THEY PUT THEIR FAITH IN HIM
John 11:45-57
Key Verse 11:45
“Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him”.
In John’s gospel, seven miracles are recorded by the author John. These miracles are to prove that Jesus is God Almighty in the flesh. These miracles and the writing of the gospel is to help us to believe in Jesus. In fact, the word “believe” or “belief” is mentioned at least eighty times in the gospel of John. To God, faith in Jesus is of vital and number one importance. God is more concerned about our faith than anything else. God is more concerned that we have faith in Jesus Christ more than anything else. This is because faith in Jesus is the door to the kingdom of heaven. Not only so, faith in Jesus is the door to experiencing God’s working and God’s blessing in our day to day life.
Today’s passage is about the reaction to the greatest miracle performed by Jesus, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This one event is the highlight of Jesus’ ministry because it shows his power over death and that he is the giver of life. It shows us that he is God in the flesh who came to plant resurrection hope in men.
This morning’s passage gives us two reactions to this glorious event. There are two groups of people here. Those who believed when they saw and those who did not believe when they saw. In everything that Jesus said and in everything that Jesus did, there demands a response, a reaction. There is no way we can be neutral because God knows our hearts and our every thought as we read the Bible and hear the message about Jesus. Our response or reaction will determine the outcome of our life and where we will spend eternity.
I pray that through this message, we may humble our hearts and soften our hearts and put our faith in Jesus based on all the overwhelming evidence about him. May God help each one of you to commit your lives to Jesus so that you may learn to depend on him moment by moment.
Part I. They Put Their Faith in Jesus (45)
Let’s read verse 45, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.” Who are the Jews mentioned here? They are the ones who came to comfort Mary when they heard that her brother had died. Some were very caring people. Others were professional paid mourners who only added to the human sorrow and the dark unbelieving environment surrounding Lazarus’ unexpected death.
However, Jesus the resurrection and the life came to this event to plant resurrection faith in the hearts of these sorrowful and defeated people. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory, so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” In 11:14-15 he told the disciples, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe…”
However, to both Mary and Martha, Jesus was too late to help their brother. They believed who Jesus was. Martha even said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” However, despite this head knowledge, she and her sister and all the disciples and all the people remained defeated by the power of death and more importantly, by their unbelief. They really didn’t know who Jesus was quite yet. Their unbelief had made them cry many tears.
In fact, their unbelief had even caused Jesus to weep tears of sorrow for them. Those around them said that Jesus could open the eyes of the blind. They knew this and had heard about that great miracle. But now that Lazarus was dead, they thought it was too late. So they all cried many tears. However, Jesus wasn’t stopped by death. He wanted to plant faith. He wanted to plant resurrection faith.
As they came to the the tomb, Jesus told Martha to remove the stone. He told Martha to remove the stone. Then Jesus commanded the dead Lazarus to come out, and Lazarus came out. He was all wrapped like a mummy. He was alive. Nothing like this had ever happened before in human history. Death had been defeated by Jesus. The people standing there saw it with their own eyes. Jesus had done all of this for their own benefit so that they would believe.
Jesus had changed the whole atmosphere of death and unbelief. Now there was no more mourning, there was no more crying. The professional mourners left their jobs to follow Jesus because they had nothing more to cry about. Now here was Jesus giving life and joy and hope to those around him. This is what Jesus does. Wherever he is, he gives life to us. He gives hope and joy to us.
Look at verse 45 again, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.” Look how these people reacted. They put their faith in Jesus. This means they took to heart what Jesus did. They humbly accepted this miracle from the one who gave the miracle---Jesus Christ. They did not just say, “What a great miracle. I can’t wait for the next one.” They did not wait around for another miracle to satisfy their desires. They believed the miracle came from Jesus and then they saw that Jesus was the source of the miracle. Then they put their faith in Jesus. They did not separate Jesus from the miracle.
This incredible and life giving miracle was great evidence to prove that Jesus was not just a prophet. It was further evidence for them to make their own verdict. It was powerful evidence for them to make a clear decision to put their faith in Jesus.
What is the result of putting our faith in Jesus? Though this passage doesn’t say, when we put our faith in Jesus we have peace with God. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are no longer enemies of God, living in fear and in self-condemnation with a guilty conscience night and die. When we put our faith in Jesus, we have the assurance of our salvation. We know because of the promise of God that all our sins have been forgiven and wiped clean. We can live with a clean slate as new creations in Christ instead of being burdened by our sins and living a life of regret and despair because of the past. When we put our faith in Jesus we have the conviction that God loves us and that we are loved by God. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
To put our faith in Jesus is everything. It is more valuable than all the diamonds in the world and all the treasures of the world. To put our faith in Jesus is the door to the Kingdom of God. We receive the Kingdom of God and the glorious inheritance waiting for us that no one or anything can take away. When we put our faith in Jesus, God begins his good work in us, to change us and to mold us into the likeness of his Son. We begin to taste real joy and peace. We also come to know the truth and we become blessings to others and sources of light and life to others.
Did any of you notice Shannon Smith’s new haircut? Actually, he did get his hair cut, all of it got cut off. It looks good. He looks good and happy not because of his new shiny head. But because he has made a new decision to put his faith in Jesus and follow Jesus as a disciple of Jesus. He is struggling positively now to memorize Bible verses. He also is taking care of two sheep, feeding them the word of God and praying to plant faith in Jesus in their hearts.
His faith is growing like a small mustard seed. It has great and unlimited potential. However, it is also the faith that his Bible teacher Missionary David Yun has. He has been very patient and prayerful for Shannon. Missionary David has put his faith in Jesus for this to happen. Most of us remember last year that Shannon used to memorize Romans and recite it before the Sunday Message. He looked good and inspired us by his memorization. It was easy to put faith in Shannon that he would come and give us an inspiring memorization and encourage us with his memorization talent. However, like all men, Shannon is weak. We can not put faith in men and expect great things to happen, because all men are sinful and full of weaknesses and mistakes. Missionary David put faith in Jesus and kept praying and being patient. God is working on his own time and his way when we put our faith in Jesus and not in ourselves or in weak and changeable human beings.
We can only experience the power of Jesus and his love when we put our faith in Jesus based upon all that he has done not only in history for example, the seven miracles recorded in John’s gospel, but in his work around us. It is God’s will to change everyone of us to be good shepherds and missionaries and servants of his word. Sometimes we put faith in ourselves to do the work of God. For example, we might put our faith in our Bible notebooks when we teach the Bible. We feel confident as long we have our Bible notebook to teach our sheep. However, there have been a few times that I have lost or misplaced some of my Bible notes. When I went to teach my sheep and unexpectantly found out that I did not have my notes, I panicked. What am I going to do without my Bible notes? It was at that time that I realized I need to have faith in Jesus and not in my Bible notes to teach the Bible.
With whom or what are you putting your faith in? More importantly, putting our faith in Jesus means that we begin to have a life long fellowship with Jesus to learn from him and his word and obey his word.
As we heard from last week’s Sunday message, Jesus gave us the way to follow him, to be his disciple. He told us, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Putting our faith in Jesus means we earnestly try every day to put this word into practice. We allow ourselves to be trained by God. Finally, putting our faith in Jesus means a life long commitment. Revelations 2:10 says, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."
We can endure and suffer and overcome with victory if our faith is in Jesus and not ourselves. We can put faith in Jesus based on the overwhelming evidence that supports Jesus’ claim as who he is. Therefore, when your faith is small, and you want to take a spiritual vacation, it isn’t because campus ministry is too hard, it is because you are not putting faith in Jesus. When you despair or are exhausted living in this world, it is because you are not putting faith in Jesus. Let’s put our faith in Jesus based on all the great works he has done, all the great acts of love, compassion and sacrifice. Let’s put our faith in his word that doesn’t change. Jesus gave his precious life and he poured out his blood on the cross as the best evidence that God is alive and that Jesus is the good shepherd who loves us.
How will you respond to this love? What will you do? May God open your spiritual eyes to put faith in Jesus.
Part II. Those Who Do Not Put Their Faith in Jesus (46-57)
There is a great difference between the people who put their faith in Jesus based on the evidence of what Jesus has done and those who do not put their faith in the evidence of what Jesus has done. Those who put their faith in Jesus based on the evidence of what Jesus has done experience eternal life and peace. But those who do not become slaves of fear and live in suspense.
Let’s see what those who did not believe do. Let’s read verses 46-47a, “But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin…" Instead of rejoicing and praising God for his wonderful work to raise a dead man to life, the religious leaders and political leaders called a high level cabinet meeting. They became very nervous and afraid and calculated. Look what they said in verses 47b-48, “…What are we accomplishing? Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
They could have had life and peace if they put their faith in Jesus. They acknowledged that Jesus had done many miraculous signs. However, they decided to reject the truth that Jesus is the promised Messiah. When one rejects this truth and does not put their faith in Jesus despite knowing the evidence, then one’s life spirals down a tunnel of darkness.
Then the high priest Caiaphas spoke up. He said that it would be better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to perish. What he said was prophetic, but he did not know that it was prophetic. Let’s read verses 51-52, “He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.”
From this time on, according to verse 53, they plotted to kill Jesus. Soon Jesus’ time would come to die on the cross as the Passover Lamb, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This was God’s will and planned for Jesus. It was not planned by the Jewish religious leaders or carried out by them we can say. It was all part of God’s redemption plan to save the whole world and bring the whole world back to him. In the midst of this dark time, in the midst of those who were planning and plotting and devising a way to kill Jesus, God was working out his sovereign will.
From this passage, we can see the results of those who put their faith in Jesus and those who don’t. One can be either an instrument of righteousness and know Jesus’ peace and be full of hope and joy, or one can become an instrument of the devil and a child of the devil and live in fear and suspense, filled with murderous thoughts and desires. One’s indecision and lack of commitment about who they believe Jesus is, is costly.
Through all the evidence, all his teachings and acts of love and compassion, and all his miracles, especially of Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead, may God help you to put your faith in Jesus. May God give you a good response and a life long commitment to Jesus, so you may see the glory of God.
a life owill put some last week, this means we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. Putting our faith in Jesus means a life long commitment. This what it means, a commitment. In all times, in good tad times, rain or shine, putting our faith in Jesus and relying on him not our human strength, not on money and not on my own reasoning.
Putting our faith in Jesus means we surrender ourselves to Jesus. We let go of ourselves. trust in Jesus. Can you trust in Jesus? Can you trust his unfailing love? those people mentioned in verse 46 didn’t believe. These people It says that their reaction was that they put their faith in him. This was their reaction and it was a good reaction. But what does it mean here when it says that they put their faith in him? It means that they trusted in him and believed who he was, that he was the Son of God. This shows us that a decision is very important when we see or hear what God is doing.
Most especially, each one of needs to make a decision when we read the Bible and study the Bible. In everything that Jesus does, he does so to plant faith in people. In the gospel of John, the author John only focuses on seven miracles to show tuhat Jesus is the Son of God. In the other gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, there are more miracles recorded. In all of the gospels, Jesus taught the Bible and preached the good news of the kingdom of God. He healed the sick and made the lame to walk and the blind to see. In chapter 5 of John’s gospel, he healed a man who was an invalid for 38 years. In chapter 6, he fed over 5,000 people on five loaves and two fish. In chapter 9, he healed a man born blind. These events were to plant faith in people’s hearts. However, we have seen that many did not respond positively. Their responses seemed to
In John chapter 11 we saw how Jesus tried hard to plant faith in the hearts of Mary, Martha and the disciples. For example, when Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus to come and help Lazarus, because he was sick, he did not come right away. He waited two days. In the course of that time, Lazarus died. It was a hard thing for Jesus to do, to see these two women suffer this way. But it was God’s way to plant faith in them. The disciples did not want Jesus to go to Judea because they feared being stoned and also Jesus they thought might be stoned by the angry Jews.
However, Jesus went anyway, to plant faith by going to raise up Lazarus from the dead. We remember how painful Mary and Martha felt when their friend Jesus came after Lazarus had died. Jesus kept saying, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So sometimes, God will not do everything we want him to do. Sometimes, when we pray he will not answer our prayers. Sometimes he will allow us to go through difficulties and hardships in order to plant faith in us.
The miracles that Jesus did were to plant faith in the hearts of the people and in us here today. Whatever we read or whenever we hear about what Jesus did and whatever we hear him say we should take it to heart and put our faith in him. The key verses of John’s gospel is 20 :31. It says, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Here we see why faith in Jesus is so important. Without faith in Jesus we can not have eternal life. This is eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom. Instead, we will only suffer eternal punishment in hell. This is why without faith we can’t please God. Only with faith can we please God. This is why from the very beginning God wanted to plant faith in sinful man so that sinful man could have the hope of eternal salvation. God did this first by calling one old, helpless, hopeless and useless old man named Abraham to leave his country, his people and his father’s household and go to the land he had promised him. God gave Abraham many great promises that looked impossible. However, these promises such as, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and all people’s on earth will be blessed through you”, planted a new life in Abraham’s heart.
These callings and promises planted faith in Abraham’s heart. God also gave him the promises that he would make his descendants like the sand on the seashore and as countless as the stars in the sky. God gave Abraham all these great promises so that he could be a man of faith and be an example for us . God did these also to show us that he will bless those who have faith in him far greater than one can ever imagine. This is why that when we believe we will see great things.
What are the great things that Abraham saw? Hebrews 11:9-10 says, “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
With faith, Abraham could see the spiritual world. He could see the kingdom of God. Through faith he could inherit the kingdom of God. The faith that Abraham learned from God, he passed on to his son Isaac and his son Isaac passed it on to his son Jacob. With this faith that they learned they could come to have their own personal faith.
Part II. The Rejection of Jesus (46-57)
What did those who did not believe in Jesus do? Let’s read verses 46-48, “But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 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. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
They looked patriotic in saying this. However, they were full of fear because they were thinking that if Jesus is declared king by thew people, the Romans may see this as an act of aggression and come with a large amount of troops and kill many people and destroy the temple.
Now was the time for these people to believe in Jesus. However, once they closed their eyes to the great life giving miracle of Jesus, they began to allow for evil to grow up in their hearts. Their desire was to get rid of Jesus. Once this desire was in their hearts it grew until it gave birth to sin and then it would lead them to be the number one instruments to kill the innocent Son of God.
At this time, the high priest had something to say about this. Let’s read verses 49-50, “Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” Caiaphas was the most important religious figure. He was the religious leader of all the Jews at this time. When he talked about one man he saw the importance of one man who could influence the world.
He knew that Jesus’ influence had caused much controversy. However, he thought this was the time when the nation could be saved if Jesus would die. The comments made about what he said in verses 51-53 give us more detail into what he meant. What he said was prophetic, accidently. Let’a read verses 51-53, “He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”
Here we see the great darkness of people who reject the truth of God and the work of God. The last sentence in these verses clearly shows us the evil intent of these people. They were planning to kill Jesus and take his life away. However, this could not be done until it was God’s will. However, no matter how evil and how mindless it was, God was working out his salvation plan for the world through this event. It would be God’s will and his doing and his right time for Jesus to die.
Verse 55 mentions the Passover. This is the time when Jesus would be the suffering Lamb of God for the sins of the world. Verse 57 mentions that if anyone found where Jesus was they were to report it so that he could be arrested.