A heart for the King

All right, please turn with me to John chapter 12, and we're reading from verses 1 to 11.

John 12 · chapter mention

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus

had raised from the dead.

So they gave a dinner for him there.

Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of

Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, he who was about to betray him, said,

Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?

He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having

charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Jesus said, Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.

When the large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of

him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him,

many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Good morning, everyone.

My name's Matt, if I haven't met you before.

I am the start of a short series of talks on John that Dave talked a little bit about before,

where a couple of us are going through John chapters 12 and 13.

John 12 · chapter mention

So I'm doing the first one.

I think next week is Marty Thompson.

Yep, that sounds right to me.

Then Gareth Jenkins and Dave Bott are doing talks following that.

There's also a couple of people who are doing the same series of talks, but in youth groups.

So Liz Cameron, actually on Friday, did the same passage that I'm doing today.

And so I said to her, if she hears anything in this talk that was in hers, it's a pure coincidence.

Then Brie Thompson, Ben McMurray and Beck Matthias are also going to be doing those.

So yeah, pray for me, pray for them.

Yeah, just that we'd be able to communicate the gospel effectively.

But throughout these few weeks, we really should be seeing the same kind of question coming through.

And that is the question of, what do you make of Jesus and who he is?

You see, John asks this question over and over again through his gospel.

And he does it by setting out this huge claim at the start.

Dave read a little bit for us.

He sets out this huge claim and then throughout the rest of the book, proceeds to show us how people respond to Jesus.

And challenges us to show us how we should be responding based on how other people react.

And John, really handily for me, also tells us why he wrote the book of John.

And it follows this kind of claim and then reaction model that we see.

So if you look in John chapter 20, verse 30 to 31, he flips it around here.

John 20:30–31

So he says how he wants us to react and then says what the claim is that we're reacting to.

But that's the same type of thing.

So verse 30.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.

But these are written.

Okay, here's the reaction he wants.

So that you may believe.

That's the reaction.

And then this is the claim.

That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

And that by believing, you may have life in his name.

Can you see that?

He goes, here's the claim.

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Do you believe that?

And so for us, when we're reading through John, we should be thinking through this as well.

What do I think about this claim?

When he says that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Well, what do I believe?

But it's also something that we should probably just think a little bit about as well.

What does that claim mean?

Especially the bit that says the Christ.

If you have been a Christian for any period of time, you would have heard the Christ a thousand times.

But we can sometimes forget what it means.

So the Christ essentially means God's chosen one.

So throughout the Old Testament, it's prophesied that a chosen one would come and that he would save Israel from their sins.

And that's what the Christ means is the chosen one.

Messiah as well is another similar name.

But it's basically John saying this is that guy that throughout the whole Old Testament has been prophesied.

This is the Messiah.

This is the Christ, the Son of God.

And then John says to us, what do you think about that?

And that's what we're going to be talking about today.

So let's pray and then we'll crack on with the rest of it.

Dear God, thank you that we can come here today, that we can open up your word and hear from John and hear about Jesus that you sent to save us.

Please pray that we would be open to what you want to tell us today.

Yeah, and just give me the words to speak as well.

Amen.

So passage that we're doing today is John 12, 1 to 11.

Gareth read it before.

Something that's really cool about this passage is it really is a bit of a microcosm of the rest of the book of John.

And it has these amazing contrasts in the way that people respond to Jesus and his claim of being the Christ, the Son of God.

So there's three that we're going to look at.

There's actually four in the passage, but we're going to look at three.

The first one is, how does Mary respond to this, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?

The second is, how does Judas and the disciples respond?

The third is, how do the chief priests respond to this?

If you're wondering, because I'd be going, what's the fourth one?

The Jews also respond, but we're not going to talk about that too much.

So let's start with the reaction of Mary.

So if you've got your Bibles open, John 12, verse 1.

John 12:1

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

So they gave a dinner for him there.

Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.

I wasn't going to say this.

It's just really weird that they write at table.

Like, why not at the table?

Anyway, I don't know.

Bible.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

So if you can imagine this scene, it's Jesus sitting with his friends.

So he's got Mary, he's got Martha there, Lazarus, he's got the disciples, possibly a couple of others.

And they're in this place called Bethany, which is, if you look at the geography of Israel, it's only a couple of kilometres outside of Jerusalem.

So they're really close to Jerusalem.

And we read through, in the previous chapter, chapter 11, that Lazarus has just been raised from the dead, which is crazy.

So if you look in John 11, 33, we can see that Mary in particular, of course, because it's her brother, is really upset by the fact that he's died, of course.

So when Jesus saw her, being Mary, weeping, et cetera, et cetera, so we can see she's just really upset.

And Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

And so Mary is overwhelmed by gratitude, as you would be.

Now, she's so excited and so thankful to Jesus that he did this.

And it's possible that this meal is a kind of thank you dinner.

As weird as that is, it's kind of like, how do you say thank you to someone for raising your brother from the dead?

I'll give them a meal, I guess, I don't know.

But that's what they're doing.

They're having a meal.

And this is about a week before Jesus dies on the cross.

And they're sitting there around the table.

Mary goes away.

And she comes back with about half a kilo of this really expensive perfume and pours it all over Jesus' feet.

And then starts wiping it with her hair.

Now, if there's ever a part of the Bible that needs a cultural translation, it is this one.

Because if this was me and you came up and did this to me, I'd probably be annoyed.

Like, I know that my feet aren't great.

But, like, I do wash sometimes.

I don't need this perfume.

And, like, it's oily.

Like, now you've just got it all over the floor.

Oh, it's going to, you know, like I need detergent to wash this up.

And it's kind of like when someone offers you a mint or a piece of gum.

And you're like, thanks.

Are you trying to say something about my breath?

It's kind of got that kind of vibe.

And, you know, the smell's so strong.

It's like, man, it's going to be in my house.

I'm going to be walking down the street.

And people will be like, oh, what's that?

What's going on?

It's like, now, just use a towel.

Like, why your hair?

Like, we have towels in the bathroom.

Just this is real weird.

And so for us today, that's kind of how I think about it.

I'm like, man, this is a bit of a weird act.

But for them in the day, it is extremely symbolic.

In fact, Rob last week mentioned a bit about this in his talk.

And so what they would do is if you had a guest that you wanted to honour,

you would get some oil and you'd dab it on their head.

And being the Middle East and quite dry,

they can rub it on their face and in their hair.

But it's a way of being able to honour your guests.

And so you don't do this when your dad comes home.

It's not like every time he comes home,

you're like dabbing with a bit of oil.

It's only for people that you really want to honour.

And so it's just a bit weird.

Like, Mary doesn't even do that.

She doesn't even give them a little bit of a dab on their head.

She goes to town.

Like, if you...

When I started using cologne when I was about, like,

in year 10 or something like that,

the thing was less is more with cologne.

And Mary just does not get this at all.

She just pours the whole half a kilo on Jesus' feet.

And it's not like your Taylor Swift or David Beckham from Priceline.

It's pure nard oil.

So if you don't know much about this,

basically it's a perfume that comes from the Himalayan region.

So think India, China, Nepal.

And what they do is you can only get this at about 3,000 metres and above,

and you can only harvest the plant for about two weeks of the year.

So already we're getting to quite a specific period

of when you can do this type of thing.

They then crush it down.

They process it.

And then from there,

that has to get all the way to where Mary is in Bethany.

Now, today, if you made that journey straight,

without stopping, you took a direct route,

you walked 12 hours a day,

this would take you four months.

Now, even today, this is a dangerous journey.

You're going through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria.

I mean, yeah, probably more dangerous even than back then.

But it's a long way.

And so this stuff is really, really expensive.

In fact, if you even bought this today,

you'd be looking at about $6,500 for the amount that Mary puts on Jesus' feet.

And that's with, like, current processing in cars and planes, etc.

But back then, this is worth about a year's worth of wages.

So imagine everything you are going to earn this year,

everything that you're going to spend,

put it into that bottle,

and then it's gone when Mary pours this on Jesus' feet.

And so when we read this,

we actually should be a bit shocked.

Like, when Judas and the disciples react with shock,

well, it's because it's a crazy act.

You know, that could have bought so many things.

That could have done so many great things.

But the question that we're asking is,

well, why?

Why did Mary do this?

And the answer is,

it's because Mary recognises who Jesus is.

You see, Jesus brought her brother back from the dead,

and that's amazing.

But Mary also recognises

that Jesus is about to die for her.

Mary knows,

because Jesus has been telling them consistently up until this point

that he's going to die,

that he's come to save the world from their sin.

And there's actually multiple references of this,

of Jesus telling them throughout the Gospels.

So there's not particularly that many in John,

but through the other three,

there's multiple references.

And a good example is in Matthew 20.

And he actually tells them this as they're going to Jerusalem,

where they are now.

So he says this just before they get to where they are now,

sitting at the table.

So Matthew 20.

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,

he took the 12 disciples aside.

And on the way he said to them,

see, we are going up to Jerusalem.

And the Son of Man, which is Jesus,

will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes,

and they will condemn him to death,

and deliver him over to the Gentiles

to be mocked and flogged and crucified.

And he will be raised on the third day.

You see, Mary recognises what this means.

She recognises that Jesus is going to suffer a horrific death

so that she can be saved.

You see, this act of Mary,

she does it because she is so thankful

because of what Jesus is giving her.

And so she anoints his feet and prepares him for death,

the death that he suffers for us.

Mary looks at Jesus and just sees the most amazing,

beautiful Son of God

who is giving everything he has for her.

And so Mary has reacted to the claim of John's book,

that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Mary recognises that this Jesus

is the one that they have been looking for,

who has been prophesied throughout history,

to save the world from its rebellion.

Mary believes that,

and so she gives everything she has

to show her thankfulness.

And I think I see that same reaction in our church.

I think I look around,

and I can see so many of you

who have accepted this news,

who believe that Jesus is the Christ,

who see the amazing gift that God has given us.

I can see how you guys do so many things,

not because you want to gain his favour,

not because you're trying to earn his love,

but as a right reaction to who Jesus is.

The way that you serve one another,

look out for one another,

give what you have,

even teaching your kids about Jesus,

even when they're throwing tantrums

and you're kind of like,

man, this is really hard.

It's two hours past their bedtime,

and you're teaching them anyway.

How awesome is it that we can come here

and join together to worship God?

That is just so amazing.

It is so amazing to be around people

who know how much they owe God,

but because of what Jesus did for us,

we don't owe him anything.

We have our AGM next week.

Isn't it amazing that we could bring DaveBot on full time

and no one had to be guilted or manipulated

into giving more money?

All because you, like Mary,

recognise Jesus and who he is.

It is so encouraging to come to a church

that responds to this message.

We 100% take it for granted.

It is so encouraging.

The first time I actually practised this,

I was like crying throughout the whole thing

and I'm like, far out.

This is just a dang practice.

I was just so hit by how amazing it is

to have an amazing church.

And look, I have been at this church for a while.

I know there are things that are difficult.

I know that sometimes, you know,

it can be hard to turn up on a Sunday morning.

I know there's people that, you know,

relationships are hard.

I know that music isn't always what I want it to be

and that's usually when I'm on music.

So I know I'm part of the problem.

There's so many things that I can see

and look at this church and say,

man, I wish this was better.

But how amazing is it that we have a church

that has responded to this message,

who believes that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God.

But Mary is just one of the reactions in this story

because we also learn about how Judas reacts

in this situation.

So if you open up to,

well, you already have it open,

John 12, verse 4.

John 12:4

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples,

he who was about to betray him,

said,

why was this ointment not sold

for 300 denarii and given to the poor?

He said this,

not because he cared about the poor,

but because he was a thief.

And having charge of the money bag,

he used to help himself

to what was put into it.

We actually have this same story recorded in Matthew 26.

It says,

and when the disciples saw it,

they were indignant,

saying,

why this waste?

For this could have been sold

for a large sum and given to the poor.

So here we're talking about Judas,

we may be talking about the disciples as well,

but they take a great offence

to what Mary has done.

They see what Mary does for Jesus

and they just don't understand.

Like,

we could have done a lot with this money.

This could have fed a lot of people.

And we have the benefit of hindsight here

and the benefit of a narrator

because they tell us

what Judas is thinking in this passage.

We can see that,

you know,

Judas is out for himself,

that he doesn't,

he's not really thinking of the poor,

he just wants to steal the money.

But you know what,

if you were sitting at that table,

there's a good chance

this would have looked entirely godly.

Like,

Judas is saying,

we could have fed so many people for this

and you've just poured it onto the floor.

Like,

now it's annoying,

we're just going to have to wipe this up.

Like,

Jesus' feet smell good,

but that'll last for,

what,

a couple of days maybe?

Like,

you know,

think about $70,000.

Well,

if we put that into a term investment,

5%,

30 years,

we're talking $300,000 here

and you've just thrown that down the drain.

You know,

at least you could have just used the dab.

Like,

you know,

still honour him,

just dab like we normally would.

Everyone accepts that

and then keep the rest.

Like,

it's ridiculous.

Why did you do that?

And Jesus sees through Judas.

He sees his selfish motivations

and loves what Mary has done.

So,

verse 7,

Jesus said,

leave her alone

so that she may keep it

for the day of my burial.

For the poor you always have with you,

but you do not always have me.

You see,

Jesus doesn't say,

oh,

Mary,

just chill out.

It's fine.

Like,

don't make a fuss.

Like,

you know,

I'm the son of God,

but just chill.

You can keep that for yourself.

Save it for retirement

or something like that.

Jesus doesn't say that at all.

He says,

I have given everything to you.

Follow me

and give me your life.

And Mary does this.

She reacts

and recognises

who Jesus is.

That he's about to die.

He's about to give

this huge sacrifice

for her

and she's so thankful.

But Judas and the disciples,

they do not get it.

You see,

they don't understand.

They don't get the claim

of Jesus' book

that Jesus is the Christ,

the son of God.

They don't see that

and so they react

really strongly

against Mary

and what she does

for Jesus.

I have a friend

who I grew up with

in school.

I've known him

since about year six.

And when we met

in year six,

he was not a Christian.

He hated Christians.

He hated the fact

that I was a Christian.

He believed in Jesus,

which is a bit weird

in our society today,

but didn't believe the claim

and he thought

it was just totally stupid.

Like,

why are you,

this is just wacky.

Anyway,

he became a Christian

in year 10.

He's like Paul,

really.

He became a Christian

in year 10.

And ever since then,

he is one of these people

who you would just say

is on fire for God.

It is crazy.

He goes around,

he spends his days

evangelizing.

He tells everyone

he meets about Jesus.

All he wants to do

when he catches up

is talk about

what he's thinking about,

what he's been reading,

what he's been praying about.

He's translated books

of the Bible

into other languages

so that people

can read them.

Like,

we're talking next level.

But the thing

that is so cool

about him

is his passion.

He's just so passionate

to talk about Jesus.

He's always telling me

how he's trying

to convince this person

and that person

and what this person

said about Jesus

and how he thought,

you know,

how he could respond

to that next time.

And if you're like Mary,

you're looking at my friend

and just praising God.

Like,

he is just

so encouraging.

He's so awesome

that God uses him.

And I often find myself

thinking that.

Like,

I'm just blown away

by his passion.

But I often find myself

thinking like Judas as well.

Because there are too many times

for me to be comfortable with

when I have

been uncomfortable

at the idea of seeing him.

Because people like Mary

expose people like Judas.

I mean,

that's what makes this story

so powerful

is you have the example

of Mary

who's doing this amazing act

and then you have Judas

who's just being horrifically

insensitive.

But Mary exposes Judas

by confronting him

with what he's holding

back from God.

How selfish he is.

She exposes Judas

and the disciples

and shows that they don't

really understand

the claim of John's book.

They don't understand

that he's the Christ,

the Son of God.

At least in the case

of the disciples,

not yet.

And see,

Mary does this huge

act of sacrifice

for Jesus

and we're challenged

to do the same thing.

We're challenged

to respond to Jesus

in this way.

But I see Mary

and I just go,

the sacrifice

is so big.

Like,

giving up a tire

year's wages,

that's insane.

See,

what my friend

has done out of

love and devotion

for God,

it should challenge me

and excite me

and make me really

excited for what

God is doing

in this world.

But the Judas heart

in me just becomes

dismissive.

Like,

when I see how much

Jesus has given us

and what Mary does,

it's like,

yes,

like,

but my friend,

you know,

he's the extreme.

I mean,

good for him.

I can be like that too

if I want to be.

Like,

I can do that,

you know,

be like that

and,

but in the long term,

like,

I don't know,

if you've been in

ministry for a while,

it's pretty hard to get

a job after you're done.

You know,

if you've been there

for 20 years,

well,

you're pretty unemployable.

He's going to have to

come back at some point.

What if he has kids?

Is he going to want them

to be,

you know,

taught there?

I don't know.

Like,

maybe he should

think about his retirement.

Like,

is he going to have to

rely on family?

Is he going to have to

rely on friends?

I don't know.

Like,

he's not going to have super.

It's going to be

a bit of a burden.

So really,

maybe he should

become a bit more like me.

Like,

just think about it at least.

And you know,

I have a lot of other things

like commitments.

I've got a family.

So really,

what I'm doing

is understandable.

In fact,

I'm probably the

responsible one here

and not him.

And the Mary in him

makes the Judas in me

scoff.

And I know here,

at this point,

I am not talking

to the whole congregation.

Like,

my wife Alyssa

is an absolute Mary

and I find I do

the same thing with her.

She'll challenge me

on something.

She'll shine the light

on something

that I'm holding back

from God.

And how do I respond?

I'm so thankful

that you brought this

to my attention,

Alyssa.

I will take this away.

I'll think about it.

I'll pray about it.

You've just really

convicted me

and I'm going to make sure

that I do something

about this.

In fact,

maybe in a week's time,

can you follow me up

and just make sure

that I have thought

about this properly

and I'm committed

to change?

Of course not.

I go,

how dare you?

You know nothing.

I am the one

looking after the poor here

and you just want

to throw it away.

If only you understood

long-term returns

and interest gains.

I am just keeping this

now so that later on

I can use this

and I'll have more

to give.

So really,

I am the one

who is doing

the right thing here

and you can just

learn from me.

That is what I'm like.

But if I'm completely

honest

and I can push away

that dismissiveness,

I know that the real

reason is because

I want to keep it

for myself.

I just don't want

to give it to Jesus.

I want to be able

to use it

and I want to be able

to do with it

what I want to do

because I don't yet

properly understand

in that moment

who Jesus is,

that he is the Christ,

the Son of God.

You see,

Mary loves Jesus.

She has given

everything for the

chosen one,

the Son of God

and in doing so

exposes Judas

and the disciples

and how much

they want to keep

for themselves.

And of course here,

I'm not talking

about money.

I'm not talking

about the amount

of time

that you give up.

I'm not talking

about the sacrifices

that you've made.

I'm talking

about your heart

because everything

else is just

an outworking

of that.

What is your

heart like?

Is it committed

to Jesus?

Is it wanting

to serve him

with your whole

life?

Dave pointed out

in that song,

I give my whole

life to honour

this love

because Jesus

doesn't care

about how much

of my paycheck

I give away.

He doesn't care

that I am here

every Friday

at youth group.

He doesn't care

that I'm

on the music

team.

Jesus cares

about my heart

because the only

right reaction

we can have

when we see

Jesus,

this son of God

who has been

sent to die

for us,

face a horrific

death,

take the wrath

of God,

is to look at

him and just

want to give

our whole life

to him.

Does Mary

make the Judas

in you scoff?

It's not a

question I can

answer for you.

If you can try

and push away

the dismissiveness

that I get

when I am

confronted with

something like

this and allow

it to confront

your heart.

I'm not asking

you to give up

all of your

possessions and

make sure that

you go to

another country

and evangelise

people and

live like someone

on locusts and

honey.

I'm not asking

for that.

I'm asking you

to give your

heart to Jesus.

Now for the

third reaction,

that of the

chief priests.

So if you look

at verse 9,

when the large

crowd of the

Jews learned

that Jesus

was there,

they came,

not only on

account of

him,

but also to

see Lazarus,

whom he had

raised from

the dead.

So the

chief priests

made plans to

put Lazarus

to death as

well,

because on

account of

him,

many of the

Jews were

going away

and believing

in Jesus.

We see here

the large crowd

have come and

they've come to

see Jesus,

but they've also

come to see

Lazarus.

And it's kind

of like,

fair enough,

this guy was

dead and now

he's alive.

That's amazing.

Even in today's

society,

if someone

raised from

the dead,

you'd want to

see them.

It's a pretty

cool thing.

And the Jews

are going away,

they're seeing

this,

they're seeing

Jesus,

seeing that he's

raised Lazarus,

and they're

believing in

Jesus.

And so,

we then see

what the

chief priests

do.

Something that's

important to

point out here

is it's likely

that a lot of

these chief

priests were

from a sect

of Judaism

called the

Sadducees.

And basically

the main

difference between

them and the

other Jews is

that they didn't

believe in the

resurrection.

So they didn't

believe in people

coming back from

the dead.

And so you have

this belief that

well,

death doesn't

exist.

People don't

raise from the

dead.

And then you've

got Lazarus,

who has literally

been raised from

the dead.

And they're

looking at him

and they're

like, and you'd

think at this

point they should

go, wow, we

were wrong.

You know what?

We didn't believe

in it, but here's

the evidence.

He's literally

raised from the

dead.

Therefore, our

belief must be

wrong.

But of course

they don't.

They say, okay,

Lazarus has been

raised from the

dead.

There is no

resurrection from

the dead.

So we'll kill

Lazarus.

So that he's then

dead and there's no

resurrection from the

dead.

Isn't that amazing?

In the face of

this overwhelming

evidence, this isn't

the first sign that

they've seen.

They've seen other

signs from Jesus.

This is just one in

an escalating series

of signs.

In the face of

that, they just

say, no, I don't

believe that, and

they stick their

heads in the sand.

It's like this

story of a Japanese

soldier, and you

might have heard

this story before,

and I'm going to

butcher his name.

So if you have

Japanese heritage or

you speak Japanese,

I'm sorry in

advance.

I think it's

Hiro Onada.

I've said it

wrong, but

whatever.

He basically was a

Japanese soldier who

fought in World War

II, and he was

fighting in the

Philippines.

1945, the end of

the war comes

around, and Japan

surrender.

Now, if you know

anything about

Japanese culture,

soldiers did never

conceive of the

idea that Japan

could surrender.

It was impossible.

Japan surrendering

was just not

something that was

ever going to

happen.

1945, and Japan

surrenders.

And so Hiro and

his friends, they

decide, well, this

can't be right, so

they go into the

jungle and they're

conducting guerrilla

warfare as they've

been taught, and

lighting farms on

fire and stealing

food and stuff like

that.

And they get this

flyer that is

dropped from

planes, and

basically what it's

doing is telling

the Japanese soldiers,

just so you know,

this war is over,

there's no point in

fighting anymore, we've

surrendered, here's

what you need to do,

et cetera, et cetera.

Him and his friends

look at this and

they go, can't be

right, Japan never

surrenders.

So what do they do?

They keep on

fighting.

A year later, another

flyer is dropped, and

it's from their

commander, who's

basically saying the

same thing, you

know, we're done,

Japan's surrendered,

and they look at it

and they go, can't be

right, can't be

right, Japan doesn't

surrender.

And so they keep

fighting, keep, you

know, they shoot a

couple of people and

cause havoc here and

there.

Seven years after the

war has ended, letters

are written by their

family, with their

family photos, showing

their, you know,

families a little bit

older than what they

were.

They see these letters

written in their

family's own hand and

ignore it, because

Japan doesn't

surrender.

later, 29 years

later, after the end

of the war, a

Japanese man, by the

time this happens,

they're kind of like

folklore legends,

because everyone knows

that they're there, but

they can't find them in

the jungle.

A Japanese man finds

Hiro, all of his

friends have died long

ago by this point, so

he's by himself, says

to him, look, this war

has been over for so

long.

He shows him all the

evidence, shows him

everything, and what

does Hiro do?

Japan does not

surrender, and he

ignores him.

Eventually, the

Japanese government

has to find his old

commanding officer, fly

him to the Philippines

to convince him that

the war is over before

he finally gives up.

And you feel like it's

a bit like that with

the chief priests.

They see these

escalating signs that

Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God.

They see Lazarus raised

from the dead, and they

just stick their heads in

the sand.

But what about us?

If you aren't a

Christian here today,

then you have an

important message to

respond to here.

Is Jesus the Christ?

Is he the Son of God?

Did he, was he sent by

God to save the world

from our rebellion

against him?

Because if so, you

need to listen to him,

and you need to take

him seriously.

The evidence for Jesus

is overwhelming.

Don't ignore him.

Don't be like the

chief priests who just

doubled down on their

rejection of Jesus.

or like the Japanese

soldier who just would

not believe after

repeated evidence,

after repeated

evidence.

Don't be like the

chief priests or

hero where eventually

you'll get to the

point where the only

way you will believe is

when you're facing God

on the last day and he

makes you bow the knee

to him.

Do you believe that

Jesus is the Son of God

and he will save the

world from our

rebellion against God?

Like Mary, do you

see who Jesus is?

Do you see the

amazing sacrifice that

Jesus made for us so

that we wouldn't be cut

off for the rest of time

from God?

Unwilling or unable

because of our stupid

selfish hearts to turn

back to him.

Respond to Jesus with

thankfulness, with love

because without his love

for us we would have

nothing.

So how do you

respond to Jesus?

How do you respond to

the message of John

that Jesus is the

Christ, the chosen

one, the Messiah, the

Son of God?

Do you believe the

claim and respond to

Jesus in the only

right way, just as

Mary?

By giving your all to

Jesus, by giving your

heart to Jesus?

Jesus is the Christ, the

Son of God.

What do you say to

that?

What do you say to

that?

what?

The outcome of God is a

God.

What do you say to

him that he is so

strong?

And that he is

that one below

you and belief

that he is the

maybe he

that he says the

Senhor pierwszy

then you

call me

you

or