Friends Church Sermons

The tension is rising. The quiet Passover meal in the upper room now takes on a hushed tone. Jesus has taken a piece of the matzah and broken it and declared that His body would be broken for these men. He had taken wine and declared that His blood would soon be spilt to usher in a new covenant. What started with Jesus taking on the role of a servant and washing their feet now builds to talk of His impending death. They had talked about it before but now they see in Jesus face the determination of its proximity. Judas has stormed out of the room out into the darkness of the night under a cloud of suspicion that he might be the betrayer. The tension is palpable and a cloud of fear hangs in the room.

John uses "bookend prophecies" in this text to show that the people at the triumphal entry progress from belief to unbelief, and warns us to be careful not to make the same mistake.

Spring has come and with it the time for the Passover. Jesus has spent some weeks after the raising of Lazarus in the city of Ephraim about 15 miles north of Bethany. He stayed there until 6 days before the Passover. Jesus makes His last trip towards Jerusalem before the cross. The remaining week He will spend moving between Jerusalem and Bethany until He celebrates the Passover in the upper room in Jerusalem. John takes this moment to share with us another Kingdom contrast. It happens in the home of Simon the leper in Bethany. Mary, Martha and Lazarus have a home in Bethany but this dinner doesn’t happen there. Matthew and Mark tell us that Simon the leper is the host of the dinner. Simon is one of the lepers who has been healed by Jesus. It’s important to understand the language here. “So they made Him supper there” indicates that this was a celebration dinner in His honor. These two men who have been given back their lives are now honoring Jesus.

Winter gives way to spring and we find Jesus lingering in the wilderness areas on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Multitudes seem to be coming to hear him in this the same arena where John the Baptist taught for so long in preparation for Jesus coming. Jesus is in this wilderness when some men sent by his friends Mary and Martha come to beg his return to Judea. The raising of Lazarus is interesting because it is one of Jesus most well known miracles but is recorded only in the Gospel of John. John is so moved by this moment that we see a most detailed account of all the Jesus does from beginning to end. This is unusual for John except when seen from the perspective of kingdom conflict. John begins to set up our final journey to the cross by dealing with Life and Death in two kingdoms.

The Kingdom conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees over the healing of a blind man continues in chapter 10. Jesus says of the Pharisees that though they are sighted they are spiritually blind. Once again into the breach Jesus seeks to proclaim life to those who are hard of hearing. Jesus turns to a metaphor that pervades the chapters of the Old Testament and new, the picture of the shepherd. Psalm 23 comes to mind “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul…” The picture of God as shepherd is played against the common application of all leaders as shepherds of Israel. The Pharisees saw themselves as the shepherds of Israel’s faith. They saw themselves as shepherds of God’s truth and justice. Into this picture Jesus now shines the light of the world. Jesus draws the picture of a common scene in Israel. That of the sheep pen. Shepherds would commonly bring their sheep back from the pastures at night and into a sheep

As we come to John chapter 9 this morning we find Jesus leaving the Temple on the last day of the feast of Sukkoth. He has declared Himself to be the light of the world. He has said to those who would believe “If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciple of mine; and you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” The response of the Jewish believers is to pick up stones to kill Him so He leaves the Temple. What happens next is John’s description of Jesus response. John 8:59-9:41 Jesus leaves the disgruntled Jews in the Temple and on His way out He comes upon a beggar. Now I don’t for one moment believe that this is happenstance or coincidence. I believe that this blind beggar has a divine appointment with Jesus.

After our brief encounter with the woman caught in the act of adultery, we return to John’s previous narrative at the perfect moment. Chapter 7 tells us that Jesus has come to the Temple in Jerusalem during Sukkoth or the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths. The feast of Tabernacles is one of 3 great feasts that all of Israel are required to pilgrimage to Jerusalem to attend. The Festival of Sukkoth is a time of tremendous rejoicing. The people would set up booths (tabernacles) to dwell in during the 7 days of this feast. Four things are important to us about Sukkoth:

Where do you stand with Christ? I can’t possibly begin to tell you how many people I have asked this question to over the years. More and more however I find it to be a useless question in our culture. In America 80% of people identify themselves as Christians – yet you and I know that 80% of Americans are not following Christ as disciples in their lives. Jesus in the later part of John chapter 8 stands toe to toe with believers and says there is more to this than believing. Many of the people Jesus confronted in the Treasury believed that He was telling the truth. Many even named Him the Messiah. And yet Jesus then turns to them and says this: Literally: John 8:31-32 (NASB) 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." A more accurate understanding of what Jesus says is found in the NIV John 8:31-32 (NIV) 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you ho

Last week we looked at the first confrontation of Jesus with those who had eaten the bread and fish in the feeding of the 5,000. His challenge to the first group was to ask them “why are you following me?” Jesus shares with them that He is the bread of life and until He is enough nothing will ever be enough in life. This week we look at the second confrontation. It comes in the synagogue of Capernaum in front of many of his would be followers that remain. It’s interesting that John says that the Jews were grumbling about Him. All the people He had confronted in the last few verses were Jews. Here we see the great division of the Kingdoms John showed us back in chapter 1.

This morning we come to a difficult passage in the book of John. It is difficult not because of its content so much as because of its placement. Most modern translations have this passage set apart by brackets or italics. This passage is not found in the most ancient manuscripts of the book of John at least not in this place. It isn’t until around the 3rd century that this passage ends up here in this spot. Some earlier manuscripts place it as an appendix to chapter 7 others at the end of the Gospel. There is little skepticism about its authenticity or its historic nature but the placement here has come under much deserved scrutiny. Because of that, I want to address this passage inside its own context and apart from the story that John is telling. So this morning we step into a private encounter and in fact a Kingdom encounter with Jesus.

Pastor Jon picks up the message of John Chapter 7.

John set this next passage up by telling the people what happened with the feeding of the 5 thousand. Jesus leaves them in the wilderness and comes to Capernaum which is on the north west side of the Sea of Galilee. He gets there in an unusual way. The disciples go by boat and Jesus walks on the water to meet them. Early in the pre-dawn morning Jesus meets the disciples and Peter gets out of the boat to walk with Him. But John skips that story for one that he sees as more important. The people come to Capernaum and find Jesus – and now we find the reason that John includes the miracle of the loaves and fish. When the people find him they are still wanting to make Him a king. Why did you run off? When did you get here? Why didn’t you tell us where you were going?

John writes about this miracle to set up what comes next – but for today let’s just start here. John the Baptist has been beheaded, Jesus popularity with the people is increasing, and the animosity of the Sanhedrin is increasing with it. Jesus has been teaching and healing the multitudes somewhere in Galilee when he gets the news about John. It has been a long and exhausting day when they have had no time even to eat as they ministered to the people. When Jesus gets the news about John he gets into a boat and leaves the people to find a quiet place to pray. The disciples ferry Jesus along the coast to the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee to the wilderness near the city of Bethasida. The people are so set to be with Jesus that they make their way on foot (gathering others as they come) and meet Jesus in the wilderness. This is where we pick up the story.

As we continue in the Gospel of John we find another story that John uses to force us to think about the Kingdom we are walking in. Two kingdoms are described. John turns his story here to an incident that happens in Jerusalem. Jesus has come to Jerusalem for a feast (which one is not noted). He comes again to the Temple to the pool called Bethesda. On the surface, this is just another miracle performed by Jesus to demonstrate His power and His purpose. I believe John places this passage here for another purpose. I believe he uses this moment as a parable to augment what he has said about Nicodemus, the woman, and the father.

Throughout the book of John we have seen the juxtaposition of two kingdoms. One kingdom of the world filled with spiritual darkness and one kingdom of God filled with spiritual light. In one world things are broken, corrupted, lost, and useless. In the other things are made whole, purified, found, and useful. It’s into this conversation that we see Jesus step into a teachable moment with his disciples. They return from gathering food in town to find Jesus in deep discussion with a Samaritan woman. Like Nicodemus and the woman they have deep questions that they are not willing or able to ask. “what are you doing with HER?” “Why are you talking to THAT?” The disciples are lingering in the Kingdom of the World- Jesus speaks uses this moment to call his disciples into a new kingdom mentality.

The end of this service we lose the mic. I posted this sermon twice - the second is the full sermon. 1) What Whosoever Means – John uses these next verses to draw a stark contrast with what has gone before. This passage is intimately connected with what he just finished sharing. Nicodemus – Has a name, Man, Pharisee (pious Jew), Follower of the Law, Pure of lineage and action, privileged, rich The Woman – Nameless, Woman, Samaritan (polluted religion), Follower of part of the law, corrupt, outcast, poor In Common – Lost, living in the kingdom of the world (flesh), thirsty, answering spiritual emptiness with worldly answers (legalism/relationships), neither know the right question to ask but Jesus answers them anyway.

This is the second service recording of this sermon.

We find Jesus in chapter 3 in the midst of Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. He is likely staying in the house of the apostle John when a knock comes at the door during the night. A man named Nicodemus comes to Jesus with a problem. Nicodemus is described as a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin – the Jewish ruling council made up of 70 men. He is an important man – he is inquisitive – and he is worried- he doesn’t want to be seen with this man who just disrupted the Temple. He doesn’t want to give him credibility and he doesn’t yet want to be associated with him. He comes by night. John 3:1-21

Remember that John is a religious man – in fact a disciple of John the Baptist. Unlike some of the other disciples, John is in earnest search for the redeemer of God. He has heard the declarations of his Rabbi to make straight the way of the Lord.” He has heard the cries for repentance and preparation for the day of Messiahs coming. His heart has been stirred by the passion of his master. John the Baptist has preached with such conviction, such authority, and such result that many believe that he may even be the Messiah. Certainly he is a great prophet sent by God. The first in 400 years. So we pick up the story there. John 1:19-37.

- The opening lines of this gospel have had a deep and profound effect on my life. In the beginning… The most profound words in all of scripture. They define the basis from which all of this life flows. Genesis opens this way as well. There are only two ideas that emerge about the origins of our existence and each have a profound effect on what we believe.