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We have been reading in the Gospel of John of some the mighty and wonderful incidents in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ – some of them exciting as in the raising of Lazarus with its profound spiritual lessons from Jesus but also from his disciples, and then we go on to read of the sad and tragic consequences as division followed. Many believed, but some ran and told tales.

You would sometimes want to ask Almighty God, “Lord, why does it have to be like that? When You are so gracious and powerful and merciful and loving and able, why does there have to…  ( Click for more )

esus goes on to develop this whole theme and we have Christ’s last public sermon and teaching, recorded by John in Chapter 12. Jesus is saying – before I go to the Greeks – before I go to the Gentiles – I am going to the cross. I have to die. The hour is approaching. The road My Father has willed me to walk is the road of personal sacrifice. If I came to you Greeks now, that would be a short term policy.

These are Christ’s last words to the public, and in verse 26 it is an ultimatum.

The hour had come. God’s clock is important.…  ( Click for more )

In John Chapter 12 and at verse 12, we come to that point where Jesus Christ rides into Jerusalem, and it is now clear to some that Jesus has not got long to live if he remains in that city.

The scene is one of where the scheme has begun to go into motion to have Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified, killed and silenced, once and for all. It has been rumbling on now for some months, and we see this so clearly as John records the details.

When God begins to speak in a new way, there are always those whose only desire is to silence the voice of God. Sometimes people…  ( Click for more )

What kind of fragrance do we leave when we express our worship and praise? What kind of atmosphere do we contribute to the fellowship around us as we sing and praise and worship and participate?

Mary has just anointed Jesus Christ with a most precious ointment, and we read of this in John’s Gospel at Chapter 12. This fragrance would be clinging to Christ for the remainder of his earthly life.

Mary was aware of what was about to happen soon, and she takes this opportunity. Sometimes certain opportunities only come once. Had she waited until Jesus dies she could…  ( Click for more )

Jesus Christ and his disciples are in a home in Bethany some two miles south east of the Temple area in Jerusalem. They are out of sight of the city and out of the reach of the Temple Police. We are reading and studying John Chapter 12, but it is Mark who tells us that they are relaxing and having a meal in the home of Simon the leper. Had Jesus healed this man? We do not know, but what we do know is that he had been a leper and now he is a normal member of society, and he has Jesus Christ in his home, and he is ministering to Jesus.

We have really moved on now, time…  ( Click for more )

Men did dreadful things to Jesus Christ. In these verses in John Chapter 11, we do not see the women folks doing anything as horrid as the men get up to. The women gave Jesus meals, and anointed him.

They were the last to leave the cross and they were first to be there at the tomb.

As soon as these men heard of what Jesus did, raising Lazarus from the dead, they gathered together in secret council.

Verse 47 – What are we doing? What are we accomplishing? What are we achieving? This man is still doing miracles. Read the text for yourself.

At least…  ( Click for more )

We come to this concluding section of John Chapter 11, from verse 45 onwards.

We have been reading of this situation in which Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, the friend of Jesus Christ, dies, and Jesus comes and raises Lazarus from the dead.

Now, we come to the repercussions following the raising of Lazarus. There are always consequences.

The raising of Lazarus was a crisis point in the ministry of Jesus Christ. It was a turning point. The raising of Lazarus led to the final plot to kill Christ.

Jesus gave Lazarus life, only to have to face death himself.…  ( Click for more )

We were created to rule. Man was created by Almighty God to represent God over Creation, but when man fell he lost that total authority. He lost a lot when he fell. He still longs to rule and control, and dominate, and even manipulate, but he no longer has that initial power of God.

When man fell he fell a long way – much further than many are willing to acknowledge and admit and confess.

That is why this world is in such a mess. Know why.

That is what Jesus Christ came to deal with – Acts Chapter 10 and verse 38 – God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with…  ( Click for more )

We are reading and studying in John Chapter 11, where Lazarus, the friend of Jesus has died. Martha and Mary have sent a message to Jesus informing that their brother was sick, but there was no call to come immediately. There was no demand or plea to intervene, and Jesus Christ does something that is very hard to do – nothing!

Jesus delays for two days before setting off with his disciples on the 60 mile journey to the home of Mary and Martha. Jesus meets the mourning sisters, only to be greeted by, “If you had come sooner, my brother would not have died.”…  ( Click for more )

In John Chapter 11, we read of that scenario where Lazarus has died and his sisters, Martha and Mary meet Jesus Christ.

We see here two sisters meeting Jesus, and their words are quite similar, but their reactions are different. Different people react differently to bereavement.

Some talk and talk and talk. Others say very little, and just weep. Some think a lot and some feel a lot. Some are confused in their mind whilst others are overwhelmed in their hearts.

We also see here how sensitive Jesus is. To Martha Jesus has quite a lot to say. With Mary Jesus just asks a…  ( Click for more )

In John Chapter 11 and at verse 3, when Lazarus is sick, Mary and Mary, his sisters, send an urgent message to Jesus, but just as information. They do not say “Come right away!” Jesus is their best friend. Jesus is their best doctor, and Jesus delays two days.

Jesus does not rush in to heal the sickness and deal with the anxiety, and remember Jesus has the power and ability to heal at a distance, but on this occasion He doesn’t. The delay is quite deliberate.

This can be one of the hardest things to do – to see someone in need – and to stand…  ( Click for more )

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. John Chapter 11 opens with a bare stark factual sentence. What is this all about? What is going to happen? It is a profound chapter with many practical and spiritual lessons.

This is the last great miracle recorded by John which Jesus Christ performs. It begins in a domestic situation, and in that sense it is similar to the wedding at Cana where they ran out of wine.

This time a man runs out of life and dies. Does death have the last and final word?

No! Jesus Christ has the last and final word. These verses are packed with emotion. There…  ( Click for more )

In John Chapter and at verse 27, we read, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow Me”. Now, that is spiritual safety and security and gives such reassurance. Jesus speaks about giving such people eternal life and explains that they will never perish, and how no one can snatch them out of My hand.

That is all so wonderfully true but I have known of those who have jumped out of His hand, and who have decided that they want nothing more to do with Almighty God or Jesus Christ. That is a sore painful reality that we have to accept.

In our passage,…  ( Click for more )

As we read and study these concluding verses in John Chapter 10, we need to remember that it is December time, and it is the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights, called today Hanukkah. It could be regarded as being similar to our lights on trees around December. It had had real meaning and significance but, like Christmas to most people, the real significance had been lost or forgotten.

Around 175 years previously, there was a Greek occupation of Israel, and a man named Antioch Epiphanes polluted the Temple in Jerusalem, by placing a pig on the altar and desecrating…  ( Click for more )

Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd willingly and voluntarily laid down his life for the sheep. We read this in John Chapter 10 and at verse 17. No one can claim the dubious honour of having taken the life of this religious trouble maker, who was Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus faced the cross with all its humiliation and agony and pain, and shed His blood – the Lamb of God dies to take away the sin of the world.

God the Father gave life back to the Good Shepherd so that He could offer eternal life to us today – to all who believe.

Jesus Christ goes right to…  ( Click for more )

In John Chapter 10 at verse 14, Jesus Christ, the Son of God goes on to say, “I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father”.

Jesus links his shepherding ministry with the Father, and we link our shepherding ministry with Jesus.

The sheep listen to the shepherd’s voice and move in the direction in which the shepherd wants to move, because the shepherd will always be concerned about safety and security and pasture and refreshing reviving water. The sheep listen to the shepherd’s…  ( Click for more )

These are such precious and treasured words in John Chapter 10 and verse 11, where Jesus Christ the son of God says, “I am the Good Shepherd”. Now, this implies that around us there are good shepherds and bad shepherds – true shepherds and false shepherds.

Jesus declares, “I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”.

In the church of Jesus Christ, how far must the shepherd be prepared to go in caring for the sheep and protecting the sheep – in leading the sheep – in seeing and ensuring that the…  ( Click for more )

When Jesus spoke about the sheep and shepherd and the stranger approaching the fold in John Chapter 10, there were some people who did not understand a word Jesus was saying.

That was a serious situation to be in, and is a serious situation to be in, but that can be God’s way of revealing to you that people are blind and lost and in need of His mercy and rescuing love and His forgiveness and pardon and peace.

In verse 7, Jesus explains and elaborates. I am the door. Jesus turns the parable into a personal portrait. There have been many false Messiahs and they…  ( Click for more )

After everything Jesus Christ has been through in these previous Chapters we move in the Gospel of John to Chapter 10 where we read about Jesus Christ referring to himself as The Good Shepherd. Israel was very much a land of shepherds and many of her great leaders had served their apprenticeships as shepherds – men like Moses and David, and people are so like sheep.

There are those who say, or used to say, we evolved from apes – but no, we are more like sheep.

Shepherds in Israel have to look out for good grass – for good pasture – and they were continually…  ( Click for more )

We are reading and studying the details of that man born blind having his eyes healed and opened by Jesus Christ in a most amazing way. Jesus makes a little clay ointment by using mud and spittle and he anoints these eyes that have never seen. Sometimes Jesus uses ointment and sometimes He doesn’t. Jesus is flexible.

In John Chapter 9 and at verse 26, the Pharisees who have been so dismissive and argumentative and threatening and insulting, still want to focus on the methods.

What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes and allow you to see?

He had told…  ( Click for more )

We were reading of that blind man being healed by Jesus Christ in John Chapter 9. We listened to the disciples asking questions and almost being satisfied with debate and discussion. Jesus acted. He made that clay ointment and anointed the man’s eyes and then invited him to obedient co-operation.

These nosey neighbours appeared wanting to know the various details – Who and How and Where?

Then we met the Pharisees who were so blind, and also so very deaf. They could not see what God was doing nor could they hear what God was saying. Their minds were completely…  ( Click for more )

Jesus has healed this couple’s son from blindness and fear seems to paralyse them. Fear can paralyse. There were certain people who certainly did not like what Jesus Christ was teaching and doing and if people followed Jesus too closely, or even appreciated Jesus, there was that threat that they might be excluded from the local synagogue. What a way to behave.

These parents are afraid because of the appalling attitude of the religious leaders of the day and they are unable to appreciate the amazing miracle which the Son of God has performed on their son, who was blind,…  ( Click for more )

Jesus anoints the eyes of a blind man with a little ointment He has manufactured using mud and saliva and He tells him to go down to the pool of Siloam and wash. We read of this incident in John Chapter 9.

Jesus is testing the man. Go down to the pool and wash in that water. Jesus is giving him something to do to demonstrate his co-operation, and to show his willingness to co-operate with Christ, and obey Jesus.

To co-operate with Jesus can heal you in all kinds of ways – physically – mentally – emotionally – spiritually. Co-operating with Jesus…  ( Click for more )

Nobody ever got into so much trouble for doing good as our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. So frequently we see him ministering to someone in need and in real need, and all of a sudden, from some quarter, there comes a wave of opposition, or criticism or antagonism.

In John Chapter 9, we read of a man who has been born blind. Jesus noticed and observed this man’s predicament.

This blind man had never ever seen. He had never seen people. He had never seen the creation around him. He had never seen his own parents. This is a unique miracle, but the controversy…  ( Click for more )