João 11
Steven Cole · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 11
Cole - they didn’t “claim Lazarus’ healing by faith” and command Jesus by a word of faith to do as they said. The “health and wealth” heretics tell people that we can command God: “Just speak the word of faith and it’s already done.” That’s nonsense and presumption, not to mention the height of arrogance! God is the sovereign of the universe and He has plans and purposes that we cannot begin to fathom. I’ve heard such false teachers say that we should never preface our prayers with, “Your will be done,” because that reflects a lack of faith. No, it reflects submission to the sovereign God. Also, note that the sisters did not say, “Lord, he who loves you is sick.” That was true, of course. Lazarus loved Jesus. But rather they said (Jn 11:3), “Lord … he whom You love is sick.” They didn’t appeal to the Lord on the basis of anything in them or in Lazarus, but rather on the basis of His great love. George Muller, the godly man of faith and prayer, set forth these conditions for prayer that I have found helpful (from George Muller of Bristol combined from pp. 170, 455, 456): Ask only for that which it would be for the glory of God to give us. Ask in dependence on the name of the Lord Jesus, that is, expect it only on the ground of His merits and worthiness. Separation from all known sin. Believe that God is able and willing to give us what we ask Him for. Continue in prayer, expecting God to answer, until the blessing comes. So, take your troubles to Jesus. Love (5368) phileo from phílos = loved, dear, friend) means to be a friend to another, to be fond of (have a liking for) an individual or an object, to have or show affection for. In some contexts it means to kiss another as a mark of tenderness for that person. Phileo denotes personal attachment and is more a matter of sentiment or feeling. It is devotion based in the emotions distinguished from agapao which represents devotion based in the will. Stated another way phileo is chiefly of the heart whereas agape is chiefly of the head. Phileo is a love which is the response of the human spirit to what appeals to it as pleasurable. Phileo is a love which consists of the glow of the heart kindled by the perception of that in the object which affords us pleasure. Phileo is friendship love, this "friendship factor" sadly often missing in marriages. In Scripture phileo is used to describe the love of God the Father and the Son, of Jesus and Peter, and of Jonathan and David. Phileo love is basically emotional. Marvin Vincent on agapao and phileo - Agapao indicates a reasoning, discriminating attachment, founded in the conviction that its object is worthy of esteem, or entitled to it on account of benefits bestowed. Phileo represents a warmer, more instinctive sentiment, more closely allied to feeling, and implying more passion. Hence agapao is represented by the Latin diligo, the fundamental idea of which is selection, the deliberate choice of one out of a number, on sufficient grounds, as an object of regard. Thus phileo emphasizes the affectional element of love, and agapao the intelligent element.....Men are bidden to love (agapao) God (Matt. 22:37; 1 Cor. 8:3); never phileo, since love to God implies an intelligent discernment of His attributes and not merely an affectionate sentiment. Both elements are combined in the Father’s love for the Son (Matt. 3:17; John 3:35; 5:20). Agapao is used throughout the panegyric of love in 1 Cor. 13, and an examination of that chapter will show how large a part the discriminating element plays in the Apostle’s conception of love. (Note on John 5:20) Phileo - 25x/21v - kiss(3), love(13), loved(3), loves(6). Matt. 6:5; Matt. 10:37; Matt. 23:6; Matt. 26:48; Mk. 14:44; Lk. 20:46; Lk. 22:47; Jn. 5:20; Jn. 11:3; Jn. 11:36; Jn. 12:25; Jn. 15:19; Jn. 16:27; Jn. 20:2; Jn. 21:15; Jn. 21:16; Jn. 21:17; 1 Co. 16:22; Tit. 3:15; Rev. 3:19; Rev. 22:15 J C
João 11
Cole - Jesus’ love for these dear friends was the reason He stayed two days longer where He was, allowing Lazarus to die (Jn 11:6). Love always seeks the highest good for the one loved, and the highest good for anyone is that he or she gets a greater vision of God’s glory and thus grows in faith. Both of these aims were behind Jesus’ delay in going to Bethany (John 11:4, 15, 40).
João 11
Cole concludes his explanation of the 7 points with a quote... Alan Redpath wrote (BORROW Victorious Christian Living: Studies of the Life of Joshua - page 166): There is nothing – no circumstance, no trouble, no testing – that can ever touch me until, first of all it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky – as I lift up my eyes to Him – and as I accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret – for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is. That is the rest of victory. That is overcoming faith! The Lord wants each of us to look through our grief and tears to Him as the resurrection and the life and answer His question: “Do you believe this?” Carl Sagan died of cancer at the age of 62. Newsweek magazine reported that he remained a resolute unbeliever to the very end. Listen to what his wife said, "There was no deathbed conversion, no appeals to God, no hope for an afterlife, no pretending that he and I, who had been inseparable for 20 years, were not saying goodbye forever.Carl never wanted to believe. He wanted to KNOW. (Newsweek, March 31, 1997, p. 65) (COMMENT: Carl will get his greatest desire! He will know beyond a doubt that Jesus is real, and that hell is eternal, and then he will wish that he did not know!) John Bennett (from Day by Day: Bible Promises) - John 11:26 SHALL NEVER DIE A Two-part Promise. ‘And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die’. This is the second part of the great ‘resurrection’ promise of John 11:25–26. In the first part, v. 25, on condition of faith in Him who is, ‘the resurrection and the life’, the assurance is given that the dead in Christ shall live again on that resurrection morning when He returns, 1 Cor. 15:23. The position of those who are living ‘at his coming’ is dealt with in the second part of this grand promise. A Two-part Fulfilment. To those who die in faith trusting in the great sacrifice of Calvary, He will come again as ‘the resurrection’, raising their bodies from the dust of death. To those who are living at His return, He will come as ‘the life’, changing their bodies that they may be ‘conformed to the body of his glory’, Phil. 3:21 RV! A Two-fold Change. (1) The dead in Christ have the priority in resurrection when, ‘the Lord himself shall descend from heaven … and the dead in Christ shall rise first’, 1 Thess. 4:16. At that time, the disembodied spirits of the redeemed, who have been ‘absent from the body’ and ‘at home with the Lord’, 2 Cor. 5:8 RV, some of them for two thousand years, will be reunited with their bodies, and in response to the commanding ‘shout’ of the returning Lord will rise in triumphant resurrection, translated into the Lord’s presence to meet Him in the air, 1 Thess. 4:17. (2) Those who are the saved living saints on the earth, will experience the fulfilment of the Lord’s promise, ‘shall never die’! Their mortality shall be ‘swallowed up of life’, 2 Cor. 5:4, meaning, the Lord will clothe their mortal bodies with a body of immortality, of vital, glorious life, not subject any more to death! What a change that will be, ‘In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump’, 1 Cor. 15:52! What a moment of triumph it will be when the saying is fulfilled, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’. Then, the newly transformed and raptured living saints will cry, ‘O death, where is thy sting?’; and the freshly resurrected dead will shout, ‘O grave, where is thy victory?’, 1 Cor. 15:54–55. Ken Hemphill - RESURRECTION & LIFE (from "God Is") John 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. As a pastor, I accompanied many families on that difficult trip to the graveyard as they buried a family member or loved one. In recent years, I have had to make that same trip myself—first with my dad, then my mom. But I cannot imagine how intense the pain must be for the individual who has no hope or assurance of ever seeing their dear one again. While my grief was profound, it was tempered by the firm assurance that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life.” The two sisters of Lazarus struggled with the death of their brother. Typical of grief, Martha was looking for someone to blame, and Jesus was the most likely candidate. She asserted that if he had been present, Lazarus would not have died. And though she properly understood and believed he would be resurrected at the last day, Jesus' reply to her was startling: “I am the resurrection”—not just in the future but in the present tense. Martha spoke of resurrection as if it were only a future gift of God to be dispensed by Christ at the end of time. But Christ's assertion required that she focus not on resurrection but on him. He is not the dispenser of resurrection; he is resurrection! Notice that “resurrection” is the first word Jesus mentioned. But it is taken up into the larger concept of “life,” which is already ours today in Christ. We are reminded of Paul's shout of triumph: “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54). This victory is a present tense reality for those who are in Christ. It is why Jesus could promise, “Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever” (John 11:26). When we are hidden in Christ, death has no authority over us. When we lay down this earthly body, our life in Christ will become resurrection life! There is only one permanent cure for the fear of death—life! Eternal life! And this life is only found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. WETHERELL JOHNSON (Wikipedia) - COMMENT - Miss Johnson was the founder of Bible Study Fellowship, the entity where I first heard the Word of Life with power and conviction and God's Spirit saved me from eternal separation from Him and into a life of full time ministry for Him (See My Personal Testimony of God's Grace) This story is from the chapter in Joyce Brown's Courageous Christians : devotional stories for family reading SHOULD YOU THEN SEEK GREAT THINGS FOR YOURSELF? SEEK THEM NOT. - Jeremiah 45:5 Wetherell Johnson grew up in a Christian home in England. She believed in God, but she didn’t give her life to Him when she was young. Still, she found comfort in her beliefs—until her parents sent her to France to be educated. There she spent time with people who put down the Bible, and Wetherell lost what faith she did have. (ED COMMENT: Note her belief was in God, but that is different from belief in Jesus. The point is that in truth is most likely that she had not yet been born again so she really did not lose "what faith she" had. As the story unfolds, clearly God gave her faith upon reading Jesus' words in John 11:26 and the Spirit caused her to be born again by grace through faith, now a faith that truly saved her as described below). She knew her skeptical attitude toward Christianity would hurt her godly parents, so she kept her doubts to herself. Her life became empty, and she felt depressed. As she looked for something to give life meaning, a Bible verse she had once learned kept coming back to her: “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:26). One day as Wetherell thought about that verse, God showed her that Jesus was truly His Son. With tears of joy she finally gave her life to Him. Because one verse made such a difference in her life, Bible study became very important to her. She took five Bible courses through the mail and began teaching a class of rough girls. In time, she knew God wanted her to become a missionary. She trained as a nurse and in mission work and went to China in 1936. In those days most Chinese worshiped evil spirits and relatives who had died. The hot, humid climate took a toll on Wetherell’s health. After an appendix operation, she was not expected to live. Japan was at war with China and was bombing the country. At the same time, Communist rebels were fighting to control the government. Wetherell had to move frequently because of the dangers. Once, six Japanese soldiers came to her home and threatened her, putting their knifelike bayonets to her neck. Often she felt overwhelmed by problems and loneliness. But time after time she found the strength and comfort she needed in God’s Word. One day an order came that every missionary would be put in Japanese prison camps with other “enemy aliens.” Wetherell was taken to a camp with two thousand other foreigners and shut in an old horse stable. The building wasn’t insulated. In the summer it was stifling hot. In the winter there was no heating, even when the temperature was fifteen degrees below zero. It was one hundred feet by fifty feet and housed eighty-nine people. Beds had only two to three feet between them. Because they were so crowded, people got on each other’s nerves and often argued. The prisoners were given a small amount of rice for breakfast and lunch. In the evening they got rice and a one-inch cube of meat. In the beginning, Wetherell carefully picked the worms out of her rice, but she soon realized she needed the protein and ate them too. At night she and the other prisoners strapped tight belts around their waists so that their hunger pains wouldn’t be so bad. During three years in the camp, she lost thirty-nine pounds. Then World War Two ended, and she returned to England to regain her health. After a couple of years, she was back in China—even though fighting between the Communists and the government was worse than ever. As the Communists took over more and more land, it became very dangerous for missionaries to stay. They bravely worked on, though, trying to train as many Chinese Christian leaders as they could before the country fell to Communist rule. Finally, afraid she would cause problems for the Chinese Christians if she stayed any longer, Wetherell left China. She went to the United States to visit friends and began speaking in churches and at conferences. At one church, five ladies came up to her after she’d spoken and asked her to lead them in a Bible study. She hesitated at first. These women already knew quite a bit about the Bible, and there were many churches they could attend to hear God’s Word. She longed to teach people who had never heard about Jesus—such as the millions of Chinese. But as she prayed about the women’s request, God reminded her of Jeremiah 45:5. She felt God was asking her, “Cannot you do this small thing for me?” (BORROW her excellent, exciting autobiography which demonstrates God's hand sovereignly supernaturally moving behind the scenes of a saint's life - Created for commitment, page 200). So she agreed, but she insisted the ladies work at learning. She assigned Scripture passages for them to study before class and gave them questions to answer. During each class time, she talked about the verses, and the women discussed what they had learned. At the end of each meeting, she gave them notes to take home and review. Their group, called Bible Study Fellowship, grew quickly. Soon Wetherell divided the class into smaller groups and trained other leaders. When people heard about Bible Study Fellowship, she was asked to start groups in other cities. Eventually there were BSF groups all over the United States, and Wetherell wrote a five-year study course. Within six years, 100,000 women were involved. Later, men’s Bible studies were begun, and BSF spread to Australia, England, Canada, and New Zealand. Thousands who have come to BSF classes to learn more about the Bible have ended up giving their lives to the Lord (ED: AMEN TO THAT STATEMENT AS YOURS TRULY IS ONE OF THE ABUNDANT FRUIT OF MISS JOHNSON! AMAZING STORY! AMAZING GRACE TO BRING HER AND 1000'S OF OTHERS INTO THE KINGDOM! THANK YOU JESUS FOR SPEAKING John 11:26 AND FOR YOU SPIRIT OPENING HER HEART LIKE LYDIA'S IN Acts 16:14+ AND TO YOU HEAVENLY FATHER FOR SENDING JESUS AND THE SPIRIT! AMEN). BORROW Joyce Brown's Courageous Christians : devotional stories for family reading Jesus Christ is truly the answer to death for all of us. As D. L. Moody lay dying, he exclaimed, “Earth is receding; heaven is approaching. This is my crowning day.” Many have felt that way as they came to the end of life. Norman Geisler - JOHN 11:26—How could Jesus say we will never die when the Bible declares all will eventually die? (When Critics Ask GO TO PAGE 355) PROBLEM: God Himself said to Adam, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Paul reaffirmed this, declaring that “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). But Jesus seems to contradict this when He affirmed, “whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:26). SOLUTION: First of all, even taken literally, Jesus was not denying that believers would die. In fact, He affirmed it in the previous verse, saying, “though he may die, he shall live.” In other words, Jesus claimed that because He was “the resurrection and the life” (v. 25), He would resurrect those who believe in Him unto eternal life (cf. John 5:28–29). Further, Jesus may have been speaking about spiritual life and spiritual death. In this sense, those who believe in Him will have spiritual life (John 3:16, 36), even though they will experience physical death. For those who are born only once will die twice, once physically and once again at the “second death” (Rev. 20:14) or final separation from God. But those who are born twice (John 3:3, 7) will only die once (physically), but will live with God forever. Ray Pritchard - Do You Believe This? - Who is that Man - Daily Lenten Devotionals “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26) Peter Marshall tells the story of a young boy about four years old who had a terminal disease. At first he didn’t understand his condition, but finally he realized that he wasn’t going to get better and would never again play with his friends. So one morning he asked his mother, “Am I going to die?” And she said, “Yes, dear.” “Momma, what is death like? Will it hurt?” The mother ran out of the room to the kitchen and leaned against the refrigerator, her knuckles gripped white to keep from crying. She prayed and asked the Lord to give her an answer for her son. Suddenly, an idea came and she went back in his room and sat down on the bed “Timmy, do you remember how you used to play outside all day and when you came inside at night you were so tired you just fell down on the couch and slept? In the morning you woke up in your own bed and you wondered how you got there. During the night your father would pick you up and carry you to your own bed.” “That’s what death is like. One night you lie down and go to sleep and in the middle of the night your Heavenly Father comes and picks you up and carries you to your own bed. In the morning when you wake up, you’re in your own room in heaven.” The little boy smiled and nodded. Several weeks later he died peacefully. That’s what death is like for the Christian. Satan’s hold is broken. The fear is taken away. It’s a wonderful thing to be a Christian and to know your sins are forgiven and to know that death is not the end but the beginning. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26a). Then he added these words that we often overlook, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26b). Since truth must always become personal, let me ask you six questions. 1. Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came from heaven to live on this earth 2000 years ago? 2. Do you believe that when he died on the Cross, he died in your place, bearing your punishment, and paying for your sins? 3. Do you believe than on Easter Sunday morning, he literally, physically, bodily rose from the dead never to die again? 4. Do you believe that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father? 5. Do you believe that Jesus is truly the resurrection and the life and that he is able to remove the terror of death for those who trust him? 6. Are you willing to stake your life on your answers to the first five questions? I encourage you to read each question and then answer out loud. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He has a question for you today. Do you believe this? Lord Jesus, what would we do without you? Where could we go but to the Lord? You alone have the words of eternal life. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. Thank you for a hope more solid than Gibraltar, a hope that goes beyond the grave. Amen. LIFE INSURANCE - James Smith Everybody is familiar with the Life Insurance Society. But, after all, no society can insure life for a single moment. It may insure money at death, but that is not insuring life. The only life insurance for man is in the Gospel of the grace of God—union with the ever living Son of God. "He that believeth in Me shall never die" (John 11:26). Is your life insured? C H Spurgeon from The Believer Catechized - Martha says she believes in Jesus as ‘the resurrection, and the life’; yet what is her action? Christ commands the bystanders to take away the stone from the sepulchre, and she intervenes with her cry, ‘Lord, by this time he stinketh’! She fears the obnoxious consequences of uncovering such a mass of corruption, though he who is ‘the resurrection, and the life’ stands at the grave’s mouth. Ah! Martha, where is your faith in him? Dear heart, she says that she believes in Jesus as ‘the resurrection, and the life’, and yet she is afraid that her brother will not rise though the Mighty One stands there to raise him. Is she not just like you and me? We believe that God hears prayer, and therefore we pray, but if the Lord desires to surprise us he has only to answer our requests. I have seen God’s children running with vast astonishment to tell their friends, ‘Here is a wonderful thing! Oh, such a marvellous event has happened to me! I offered a prayer and God has heard me.’ An amazing thing that God should do as he said he would! They put these things in books as marvels, and call the volume ‘Remarkable Answers to Prayer’. Dear me, is it remarkable that it is cold when it freezes? Do we speak of the remarkable warmth of the sun’s beams at midsummer? Is it remarkable that the fires in our houses should warm us when we put our hands to them? Is he a remarkable God because he says he will hear prayer and does it? An answer to prayer should be remembered with gratitude, and yet it should be regarded as the most natural thing in all the world that our heavenly Father should fulfil his promises to his children. It is a great wonder that God should promise, but not a wonder that he should perform. Never Separated from God - Faith's Checkbook - C H Spurgeon “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die, Believeth thou this?”—John 11:26 YES, Lord, we believe it; we shall never die. Our soul may be separated from our body, and this is death of a kind; but our soul shall never be separated from God, which is the true death, the death which was threatened to sin, the death penalty which is the worst that can happen. We believe this most assuredly, for who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? We are members of the Body of Christ; will Christ lose parts of His body? We are married to Jesus; will He be bereaved and widowed? It is not possible. There is a life within us which is not capable of being divided from God: yea, and the holy Spirit dwells within us, and how then can we die? Jesus, Himself, is our life, and therefore there is no dying for us for He cannot die again. In Him we died unto sin once, and the capital sentence cannot a second time be executed. Now we live, and live forever. The reward of righteousness is life everlasting, and we have nothing less than the righteousness of God, and therefore can claim the very highest reward. Living and believing, we believe that we shall live and enjoy. Wherefore we press forward with full assurance that our life is secure in our living Head Oswald Chamber - Programme of belief Believest thou this? John 11:26. Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother. She also believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and that whatever He asked of God, God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s programme of belief had its fulfilment in the future; Jesus led her on until her belief became a personal possession, and then slowly emerged into a particular inheritance—“Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ …” Is there something like that in the Lord’s dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him press home His question to you—“Believest thou this?” What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your programme of belief is about to emerge into a personal belief? This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem. To believe is to commit. In the programme of mental belief I commit myself, and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal belief I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other; and in particular belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ, and determine in that thing to be dominated by the Lord alone. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me—“Believest thou this?” I find that faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust Him before. In the Arms of God September 24 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. JOHN 11:26 We don’t like to say good-bye to those whom we love. Whether it be at a school or a cemetery, separation is tough. It is right for us to weep, but there is no need for us to despair. They had pain here. They have no pain there. They struggled here. They have no struggles there. You and I might wonder why God took them home. But they don’t. They understand. They are, at this very moment, at peace in the presence of God.… When it is cold on earth, we can take comfort in knowing that our loved ones are in the warm arms of God. And when Christ comes, we will hold them, too. (Max Lucado - Grace for the Moment) The Oldest Living Things He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. — 1 John 5:12 Today's Scripture: John 11:14-27 Hikers in California’s Sierra Mountains are surprised to encounter 10-foot-high fences with barbed wire stretched around the top. What do they see inside the fence-surrounded enclosures? Some vital communication equipment like a radio tower? No, they see only a few gnarled trees, maybe just a twisted stump with a few needles. A sign reads: DO NOT ENTER. BRISTLECONE PINE PROTECTION ZONE. PLEASE PROTECT THESE TREES. They are the oldest living things on earth. Pamphlets explain that these bristlecone pines were flourishing when Jesus walked on earth, and that the oldest were seedlings at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. Eventually, though, regardless of how carefully they are protected, those trees will die. They are not destined to live forever. But Christians have the certainty of everlasting life. To be sure, our bodies will die. Yet by God’s grace and power, our souls will never perish. Our bodies will be raised up and, as Paul said, be changed from mortal to immortal (1 Cor. 15:53). We cry, “O God, how can it be? How long is vast eternity?” The answer rings from shore to shore, “No end, eternal, evermore.” —Anon. Want to live forever? Let Jesus live in you now. Candles Or Stars? Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? — John 11:26 Today's Scripture: Daniel 12:1-13 Some say that life is like the flickering flame of a candle. When the flame is snuffed out, the light is gone forever. They believe that when we breathe our last breath, we are totally extinguished—as if we had never been! British writer Arthur Porritt gives this sad description of how atheist Charles Bradlaugh was buried: “No prayer was said at the grave. Indeed, not a single word was uttered. The remains, placed in a light coffin, were lowered into the earth in a quite unceremonious fashion as if carrion were being hustled out of sight.” Porritt said that he came away “heart-frozen,” realizing how the “loss of faith in the continuity of human personality after death gives death an appalling victory.” Life is not a brief candle-flame that death will forever extinguish. Christians in particular can rejoice that Christ “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10), that He is “the resurrection and the life,” and that all who believe in Him “shall never die” (John 11:25-26). In bodies that will ne'er grow old, We'll reign with Him, through years untold; O precious thought, we all shall be With Christ through all eternity. —Watson Because Jesus lives, we too will live. Life Beyond The Grave Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? —John 11:26 Today's Scripture: John 11:1-44 My beloved husband Bill died of cancer at the age of 48. One tearful morning I read John 11, the story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. I was reassured by two truths I found in Jesus’ words to His disciples on their way to Lazarus’ grave. The first truth was revealed when Jesus said that Lazarus was asleep and that He would wake him (vv.11-14). His disciples responded, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” Jesus replied, “Lazarus is dead.” Saying that He would waken Lazarus, I believe, was His gentle way to teach them that they didn’t need to dread death any more than sleep. Because of His power, resurrecting someone from the grave was like waking someone from sleep. I saw a second truth in Jesus’ statement to Martha: “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (vv.25-26). Of course, believers aren’t exempt from dying physically, but Jesus promised that they will live eternally. As the resurrection and the life, He will “waken” their bodies someday. His power to do this was demonstrated when He raised Lazarus (vv.43-44). Grief will not last, joy will return, For through our tears we clearly see That while we part but for a time, With Christ we'll spend eternity. —D. De Haan Death separates us for a time; Christ will reunite us forever. John 11:27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." BGT John 11:27 λέγει αὐτῷ· ναὶ κύριε, ἐγὼ πεπίστευκα ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐρχόμενος. KJV John 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. NET John 11:27 She replied, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world." CSB John 11:27 "Yes, Lord," she told Him, "I believe You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world." ESV John 11:27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." NIV John 11:27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." NLT John 11:27 "Yes, Lord," she told him. "I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God." NRS John 11:27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." NJB John 11:27 'Yes, Lord,' she said, 'I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.' NAB John 11:27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." YLT John 11:27 believest thou this?' she saith to him, 'Yes, sir, I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming to the world.' MIT John 11:27 She said, "Yes, Lord. I have believed that you are the messiah, God's son, the one expected to come into the world." Yes: Jn 1:49 4:42 6:69 9:36-38 20:28-31 Mt 16:16 Ac 8:37 1Jn 5:1 even He who comes into the world: Jn 6:14 Mal 3:1 Mt 11:3 Lu 7:19,20 1Ti 1:15-16 1Jn 5:20 John 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Malachi 3:1+ “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the Messenger of the covenant, in Whom you delight, behold, He is COMING,” says the LORD of hosts. Matthew 11:3+ and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” NET Note - Aspects of Jesus' ministry may have led John to question whether Jesus was the promised stronger and greater One Who is to come that he had preached about in Matt 3:1–12. Matthew 16:16+ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 1:9+ There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. John 20:31+ but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. 1 Timothy 1:15+ It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus CAME into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 1 John 5:20+ And we know that the Son of God HAS COME, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. "YES LORD" - MARTHA'S GREAT CONFESSION OF MESSIAH She said to Him, "Yes, Lord (kurios); I have believed (pisteuo - a settled conviction) that You are the Christ (Christos or the Messiah, the “One Who has been anointed”), the Son of God, even He who comes into (is incarnated into) the world - Her great confession reminds us of Peter's in Mt 16:16+. Martha states her belief in the past tense as I have believed. The verb believed is actually in the perfect tense signifying belief at a point in time in the past with a fixed, settled faith in the present. Martha had accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah Who had come into the world and she held fast to that belief. NET Note on believed - The perfect tense in Greek is often used to emphasize the results or present state of a past action. Such is the case here. To emphasize this nuance the perfect tense verb πεπίστευκα (pepisteuka) has been translated as a present tense (NET = "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ,"). This is in keeping with the present context, where Jesus asks of her present state of belief in Jn 11:26, and the theology of the Gospel as a whole, which emphasizes the continuing effects and present reality of faith. For discussion on this use of the perfect tense, see ExSyn 574–76 and B. M. Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 291–97. What is interesting is that she confesses belief, but in Jn 11:40 Jesus challenges her to believe declaring “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” The point is that one does not cease growing in their faith once they are born again. Belief or faith that results in regeneration, should grow and produce progressive sanctification, the aspect of the Christian life in which we continue to discover more and more about Who Jesus is as we study His Word (cf Ro 10:17+). Brian Bell - We must move from “Lord if”(Jn 11:21,32) to “Lord I believe”(Jn 11:27). THOUGHT - Dear reader, have you said "Yes Lord," to Jesus? (Song Yes Lord) Spurgeon on I have believed - By which she as good as said, “I believe that, and I believe everything else. I have an implicit faith in thee. Whatever thou sayest, whatever thou hast said or shalt say, I am prepared to believe it all. for I believe in thee. I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” Will not many of you make Martha’s grand confession of faith your own? Believe in Jesus, and then you will be able to believe anything and everything that he says. Our Lord’s greatest miracles were ever the reward of faith. Son of God Matt. 4:3; Matt. 4:6; Matt. 8:29; Matt. 26:63; Matt. 27:40; Matt. 27:43; Matt. 27:54; Mk. 1:1; Mk. 3:11; Mk. 15:39; Lk. 1:35; Lk. 3:38; Lk. 4:3; Lk. 4:9; Lk. 4:41; Lk. 22:70; Jn. 1:34; Jn. 1:49; Jn. 3:18; Jn. 5:25; Jn. 10:36; Jn. 11:4; Jn. 11:27; Jn. 19:7; Jn. 20:31; Acts 8:37; Acts 9:20; Rom. 1:4; 2 Co. 1:19; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 4:14; Heb. 6:6; Heb. 7:3; Heb. 10:29; 1 Jn. 3:8; 1 Jn. 4:15; 1 Jn. 5:5; 1 Jn. 5:10; 1 Jn. 5:12; 1 Jn. 5:13; 1 Jn. 5:20; Rev. 2:18 William
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Cole quips on the fearful response of the disciples - "Their reply reminds me of the joke about the Lone Ranger and Tonto, his Indian sidekick. The Lone Ranger said, “Tonto, we’re surrounded by hostile Indians. What are we going to do?” Tonto replied, “What do you mean ‘we,’ White Man?” NET Note on the Jews (Ioudaios) - Or “the Jewish authorities”; Greek “the Jews.” In NT usage the term Ἰουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “ ‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401–9.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the previous references and the notes on the phrase “Jewish people” in Jn 11:19, and “Jewish religious leaders” in Jn 11:24, 31, 33.
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Cole - In her famous 1969 book, On Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross identified five common stages of grief. While not everyone goes through all five stages in order or in equal intensity, often grieving people encounter one or more of the stages when they face a significant loss: (1) denial; (2) anger; (3) bargaining; (4) depression; and, (5) acceptance. Although these stages have been challenged and misapplied, most of us can identify with some of them if we have lost a loved one. But what’s missing, as we should expect from a secular source, is an eternal, God-centered perspective: How should believers in Christ deal with grief? John 11:21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. BGT John 11:21 εἶπεν οὖν ἡ Μάρθα πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν· κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε οὐκ ἂν ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀδελφός μου· KJV John 11:21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. NET John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. CSB John 11:21 Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. ESV John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. NIV John 11:21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. NLT John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. NRS John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. NJB John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, NAB John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. YLT John 11:21 Martha, therefore, said unto Jesus, 'Sir, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died; MIT John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, had you been here, my brother would not have died. if: Jn 11:32,37 4:47-49 1Ki 17:18 Ps 78:19,41 Mt 9:18 Lu 7:6-10,13-15 Lu 8:49-55 John 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: John 11:32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:37 But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” Martha then said to Jesus (Iesous), "Lord (kurios), if You had been here, my brother would not have died (apothnesko) - She is correct, but does not understand why it had to happen this way. Martha expresses a degree of faith in Jesus' power over sickness, not knowing that Jesus' delay had a higher and holier purpose she would soon witness. Mary makes almost the exact statement in Jn 11:32. What Martha does not understand and will soon hear and see, is that Jesus is Himself LIFE (Jn 11:25)! It is unlikely that she believes Jesus could resurrect her brother, based on her reaction to His command in John 11:39 to remove the stone from in front of the tomb. THOUGHT - (Lowell Johnson )Are you haunted by the ghost of the “if onlys” in your past? “If only I had not said that; if only I had not done that; if only I had taken him seriously; if only I had prayed about it.” Tex Hudson: - “If” looks back - “If” emphasizes the selfishness of our lives - “If” seeks for explanation and excuses; shaking our fist at God; God does not owe us an explanation. “Lord” – acknowledges control, etc. John MacArthur on Martha said... - Although obviously heartbroken, she was not rebuking the Lord for failing to prevent Lazarus's death. As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, the sisters' message had arrived too late, humanly speaking, for Jesus to have returned to Bethany in time to heal him. Martha's words were simply a poignant expression of grief mingled with the faith she expressed in her next statement: "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." That confidence, however, evidently did not extend to Jesus' ability to resurrect her brother, as her later hesitation when the tomb was opened makes clear (Jn 11:39). She seems to have had faith in the Lord's power to heal, but not in His power to raise the dead (perhaps the possibility had not even crossed her mind). (John 1-11 Commentary) Edwin Blum agrees with MacArthur writing "Martha, the activist, went... to meet Jesus while Mary, the contemplative sister, waited. (Cf. Luke 10:39-42 for a similar portrayal of their personalities.) Martha's greeting is a confession of faith. She really believed that Jesus could have healed her brother if He had been there. No criticism of Jesus seems to be implied since she knew her brother was dead before the messengers got to Jesus. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary) D A Carson - Her first words to Jesus are not a rebuke, as if she were saying that Jesus ought to have been there. Rather, they are words of grief and of faith: she is confident that if Jesus had been present while her brother lay ill, Jesus would have healed him. (See Gospel of John - scroll down and click on page 412 to see this comment in context) Bob
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Cole points out that "mixed with that faith is some unbelief. Surely Martha and Mary (Jn 11:32) had heard how Jesus had healed the royal official’s son from a distance (Jn 4:46-54). Jesus didn’t have to be physically present to heal Lazarus before he died. So the sisters’ comments reflect a failure to recognize that God was in control of where Jesus was when Lazarus got sick and how quickly or slowly Jesus responded when He got the news. But most of us have thought just as Martha and Mary thought in this trial: If only things had been different! We replay in our minds: “If only I had not done what I did, the accident would not have happened!” “If only the timing had been different, the tragedy would not have happened!” But it’s really a contradiction to say, “Lord, if only things had been different.” If He’s the Lord, then He is in control of all our circumstances. Surely, He wasn’t asleep or distracted when our tragedy happened! The Bible repeatedly affirms that God is in control of all things, including tragedies (Job 42:2; Ps. 103:19; 115:3; Isa. 46:10; Eph. 1:11)....I trust that most of you believe that, but there are some who claim to be evangelicals, but they deny that God is sovereign over evil or tragedies that happen. Their view is called “open theism.” (At least one Flagstaff church holds this view.) John Sanders, an open theist, has written (The God who Risks: A Theology of Providence [IVP], p. 262; cited by John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God [Crossway Books], p. 24): God does not have a specific divine purpose for each and every occurrence of evil…. When a two-month-old child contracts a painful, incurable bone cancer that means suffering and death, it is pointless evil. The Holocaust is pointless evil. The rape and dismemberment of a young girl is pointless evil. The accident that caused the death of my brother was a tragedy. God does not have a specific purpose in mind for these occurrences. In my estimation, that view not only denies what the Bible repeatedly affirms, namely, the absolute sovereignty of God. Also, it robs believers of the comfort of knowing that God is in control of all our circumstances, even when we can’t make sense out of them....even though we often don’t understand the reason for our trials, we can know that the Lord wants us to trust Him and to gain a bigger view of His glory.
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Cole - Jesus knew that Martha already believed in Him, but He wanted her faith to grow so that she believed in Him as the resurrection and the life....James
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Cole - They couldn’t reconcile Jesus’ love and power with Lazarus’ death. And in a time of severe trials, the enemy may whisper to you, “God must not love you or He isn’t able to prevent trials like you’re going through. You shouldn’t trust Him!”But at such times, never interpret God’s love by your difficult circumstances, but rather interpret your circumstances by His love (modified from, C. H. Mackintosh, BORROW Miscellaneous Writings [Loizeaux Brothers], vol. 6, “Bethany,” PAGE 117 PAGE 118-119 PAGE 120). He could have prevented your trial. But as H. E. Hayhoe wrote (“Sentence Sermons,” exact source unknown), “He will never allow a trial in your life without a needs be on your part and a purpose of love on His part.” Thus, Christ is the Teacher and He calls you to come to Him and learn from Him in your trials. And, the Teacher who calls us to Himself is fully God and fully man; thus He can help us in our trials. (The Teacher's Tears John 11:28-37) William
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Cole - This miracle validates Jesus’ astounding claims in John 5:21+, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” He added (Jn 5:28-29+), “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; …” Because Jesus raised Lazarus, we can know that He will make good on His promise to raise all the dead someday, either for eternal life or for judgment. So this miracle should result in our seeing the fact that Jesus is the Author and Giver of both physical and eternal life and that He has all power over death (Rev 1:18+). Herschel Hobbs has an interesting question and comment - Was the raising of Lazarus a true resurrection? Hardly so, since Jesus was the firstfruits from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20+). Resurrection means that one is raised from the dead to die no more. This was not the case with Lazarus, the widow’s son at Nain, or the daughter of Jairus. They were restored to life, but they would die again physically. Thus their experiences were resuscitation — they were truly dead and then were made alive, but they were still subject to physical death. Nevertheless, Jesus’ acts in raising them were evidence of His power over death and of His power to bring about the resurrection at the last day. TSK note on bound: "Swathed about with rollers" or bandages, [keiria] long strips of linen, a few inches in breadth, brought round the [sindon] or sheet of linen in which the corpse was involved, and by which the [aromata,] or spices, were kept in contact with the flesh. In reply to sceptical objections, it is sufficient to observe, that he who could raise Lazarus from the dead, could, with a much less exertion of power, have so loosened or removed the bandages of his feet and legs as to have rendered it practicable for him to come forth. Tittman well observes, that Lazarus was restored not only to life but also to health, as appears from the alacrity of his motion; and this would constitute a new miracle. "Put off” the grave clothes and “put on” the “grace clothes” of the new life. Warren
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Cole - John reported this miracle so that you would believe in Jesus and have eternal life in His name. But Satan always attacks essential truths. So, it’s no accident that liberal critics dispute that this miracle really happened. They argue that John presents the raising of Lazarus as a crucial event that precipitated Jesus’ death at the hands of the Jewish leaders. If this is so, they say, why do the other three Gospels omit this important event? They conclude that John fabricated this story to illustrate some spiritual truths about Jesus. For example, William
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Cole points out that "If God exists and created all things, then sinners know that they’re in big trouble. So they invent myths, like evolution, to dodge the reality of God so that they can continue in their sin." A T
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Cole - In the narrative, Jesus tells Martha (Jn 11:40), “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Believing would result in seeing. But (in Jn 11:45-46) others who saw this stupendous miracle did not believe, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Ro 1:21). The lesson is: If we believe in Christ, we will see the glory of God; but if we see miracles without believing we will be hardened in our sin. John Henry Jowett - THE NEMESIS OF BIGOTRY John 11:46-57 FEARFUL nemesis waits upon the spirit of bigotry. Oliver Wendell Holmes has said that bigotry is like the pupil of the eye, the more light you pour into it the more it contracts. The scribes and Pharisees became smaller men the more the Lord revealed His glory. In the raising of Lazarus they saw nothing of the glory of the resurrection life, nothing of the joy of the reunited family, nothing of the gracious ministry of the Lord! “Darkness had blinded their eyes.” And it is also the nemesis of bigotry to be bitter, cruel, and violent. They sought to kill the Giver of life! It is the ministry of light to ripen and sweeten the dispositions. “The fruit of the light is in all goodness.” It is the ministry of the darkness to make men sour and unsympathetic, and revengeful, and to so pervert the heart as to make it a minister of poison and death. And yet, how powerless is bigotry in the long run! It can no more stay the progress of the Kingdom than King Canute could check the flowing tide! Bigotry slew the Lord, and He rose again! And so it ever is. “Truth crushed to earth shall rise again; the eternal years of God are hers.” John 11:47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, "What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. BGT John 11:47 Συνήγαγον οὖν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι συνέδριον καὶ ἔλεγον· τί ποιοῦμεν ὅτι οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος πολλὰ ποιεῖ σημεῖα; KJV John 11:47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. NET John 11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, "What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. CSB John 11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do since this man does many signs? ESV John 11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. NIV John 11:47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. "What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. NLT John 11:47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. "What are we going to do?" they asked each other. "This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. NRS John 11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, "What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. NJB John 11:47 Then the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting. 'Here is this man working all these signs,' they said, 'and what action are we taking? NAB John 11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. YLT John 11:47 the chief priests, therefore, and the Pharisees, gathered together a sanhedrim, and said, 'What may we do? because this man doth many signs? MIT John 11:47 The executive priests and Pharisees convened a council and kept saying, "What shall we do, because this man does many miraculous signs? convened a council : Ps 2:2-4 Mt 26:3 27:1,2 Mk 14:1 Lu 22:2 Ac 4:5,6,27,28 5:21 What: Jn 12:19 Ac 4:16,17 5:24 John 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 2 Corinthians 4:4+ (PHARISEES WERE BLINDED) in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. John 9:39+ And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind (JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS - THE WITNESSES OF LAZARUS RAISING WHO THEN WENT TO PHARISEES).” 40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. THE LAST STRAW "CATALYZES" CONVENING OF COUNCIL Therefore (oun) - From a great term of conclusion in Jn 11:45 we descend to a polar opposite, for now instead of life (belief in Jesus), the prevalent thought is death (to the Miracle Worker). The chief priests (archiereus) and the Pharisees (pharisaios) convened a council (sunedrion = Sanhedrin, NIV = a meeting of the Sanhedrin), and were saying (imperfect - back and forth, over and over), "What are we doing? For this man (derogatory designation) is performing many signs (semeion) - Notice they do not question whether the signs are really signs. They were not interested in truth but in killing the One called Truth (Jn 14:6)! What is sad is that of the Jewish leaders it was the the Pharisees (pharisaios) who believed in the resurrection, however just not the one that had been reported to them! THOUGHT- The point is crystal clear that when one's heart is hardened to truth, no evidence however spectacular will convince such a person of the truth of Jesus Christ and their need to believe in Him for eternal life! John
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Cole says that for Lazarus "It required the life-giving Word of Jesus to call him from death to life. That’s true every time a sinner is born again." The corollary is that we need to be sure to use the living Word when we are sharing the Gospel with a lost soul (ED: BECAUSE HIS SHEEP HEAR HIS VOICE AND FOLLOW HIM - John 10:27+), and not trust on our debating skills or our intellectual prowess! Like I tell my disciples "K.I.S.S." (Keep It Simple Stupid) Steven Cole adds "You may ask, “Doesn’t the sinner have to choose to believe?” The Bible is clear, yes, the sinner must choose to believe. But no one who is dead in their sins is able to choose to believe until the Spirit of God quickens them from the dead (ED: see free will). We saw this in John 1:12-13+, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Those who believe didn’t do so because of their will (which is not “free,” but bound in sin), but rather because God caused them to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3+). So go to the Father in believing prayer and ask Him to save those who are so dead in sin that they stink! And, Jesus’ words apply to any who have not yet trusted in Him for salvation: If you will believe in Him, you will see the glory of His love, grace, and justice at the cross. If we believe in Christ, we will see the glory of God. NET Note - The phrase "chief priests and Pharisees" is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. NET Note - Or "Sanhedrin" (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The sune,drion (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word sune,drion in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning "councils." The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as "one of them" supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities. Bob