June 27, 2021

JOHN: THE PURPOSE OF JESUS CHRIST

June 27, 2021

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Have you ever met someone for the first time, but had formed an opinion of what you thought they would be like, only to learn they were completely different? What was the outcome?

This week we will finish the challenge issued in December 2020, to read the Bible through in the first six months of 2021. It has been a tough but rewarding time! The blessings of reading God’s word every day are amazing. Now we will re-read the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs during the second six months of the year, with appropriate sermons taken from those books weekly. Today, as we finish, we will hear from the book of John, as the “Beloved Apostle” writes of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, why He came to earth, and what His purpose was in dying.

Focal Passage: The Gospel of John, John 12:20-36

Jesus explains the importance of His death

  • Before we read the focal passage, does anyone recall where Jesus and His disciples were in Chapter 12? What was special about dining with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha? Why were the Greeks seeking Him? They had heard of His miracles; do you think they were expecting someone different than who Jesus was?
  • Read John 12:23. What do you think those hearing Jesus thought He meant by saying His hour had arrived? What did He mean? Do you think it would have been confusing for us if we did not know the whole story?
  • Read verse 24. Why did Jesus use an illustration of the common seed? Has there ever been a time since Adam when people did not grow their food? How does that preclude that every generation would understand what He meant?
  • Read verses 25-26. Why would someone who loves his life lose it? Why does our world today teach that it’s “all about me”? How can the one who hates his life have eternal life? What are some difficult things required to follow Christ?

Jesus explains the purpose of His life

  • Read John 12:27. Why do you think Jesus expressed that His soul was troubled? How could He have stated any more clearly that the reason He came was to die?
  • Why did they not understand Him? However, if we had been raised to expect a Messiah who would free our land from all oppressors, would we have understood?

Jesus explains the victory within His actions

  • Read verses 28-30. When God affirmed from heaven that His name had been glorified, what did He mean? How would it soon be glorified again?
  • Read verses 31-33. What did Jesus say would be accomplished by His death?
  • How can we comprehend the enormity of the judgment that would be rendered upon the world and upon the kingdom of darkness by Jesus’ resurrection?
  • Read verses 32-33 and John 3:14-15. What would have been the result if Jesus had not gone to the Cross?

Jesus explains the response necessary

  • Read John 12:34-36. By “light,” who was Jesus referring to? Why is He warning about walking in the light while you have it? Read John 8:12. Could it be any more clear?
  • Why do people procrastinate about accepting Jesus as Savior?

Close

What a great six months it has been, reading the entire Bible through while praying that God’s word would saturate our hearts. As we read the four Gospels, it is probably safe to say we can only guess at what it was like for Jesus to leave His place in heaven and come to the earth, to live among men. Then He submitted to being put to death by those whom He had come to earth to save—and being in agony, still loved them. Can we even begin to imagine the glory of returning to the throne of God in victory for having finished the task God had given Him?

From the foundation of the world—which we won’t be able to understand until we are in heaven—Satan has been the ruler of this world. In God’s unfathomable plan and omnipotence, He has allowed it. We know he has access to God’s domain (Job 1:6-7), and as the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10) was judged at the Cross and will eventually be cast out (John 12:31). This was something Jesus understood intimately, while we have no answers. Still, what a victorious day that had to have been, as He ascended back to heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father!

Don’t let the things you don’t understand keep you from accepting the things you do understand or those things you accept by faith. Jesus came from eternity-past, where He was not only present at creation but spoke it into being (John 1:2-3, 10). Yet He took on the form of a man and entered the earth, lived and dwelt among men, consented to men nailing Him to a cross to pay for the sins of any person who would accept His gift of salvation, rose on the third day, and forty days later returned to heaven. Now, as the church, we wait for Him to return, as He promised. He’s never failed us yet. Have you accepted this gift? As He said in John 12:36, “While you have the light, believe in the light.” Today can be your day of salvation!

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