John 9 contains the story of the man born blind. It has plot twists, and surprises; and though Jesus is the hero of the story, the man shines and impresses under pressure.
The point of the story comes from a question the disciples ask. Their question is a question we all ask in various forms.
Jesus answer, which is God’s answer to many, many things is that many, many things happen because God is purposely revealing himself in the events of our lives.
At the end of John 11 the Pharisees make this statement.
“If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
They reveal more than they might have wished to reveal. They are more concerned about their power and position and privilege than they are being humble, effective, respected spiritual leaders.
The gravity of their honesty is a horrible truth. For them, it is not about truth, goodness, and beauty. It is about them. It’s NOT about God. It’s about them.
They reveal something common today. We live in what is called Prestige Culture. What we can attain, what we can own, where we can travel, what we can brag about, what we can pull off, how we look to others, how we look to ourselves, what power we have, what fear we can put in people’s eyes, how we can shape the opinions of those around us is all MORE important than how humble and honest we are before God.
Let us be careful.
This is aimed at parents, but it also applies to our politics around anyone we value
The gospel of John is about one thing, believing in Jesus. That’s it. That is all of it!
In John 11 the word believe appears nine times. A Pharisee uses the word once (vs. 48). John uses the word once (vs. 45). Martha uses the the word once (vs 27). Jesus uses it six times (vs 15, 25, 26, 27, 40, 42).
Each time the word is used it has a serious and direct punch to it.
Jesus’s first use of the word shockingly sums up the whole chapter.
Jesus did not come immediately to heal Lazarus because believing in Jesus was more important than allowing Lazarus to die.
That! Is! Stunning! But the math adds up. Which is more important? Healing a man or healing souls?
The glory of God can be difficult to apply to our lives. John 11, though, is helpful.
Lazarus’s death was used by God so that people could see two things about God
One, God is always the most important thing no matter what is going on.
Two, God displaying His goodness and power and character, which is glorious, is the very important thing to God. He’s not a showoff. He’s pointing us to the greatest delight in we can ever see and know and enjoy.
How do we apply God letting Lazarus die? We’ve see God at work. We’ve seen more of God’s character. We’ve been able to peek behind the curtain and see God do something only He can do. We now know and feel and enjoy more than we would have if we had never read the story.
We’ve seen the glory of God! Savor it.
Gentlemen, this month we’ll be reading John 11.
Oh, it’s good chapter.
It’s about the glory of God.
-Even when things go really wrong.
-Even when God is not quick to fix things.
-Even when God is criticized.
It’s about trusting God and sooner or later we’ll see the glory of God.
First, from John 3:31, “He who comes from above is above all.”
Second, from John 3:33, “God is true.”
And third, from John 3:29, “The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.”
Sometimes it is good to simply see and ponder and think about the greatness, the glory, and the wonder of God.
It has wisely been said that the humankind struggles with keeping what we love in the right order.
What is meant is that we drift toward loving things.
And we drift towards loving ourselves.
And we drift towards not loving our wife or kids or parents or closest friends as we should. There’s truth in this.
John 3:19–21 takes it one step further saying humankind “loves darkness rather the light.” And there’s truth in that too.
Loving the right things in the right order is tough. Our desires and impulses and weaknesses are terribly, horribly strong. They often rule our lives.
There’s no magic wand to fix this, but there is an understanding that can be mighty helpful.
Make God BIG and darkness will be disliked. Make God small and darkness will be enjoyed.
What is Jesus referring to when He says, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” What does He mean by water and spirit? What’s the water? Most theologians do not think it is the water of physical birth or baptism. Most of them think it refers to Ezekiel 36:25-27.
Why does Jesus connect the Holy Spirit to wind, and what is His point? Most theologians think Jesus is referring to Ezekiel 37:8-14. They think Jesus is saying that the new birth is far more a God thing than a human thing. We don’t control the wind and we cannot control God. God is in charge of the wind and He is in charge of saving people.
What are the heavenly things in verse 12? Most theologians believe Jesus is referring to what He says from verse 13 to 21.
John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”
This is one of the BIG truths about reality.
We live in a created world. The creator reigns and rules and governs EVERYTHING.
Nothing exists, nothing breathes without the creator saying so.
We are created beings (in His image amazingly!) and everything we have and will have comes because God says so. Or said differently, everything happens for two reasons. To make us into the image of Christ, and to display the glory of God.
That is a lot to think about. That is one of the wonders of wonders.
The conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus seems uneven at best, or confusing at worst. What I mean is that the dialogue seems to be missing something.
And that is probably a right perception. Many of the conversations Jesus has with people are a condensed version of larger conversations.
Yet the writers of the four gospels, who being led by the Holy Spirit, wrote down exactly what God wanted to be written. This is one of the reasons we study Scripture, to dig deep and think hard about the words we do have from God.
Though the conversations seems shortened, we can still get the gist of the dialogue.
Nicodemus does not yet grasp that it is the Holy Spirit who changes the hearts and minds of people. It is a rebirth. Nicodemus, and most of Israel, believed that Jewish heritage and Jewish law-keeping was the way to God.
Jesus is saying that is not so. AND that it has NEVER been so. The way to God is first and foremost God seeking the lost, then the lost seeing their great need for God, and then the reborn treasuring God for his grace and mercy and love (or the great Old Testament term, “The steadfast love of God.”) that they love and treasure and seek and desire God with all their heart.
Note Jesus’ words about the wind and the Spirit. It’s all a God thing. The rebirth is a God thing. It is God-initiated and God-fulfilled. He will seek and save the lost. If we seek God it is because God has sought us first.
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 