“God’s Love, God’s Glory” (John 11:1-6)

Why?

During the September 11 attacks in 2001, 2,996 people were killed and more than 6,000 others were injured. God was fully capable of preventing these terrorist attacks. A few years later in 2005, 230,000 people died in one night in the South Seas off the coast of India in that tsunami. Even today, more than 1,500 people have died from coronavirus and about 66,000 people around the globe have been infected so far. God is sovereign. Our God is able to prevent and to control and to set right our losses. But for some reason, he allows pain, suffering, and loss in our lives. And we ask, “Why?” And we question God’s love, “Does God really care for me?”

How Can This Be “Love”?

In today’s scripture we see how much Jesus cares for his people. But we will learn soon from this passage that God’s care, God’s love, may not be what we think it is. Martha, Mary and Lazarus were siblings, and they were close friends of Jesus. They were like a family to him. So when Lazarus got sick, the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” There are four types of love in Greek – storge (natural empathy of parents and children), philia (friendship between equals), eros (romantic love), and agape (unconditional “God” love). Here in verse 3 when they said, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” They used the word philia – a friendship-like love. They loved Jesus as a friend. But Jesus’ love for them was much, much, much deeper. John 11:5 says, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Here the word used for love is agape. Jesus loved these three unconditionally. Jesus loved them more than his life. So there’s no question about his love for them.

When the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick,” they had expectations. They had confidence that as soon as Jesus heard the news, he would drop everything and come running to them. But he didn’t. In verses 5 and 6 we find how Jesus’ love is much deeper and surpasses all our understanding:

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So,

when he heard that Lazarus was ill,

he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”

Between verses 5 and 6, there is a conjunction woon, referring result or consequence, normally translated as “therefore,” or “so.” Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, “so,” he stayed two more days (ex. ESV, NKJV, NET). Basically, Jesus waited until Lazarus had completely died. Why? It didn’t look like love. How can this be love? So they began to question Jesus’ love. First, Martha said to Jesus when he arrived later, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (v. 21; “Where were you, Jesus, when we desperately needed you?”) Again, Mary said the same thing, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died?” (v. 32; “Where were you, Lord, when we were grieving?”) Even the mourners joined them in saying, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (v. 37) So the people questioned Jesus’ love. Even today, we often question God’s love. “Does God really care for me?”

What God’s Love Is

Now how does Jesus respond? Though he doesn’t answer all the questions, Jesus reveals what his love is. He reveals what the goal of his love is here in verse 4:

“This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory,

so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

If the purpose of God’s love is to make us safe or happy, he could do that. He could protect us from all dangers, diseases, sufferings, and losses. Please don’t get me wrong. God does care for our safety and well-being. But that’s not the ultimate goal of his love. God’s love is not that we be healthy or wealthy and live a long, comfortable life. God’s love is not God’s making much of us. No! God’s love is God’s saving us from self-centeredness, which is, the root of all sin, so that we may see God’s glory, God’s beauty, and enjoy making much of him forever. God’s love is always God-centered, not self-centered. John Piper rightly said, “God’s love is giving people God. God’s love is showing people God. God’s love is getting people to God. God’s love is helping people be satisfied in God and be willing to lay down their lives for God.” Yes! God’s love is helping us to see and enjoy God’s glory forever.

John 3:16 tells us the goal of God’s love: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not be perish but have eternal life.” But, what is eternal life? Jesus answered this question in his prayer in John 17, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (v. 3). That’s eternal life. That’s the goal of God’s love – knowing God and Jesus Christ. For this purpose, God allows pain and loss in our lives, so that we may come to know him and Jesus Christ in deeply personal ways. Jesus allowed Lazarus to die, though he could keep him from dying. But through this time of pain and loss, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus came to know who Jesus really is: Jesus is the resurrection and the life. They came to know by heart that Jesus was not just a friend, but he was the Son of God indeed. Not only for them, but also for the people around them, came to know Jesus and see his glory. “Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him” (v. 45).

The Story of Adoniram and Ann Judson

God’s love allows pain and loss in our lives, so that we may know him, savor him, treasure him, love him, make much of him, and glorify him. Let me give you an illustration. I think it would be hard to find a better example than the life of Adoniram and Ann Judson, missionary couple to Burma. At that time (in the early 19^th century) Burma was considered a closed country, such as North Korea today. No religious toleration. All the previous missionaries had died or left. At the age of 25 Adoniram Judson and his wife, Ann at age 23, arrived in the land of Burma. While they were there, they bore three children, and all of them died. The first baby, nameless, was born dead just as they sailed from India to Burma. The second child, Roger, lived 17 months and died. The third, Maria, lived to be two, and outlived her mother by six months and then died. When their second child died, Ann Judson wrote in this way, “Our hearts were bound up with this child; we felt he was our earthly all, our only source of innocent recreation in this heathen land. But God saw it was necessary to remind us of our error, and to strip us of our only little all. O, may it not be vain that he has done it. May we so improve it that he will stay his hand and say ‘It is enough.’”[1] In other words, Adoniram and Ann believed that God is sovereign and God is good. They firmly believed that God allowed pain and loss in his goodness, so that they might grow and set their hearts on God, not on themselves or things on the earth.

The Invitation

For me personally, one of the most inspiring stories in the life of Adorniram Judson was how he declared his intention to marry Ann. Knowing that he was going to leave to Burma as a missionary, Adoniram wrote to her father the following letter:[2]

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left is heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteous, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?

Surprisingly, Ann’s father didn’t say no. Instead, he let her daughter to make up her own mind. After much prayers, Ann said “Yes.” In the letter to her close friend, Ann wrote as follows:[3]

I have about, come to the determination to give up all my comforts and enjoyments here, sacrifice my affection to relatives and friends, and go where God, in his Providence, shall see fit to place me.

From the life of Adoniram and Ann Judson, and from the story of Lazarus, we hear God saying to us loud and clear: “I love you. My love for you is not that you be just healthy or wealthy. My love is not sparing you suffering and hardship and distress and calamity and death. My love is, in the midst of all this, sustaining you, giving you myself, showing you my glory. Can you come with me?” May we say “Yes, Lord!” and join Mary and Martha, and Adoniram and Ann on this new journey. And we will see and enjoy the glory of God forever. Amen.

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[1] Courtney Anderson, To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson (Zondervan, 1956), 193.

[2] Ibid., 83.

[3] Ibid., 84.

“The Beautiful Shepherd” (John 10:1-18)

Who Are the Sheep?

In today’s scripture Jesus uses an illustration of our relationship with him: the shepherd and the sheep. This illustration clearly presents who Jesus is and who we are. In his book The Way of the Shepherd, Kevin Leman describes ten characteristics of sheep. First, Sheep have bad sight. So a shepherd bells the leading group of the sheep for the entire herd. Second, sheep are foolish. They seem to only know how to do one thing well – eat grass. Third, sheep easily fall. Fourth, sheep are easily “cast” – flipped over on their back. Fifth, Sheep are unable to right themselves. They will die of starvation if not turned over by the shepherd. “Helpless.”  Sixth, sheep are selfish and stubborn.  Seventh, sheep have no sense of direction. Eighth, sheep go back the way they had come. Ninth, sheep are defenseless and vulnerable. They can only run. Tenth, sheep become silent in the face of death. Sounds familiar? I don’t know about you. But for me, I find myself in these characteristics of sheep. We find one important truth from the characteristics of sheep: sheep need their shepherd. And in today’s passage Jesus said, “I am the shepherd of the sheep” (v. 2).

The Shepherd and the Sheep (vv. 1-6)

Today’s scripture consists of three parts. In verses 1-6 we find the shepherd’s intimate relationship with his sheep. In verses 7-10 the shepherd’s provision for his sheep. And in verses 11-18 the shepherd’s heart for his sheep. First of all, there’s such an intimacy. John 10:3 says, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name.” Sheep may not that be smart, but they know their shepherd’s voice. And they follow him only. I still remember the story that one pastor shared after his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. There he saw two shepherds and their flocks taking shelter from the rain in the cave. The sheep were all mixed together. The pastor was concerned about how the shepherds would know which one is which. But when the time had come, one of the shepherds stood and began to call. Amazingly, one by one, all his sheep ran towards him. “The sheep hear his voice and follow him.” 

Not only this, the shepherd calls his own sheep by name. Palestinian shepherds named their sheep according to their characteristics. One might be called “Fluffy” or “Long Nose” or “Grumpy” or “Fearful.” The shepherd knows each of his sheep personally and calls each one by name. Here we clearly see the mutual affection and intimacy between the shepherd and the sheep: “The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice, and he calls his own sheep by name.” What a joy to be his sheep! Today I just turned 41. Around my birthday I normally do my spiritual self check up, reading my spiritual journal for the past year and asking big questions: “Where am I?” “Where am I heading?” “Am I on the right track?” etc. The other day as I was questioning, listening, and contemplating, I got a little bit depressed. Then I fell asleep. When I woke up, God answered my questions, by giving me the song that I never sang before although I had heard. It’s a Korean hymn, titled, “Just As I Am.” A rough translation is like this:

Lord, You are my Shepherd. I shall not be in want.

You know me, search me, and still you love me.

My days are counted, all my hairs are numbered.

Lead me in your ways.

Cover me now under your wings

Surround me with your loving presence

One thing I desire, one thing that I seek

Is to know you fully just as I am known.

Jesus the Shepherd knows each of us in the most profound ways. He knows our past. He knows our brokenness. He knows everything about us. But still, he loves us and wants to have intimate fellowship with us. Jesus is our caring shepherd, and we are his sheep.

Jesus the Gate (vv. 7-10)

But sadly, in today’s story the Jews did not understand this illustration – intimacy between the shepherd and the sheep. So our Lord Jesus Christ began to explain further: “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.” Here Jesus was saying that he is both the shepherd and the gate. Then, what does it mean by that Jesus is the gate? Sir George Adam Smith, a biblical scholar, was one day traveling with a guide, and came across a shepherd and his sheep. He fell into conversation with him. The man showed him the fold that the sheep stayed at night. It consisted of four walls, with a way in. Sir George said to him, “That is where they go at night?” “Yes,” said the shepherd, “and when they are in there, they are perfectly safe.” “But there is no gate,” said Sir George. “I am the gate,” said the shepherd. He was not a Christian man, he was not speaking in the language of the New Testament. He was speaking from the Arab shepherd’s standpoint. Sir George looked at him and said, “What do you mean by the gate?” Said the shepherd, “When the light has gone, and all the sheep are inside, I lie in the open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and no wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the gate.”[1]

Jesus says, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture” (v. 9). As we come in, we find safety and protection in Christ. 1 John 5:18 says, “The Son of God protects them, and the evil one cannot harm them” (ISV). We are safe in Christ. Though safety is necessary, none of us wants to be merely safe. We want life. So as we go out, we find pasture. We find life, abundant life in Christ. Then, what is abundant life? It’s a life described in Psalm 23. It’s about having contentment in green pastures, having peace in the darkest valley, having joy in the presence of the enemies, having God all the days of life. In a word, abundant life is a life with the Shepherd. When we come in and go out by Jesus the Gate, we find safety and abundant life now and eternally.

Jesus the Good Shepherd (vv. 11-18)

Jesus is the gate. But now in verse 11 Jesus reveals himself even further, saying, “I am the good shepherd.” Here he says four times that he lays down his life for the sheep (vv. 11, 15, 17, 18). So the essential mark of the good shepherd is the one who sacrifices his life. Then, why is it necessary for the shepherd to lay down his life for the sheep? It is because our spiritual default condition is “lost.” Before we believe in Christ, we were lost. We were spiritually dead in our sins (Eph 2:1). So there was no way that we could rescue ourselves. The shepherd had to intervene and rescue us. And it cost his life. Using the shepherd and sheep analogy, 1 Peter 2:24-25 puts it in this way:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

We not only were rescued, saved from sin and death, but now we have the shepherd who guides us, feeds us, protects us, and loves us. And we are invited into a deep, deep, deep relationship with the shepherd. In verse 14 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” As we enter into this personal relationship with Jesus, we find there’s no deeper, no more satisfying, relationship in the world.

The Beautiful Shepherd

Jesus is the good shepherd. The Greek word kalos, translated as “good,” has more of the meaning of “beautiful.” Some translators render verse 11, “I am the beautiful shepherd.” Why is Jesus so beautiful? Because he knows us, and still loves us and cares for us. Why is his so beautiful? Because he is the gate. When we come in, we find protection. And when we go out, we find abundant life. Why is he so beautiful? Because he laid down his life for his sheep. And now he invites us into a personal relationship with him. Indeed, Jesus is the beautiful shepherd.

In him and through him we find our new calling, the new purpose of life. In verse 16 Jesus says, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Jesus has other sheep in Houlton, in Bangor, in Boston, in China, and in Korea. The question is how? How do they listen to Jesus’ voice? The answer is through you and me.

If you visited Westminster Abbey and stood at the tomb of David Livingstone, Scottish missionary to Africa, you would find the following words written on the gravestone: “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; Them also I must bring.” That was Livingstone’s life motto, his calling, his life purpose. But in fact, this verse should be our calling, our life purpose. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says that Jesus laid down his life for us, so that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and was raised for us. If you are not yet believing, I urge you to come to Jesus and find abundant life in him. If you have believed, I commend you to listen to his voice and follow him and bring other sheep to him. May the Lord Jesus our Shepherd kindle and rekindle in us the fire of his love for other sheep, so that they may also hear his voice and return to the shepherd and guardian of their souls. Amen.

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[1] Morgan Campbell, The Gospel According to John (Westwood, NJ: Revell, n.d.), 177. quoted in Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe (Crossway, 1999), 267.

“One Thing I Do Know” (John 9:24-34)

Two Things

In today’s scripture we see how great is the love of Christ – how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. Perhaps you have heard a story about John Newton who was a slave trader. During the voyage home, the ship was caught in a horrendous storm. He took this as a warning sign from God. He repented and had a radical conversion. But he did not radically change his ways at once. His total reformation was more gradual. He did begin to read the Bible and to see his slaves with a more sympathetic view. But he continued to make the voyages as the captain of slave vessels for a while. In fact, it took 34 years for him to publicly renounce his former slaving profession. In his old age, he made a public statement to end the slave trade practice. Then he shared his story by writing hymns. One of them was this: “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”[1] At age 82, the year he died, John Newton once wrote in this way: “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”

Seeing the Truth

This is an eternal truth: “I am a great sinner. And Christ is a great Savior.” In this chapter we see how people respond to this truth differently. This chapter began with Jesus healing a man born blind. A physical miracle happened. Jesus did it on the Sabbath, and he did it by making mud which fell under one of the forbidden works on the Sabbath according to the Jewish tradition. So this healing on the Sabbath caused conflict. It’s fascinating to see, as the conflict progresses, how the blind beggar is seeing reality (the truth, the light) more and more clearly, and the Pharisees seeing reality less and less clearly. The beggar moves from seeing Jesus as a man (“The man called Jesus”, v. 11), to seeing him as a prophet (v. 17) to calling him, “Lord” and worshiping him (v. 38). But the Pharisees move the opposite direction. Verse 16: “This man [Jesus] is not from God.” Verse 22: “If anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.” Verse 24: “This man [Jesus] is a sinner.” Verse 34, to the beggar: “You were born entirely in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Sadly, they are drifting further and further away from the light of truth. The more light that they resist, the harder and deeper becomes their blindness.

“I Am Blind”

Jesus came to give us sight. But in order to receive our sight, first we must admit that we are blind. In other words, the way of seeing is the way of the blind. Charles Spurgeon once said:

“It is not our littleness that hinders Christ; but our bigness. It is not our weakness that hinders Christ; it is our strength. It is not our darkness that hinders Christ; it is our supposed light that holds back his hand.”[2]

The way of seeing is essentially a willingness to admit we are blind and naked and hungry. The blind beggar of John 9 is our example. For him, it was not difficult to admit that he could not see. That was obvious. When Jesus’ disciples asked an ill-informed and insensitive question (“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” v. 2), he endured that awkward moment. When Jesus made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on his eyes, sending him to the pool, he obeyed. In this story we see this man is poor in spirit, having a humble, tender, responsive heart. But as for the proud Pharisees, it was too difficult to admit that they were blind. Instead, they thought that they were the only ones in Israel with spiritual sight. At the end of the story they asked this sarcastic question to Jesus, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” (v. 40) But Jesus replied, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains” (v. 41). So the first step to receiving our sight is to acknowledge our spiritual blindness and need. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3).

“Signs” of God’s Glory

The blind man in this chapter received his sight. He was able to see with his eyes for the first time! This physical miracle itself is a wonderful thing to happen. But this miracle, this healing is not an end, but a “sign” that would point him and us to Christ, so that all of us who believe in him may see with our hearts as well as with our eyes.

In today’s passage people were looking for its cause, looking for someone to blame: “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” (v. 2 MSG) That was a common perspective in ancient Israel. But Jesus replied, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here (MSG). This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (v. 3). Here Jesus was saying that this blindness was not found by looking for its cause but by looking for its purpose. God intended to display his glory through this blindness.

Still today in our lives God intends to display his glory through our suffering, our weakness, our blindness. In this case, it happens to be healing. But it doesn’t have to be healing. For example, for Paul physical healing didn’t come. He cried out three times for his thorn in the flesh to be healed. But Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Jesus displayed his glory, not by healing him, but by sustaining him – the glory of God’s power to sustain. Both in healing and non-healing (“sustaining grace”) God displays his glory. So when we go through suffering, the right question is about its purpose, “for the glory of God,” rather than about its cause, “Why?” As God heals us, or as God sustains us, we are drawn to him and his salvation. And by this, God gets glory.

Knowing the Shepherd

By his physical healing, the blind man drew near to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man said, “Lord, I believe.” But what does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means to trust Jesus to do what he promised to do. [The man trusted Jesus enough to go and wash in the pool] To believe in Jesus means to admit that we’re blind, we’re a sinner, and to trust that his death on the cross will atone for all of our sins. To believe in Jesus means to know him, love him, treasure him, and follow him wherever he goes.

Billy Graham told the story of an English actor who was honored with a banquet. In the course of the evening, he was asked to give a reading, and he chose Psalm 23. He read it in a moving way that brought out the beauty of the Psalm. His friends applauded. Later in the evening, an aged pastor was asked to speak. He too quoted Psalm 23. His voice rang with assurance and was vibrant with love. When he concluded, there was no applause, but there were not many dry eyes in the room. The actor stepped over to the pastor, grasped his hand, and said, “Sir, I know the Psalm—but you know the Shepherd!”

My prayer is that the Lord Jesus Christ may open our eyes to the truth of who he is, that we may know the Shepherd and join the blind man in saying, “One thing I do know that I was blind, but now I see. Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe.” Amen.

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[1] “John Newton: Reformed Slave Trader,’ Christianity Today, http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/pastorsandpreachers/john-newton.html

[2] Charles H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 30 (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim, 1974), 489. Quoted in Hughes, R. Kent. John: That You May Believe (Preaching the Word) . Crossway. 262.