44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 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. 49 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. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” – John 12:44-50
Introduction
There are many people today who want to hear God speak directly to them. They want a supernatural experience wherein they audibly hear the voice of God speak. Or it could come in more subtle forms, even in many professing Christians who live their lives looking for signs from God, trying to discern God’s will by looking at which way a leaf falls or how the wind rustles the bushes. However extreme or subtle one may be on this scale, such desires fail to recognize that God has already directly spoken to us and revealed His will for us. As someone once said, “If you want to hear God speak audibly, then read the Bible out loud.”
This is why we call the Bible “God’s Word;” because the Holy Scripture is God speaking to us. The Scripture is God’s authoritative, infallible, and sufficient communication to us. God’s Word is sufficient. This means that in order to hear from God, we do not need any spectacular supernatural experiences outside of the written Word of God – we just need to hear the Scripture. Hebrews tells us that in previous times God spoke to our fathers in various ways, such as the signs and wonders of the Old Testament; but, that in these last days, God has spoken to us through His Son. The giving of Jesus Christ is God’s final word to the world until the end. And that Word has been providentially preserved to us in the Scripture. And that is where we go to hear from Jesus, to hear from God. So anytime the Word of God is faithfully preached, you are hearing from Jesus – He is speaking to you. And not just the red letters – all of it. So, by God’s grace, insofar as I faithfully preach God’s Word today, we are all hearing from Jesus – He is speaking to us all today, whether we receive it or not, and no matter which way the leaves fall, you are hearing from Jesus in God’s Word, and will thus give an account for it one day. Your job is to believe it and receive it.
As we consider the text before us today, as we have been progressing through John, we recognize that what Jesus says here is a recapitulation of doctrine and themes that have already been laid out in early passages. But rather than thinking “well, we already know this stuff,” we ought to sit more straight up in our seats, because anytime there is repetition or recapitulation of doctrine and themes, that means it must be critically important to hear it, receive it, and understand it. So whether you are just jumping in on these themes with us in John, or whether you’ve been here for every sermon in John, I hope you will be grabbed by the text today, and the words of Jesus. And that is our focus today, as I have titled this message, The Words of Jesus. We will hear seven things about the words of Jesus from our text.
So as we consider the text before us, I want to begin at the end, and then go back to the beginning and work through it. You will notice that from verse 44 through verse 50, Jesus makes these propositional statements and arguments, and He works His way to His foundation, at the end, ending in verse 50. So I would like to begin with that foundation, and then jump back to the beginning and work our way through.
(1)Jesus’ Words are from the Father (v49-50)
This is the foundation that Jesus works toward. The things that he teaches and speaks, are not words that are spoken as if they were the opinions of man, or the ramblings of a crazy person. But all that Jesus says, He says on the good authority of the Father, and whatever He says, He says just as the Father has told Him to say. I’m sure many of you have heard that famous little saying about Jesus, I don’t know if it originated from C. S. Lewis or elsewhere, but when you assess the teachings and claims of Jesus, you have to conclude that He was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. But you see Jesus Himself answers this question for us: He says, “I am not lying to you, or making things up, or just speaking what I think or feel, I am speaking on the good authority of the Father, speaking just as He has commanded me to speak.” This foundation Jesus appeals to to show His audience why they should believe Him.
This is why it is so wrong and such a misplaced desire to seek after other revelation from God or other signs from God – because He has already sent us His very own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has already sent us and spoken to us through His precious Son. Should we dare to reject the Son of God, as if His testimony and witness is not enough from God, or is not sufficient for us to receive and trust the one true God? We should understand this, for even in terms of human relationships we know that when someone in a position of authority or power sends representatives or messengers to relay a message or act on his behalf, it is disrespect to that person to reject or disregard those who He has sent. They carry their superior’s authority. Now, the Word of Christ to us, is much more significant than our human relationships for Jesus is not merely a human messenger, He is the eternal second person of the trinity, very God of very God, which obviously is much more weightier.
So basically the foundation for everything Jesus says and teaches is: “because my Father said so.” “God says so” was enough for Jesus to do it, say it, and stick to it. Such ultimate foundation ought to be enough for us as mere creatures to believe and do what God would have us do. That ought to be our foundation. Appealing to the foundation of “God says” is the ultimate and highest authority, and no matter how many foes may surround us, and no matter how the mobs of the world may howl and hiss, we are on a sure and immovable foundation. “Thus saith the Lord” is a much better place to be than “I think” or “I feel” or “He said” or “She says.” That’s how you can stand firm on what is right no matter how much pressure from the world you may face. It does not matter how many rebel creatures made of dust say otherwise, when God says it, it’s final. It’s the lynchpin argument Jesus Himself appeals to. Let us imitate the same.
It’s also the foundation for us to stand on when the enemy is within, and we are facing temptation to sin and do what we want to do in our flesh. Well it doesn’t matter what lies of temptation and sin that are being whispered in your ear. It doesn’t matter what your fleshly desires are shouting at you, what matters is what God said. A firm foundation for us to stand upon when we are drowning in sinking sand. And in such an hour we can look up to that foundation and see Christ standing there in our place, standing before the Pharisees and their murderous threats, standing before the mobs and before Pilate, firmly standing there in death. And then He rose from the dead and He comes to sinners such as us and pulls out of the sinking sand and places on the rock, sets our feet firm and covers us before the Father. And we know that He saves us in that way, on the authority of the Father. We know our salvation will be accepted, because it was what the Father commanded of the Son.
So since the authority of the Father is the foundation upon which Jesus speaks and does, that very simply means then, as we have already hinted at, that His words are to be believed, going back to the beginning.
(2)Jesus’ Words are to be believed (v44)
So when Jesus speaks to us as we read His words in Genesis, or Leviticus, or John, or Paul’s epistles, we know that the words of the Triune God. So what in the world are we small time creatures supposed to do when the thrice Holy triune God speaks to us in our language? First things first, we believe it. The words of Jesus are words to be believed. The authoritative words of Jesus, which are all His of words, are words that are not to be considered among the other options. They are not words to be doubted or disputed or disregarded. They are to be received and believed.
This certainly applies to all of the Bible, as all of it is His Word. But specifically and foremost, what Jesus is intending here in verse 44 is belief in The Word, the Logos, Jesus Himself. And what is the Word of Jesus Himself? It is His coming to us clothed in the gospel. It is His approach to us in flesh, as the One Mediator between God and Man. It is His offering of Himself in the gospel as the substitute and sacrifice for sins to make us right with God. It is His laying down His life for ours that we might live with Him again. You see, if we do not receive and believe Jesus as the Christ sent from the Father, then we aren’t believing any of the Word of God. Christ clothed in the gospel is the Word of God, and He is the Mediator through which all is distributed to us. This is such a vital point for the Jewish audience and the Pharisees – that a reception of Jesus as the Christ from God is not just belief in Jesus, but it is belief in God and a receiving of Him. This implies that an unbelief in Christ, a rejection of His claims, is an unbelief and rejection of the One who sent Him. If we don’t believe Jesus, we don’t believe God the Father. But if we do believe in Jesus with the warmth of faith, just as we believe Him, we believe the Father.
(3)Jesus’ Words are to be seen (v45-46)
This takes us back to the previous few verses where we are told that despite the signs Jesus did, the people still did not believe Him; and quoting from the prophet Isaiah, they could not believe because God had blinded their eyes, lest they see with their eyes. That unbelief is contrasted with the Prophet Isaiah in verse 41, “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” In believing the words of Jesus, there is a seeing of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that comes with it. And really, this language of seeing and blindness is an illustrative way of saying belief and unbelief. Jesus once again points beyond himself in verse 45, saying that if we’ve seen Him, we’ve the One who sent Him. Jesus certainly is not confusing the persons of the Trinity or destroying the distinctions between the persons of the Trinity, but He is getting at their unity and at the glory that Jesus shows. Colossians 1:15 tells us that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God…” And Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…” So if we have seen the glory of Jesus Christ, if we have seen His face, then we have looked upon the glory of God and the face of God, for God has shed His light abroad in our hearts and in this world through the radiant light of His own dear Son. Thematically I believe verse 45 is getting back to the Isaiahic vision of Isaiah 6, where He sees the glory of Jesus, and thus sees his own sinfulness and unworthiness. So believing in Jesus is seeing this Isaiah vision, not the same literal vision, but that reality of the glory and holiness of God, and our sinful lips, and so our desperate need for Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus tells us this is exactly why He came into the world. He came into the world as light, so that by believing in Him, no man would remain in darkness. It was Jesus’ mission to expose the darkness by showing us the glory of God, such that we see our unworthiness and sin, and cling to Him for mercy, forgiveness, and righteousness. To not see our sin as vile and offensive to God is to be yet in darkness. And when the light of Christ exposes our dark and sinful hearts with the light of His radiant glory, we can then be freed from the chains of darkness and utter gloom and set free to walk in the light. He sheds His light so we can see, so that we can believe.
But not only does Christ shed His light so that we can see and believe but so that we would not remain in darkness. The light of Christ is not just purposed to enlighten our intellects, but to change our entire course of life – that we would not stay where we were in darkness and sin. It is a powerful, transforming, life-giving light. We can expect that as we preach the light of the gospel, and the Spirit of God makes it effectual unto life in the hearts of those who hear, that they will not remain as they are. Just as the light of the sun gives growth to the vegetation of the earth, so the light of the Son of God gives growth to the seeds of faith He has planted in the hearts of His people.
This leads us to our fourth point.
(4)Jesus’ Words are to be kept (v47-48)
In verse 47 we have a glorious and merciful statement that the purpose of Jesus coming into the world was not to judge it, but rather to save it. That does not mean there is not judgment, but it means that the first advent of Jesus was a saving and redeeming mission. This is much like John 3:17, one of my favorite verses, that Jesus came into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. But implied here in verse 47-48 is that we are to keep the words of Jesus. We are told this in the form of a warning that the one who does not keep them will be judged by them, thus we know that we are indeed to receive and keep the words of Jesus. What does it mean to keep the words of Jesus? I take it to get at the idea of obedience. We are to obey them, honor them, abide by them, and live by them. We are not just to intellectually believe, or see with no response, but we are to act and live on that belief and sight of Christ. If we have seen Him and believe His words, we will keep them.
The words of Jesus have the authoritative and commanding power to require obedience and adherence, but also to those who have seen His glory and love Him, His words are seen as a precious jewel from the One we love dearly and the One who loves us the most, thus it is our great desire to keep them, as we value them above all other words. His Words mean much to us. For the one who keeps the words of Jesus, they are words spoken by one whom they love and who loves them with an everlasting love. They are words from the same lips that said, “It is finished,” for them. They are words from the same breath that said to us in our sin, “rise and walk, your sins are forgiven you.” Indeed it is because the mission of Jesus was to come into the world to save the world that we hear and receive and keep His words. It is because He did not come to condemn us and judge us that we now believe Him and keep His words. Those who keep His words are those who have heard and received His saving words.
We also see from this the extent of Jesus’ saving mission. His mission of redemption was not merely to snatch souls out of a burning fire with no other effect. His mission was total redemption and salvation. It was His mission to save the world. It was a mission to save the totality of our being – not just to rescue our souls, but to save people to the extent that they in turn keep His Words. The more the world is filled with people who are keeping the words of Jesus, the more good works of culture will be done to benefit and save the world. His mission is a mission of total salvation, saving the whole man, and the whole world.
But as we will see in our next point, it is not universalism, for Jesus’ Words will also judge.
(5)Jesus’ Words will judge (v48)
While Jesus did not come into the world to judge it, but to save, it does not mean that there is no judgment and that He even does not judge – it just means that judgment wasn’t the purpose of His first coming. Those who reject Christ and do not receive and keep His words, they already have a judge. They are already condemned. Jesus didn’t need to come to judge, because they already stand condemned. It was to reverse that sentence of condemnation that Jesus came. But you see, it is the very words of Jesus that He has spoken, the very words that we hear today that will judge those who reject them on the last day. There is a day of judgement that is coming and if we reject the words of Jesus and do not keep them or receive Him, all of those words He has spoken that we have rejected will stand in judgment and condemnation over us. There will be no excuse. Every single one of you here will stand before God one day and give an account for the words of Jesus that you heard and what you did with them. Did you believe them, receive, and keep them? Or did you reject them? His words will be found to be true and everlasting and good, and they will be there testifying against us or for us on the last day.
Without patting ourselves on the back, I can confidently say that by God’s grace what you have heard from this pulpit has been God’s Word faithfully preached, not perfectly, but faithfully and truly. That means that every single one of you who have sat under the preaching of this church will have no excuse on judgement day. You will be judged by much greater light than many many others. If you have sat under the preaching of this church and you walk away and reject Christ and do not keep His Words, it will not be good for you when you stand before God one day and He holds you to account for the words of Jesus that you heard.
I think of the traitor Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ and the disciples and did not keep the words of Jesus. I believe the saying originated from one of the Puritans that says something like “Judas heard every sermon that Jesus preached.” And if that can happen between Judas and Jesus, it can happen here. And it has. But I pray that as you hear this word today that you would not let it be you. I pray that you would receive the Words of Christ and keep them and latch on to the Savior by faith.
My hope is that these words of Jesus would grant you eternal life. For the words of Jesus, meaning the gospel message of Christ, that He has given Himself for the sins of those who would believe in Him, are going to be effectual in your life, either for judgment on the last day, if you reject them, or for eternal life.
(6)Jesus’ Words are eternal life (v50)
Jesus has spoken the words of eternal life, and the same words that judge those who reject them, bring eternal life and salvation to those who receive them. And we live right now in the redeeming era of history. We live in the Christian era of History where the gospel of Jesus Christ is advancing throughout the world and saving sinners. We live in a time when the cross of Christ is still marching forth and drawing men, women, and children unto Christ who was crucified there. We live in an era where the words of Jesus continue pronouncing and imparting eternal life to it’s hearers. And just as I stand here today warning you of the judging authority of the words of Christ, I warn you also of the saving authority of His Words. You are risking getting saved by sitting here and listening to the words of Jesus here today. You are risking that you will believe them and see His glory. When I proclaim that the Son of God came in human flesh into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it, and that He did so by living a perfect life unto God, humbling himself to the point of death on the cross, taking the sins of the world on His shoulders to die for them, and then bursting forth back to life from the dead on the third day, you might just believe that and be saved. You might just be saved rather than judged. “..because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Romans 10:9-13)
(7)Jesus’ Words cry out to us (v44)
As I began with the ending I want to end with the beginning. Our text began in verse 44 where the gospel writer tells us that Jesus did not simply speak these things or whisper them in secret, but it says that Jesus “cried out!” Jesus’ words cry out to us! Wherever you sit in relation to Christ today, know that Jesus is not letting you go quietly. He is crying out to you. Come to Him! Come and eat of the bread of life! Come and drink of the living water! Come and believe upon the Lord Jesus! As He once stood on the dirt of the earth crying out to sinners, He still stands today in His pulpits and in His witnesses crying out to sinners to come unto Jesus. Would you reject His passion or mock His zeal? Or would you see His great love for you in the words He spoke? Would you look and see Christ crucified for your sins, loudly crying out to the world “It is finished!” What He has done for you is all that you need to be His and to have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Would you really reject the words of the God-man crying out to you to be saved?
For all of the time that you may have spent in disobedience and rebellion toward Him, He stands ready to forgive. For all of the time that you may have spent in mockery of His passion, He stands ready to forgive as none other would do. No matter what you’ve done, no matter how far you’ve gone, you are not out of ear-shot of His saving words crying out to you today. No matter how dark the darkness of your heart of sin may be, we still live in the era of light driving out darkness. Jesus’ Words still cry out to men and women today. His blood is still effectual. It is still potent to forgive all sin. Jesus’ tomb is still empty. He still ever lives to save. Believe Him. Your life depends on it.
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