The Gospel of John 12:27-50

What I'd like for us to do, just to kind of keep in context, what we'll actually do is just open our Bibles and study out of the Bible directly so that we can still cover the passage. It'll be the Gospel of John, chapter 12, starting with verse 27 and through the end of the chapter.

But these are slides we've shown before, but just so we kind of keep the context. in the area of Jerusalem, in Jerusalem and nearby, because we're talking about getting ready for Passover. in the Jewish context. This is the view looking from Jerusalem, this Jerusalem Old City, towards the east. And here's what's called the Temple Mount. It now has the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque of Omar on it. But it did, during the time of Christ, have the second temple.

By the way, how many temples are there going to be, all totaled, at that place? Anybody know? Four, right? Four. And there happened to be Solomon's temple, and then the second temple that was rebuilt and was upgraded under Herod's beginning. And then there will be a temple during the tribulation period, and then a temple during the millennium. So four temples will be there, two of whom have been there to date.

So, at any rate, that's the location. Mount of Olives over here. And Craig Kayes was showing yesterday a picture of the top of the Mount of Olives. There's some kind of little taxi shop or something there. And then here's the Dead Sea off in the distance.

And here's Best Page, which is where Jesus, you know, came through and where they got the donkey and colt for what's called the triumphal entry, and then Bethany, which is the village of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Now, so from Bethany to Jerusalem was a little less than two miles, and the population of Jerusalem would something like be five times And all the people in Jerusalem were expected to be hosts to the swell of population during the Jewish festivals. Here's the old road in Tibetany here, and probably about the same as it was with little difference.

Here is the Passover, which I have the April 3rd, 33 A.D. Increasingly, the evidence is pointing to April 3rd, 33 A.D. as the date of Christ's crucifixion. And the last confirmation of that came last year from some geologists timing the evidence of the earthquake. And so that lines up with several other points of evidence. That is, the day of Passover, that is, the day following what we call the Last Supper, when Jesus observed the Passover, since the Jewish custom is to go from sundown to sundown from time to time.

We have it also this way. In John chapter 7, we have the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths. We had in John chapter 10. What we call in the modern era Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, the Feast of Lights, and then Passover coming up here in Chapter 12. This is the weekly calendar according to the traditional chronology, which I believe is, after checking them out, is the correct one.

Here is Friday before the crucifixion, so one week before. Jesus is with Zacchaeus in Jericho. On Saturday, raising Lazarus and Bethany. On Sunday is the triumphal entry. And then Monday, driving out money changers. Tuesday is what's called the Olivet Discourse, that's recorded in Matthew 24 and 25. And Wednesday is the Temple in Jerusalem. And then Thursday is the day of what we call the Last Supper. It's celebrating Passover and then instituting what we call the Lord's Table, or some would call it communion.

Crucifixion and burial on Friday, we add to that the trial early. The crucifixion was at 9 o'clock. Christ died at 3 o'clock. and then was taken off the cross and buried. So the burial took place probably right nearby. Then in the grave, that was the day that the Roman soldiers were put to guard the grave, because the Jewish leaders were saying, hey, we need to guard this so that nobody takes the body. And then resurrection early Sunday morning.

Where we're at here in John chapter 12, in the second half of it, is right after the triumphal entry. So what we're reading here is probably either that same day or it could possibly be the next day. So it would be either right after the triumphal entry on that day or the subsequent day. So, with that, let's take a look at John chapter 12 starting in verse 27.

So we have there, and this is actually, we're coming in the middle of what Jesus had recorded as a discourse there. So verse 27, Now my soul has become troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Let's take a look there before moving on. What about, now my soul has become troubled. Have we seen that troubled soul description already here? What was Jesus' expression and sentiment right before he raised Lazarus? He was troubled there as well, and also wept. Interesting.

Is that because he wasn't trusting the Father? What would be the explanation for that? I think what we look at is, because he is fully deity, And even trusting the Father, it doesn't make him immune from these human emotions. And why would he be troubled at this point? We talked about with Lazarus, he was troubled before raising Lazarus, and in some ways that might almost seem puzzling, because They're thinking, well, he's going to resurrect Lazarus in a very short period of time after this. Why would he be troubled? Why is he troubled here?

Yeah? How much do you know of the details of what's going to happen here? What knowledge does Christ have of the future? Yeah, isn't that interesting? So was he guessing or ignorant of what was going to come about? He knew it was going to happen, but did he know all the details? Let's ask that question. Did he know all the details? Was he troubled because he was going to be separated from God? Let's think ahead. I mean, we'll get into this in more detail, but think ahead enough to understand this better.

What had been the son's relationship to the father in eternity past? Was there anything to get troubled about? No. There wasn't anything to get troubled about. As a matter of fact, there was a perfect relationship of love between them. Here was a relationship between the Father and the Son that was not in time, as we know.

Time is a part of this created universe and is defined by this created universe. Isn't it interesting, here is Christ who voluntarily He wasn't compelled. He voluntarily stepped into time. And he voluntarily gave up the privileges of deity. It doesn't mean he stopped being deity. He never did. But he gave up the privileges of deity to be not just fully God, but fully man. And so now you have the Son who always had in eternity past a perfect and uncorrupted and unstained relationship with the Father.

Now looking forward to having stepped into time, a matter of days, and in the same area right around Jerusalem, in the same area, now in a matter of days, He would be falsely charged given a death sentence, and he would be voluntarily crucified. He didn't go kicking and screaming and saying, this isn't fair, this is not right, you guys got, you know, doing something awful. He instead didn't defend himself at all before Pilate. He instead went there and was crucified like no man was ever crucified.

But he loved and he gave. He loved and he gave. He loved and he gave. That sequence is for certain. Galatians 2.20, Ephesians 5.2 and 5.25. He loved and he gave. He voluntarily died for you and me. And for that period of time, Just as a quick summary, we'll look at the details later, a quick summary from 9 until noon, Christ actually spent the time dealing in relationships with people there from the cross. Mary, here's your son, the author of this book. Jarrah, here's your mother, take care of her. But from noon until spring, not a lot of conversation.

Instead, that was the time when we see him taking on the sins of the world, and broken fellowship with the Father. Something that had never happened in eternity past, and would never again happen in eternity future. So here is Jesus, being fully God and fully man, taking that in. Taking that in. And for three hours of time, having broken fellowship with the Father. Something he never experienced before, and never would again.

Are there any other things that you think might trouble him? Yes, I think that's a very good point. Here, he's going to die for the sins of the whole world. He's going to, and one of the things that we've covered, and we can't cover it quite now, but there are other things accomplished on the cross as well. And so all this is going to happen. He is going to die for them. But of course, the Jews, with a few exceptions, are not really embracing who he is and what he's doing and what he's done. The disciples at this point in time still don't get it. He told them repeatedly. They have it on record. He told them repeatedly, I'm going to be condemned to death by the leaders And I'm going to be crucified. And I'm going to be buried. And I'm going to resurrect. And they're going, huh? They hadn't a clue. When he was resurrected, they still hadn't a clue. What? The stunned expressions. Great surprise. They still didn't get it. There was a lot to be troubled about.

And one of the things that they told him during this week, see all these stones? They're all going to be ripped apart. Not one will be left on them. And you can still go see those stones. And not one of them is on top of the Temple Mount. They're all off the edge, dumped on the side of the Temple Mount. So there's a lot to be troubled about here. Okay, let's take a look.

Why do you think he says, Father, save me? From this hour? Yeah, so there's a question mark there. For this purpose I came to this hour. What's that about? Was he saying, I'm backing out? What was he saying? He wasn't saying anything correctly. Shall I say this? You know, I'm saying this. Yeah. And why would he say that? Yeah, I think it's his humanity. Yeah. Yeah. It's human side. That's saying, you know, you have to be saved.

But then why? Yeah, I can't possibly prefer this, and yet this is the whole purpose. I'm coming down here on planet earth and everybody gets all focused on the things Jesus did and said and all that. Ultimately, all this is worthless except for what I'm going to do this Friday. where he says, do not be anxious for anything. And I think he's now in a very similar situation.

He has to rely on the Father totally, even though he knows, I don't know how much detail, but he knows the suffering he's going to be going through. Yeah. It's, you know, from a human standpoint, why would I volunteer for this? Why would I volunteer for this? Now, what is he talking about? Father, glorify your name. What's that mean?

First of all, let's ask this question. What's glory? radiant essence of who God is. And God's eternal purpose is to reveal and declare and share his glory that he might be glorified. So the declaring and the revealing of it is one thing that could be done, but without Christ's crucifixion, His glory cannot be shared with anyone.

Let's talk about that. You talk about character, so that's intrinsic to Him, and then it's expression. There is the other aspect of it. His name. It comes from who He is, but it's expressed to others, including ourselves. And in the end, revealing and declaring and sharing His glory, glorifies Him.

Father, glorify Your name, and that could not be done without this death that's about to take place. So that's what Jesus is praying about here. Glorify your name. I know this death that I will go through is essential to your name being glorified. So let's look at the rest of verse 28. Then a voice came out of heaven. I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Who's the voice? God the Father. This is actually the third time that this voice comes out of heaven, the third and final time regarding Christ. The first one was at Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist.

So you have this, and what does he mean by I have both glorified it and will glorify it again? How did he glorify his name in the past, and how will he glorify his name in the future? Ultimately, you look at Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, will all, in the future, glorify his name. But how did he do it in the past?

Yeah, in other words, if you look at it, there had already, for Israel, been a redemption, and God brought them out miraculously. God intervened to redeem them and bring them out. He's done it in the past, and now he's going to do this again, in less than a week, in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered. Others were saying an angel had spoken to him. Now, one thing I want you to observe here. Are the Jews unified in their opinions? This is another one of those instances we've seen again and again in the Gospel of John, and that is we keep coming across the Jews will oftentimes have two, three, four opinions about the same event or words or something of that sort. So same song, second verse here. We've seen this pattern before. That's something real interesting. This is not the only place where people can tell what it seems kind of like, but still not understanding it. Think of this time with the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.

Was he spoken to? Yes, he certainly was. As a matter of fact, what? that the Lord said to the Apostle Paul is recorded, which means that Paul heard it and he actually interacted with the Lord. The other people who were with Paul, what did they hear? A voice-like sound. So, it's real interesting, the Lord has the ability to communicate directly with certain people, but others, you know, it sounds kind of like a voice, but unable to make it out.

So it's a curious thing. It's happened more than once as we look at this. Yes? I was going to say something earlier, but I think that goes along with when he said that he was troubled because the scripture mentions Isaiah, and the fact that Isaiah was troubled, too, in the sense that he spread the word.

People couldn't believe because God was not allowing them to. And here's Jesus as a human and divine thought. And he's spreading this message. And the people aren't believing. And he's troubled. But God could have changed their hearts or their minds or whatever so that more would have believed. But still, from the earthly standpoint, it's not happening.

From God's standpoint, there has to be some reason which goes along with the glory to his name, I guess. So it seems kind of like a paradox, you know. Whether you're looking from here or whether you're looking from there. I don't understand it because I can't look from there. So, with these varied opinions, let's take a look at verse 30.

Jesus answered and said, this voice, so one thing is, those who are thinking about thunder, they're getting corrected. And those who thought it was some kind of voice, attributed to an angel, but, so he corrects that. This voice has not come for my sake, but for your sakes. What's that mean? John being an apostle here on the other side, what was his plan? Did he not understand what was being said also, so that he could record it, according to the Holy Spirit? Who's the your, right?

Yeah. Somebody who could still recite the Lord Jesus, what was said, and be able to write it. Yes. Either Jesus would have had to reiterate it to somebody, For some, some may have understood while others did not. Yeah. Yeah. I was just thinking. So they felt intoxicated or wherever the veil is on their eyes so that we brought in, do you think the veil is already on their eyes, or did that come later? Well, I'll tell you what, they're not seeing this thing straight, attributing it to thunder and angels, so the veil has already begun. Most certain. Now, let's look at this next part.

Now, judgment is upon this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And, in verse 32, and if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. What's verse 31 telling us? Now, what is the judgment of the world? Yeah, universally, right? Universally. Every single one. And notice, this is no longer about Israel. This is everybody. This is everybody. And now, just days ahead, that judgment on everyone would be upon Christ. Yes?

Satan was given rulership over the earth. Satan kind of got a rulership over the earth. He will no longer have the same power that he had before once Sid was judged. Now let's think about why will his power, why will his power be diminished and eventually extinguished?

Yes. Yeah. Hebrews chapter 2. See, the thing is, think about this. Do you know unbelievers that have a fear of death? Do you know any unbelievers that don't have a fear of death? Frankly, what often happens is they try not to think about it. I can remember when I was going to community college, I had a P.E. class and at the end of the class I was standing next to the coach and he was talking to a few other people and I just kind of steered the conversation a little bit and it was interesting.

It came out, the coach said, boy, I sure am afraid to die. I don't want to die. Just, you know, he expressed honestly the fear is there. And why is that Satan's power? I don't know how you say it. Is that his power, or is it his fear of death? In other words, it's a human problem, but he is going to use it to his advantage. And he will use it to have people...

Sometimes the fear of death shows up this way. The fear of death shows up, well look, when I die, that's the end, so let me just go have a blast right now, because it'll all be over soon. And so sometimes the fear of death doesn't show up as, you know, sitting there trembling in fear, but simply saying, you know, when it's all over, it's over, and so I better, you know, go out with a bang. Yeah, yeah, I better have a good time, because certainly there'll be a time, you know, when this whole thing ends, and, you know, it'll all be over. It'll all be done. So sometimes the fear of death shows itself up in ways that may not look immediately like fear. But there's a sort of a desperation that goes along with it.

So now, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw men to myself. Verse 33, but he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die. So what's he talking about? Lifted up? cross, people would look to it, trust into it. And he in fact, elsewhere, made reference to that and the serpents that people would look to. So yeah, he's talking about ultimately his own crucifixion.

He would be lifted up. But something else to look at. Draw all men to myself. And by the way, this doesn't mean all males. But that statement, all men, what does that tell you? Is his crucifixion only for Israel? No. He's got an expression here, this is for everybody. This is for everybody. And that fits along with verse 31, upon this world. This is a universal issue, not just Israel's issue. Did Christ die to save those of Israel who would believe in him? Yeah, but not just Israel.

I'm thinking that Satan's goal has always been to separate mankind from God. And once the crucifixion and resurrection occur, his power in death has been broken. And he can no longer eternally separate man from God. So he's been shown to the angelic people at least, beings at least, that he's truly not the ruler. Yeah, yeah. In Revelation, Jesus said, you know, I was dead and now I'm alive, and I hold the keys to death and Hades. And to hold the keys means I've got the power of access and refusal. I now hold it. Satan can no longer hold it over people, except to the degree that they're ignorant or refusing it.

This might have been an answer to the Greeks who came to him, and he didn't answer them directly. No. Very interesting, he didn't directly respond to them, which was actually, as we saw, fairly typical. He didn't deal with Gentiles directly. But twice here, referring to the world, and now to all men, we see him speaking not in just Jewish terms, but universal terms. all of mankind. Verse 34, ìThe crowd then answered him, ìWe have heard out of the law,î and by the way, sometimes the law is given as a summary statement for all of what we call the Old Testament.

What we have here, we have heard out of the law that the Christ, what do they mean by the Christ? The Messiah, right? It has the definite article in the Greek, so that would be the Messiah. We have heard that the Messiah is to remain forever. How can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man? Did the Jews not know who the Son of Man was?

Daniel, Daniel 7.13, tells you that's the Messiah.

So these guys are confused, or something. Why are they asking this question, who's the Son of Man, if the Bible already tells them that's the Messiah, and he's coming again? Why would they ask this question? Yes, and so the Jews are really confused about Christ, what we call his first coming, and the second coming. And what they're focused on is here is the Messiah coming, and what we call the second coming, and they're focused on that, and they're saying, well look, he's going to be around forever as the Messiah.

How is it you're saying you've got to be lifted up? And they're interpreting that he's dying. Again, this is the theme that you've talked about before, about the physical and the spiritual. And that is that they're looking at the physical person who's standing there, and he doesn't fit the image, or what they think the Messiah should be.

They're expecting this marvelous David-like ruler to come and drive the Romans out. And to the Jews, where does the Messiah come from? comes in the clouds, right? Comes in the clouds and descends, and so here's the Messiah, and the Messiah is going to come and rule and reign and certainly blast these Romans out of here, and he's going to rule and reign forever. And how do I fit a death of the Messiah in there?

It just doesn't compute. in their thinking. What's interesting is that they had, first of all, the focus was on what we would call the second coming Messiah, the reigning Messiah. That was their primary focus. But they actually taught at least two messiahs. And the one is Messiah ben Joseph, the one who would suffer And then Messiah Ben David is the one they're referring to that comes in the clouds and boots the Romans out and rules and reigns. So it's that they had the Messiah that rules and reigns, and the Messiah that suffers, and the prophet that Moses talked about, all separate people.

And the reality is, it's one person, but they couldn't put it together. They couldn't put it together, talking about the same. And so now this puzzle, you know, wait a minute, Christ is supposed to be around forever, and we say the Son of Man is supposed to be lifted up, but who's the Son of Man? We're not getting this straight. Well, they had it confused to begin with by separating the identity of the Prophet and the Suffering Messiah and the Reigning Messiah. So that's the root of their confusion.

So verse 35, Jesus said to them, ìFor a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light so that darkness will not overtake you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.î Verse 36, ìWhile you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.î Why did Jesus switch away from the Christ and Son of Man discussion and start talking about what? Talking about himself.

Were they going to get this straight? No. He's going away from their physical argument and now he's going back to the spiritual truth. And that is who he is spiritually, not who he is physically. Because as long as they look at him physically, they aren't going to understand him spiritually. Yeah.

They were so steeped in the teaching that they had, which split up the Messiahs and the Prophet. They were so steeped in that, that trying to reconcile that was nearly impossible. So Jesus said, I'm going to put this thing in an entirely different light. By shifting this to, you have the light with you now, I'm standing right in front of you, and what do they need to do with the light? What does this passage say they need to do?

Believe. And that's John's theme, isn't it? These things are written, John chapter 20, these things are written that you might believe, and that believing you may have life through his name. That believing is the issue, okay? Believing is the issue. Ultimately, if Jesus had gotten it straight about him being lifted up, and that's the same as the one that reigns, would that have solved their problem? Yeah, the real problem is belief, okay? Not just getting the concept cleared up. The real problem is belief. And that's the real issue.

Even if they got it all straightened out, okay we got one Messiah instead of two. Even if they got that all straightened out, if you don't believe it won't do any good. No good at all. So he shifts it to, look, you've got the light standing right in front of me. And you need to believe. You need to be responsive right now. Now, let's see what happens. So, did they believe right then? Did Jesus waste time with these guys? Pardon? He departed and hid himself. Had he wasted time with these guys, telling them they need to believe, especially since they didn't?

Isn't it interesting? The Lord's approach is not to be maximally efficient. The Lord's approach is to be maximally gracious, to present the gospel even to those who won't believe, to also to die for people even if they're not going to believe. The Lord is, we would say, bending over backward gracious. See, since he is God and knows the future, what he could have done is say, look, I'm not going to waste time with you, you're not going to believe, go away. And I'm going to die for you and you and you and you and you, because I know you're going to believe, but the rest of you, I don't need that pain. But the Lord doesn't work with maximal efficiency. The Lord works maximizing grace.

Why? Yes, in other words, grace is not something God adds on or picks and chooses. Grace is fundamental to his character. And by the way, how much grace has he got? Five pounds? Ten pounds? Yeah, infinite grace. So here is infinite grace talking to these people who in fact are going to turn it away. Many of them.

Yes? Well, in the next few verses it says that God has blinded their eyes and deadened their heart and their hearts. So the argument is, could have they ever believed? And it seems like they didn't have that option because God had blinded their eyes.

So it's delivering to them. It's actually picked up by John and the people who write the scriptures. So he's actually witnessing to us as well as the many people who have heard and read. Just like it says in 1 Corinthians, those who are blessed who read and hear. Is it really for them that he's going to draw this, or is it for the people to follow?

One thing is, Jesus would present the gospel and present the need to believe to those who wouldn't respond. But do others benefit from that presentation? And the answer is yes. So that's one reason for doing it that's not immediately apparent, except when we stand back a second and think, well, wait a minute. I just heard the gospel. So the presentation is not in vain from that standpoint. Let's talk about one other thing.

It says specifically here that God hardened hearts. Does God just go around hardening hearts just kind of random? Hey, hey, I think I'll harden that guy's heart. It's kind of fun, you know. Is it recreational with God or what's this hardening heart thing about? I think a very important set of passages on heart hardening is where Pharaoh is dealing with Moses and Aaron coming.

What you see is this pattern. God does harden Pharaoh's heart after Pharaoh had already hardened his own. So when we see here God hardened hearts, God isn't just being, you know, here's God who's infinitely gracious and then he hardens hearts. What we see is that this pattern, that people have already hardened their hearts and God gives them over to it. And that's the insight that we can bring into this passage. to look at God hardening their hearts, that's not where it starts, that's where it ends.

That's where it ends. Yes? How many of these people are the same ones who had multiple opportunities to believe that Christ gave them? Same with the Pharaoh. Just time and time again, an opportunity. Yeah, here's Pharaoh. How many plagues does it take?

And even after he let the Israelites go, what did he do? He chased after them, you know? So, yeah, how many does it take before you finally get the point? So, Jesus went away and hid himself from them. Why did he do that? Now, his hour had not come, it's getting close, right? It's not yet time. It's not yet time. Something else, and here he is hanging around Jerusalem in the temple area, there is an active warrant out for his arrest. There's an active warrant out for his arrest. And so, of course, the leaders have to be careful how they do that, and Jesus knows that. But the hour must come.

Why didn't Jesus say, you know, hey, close is close enough, and I'll just go ahead and die right now. Yeah. I guess I'm back on this Isaiah passage. Okay. We have the Lord Jesus presenting himself as the light, asking him, do you think you can cast the light? Yes. They could not believe this huge contrast. Yes.

First of all, racists are saying the truth, and racists are saying the truth. But it is, in our view, to tell you that God's unfair. God is not unfair. This passage itself shows us that if you gave them the truth, they wouldn't have seen it. They had the eyes, they had the ears, but they couldn't see, they couldn't hear. They wouldn't mind it, and they wouldn't doubt it. They had the physical ears and physical eyes. Yes. Spiritually, they were protected. They weren't seeing it. They weren't hearing it. It wasn't getting across. It also is not a blindness that was initiated by God. There was already a blindness of their own doing and making. But what we see is that's God's pattern, which we have from elsewhere. So verse 37, Though he had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in him.

How many signs does it take? How many does it take? I mean, right here, right nearby, we got Lazarus that got resurrected. A whole lot of people witnessed that. I mean, you'd think that would have been enough, but no. No, not getting through. So how many signs does it take? One more. One more? Yeah. The reality is, Lazarus is resurrected, the Jewish leaders, do they suddenly go, oh wow, this is really cool, we should have seen this a long time ago. Is that what happened? Is that how they responded?

But you don't believe in science, you believe in Christ. Pardon? You don't believe in science, you believe in Christ. Ah, yes. The issue is always Christ, not the science. The issue is Christ, not the science. Yes? Churches in America are full of people looking for miracles today. Yes, increasingly. Especially, I would summarize it this way. People looking for an experience. People looking for a feeling. And that shows itself in various ways. And miracles is a part of that.

Is Jesus producing a feeling for them? No. He's not there to do it. As a matter of fact, even with Lazarus, he performed a sign, an obvious miracle, one witnessed by many. But did he do that to produce a feeling? Did he do that to give them an experience?

No. And so our culture has been training people, and I'll actually give it a date, increasingly since the end of World War II, our culture has been training people, including Christians, to look for feelings, and to look for experiences, and look for signs, and even define spirituality by those things. Our culture increasingly points that direction. I've got one other question. Is it possible that God's hardening of hearts is actually merciful? Why would Jesus walk away here? I mean, he just told the people, you need to believe. Is that a good time to walk away? Didn't Jesus just miss an opportunity here? Shouldn't he press the point?

Ultimately, does presenting more truth always show itself as a solution for people? No, because the more you force it on them, the more they back away. Yeah, ultimately people develop their own kind of heart calluses, if you will. The more you try to present more truth when they're not taking it as it is. There's a sort of gagging effect.

And ultimately, the Lord with those who are resistant, He needs to work in other ways if He is going to turn them around. besides just presenting more truth. It's an interesting thing about truth. If we respond to the truth that's presented to us, the Lord says, OK, I'll give you more. But as people are unresponsive to the truth, the Lord doesn't say, well, here, let me give you some more of it. Very interesting the way truth works. Those who are responsive, the Lord will give them more. But for those who are resistant, the Lord doesn't just keep forcing more on them. Grace and truth together. It's interesting, grace and truth are paired up words and so are truth and love. Frequently in scripture. Very interesting the way the Lord supplies and applies presenting truth to people. That the Lord just doesn't universally keep forcing more truth on people. Does God force people to believe? It's just not his ways. It's not grace. No. No, the Lord does not force it.

Yeah, Ruth? I was just thinking about what Jesus might have been feeling at that time, sharing this truth, knowing that they're not going to believe. I'm sure he was reading the facts. And by going away and hiding, not only was it wasn't quite his time yet to be arrested, but I'm sure his heart was heavy. How come they can't get it? Here he is talking to people, and imagine in his mind, because he just talked about it, in his mind he's thinking, you know, you don't get it, but I'm going to die for your sins in just a few days. And you won't understand it. But I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do it anyway.

It's because God's love is inscrutable, and it comes from infinite love, not just something where you carve off five pounds of it. It's not a commodity, but it's infinite. And His love should be inscrutable, and His grace as well, far beyond what we can understand. And people's response to the truth is also pretty inscrutable. You have one person responding to every truth given them, and another just pushing the truth away. And Jesus doesn't keep forcing it on them. It's really amazing the way the Lord works here.

Well, we've run out of time. Yeah, Stan? I mean, people died in the Old Testament that didn't trust. And then we also observed on it. Yeah, and you say, what's that going to do for me? Exactly. Yeah. I mean, you're not even touching this place where I've got this guinea worm here, right? Alright, let's pray.

Lord, thank You for the insights from this passage. Thank You for the power in Your Word. It is indeed alive and active and potent. And it touches us, Lord, at a depth that nothing else does. there at the depths of our being and dividing line between sin and spirit. Thank you for what you revealed here because you love us so immensely. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.