John 12:37-50

Well, you've got to be careful what you throw away, haven't you?

Lest you throw away more than you thought you had.

The story goes of a couple in Las Vegas

who were queuing for too long

so they unwittingly tore up the winning lottery ticket

!

and bought an instant scratch card instead.

The ticket would have been worth $900,000.

And then a cleaner who was working in a modern art gallery

came across an art installation by the modern artist Paul Branca.

It looked like a couple of dustbins in the corner of the room.

That's no comment on modern art.

But she assumed it was literal rubbish

and got rid of it.

And it would have been worth an absolute fortune.

Or then there's the person who took an old computer

they found in their attic, took it to the local dump

and threw it in a skip.

They later discovered that it was one of Apple Corporation's originals

made by Steve Jobs himself.

And it was worth at least $200,000.

You have got to be careful what you throw away

and what you discard.

Lest you throw away more than you thought you had.

And in this passage that we read today

Jesus is concerned that his listeners do not make the same mistake with him

and with his message

of throwing away somebody who is worth more than they know.

In this section in John 12

we're in between the two main parts of John's Gospel.

It's separated into two halves.

And this is the interval in between those two halves.

The first half deals with the three years of Jesus' public ministry.

The second half deals with the last four days of his life.

And we're told, aren't we, in the interval

that Jesus' listeners have thrown him out.

They've rejected him.

And so Jesus here, he wants to make one last

proclamation to them.

These are Jesus' last parting words

before he removes himself from them

in his public ministry.

John tells us in verse 44

he cries out

to the people who've rejected him.

It just shows his patience, doesn't it?

And his compassion

for people who have turned their backs on him

who reject his wonderful message and his work.

That he doesn't finish the relationship

with one last jab at them

with a witty retort

that have put them in their place.

He is still, even now,

seeking to give skeptics one last chance

not to make the mistake of throwing him away

and his message.

And in these six verses here

he sets out, really, a summary.

It's his final sermon to them

of what he is about

and why skeptics should believe in him.

And really, they are the core elements

of his message

and of what Jesus is about.

And it's a really dense passage.

It's difficult to know what to leave out.

But I just want to highlight

three positive things

that Jesus tells them here.

And we need to think as well, don't we,

what Jesus is saying to us

lest we throw out

more than we thought we had in Jesus.

So he says to them,

don't reject me

because to receive me,

to believe in me

is to believe in the one who sent me.

That's the first thing.

To believe in Jesus

is to believe in the one

who sent Jesus.

Now most leaders we've seen in the world

are people who appeal to us

and they want our trust

and they want our belief

on the basis of their qualities,

aren't they?

They are better at this

and they're good at that.

They've got more YouTube subscribers

or whatever.

They are the reason

to talk themselves up, aren't they?

For our trust.

But oddly,

Jesus' appeal for belief and trust

comes not in himself

but in his relationship

to somebody else.

Did you see who that other person was?

If you look at verse 44 again,

whoever believes in me

believes not in me

but in him who sent me.

It's very, very humble, isn't it?

Jesus is not like many of the leaders.

He's not in it for his own ego.

He says,

come to me

and look at me

so that you can find

somebody else.

He's not in it to build popularity

for himself.

Actually, he says,

I am here

so that you might know

and believe in somebody else as well.

Namely,

in the one

who sent him.

He's saying, isn't it,

that you need to receive

Jesus,

you need to trust in me

because when you're doing that

you're not just dealing

with just me.

I am not a man

that you can take

or leave

in isolation.

You don't deal with me

simply as a man

who knows a lot.

I'm not simply

an expert

in the Jewish law.

I'm not simply

a wise and loving

compassionate person.

I'm not simply

a good preacher

or a good teacher.

You're not even dealing

with simply a man.

But a man

who has been sent

by God

the Father.

And so you need

to come to me

because of my relationship

to him,

Jesus says.

Now to use an illustration

you might think of it

a bit like

a king

sending an envoy

to a different country

or a land

or sending

an ambassador.

And the way

you treat

the ambassador

is the way

you treat

the sending king,

isn't it?

When you receive

the ambassador

you receive

the sovereign

that he represents.

And so Jesus

is making

a unique claim.

He is saying

that I

and my Father

in heaven

are so united

and so closely

related

that when you

treat one of us

one way

then the other one

feels it too.

When you believe

in me

and when you receive

in me

you receive

not just me

but my Father

in heaven as well.

Now that has

implications for us

doesn't it?

Just imagine

for a second

if you can

and the person

who is searching

for God

and for meaning

in life

perhaps it's a person

who wants to get

to know their

spiritual side

I've got friends

like that.

A person

asking the big

questions

like is there

a God

out there?

And you can look

into the world

can't you

and there are

all sorts of

answers around

all sorts of

cultures

and religions

that dress

God up

in different

costumes

and give

different answers

to the questions

that people

worship different

kinds of gods

don't they?

Some people

worship the sun

or stars

or ancestors

or Allah

or Buddha

or they worship

no gods at all.

And so on your

search for God

you might go

into the world

you might travel

the world

you might go

to China

or India

to visit some

temples

or you might

go to the

Wailing Wall

in Jerusalem

to find out

who this

God is

who is out

there somewhere.

But the

audacious claim

that Jesus

makes is that

you don't need

to do any

of that

and you don't

need to listen

to any of that

at all

to know God.

Notice what

he says in

verse 45

Whoever

sees me

sees him

who sent me.

So actually

the illustration

of the ambassador

is a bit

weak really

because Jesus

is claiming

here to be

much much

more than

just the

messenger boy.

He is saying

I am the

embodiment

of this God.

The God

that you

cannot ordinarily

see

is now made

visible to you

in me.

I am more

than just a

messenger boy.

I am the

one who

allows you

to see

the unseeable

God.

But just

pause to

ask what

that actually

means.

I received

a note in

the post

a while ago

it was a

sales leaflet

advertising

a statue

of Jesus

Christ that

they wanted

me to buy

and put on

my shelf

at home.

And the

company that

was selling

these statues

thought they

had worked

out what

Jesus of

Nazareth

looked like

using

records and

things.

And so

they made

a representation

out of

stone so

that I

could see

Jesus'

face and

kind of be

inspired by

it.

Now is that

what Jesus

means when

he says

when you

see me

you see

the Father?

I don't

think it

is.

Because the

way that

Jesus reveals

himself is

not through

pictures and

images and

statues but

through words.

John ends

his gospel

doesn't he

not by

saying these

things are

painted or

drawn or

sculptured but

he says these

things are

written that

you may believe

in Jesus.

And actually

the whole

Bible is

written so

that we can

see who

Jesus is.

That we can

see what

he is like

as a person.

We can learn

about his

character and

his ways.

His

sovereignty,

his

compassion,

his

justice.

He wants

us to do

more than

simply

recognise a

picture but

to get to

know a

person.

And as we

do that, as

we see him

and get to

know him in

the scripture,

in the Bible,

we are getting

to know this

God who is

behind everything.

As the saying

goes, like

father, like

son.

God, like

man.

So you

don't need to

travel the

world on a

pilgrimage or

read endless

books on the

religions of

the world.

You can come

to know this

God right now

in Ealing.

As you see

Jesus in the

pages of the

Bible, you

will find this

God.

The one true

spiritual God

who is behind

everything.

And so if you

throw away

Jesus, you are

throwing him

away more than

you thought

you had.

It would be

to throw away

the only way

of knowing the

glory and

wonder of the

God who made

the universe.

It is to

receive the

one who sent

him.

So to believe

in Jesus is

to receive the

father, to

receive the

God who sent

him.

But secondly,

to believe in

Jesus is to

have light.

This is the

second thing he

says to the

skeptics.

Look at verse

46.

I have come

into the

world as

light so

that whoever

believes in

me may not

remain in

darkness.

Now it's

similar to

something that

he said earlier

in John 8

where he says

I am the

light of the

world.

Whoever

follows me

will not

walk in

darkness but

will have

the light

of life.

As you

get to know

me, Jesus

says, you

will get to

know God

and it

will be

like a

light

shining on

your life.

A light

that enables

you to do

what you're

meant to

do as a

human being

and to

not walk

in darkness.

The idea

there is of

everyday living

and of

walking,

being a

human.

You'll

know that

we've got a

seven-month-old

at home at

the moment.

He's getting

pretty good at

night but he'll

wake up and

quite often

it falls for

me to try

and calm

him down.

So I'll

go in the

room where

he is and

get his

teddy, put

his dummy

in, move

him around

a bit, try

and make

him feel

better.

The only

problem is

when I go

in the

room it's

always dark.

We've got

those black

out blinds so

it's pitch

black in

there.

And if I

try and do

what I'm

supposed to

do in the

dark it

always goes

very, very

badly.

I'll kick

a toy and

it'll make a

noise, stub

my toe on

the chair

leg, shove

the dummy

in his

eye and

I'll just

be fumbling

around.

See when it

is dark we

cannot act

confidently or

appropriately can

we in what

we're supposed

to be doing.

And Jesus is

saying here the

same goes for

life in

general.

Where of

course in

John darkness

darkness for

him is

synonymous

with things

that are

much more

sinister than

what goes

on in my

living room

at night.

That darkness

is what we

experience before

we get to

know Jesus.

It is our

confusion and

blindness

morally.

It is our

proneness to

living in a

way that is

muddled and

inappropriate and

that has many

many falls in

the dark.

As if we

were living as

blind people

needing to

know where

to go but

not being able

to find the

way.

And we're

full of

anxieties of

things that we

can't see in

the darkness.

And we're

morally confused

as to what is

right and to

what is wrong.

And as we

look at society

that is a

really accurate

picture isn't

it?

But then when

we come to

meet Jesus

it's as if

this great big

floodlight is

switched on in

the living room

and we begin

to see the

obstacles and

the dangers and

the things to

avoid in life.

And we begin

to see what is

right and what

is wrong.

And what is

deceitful and

what is true and

what is good.

And we become

morally cited.

And so he is

the person who

claims to bring

us to God

and to give us

true enlightenment

to our

questions and

to our

speculations.

And he will

keep us from

falling over in

the darkest

places in our

lives.

To believe in

him is to

have the

father, to

believe the

father and

it's to have

this light, the

light of life.

But thirdly and

lastly the third

thing he says is

that to believe in

Jesus, to believe

in me is to

have life.

It's to have the

father, to have

light, it is to

have life.

Just drop your

eye to verse

49, just at the

bottom.

He says, for I

have not spoken

on my own

authority, but

the father who

sent me has

himself given

me a commandment,

what to say and

what to speak.

And I know that

his commandment

is eternal

life.

Now, again, we

see, don't we,

the link between

the person of

Jesus and his

father in heaven.

That not only in

his works, but in

his words, Jesus'

message isn't

stuff that he's

just made up, or

things that he

wants to say.

No, he's been

given what to say,

hasn't he, by the

father.

It's very humble

again, isn't it,

that the last thing

that he says to

people in his

public ministry is

to discredit any

claim that he is

only speaking for

himself.

He says, no, no,

it's not my

message, it's my

father's message

that I'm giving

to you.

But what is, what

is the foundational

word that the

father speaks

through him?

Well, we see this

word coming up

twice, don't we,

in the words that

Jesus speaks.

And it says, he

says there that the

father has given

him a commandment.

See, once in

verse 49, and

then in verse 50,

he has come to

give his father's

commandment.

And what is that

commandment?

Verse 50,

eternal life.

Now, that is

strange, isn't it?

What is strange

about the way that

he describes this

life?

Jesus says, I've

come that people

might have life,

but notice he

doesn't say, the

father has sent

me to give the

promise of eternal

life, or the

offer of eternal

life.

But he's given me

a commandment, the

commandment of

eternal life.

And what Jesus is

doing here is he is

showing us a God

who is so concerned

for his listeners

and for people,

that he doesn't

send Jesus to

merely suggest the

way to life, or

to offer the way

to life, but to

command that we

believe in Jesus

and receive life in

his name.

That is the most

loving thing to do,

isn't it?

When God the

Father knows what

we need.

This is the

message of God

the Father, I

command you to

trust in Jesus

and to receive

life in his

name.

They are the

words of a God

who loves us

enough to

command what is

best for us, to

command life.

And so Jesus, in

his humility, he

is being extremely

positive, isn't

he, with these

people who have

rejected him.

He is humble and

gentle and

compassionate.

He gives people

another chance.

He even says,

doesn't he, I've

not come to

judge you.

I've come to

save you, people

who have

rejected me.

But, I think

there is a note

of warning that

we need to see

before we finish,

before we close.

For there is a

warning for those

who still don't

receive him,

isn't there?

And he speaks

to a person who

still rejects.

Jesus, if you

look at verse

48, there's

the person, the

one who rejects

me and does

not receive my

words, has a

judge.

The word that I

have spoken will

judge him on the

last day.

One of my old

tutors at college

pictures the scene

in heaven.

I think it

describes this

really well.

He says, imagine

the person who

comes before God

says, I'm not

going to

judge him on

judgment day.

And God says

to him, why

haven't you

believed in

Jesus?

And the person

says, well I

didn't want to

stop doing the

things that I

wanted to do in

my life, I

just wanted to

live for myself.

And God will

reply, well did

you hear the

command that I

gave through

Jesus for

eternal life?

And the man

said, well I

did hear it, but

I wanted to

spend my money

and my time

and my life

my own way.

And God

says to him,

you mean to

say that you

chose death and

have rejected

the glorious

message of

Jesus for

those stupid

reasons?

And the man

says, yes I

did.

And God

replies, well

the message

that you have

heard stands

as witness

against you

today.

And so to

throw Jesus

out may not

feel like much

of a big

deal, but

there will

come a day

when we will

realise just

how valuable

he and his

message is to

us.

And how

wonderful his

message is.

And that we've

thrown out much

more than we

knew we had

in him.

And so God's

command to us

today, through

Jesus, is that

we do not get

to that point.

And that we

receive him,

the only way

to God, and

to light in

our lives, and

to eternal

life forever

with God.

And so let

us do that,

shall we, in a

prayer as we

close.

That's great.

Amen.