TEXT: John 12:44-50

SUBJECT: Exposition of John #31: The Last Sermon

This is our Lord's last evangelistic sermon. For three years, He has preached the Gospel as no other man. Now., He summarizes His message and adds to it an urgent appeal. The themes are familiar. Developed elsewhere, they are repeated here for maximum impact. These are "the four things God wants you to know".

Before He gets to the sermon itself, however, John tells us how it was delivered: "Then Jesus cried out". Our Lord is an unassuming Man, thus when He raises His voice it's because He has something to say, something on which eternal destinies depend. Who's the audience? John doesn't say; this may be significant. Because he's so fussy about the details elsewhere, maybe he leaves this one out to make a point--that this message isn't for Jews alone or Gentiles; not just for sinners or for saints. The sermon is preached to everyone. Everyone needs to hear it; everyone needs to believe it. And "everyone" includes you.

Who He is, vv.44-45.

Our Lord is a well-known Man. But there is no agreement as to His character. Some think He's a devil; others figure He's a good man. Some say He's a prophet; others go so far as to confess He is God. Who's right? He tells us, in two ways.

First He says, "He who believes in Me believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me". Jesus identifies His teaching with the Word of God. This is a daring statement at any time, but especially in the First Century. For Judaism was then dominated by the Scribe--the professional scholar. At his best, he studied the Word and applied it faithfully. He's an interpreter of the Word and nothing more. But our Lord is something more! He is a prophet.

The Old Testament equates the words of a true prophet with the Word of God. II Chronicles 20:20 is a good example:

"Believe in the LORD your God

and you shall be established;

Believe His prophets

and you shall prosper".

"Believing in the LORD" and "Believing His prophets" are one and the same. This is what He says of Himself. Our Lord is a prophet. This may be more significant than you think it is. For the prophetic voice had long been silent in Israel. The people longed to hear it again, for they knew the next one to appear would be "the Prophet like Moses". He would be Messiah.

By identifying His words with God's Word, therefore, our Lord is making a Messianic claim. He is saying, "Jesus is the Christ".

These are big words. But you ain't seen nothing yet. He goes on to say: "He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me". "God is a Spirit"--on this point all the rabbis agree. Thus, He cannot be represented by any image of man's making. All such attempts distort His nature and turn Him into an idol. But, as any reader of the Bible knows, God can reveal Himself in some visible form. He came to Abraham as "A Horror of Great Darkness"--whatever that means. He appeared to Moses in "the Burning Bush". He came to Manoah as "The Angel of the LORD". And so on. These are called "theophanies". Devout Jews always equated them with God. And rightly so.

Our Lord has called Himself a Theophany. He--a normal looking Man--is nothing less than a revelation of God. And more: The Revelation of God. To quote Paul,

"For in Him dwells all the fullness

of the Godhead bodily".

Who is Jesus? He is "Immanuel--God with us".

"Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,

Hail the Incarnate Deity".

This is the first thing God wants you to know.

Why He came, vv.46-47.

The second is His mission or why the Lord Jesus came. Positively, He came "As a light into the world". His "light"--it seems to me--should be taken theologically and ethically. He came to shed light on God's nature. The Rabbis had disfigured God, Christ came to show us what He's truly like. "Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father". The two are not alike in character, but identical. "No variation".

People often think of God as distant, stern, and prizing justice over mercy. But look at our Lord Jesus. He, the holiest of men, is also the kindest and most approachable, eager to welcome sinners and slow to condemn even the worst of them. This is God! "God with a human face".

By its nature light dispels darkness. Hence, there is an ethical sense in which He is "a light". Our Lord exposes sin and hypocrisy, but doesn't leave us there. He also guides us into holiness and gives us the grace to "pursue" it. The soul of Christian ethics is John 13:34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another".

Negatively, our Lord did not come to judge: "If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world".

To "judge" can mean either of two things. Often it means "to evaluate, to distinguish between right and wrong". This our Lord came to do. He approved of some things--think of the poor widow's gift. He disapproved of others--lust, pride, malice, and so on.

To "judge" may mean "to condemn or to consign to hell". This our Lord did not come to do. Why not? It isn't needed, for one thing. The Law did that. The Jews were condemned because they new God's will through the Old Testament Scriptures, and rebelled against it. The Gentiles are no better off. For, by general revelation, they also knew God's will, but defied it. "Every mouth [is] stopped and all the world became guilty before God".

God's goodness is so great that to this guilty world He sent a Savior--the Lord Jesus--to die for sinners and to grant forgiveness to everyone who believes.

"Though your sins be as scarlet,

they shall be white as snow;

Though they be red like crimson,

they shall be as wool".

This was the Divine pledge. Our Lord Jesus is its fulfillment. Messiah's mission is not condemnation--we're condemned without Him. It is salvation--which is offered through no one but Christ.

This is the second thing God wants you to know.

The peril of unbelief, vv.48-49.

If God offers salvation to all in Jesus Christ, it behooves us to take advantage of it. If we don't, we will learn the third thing God wants us to know: the peril of unbelief. "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak".

If God offers salvation in Christ to everyone who believes, it follows that those who do not believe are in very grave danger. For not only does the Law condemn them, but the Gospel adds to their judgment. On that Day, they'll have to answer the question:

"Why didn't you receive My offered mercies?"

What can the unbeliever say to that? Can he charge God with insincerity? Can he deny the sufficiency of Christ's death? Can he plead ignorance? He can't do any of the above. At the Bar of Justice, he will stand doubly-condemned: condemned by God and condemned by himself. Nowadays, men rage against the injustice of God, but then, "every tongue will confess" His justice and say too late...

"I have no one to blame but myself!"

"To whom much is given, much will be required". Much has been given to you--you've heard the Gospel, some of you a thousand times, now its time to live up to that privilege, by believing in Christ for eternal salvation. The alternative is unthinkable. And inevitable...if you do not believe.

This is the third thing God wants you to know: the peril of unbelief. The last is...

The blessing of faith, v.50.

The blessings of faith. God committed the Gospel to Christ. Its goal is "everlasting life". Our Lord assures us of this; we know it's true because "The Father told [Him] so". The blessings of the Gospel are made available to everyone who hears it, but obtained only by those who believe. Faith is not an end in itself. Faith lays hold on Christ who is Himself, "life eternal".

This is our Lord's farewell sermon. Its all muscle and bones--not an ounce of fat in it. He has chosen the things He most wants us to know--the things God most wants us to know. He wants us to know that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God". He wants us to know this--and to believe it--because through that faith there is "life in His name".

Life now. Life forever. Life to all. All in Jesus Christ. May God give us faith in Christ and--through believing--"Life in His name". Amen.