John 19:11, "Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."

This morning, confusion abounds about the working of God and the responsibility of man.  The ditches on both sides are full of people that lean too heavily one way or the other.  Quite often, those that overemphasize man's ability and power to do "what he wills" are known as either "free willers" or arminians.  Those that overemphasize God's dealings to make Him over-causative in the affairs of man are frequently known as absoluters.  Generally speaking, most assume the household of faith are absoluters as soon as they hear us mention the word "predestination," and absoluters will assume we are arminians the moment they hear us talk about conditions.  As is quite often the case, Bible students following after God in spirit and in truth seek to occupy the road between the ditches and have folks flinging rocks up from both sides and both ditches.  One of the clearest pictures from Scripture about God's affairs with men stems from His affairs with His Son while Jesus Christ walked this earth, particularly His last hours leading to death.

When you listen to people talk, it is generally amazing to hear them say things that patently disagree with what they believe.  Whenever a problem arises that is too great for an Arminian to handle, they say things like, "Well it's in God's hands," or if they are dealing with death, they say, "It's just their time."  Though they lay the responsibility of getting to heaven upon man's shoulders – the hardest problem known in this universe – and also abhor the idea of predestination, these common statements show some sentiment along those lines.  Likewise, an absoluter will commonly say things like, "Well we all have choices to make that we must live with" or possibly "Be careful about the situations you might encounter."  Though they think that all things are fixed and certain, they still daily operate with notions of condition, choice, and related consequence for the action.  From these observations and experiences, we might conclude and reasonably suggest that most people have a little bit of arminian and absoluter in them.  Therefore, it behooves us as students of God's word to root out those natural inclinations and center our thoughts and attention to the right way of thinking from the only perfect book ever written.

When Jesus walked this earth, He was perfectly attuned and aligned in His will to the Father's will who sent Him.  All that He had to do, He knew what was required of Him, and He joyfully and willingly did those things that were right and pleasing to His Father.  Nothing about His character can be impugned, and nothing that He did in action can be lawfully railed upon.  As it pertains to His death, He both knew and had agreed to come and die for His people.  However, the way we approach His prophesied death and the way that we deal with it says a lot about our theology in viewing God's actions and the responsibilities of man.

Notice Christ's language to Pilate from our study verse.  He very clearly relays that both God and men were responsible to some degree for the position He is now in.  They are not responsible in the same sense.  Far from it.  Christ clearly tells Pilate that any power (ability) he had against Him was from above, but that those responsible for putting Him there were guilty of great – in this sense – greater sin.  Let us consider how Christ ended up standing before Pilate from the perspective of God's hand and man's hand.  At the end of the day, the hope is that our conclusions will lead us to some measure of understanding of the dealings of both in our lives.

It is clear from Scripture that man wanted to kill Christ from the moment He came into this world.  Herod murdered countless children trying to extinguish Him whom the wise men came to worship.  The Jews oftentimes sought to stone Him, and He simply passed through the midst of them.  Soldiers were sent to take Him, and could only respond with, "Never a man spake like this man."  This manifold witness shows that had God so desired, no one could have touched Christ forever as long as God so chose.  However, God does not regulate every activity of life on earth, though He does many, many times shower a hand of providence and protection upon people and events.  God's hand was with Christ at all times, and no one, no matter how savvy could have gotten through to harm Him while such was the case.

Christ's first clause to Pilate shows the veracity of this thought.  Pilate could have done nothing to Him had God so chosen that He not.  However, at the moment Christ stood before him, the providential hand was temporarily removed, which allowed the men to take Him, bind Him, and deliver Him to the magistrate.  Christ tells them in the garden (previous chapter) that it was "their hour and the power of darkness."  The hearts of men were finally able to fulfill what they had wanted for quite some time.  Both the Father and the Son knew that He had come to die, but nothing was going to hurry that death or leave some prophecy of His coming and work unfulfilled. 

What about man's actions in this whole ordeal?  God's hand cannot be charged upon those men to do what they did, for notice the wording of Christ's second clause.  He that delivered me to thee hath the "greater sin."  Christ is telling Pilate, "If you put me to death, that's wrong, but those that sent me here are more wrong than you are."  In other words, the men that did the things to Christ were not fulfilling God's grand scheme and design of things.  Rather, they were following their own fleshly and sinful desires.  Pilate had a desire to advance his political position and would placate people to make it happen.  Sinful.  The men wanted Christ put out of their sight, for He was a great thorn in their side that needed to be eradicated for their peace of mind.  More sinful.  God did not move those hearts, but they manifested in full what they had wanted for years.

One thing this verse also shows is that not only was God not culpable for their misdeeds, their misdeeds were ranked.  There are greater sins than others.  The wicked Jews were more sinful in their conduct than the wicked Romans were in the execution of that conduct.  Just as a leader or teacher is more at fault than those that they lead and teach, so also those that delivered Christ to the tribunal were more sinful than the tribunal that scourged and eventually crucified Him. 

Now, at this point in the reasoning, one might cry, "But Christ was supposed to die.  He was supposed to die that way.  It was prophesied."  However, though God knows someone will do something, that does not make Him culpable for the action.  The fact that He removed His hand of protection from Christ Jesus – knowing full well what they would do – does not make Him responsible for what they did.  Their wickedness was their own.  The thoughts and intents of their heart were on display for all to see and observe.  When Christ bowed His blessed head and gave up the ghost, their accountability for His death was fully demonstrated as they thought He was finally removed from their sight.

So, we see from Christ's statements to Pilate that nothing could have happened to Him in this manner had the Father not allowed it, but that all the heinous actions that transpired were accounted to the men that performed them.  This same sentiment is echoed by Peter on the Day of Pentecost when he tells the Jews that Christ was delivered by God's determinate counsel and foreknowledge, but they wickedly crucified Him. (Acts 2:23) No amount of rationalization can successfully exonerate the wickedness of man or condemn the righteousness of God in this setting.  God's actions – as always – are fully righteous and not responsible for sin.  Man's actions in this setting are bad to worse depending on whether part of the sin or the greater sin.

How does this translate for us today?  While it is undoubtedly true that God knows all that will happen to us during the course of our lives, we cannot say that our lives have been prophesied about to the level that Christ's was.  I have no idea what is in store for me, nor can I accurately predict what form of death I will endure.  However, between now and then, I am assured that God will be with me in all things.  Because Christ was forsaken by the Father in the work that He had to do, I will not ever have to worry about being left alone. (Hebrews 13:5-6) Now, that does not necessarily mean that He will protect me from all things, but He will be with me in all things.  Without a doubt, my life has been preserved and spared on numerous occasions, and probably many, many more that I fail to even see that it happened.

Yet, in our lives we will suffer at times and endure pain and afflictions.  In many of those pains and afflictions we will see the wickedness of man's heart on display as we endure reviling and suffering from them.  When someone looks upon the scene of the early disciples of the cross, we see them counting it all joy that they were counted worthy to suffer these things for His names' sake. (Acts 5:41) While trying to follow after Him in gospel obedience, they felt a kinship to Him by undergoing those types of beatings, suffering, and death.  Though they experienced the cruelty of man's depravity, they understood that God had not forsaken them though He didn't spare them from everything.

Friends, I would like to say that following God yields a care-free life, but the truth is that the forces of darkness will desire our demise in direct proportion to our attempts to live righteously in this old world. (II Timothy 3:13) Many times, God delivers us from things, but He also delivers us through things as well.  No matter how bad the depravity pressing upon us from within or without becomes, never mistake God's hand in that.  He has not brought these things upon us any more than He brought those things upon His Son.  Man in all of his ugliness is responsible for those things.  There will be varying degrees of depravity that we see, but through it all, may we see that He has been with us, stands with us, and is waiting on the other side for us.  Knowing that deliverance has come in our lives, may we anticipate it even moreso in the life to come.

In Hope,

Bro Philip

John 12:10-11, "But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus."

This morning, the world we live in likes to "tamper" with the evidence.  When evidence mounts to oppose someone's opinion or position, they sometimes pull out all the stops to extinguish the flame of opposition to their position.  However, whether evidence is tampered with or not, one thing man cannot change is the truth.  Truth remains the truth regardless of circumstance or situation.  Consider all the injustices that have occurred in human history.  Some we are aware of (after enough time has elapsed) while others perhaps go unnoticed and uncovered perpetually.  Yet, the truth is that the Lord rights every injustice.  Whether in this world or the next, the Lord will avenge that which is right and just. (Romans 12:19) Since truth will stand fast, upheld by our Lord's righteous character, we should seek to honour the evidence of truth and earnestly contend for it as testimonies ourselves to the truth of God and His holiness.

In our study verses, we are afforded yet another glimpse into the life of our Lord as He interacts with a precious family.  The previous chapter clearly states that Christ loves these people, and we are afforded many insights into His intimate conversations and experiences with them.  He is in Bethany in the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  Previously we read where Christ raised Lazarus from the grave, and though this magnificent display of power was of the same caliber of His other miracles of healing, it made a huge impact on those that witnessed it and testified of it.  To man's perspective, raising the dead is the most powerful display of ability and might that we can imagine.  Death to the natural perspective is so final, total, and complete.  Therefore, a reversal of the finality of death amazes and mystifies the natural perspective.  It cannot be explained away or passed off as phony.

As a brief aside, I am always amused when I see "faith healers" on television or read about them in the news.  They draw away huge swells of people that are taken in by their production.  If these people really do have the power to do what they claim, I would like just once to meet them in a cemetery somewhere and watch them raise the dead.  Scripturally speaking, one would expect a man of such power and might to be able to do the one as easily as the other.  In other words, if a man can heal a cripple or take away a physical disease, why would he not have the same power over death?  Christ in His ministry showed no such lacking distinction.  His efforts to heal the sick were equally seen and displayed when He raised the dead back to life.  Lazarus' case was the most definitive of the three we have recorded in Scripture.  With the widow's son and Jairus' daughter, both of them had been dead a relatively short time, but Lazarus was dead for four days and manifested it by the odour of death that came from his tomb. 

Because Lazarus' death was so manifest and plain to all, the raising of him back to life was equally manifest and plain to those that testified of it.  No gainsayer could logically or convincingly sway those that saw it that they really did not witness what they witnessed.  Lazarus was now a living and breathing testimony of the power of Christ over death and the grave.  By his very presence, people could see him and be reminded that the man called Jesus brought him back from the icy grip of death's cold hand.  Since Lazarus is now "evidence" and proof of the power of God, Christ's detractors now seek to rid him as well and tamper with the evidence.  While not changing the truth of what happened, removing Lazarus from the picture removes credible evidence that could sway people into believing in the Jews' enemy: Jesus.

The mindset truly is remarkable!  Consider that Christ has the power to raise the dead.  He has already proven it with Lazarus.  What if they killed Lazarus?  What is there to prevent Christ from raising Him again?  What if they kill Christ?  What is to prevent Him from raising Himself?  No doubt, they failed to consider these things in their thirst and desire to rid themselves of the Man that endangered their position with the people.  His presence condemned their actions and turned the hearts of the people, and He must be stopped before they are left without any followers.  In this quest, they stooped to levels that do not even logically make sense.

Today we find a relevant correlation.  As Lazarus was a living testimony of the power of God over death and the grave, so the Lord's people today should stand as towering lights and testimonies to the power of God over sin and depravity.  Every time we observe a child of the King act honorably and nobly in this world, we see a living testament to the hand of God that has quickened from death in sins to life in Christ.  Nothing else or short of that could effect such a grand and marvellous thing.  Since men – by nature – love darkness and hate the light, these towering testimonies will condemn them just as the Light condemned those in His day by His presence and testimony. (John 15:18-27) We should not marvel if the world hates us (I John 3:13), for it hated our Master before us and is verily not our friend either.

Consider the apostle Paul.  Whenever he engaged in life as Saul of Tarsus, no greater threat or enemy to the people of God could be found.  No greater passion for his purpose could match him.  Yet, God's work upon his heart and call into his service turned his life around 180 degrees.  When people observed this changed man, they observed a living testimony.  When God today takes us as sinners vain and wild and makes us like a little child, we see the same evidence.  What did they try to do to Paul?  Same thing they tried to do to Lazarus.  Their lives stood in jeopardy for trying to do the right thing. (II Timothy 3:13) We should expect nothing different in our lives today.

In that day, their avenue to put people to death was easily navigable.  In many countries today, that is still the case as God-fearing people are slaughtered by their enemies for seeking to be shining lights in their communities.  In our country in America, we have been amazingly blessed to not stand in fear of natural death for following the Lord.  On the weekends when we go to church, I never worry about someone banging the door down and arresting or killing us.  Yet, there is another method to kill living testimonies besides natural death.  If someone can tamper with the evidence in this way, it can sometimes have a more significant impact than natural death.

What if Lazarus had been convinced to declare, "I don't think Christ really raised me from the tomb?"  What kind of impact would that have had on those that believed in Jesus?  How many that believed because of Lazarus' personal testimony would have had their faith, belief, or trust in Christ overthrown?  Someone might say, "Preacher, that is such a foolish analogy."  Indeed, it might be, but consider that many today do something similar.  After God calls us from nature's darkness into His Divine Light, He does not chart our every step, action, and thought.  We are required and commanded to honour Him in our lives, but we many times do not.  Just as Lazarus was capable of later denying what happened to him, so we can today begin to deny things that we know to be true but fail to honour them as we should.

When a child of the King fails to shine as a living testimony of God's power over our sin and death, we find the correlation to our "foolish" Lazarus analogy.  Sometimes the pattern of life is not so much marked by what is done or said but by what is not done or said.  For example, most denials of Christ are not found in the statement, "I know not the man," though it sometimes happens as it did with Peter.  Most of the time, denial of Christ occurs when people say, "I think or I would rather…." when posed with the idea of going to church, reading their Bible, or praying.  When other things get in the way of the fellowship of the Master, we are denying Him in our lives and failing to stand as living testimonies to His power.  When our natural lives look and sound like those around us in the world, we appear or sound dead like this old world.

Lazarus here was sitting and eating at the table with Christ.  This type of intimate fellowship and association with the Son of God only further manifested his testimony of devotion to this One that had done so much for him.  Our lives of godliness and obedience serve as further witness and testimony to the devotion we have for Him who hath quickened us by His grace.  A child of the Master today denying Him in action or inaction is akin to Lazarus failing to admit the truth of His raising from the hand of Christ.  That death of godly living and obedience is a death that the enemies of the Master seek to elicit from us to kill the evidence of His work in this old world.  Every time we cave in to temptation and fleshly desires, we are allowing the enemy to – in a sense – kill the evidence.  As Lazarus' reversal of testimony would have injured those that believed on Christ because of him, so our ungodly lifestyles can harm those that look up to us as examples of the walk: like our children.  May we stand as living testaments to Christ and His power.  May our feet continually find rest under His table, and may we not forget what He has done for our souls by His personal victory over death, hell, and the grave.

In Hope,

Bro Philip