broken the world records for the fastest ticket sales in history, the greatest number of shows performed by an artist at a single venue, and the largest audience ever to see an artist in one city. The concert was named 'This Is It' because Jackson planned it to be his final hour of glory on stage before he would call it a day. In March this year he told a press conference, 'This will be my final show-When I say this is it, it really means this is it.' I think you all know what happened -he never made it to his concert. He died on the 25th of June, 18 days before his first show was to begin. 

Michael Jackson will go down in history as one whose death had kept him from his final hour of glory. But there is Someone who has gone down in history as One whose death was His finest hour of glory. And what an awesome glory it has turned out to be - a glory that has remained undiminished for 20 centuries; a glory that continues to impact millions of lives in the world today, including ours. The One whose death was His finest hour of glory, is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we will see as we study our text of Scripture in John 12:27-36.

I. The Knowledge Christ Had of That Hour

This passage marks an important transition point in the earthly life of Jesus Christ - the transition from His public ministry, to His hour of suffering and death on the cross. In our previous sermons on John's Gospel we had seen several occasions when it was mentioned that His hour had not yet come (2:4; 7:6,30; 8:20). But now in v.23, Jesus says, 'The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.' And in v.31 He said, 'Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.' The time had come. Jesus no longer talked of these things as events that were still to come. He announced that they were to happen right then. 

That's not all. There are a few other indications of the transition. One of them is the voice of God speaking from heaven. When Jesus began His public ministry by being baptised, the voice of God was heard by the people, saying to Him 'Thou art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.' (Luke 3:22) Now, in v.28 the voice of God is heard by the people once more to mark the end of the public ministry of Jesus. 

Then in v.35 Jesus Himself announced to the people, 'Yet a little while is the light with you.' Throughout His entire public ministry they had been seeing Him in person, hearing Him teach and preach, and experiencing the great miracles that He did. But now Jesus announces that this was the last time they would be able to do this. In a little while He would no longer be with them. And this happened in v.36 which ends with the words, 'These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.' He retired away from public view to spend the 3 remaining days before His death, with His disciples. The next time that Jesus would be seen in public was at His trial and crucifixion.

Isn't it really amazing that our Lord Jesus was so fully aware of the exact moment when His public ministry must end and his hour of trial and suffering must begin? None of us here can claim to know our life like that. We may try our very best to plan the course of our life carefully - when we should complete our studies, begin our career, settle down and have kids, and retire. But all the plans we make are uncertain at best, and they will have to change as God disposes whatever we propose. 

Unlike any of us however, Jesus had full knowledge of His entire life from beginning to end. Nothing was unclear or uncertain to Him. According to v.27 He knew exactly why He had come into this world - to suffer and die for sinners. According to v.33 He knew exactly how He was going to die - by being lifted up on a cross. He also knew exactly when and where this would happen - at Jerusalem (cf. Matthew 16:21) at that particular Passover feast in AD 30 (cf. Matthew 26:2). But what is most striking is that Jesus knew exactly what He was going to endure - the bitterness of being betrayed by his own disciple, the 6 humiliating trials, the excruciating pain of being crucified and, worst of all, the anguish of being forsaken by God the Father! And it was this particular knowledge that caused Jesus to say in v.27 'Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour'

Two days later, that same knowledge would cause Him to say in the Garden of Gethsemane, 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,' (Matthew 26:38) and to cry out 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me' (Matthew 26:39). As he agonised in prayer, His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44) and He needed the help of an angel to be strengthened. 

Now, here is something really wonderful to us - that He whose deity was so clearly displayed in all the things He knows, could feel just as troubled, agitated and sorrowful as we would feel in the face of the worst trials and sufferings in life. Here we see the humanity of Jesus displayed as clearly as His deity. From this we know that though Jesus is unlike us, being fully God, He is also like us since He is fully man. 

And this can be a tremendous source of comfort - In Jesus Christ you have an all-knowing and all-powerful Saviour who fully understands your feelings, your fears, and your weaknesses because He Himself was troubled by these things. You should come to Him every day for all the help you need to cope with every trial of life. Are you burdened with a heavy load of cares and problems in your life? - tell it to Jesus. He understands you. Are you weary of some long-term suffering or sickness that is afflicting you? - tell it to Jesus. He cares a lot for you. Are you worried about your future or that of your loved ones? - Go and tell it to Jesus. He knows exactly what you need and is able to help you.

II. The Prayer Christ Made for That Hour

The problem with many of us is that we don't turn to Him enough for help. Instead of praying, we carry all our problems by ourselves and let them torment us from within. Instead of casting all our cares upon Him, we worry ourselves to death. And why do we not pray? Perhaps because we feel that our prayers are not powerful enough or effective enough. We ask, but we receive not - because we ask amiss (cf. James 4:3). Our prayers are very often just a listing of all the things we want. We tell the Lord to do things our way, thinking that this is the best way for us. 

That is not the right way to pray. The right way to pray is taught by Jesus Himself in vv.27-28 of our text. Jesus said, 'Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.' The key to understanding this correctly is the question 'What shall I say?' Here our Lord reveals that though praying for deliverance from that dreadful hour would seem to be right and logical for Him at this time, that is not what He should pray for. 

This is because that very hour was what He had come into this world for. Hence He will not pray for deliverance from that hour no matter how dreadful it was to Him. Instead of this, His prayer for that hour was, 'Father, glorify Thy name.' (v.28) This is a prayer of full surrender to the will of God. It was a selfless prayer. It was echoed in the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, 'Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.' (Luke 22:42)

Dearly beloved, is this the way you pray when you face difficult trials and painful experiences? Do you pray that God's name will be glorified, and leave it to God to decide how His name will be glorified - whether by delivering you from the trial, or by giving you more grace to bear it? We have regularly uttered the words of the Lord's Prayer in our worship service 'Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.' Does this not teach us that God's name and God's will should be more important to us than our own need for deliverance? 

If you find that your prayers has become ineffective, and you have been praying amiss, then change the way you pray. Surrender your will to the Lord, and express it to Him in your prayer 'Lord, above all let Your will be done; let Your name be glorified in answering my prayer.' Soon you will notice a difference in your prayer life. You will be amazed at how God answers prayers that sincerely put His glory and His will as the first and foremost petition.

In v.28 of our text we see that immediately after Jesus prayed, 'Father, glorify Thy name,' the Father answered Him, 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.' What a firm assurance this was, of answered prayer. And what a powerful testimony it would have been to all who heard it, that God's name will indeed be glorified through His dreadful hour of trial. And this became much clearer when Jesus gave them a short exposition of how this would be accomplished.

III. The Exposition Christ Gave about That Hour (vv.31-33)

Firstly, He said in v.31 that it would result in the judgment of this world and the casting out of the prince of this world. This judgment refers to the universal conflict which would come to a head at the Cross. It refers to the conflict between good and evil which began when Satan rebelled against God in the beginning. It resulted in Satan usurping the dominion of this world from man. 

How did this happen? According to Genesis 1:26, God had created man in His image so that man would exercise dominion over the world under God. But by his sin of eating the forbidden fruit, man gave up his dominion to Satan, who then claimed the world as his own domain. Hence, Satan is called the 'prince of this world' in v.31 (and also in 14:30 and 16:11, cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12). 

However just after the Fall, God promised that Satan's rule will end one day and that man will exercise his rightful dominion over this world again. This promise was given in Genesis 3:15. (Let us turn to this verse and read it). Here is what God said to the serpent, which represents Satan 'And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' The 'woman's seed' refers Jesus Christ. His bruising of the serpent's head refers to His victory over Satan which took place at the Cross of Calvary. And since Jesus is fully man, He will assume man's rightful dominion over this world. This verse, by the way, is the very first good news of salvation from sin in the Bible, and the very first prophecy about Jesus Christ, in the 'woman's seed.'

This prophecy also mentions that the serpent will bruise the heel of the 'woman's seed.' This refers to all the agonizing trials and torment that Jesus suffered in the events that led to His crucifixion. Satan thought that by going all out to turn the world against Jesus he would be able to destroy Him forever. He moved the unbelieving Jews to oppose Jesus. He inspired Judas Iscariot to betray Him. He moved Pontius Pilate to accede to the Jews' demands to put Jesus to death. But all this proved to be futile - merely bruising the heel. After Satan and the world under his dominion had done their very worst against Jesus, Satan was resoundingly defeated at the cross.

This then is the meaning behind the words of Jesus in John 12:31: 'Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.' I think that we can fully appreciate now, how important that hour of judgment was in the entire history of redemption. That hour had been announced just after man sinned in the Garden of Eden. After that, all the events of biblical history were preparing for that hour. Then, when that hour finally came, the conflict between good and evil was brought to a head. In that hour the Lord effected our salvation and cast out the prince of this world. And today we who are in Christ have inherited all the blessings that God had planned for us because of what He accomplished in that hour! Doesn't all that show how great and glorious our God is?

But that isn't the end of the story. While Satan has been defeated at the cross, he is still working hard and trying to recoup some of his losses. He hinders the preaching of the Gospel to keep it from reaching the whole world (1 Thessalonians 2:18). He blinds the minds of unbelievers so that they will not understand the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). He multiplies false teachings and counterfeit gospels to lead people away from the Gospel. 

All this means that while we now rejoice in the resounding victory that Christ has won at the cross, we must remain vigilant against the Devil and all his devices. We must put on the whole armour of God and cannot afford to let our guard down (Ephesians 6:10-18). Dearly beloved, do you look to God for help to win your battles against the flesh, against the devil and against the world? Please don't ever forget this very important principle: Only God's power can enable you to overcome all these things. This principle also applies to your efforts to win souls for Christ. You ought to share the Gospel faithfully with your friends and loved ones, but you must trust in God's power to draw sinners to Himself. Jesus Himself said this in v.32 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.'

And this leads us now to the second way that God's name is glorified through Christ's hour of judgment. Awhile ago we saw that God's name is glorified by the Defeat of Satan - this effectively obliterates Satan's claims of world dominion. Now we see that God's name is glorified by the Drawing of all men unto Christ - this effectively overcomes Satan's hold of all people and nations under his power.

You may remember that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days at the beginning his ministry, Satan showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said, 'All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.' (Matthew 4:9). Our Lord Jesus would never accept such terms, and so He rejected the tempting offer. But this does indicate that the mission of Jesus was to gain all the kingdoms of the world for Himself - kingdoms which Satan held tightly under his power. And the way that was ordained for Jesus to gain all these kingdoms was by His death on the cross.

Now as we look back at our passage, we see Jesus at the threshold of the hour when He would go to that cross. Very soon, those same kingdoms of the world that Satan had used to tempt Him with would be His. 

Satan's power over the Gentile nations would be broken. And so He says in v.32, 'And I, If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me.' The word 'all men' here refers to all without distinction. It means that not only the Jews, but also Gentiles of every race, every tribe and every language will be drawn to Him. Thus Jesus will truly be the Saviour of the world. This is why, when Jesus gave His disciples the great commission later on He said, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations' (Matthew 28:18-19) And then, we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:24 that at the end of the world, Jesus will deliver up 'the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.' Thus, the Father's name will be eternally glorified by the Son.

Knowing all this should make us doubly glad that Jesus went to the cross to die. If He had not done this, then all of us who are Gentiles would not only be hopelessly lost in sin, but also helplessly bound under the tyrannical power of Satan. How awful our lot would have been, if Jesus had not set us free. I trust that each time you think about your salvation from now on (and especially when you come to the Lord's Table this morning), your heart will be more thankful to God and your singing of praise will be more meaningful. 

IV. The Warning Christ Issued before That Hour (vv.34-36)

And if you are not saved yet, I would urge you not to delay any more to turn to Christ for salvation. As long as you are not in Christ, you have no part at all in His great victory over sin, over death and over the devil. Instead of that, you have a part in the awful darkness of sin. In v.35 Jesus said 'he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.' And besides that, you will have an eternal part in that miserable place of outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 22:13).

It is very sad that even in the time of Jesus so many people who had the privilege of seeing Him in person, hearing Him and experiencing His miracles ended up spending eternity in that outer darkness. Verse 37 tells us that 'though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.' They had not heeded the urgent warning of Jesus vv.35,36 'Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you; While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.'

One reason why they did not believe in the light is that they could not understand why Jesus said that He has to suffer and die. This is what they said to Him in v.34, 'We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?' These people were Jews who were not ignorant of the Scriptures. They knew those passages of Scripture which foretold that the Messiah would abide forever as king over Israel (e.g. Isaiah 9:6,7). They looked forward to that. But they could not accept a suffering and dying Messiah even though there are passages in the Scriptures like Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 which clearly reveal this. This shows that their belief was selective. They believed what they liked to belief, and refuse to believe what they did not like.

And Jesus could see that the heart of their problem was the problem of their hearts - hearts of doubt and unbelief. That is why instead of attempting to answer their query, He gave them a loving final warning. He warned them that their time was running out very quickly. If they would humble themselves now and believe in Him, they would become children of light. Their hearts would be enlightened by God to understand all truth. But as long as they persisted in unbelief, the truth would just remain a mystery to them. It would be just like the voice of God that spoke in v.28 - all that they could discern was the sound of thunder!

Today there are some who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour because they cannot bring themselves to accept that everything the Bible says about Him is absolutely true. If you insist on allowing such doubts to stop you from coming to Christ, then you may miss your opportunity altogether. Dear friends, Jesus calls you to put your doubts away and come to Him right now. Humbly accept those things that you do not fully understand at present, and have faith that the Lord will make them plain to you one day, as you surrender your will and your heart to Him.

John 12:12-26 - Why Did They Shout Hosanna?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published life BPC 10.45am Svc, 2009-09-20

Text: John 12:12-26

On 28 November this year, a group of 42 will have the opportunity to visit Israel and Jordan for a 12-day trip with an itinerary which will cover at least 50 places of interest, including those in and around Jerusalem. If you happen to be one of those going on this trip you may notice that the walls around the old city of Jerusalem have 9 gates. But of these 9 gates, the oldest and most impressive of all is the Golden Gate. With foundation stones that date back all the way to the time of Nehemiah, it is the entrance that is nearest to the Mount of Olives. Before the Temple was destroyed in AD 70, this was the main entrance to Temple courts. 

But what is interesting about the Golden Gate is that no one can use it now because it is completely sealed up and there is a Muslim cemetery right in front of it. Why is this so? Well according to a historical account, after the Ottoman Turks had conquered the city the Turkish ruler, Sultan Suleiman learned that the Jews believed that when their Messiah comes, He will enter Jerusalem through that gate. And so in the year 1541 he sealed it up and built a cemetery in front of it to prevent the Messiah from coming. 

Well that sultan was actually 15 centuries too late, because the Messiah of the Jews had already come in AD 30 and He had been welcomed into the city through the Golden Gate. This event took place 5 days before He died on the cross for the sins of the world. It was the triumphal entry of Christ. 

Our Lord Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a young ass. This was the fulfilment of Zechariah's prophecy that the Messianic king of Israel would enter the city not on a horse, as a mighty conqueror, but on a lowly ass, as a gentle bringer of salvation. This typifies the first advent of Christ when He came to the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). But a time is coming soon when the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven riding on a white horse, to judge and to make war with the world. And all the kindreds of the earth will then wail because of Him and the judgment He brings against the world (Revelation 1:7). 

I. Why did the Jews shout 'Hosanna'?

A. Because they were convinced that He was their Messiah and King

In contrast to that future event, this triumphal entry of Jesus Christ was greeted warmly by cheering crowds of Jews waving palm branches in their hands and shouting, 'Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.' (v.13) The cry 'Hosanna' was a Jewish exclamation derived from Psalm 118:25 'Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.' The original Hebrew for the words 'save now' was actually 'Hoshi'ah Na' Out of this verse in Psalm 118, these words soon became used by the Jews as a cry to God for deliverance and blessing. Now, why would the words of this psalm be on the minds of the Jews when Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem? One probable reason is found in verse 12. It mentions that many people had come to Jerusalem 'to the feast.'

This feast was the Passover, which was to be celebrated in a few days' time, to commemmorate the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, that was effected by Moses. Now during this feast it was customary for the Jews to read and meditate on Psalms 113-118. These 6 psalms constituted a collection called 'The Great Hallel'. The climax of these was Psalm 118, which was a grand psalm of national rejoicing for deliverance from God. And the acclamation, 'Hosanna!' given in this psalm, embodied all their hopes for God's deliverance.

But what was it that prompted these Jews to shout 'Hosanna' when they saw Jesus entering Jerusalem? According to vv.17,18 'The people therefore that was with him when He called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the people also met Him, for that they heard that He had done this miracle.' 

What had made this miracle so remarkable was the fact that Lazarus had been dead for 4 days when Jesus brought him back to life. The miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, together with the many other miracles Jesus had done in His 3-year ministry had thoroughly convinced them that He was their long-awaited Messiah - the Deliverer of Israel whom their prophets had foretold. The Jews knew that the Messiah would also be their rightful king. You will notice that this is what they called Jesus in v.13 'Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.'

The earlier part of this verse tells us that they 'took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him'. The palm tree was a symbol of grace, elegance and uprightness. It was also a symbol of victory and rejoicing, and the waving of palm branches is mentioned in Revelation 7:9 as part of the heavenly worship that will be given to Christ there. And so during the Triumphal entry the whole multitude that had come to Jerusalem for the Passover waved palm branches and shouted 'Hosanna!' to acknowledge that Jesus is the rightful King of Israel and the Messiah of the Jews. 

B. Because they expected Him to fulfill their selfish hopes.

But the amazing thing about all this, was that a few days later, the same crowd that welcomed Him with cheers of 'Hosanna! Hosanna!' hurled jeers of 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' Why did they change their tune? It was probably due to an utterly selfish and mistaken concept of the Messiah. To them, the Messiah was the One who would bring back the glorious Davidic Kingdom to Israel.

Thus, their shouts of 'Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!' expressed their hopes that Jesus would now lead all of them in a mighty revolution to overthrow the Romans, and to restore all the lost fortunes of the Kingdom of Israel. But when it became very clear to them that this was not His intention at all, all their excitement gradually died down. In the days that followed, this selfish concept of the people became evident, as they went back to their own businesses, and hardly paid any attention to what the Lord Jesus said or did. All the joyful exaltation and praise they had given Him during His triumphal entry was soon forgotten, as they returned to their own pursuits. Only a few of them continued to seek after the Lord Jesus sincerely. Among them were the Greeks that are mentioned in v.20.

The point we want to take note of, is that the majority of the people sought after Christ for the wrong reasons. They craved for all His benefits and for manifestations of His miracle power, but they did not want to give themselves and everything that they had to Him. The same thing is still true today. Multitudes of people still come to Christ, but unfortunately not all come to Him for the right reasons. Many are merely looking for a Saviour who can help them to escape from the fires of Hell, and who can keep giving them whatever they wish to have in this life or in the life to come, be it wealth, or health, comfort or ease. 

II. Why you should sing 'Hosanna.'

Dearly beloved, do you come to Christ for these reasons, or for different reasons? Are you seeking Christ with the right motives? Why do you sing Hosanna and call Him your King? Do you do it to give Him the full-hearted worship He deserves, or do you to it with a persona; agenda of seeing all your selfish desires fulfilled by Him? Dear friends, let me ask you this: Would you still come to Jesus, if He does not save you at all, or bless your life in the end? Would you still come to Jesus Christ, if He requires you to sacrifice everything you have for Him, yes, even your own life?

Please listen again to what the Lord Jesus said in vv.24-26 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour.' Now, these are very important words for us to ponder in our hearts. They remind us of what it costs to be a follower of Jesus Christ. 

They show us that those who desire to follow Christ must be willing even to forsake their own life, like Jesus was going to do shortly, on the cross. So let us study what Jesus said here carefully, beginning with v.24: 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' The imagery used here obviously comes from the realm of farming. Any farmer knows that a single seed can never produce anything good, unless it is first planted into the ground. Only then will it germinate into a plant and produce fruits. 

A. Because you are willing to follow Christ's example (v.27,32,33).

Why did Jesus say this? One reason is that His own death was imminent. (v.27) In less than a week after saying these words, Christ's own life was going to be sacrificed. Thus the seed here refers to Himself. As the seed falls to the ground and dies, so Jesus was shortly going to fall into the hands of those who would crucify Him. But out of His death, the glorious and bountiful atonement for sins would germinate and blossom, bringing many into eternal life! Thousands upon thousands would be saved from eternal death through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is stated by Him in vv.32,33 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die.'

But there is another reason why Jesus said this. And that is, to teach us to follow His example of self-sacrifice. Listen to what He says in v.25 'He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.' Here Jesus was no more talking about His own death, but of a general principle that is applicable to every one of us.

But there seems to be a strange paradox in this statement. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life will get to keep it. This thought is totally opposite to the world's thinking, which is based on the survival of the fittest. Most people are motivated by the survival instinct, to jealously guard the precious life they have. And most people not only desire to preserve their own lives, but to enhance and improve their lives as much as they can. What the world promotes is self-love and self-esteem. 

We all have probably been guilty of this at some point of our lives. Whenever we put our desires and our will before God's desires and God's will, we love ourselves. Whenever we want to have things going our way rather than God's way, we love ourselves. And whenever we live our lives the way we want, rather than the way God wants, we are loving ourselves. But Jesus says in v.25 'He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.' And the illustration that He provides in the preceding verse is that of the seed 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' Within this verse we can observe two distinct strands of teaching. The first is:

1. Living in Humility

'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.' Unless we are willing to deny ourselves any glory, we would never be able to do this. But many do not like to humble themselves. Many do not like to end up with the unpleasant prospect of having less privileges and rights than others. But that is the price we must be willing to pay if we are to live in humility. The other strand of teaching is found in the latter part of the verse: 

2. Living and Dying for God's Glory

'But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' The words, 'much fruit' here is the term that Jesus often used to describe good works that bring glory to God.

Jesus Himself has set the example. In v.28 He expressed His earnest desire that the Father's name would be glorified. Therefore our lives become fruitful when when we die to self and live for the purpose of glorifying God. Dearly beloved, let us resolve that whether we live or die, we do so to glorify God. Let our earnest prayer be, 'In my life, or in my death - may God be the One who is praised and glorified.'

B. Because you are willing to serve Christ (v.26).

Besides bringing glory to God, there is one more motivation for self-sacrifice. This motivation is mentioned in v.26 'If any man serve Me, let him follow Me' This means that anyone who follows Jesus Christ must be willing to make the same sacrifice that He made, and to have the same level of self-denial that He had. That is the requirement that Jesus has set for all who would serve Him. Is it an unreasonable requirement? No it isn't. Jesus Himself said that by virtue of the relationship that a disciple has to his Master, the disciple must never expect to be better off than his master. 

We can see this in Matthew 10:24,25, where Jesus said 'The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord' Therefore, as followers of Christ, we should not expect to be in better circumstances than what our Lord had. Christ expects all who follow Him to have the same willingness He had, to forsake every personal right for the sake of God's Kingdom. As His disciples we must be willing to sacrifice all our rights and privileges, whenever such a sacrifice becomes necessary. 

Dearly beloved, what has your commitment to Christ cost you so far? What price have you paid thus far, for following the Lord Jesus Christ? What sacrifices have you made to do His will? I think that if we were to list all the things we have endured for Christ's sake so far, they could never compare with what Christ had to endure for us. Nor could they even compare with what many saints before us had to go through. Many believers in the early church had to pay the price of martyrdom. 

According to church tradition and history, The Apostle Matthew was slain with a sword at a distant city in Ethiopia. Mark died at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the land of Greece. John was put into a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to the island of Patmos. 

Peter was crucified upside down at Rome. James was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club. Bartholomew was skinned alive. Andrew was bound to a cross, from which he preached to his persecutors until he died. Thomas was pierced with a lance. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias was stoned and then beheaded. Barnabas was stoned to death in Greece. Paul, after various kinds of tortures and persecutions, was beheaded at Rome by the emperor Nero.

Besides these there are many, many others who had to pay the price of commitment to Christ with their own lives in church history, such as those who were fed to the lions by the Roman Emperors and those who were burnt at the stake for their faith during the Spanish inquisition. But not all Christians are called to pay this price. There are many others who brought glory to God without being martyred, but by living a life of whole-hearted service for Christ. 

Perhaps you may wonder what the price of following Christ would mean for you. God has put each of us in different circumstances, with different opportunities, different abilities, and with different limitations. Discipleship simply means that each of us make the utmost, and most cost-effective use of whatever God has given to us, to do His will. And what will this cost us? For some, it may mean the loss of convenient comfort, the loss of your sense of security, or the loss of your leisure time. For others, the cost may involve going the second mile, or stretching yourself right to your limits, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually.

Dearly beloved, let us be willing to serve the Lord in whatever way we can - Bring your friends and loved ones to Him for salvation. Visit the sick and bereaved. Volunteer to help teach the children who come for our weekly Yishun Children's Club and Children's Ark ministry on Saturday. Now we need members who are willing to help with traffic control before and after worship services on Sundays. Get yourself involved in some area of service for the Lord, or get yourself equipped to serve. You can do this by attending a Bible study class, or our evening Bible lectures, or training seminars that are offered by our church. 

Doing this will involve some kind of sacrifice in time, in effort or in convenience, but each of us must be willing to make any sacrifices the Lord requires of us. As our King, Jesus deserves nothing less than our full submission to do His will, and our total willingness to give Him our very best.

Dearly beloved, is Christ really your King? Are you giving Him what He deserves as your King? What price are you willing to pay to do His will? Please examine your life today with these questions. And if you find that your life has not measured up to His standards of discipleship, please take steps to make sure it does from now onward. The Lord wants every one who belongs to Him to serve Him and follow Him. Listen once again to His words in vv.25,26 'He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour.' May the Lord help us all to be what He wants us to be.

John 12:24-26 - If Any Man Serve Me

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10.30 am Service, 2001-04-08

Text: John 12:24-26

Today is Palm Sunday, the day when many churches remember the triumphal entry of our Lord into Jerusalem, prior to the events that led to His betrayal, His death and His resurrection. Since we will remember the Passion of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection this week on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, it is good for us to trace some of the significant events that took place, beginning with Palm Sunday. 

As we read in our responsive reading (John 12:12-23) Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a young ass. This was the fulfilment of Zechariah's prophecy that the Messianic king of Israel would enter into the city not on a horse, as a mighty conqueror, but on a lowly ass, as a gentle bringer of salvation. This typifies the first advent of Jesus Christ when He came to the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). But a time is coming soon when the Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven riding on a white horse, to judge the world and to make war with the world. And all the kindreds of the earth will then wail because of Him and the judgment He brings (Revelation 1:7). 

In contrast to that future event, this triumphal entry of Jesus Christ was warmly greeted by the cheering crowds of Jews waving palm branches in their hands and shouting, 'Hosanna [Save now!]: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.' At this point it would seem as if the whole of Jerusalem was there acknowledging Jesus to be the rightful King of Israel and the Messiah of the Jews. But the true picture is revealed in a few days' time, when instead of offering Him cheers of 'Hosanna! Hosanna!' they hurled at Him jeers of 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' 

Why did the multitudes change their tune? It was probably due to their having an utterly selfish and mistaken concept of the Messiah. They had heard that Christ had just raised a man named Lazarus from the dead at Bethany, and so they probably hoped to feast their eyes on more great miracles to be performed by Him. According to v.18 'For this cause the people also met Him, for that they heard that He had done this miracle.' Now, what made this miracle so remarkable was the fact that Lazarus had been dead for 4 days when Christ brought him back to life. 

And so they eagerly expected this Messiah to bring the glorious Davidic Kingdom of Israel back to life, a kingdom which had been dead by then, for more than four centuries! Thus, their cries of 'Hosanna! Hosanna!' expressed their hopes that Jesus would now lead them to overthrow the Romans, and to restore all the lost glorious fortunes of the Kingdom of Israel. 

But when it became very clear to them that this was not His intention at all, and Jesus did not perform any miracles for them, all their excitement gradually died down. In the days that followed, this selfish concept of the people became evident, as they went back to their own businesses, and paid hardly any attention to what the Lord Jesus said or did. All the high honour that they had given to Him during His triumphal entry in Jerusalem was soon forgotten, as they gave attention to other pursuits. Among the few who came sincerely to seek after the Lord Jesus were the Greeks that are mentioned in v.20. 

The point we want to take note of, is that the majority of the people sought after Christ for the wrong reasons. They craved for all His benefits and for manifestations of His wonder-working power, but they did not want to give themselves and all they they had to Him. The same thing is still true today. Multitudes of people come to Christ, but unfortunately not all are coming to Him for the right reasons. Many may merely be looking for a Saviour who is powerful enough to help them to escape from the fires of Hell, and who can give them whatever they wish to have in this life or in the life to come, be it wealth, or health, comfort or ease. 

Dearly beloved, do you come to Christ for these reasons, or for different reasons? Are you seeking Christ with the right motives? Why did you come to church this morning? Did you come primarily to give Him the full-hearted worship He deserves, or did you come with the sole objective of getting all the blessings you can get from Him? Dear friends, let me ask you this: Would you still come to Jesus, if He does not bless your life in the end? Would you still come to Jesus Christ, if requires you to sacrifice your life for Him? 

Let us listen again to what Jesus said in vv.24-26 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour.'

Now, these are very important words for us to ponder in our hearts. They remind us of what it costs to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. They show us that those who desire to be His disciples must be willing to follow Him, even to the extent of forsaking their own life, like Jesus was going to do shortly, on the cross. So let us study what Jesus said carefully, beginning with v.24: 

'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' The imagery used here is clearly derived from the realm of farming. Any farmer knows that a single seed of wheat can never produce anything, unless it is first planted into the ground. Only then will it germinate into a plant and produce many more seeds. 

I. Life From the Death of Christ (v.27,32,33) 

Why did Jesus say this? One reason is that His own death was imminent. (v.27) Within less than a week after saying these words, Christ's own life was going to be sacrificed. Thus the seed here refers to Himself. As the seed falls to the ground and dies, so Jesus was shortly going to fall into the hands of those who would crucify Him. But out of His death, the glorious and bountiful atonement for sins would germinate and blossom, bringing many into eternal life! Thousands upon thousands were going to be saved from eternal death through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is stated by Him in vv.32,33 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die.'

But there is another reason why Jesus said this. And that is, to teach us to follow His example of self-sacrifice. Listen to what He says in v.25 'He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.' Here Christ was no more talking about His own death, but of a general principle that is applicable to every one of us. 

II. The World's Philosophy of Self-Love (vv.25,26) 

But there seems to be a strange paradox in this statement. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life will get to keep it.

This thought is totally opposite to the philosophy of the world, which is based on the survival of the fittest. Most people are motivated by the survival instinct, to jealously guard the precious life they have. Most people not only desire to preserve their own lives, but to enhance and improve their lives as much as they can. What the world promotes is self-love and self-esteem. Now, self-love, and all self-seeking attitudes in our heart is actually a form of idolatry, and we all have probably been guilty of at some point of our lives. whenever we put our desires and our will before God's desires and God's will, we love ourselves. whenever we want to have things going our way rather than God's way, we love ourselves. And whenever we live our lives the way we want, rather than the way God wants, we are loving ourselves.

Today self-love is increasingly popularized by the media, and especially by the New Age movement. The basic teaching is the satanic lie that the serpent used on Eve in Genesis 3:5 'Ye shall be as gods.' Most of what you will hear on the media promotes a proud, grossly-distorted, inflated self-image, with slogans like: 'Believe in yourself, and you can make it to the very top on your own merits.' Please do not be fooled by this appealing propaganda, as it is only the same satanic deception that has been around since the time that Eve heard the words, 'ye shall be as gods'

Satan also loved himself when he said in his heart 'I will be like the most High.' (Isaiah 14:14) The book of Daniel records that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon learned a very painful lesson about self-love. It says, 'At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?' (Daniel 4:29,30). Here was a king who clearly loved himself more than anyone else, and because of this God's judgment on him came immediately (v.31-32). The once-great king who loved himself was reduced to a helpless psychotic, thinking and behaving like an animal for 7 years, all because of his self-love. What happened to this king aptly portrays the truth of what Jesus said in John 12:25 'He that loveth his life shall lose it'

In contrast to that, we also see in the same book, Daniel and his friends, not loving their own lives, and in fact willing to give up their own lives. And the outcome of this is that they were rewarded with life! Daniel did not mind facing death in the lion's den for the sake of the Lord. The result of this is that his life was wonderfully preserved. 

The same thing happened to Daniel's friends - in chapter 3 they were cast into the fiery furnace when they refused to bow down to the golden image the king had made, but they were miraculously preserved from death. How aptly this illustrates the truth of the second part of the statement that Jesus made 'He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.' This brings us now to consider: 

III. Christ's Teaching of Self-Sacrifice in v.24,25 

Within this verse we can observe two distinct strands of teaching. The first is:

1. Living in Humility 

Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. Unless we are willing to deny ourselves any glory, we would never be able to do this. But many do not like to humble themselves. Many do no like to end up with the unpleasant prospect of having less privileges and rights than others. But thats the price we must be willing to pay if we are to live in humility. The other strand of teaching is found in the latter part of the verse:

2. Living and Dying for God's Glory 

But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. The words, much fruit here is the term that is often used by Christ to describe good works that bring glory to God. Christ Himself set the example. In v.28 He expressed His earnest desire that the Father's name would be glorified. Therefore our lives become fruitful when we live for the purpose of glorifying God. Dearly beloved, let us resolve that whether we live or die, we do so to glorify God. Let our earnest prayer be, In my life, or in my death  may God be the One who is praised and glorified.

IV. What It Means To Follow Jesus Christ (v.26)

Besides bringing glory to God, there is one more motivation for self-sacrifice. This motivation is mentioned in v.26 If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; This means that anyone who follows Jesus Christ must be willing to make the same sacrifice that Jesus made, and to have the same level of self-denial that Jesus had. That is the requirement that Christ has set upon all who serve Him. Is that an unreasonable requirement? No it isnt. Christ Himself said that by virtue of the relationship that a disciple has to his Master, the disciple should never expect to be better off than his master. 

We can see this in Matthew 10:24,25, where Jesus said The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord Therefore, as followers of Christ, we should not expect to be in better circumstances than what our Lord had. Christ expects anyone who follows Him to have the same willingness He had, to forsake every right He has for the sake of God's Kingdom. As His disciples we must be willing to sacrifice all our rights and privileges, whenever such a sacrifice is necessary. 

Dearly beloved, has your discipleship cost you anything thus far? What price have you paid so far, for following the Lord Jesus Christ? What sacrifices have you made to do His will? I think that if we were to list all the things we have had to endure for Christ's sake so far, they could never compare with what Christ Himself had to endure. Nor could they even compare with what many saints before us had to go through. Many saints of the early church had to pay the price of martyrdom. 

According to church tradition and history, The Apostle Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city in Ethiopia. Mark died at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the land of Greece. John was put into a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to the island of Patmos. Peter was crucified upside down at Rome. James was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club. Bartholomew was skinned alive. Andrew was bound to a cross, from which he preached to his persecutors until he died. Thomas was pierced with a lance. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias was stoned and then beheaded. Barnabas was stoned to death in Greece. Paul, after various kinds of tortures and persecutions, was beheaded at Rome by the emperor Nero. 

Besides these there are many, many others who had to pay the price of discipleship with their own lives in church history, such as those who were fed to the lions by the Roman Emperors and those who were burnt at the stake for their faith during the Spanish inquisition. But not all Christians are called to pay this price. There are many others who brought glory to God without being martyred, but a life of dedicated service, burning themselves out for the Lord.

One good example is Dr. John Sung. For him, the price of discipleship was a life burnt out for Jesus. Abandoning all opportunities to advance himself, he followed the Lord whole-heartedly, advancing God's Kingdom in China and South East Asia. Without thinking of his own comfort and health, John Sung would preach 3 times a day, 2 hours each time, with all his might and forsake much sleep to pray in the early hours of the morning. He maintained an unrelenting pace in his effective ministry until his health deteriorated and he died. 

Many of us here may perhaps be wondering what the price of discipleship would mean for us. God has put each one of us in different circumstances, with different opportunities, different abilities, and with different limitations. Discipleship simply means that each one of us makes the utmost, and most cost-effective use of whatever God has given to us, in doing His will. 

And what would this cost us? For some of us, the cost would consist of the loss of convenient comfort, the loss of our sense of security, or the loss of our leisure time. For others among us, the cost may involve going the second mile, or stretching ourselves to our limits, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. 

Last Sunday, 6 ladies from one of our adults Sunday School class came with me to Batam, not just to see the Lord's work there, but also to serve. They made all the preparations for the Sunday School lesson they were to give to the children at Batu Aji B-P Church - the Bible story, the art and craft materials and the song. After enduring a long journey by boat and by car, they arrived to find 90 children waiting for them. This was more than they had prepared for, but they were determined that no child should be deprived of art and craft material. So they quickly improvised extra material from the plastic bags they had. And when they were asked to present a song item at the church service, they all willingly sang for the Lord, unrehearsed! They were all tired by the time we got back to Singapore in the evening, but the joy of serving the Lord was clearly seen in their faces. Now, they could have spent that Sunday relaxing at home or engaging in some recreation, but they sacrificed that in order to serve the Lord! 

Dearly beloved, let us be willing to serve the Lord in whatever way we can - In making mission trips, in teaching in Vacation Bible School or in bringing our friends and loved ones to church to hear the Word of God. 

Get yourself involved in some area of service for the Lord, or get yourself equipped to serve. You can do this by attending a Bible study class, or our Bible college evening lectures. Doing this will involve some kind of sacrifice in time, in effort or in forsaken opportunities for personal advancement, but each of us must be willing to make whatever sacrifices the Lord requires of us. As our Lord and master, Jesus Christ deserves nothing less than our total compliance with His will, and our total willingness to give Him our very best. Dearly beloved, is Christ your Lord and master? Are you giving Him what He deserves as Lord and master? What price are you willing to pay to do His will? Let us examine our life today with these questions. 

And if you find that your life has not measured up to His standards of discipleship, please take steps to make sure it does from now onward. The Lord wants each and every one of us to serve Him and follow Him. Listen once again to His words in vv.25,26 'He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour.' May the Lord help us all to be what He wants us to be. Amen.

John 12:1-11 - Worship or Waste?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45am Service, 2009-09-06

Text: John 12:1-11

A study was done in Britain last year to determine how much food the British public throw away into their trash bins every day - not food that has been partially consumed, but food that is completely untouched. The study revealed that each day people were throwing away (among other things) 4.4 million apples, 1.6 million bananas, 1.2 million sausages, 660,000 eggs, 440,000 ready meals, 220,000 loaves of bread and 5,500 chickens. All this adds up to 6.7 million tons of wasted food a year, which is worth about 10 billion pounds. That's not all. The study also revealed that it costs local authorities 1 billion pounds a year to dispose all that wasted food. These results were shocking, to say the least, especially when millions of people in the world do not have enough food to eat. 

I do not know what the results would be if the same study were done here in Singapore, but I suspect that we may not be too far behind Britain because of the wasteful, consumerist mindset that many Singaporeans have today. And perhaps I can ask: What would you consider to be a waste? - spending $700 to stay at Raffles Hotel for one night? Or spending $1,000 for a ticket to watch the F1 Night Race at the end of this month? 

How about spending $6,000 on a bottle of top grade perfume and using it all up at one go? Would you consider that to be a waste? Many probably would, without the least hesitation. But today we are going to look at one instance where this really happened and it was not a waste. This event where Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus is recorded not only in John 12 but in two other gospels as well - Matthew and Mark. You may notice some minor differences between John's account and Mark's account. This is due to the different perspectives of the witnesses. For instance, Mark records that Mary poured the spikenard on the head of Jesus, whereas John records that she anointed His feet with it and wiped the feet with her hair. So which one is correct - Mark's account or John's account? Actually both are correct. 

Mark records only the beginning of her act when Mary poured the spikenard on the head of Jesus. But since she poured out not just a few drops but the entire contents of the alabaster flask (about 500 ml), it flowed all the way down to His feet. And then according to John's account, she wiped away the excess from His feet with her hair. But why did John record only the end of her act? It was probably because he saw much greater significance in Mary's act of wiping the feet than in her act of pouring on the head. You see, it was the custom in Israel for the host of a feast to anoint the head of his invited guests with some perfumed oil (cf. Psalm 23:5), just enough for them to apply on their hair and face. This was very refreshing after coming in from the hot dry streets outside the house. So Mark's record of Mary's act shows that it was in line with the usual custom of providing refreshment for the head of the guest.

John's record on the other hand, shows that Mary's act went way beyond the usual custom of the day. Her anointing refreshed not only the head, but the whole body of Jesus and more importantly, His feet. And no host would ever do what Mary did - which is to wipe the feet of his guest. That was considered to be too demeaning for the host and something that only household slaves would do. We will see more of this in the next chapter of John's gospel, which records how Jesus took on the role of a slave by washing the feet of His disciples at the Last Supper. 

But for now we want to note that what Mary did to Jesus at that meal was so unusual that it caught the attention of everyone there and evoked an immediate response from some of them. Unfortunately the response from everyone except our Lord Jesus was one of anger and rebuke.

I. What a Waste!

In order to understand this response, let us attempt to reconstruct what took place at the event. It was evening time in a village called Bethany. Jesus and His 12 disciples had just arrived at the home of Simon the leper for a special supper. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were there. You may remember from a previous sermon that Jesus was a very close friend of this family, and that He had raised Lazarus from the dead in chapter 11. Well, Lazarus was now alive and well, and he was about to enjoy a good meal with Jesus. Martha was busy shuttling back and forth between the kitchen and the dining table, loading it with food and drinks. Warm fellowship and lively conversation fills the room. And then, as the meal is just about to begin, Mary comes quietly into that room. 

She is carrying with great care a sealed flask made of alabaster, and she goes directly to where Jesus is seated. When she breaks the narrow neck of the flask to open it, all heads turn to see where the breaking sound came from, and silence fills the room. And now, as Mary pours out the contents of the flask they see a clear amber-coloured liquid flowing upon the head of Jesus, running down to His beard and down to the skirts of His garments (cf. Psalm 133:2). Then the whole room is filled with the unmistakable fragrance of pure spikenard. 

Spikenard was one of the most costly perfumes available at that time. It had to be purchased from merchants who had sailed all the way from India. This exquisite perfume was made by distilling the dried roots of the jatamansi plant that grows high up on the slopes of the Himalayan mountains. Because of the dangerous terrain and climate up there, the roots could only be harvested during the months of October to December, and a large amount of roots would only produce 3% of perfume after 18 hours of distillation. 

But despite its scarcity, spikenard was in great demand. The ancient Egyptians imported it. King Solomon wrote about it, and rich Roman women loved it. Besides being fragrant it was known to be very good for skin care and for certain ailments. But all these benefits carried a heavy pricetag. A month's salary of an ordinary worker could only buy 40 ml of pure spikenard. It would take an entire year's salary to purchase the amount that Mary had just poured out on the head of Jesus. 

And now the mood at that supper becomes very tense. Some people shake their heads in shock and disbelief at what she is doing. As they watch, Mary shakes the last few drops of spikenard out of the flask, she unties her hair to let her long tresses down, and then she gently stoops down to wipe the feet of Jesus with them. The silence is broken by sounds of murmuring that swells into a tirade of angry words 'Why all this waste? Why was this fragrant spikenard not sold and the money given to the poor?' (Mark 14:4)

If you had been there, how would you have responded? Would you have said, 'What a waste this is! One year's hard-earned salary all gone down the drain'? Without understanding why Mary did what she did at that moment, we all would probably have joined in the chorus of disapproval, thinking of all the possible good things that could have been done with such a precious commodity. If converted into cash (about $6,000), it could have provided food for many hungry people. 

Think of all the clothes and shoes it could have provided for the needy children of that time. Think of all the medicines it could have purchased for the sick. Think of all the precious lives it could have saved from death and disease. After all, isn't it part of good stewardship to avoid wasting any resources that God has blessed us with? It is! Proverbs 18:9 says 'He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.' In other words, those who waste what they have, deserve the same condemnation as those who refuse to work for their own living. Wasting is obviously sinful under normal circumstances.

II. What a Worship!

But the circumstances here in Mary's act of anointing were not normal. There was actually much more to it than meets the eye. What Mary did, was not a great waste at all. There are two clues for this in the first verse of our text 'Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.' 

Firstly, the latter part of this versekstates that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. You may remember that when we studied the previous chapter of John Mary was very distraught at the death of her brother. Even after he had been buried for 4 days she was still weeping and grieving for him. And when Jesus came, Mary quickly went to Him and wept at His feet saying, 'Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.' (John 11:32) And Jesus was moved to restore her brother's life. How grateful Mary must have been to 2eceive her brother back alive! Now we can understand why her pouring of expensive spikenard on Jesus was not a great waste, if we see it as a thanksgiving offering to the Lord for bringing her brother back to life. 

I am sure any of us would be just as grateful to the Lord if we had prayed earnestly for a loved one who is dying, and the Lord mercifully delivered him from death. It would be quite natural for us to show our gratitude to God with a costly gift. And so it is very likely that Mary's anointing was an act of thanksgiving to the Lord.

Secondly, the same verse tells us that this anointing took place 6 days before the Passover. That Passover would be the time when Jesus would die on the cross of Calvary to make atonement for sinners. Mary might have known by now that Jesus had come into this world to die for sinners and resurrect on the third day. She may have heard of this from Jesus Himself during the many hours she spent sitting at His feet, and listening to every word that He taught her (Luke 10:39). 

Mary may also have sensed that His death was coming soon because the authorities had already sent out a warrant for His arrest. According to John 11:57, �the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.� The chief priests and Pharisees had always been against Jesus because He had spoken against their sins, but His miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead was the last straw. It brought matters to a very critical point. Now they were more determined than ever to put Jesus to death, and it was only a matter of time before they would succeed. 

Knowing all this, Mary probably wanted to do something for Him - the very last thing she could ever do for the Lord Jesus before He died. But what could she do? One good thing that she could do was to prepare His body for burial. This is confirmed by what Jesus said in v.7 of our text 'against the day of my burying hath she kept this.' One of the things which the Jews did to prepare a dead body for burial was to anoint it with oil and costly embalming spices (cf. John 19:39,40). And they gladly this did even at great expense because they firmly believed that the body will one day resurrect from the grave. Perhaps Mary anointed the Lord Jesus with costly spikenard not only because He was going to die soon, but because she believed that He would also resurrect from the dead. And since Jesus had resurrected her brother from the dead recently, it stands to reason that He can surely resurrect Himself from the dead. Her act of anointing Jesus can therefore be seen as an act of faith in His word. 

Thus we have seen that there are at least 2 probable reasons for Mary's act of anointing Jesus. It is not a waste if we see it as an act of thanksgiving to the Lord, and an act of faith in the Lord and His word. But perhaps the best way to understand what Mary did, is to see it as an act of worship. The costly spikenard that she gave to Jesus was a present fit for a king (cf. Song of Solomon 1:12 'While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.'). At the time of His birth, Jesus had been honoured by the wisemen who brought costly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Him. Now, nearing the time of His death, He is honoured once again with a gift which was just as costly. 

We should not imagine that Mary so rich that she could well afford to buy the most expensive gifts for all her friends and loved ones. If that were true, there would have been no reason for anyone in that room to complain that she should have given her money to the poor instead of spending it on spikenard. For, if she had been rich she would easily be able to do both. But Mary was not rich. The money she spent on the flask of spikenard could have been all her life savings. Therefore her anointing of Jesus was done at great personal cost to herself because He is worthy of it. It was her act of worship.

And Mary's worship of Jesus can also be seen in the way that she served Him with her gift. She anointed His head, following the customary honour that was usually given to special guests at a feast. But she went beyond that custom, to wipe His feet, which is something that only the household slaves would do.

And besides that, she used her hair to wipe His feet. Had she forgotten to bring a towel and had to improvise? Note likely. I think it is more likely that she deliberately used her hair to do this because a woman's hair is a symbol of her glory (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:15) and Mary would most willingly lay down her glory at the feet of her king. When we all get to heaven, one of the ways that we will worship the Lord Jesus there is to cast our crowns - which are our glory - at His feet (cf. Revelation 4:10). 

Now that we have seen that what Mary did to Jesus can be understood as a selfless act of thanksgiving, faith and worship, let us draw some applications from it. First of all, we ought to express our thanks to the Lord for all that He has done for us, because we owe Him a very great debt for our salvation - one which we can never repay. How can you show your gratitude to the Lord? By giving Him what He desires most - your heart.

Secondly, we ought to live by faith in the Lord and His Word. And that obeying His commands and resting on His promises. To know what these are, please take time to sit at the feet of Jesus each day like Mary of Bethany. Read His Word daily with a readiness to obey whatever He tells you to do.

Thirdly, we ought to give Christ the worship He deserves as our Lord and King. Worship is a heart that expresses itself regardless of the cost. The more you love the Lord, the more you would want to give to Him of your time, talents and treasures in worship. And please do not think that God only accepts things that are expensive. Although Mary gave a very costly gift to Jesus, what He took most delight in was not how much the gift had cost her, but her love and attitude of sincere sacrificial giving from her heart. 

Jesus also took more delight in the 2 small coins that a poor widow cast into the Temple treasury than in the large sums of money the rich had cast into it. (Luke 21:1-4). So do you want to know how can you worship the Lord as you should? Give Him that which is most precious to you - your life! Let the Lord use your life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), and you can rest assured that it will not be a wasted life.

In 1904 a young 16-year old man named William Borden gave his life to the Lord. When he was in college he started an early morning prayer group for students. This gave rise to a movement that spread across the Yale University campus. By the end of his first year 150 students were meeting regularly for prayer and Bible study. By the time he graduated, 1,000 students were doing it. Borden also started an outreach ministry to rescue drunken men from the streets and rehabilitate them. 

After doing graduate studies at Princeton seminary William Borden left the U.S. as a missionary to China. But he never reached his destination. On the way there he contracted spinal meningitis and died. In the Bible he left behind he had written these words: 'No reserves. No retreats. No regrets.' Do you think his life was a waste? Not in God's plan. Long after his death, the impact of Borden's life continued to be felt as other young men and women gave their lives to servekthe Lord and souls were saved. 

Only the Lord knows what your life can accomplish for His glory when it is fully surrendered to Him. He is able to use whatever you surrender to Him for His glory. Our Lord Himself surrendered His glory above, and gave His own life to accomplish God's most glorious work - the salvation of sinners. 

We end our message with this thought: That alabaster flask which was broken speaks to us of Jesus Himself. Just as the flask of spikenard was a very costly gift that was not poured out in vain, the life of our Lord Jesus was God's most costly gift, which was not sacrificed in vain. And just as the fragrance of the spikenard could only fill the room when it was broken an$ poured out, the sweet blessings of salvation could only fill the earth when Jesus was crucified and His blood was poured out for our sins. May the Lord bless His Word to our hearts as we meditate on these things.

  1. John 11:45-57 - Why He Must Die
  2. John 11:17-44 - Jesus Wept
  3. John 11:1-16 - Love Shown Through Death
  4. John 10:31-42 - By Works and Words

Subcategories

Gospel in Dialect

Do you face a language barrier when trying to witness for Christ to dialect-speaking relatives? Or do you need to polish up your Mandarin in order to share the Gospel with your Mandarin-speaking friends? This Gospel toolkit will help you to learn how to share the Gospel in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew.

There are 15 lessons covering the various topics in gospel presentation. Each lesson consists of a set of phrases, written in English, Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin.

To hear the proper pronunciation of the phrase, click on the respective plugin associated with each phrase. When the phrase is read for you, you should repeat it aloud. You can keep on playing back the phrase and repeating it aloud until you have mastered the phrase. Then go on to the next phrase in the lesson.

As you learn to speak new phrases, keep on reviewing the ones that you have learnt. Finally, test yourself to see if you can say the following in Mandarin / dialect aloud: 

Family

Introduction

Why a family resource page?  It has been often said that the family is the most important institution in the nation.  But never has this sentiment been as greatly emphasized in our history as a nation than now in recent times.  Indeed, the family is the most important institution because it is the first environment to which every person is exposed; it is the primary influence of a person, especially in his early formative years.  And failure of the family to influence and mould the child positively has contributed to the moral and ethical breakdown of societies.  Even the expert opinions of sociologists and psychologists point to the truth of this statement.  Counselors and mental health workers increasingly have to rely on Family Therapy to deal with the problems of the clients, seeing as how many adult conflicts and problems are actually conflicts and problems not resolved in youth within the family.  Of course, it is not surprising to find such delinquency and immaturity in the world.  And sadly, it is not surprising to find such worldliness and worldly problems in the church, as families capitulate their God-given rights.  More than ever, there is need for a family resource page, where families can be encouraged and taught to raise up Godly homes and to revive the Covenant family.  

And one of the main emphases of this resource page is on the subject and discipline of Family Worship.  According to the Westminster Directory of Family Worship, we are told that “BESIDES the publick worship in congregations, mercifully established in this land in great purity, it is expedient and necessary that secret worship of each person alone, and private worship of families, be pressed and set up; that, with national reformation, the profession and power of godliness, both personal and domestick, be advanced.”  Herein, it is suggested that national and ecclesiastical revival finds its genesis in the home.  And this is biblical. 

The theological foundations of family worship is in Deuteronomy 4:9,10 where believers are told to “keep thy soul diligently…[and to]…teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 

It is also in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 where the words which God had commanded believers should be taught diligently to their children, that they should “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”  The chief Christian educators of our children are their parents, who have been given this sacred duty.

Psalm 78:2-7 also teaches this, especially when it says regarding the law “which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” 

According to Dr Joel Beeke, “Every church desires growth. Surprisingly few churches, however, seek to promote internal church growth by stressing the need to raise children in covenantal truth. Few seriously grapple with why many adolescents become nominal members with mere notional faith or abandon evangelical truth for unbiblical doctrine and modes of worship. I believe one major reason for this failure is the lack of stress upon family worship. In many churches and homes family worship is an optional thing, or at most a superficial exercise such as a brief table grace before meals. Consequently, many children grow up with no experience or impression of Christian faith and worship as a daily reality.”

“Would we see revival among our children? Let us remember that God often uses the restoration of family worship to usher in church revival. For example, the 1677 church covenant of the Puritan congregation in Dorchester, Massachusetts, included the commitment ‘to reform our families, engaging ourselves to a conscientious care to set before us and to maintain the worship of God in them; and to walk in our houses with perfect hearts in a faithful discharge of all domestic duties, educating, instructing, and charging our children and households to keep the ways of the Lord.’”

Douglas Kelly says that “Family religion, which depends not a little on the household head daily leading the family before God in worship, is one of the most powerful structures that the covenant-keeping God has given for the expansion of redemption through the generations, so that countless multitudes may be brought into communion with and worship” of God. 

So may these resources help all Lifers to build up their families in the fear and admonition of the Lord; that Family Worship would not be an optional exercise but a time of day and activity well-sought after by Godly parents and children.  Amen.

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