Series: Easter: This Changes Everything
Message: Hidden?
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Sam Millen
Live Wonder: Bec Reid
Live Adventure: Jess Lee
Live Beyond: Art Preuss
Live Purpose: Don Pate
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: John 12:20–36 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: William Barclay writes:
John does not tell us of the agony in Gethsemane. It is here that he shows us Jesus fighting His battle with His human longing to avoid the cross. No one wishes to die at thirty-three; and no own wishes to die upon a cross. . . . Real courage does not mean not being afraid. It means being terribly afraid, and yet doing the thing that ought to be done. That was the courage of Jesus. (pp. 146-147)
I cannot relate to the inner struggle Jesus endured as He knew the time of His brutal death was quickly approaching. It wasn’t even the physical torture, as horrific as the Romans could make it (their ingenious methods to inflict pain were impressive), that weighed on His mind most. An impending separation from the Father was the unbearable thought. We cannot completely comprehend what took place on the cross. It remains a mystery. We are reduced to metaphors as our only means of perception. However, not all analogies are equally valid. N.T. Wright’s concern regarding how we understand the cross is worth considering. Wright argues that the Gospel has been often misrepresented to say, “For God so hated the world He killed His only son” rather than the familiar line in John 3:16 we memorized as children.
Let’s be very clear on this: Jesus was not eventually killed by the Father after suffering horrendous and protracted physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of an angry deity. Humanity did not witness some kind of twisted cosmic child sacrifice on the cross. Jesus was killed by wicked men who were influenced by supernatural demonic forces, and these (including Satan) were being controlled by an even greater power—evil itself. By courageously drinking the entire “cup,” Jesus completely emptied out evil’s poison—which is separation from God. He left evil powerless because He fully absorbed its power. It was as though a scorpion had stung Jesus, and after injecting Him with all its venom, the predatory arachnid had lost all its potency. In Romans 8:3 Paul wrote, “By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin (or as a sin offering) He condemned sin in the flesh.” Jesus was not condemned. He was innocent. It was the sin He bore in His flesh being condemned (destroyed). Jesus overcame evil by letting evil completely do what evil does, and it finally separated Him from the Father, leading to His death—the second death.
Recalibrate: What does Jesus acknowledging His soul was “troubled” tell you about Him?
Respond: Today, ask God to give you a deeper understanding of His love for the world and you in it.
Research: Watch N.T. Wright discuss the meaning of the cross in this short video clip.
Remember: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32, ESV).
Sam Millen is the pastor at Anacortes Adventist Fellowship in Washington State. He his wife Angie is a schoolteacher on Orcas Island and their three children are really awesome!
Time to sit your little one your knee and share with them a story from your childhood. Is there a story you can share with them about choosing to walk in the light? Or maybe allowing God’s light to shine out through you to touch the world around you? Maybe ask your little one if they have a story from their life that they might want to share from walking in Jesus’ light. Don’t underestimate your little one and the story they might tell you. Watch how the Holy Spirit will work through them.
How did you feel doing these acts of service this week? How did the people they did nice things for feel? Being kind, generous, loving, humble, and trusting in God helps us be Christ-like servants. When we put our selfish desires aside, we will truly be able to show the world how a relationship with Jesus matters more than anything else.
Every morning when I walk into my daughter’s bedroom to wake her up, I open the curtain to allow the light to fill her room. It is interesting that even with her eyes closed, she still complains of the brightness that has now entered her room. She cringes when the light enters the room (Wouldn’t you?) There are three verbs—“action words”—that Jesus uses here in the last two verses in John 12:35-36: “is with” (“is” is not really an “action” word,” but it does mean that the people had possession of it, in other words, they held it physically with them), walk, and believe. All of these action words are dealing with the idea of “light.” Jesus says that He is the light of the world.
Let’s get real: Do you currently walk, have (possess), and believe the light?
Yesterday we saw that the plan to have Jesus crucified was not the normal process for Jewish capital punishment because it was not one of the four legal methods of execution within their own set of rules. Those four were stoning, beheading, strangulation, or burning the person to death. If He was deemed guilty of blasphemy they should have stoned Him. If they felt He should be punished for leading the nation astray He should have been beheaded. If they judged Him to be a false prophet they should have strangled Him—but nothing in Jewish law called for crucifixion. More than that, if anyone other than the Romans practiced crucifixion those who enacted it could be crucified, too! If Jesus was to be “lifted up” on a pole like the serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14) they had to engage the Romans, and the Romans didn’t care about blasphemy or false prophecy, etc. Rome had to be convinced that Jesus wanted to call Himself a king. For that you could be crucified . . . and it was all within God’s will. Amazing!
Bec Reid is a real estate agent within her family business. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and is a part of the Wahroonga Adventist Church community.
Jess Lee is an education consultant for the New South Wales Adventist education system. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and attends Kellyville Church.
Art Preuss pastors in Massachusetts at the Springfield, Florence, and Warren Adventist churches and serves in the U. S. Air Force Reserve as a chaplain.
Don Pate is “retired” in Tennessee after decades of teaching and pastoring but is still active in speaking and creating for the Kingdom.