Sunday, April 30, 2017



2017.04.30                          John 12: 12- 26
               Five days to the Cross
Good Morning…. I am glad to be with you this morning… I have Good News for You! His name is Jesus… We are on a great adventure… We are Experiencing the Life and ministry of Jesus… Once again this morning we are studying the Gospel of John…
We are very close to the cross of Christ  Open your Bible to John’s gospel chapter 12… We have come to the last week of His life in Jerusalem… Jesus is headed for the cross on Friday…  We have already begun this twelfth chapter… Last week… We looked at the supper that Jesus had with Mary and Martha and Lazarus at the home of “Simon the former Leper”… Clearly Jesus had cleansed him… No one had ever heard of healing a Leper… He had a wonderful time on that Saturday spending time with those He loved… They showed that they were genuine disciples… Martha served… Mary worshipped at Jesus feet… and Lazarus had great fellowship with the one who had raised him from the dead…
There was huge crowd already gathered in Bethany…  They had come to see Him… There was also a massive crowd of perhaps hundreds of thousands in the city of Jerusalem…  They were getting ready for the many events leading up to Passover...     The year is A.D. 30…  It is Jesus final Passover…  It is the time that God has planned for Him to die…  He will be killed as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world… All of the sacrifices that died through those years could not take away sin...  They pictured Jesus´ death on the cross… He is the one true sacrifice…
It is His sacrifice that allows God’s mercy, compassion, loving-kindness, and grace to reach the sinner and provide eternal life… 
Two weeks ago… On Palm Sunday…. We looked looked at the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem… This morning we will revisit the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem… That is fine because… It is one of the most important events in all of human History… It was prophesied by Daniel 500 years before Jesus was born… So looking back at the Triumphal entry… Let´s read John´s account… look with me at John 12:12…
John 12: 12-26   NKJV   slt 2000
12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”
14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
The raising of Lazarus has put an exclamation point on His three years of impossible miracles… Incredible… He raised Lazarus from the dead… It is His last great public miracle…    
When He comes into the city of Jerusalem…  Word was spreading everywhere… The crowds heard about raising Lazarus from the dead…  This could be the Messiah…  He arrives to their, “Hosannas, hail the Son of David,” This is a Messianic title….  They are thrilled...  They are hopeful… Many believed in Him… At least on the surface… Many of them were only fans of Jesus…  
By the time Jesus comes to the end of His earthly ministry… He had ministered to hundreds of thousands of people all over Galilee… Here at this Triumphal >Entry…. There are huge crowds that have now hailed Him as King Messiah… And yet when we get to the early church in the Book of Acts…  There are 120 believers in Jerusalem and 500 in Galilee…  Perhaps a few more… But a very few in comparison to the many who had heard His words of Life 
Now we all know how they responded His entry that day… scroll down to v12-15…
In verse 13… He was greeted with cries of “Hosanna.”  By the way…. The triumphal Entry is recorded in all of the Gospels…  It was a Glorious day…. Finally Jesus has allowed Himself to be proclaimed for Who His…. The Great King Messiah… And yet by Friday… Some of this crowd will be screaming…  Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!”  We don’t want this man to reign over us.  “We have no king but Caesar.” John 19:14–15…    
They did not understand the big picture… We had a street outreach yesterday… Thank you everyone who helped… It was awesome… It is always an eye opener to talk to people about Jesus… I received a fresh reminder of the very narrow way people look at Jesus… They do not want to be told about the need to repent and turn from sin… Culture has almost totally rejected the fact that Man is sinful by nature…
I witnessed to a man yesterday who was very upset to hear that the wages of Sin is death… He said… I don´t like that… I don´t want to hear that… That is offensive to me… You people should not be talking like this… I grew up Evangelical… That is not the Jesus I learned about… People want a Jesus who is warm and loving… He like many “Christians” do not understand the Gospel… He like many in the crowd with Jesus that day… Are either unwilling to repent… Or they have not counted the cost of following Jesus yet…
Look with me at the Ambassadors for Christ passage… in 2 Corinthians 5… Paul said we Christians are not crazy to warn you… read the whole chapter when you can… for the sake of time let´s begin at v14…
2 Corinthians 5: 14-21                    NKJV  slt 2000
14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Like Paul… We are not crazy to warn others… It is the love of God that moves us… He moves us to reach out to this lost and dying world with the Good News…. There is mercy and forgiveness to be found… It is at the foot of the cross… That is why we plead with people to repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord… That is why we ask every week that Jesus would fill our mouths with His words of life… And as Jesus… said… “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me… Luke 9:23… Wenn einer von euch mit mir gehen will, muss er sich selbst verleugnen, jeden Tag aufs Neue sein Kreuz auf sich nehmen und mir nachfolgen.
Back to John 12… verses 16-19…
The scriptures were all being fulfilled in every detail… Some of these things did not make sense to them at the time…. But v16… after it is all over then … They said…. Now we understand… I know that this is true in our own lives… Often we have no idea why the things that we are going through could ever be part of God´s good and grace filled plan… But they are… That is what we see all through the scriptures… Well on this day… They were ready to crown Him King Messiah and put a real royal crown on His head… But sadly… Instead in just a few days…. They will put a crown of thorns on Him instead...
They were ready to lift Him up on His forever kingdom  throne…  They ended up lifting Him upon a cruel Roman cross…   From “Hosanna to the King… To “Crucify Him!”
 When Jesus entered Jerusalem that day…. He was giving them one last chance to repent and turn from their sin…
Israel was given a final offer…  The leaders made a final rejection…   Verse 17 tells us the people were talking about the resurrection of Lazarus...   The people who had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb… They spread the word…  This had a tremendous effect… Many came to Him… verse 18… 
Were people attracted to Him?  Absolutely… Were they stunned by Him?  Of course they were…  Had they ever seen anything like it?  Not at all… A man who raises dead people… a man who heals everyone who came to Him…    There was never a person like this… This is the most attractive human being that ever drew a crowd on the planet, but in the end… For most them… their interest was only superficial…
Let´s look ahead at John chapter 12, verse 42…
John 12: 42,43                            NKJV   slt 2000
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Even some of the religious leaders believed… But their position and power was far more important to them… They loved the approval of men more than the approval of God… And like many others…  They believe in Jesus in some sense...  But they will not commit to Him... 
That is because they were unwilling to commit their lives to Him…  They had a superficial interest in Jesus… But it never turned into repentance from the heart… It did not become genuine saving faith… Back to John 12…v19… scroll down…
v19… you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
They did not know what to do about Jesus… Nothing was working… And now He is being proclaimed King And Messiah…
By now all of the leaders were trying to stop Jesus…
But they could not stop the plan of God...  No matter what they did…  They tried to arrest Him…  They couldn’t do it…  So   they rejected Jesus…  God will move through their rejection to take the gospel to the world… He will move in the hearts of the Gentiles… He will bring bring the world to Christ…  It is not yet true… But soon the whole world will hear about Jesus…. And will come to Him… 
Notice what happens immediately in verse 20...  scroll down for v20-26
v20… Now there were some Greeks There were some Gentiles...   It means all non-Jews…  There were some Gentiles among those who were going up to worship at the feast, proselytes…  They were called God-fearers...
Did God know Israel would reject their Messiah…?  Yes   of course…  That’s why God prophesied the time would come when He would call a new people who were not His people… Romans 9 and Hosea 2…  Do you remember what happened in John 4… Jesus first revealed Himself as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman… She was not Jewish… In John 10 when He was talking about being the Good Shepherd, He said, “I have sheep of another fold,” He was talking about the Gentiles…   
So here in verse 20… Right after the final rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders… Jesus greets these gentiles… Jesus begins to reveal Himself as the Savoir of the World… Showing that He saves everyone who cries out to him…   Now we have a new day This is the dawning of a new eraGentiles seeking Jesus… v21…
v21… Sir, we wish to see Jesus
Whatever they had already heard about Jesus… they wanted to learn more about Him…   Maybe they knew Haggai 2:7...  You know what that verse speaks of?     It’s Messianic...  When the Messiah comes… He will be the desire of all nations... 
Jesus was about to become known as the Savior of the Gentiles  The world is beginning to come to Him… and here are some non-Jews who demonstrate it…
This is the beginning of the church… It is made up of Jews and Gentiles… These Greeks become the symbolic first fruits of the global harvest to come… v23…
v23…“And Jesus answered them saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’” 
“Son of Man” is a Messianic term found in Daniel 7... 
Daniel ch 7 says…  The Son of Man will be glorified in His kingdom and establish it forever and ever… Jesus again goes on the prophesy His coming death… …
v24… “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”  It is finally time to establish my Kingdom… But there will not be a kingdom unless I die first...   He will be glorified in His substitutionary death in our place...
That’s why in Luke 24: 25-27… He told those disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the Messiah must suffer and die…   He puts our sin away by the sacrifice of Himself…
This is why the cross is so Important…    It is a stumbling block to those who refuse to repent… Most people will not even admit that man is sinful… But it is the truth and Jesus says it…. You cannot save yourself…  I must die…  This is the wonderful power of Calvary’s cross…     The harvest comes only through His death and resurrection…  That was the joy that was set before Him and why He endured the cross… Hebrews 12: 1,2…
After Jesus predicts His death… He gives this invitation… Notice verse 25…
V25… 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life…
Then in verse 26, “26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me…  and then again toward the end, “If anyone.”   
This is a wide open  invitation… but it is an invitation to die.  It is an invitation to die…  If you love your life…    You lose it…  If you love the life you have… you lose your life forever...  If you hate the life in this world… if you hate what your life is… If you charish your life of sin and selfishness… If you refuse to give it up…. You will die godless and hopeless… but if you hate that kind of life… and you  abandon it for Me… You will receive eternal life...  It isn’t simply believing that Jesus is…  It is necessary that you turn from your sins and repent and believe the Gospel… It is the first step… Then as we call Him Lord… We also learn to do what He tells us to do… Why do you call me Lord… Lord… and not do what I tell you to do… Luke 6:46…   This is why there are so many false converts…  They love the life they have in this world… and they are unwilling to abandon it…. The scriptures are clear… It is not that someone cannot believe… It is that they refuse to repent and turn from their sin and pride and rebellion…
Look with me at one last scripture… Luke 9:  
Luke 9: 23-25                                    NKJV  slt 2000
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
Salvation does not come to people who merely believe in the Lord Jesus Christ… but rather to ( Sondern?) people who turn from their sin… repent and call out to God to forgive them and save them from sin and self…
That is why Jesus said… Count the cost…  It involves hating your life in this world… giving up your life… and following the Lord Jesus Christ… verse 26… The benefits of genuine repentance include peace and Joy and  life eternal…    And one more thing… If we serve the Lord Jesus… ThenIm…  the Father will honor us… That is way better than the praise of men… Follow the Lord Jesus Christ… deny yourself…  For some… We may even face death for the sake of the gospel…
The Pharisees were right… The world has begun to go after Him…  What about you… Today is the day… Tomorrow is promised to no man… Repent and cry out to Him… He will forgive you and wash your sins away… Let´s pray…

Sunday, April 23, 2017



2017.04.23                                   John 11: 45-57
              I am the resurrection and the Life              
                            Lazarus  Part 2
Good Morning…. I am glad to be with you this morning… I have Good News for You! His name is Jesus… We are on a great adventure… We are Experiencing the Life and ministry of Jesus… Once again this morning we are studying the Gospel of John…
We just Celebrated the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus last week… We also finished a series on the Resurrection… You can catch up by listening on line at the website… It was a big picture look at the events leading up to the cross and the resurrection… Beginning this morning we will pick up where we left off in the Gospel of John… We are going to take a closer look now at the last days of Jesus earthly ministry…
Turn in your Bible to John chapter 11… You will remember that In John chapter 11… Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead… Many people had witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus… This is Jesus´ final public miracle…   
The news of the raising of Lazarus from the dead will spread like wildfire through the crowds as they go up to Jerusalem… Everybody will hear what Jesus did… this morning we will read from John 11… v45… Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead! Incredible miracle…
John 11: 45-57                           NKJV   slt 2000
45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” 49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. 53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples. 55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.

Lazarus has been raised from the dead by the Spoken word of Jesus in John 11:44… scroll down… v45-48…
Many people are witnesses of this miracle… and they believed in Jesus…  v45… But… Sadly some  did not believe… They ran to tell the Pharisees what he had done…  v46…
Look at Verses 47,48…
The “Council” is the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of the Jewish nation… So the Jesus issue is huge now...
The Leaders of Israel are fed up with the growing fame of Jesus… They had been trying to shut Him up for a while now… Now they are becoming afraid… The goal of this council is not to find truth... They do not want to discover the truth…. They are determined to stop this man who said… I am the Resurrection and the Life… They refuse to repent and so they refuse to believe… The goal of this council is survival… They are determined to keep their power…  More and more people are becoming excited that perhaps Jesus is the long promised Messiah… They are afraid that this will encourage the Zealots to claim sovereignty for the state of Israel… The religious rulers are afraid that a religious rebellion may cause the Roman Empire to come crashing down on them… Then the little bit of freedom and autonomy that Israel has… Will disappear…  and The Romans may even destroy the temple and the nation…
So Jesus is now not just a blasphemer who needs to be stoned… John 10:33, 36… They see Jesus as a threat to   the existence of the very nation of Israel itself…
In response to this threat Caiaphas… the high priest… has a word from God… Because of his position… He has great authority and God will use him to prophesy to the people… look with me at v 49-53…
You know nothing… In other words… he rebukes them and then says… Here’s the solution… We kill him... Better that one die so the nation can survive… We kill him so that the Romans won’t kill us… He suggests the use of Jesus as a Substitute… His life for the nation… Caiaphas is being murderous and practical in his suggestion…. He is finally saying out loud exactly what he thinks is at stake… He wants to encourage unity in Killing Jesus… look at v51,52…  
Here John explains  Caiaphas’s words... It is Prophesy put in his mouth by God… It is the clear prophesy of the scriptures… Genuine substitution… It is not only for the Jewish people… But also for the gentiles… God gathering all believers into the church… v53… So now more than ever they are determined to Kill Jesus… look at v54-57… Jesus leaves His enemies and goes to an area on the edge of the wilderness… There are now standing orders to seize Jesus…. They will kill Him as soon as they get the chance… We can learn about God in this text… It is filled with soild truth… Let´s apply these truths to our lives… scroll down for the listlist…
Truth
1 God is Sovereign… John 11: 50,51
2 God has provided a Substitute… John 11: 50,51
3 God saves us because of His Grace… John 11: 50,51
4 The proper response Is Worship… John 12…

Application
1 God is Sovereign… John 11: 50,51… In these short verses we see the Sovereign plan of God to provide a substitute for our sin and pride and rebellion… The cross was not a mistake… God´s plan did not do wrong…. The cross was God´s plan from before the creation of the world… It is the ultimate expression of His grace and mercy…
So be strong in the face of hard times… No matter how bad it looks..
Because God is not simply watching and waiting to turn it all for good… He is involved in all of the events of our lives… He is active in our lives…. He is in them from the beginning… He has promised to use everything that happens for your good...
From the outside, the words of Caiaphas simply looked like a hostile human plan that would kill Jesus… But John shows us that the very words that called for Jesus´ execution were not just the words of Caiaphas, but God’s words…
 He prophesied… And God had a Sovereign plan for these events… And so it will be in your life… I think of the many times in the Bible where this proved true… Joseph… David… and of course… Lazarus…  Jesus said that his tragic death was for the Glory of God  John 11:4… 
Inside every disaster in our lives… God is at work… Working in us and through us for our good and His eternal Glory…
 Everything will be turned for our good… for your good…. I know that you don´t see it yet…. But The Word of God rings true… Look with me at Romans 8:18…
Romans 8: 18                   NKJV   slt 2000
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
18 Denn ich bin überzeugt, dass dieser Zeit Leiden nicht ins Gewicht fallen gegenüber der Herrlichkeit, die an uns offenbart werden soll.
Don’t get freaked out and judge by appearances… Trust the Sovereign plan of God… God has turned many apparent defeats into awesome victories through …
2 God has provided a Substitute
In the face of our own ongoing sinfulness… Yes even as believers we still battle our sin and pride… In fact…  If you are at all like me… Every day…  The Good news is that our Salvation does not depend upon us at all… We should take great comfort that the very heart of Christianity is substitution... The Substitutionary Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is the main string in the Scarlett thread of redemption… It is woven all through the Scriptures… so to paraphrase John 11: 50-52… look at it again please…. Scroll down…
John 11: 49- 52
When Caiaphas said these words… He meant… We will kill Jesus… so the Romans won’t kill us… But God meant… In my Sovereignity… I have provided the substitute… The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the entire world.. John 1: 29… I will kill my Son so I don’t have to kill you… 1 Peter 2:24 and 1 Peter 3:18…
God in His Sovereign plan sent Jesus to substitute Himself for our sins… He paid the price of our sin and rebellion… This Sovereign plan… This Substitutionary Atonement is the content of the Grace and Mercy that He has poured out on our lives… scroll down for the list…
3 God saves us because of His Grace…
We can take comfort in this very important truth… The end result for us is unfailing love and mercy… Grace to people who did not deserve it… People like me and maybe some of you…  
Paul talks a lot about this in his letter to the Romans… Romans 8…v1 says… There is no Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… None… This is so important for our daily lives… We have been redeemed… We can have rock- solid confidence in the total success of the cross… The cross… And the redemption that Jesus purchased for us… Cannot fail to save us… Because It is not dependent on us at all… Of course we do need to ask ourselves this question…. Are we truly in Christ…  Have we seen Jesus with our ears… Have we repented of our sins and cried out to Him to forgive us and wash us clean  If so… We have nothing to fear… What Grace… He who has begun a good work in us… The Father through the Lord Jesus…. He will be faithful to complete it… Philippians 1:16…
There is something else for us in this redemption… If you have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord… He has promised that He will never leave us…. He will never forsake us… It is all Jesus… He chose you… He bought you… He continues to transform us into the image of His dear son… also in Romans 8…  Memorize it for you own good…. It begins with…. No condemnation and ends with the promise of no separation… How wonderful is that… That leads us to the final point in our list…
4 The proper response Is Worship… John 12…
Remember there were no chapter breaks in the original texts… John 12..1-11…
John 12: 1-11    NKJV  slt 2000
1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus..
 As we begin this chapter… we are entering the last week of Jesus´ earthly ministry… It is full of detail and we see Jesus clearly… Loving His own till the very end…
Look with me at John 12:1-3…
v2a… There they made Him a supper…  Less than a week before His crucifixion… Jesus attended a dinner with His friends… Martha, Lazarus, and Mary were also there…
v2b… Martha served… Without complaining this time… She was joyfully serving Her Lord…
v2c… Lazarus sat at table… You could say that he was communing with Jesus around a meal…. This is the picture of every Communion service…  Fellowship and communion with Jesus…
v3... Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus… Then  Mary Worshipped Him
We have in these three siblings a great picture of Ministry… Service… Communion… Fellowship and worship from the heart…. Generous and open for the world to see… Mary's gift was very humble… When a guest entered the home… Normally a servant washed  the guest's feet  with water… And the guest's head was anointed with a dab of oil or perfume... Here, Mary served Jesus… She used this precious ointment and anointed  Jesus´  feet… Her gift was extravagant... She used a large amount very expensive oil of spikenard… Spices and ointments were often used as an investment because they were portable… and were easy to sell if needed…
Mary's worship was done without thought of her audience… She also wiped His feet with her hair… This means that she let down her hair in public… That is something a Jewish woman would not do…
Last night we had a wonderful Praise and worship evening… The worship time was awesome… Robin brought the Word… It was awesome… What you missed it… Oh mannn… next time you need to come… You will be Blessed…. One of the texts that Robin used last night is a perfect summary of the points for today…
Look with me at 1 Peter 1: 3-8…
1 Peter 1: 3-8                NLT        Neues Leben
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
3 Gelobt sei der Gott und Vater unseres Herrn Jesus Christus, denn er hat uns in seiner großen Barmherzigkeit das Vorrecht geschenkt, wiedergeboren zu werden. Jetzt haben wir eine lebendige Hoffnung, weil Jesus Christus von den Toten auferstanden ist. 4 Denn Gott hat für seine Kinder ein unvergängliches Erbe, das rein und unversehrt im Himmel für euch aufbewahrt wird. 5 Und in seiner großen Macht wird er euch durch den Glauben beschützen, bis ihr das ewige Leben empfangt. Es wird am Ende der Zeit für alle sichtbar offenbart werden. 6 Freut euch deshalb von Herzen! Vor euch liegt eine große Freude, auch wenn ihr für eine Weile viel erdulden müsst. 7 Dies dient nur dazu, euren Glauben zu prüfen, damit sich zeigt, ob er wirklich stark und rein ist. Er wird erprobt, so wie Gold im Feuer geprüft und geläutert wird - und euer Glaube ist Gott sehr viel kostbarer als bloßes Gold. Wenn euer Glaube also stark bleibt, nachdem er durch große Schwierigkeiten geprüft wurde, wird er euch viel Lob und Herrlichkeit und Ehre einbringen an dem Tag, an dem Jesus Christus der ganzen Welt offenbart werden wird. 8 Ihn liebt ihr, obwohl ihr ihn nie gesehen habt. Obwohl ihr ihn nicht seht, glaubt ihr an ihn; und schon jetzt seid ihr erfüllt von herrlicher, unaussprechlicher Freude.
Inexpressible joy… Mary´s life is a study of devotion to Jesus... Look at the next section… 4-8…
v4… Judas Iscariot … who would betray Him… He is not happy about this very generous display of love and worship… In a short time Judas would betray Jesus, and his betrayal is so much darker when contrasted with the light of Mary's devotion to Jesus. No doubt, Judas objected to Mary's gift because he was convicted by her simple and powerful display of love. David Guzik…
Learning from Judas sin and rebellion…
Judas teaches us that outward appearances can be deceptive… Many people use a religious mask to prevent others from seeing the truth…  Judas hid his secret sin from everyone except Jesus… The Lord Jesus always knows…
v5… Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred, denarii… Judas had a sharp sense of financial values, but no appreciation of what God valued. He thought this was too much love and devotion to show to Jesus.
Judas criticized generous giving… He saw it as wasteful… Because he was greedy…  Question… Are we like Mary… extravagant in our love for Jesus…  Or are we like Judas… criticizing others who are?
v7… She has done this for the day of My burial…  Mary knew that Jesus was going to die… and so she knew that this might be her last chance to give this kind of gift of devotion to Jesus… I think that  Mary had more insight than the other disciples…  Maybe because she often spent time at Jesus´feet... v9-11…
 v10… The chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also… The chief priests were mostly Sadducees… and the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection...
v11… because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus…  Lazarus was a living example of life after death… and having him around was an embarrassment to their theological system... And as we see…. Many People believed on Jesus because of this miracle… For them, there was only one solution… to put Lazarus to death also…
Lazarus is living proof that Jesus is who He said he is… Look with me at John 11… v25,26…
John 11: 25,26                         NKJV   slt 2000
 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?“
25 Jesus spricht zu ihr: Ich bin die Auferstehung und das Leben. Wer an mich glaubt, wird leben, auch wenn er stirbt;
26 und jeder, der lebt und an mich glaubt, wird in Ewigkeit nicht sterben. Glaubst du das?
I am the Resurrection and the Life…  and whoever believes in me will never die… We will be focused like a Laser on the last week of Jesus earthly ministry as we move to the most important event of all time the Resurrection of Jesus… let´s review the list of the Promises found in the resurrection…
The promise of the Resurrection
1 It is the death of death
2 It is for our benefit
3 It produces thanksgiving
4 it is why we never give up
5 It is for the Glory  of God
Let´s pray…