Recap

So far in John, we've read the prologue and Jesus' public ministry. John uniquely emphasises Jesus' divinity, presenting him as 'the Word,' who existed before creation and became flesh. He is the light of Genesis and the fulfilment of the tabernacle and Passover lamb. John the Baptist prepared the way, but unlike other gospels, there's no account of Jesus' baptism or temptation. Jesus is shown as God on earth, beyond the need for baptism or the threat of temptation. His first disciples immediately recognised him as the Messiah.

Then we saw Jesus engage with four key Jewish institutions. First, at a wedding in Cana, he performed his first miraculous sign, turning water into wine, symbolising the abundance of the kingdom of God and the new covenant he was initiating. Next, in Jerusalem, Jesus confronted the temple's corruption by clearing out the traders. When questioned about his authority, he spoke of his death and resurrection as the true temple, though the leaders failed to understand.

The third encounter was with Nicodemus, a Rabbi. Jesus told him that people need more than teaching; they need to be born again, receiving new life through him. Finally, at a sacred well, Jesus met a Samaritan woman. He revealed himself as the living water, and that all peoples would be able to worship him.

Then came Jesus’ second miraculous sign. He healed the son of an official, pointing to the fact that Jesus’ kingdom being one of health and life. 

Then came the section of Jesus' ministry, where he interacted with four Jewish holy days and festivals. First, on the Sabbath, Jesus healed a lame man, his third sign, angering religious leaders because the man carried his mat. Jesus reminded them the Sabbath is dedicated to his Father, so he works as his Father does. At Passover, Jesus fed 5,000, walked on water, and declared himself the bread of life—the true Passover lamb, whose body gives life and whose blood saves from death.

During the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the Israelites' time in the wilderness, Jesus taught in Jerusalem, sparking conflict with the religious leaders. He described himself as the light of the world and the one who leads people out of slavery, mirroring God's guidance of Israel. He then healed a blind man, his sixth sign, revealing his identity further but aggravating the leaders, especially as it occurred on the Sabbath. Jesus also declared himself the Good Shepherd, willing to lay down his life for his sheep, just as Moses led the people in the wilderness as was willing to lay down his life for the people (see Exodus 32:30-35). It also echoed God’s promise in Ezekiel 34 to replace corrupt leaders.

Finally, at the Feast of Dedication, celebrating the temple's dedication, Jesus claimed, "I and the Father are one." When challenged, he pointed out that their theology already allows for beings called ‘sons of God.’ At a feast celebrating the temple as a meeting place with God, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, the ultimate meeting point between humanity and God. The entirety of Jesus' public ministry demonstrated Jesus' authority to replace the old Jewish institutions and festivals. He is the answer to everything that has come before.

John 11-12

We now get a short story that divides up Jesus’ public ministry and his private ministry. The story serves as the final of the seven signs and foreshadows the greatest sign to come in Jesus’ own resurrection.

Jesus gets a message from Mary and Martha that their brother, Jesus’ friend Lazarus, is deathly ill. After staying a little longer, Jesus says to his disciples that they should go down to Judea. But the disciples try to warn him against that. Last time he was in Judea, the religious leaders tried to stone Jesus. Why would he want to go back?

But Jesus is willing to lay his life down for his friend, and so they start the journey down south to visit Lazarus. On their way there Lazarus dies, and so as they draw close Martha runs ahead to meet them. She challenges Jesus. If he hadn’t had dawdled, her brother would still be alive.

You can almost hear the pain and hurt in her voice. But then she seems to remember who she’s speaking to, and catches herself, adding, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” (John 11:22). Jesus tells her that Lazarus will rise, but Martha doesn’t understand.

She thinks Jesus is talking about the final resurrection. Then Jesus makes his fifth ‘I am’ statement, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Jesus doesn’t merely point to a future where people will be resurrected. He is the very power that will resurrect them. 

Martha goes off to find her sister Mary, to tell her Jesus is here. She too runs out to meet Jesus and claiming that Lazarus would still be alive if Jesus had come sooner. Jesus is moved to see her in tears and simply asks where they’ve put Lazarus. As they go to show him, Jesus begins to weep too.

Arriving at the cave where they buried Lazarus, Jesus tells them to remove the stone. At first they don’t understand, but Jesus insists, and the stone is rolled away. Jesus then prays to God and shouts for Lazarus to come out. Out walks Lazarus, still wrapped in his burial clothes.

We’ve seen Jesus raise a small girl from the dead in the other gospels, but this story is different. It was commonly believed that it took three days for the spirit to leave the body after death. So when Jesus raised the little girl, her spirit hadn’t left. He’d just given fresh life to her body. But Lazarus had been dead for four days. In this miracle, sign number seven, Jesus demonstrates that he is fully master over life.

As usual, the religious leaders aren’t happy and they plan what to do with him. Eventually, Caiaphas, the high priest, says that it is better for Jesus to die than for a whole nation to perish.

The other religious leaders agree, thinking he means that Jesus’ teaching will corrupt too many people, or cause the Romans to come to destroy them. But Caiaphas had heard from God that Jesus had come to die to save all people. And so the religious leaders plan to have Jesus killed.

And so we come to the final week before Jesus’ death. We read a now familiar story of how a woman, named here in John as Mary, takes rich perfume and anoints Jesus with it. We also get the complaints that this is a waste of money. But here we read the extra detail that the person making the complaint was Judas, who had been helping himself to the group’s money.

Jesus then enters Jerusalem on his donkey, and the people are cheering and celebrating their king as he comes in. As the people come to speak to him, both Jews and Gentiles, Jesus begins to explain to them that he has come to die.

Just like a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, before spouting and growing into a new plant, Jesus must die to fulfil his ministry. He tells them that, “Now is the judgement of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” (John 12:31).

The rulers Jesus is talking about are Satan and his forces. The corrupt spiritual beings who have had authority up until now. Through his death, Jesus will cast them out, and then through his resurrection he will gather all people to him.

But the crowds don’t understand. They still have no understanding of the future king coming to die, so they ask Jesus if he’s talking about something different. We’ve seen from the other gospels that this was always part of Jesus’ ministry, just as it was for Isaiah’s ministry.

There are some would never understand what he was saying. So Jesus then summarises his public ministry for them. He has come to save the world, and whoever will believe in him. For those that choose not to believe in him, they will be judged.

Psalm 106

This psalm isn’t attributed to anyone in particular but is entitled ‘A Confession of Israel’s sin’. It can be loosely categorised as a lament psalm, but I think more specifically, it’s a psalm of confession. The focus is less on the struggle and pain the psalmist and their people are going through, and more on acknowledging that it is their own mistakes that have brought them to this place.

This psalm is also the last psalm of the fourth book of the psalms (Psalm 90-106). Because of this, it ends with a doxology that closes out the whole book.

Psalm 106:1-5 - A call to praise God and initial request

Psalm 106:6-43 - A recount of Israel’s history

Psalm 106:44-47 - God hears his people’s cries and plea to save again

Psalm 106:48 - Closing doxology

The psalmist opens with praise for the Lord, because ‘his steadfast love endures forever’. The Lord is mighty and worthy of praise, and those who are happiest in the Lord are those who are righteous and observe justice. The psalmist then turns to the Lord in request. They ask that the Lord remember them when he inevitably delivers his people, so that psalmist might experience and enjoy all that comes with being the Lord’s people.

We then move to a recap of Israel’s history and all the times they rebelled against the Lord. When they were coming out of Egypt and came to the Red Sea, they rebelled and declared it would have been better to die in Egypt (Exodus 14:11-12). But despite this, the Lord still parted the Red Sea, letting them through and then drowning the Egyptians who chase them. He rescued and delivered them and defeated their enemies.

Next, the psalmist looks at their time in the wilderness, though a little out of order. They recall of how the people got greedy, and the Lord struck them with disease (Numbers 11). How the people got jealous of Moses and Aaron’s power and tried to rebel (Numbers 16). They made false idols and worshipped them at Horeb (Moun Sinai, Exodus 32). In short, they forgot how God had saved them and it took Moses’ intercession to save them.

The people refused to enter the land that God gave them and were condemned to wonder the wilderness for 40 years (Numbers 14). They slept with foreign women and worshipped their foreign god Baal (Numbers 25). They rebelled against the Lord at Meribah and this caused Moses to speak in anger (Numbers 20).

Then, when the people were in the land, they didn’t destroy the Canaanites as the Lord commanded them to. Instead, they mingled with them, engaging in idol worship and child sacrifice. So the Lord gave them over to foreign nations who oppressed and defeated them.

But through it all, the Lord would deliver them. He’d allow them to be brought low when they were rebellious, but he heard them and helped them when they cried out to him. He remembered his covenant with them and showed them his steadfast love. So the psalmist asked the Lord to do it again. To save them and gather them from among the nations. From this, we can assume that the psalmist and God’s people are in exile, waiting to be saved.

And then the psalm ends with a doxology. Blessed be the Lord, who is God of Israel forever. In this psalm, the psalmist is framing their own suffering as a result of the people’s wickedness and rebellion against God. That’s not to say that all suffering is because of our own sin and poor choices, but it’s clear that some time it is. But even in that, God is loving and faithful, ready to rescue and redeem his people if they turn back to him.