John 12 - Expectations

John 12.¹ - Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. ² A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. ³ Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

⁴ But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, ⁵ “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” ⁶ Not that he cared for the poor—he was a

, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

⁷ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Expect Misunderstanding and Ignorance: The skeptic, the critic can expect to misunderstand the sincere seekers who bring all they are and all they are not to seek first the Kingdom of God. Expect to be bothered by those who seek out Jesus.
The seekers must expect to be misunderstood.
Derision - That’s what to expect to feel when you’re expecting doubt.
Delight is what we can expect when we’re expecting deliverance by Savior.
You will receive scorn from those who scoff at The Savior.

John 12. ⁹ When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.
¹⁰ Then the leading priests decided to

Lazarus, too, ¹¹ for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.

Expect Opposition, Intolerance, Prejudice, and Hatred: As you respond to Jesus, remember that the world hated Jesus first, and everyone who is raised to new life, everyone who desires to live a godly life - the life given to you by Jesus Christ - must

persecution. The culture that says it’s ‘all inclusive’ and reveres plurality actually HATES Jesus because He is Truth.

John 12.¹² The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors ¹³ took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,

“Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hail to the King of Israel!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

¹⁵ “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.
Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”

¹⁶ His disciples didn’t

at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.

¹⁷ Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. ¹⁸ That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had

about this miraculous sign. ¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”

Expect to be overwhelmed by all that Jesus’ rescue involves. The call to belief is simple - Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Making a balance sheet showing the complexities of salvation worked out by God from eternity past is far beyond any ‘systematic theology’.

John 12. ²⁰ Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration ²¹ paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to

Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.

Expect to meet Jesus if you want to meet Jesus. If you seek Him, you will find Him!
But make sure you’re not expecting Him to conform to your ideas of God. Take Him at His word. Your idols, your invented gods will always agree with you.
Jesus is The Way, the Truth and The Life.

John 12.²³ Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. ²⁴ I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of

lives. ²⁵ Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. ²⁶ Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor

Reveal Answer

who serves me.

Expect Upheaval: Jesus’ transformation of my life changes everything. Jesus is making me new. He is changing the way I think. Jesus enters my heart and my life with desire and power from God that makes me eager to be with Him and do what makes Him glad!

John 12. ²⁷ “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name.”

Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.”
²⁹ When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was

, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.

³⁰ Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine.
³¹ The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. ³² And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw

to myself.”
³³ He said this to indicate how he was going to die.

³⁴ The crowd responded, “We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say the Son of Man will die? Just who is this Son of Man, anyway?”

³⁵ Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. ³⁶ Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will

children of the light.”

After saying these things, Jesus went away and was

from them.

Expect God: This morning, some of us have heard the clear word of God. We heard it in our time of prayer, we heard it in our reading, we heard it in our worship and we hear it now as we read from the Gospel of John. We’re all hearing God speaking.
Others of us are hearing noise like thunder; something big is happening, but we’d be crazy to think God was talking. It must be something else. Besides, we only think we heard something; it’s not like there was some miraculous sign:
Expect That You Will Hide Jesus Away From Yourself or Believe.

Most Don’t, Some Do … but fear is big

John 12. ³⁷ But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done,

of the people still did not believe in him.

⁴² Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. ⁴³ For they loved human praise

than the praise of God.

Expect This Ultimatum:

There IS a Final Demand, Warning, Offer, Condition.

John 12.⁴⁴ Jesus shouted to the crowds,
“If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me.
⁴⁵ For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.
⁴⁶ I have come as a light to shine in this dark world,
so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
⁴⁷ I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me,
for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.
⁴⁸ But all who reject me and my message will be judged
on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.
⁴⁹ I don’t speak on my own authority.
The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
⁵⁰ And I know his commands lead to eternal life;
so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”