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JOHN CHAPTER 12 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Jn 12,1-4 (186g) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> After they reject God’s faith how can they believe? -- Blasphemy coming from the bowls of the world, such as Dan Brown's DaVinci Code and others who take it upon themselves to invent their own rendition of the gospel, passing it as the morality of Jesus, builds speculation upon speculation. Only after people caught on to his ideas, which had no basis in truth, did he then comment that no one was supposed to take him seriously, since he was merely writing a fun work of fiction. By that time he had upset the faith of many, which was exactly his intent. Mr. Brown is unable to discriminate truth from his own lies. Only from a sea of reprobates could something this blasphemous become popular, even knowing it was fiction, fantasying its truth. How are we not living in the age of apostasy? Only a depraved and psychopathic society would support a guy like Dan Brown and believe in his lies even after admitting he was merely following his fleshly impulses. The point was not whether he could write something true, but whether he could profane the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and blaspheme the name of Him who gave His life a ransom for many. His goal was to spread seeds of doubt; funny, the devil does the same thing. Jn 12,1-3 (8j) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing to die to self – According to the custom of their day, they would anoint the body of the deceased with perfume. In Jesus' mind He was already dead, since He had determined to become the sacrificial lamb. (13l) Servant >> Serve God though small in stature >> Least is the greatest (77b) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His presence -- Mary knew Jesus like few other disciples, and perhaps her spiritual understanding of Him is the cause of some of the reprobates of our own time confusing her spirituality with sexual conquests in the Lord. Her great secret and the strength of her spirituality was that she listened to Jesus. She loved His words that He offered the world, which revolved around love, joy and all the other fruits of the Spirit, things she never saw in any of her clients as a prostitute. She was hungry for the things of God; Jesus was a perfect match for her. She consumed the Lord as though He were a banquet of food stretched across a long table after starving for years. Mary wasn’t looking for true love as we know it, but for something more spiritual than any human could offer her. She had a hunger that only God could assuage. When she followed her path that led to prostitution, Jesus made her long for God all the more, not knowing what she really wanted, until His words found their place in her heart. (79j) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word >> Listen to the word >> Listen to Jesus -- Jesus corrected Judas in verse 7 saying, “let her alone, in order that she may keep it [the custom of anointing] for the day of My burial. No one asked Him what He meant, but Mary who was anointing His feet knew, because she listened to Jesus. He told them point blank many times that He was going to the cross, but they refused to listen to Him about this and were afraid to question Him about it. The disciples thought in line with the Jews, who expected the Kingdom of God to appear at any time. They didn’t want to believe that Jesus would someday leave them in care of the Holy Spirit. However, Mary was open-minded about it. If He told her that He was leaving her with someone she would never be able to see, touch, smell or taste but was His spiritual double, Mary was all into it, because she trusted that whatever Jesus had in mind would ultimately end in her favor, because she knew He loved her and all the disciples. She would miss His physical form, but she was more into the spiritual side of Jesus. (123k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Being in love with the body of Christ >> Physical affection with spiritual motives -- There was nothing sexual about Mary applying perfume to Jesus’ feet with her hair. Of all the women disciples who followed Jesus, Mary was probably the most spiritual of them all. She seemed to understand Jesus better than anyone, and for that reason those who have trouble understanding Him could possibly misconstrue her spiritual affection for sexual advances. Those who would misinterpret her motives as sexual would agree with His enemies, according to another account of this story in Lk 7,36-50, where it tells of a Pharisee thinking evil in his heart about Jesus for letting this woman (Mary) anoint His feet in this manner. He said to himself that if this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of person who was touching him, that she was a sinner. If only Simon the Pharisee knew Jesus as Mary did, he might not be so judgmental. (182e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Three causes of interpreting Scripture falsely >> Because they have no regard for God’s word – Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with a very costly perfume of pure nard and wiped His feet with her hair. This is one of the Scripture passages that reprobates of our day have expropriated for their own purpose of smearing the character of Christ. They assert that He had an illicit sexual affair with Mary, based on the emotional ties she had with Him. This, however, is not to mention that He felt very strongly about her whole family, along with many other people whom He formed deep emotional bonds. Our depraved society cannot discriminate between an emotional relationship with the opposite gender and a sexual relationship, as though they cannot exist apart. Television is geared toward sex as perhaps the topmost legal drug on the market today, and they use it to sell all their products, but what they are really selling is sex. Non-committal sex has eaten away at the moral fabric of our nation to the point that the foundations are about to collapse beyond any hope of restoration. This social/moral decline is in-your-face through every facet of the media. Satan’s world empire is almost upon us, but he is in no way strong enough to control an emotionally and mentally stable people who belong to a strong family unit, so these things must first be eliminated before his plans to take over a feeble-minded and broken people can go forward. If sexual perversion is a tool of the devil to ripen a people ready to be plucked, then how do these psychopaths intend to sell their idea that Jesus was sexually promiscuous with Mary to those of us who know and love the truth? (209a) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> We go where He goes -- Feet are the body part that takes us where we want to go, especially back in those days when they didn’t have cars. Hence, to anoint Jesus’ feet was symbolic of glorifying the body part that Jesus used to find her. The fact that she applied the perfume with her hair was in a sense using a body part of her own. According to Paul in 1Cor 11,3-16 a woman’s long hair is her glory. She used her hair to anoint Jesus for burial. This was significant enough to be mentioned twice in the gospels, once in Luke and once here in the gospel of John. It is a good guess that Mary never washed or cut her hair so long as the fragrance of the perfume lasted, giving them this aromatic connection. Jn 12,3-6 (186j) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> God’s role in forming a reprobate >> Marked out for destruction Jn 12-3 (252b) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for who he is KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,4-8 (23h) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Shaming the poor – The true mark of a Christian is compassion, which requires the ability to empathize. Judas Iscariot was incapable of this because of his narcissism. He demonstrated the reprobate mind by the fact that the only time he showed an interest in the poor was when he saw an opportunity to take advantage of them. Compassion was something Judas simply could not comprehend, for the Scriptures plainly state that he was not concerned about the poor. Like the laws of the animal kingdom regarding "Natural Selection" such as Survival of the Fittest, if Judas could steal from the poor, it meant he was greater than them and thus more deserving of what little they had. To show a feigned interest in the poor was even worse, because then he was mocking them. Judas was under the impression that to get ahead in life meant to get financially ahead, so he regularly skimmed the treasury fund, which is an age-old trick widely in use to this day. He didn’t come back wearing a fancy coat or new shoes, because Jesus would have asked where he got them. Apparently he had outside connections to whom he would give the money, instructing them to add it to his growing stash, so when this Jesus-gig had ended he could comfortably retire. (195e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters (Destroying your conscience) >> Being double minded – Judas was a thief and a scoundrel, but he was no murderer; no less, he had a reprobate mind. He didn’t think Jesus would be murdered when he betrayed Him; he was only trying to terminate His ministry so he could begin living out his dream life with all the money he stole over the last couple years, but after he learned they intended to crucify Him, he suddenly discovered he had a conscience and didn’t know what to do with it, so he killed himself. Jesus was his friend who took him under His wing and perhaps the only person who trusted him and paid attention to him. We know for a fact that Judas had a reprobate mind (Mat 26-24), so it is possible he had a conscience. The problem is he had no idea what to do with it, because feeling guilty rarely occurred to him. Reprobates are in many ways like psychopaths, who are said to be without conscience, yet psychopaths do have a conscience, only not like ours. To us, conscience is a restricted area; we are not allowed to manipulate it in any way, so that it can accurately tell us when we do wrong. In contrast, the reprobate and psychopath disable their God-given conscience and develop a version of their own based on a set of handpicked rules they devise for themselves, and apparently Judas did not make allowance for murderer. See also: Reprobate (Surrendering to sin); Eph 5,5-8; 167j Jn 12,4-6 (25h) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Thief >> Stealing from some one (76c) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Seeking authority for security >> Motives based on greed (166i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >> The world’s perspective on wealth (170h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Rewards of this life are temporary (182j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Being deceptive with people >> Telling the truth with an evil motive (186db) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool throws Jesus away for something better >> Judas betrayed the Lord – Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples who walked with Him about 3 years; He heard the word of God in its purest form, saw countless miracles performed right under his nose, yet he did not repent as a thief. He probably Oood and Awed the miracles like watching the fireworks, but he was never shaken to his core or stopped even for a moment to reflect on what he was seeing and hearing. He was impervious to rehabilitation. God has given Judas Iscariot to us as an example of a reprobate mind. Jesus chose twelve disciples, accepting a devil on purpose, who would betray Him, because he knew every generation after Him throughout the next two millennia would have to deal with the bloodsucking nature of this kind of people, who have no conscience or capacity to believe in God. He abided with Jesus in the inner circle, yet he did not believe. He cared only for himself and valued money over spiritual matters of the heart. He simply was not capable of comprehending the Kingdom of God. In every way he was the opposite of Mary Magdalene. He was deeply entrenched in the value system of the world, and spiritually never heard a single word Jesus spoke, yet he perfectly blended with the rest of the disciples, who loved Jesus with all their hearts. No one suspected there was an unbeliever in their midst. During the Lord’s Supper in Lk 22,20-23, Jesus told them there was one seated at the table who would betrayed Him, and they all began to discuss with each other which one it might be, implying they didn’t know. Jn 12-5,6 (175b) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Using religion as a front – The twelve remained with Jesus, even Judas. Of course Judas was just in it for the money. He expected this whole Jesus movement to end in tragedy, which it did, and so Judas was right, except that he caused it, making it a self-fulfilled prophecy, which his conscience was not prepared to accept. Judas wanted this Jesus gig to last long enough to amass a small fortune, so when things fall apart, he could take his money and run. However, after he realized this was ending badly for Jesus, He didn’t want to see Him killed, and he especially didn’t want to be the cause of his death. He was actually fond of Jesus; his conscience got overweighed with guilt, and so being unpracticed in matters of the heart he committed suicide. He felt remorse, guilt and condemnation incurred by the devil, not from godly repentance. Jesus didn’t talk to Judas like He talked to Peter; He just said to him, “What you do, do quickly” (Jn 13-27). With Peter he said, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Lk 22-32). Virtually all sin has pride at the very root of it; Judas had pride in his money, and Peter had pride in his faith. With pride comes falsehood; Judas’ money had false-wealth, and Peter’s pride had false confidence. Humility is the only container that can hold true faith, while pride is a container that can hold only things that are false, so whatever is in our basket of pride is false. To the degree that we walk in pride is the degree to which we are self-deceived. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,9-11 (25e) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Murder >> Persecution to the death >> Kill your neighbor for God’s sake (39ja) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Jesus defeated this world system >> Jesus defeated people who serve Satan (53d) Paradox >> Opposites >> Of life and death >> Dying more than once – The Jews came to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, so the chief priests and the Pharisees set their crosshairs on murdering Lazarus too; poor guy, he had to die twice. Lazarus was probably in paradise while his body was in the grave, and now the Jews were seeking to kill him again. He may not have been very happy with Jesus for calling him back to this life. If Lazarus had the option, he probably would have remained in paradise, except that God called him to reassume his earthly body, and wherever God wants us is where He can best use us. (144e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church Bears Witness of Jesus >> That He was sent by God -- These verses go with verses 17-19. It was the height of twisted thinking that the religious establishment of Israel wanted to put Lazarus to death because the people believed in Jesus through him. In this way Lazarus represents the Church in that the world will try to rid itself of the Church in the last days, but God will not let that happen, just like He didn't let the world have its way in Jesus' day, via the resurrection. The chief priests could see where this was going, that Jesus would increase in popularity if they didn’t do something to stop Him. He would perform more signs and their position in society would become obsolete. Eventually this happened, but not the way they expected. They knew that if they didn’t stop Jesus, they would lose their business of religion, for it was becoming clear that He was in the process of terminating it. (146h) Purpose of miracles (Key verse) (146i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs And Wonders >> Proof that Jesus is the son of God >> That the world may be saved – There were hand-written recordings of Old Testament scrolls in every synagogue that people read for themselves and could have seen Jesus in their ancient manuscripts, yet the people understood their religion in a uniform manner, because the Scribes and Pharisees taught them what to think. The chief priests hated Jesus because He was shining the light on their business of religion. They were jealous of Him, not jealous of His relationship with God but of His popularity with the people and His power to perform miracles, signs and wonders. The chief priests would have done anything to have this power, for they would have used it to further exploit the people. (180g) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Wolves steal, kill and destroy >> Wolves have a killer instinct (245h) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> The resurrection is a manifestation of His life -- These verses go with verses 17-19. Technically, raising Lazarus from the dead was not as aspect of the First Resurrection that will occur at the second coming of Christ. Instead, Jesus raised Lazarus in the same mortal body that he had when he died, so poor Lazarus had to die twice, and the chief priests were trying to speed up this process. The people wanted to meet Lazarus and ask him all the questions that we also have about life after death. Jn 12-9 (143j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His works -- This verse goes with verses 17-19 Jn 12,12-16 (133a) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> God is holy >> The Father is holy -- They set Jesus on a donkey on His approach to Jerusalem and spread palm branches in his path shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel,” fulfilling Scripture. These people were excited about Jesus at the time, because they thought He was about to be crowned King of Israel, their long awaited Messiah come to deliver them from their enemies. This was really all they wanted from Him. They didn’t see their need to be saved from sin, suggesting the people lacked a sense of holiness, and this caused them to misunderstand everything about Jesus. He is due to return before long, and according to the pattern, His people will probably miss Him again for the same reason. Most people in the Church are expecting the Rapture to occur at any time, just like the Jews expected the Kingdom of God to suddenly appear. However, Paul said, He is coming for a church, “Having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless” (Eph 5-27). There’s that word again “holy”. Jesus promised to delay His second coming, and now we know why; He will wait and allow the devil’s tribulation to purge His people before He returns for them. See also: Rapture (Last trumpet); Mat 25-3,4; 82k (141d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as the savior KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,17-19 (24j) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> World is envious of Jesus -- Lazarus stood alongside Jesus with many other testimonies of the things Jesus had done, and the people worshipped Him, spreading palm branches along His path and glorifying Him on His way to Jerusalem. The Pharisees feared they would lose their position as teachers of the law. They feared the people would stop listening to their gibberish as Jesus freed them from financial slavery to their useless religion. They were at the top of their game as religious leaders. Israel was not just another country, but was literally invented by God when He spoke to Abraham and promised to make his descendants fill the whole earth. In other words Israel was created by faith, meaning that Israel’s religion defined them, and the Pharisees were in charge of it, and they had utterly distorted it, which was Jesus’ complaint. Hence, the Pharisees considered themselves the most important people of their nation, of the whole world, and were brilliant in convincing the people of that, until Jesus came and exposed their hypocrisy. This was motive enough to want Him killed. (143j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His works -- These verses go with verse 9 (144e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The Church Bears Witness of Jesus >> That He was sent by God -- These verses go with verses 9-11 (245h) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> The resurrection is a manifestation of His life -- These verses go with verses 9-11 Jn 12,20-22 (72h) Authority >> Hierarchy of authority >> More authority the more responsibility >> Closer we get to Jesus the more authority we have – There is a hierarchy of authority that existed with Jesus' disciples, as a model for the hierarchy of authority that exists in heaven. There was the inner circle consisting of Peter, James and John, and then there were the other nine. There was a hierarchy within the nine that was not as well defined. The second group consisted of: Philip, Nathanael (Bartholomew), Thomas and Matthew (Levi). Finally, the third group contained: James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), Judas or Thaddaeus (son of James) and Judas Iscariot (See: Jesus' Twelve Disciples). Jesus normally didn’t have dealings with gentiles, only by exception, such as the woman at the well, who was a Samaritan. Jesus dealt with gentiles on a case-by-case basis, whereas any Jew who wanted to see Jesus had direct access to Him. This is something we should recognize in our own faith—we gentiles believe in God through the Jews, since Jesus was a Jewish Messiah. He was an Israelite, a son of Abraham. Since Israel rejected the gospel, the gentiles have managed the gospel all these centuries, but we have conveniently forgotten that we have a Jewish faith. The sooner we understand that we have been grafted into the faith of Abraham, who believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, the sooner we will understand that when the Jews return to their faith as prophesied in the last days (Romans chapter 11), the gentiles will have to surrender the gospel to them and believe in God through the doctrines the Jews disseminate to the Church through the Holy Spirit. This also depicts a hierarchy of authority. See also: Great Endtime Revival (Jews will manage the gospel at the end of the age); Act 20,17-35; 101f Jn 12-20,21 (232m) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seek the essence of his kingdom >> Seeking Jesus KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,23-26 (14b) Servant >> Servants expend themselves to please God – The Father sent His Son to offer His life to the world, so we would be saved. He sacrificed His life that we might be beneficiaries of His suffering. Now that we are His children, He wants us to dedicate our lives to His cause, which may take some sacrifice, and He promises our efforts will bear fruit. (129e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Bear fruit by dying to self -- Jesus said, “He who loves his life looses it,” meaning whoever clings to the parent plant will lead a fruitless life, but “he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to eternal life.” People who hate the world find it easier to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Kingdom of God than those who love the world. In fact, if we love the world, it is impossible to sacrifice our life, any more than we can quit smoking if we still enjoy the habit. In many ways this world is like an addiction to a bad habit. We must first hate the habit before we can quit. Likewise, it is a requirement to hate the world before we can be a disciple of Jesus. The parent plant represents the world; if we detach ourselves from it and fall into rich soil and die to our sinful passions and desires, God will make something of us that we could never make of ourselves, but when a man enters into judgment with God without any fruit to show for all his years, God will interpret that man’s life as one who cared only for the temporal interests of his flesh. A man can even show God his family as evidence that he bore fruit, but God isn’t looking for fruit that can be produced by the flesh; He is looking for spiritual fruit. The fruit of the spirit is: love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, qualities that can only be consistently produced by the Spirit. See also: Overcoming drug addiction by a substitutionary process; Jn 4-13,14; 162h (187g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Dying to receive the glory of God >> Dying to self precedes the resurrection – Jesus talked about Himself as a seed, which is alive and matures on the plant, and then detaches and falls to the ground where it germinates, putting down roots and begins to grow with new potential to produce fruit. Like a planted acorn, the next year we discover a stem growing oak leaves on it, but before that acorn can grow it had to die. No one would eat an acorn that was ready to grow, because it turns colors and doesn’t look good anymore, but inside things are happening. It is making preparations to set down roots and push up a stem as the beginning of a long life of an oak tree. Similarly, when Jesus entered His ministry, He fell off the parent tree of humanity and began germinating, and when He died they buried Him, and His resurrection represented the stem pushing through the soil back to the light, also sending down roots, representing the Church planted in the good soil. (192a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Life for life >> Losing your life to gain God’s life – Jesus said, “The one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.” Someone might say that He was using the word “hate” as a metaphor, since it is much too strong a word. Actually, God thinks exclusively in terms of love and hate with nothing in-between; He doesn’t “like” or “dislike” anything. Jesus is the Son of God, and so this is how He thinks too, and He wants us to think like Him. When He said “hate”, He meant it. He wants us to hate our lives in this world, because then we will show no interest in seeking the temporal pleasures of this life. He hated His life compared to his life in heaven. John said in 1Jn 2-15,16, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world;” what did John mean by that? Jesus didn’t tell us to hate the world; He told us to hate our lives in the world. We hate our lives because of the things in the world: “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.” We consider all the world’s principles to be upside down and backwards. We can’t love this world and do the will of God at the same time. (208a) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> The cross – Jesus was tortured and killed, shamed and dishonored, despised and forsaken, yet He said He was about to be glorified. This is the attitude Jesus took with Him to the cross. Is that how we would describe our suffering? In the following verses Jesus taught that if we followed Him, we would walk in the same manner that He walked and would receive a similar reward. If we suffer for Jesus’ sake, we should have the same attitude and hope. However, just because we are suffering doesn’t mean we are doing the will of God, for we could be facing the consequences of our own actions, and Peter said that we should not expect to be rewarded for enduring with patience the penalty of our error (1Pet 2-20). However, if a criminal gets saved in prison and seeks to be a model prisoner throughout the rest of his sentence, this would glorify God because he had a change of heart. God’s plan for each person is to become established on the trail of good works that He has prepared for each of us. This trail leads to heaven, one step at a time along the narrow way which also involves suffering and persecution that we must endure. So long as we are on our designated trail, the suffering we endure brings glory to God, and we will be glorified in it, but off the trail our suffering has no reward. (233f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seek The Kingdom With Your Essence >> Seek the elusive Kingdom of God – How do we stop loving the world? We are believers in Jesus, but we also love our job and our salary, which has attracted a beautiful woman, and now we have a nice house, children, a dog and two cars in the garage, living the American dream. How are we supposed to hate that? Are we following God’s plan and purpose; people would tend to say yes because of our success, quickly attributing it to God, but we keep the glory for ourselves. All these wonderful things act as a distraction to the call of God in our lives. When this life ends and we meet God, He will show us the path He wanted us to follow (Eph 2-10). He will show us the trail of good works that He had prepared for us and what our lives would have resembled walking on that designated trail through the obedience of faith (Rom 1-5;16-26). Jn 12,23-25 (56g) Paradox >> Opposites >> Seek God’s life by subduing your flesh – We must throw our plans in the dumpster and ask God what He wants us to do. He will spread out His plan for us like a red carpet. We might look at it and frown and look back at our own plan and say, ‘I think I like mine better.’ However, we want to do the will of God, so we die to our plans and visions and pick up God’s vision, and before long it becomes our life and we couldn’t think of living any other way. The life that God has for us will make us happier than any of our own ideas. So many marriages end in divorce nowadays, even those who seem to have it all. They might be happy for a while, but more often big plans end in big tragedies and everybody gets hurt. Meanwhile, the man walking in God’s plan bears fruit everywhere he goes and blesses everyone he knows. He is following the voice of the Holy Spirit, constantly dying to sinful passions and desires and contradicting thoughts and ideas. This is how Jesus lived; He could have had it all; the devil personally offered it to Him (what are the chances the devil’s promises would have come to fruition?). All Jesus wanted was to do the will of God, and He lived by the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5-22,23). This is what everybody wants; they want all the other things too, but they don’t go together. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12-24,25 (55k) Paradox >> Gain the world to lose your soul >> He who saves his life shall lose it – Had Jesus loved his life in the flesh, He would have rejected the cross, and if we love our lives in the flesh, we will reject God's plan that He intended for us, including eternal life. If we love this life, we won’t follow Jesus on the trial that He has prepared for us. Jesus taught that believing was tantamount to obedience by combining the teachings of Paul and James when he spoke about the narrow way (Mat 7-13,14). He taught that walking on this trail throughout life will give us the faith that Paul preached, which he summarized in Eph 2,8-10. Jesus said that if we do not serve Him, we cannot be His disciples (Lk 14-26,27), and only disciples of Jesus go to heaven. This is not what the Church teaches today; in fact, the word “disciple” has become obsolete in most Christian circles. We think we can approve a set of doctrines and live any way we want and ignore the will of God and expect to go to heaven, but the one who loves this life will lose eternal life. See also: Trail of good works (We must choose to walk on this road); Act 26-31,32; 216j Jn 12-24 (187a) Die To Self — Key verse for the entire chapter – The Scriptures speak at great length about dying to self. This chapter is a list of relevant topics that pertain to the process of substitution as we sacrifice our will for God's will. It indicates that repentance is the means by which we meet this objective, leading the reader to understand that he/she has eternal life and has God's favor, as opposed to the world's temporal rewards. Our flesh wants to be in control, and we give it consent, but it would be a better choice to control it, and we do that partly through the grace of God and partly through our own determination to quit sinning. Both our will and His are required. We cannot expect God’s grace to remove our sinful passions and desires without our input, nor can we expect our own efforts apart from Him to accomplish anything, but together all things are possible through Christ. (189i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Jesus was a martyr Jn 12-26 (32e) Father Will Honor You (Key verse) (32f) Gift of God >> Father will honor you if you die to self >> In His service -- There is no way to serve Jesus without following Him. If we want to serve Him, we must follow Him to the cross and die to the sinful passions and desires of our flesh. Jesus was nailed between two sinners, who in one way or another deserved to be there, just as our own sinful flesh deserves to be nailed next to Him. Although it is a place of humiliation, Jesus said, “If anyone serves Me, the father will honor him,” even as God honored His Son for going to the cross. The Kingdom of God is worthy of the investment of our lives, so when the moment comes and we meet God, we will have a clear conscience and He will honor us for the life we lived and the sacrifices we made for His cause. (93g) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Disciples follow Him Jn 12,27-43 (221f) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from the mind of man >> He hides behind man’s slowness of heart Jn 12,27-32 (38a) Judgment >> Blood of Jesus >> God judged the devil through the blood of His son (114ha) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All his works are done through the father >> Jesus gives voice to His Father -- These verses go with verses 47-50 Jn 12-27,28 (24a) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of hardship (punishment) – Jesus fretted over His hour that had come; His flesh didn’t want to go. The cross was God’s plan; He knew He would be sacrificed for sin, and He was eager to do it until the moment came. Throughout all eternity God anticipated this hour because He loved His creation, and when the moment arrived, He wished there were another way. Knowing that His soul was the very Spirit of God, He voiced His feelings regarding His flesh without giving credence to them. It was a legitimate concern that Jesus’ flesh didn’t want to die, so long as He didn't allow those concerns to take precedence over God’s will. We too have legitimate concerns for our flesh, so long as we don’t allow those concerns to take precedence over God’s plan to use us to perpetuate the gospel of peace. (95h) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Ready to do God’s will – Jesus’ commitment to glorify His Father over the concerns of His flesh is the very definition of faith and obedience, so we too need to be committed to glorifying God over the concerns and interests of our flesh. The voice from heaven testified that Jesus had already glorified His Father and would glorify Him again, meaning that Jesus had already glorified God by living without sin, and will glorify Him again by sacrificing His flesh for the sins of the world. When we make this same commitment, refusing to allow anything stand in our way, we will hear His voice in our heart telling us what we must do to fulfill His will that He has planned from all eternity. Jn 12-27 (2c) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keep your commitments >> Complete God’s calling in your ministry >> Christ did as our example – Jesus lived His whole life preparing for His ministry, and when the time came, He wrestled with His flesh to clear His head from thoughts that conflicted with His Father's will. (63g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcasm >> Be pretentious >> Pretending to be stupid (129k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Single minded >> Determination (247g) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in the cross – There are many passages that speak about the Father sending the Son (Jn 8-42). He knew His Father was unwilling to save Him, because the cross was the very purpose He came. Jesus wasn’t doing His own will; He was doing the will of His Father, as He so famously said in Jn 3-16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” It was the Father’s doing that Jesus was conceived in His mother’s womb through the Holy Spirit, born to Mary, who raised Him to adulthood to take on His ministry and teach the people about God, and at the end of His life He was sacrificed for the sins of the world. All of this was the Father’s will, and Jesus simply obeyed Him. He had healing in His hands, but it wasn’t His own power but the power of His Father working in Him. Jesus Christ represents the will of God in it’s perfection. Therefore, anybody who walks in the manner that He walked is in the will of God (1Jn 2-6). It was troubling to Jesus that His hour had come; the cross wasn’t going to be fun; there would be no joy in it, no pleasure, just humiliation and suffering. He didn’t enjoy being spit in the face or the whipping He received, and He didn’t enjoy being hung on a cross with nails driven through His hands and feet, but what troubled Him most was that His Father heaped the sins of the whole world on Him, past, present and future. A man who never committed a sin of His own would face the penalty of all the sins of mankind, and the penalty of sin was death, separation from God. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,28-32 (40c) Judgment >> Father gave authority to the son to judge the world through His blood (144g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Trinity bears witness of Jesus >> Father bears witness of His Son Jn 12,28-30 (106a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Knowing the sound of His voice >> God speaks in the darkness to shine the light -- People who heard the voice from heaven argued with each other about what they heard. Some said it was thunder, while others said it was an angel who spoke to Him. The point is people were hardly affected by what they witnessed. They heard the voice but saw nothing, unlike Paul who both saw and heard the voice that was speaking with him, and like John the revelator who turned (repented) to see the voice that spoke with him. In both cases it changed their lives forever, reminiscent of the Spirit and the word. The voice they heard was the word of God, while His Spirit etched His truth into their inner man. When we see the things in our inner man and hear His voice, these are the things that forever change us. However, these guys were unaffected by the thunderous voice from on high because it didn’t happen inside them, but was an outward demonstration of God’s glory. (177i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding the word of God Jn 12-29 (20i) Sin >> Doubting miracles Jn 12-30,31 (154a) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> No excuse >> There is no excuse for rejecting Christ -- These verses go with verses 47-50 Jn 12-30 (124b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Acts of love >> Love takes from the rich and gives to the poor >> love is the act of giving to the poor (236c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> All things are for your sake >> God’s purpose is for your sake – To Jesus and all the prophets God spoke with a small, still voice, but to these the volume was greatly increased so they could hear it; still many interpreted it as an anomaly. If they ever matured in the faith, the Father would speak to them as with His Son, with a quiet voice, God’s preference in speaking to His people, for He doesn’t enjoy waking us from a stupor, but wants us always on the alert. This thundering voice gave credence to the words Jesus spoke to them, and together with His miracles consisted of everything they needed to believe in God, and some did, but others doubted. There was nothing He could do to help them believe; some just didn’t want to believe in any kind of divine intervention. We live in a material world and some people want to remain immersed in this natural world and don’t want to believe there is anything beyond that, but God’s purpose for His booming voice in the hearing of the people was for the sake of those who believed that Jesus was sent from God, and His voice confirmed their faith. We can believe a little or we can believe a lot, but there is no such thing as faith apart from faithfulness. "Faithless believer" is an oxymoron, and faithful believer is redundant. Jn 12-31,32 (39i) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Jesus defeated Satan’s authority >> Jesus defeated Satan on the cross – Why was it so important to God that this spiritual enemy the devil be judged through the blood of His cross? There has been a competition between God and Satan since his rebellion. We know God has all power, that He could easily catch the devil by the tail and pitch him into the lake of fire whenever He wanted, but God didn’t want to destroy Him by His power only; He wants to first prove by His goodness that righteousness triumphs over evil, and He wants to prove that God is stronger than the devil in the weakness of human flesh. It is important that God make and object lesson of Satan for the rest of creation that sin is utterly sinful and that rebellion against God is useless and detrimental to his own interests. (46j) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Demons are subject to Christ (209i) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus paid our ransom with His own blood – The cross of Jesus Christ was for judgment regarding Satan and his demons, regarding those who are worthy of eternal life and regarding those who would reject His blood sacrifice. Jesus was lifted on a cross in mid-heaven, where Satan dwells, the Prince of the Power of the Air, when God judged Satan on his own battlefield. In the days of Moses, God sent serpents to judge the grumblers of Israel, who were disobedient and rebellious, and they cried to the Lord, and He gave them a bronze serpent and attached it to a pole and raised it into the air, so anybody who was bitten by the serpent and looked upon this image would be healed. It was a very simple act of faith, and so it is no more extensive or complicated to be saved. The Bible teaches that all of mankind is under the sentence of condemnation, having been born into a sinful world, living in a body of sin and predisposed to the nature of evil, and the antidote for it is simply to look to Jesus and believe in His blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. Not to just look once for a minute, but "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12-2). Jesus went to war with Satan throughout His entire life, and won the war against sin when He submitted to the cross, which is the apex of victory that God won for us. Jesus was willing to do this for His Father to win the Church for Himself by living a perfect life without sin so when He died, He broke the Law of sin and death that assumes sin is present at death, but when Jesus died without sin He broke the Law of sin and death and destroyed the power of Satan and provided a door for us that leads to eternal life by faith in the Son of God, so that all we need do is walk though that door and be saved. Jn 12-31 (46h) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls from heaven -- The main purpose of the cross was to destroy the works of the devil, according to Heb 2-14. Jesus said in Lk 10-18, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning,” referring to the original judgment when God extricated Lucifer from heaven and exiled him to the earth. Then there is this verse, describing how God destroyed Satan’s power over mankind through the cross. Then the Church extricates Satan from having dominion over them. Rev 12-9 says, “The great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him.” Finally, the most literal manifestation of Satan's defeat will come when God throws him into the lake of fire. We are in a spiritual war of God's own making, who is using the devil to prove to His creation that rebellion is useless. Once God creates a new heavens and a new earth and rids sin forever, no one will be foolish enough to rebel again, because now we all know what will happen to him. God won't just throw him in hell but will first make an example of him to all creation, then throw him in hell. (48d) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Satan is under God’s eternal judgment (164c) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan rules the world >> The world is his kingdom Jn 12,32-34 (177a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Distorting Scripture from a lack of understanding – God never expected man to understand His plan before Jesus came or even while He was here, but He did expect man to understand His plan after He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit in His place, yet so many people in the world today don’t have a clue about the purpose and meaning of Christianity. Its meaning is being lost today faster than any other time. People are less ready for the return of Christ than at any other time in history, which answers the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth [Lk 18-8]?” Some will still believe, but the masses will have stopped believing in Him. Jn 12-32 (59g) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Glorified by the Church/Lifted upon a cross – It appears that the Jews understood what Jesus meant by this verse, interpreting what He said that the son of man must be killed. The Jews had seen many crucifixions over the years, people nailed to a cross and then lifted up and dropped into its stand, but the part they didn’t understand was that if Jesus claimed to be the son of man and must be lifted upon a cross, then how can the Scriptures be fulfilled about their Messiah remaining forever? This was studious of the Jews that they didn’t understand how their Messiah could be killed, and so it is insightful for us, clarifying that God wanted to build a spiritual kingdom before He built a physical kingdom in the Millennium. Absolutely nobody considered the possibility that Jesus would rise from the dead. This was something too impossible to conceive, because death is so final. No one has ever returned from the dead, not even someone unusual as this man who perform many signs and wonders, healed countless people and even raised the dead, but how could He raise Himself from the dead, as though picking-up Himself by His own bootstraps. They forgot about His Father, which was the whole point of the cross; it proved the cross was not Jesus' plan but His Father's plan. Still no one could imagine Jesus rising from the dead, though He told His disciples countless times pointblank that this would happen. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12-35,36 (33a) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Believers are children >> Children of the light – We become the children of God by walking in the light, not just by believing in the light. Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are members of the trinity, who are equal yet hold different offices. We can now talk about Jesus as the Holy Spirit, referring to Him as the Spirit of truth in Jn 14-17, so what He said to His disciples also applies to us. “For a little while longer the light is among you,” inadvertently refers to a time when the light will become unavailable, suggesting that a time of great darkness is coming, known as the apostasy. While the light is here, living for Jesus is relatively painless; we must take full advantage of these easier times, so when darkness comes, we will be prepared. We need to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, who will teach us how to walk with Him, because when the light fades, those who failed to prepare will find it very difficult to believe in Jesus. Remember the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mat 25,1-13). See also: Apostasy (American Christianity); Gal 2-9; 131k (43b) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the character of Christ >> Conform to His nature (91m) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> The trail that Jesus walked (112g) Thy kingdom come >> Light >> Obeying the truth in broad daylight >> Jesus’ deeds in the light -- This verse goes with verse 46 (117k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit >> Light illumines your spirit -- These verses go with verse 46. Jesus talked almost exclusively in terms of darkness and light. He wasn’t just a spiritual man; he was the very embodiment of the Holy Spirit. He invited us to believe in the light, and a verse earlier He said to walk in the light, suggesting that the words “believe” and “obey” are alike. When He said to walk in the light, He was referring to obeying the Holy Spirit as children born of the Spirit. (119b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Law of the Spirit of truth -- These verses go with verse 46 (169e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Darkness has a blinding effect – Jeremiah 17-9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” God knows our hearts better than we do. Some people deny they are willfully sinning and cross the line without realizing it, and if they develop an evil lifestyle on the other side of that line, we might find the door of heaven closed and locked tight. God might tell us we never believed in Him, and we might disagree, and He might ask us to show Him how we believed, and we might pull out some of our phony doctrines and tell Him that we don’t have to show Him, since salvation is by grace through faith (Eph 2-8,9). He might ask us to read the next verse (Eph 2-10) and then ask if we are referring to mental ascent and remind us that the demons also believe and tremble (Jm 2-19). If we truly believe in God, we will repent. (170j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Back-sliders are temporary (176c) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Ignorance lurks in darkness (184e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> God controls darkness >> Darkness is the absence of light -- These verses go with verse 46. Some people are too busy living in darkness to walk in the light. Having ulterior motives, the opportunity to walk with God is extended to them, they have refused, thinking somehow the darkness will not overtake them. The analogy of light and darkness means the absence of one implies the other, for we either walk in light or in darkness with nothing in-between. People who do not walk in the light do not listen to the Holy Spirit, but follow the dictates of their flesh and get lost in them, letting their sinful passions and desires lead them astray. They are conditioned by society to believe that whatever feels natural can’t be wrong, but the Bible says, "Its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14-12). They may have walked miles off the narrow way before they pick up the Bible again and realize they have become strangers to the word of God and have no idea how to return to their faith. Often they don’t know they are lost until they come back to the Bible and are shocked to find how foreign it sounds to them in contrast to a time when it all made sense, when they first believed. At some point they gave up walking in the Spirit and surrendered to walking in the flesh where they felt most comfortable. Feeling uncomfortable walking in the Spirit is normal, because we live in a body that hates God. (203i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from the truth – the Church nowadays is hopelessly divided. It is almost impossible to say what anyone believes, though there are some cult-like belief systems that many share in common. For example, there are many deeply-entrenched doctrines in the Church that teach we can believe in God without obeying Him, because of the grace of God that forgives us. These are the doctrines of licentiousness. We are all guilty of abusing the grace of God every time we sin, but sin is the reason Jesus died for us. There is a point, however, when our use of His grace turns into abuse, that is, when it turns into a lifestyle, then we are skating on thin ice. God allows us to take risks with our eternal salvation and if we return, all is well with a reprimand not to stray again, but some people break through the ice and drown; that is, their faith dies and they lose their salvation. They live this way because they think God will forgive them, and He does forgive, but some people have no intention of serving Him. The vast majority of people who do this never were His children in the first place. (237k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Transferred from darkness to light Jn 12-35 (182a) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Believing the darkness within you is light Jn 12-36 (89i) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Increasing in wisdom (107d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Word creates faith >> Believing the word creates faith (114b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Believing the Father by obeying the Son >> Obeying Jesus’ will -- This verse goes with verses 44-46 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,37-49 (20e) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Having a hardened heart Jn 12,37-43 (54a) Paradox >> Opposites >> Unbelief in the presence and power of God (167h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It does not believe the word of God (181b) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebelling against God >> Rebelling against the witness of God (185g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> God helps Satan in the mystery of lawlessness (186g) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> After they reject God’s faith how can they believe? (201h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> Faith offends unbelief (202j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running from walking in faith >> Running from God through unbelief Jn 12,37-40 (19f) Sin >> Having the mental disease of the world >> Incorrect thinking – “Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” was taken from Isaiah chapter 53, which talks about Jesus being crucified, suggesting there is a direct correlation between the people’s unbelief after performing so many miracles in their presence and the fact that they crucified Him. If the entire nation of Israel believed in Jesus, they probably would not have crucified Him, but it says that they could not believe, not because God wouldn't let them but because human behavior is so easy to predict. (40a) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s unbelief – The plethora of signs and wonders that Jesus performed among the people compared to the littleness of their faith that these miracles inspired was utterly shameful. Compare this to cities where He performed fewer signs, yet they believed in Him (Mat 12-41,42). The more people see the manifested arm of the Lord, the more they are obligated to believe in Him, and if they don’t believe after revealing His glory, there will be others with greater faith who will put them to shame. It is a fearful thing to be in the presence of the Lord and see His majestic works, for His manifested glory demands a faithful response. The people who witnessed the many signs that Jesus performed and yet did not believe got in a lot of trouble with God, and when judgment day comes, they will not fair well, because God will use these facts against them, giving instances of other people more noble than themselves who believed in Him with less cause for faith. (74l) Thy kingdom come >> Let not your heart be hardened >> Insensitive to the things of God (169g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> God blinds their eyes -- Isaiah said that God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. This is a complicated verse. The Pharisees blinded themselves, and since they were so unwilling to see or believe, God helped them by sending upon them a satanic delusion to seal their fate. God did not actually send these demonic forces, but they automatically came as a spiritual reaction of their unbelief. The Pharisees made up their minds not to believe, though the truth was literally staring them in the face, and they knew it, but they refused to believe. There are spiritual principles at work and entities (demons) in the world that harden people’s hearts who refuse to believe, especially when God makes Himself known, so they cannot believe even if they tried. They crossed a line that they could not return no matter what evidence presented itself, no matter who got healed or who rose from the dead. In other words, there is a point when unbelief is no longer our choice. Unbelief in the presence of truth invites demons into our life, and they will harden our heart until we are no longer able to believe, according to 2The 2-11,12, “And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” (217e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God gives up on you >> After you are no longer able to repent -- It must have been disheartening after performing so many signs to be confronted with unbelief. The Pharisees even had the audacity to ask Him for a sign in Mat 12,38-41, that they might believe in him, as though He had not been raising people from the dead, healing the sick, blind and lame, opening the ears of the deaf and performing signs and wonders of every kind. These guys wanted a sign? Jesus told them that no sign will be given them, but the fact is many signs were given, but they would not receive them. (223j) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the train >> Miss the invitation from God KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12-39,40 (64l) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> Jesus blinds the world – If it says that God Himself has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, then how could God blame them for not believing in Him? It is a bit more complicated than that; Paul talks about it in Romans chapter 9, and his answer was, “Who are you to talk back to God?” (v20). God does not initiate His blindness upon a people; rather, they unleash spiritual blindness upon themselves. They refuse to see and believe, so God accommodates their unbelief by sending upon them a deluding influence as Paul said in 2The 2-11, so they can no longer believe the truth. That is, the demons empower their unbelief. After Jesus demonstrated His identity as Israel’s Messiah through many convincing signs that no man could perform, and they refused to believe in Him, God helped their unbelief by allowing demons to fill the void. If they ever decided to change their minds, they wouldn’t be able. If anyone thinks he can exercise his will against God, then He will send a spirit of unbelief, so he no longer controls his unwillingness to believe in God. The spirit of this world will dominate his life making it impossible to believe when he had the opportunity. Those spirits will control his life until they drive him mad and take away everything that is precious to him and his life reduces to complete ruins (see 1Samuel chapters 13-16, particularly 1Sam 16-14). (162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe Jn 12,41-43 (169j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory of man >> Loving the approval of men rather than the approval of God >> Fearing their religion -- Here is another common snag in people’s faith-based incentive of social class: seeking the approval of men over the approval of God. These rulers saw the signs and believed that God had sent Him as a prophet, and some may have even acknowledged Him as the Son of God, but they were unwilling to confess Him. They knew in their heart that Jesus was their Messiah, but having status in society, they were faced with a decision to either sacrifice their belief in Jesus or sacrifice their position in society. It turned out they believed more in man’s world than in God’s truth. Jn 12-42,43 (18i) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Unable to distinguish between good and evil >> God’s purpose is evil (21h) Sin >> Premeditated sin >> Having no intensions of doing the will of God (75m) Thy kingdom come >> Having ulterior (hidden) motives (86d) Thy kingdom come >> Belief demands a response (168a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not let the world’s approval shape you to itself – People have a variety of assorted motives for going to church. For example, there are many fads in society today; people love to mimic one another and conform to social class, so if a group forms who have an interest in Jesus, people will join it, regardless of faith. Some people “believe” because it is popular; other people come to church because they have an evil conscience and want to appease it. Actual faith in Jesus, simple as it sounds, can be very complicated for those who ride the fence. In fact, believing in Jesus is not really something we can decide for ourselves, but is something that God decides as He draws a person to Himself. (199h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> The world rejects God >> Rejecting Christ to keep the world (240e) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >> Beware when all men speak well of you >> Natural disadvantage of seeking popularity Jn 12,44-49 (207i) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The Kingdom of God >> Salvation authority of Jesus Christ KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,44-46 (114b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Believing the Father by obeying the Son >> Obeying Jesus’ will -- These verses go with verse 36 Jn 12-44,45 (253d) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the exact representation of the Father – Jesus looks different from the Father, as the Holy Spirit looks different from Jesus, in that He is invisible. To represent this mathematically as a ratio, we could assign the Holy Spirit the number zero (0) because He is invisible, and assign Jesus any other number, say one (1). We would get the ratio 1/0, which is undefined, because it causes the ratio to go to infinity. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit is infinitely different from Jesus, then the Father must be infinitely different from the other two in His essential characteristics. So when Jesus said, “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me,” He was not talking about appearance, but being the same as the Father in other ways. Jn 12,46-50 (40g) Judgment >> Judgment of Christ >> God’s word judges the world >> It does not believe in Him – Jesus held His judgment while He lived in the flesh, but after He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, God raised Him to be judge of all the earth. It says in Rev 19-13, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God,” so Jesus is the resurrected living word of God. That is, He is the mouthpiece of God. He speaks the Father's words, meaning the Father is His authority, and Jesus does not have authority apart from Him. When we say that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s word, we are crediting the Father for the authority He bestowed on Him. While Jesus was here in the flesh, He judged no one, so when He said, “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day,” He meant ‘Not Me but My Father.’ Jesus did not judge anyone while He lived in the flesh, because apart from the Father He has no authority, but now that He has rejoined the Father, He has received authority from God as judge of all the earth on the basis that He came and spoke the Truth of God and many did not believe in Him, except those whom God had chosen beforehand for glory. Jesus is the benevolent friend and advocate of man, but make no mistake, He is the enemy and judge of those who don’t obey Him, based on the authority of God. Jn 12-46,47 (210d) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our savior >> Jesus is the savior of the world – Jesus loves us more than anyone ever could, because He is God, and we have a special relationship with Him as His created beings. He doesn’t love us as a master loves his dog, but as a Father loves His son in ways that we could not possibly imagine. It will take an eternity to fully experience God’s love and to finally understand what He was thinking and feeling about us all along. We will always underestimate Him. Already, who could have imagined that God loved us enough to be butchered and die on a cross for us? At the time, none of His disciples conceptualized such a notion. He did it for His children. He died for everyone, but there will be many who will not receive his love, and those He will judge through the mercy He showed them. His suffering will be their judgment instead of their salvation; He will judge them based on the love He showed them. They will disappear into the void with the understanding that God truly loved them and they reject it, and now they will have to face an eternity without Him, because it is impossible for them to repent after they're dead. Jn 12-46 (112g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Obeying the truth in broad daylight >> Jesus’ deeds in the light -- This verse goes with verse 35&36. Jesus is the light of the world, light meaning: truth revealed by the Holy Spirit. We read the Bible by the light of Christ. Now that Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit in His place, He represents Christ to us, who Himself represents the Father. Jesus is called the word of God (Rev 19-13), and the Holy Spirit is the light of His word. Jesus and the Holy Spirit work together to instill truth in His people, and his truth is the light of life. The Spirit and the word operate together to reveal the Father through the words of Jesus, for in heaven He bathes paradise in His presence, and "its lamp is the Lamb" (Rev 21-23). Jesus will forever shine in the New Jerusalem and we will live by His light. It won’t be the kind of light that is oppressive like the sun at times; nothing can stand against the sun’s rays for long; even rocks give way to the its bleaching power, eroding mighty mountains, aided by wind and rain. Jesus sent His Spirit to infuse His people, empowering us to make disciples of all nations. See also: Word of His Spirit; 119b / Spirit and the Word (Jesus is the embodiment of God's Spirit); Jn 5-39; 255c (117k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit >> Light illumines your spirit -- This verse goes with verses 35&36 (119b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Law of the Spirit of truth -- This verse goes with verses 35&36. If we read the Bible apart from faith (without the Holy Spirit revealing it to us) we will understand neither its meaning nor its depth. Only through faith do we incorporate the Holy Spirit in our understanding of God’s word. The ministry of the Holy Spirit with the word of God does two things: He reveals the truth so that we properly understand the Bible, sealing it in our hearts, and He also reveals the depth of meaning that we could not comprehend without Him. Many Christians consider the Holy Spirit to be an option, and most have excluded Him from their teaching and theology. They want to live a natural, fleshly life and remain of the earth. See also: (184e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> God controls darkness >> Darkness is the absence of light -- This verse goes with verses 35&36 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12,47-50 (47l) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment against unbelief >> Rejecting the gospel (71i) Authority >> Ordained by God >> Jesus is ordained by God (107e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Truth of the trinity >> Jesus is truth (114ha) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All his works are done through the father >> Jesus gives voice to His Father -- These verses go with verses 27-32 (144h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Trinity bears witness of Jesus >> Word of God bears witness to Jesus -- Jesus made it clear in verse 44 that He and His Father were one. Then in verse 47 He made a distinction between Himself and His words, saying not Him but His words will judge the world in righteousness. The fact that He spoke God's word and people have heard the Truth from God and rejected it is what will judge them. Since the Father spoke through His Son, it is not Jesus who stands in judgment but His Father who is the ultimate judge of all mankind through Christ. He reminded us that His message was eternal life. Why then would people be unwilling to listen to Him? It's not like Jesus came to reprove His creation and smack them around and call them names. Rather, He came to offer us a chance to live with Him forever in paradise, yet he was treated with absolute distain by His own creation and by His own people. Jesus is still not very popular with the world; chalk it up to the mystery of lawlessness. (154a) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> There is no excuse for rejecting Christ -- These verses go with verses 30&31 (200d) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Rejecting the faith of God >> Rejecting Christ through disobedience (253l) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to the will of God Jn 12-47,48 (24d) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness creates anxiety (49h) Judgment >> God judges the world >> The last days >> The day of judgment (Armageddon) (49j) Judgment >> Judgment day >> The open books of the white throne judgment (62n) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> Jesus deceives the lost Jn 12-47 (114e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven >> Obeying the revelation by putting away the flesh Jn 12-48,49 (255d) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Jesus is the word of the Spirit >> Jesus is the authority of God’s word KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 12-48 (40e) God’s Word Is The Judge (Key verse) Jn 12-49,50 (13b) Servant >> Jesus serves His Father >> Jesus is under His authority – Jesus walked in the Father’s authority by accomplishing all the works that were required of Him. He also spoke the words of His Father, which were greater than He could have spoken on His own. Walking in our own authority is rarely as powerful as working under someone else’s authority, mostly because there are always people greater than ourselves. When we walk in our superior’s authority, we become equal with them is some ways. Think about the lowly security officer; when the burglar comes, the security officer summons the police, who has become their equal, being a direct link to the enforcement of the law. So it is with us—Christ accomplishes His works through us as we do His will under His authority. (247c) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in His people >> God is interested in our freedom Jn 12-50 (35k) Gift >> God gives Himself to us >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> The gift of life – Rich people have everything they could ever want, yet the vast majority of them will never see the Kingdom of Heaven. There are no consequences for them in this life; that is how it seems, but in reality it is not so. The consequence of not being born-again is felt as a complete lack of substance in the inner man; they are dead inside. The rich man enjoys the company of friends and family and shares the wonderful moments with them, but he is alone in his heart. All his loved ones seem miles away, for he lives alone with no one to share the moments with a closeness that God created man to share with Him. We can stay in love with God our whole lives, because He never gets boring and He has no foibles. To be in love with God opens our hearts to remain in love with life and with our spouse. (205aa) Salvation >> Verses useful in evangelism (205e) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of eternal life – Jesus was confident in the word he spoke that it was from His Father, and that the words were true and accurate. He had a direct line to God, telling us with all confidence that His commandment was eternal life. It is interesting the words that Jesus used, “The things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me;” that is, He denied that the words He spoke were his own. He came from the Father to bring a message of eternal life to the world, and then to die for our sins to make it possible. What's more, a couple chapters later, when He spoke about the Holy Spirit, He described Him in the same way that He described Himself saying, ‘Whatever He hears He will speak’ (Jn 16-13). That is exactly what Jesus said about Himself; whatever He heard from the Father He spoke. When Jesus ascended back to heaven, His position of submission to the Father did not change, except that He is now dictating the word of God to the Holy Spirit as His ministry in our lives, and His word originates from the Father, and His message is eternal life! So we have all three members of the trinity involved and in perfect agreement with the truth. Even more, He called eternal life a commandment; we call it a promise. Just as God commanded the Israelites to follow the law, He now commands the whole world to possess the Spirit of eternal life. Just as there were consequences for not following the law, so there are consequences for rejecting eternal life. The consequences of violating the law can be felt in this life, whereas violating Jesus' commandment of eternal life through the love of the brethren carries an eternal consequence. (207k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is eternal life (244e) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Father is the source of eternal life See next page