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What I aim to do, gentlemen, in this session is not just, not to expound verse by verse, but to trace one or two of the major ideas that seem to me to connect, uh, uh, uh, chapter twelve to the end of the book. And I particularly refer to our Lord as King. Now, traditionally, it has been held that Matthew is the gospel of the king, that Mark is the gospel of the servant.
That Luke is the gospel of the Son of Man. That John is the gospel of the Son of God. And that description is, generally speaking, very helpful. But there are, of course, uh, variations. So that if you will read the account of the crucifixion in Matthew, when the priests pass by the cross and deride our Lord, it's the question of his deity, his claim to deity, that they mock.
He said, I am the Son of God. On the other hand, when we come to John and the arrest crucifixion, it is our Lord's kingship that is cu- that comes to the fore. So shall we just notice, uh, the beginnings of this in chapter twelve, Verse twelve? after the supper. The next day, when the multitude heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took branches of the palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried out, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel.
And they are, of course, reciting Zechariah nine verse nine, thy king cometh truly, lowly, riding on an ass and the colt of an ass. So then in chapter twelve, as our Lord comes into the city, just as in other gospels it is true, but notice it is true here, they greet him as the- the crowd greets him as the king. Verse thirteen. Then the quotation, verse fifteen. thy king cometh. John then adds, these things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him.
That is John telling you, among other things, and Don Carson emphasizes this because it is very helpful in his commentary on John, that John will make a distinction between what actually happened and what was actually said when Christ was with them here on earth, and what they came to understand later on. In other words, when they're recording the gospels, they're recording what actually happened. This is not the church making up what happened in the light of their subsequent knowledge.
They're recording, and so you see it here in John, what happened and telling you we didn't understand it at the time. Later on, we came to understand that this was what was written of him, and so forth and so on, yes? But notice that quoting of the king and the passage from Zechariah, you see. Now you come to, uh, the, uh, chapter twelve, and our Lord now is telling the apostles that he must die, be buried, and rise again.
And it comes at a critical time. Certain Greeks, which presumably are ethnic Greeks, not Hellenistic Jews. Some Greeks who came up to the feast, as Gentiles did from time to time, they come and request an interview with Jesus, which, uh, provokes our Lord into the statement that the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. If he is going to gather believers from all the nations, as well as the Jews, the hour is coming when now it's going to be put into effect.
He must himself die and go away. So here we have a statement of strategy again. His death is not a, a, an unfortunate accident that in the end Christianity got over. It is the divine tactics and strategy, you'll see. And let me explain a little bit further what I mean by that. Uh, verse thirty one. now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.
But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die. His death is going to be a victory. It is his lifting up that will be the means of his drawing all people, people of all sizes and shapes and ethnic groups and everything else, unto him. It is to be the victory over the prince of this world. In fact, it will constitute, in a certain sense, the judgment of the prince of this world.
And we can come back to that in a, uh, later on, if you so please. But now I want to point out and emphasize this, uh, uh, conquest, this battle with what here is described as the prince, the archon of this world. It's John that talks to us about the prince of this world. In the context he's just, uh, uh, uh, described of Christ coming as king to Jerusalem.
The conquest, therefore, of the two kings, the two princes. Now shall the prince of this world, uh, do you see, be cast out. When we come to the, uh, uh, upper room ministry, you'll find it again. Fourteen thirty. I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of this world comes, and he has nothing in me.
And then again, uh, in chapter sixteen, Mm-hmm. Our Lord is expounding to them the necess- necessity for his going away, that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, uh, will come. Verse eight: and when he has come, he will convict the world in respect of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to the Father and you behold me no more. Of judgment because the prince of this world has been judged.
Now, those references in these chapters to the prince of this world raise a question in our minds immediately, uh, do they not? What do you mean by prince, and what do you mean by the term world? In what sense is he the prince of this world? So then let's come to the, uh, uh, crucifixion and the issues at stake. Um, when the priests, Caiaphas and company, bring Jesus to Pilate.
They make the accusation, do you see? And Pilate therefore, verse thirty three, entered into the palace and called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning me? In other words, somebody put this question into your mind, or is this something that you are thinking about yourself? And he replies, am I Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests delivered th- thee unto me. What hast thou done?
Well, so far, uh, uh, the same as the other gospels, but now look at the explanation that follows that's only in John. Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, you're a king then. Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end I have been born, and to this end I am come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.
And Pilate says to him, what is truth? The definition of his kingdom. And what his kingdom is. So Pilate took Jesus and and scourged him, and the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple garment. And they came to him and said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they struck him with their hands. And Pilate went out again and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him.
Jesus therefore came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man. Do you see. So we better pause there for a moment to see what's been going on. When they brought him before Pilate, they had accused, uh, him to Pilate of trying to put himself forward as king of the Jews, as a political Messiah. And Pilate would have been very concerned about that, because political messiahs were a dangerous thing in Judea at the time.
There had been earlier rebellions, there would be later rebellions, where Zionistic Jews of the extreme kind would put forward a leader and try to unseat the Roman authorities and drive out Rome and establish themselves kings like the old Maccabees did. And therefore, when the high priests accused Christ before Pilate of being claiming to be king, that would make Pilate very nervous. Do you see? And it being Passover time and thousands and thousands and thousands of people being in Jerusalem, it was like a a a tinderbox.
It could easily explode. And Pilate, if he allowed a, a, a rebellion to happen, would be accountable to Caesar. You see. So naturally, he brings Christ for the first time in front of him privately, and asks this business about your, uh, being a king. And our Lord says, now, is this your idea, or is it that you were put up to this by the priests? And he says, well, this is what the priests told me. So Christ says, well, actually, yes, my kingdom is not of this world. Now, excuse me, gentlemen, I shall have to say something wicked again.
But you see, it is better translated if you take verse, um, twenty thirty six. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would have been fighting. Not would fight in the future. Our Lord is talking about what happened in the garden. So let me remind you of what happened in the garden. So let me remind you of what happened in the garden. Judas got from the Romans a squad of Roman soldiers. Chapter eighteen, verse three.
Judas then, having received the band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests, he got a band of soldiers. They were under Achiliarch. That is a ruler of a thousand. It didn't mean that he brought all the thousand troops into the garden, but he was a commander, Achiliarch. And he brought a troop, a a a squad of soldiers with him. Why? Because Judas and the priests had made it out to Pilate that they could expect opposition in the garden, because this was a dangerous political party out to, uh, promote Jesus as king, and if they came to arrest him, they would fight back.
And please, could they have a Roman band, a spira? It's the equivalent Greek word for cohort, actually, spira. Um, uh, could they have a, a, a, a cohort of soldiers to deal with the violence? Actually, what happened, as you know, Peter, uh, in his hastiness, drew his sword and cut off the ear of the s- the high priest's servant. Our Lord immediately forbade it. That action by Peter was a bit of the devil's cunning, you know.
It could have ruined the whole thing. And a- and the uh uh the chiliarch would have gone back and to Pilate and said, yes, of course they are a a a rebellious group, uh uh uh fostering uh uh military action. What happened was that Christ forbade the use of the sword and said, if it's me you seek, let these go their way, and surrendered himself. And the Kiliark would have gone back to Pilate and reported it. When therefore our Lord said to Pilate, if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I should not be delivered to the Jews.
Pilate would have known it was actually true. The Kiliac would have reported it. When our Lord surrendered, then the priests took him with the permission of the Gilead. He voluntarily surrendered to them. And Pilate would have known it was the truth when Pri- when Christ said it. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from hence. He's claiming to be king, claiming to establish a kingdom, is telling Pilate the reason for it and the type of kingdom it was.
Righty ho. When Pilate came out, therefore, verse thirty eight, he told the Jews, I find no crime in him. Now, sometimes preachers in, uh, uh, uh, loyalty to the Lord, uh, cite, uh, uh, Pilate as I find no fault in him, and Pilate declares him absolutely faultless and sinless. Uh, well, he was faultless and sinless, but that wasn't quite what Pilate was saying. They'd brought our Lord to Pilate on a charge. They charged him with insurrection against the emperor.
Pilate's verdict is, that's nonsense. I find no criminal political offense in him. He's not that kind of a king. He is not campaigning to get the Jews to rise against, uh, uh, Tiberius Caesar. I find no crime, that is no criminal fault in him. You'll say. And then John comes with his, a very powerful observation. Pilate said to them, uh, he's not guilty of political insurrection, but I- you have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover, and you theref- uh, uh, uh, uh, will you therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews?
They cried out, therefore again, not this man, but Barabbas. And John adds, now Barabbas, you should know that, please remember it, was an insurrectionist. Now Barabbas was a thief or, or a robber, but lestes, the Greek word lestes, is the word that Josephus uses of political insurrectionists. And when the priests are, are, uh, provoked into making their choice, they choose a political insurrectionist. Which immediate- immediately shows what hypocrites they were, of course.
The next words, the next description of what Pilate did should cause us some thought. Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. You'll say, but that's curious if he found no, no grounds of a criminal offense in him, why should he scourge him? Oh, but gentlemen, the Roman law was not like the glorious law we have here in Northern Ireland, of course, you see. If you were brought before a magistrate, uh, made a charge, he'd probably scourge you to start with, just to put you in the right frame of mind, so that thereafter you were induced to tell the truth. Do you see? Uh, that was okay.
You mustn't do it to a Roman citizen, but it was standard custom with others. Do you see? Quite apart from, uh, the the conclusion the trial might come to and the penalty that would then be exacted. You, you, you, you scourge them to put them in the right frame of mind. And then he let his soldiers mock him. Hail, king of the Jews. Do you see? They struck him with their hands. Pilate therefore went out again and said, behold, I bring him out to you that you may find that I find, here it comes again, no political crime. He's not an insur- insurrectionist, and that's I, Pilate, am telling you this.
Jesus therefore came out wearing the crown of thorns, the mocking crown, and the purple garment. Soldiers had used to mock his kingship. And Pilate said unto them, Behold the man. That has been the subject of famous pictures, the famous Ecce Homo, the Latin for behold, Ecce Homo, the man. Well, that is what may, uh, may mean that, do you see? I doubt whether Pilate was saying what a marvelous man he is, what, what when Pilate had just allowed him to be mocked and a crown of thorns put on his head and a, a, a mocking purple robe and scourged him.
I doubt whether Pilate was saying, see what a remarkable, wonderful man he is. The Greek could be translated, don't get offended, gentlemen, too much. Look at the fellow. The Greek word anthropos can, in certain senses, be used despisingly. Look at the fellow. You're going to say to me that he is a po- leader of insurrection, like Che Guevara or somebody? Poor, weak fellow. It's nonsense to say he's a political insurrectionist.
Look at the fellow. Uh, where- when therefore the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take him yourselves then and crucify him. I find no, and now for the third time, I find no fault in him, meaning no capital charge proved. He's not guilty, as you say, and I, as Pilate, am not going to use my Roman authority to execute him on a false charge. You take him then and crucify him.
Well, they said, uh, do you see, well, we have a law, by that law he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God. And when Pilate heard that, he was the more afraid. And we'll leave that for the moment. And what happened in the next interview, and what is its significance, we shall have to come back to, you see. But now notice that after this in- interview, the second interview, verse twelve, upon this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, if thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend. Everyone that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
That was blackmail, of course. And that was no idle, idle threat. You should understand, gentlemen, and remember what you know already. The high priest and the priestly cast in Judah were the blue-blooded lot. They moved in very high circles. They had audience with the emperor Rome. They weren't just a, a little rabbi around the corner who happened to make shoes for a living, and these were priests. They were very wealthy men, they were the Jewish aristocracy. They governed Israel on all sorts of daily things and trade and commerce.
They laid down the rules under Rome. And now they are threatening Pilate. You know... You know, Pilate, we've delivered you this man on an accusation that he's a political insurrectionist. You let him go? It would be very awkward for you if Pi- if Tiberius Caesar were to hear that we high priests and our other priests had delivered a man to you as a political insurrectionist, and you had let him go, Phia?
Wow. That was sheer blackmail. Everyone that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation of the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour, and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king. Gentlemen, you couldn't possibly miss it, not even if you were determined to.
John, in his record, is emphasizing the question of our Lord's kingship. Behold your king. They therefore cried out, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, we have no king, but Caesar. At the Passover ceremony, they would have lifted their holy hands to heaven and praised God, beside thee we have no God redeemer, no king redeemer and savior.
To put it just like that, you say perhaps they were merely saying, we don't have any king, we're not fostering any king in the political sense except Caesar. Okay, but to put it in those absolute terms, we have no king at all but Caesar. It was the preparation of the Passover, gentlemen. And when it comes to this, the description of the crucifixion, John will remind us that no bone of him was broken. The priests asked that because it was the preparation, uh, that the bodies should be taken away, and therefore they asked that, uh, the soldiers should be ordered to break the legs of the three crucified and have them buried to get them out of the way because the next day was a very high day, religiously speaking.
And the soldiers came with a great mallet, and they broke the legs of the first one, and they broke the legs of the second one. When they came to Jesus, they changed their mind, and they didn't break his legs. Because the scripture said, but he didn't know the scripture, but this was God having seen that the scripture should be fulfilled. No bone of him should be broken. And that, uh, command, gentlemen, you will remember, is part of the rules for the celebration of Passover, that no bone of the Passover lamb should be broken. John is asking us to remember that all this is going on in, in the context of the Passover.
Therefore, we ought to remember what the Passover was about. Israel had come into Egypt, but after the centuries, and there rose other, uh, uh, uh, uh, pharaohs that didn't know Joseph. The Pharaoh became an absolute tyrant of the Jews, didn't he? And set them to making bricks. And when Moses came in the name of God and demanded that Pharaoh let the people go, Pharaoh, instead of letting them go, made the thing doubly, ten times harder. They were under this Egyptian prince.
How were they delivered from that prince? You say by Passover. Yes. Well, how and how did it work? Because now, at that point, was the judgment on Egypt. And because it was the judgment on Egypt, and God is impartial, the firstborn in Israel likewise would have been killed, had it not been for the blood of the Passover lamb sprinkled on the side posts and the lintel of the doors of their houses.
So that when the destroying angel came in, says God, I will stretch myself over the door when I see the blood, and the destroying angel shall not come into you to destroy your firstborn. But the firstborn from Pharaoh on the, on the throne downwards was destroyed on Passover night. And Israel delivered from that tyrant, that tyrant prince, and began their journey out that very night. And eventually then Pharaoh and his host drowned in the Red Sea.
Do, do, uh, do you see the point? How the Passover is now coming to revive in your minds the idea of the tyrant Pharaoh and God's way of delivering Israel from the tyrant prince. It came about through this death of the Passover. So all I'm suggesting is something very obvious.
You shouldn't pay more than a gift, more than a guinea for it, gentlemen. I mean, it is so obvious. That the end of John's gospel is concerned with our Lord's kingship. And you pick up the emphasis as he comes into Jerusalem, like the other gospels say, riding on an ass, fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy, Zechariah nine nine, rejoice, O Zion, thy king comes to you. In crucifying him, they were crucifying their king.
But you see, chapter, the second part of chapter 12, our Lord informs you that this is his tactics. He must die, for except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, but if it die, it brings forth more fruit. Deliberately, therefore, he will be lifted up. His being lifted up isn't simply a matter of shame after which he recovers and is glorified. His being lifted up is part of the glory. The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. His being lifted up on the cross is the initial stages of his being glorified.
And I, if I be lifted up by that very method, will draw people of all nations to me. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Satan's grip broken by this very method. And therefore, John's account of the trial before Pilate, emphasizing the kingship of Christ, and the nature of that kingship, not one enforced by arms.
It's a kingship that is concerned with the truth. And of course, you can't convince anybody of the truth by threatening them with a sword, can you? You are to believe what I say, and it is the truth, and if you don't, I'll have your head off. Well... You can't do it. And Christ is a king. Conquest depends on the truth. Mm-hmm. And then that sad incident. The Jews, the leaders of the nation before Pilate, shall I crucify your king?
We have no king but Caesar. Talk about people hugging their chains. Getting rid of Christ. And opening themselves, therefore, not merely to the continued reign of, of, of, of the Romans. They weren't going to be delivered from it anyway. Christ was not going to fight the Romans. But their continuing bondage to the prince of this world. So that all I'm suggesting is the obvious.
One, this connection of the thought through the end of chapter twelve, then skipping for the moment the upper room ministry, the, uh, um, uh, story of the, uh, uh, the arrest, the trial, and the crucifixion. Is Christ's winning of the battle by the deliberate, uh, use of the tactics of his death, his being lifted up. Now there is one tiny little thing that fits in with this.
Look at chapter uh eighteen, if you will, and the very first words. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron. That gentleman should cause us to think, remember, get our memories going. To remember where it occurs, and another figure in the Old Testament went forth over the ke- brook Kidron? Pardon? Can't hear.
Second Samuel. Second Samuel, yes, and who was it that went, and when did he go? That's right. It is King David, uh, fleeing from Absalom. And he left Jerusalem and his throne and his harim, actually, and went with a few loyal servants. And you're told that eventually David went out into exile across the book Kidron. Prototype of this greater king, of course.
Going across the brook, Kedron. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, let me cease there. Does that make any sense to you? Does it, does it begin to at least, uh, make you thinking to see how the ideas are connected up between the end of twelve and the, uh, actual crucifixion scene, the arrest and crucifixion. One other thing, therefore, we should notice.
So, in our first session this morning, we talked about the raising of Lazarus, and Christ doing it deliberately as a preliminary to his coming to Jerusalem on the last occasion, so that the pilgrims coming down into the city, as they came, particularly those from the north, and as they came, they would hear the story, which was all the buzz in Jerusalem, of this Jesus had raised a man from the dead. And the Pharisees and the, uh, whatnot took it seriously because if that many people went and believed on Jesus because of Lazarus. And when Jesus came to Bethany and they made him a supper, all the people tried to get in to see this Lazarus.
Do you see? As a result of which, the Sanhedrin and others decided not only to kill Jesus, but to kill Lazarus. Now, gentlemen, ponder the, the thing. Death. The last enemy. To be free, as they think of Jesus, they're going to kill the resurrection and the life. Our Lord had told the Jews, chapter eight of John's gospel, that the devil was a liar and a murderer from the beginning.
And the crime of executing Jesus was, among other things, of course, the absurdity of killing a man that had power to raise people from the dead. Gentlemen, if you want a good sermon to atheists and the new atheism, just point out to the crowd what the new atheists are doing and what the gospel it is they're preaching. This new effort, uh, uh, the new atheism, as it's so called, aiming to attack all religion and Christianity in particular, will tell you that, of course, there's no God out there.
We are just the product of DNA. And in a world that's run by DNA, um, some people are going to get lucky, and some people are going to get hurt. And there's no rhyme or reason in it. DNA just is, it doesn't care. This life is all there is. It means that multitudes that have died now will never get justice. Old Marx was a fraud, wasn't he? He taught that you must get rid of God in order to get freedom.
He also taught that the rules of history were such that the glorious, uh, age of gold and peace and everything else was bound to come by dialectical materialism. And so he encouraged millions to rise up and struggle. And they died. Well, by definition, the golden age was not to come within their lifetime. Now it is apparent it isn't going to come at all anyway, not according to Marx. There's nothing but death staring you in the face.
And what is more, if there's no God out there, and there's no resurrection of the dead, then multitudes living on the present on Earth are never going to have justice done anyway. Are they? Don't go around prating about justice if there's no resurrection of the dead. Justice, then, is a rope of sand for multi-millions. It's good to be reminded of what the issue at stake is, isn't it?
The religious Jews, for all their religion. But then you see, I must remind you that the Sadducees, the high priests were Sadducees, not Pharisees. The high priests, the Sadducees, did not believe in a resurrection, nor in angel or spirit. We're told that in the Acts of the Apostles. So that this incident in John, the man that talks to us throughout his gospel of eternal life. This emphasis on the kingship of Christ and the Passover, and the resurrection of Lazarus, and how for that very reason, um, all the more the high priests were determined to destroy Jesus, and if it came to that, they'd destroy Lazarus as well, that the evidence should be obliterated.
The motivation, therefore, in the Gospel of John for the uh crucifixion of Christ is exposed. But Christ standing there, chapter twelve, uh, to say, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. If it die, it brings forth much fruit. Now our Lord, his tactics, God's tactics, of dying to win the victory. And the victory against the prince of this world.
Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. The death of Christ as winning the victory. I don't know why you gentlemen believe in Jesus. What made you believe in Jesus? Why do you find him attractive and dare to put, stake your faith in him? How did he conquer you? Why do you accept him as king? Well, I think for this reason, amongst other reasons, gentlemen, Christ did for you what Satan would never dream of doing.
He died for you. That never came into Satan's book. Didn't come into Hitler's either, nor Marx, nor Napoleon. Mm-hmm. So then I just tried to string these ideas together that they form a kind of a framework. It's not the only framework, but the framework that holds these chapters together. It's a developing theme, one of the dominant themes at the end of John.
Huh? No? Everybody? Well, then let me say, if you would not come, uh, forth with, with questions and so forth, um, let me just therefore say that this question, uh, uh, uh, of the prince of this world, you will know it immediately when I, I remind you of it, that John is the gospel that talks about the world, doesn't he? Yes? The world. The world. Be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world. What does John mean by the world? Yes, it's cosmos, the world, yes. Well, God loved the world, the cosmos. What does John mean by the world? You'll find it in his gospel, together with the prince of this world. Do you see? And don't marvel if the world hates you. And I have overcome the world. And the prince of this world comes, for he is nothing in me. And then our Lord's prayer, talking about the world, the men thou has given me out of the world, and so forth and so on.
And when he's in his epistles, a lot about the world. Uh, do you find yourself, gentlemen, some of you preachers anyway, but do you find yourself warning people about the world? Anybody here admit to having, you know, preached anything about the world? No? That's too old fashioned, perhaps. The word defined as under the dominion of sin. That's right, yes. To define what we mean by world would be a very important thing, wouldn't it?
And John's is the one, uh, is one of the persons in his gospel and in his epistles that talks about worldliness. Which prompts me to say that throughout the gospel of John, there are many echoes of the Exodus, aren't there? When God sent Moses and commissioned him at the burning bush to go and, uh, deliver Israel from Egypt. Moses said to God, that's all right for you, God, but if I go and, uh, tell them the God of your fathers has appeared to me, uh, uh, uh, uh, do you see, they'll say, well, what is his name anyway?
So what am I to say? And says God, you'll say, I am that I am. That is my name. You'll say, I am has sent me. So Moses went and declared the name of God. What had that got to do with delivering people from Egypt? How did that help? But then our Lord is on record, isn't he, at the end of chapter seventeen, saying to his father, I have declared thy name unto my, uh, brethren that thou hast given me out of the world, and I will declare it.
What has declaring the name of God got to do with re- delivering people, either from Egypt under Moses or now under Christ? What has declaring the name of God got to do with delivering people from the world? So that I put it to you, if you came across a church, God forbid if you ever, that you ever did, but if you came across a world where you suspected people were getting worldly, what would you do? How would you preach? You would, of course, I think, with your knowledge, say, what I need to do here is to declare, declare the name of God.
That's what our Lord did. How on earth does that help to deliver people from worldliness? Then Moses said, well, God, that's all right for you to say like that, yes, oh yes, yes, yes, yes, but now they perhaps they won't believe me. So God says, well, I'll give you some signs to do, Moses. John's gospel takes up the terms, doesn't it? The signs that he did. Mm-hmm. The deliverance from Egypt was by the Passover lamb.
Well, listen to John. Christ, the Passover lamb. And of course, then the, then the, uh, story, uh, of the, uh, tabernacle with its lampstand. I am the light of the world and its table. I'm the bread of life. And therefore the mention of the, of Moses giving them the manna from heaven. Yeah?
And several other things beside. Yes. In understanding John, therefore, and what he means by world, it's a useful thing to go back and look at Exodus. And how Israel was delivered from the prince of Egypt. And you see, among the other things that comes to light if you do it, was when Moses went into, uh, Pharaoh, he said, I come to you in the name of, of God, do see, let these people go. Uh, God, says Pharaoh?
Uh, uh, God? Uh, what God? Well, I am that I am. Jehovah. I don't recognize your God, I'm sorry, says Pharaoh. I don't recognize him, you see. And as for your story, uh, Moses, about a God who promised your fathers long before you came into Egypt, that he was going to bring you here and take you out the other end and give you a great inheritance. That's a lot of fairy tale bunkum, Moses, you know. Don't you go and fill the people's heads with that kind of nonsense. Egypt is all there is for the, all there is for them.
That's all there is. You know, eating and drinking and marrying and a game of football now and again, uh, that's all there is. All that talk about you've had a past designed by God and there is a future inheritance out there waiting for you beyond Egypt, that's all nonsense, Moses. And you see the prince of this world doing the same thing, don't you? There's no God, there's no past, there are no eternal plans, there's no future inheritance. This is all there is. That's worldliness of one sort.
Mm. The old tag that you can be so heavenly minded as to be no earthly good, we know what it means. But the opposite is true. If there's no heaven beyond, then this life is hopeless. But go on, I'm wandering like old men do. Mm. Mhm. Nobody has any questions for now, then we can stop for lunch.
