Sermon Tone Analysis

Recap:

We are coming to the end of .

So far in this chapter we have seen a change of circumstances in the life and work of Jesus.

At the end of chapter 11, the Jewish rulers have came together and formed a council sue to the fact that Lazarus has been raised from the dead and the Jewish leader believers realize that the fanfare and the following that Jesus has and will have will be like never before.

The purpose of the council is to direct themselves and coordinate their plan of attack on Jesus.

They do all of this because of their rejection of him.

So then we come to :

The opening of the chapter is a scene where Mary anoints Jesus for the task that will ultimately lead to his death and His burial.

Jesus is preparing to make His way to the cross.

In fact chapter 12 in john marks that turn in the life of Jesus and in the book itself.

Following His anointing Jesus gets on a donkey and makes his way to the city of Jerusalem during the time of the passover.

During this event, the people cheer and cry out Hosanna to Jesus.

The welcome Him as the coming King, but in their hearts they have rejected who he ultimately is and who he came to be.

Then Jesus began speaking and when Jesus speaks His word divides.

In fact it always does this.

Those who hear and believe, with those who cannot hear or believe.

Jesus speaks of his glorification and the necessity of His death, and the Father confirms his plan to Him, and that Jesus is doing precisely what he would have him to do.

But the people can’t get the minds or the more importantly, their hearts wrapped around the idea of why the Messiah would die.

WHile

They have a false sense of righteousness, and apparently they have misunderstood their need for a Savior.

so last week we discussed the sad reality that God further judges those who reject Him by blinding them further, by deafening them further, and by hardening their hearts, because these people would rather have the approval of men than the approval of God.

So now we come to verse 44.

Remember how we ended last week.

Some of the leader count him worthy of belief, but turn away because they are more concerned with their position in the synagogue than with their position in relation to God.

In verse 44, Jesus responds.

Jesus takes a moment to let them know that believing in Him ultimately in a belief in the Father.

These Jews prided themselves on knowing the Father.

But if they reject the Son, they have rejected the Father.

We believe in the Triune God as one.

1st person of the Trinity is the Father.

2nd person of the Trinity is the Son.

3rd person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit.

We don’t separate these because they are not separable.

Believing in the Son is believing in the Father and the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, rejecting the Son is a rejection of the Father and the Spirit.

So when people say things like:

I believe in God but not in Jesus.

They don’t believe in God.

muslims say the worship the same God.

No they don’t, because they do not believe in Jesus.

Rejection of the Son is rejection of the Father.

good jews

In fact, there is no other way to get to the Father except through acceptance of the Son.

We submit to the Lordship of Christ and in doing so we submit to the Father and the Spirit.

In fact, Jesus himself says this:

But here is the blessed truth for all of those who do believe in the Son.

They do gain the approval of the Father, because the Father approves the Son.

Why would me believing in the son make me approved by the Father?

Because the Father approves the Son, and when I blieve in the Son I become one with the Son.

This is the glorious part of salvation.

When we believe in the Son, the Son righteousness is imputed to us and we now stand having the righteousness of and approval of the Father because we are one with Christ.

It is at this point that we can can truly appreciate who God is and enjoy seeing and understanding who God is.

In other words:

Again, it through the Son, that we can know the Father.

The Son reveals to us who God is.

We are given the ability to see him

This is what Paul means in

He makes the invisible God known through His incarnation.

This is why we celebrate the incarnation of the Son at Christmas Time.

He is Immanuel.

He is the Word Made Flesh.

The author of Hebrews says it this way:

Jesus is the “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”

This is exactly why Jesus has come into the world.

He has come to bring to light that which was previously dark.

Jesus has came to be the Light.

He has come so that they may know.

“He comes to make His blessing known, far as the curse is found.”

Joy to the World

Couple things here:

The Implication is that before Christ we are in darkness.

We are dead in our trespasses and sins.

We are blind.

We are lost.

Christ has come to bring light where there was once darkness.

Characteristics of darkness:

Sin

Lack of concern for the things of God.

Pretty much your life before Christ.

This happens through belief.

We are rescued from our darkness and we recognize the Light of Christ.

We have been called out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

Out of shame, out of sin, our of darkness, into truth, into righteous, into light

Thats what happens when we become believers.

But what if we do not.

What if we don’t believe?

What if we don’t obey His word?

Joh

Verse 47 tells us that Jesus first coming was not mean for judgment.

In fact Jesus told Nicodemus this same thing in .

His first coming is not to condemn and judge.

Jesus is there at that point and time to bring the message of light to the darkness.

He is there to reveal to us the rescuing power of God.

But look what he says in verse 48.

We learn something in verse 48.

There are people who do reject Christ.

This seems obvious, but practically we do not live this way.

There are people who are outside of Christ.

It seems that when someone dies they are immediately given a p

I know we live in the south, where we drink sweet tea, we all love mama and we go to church.