John 12:1-11 (ESV)

Devotion

1: Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

2: So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.

3: Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Derision

4: But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,

5: “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

6: He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7: Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

8: For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Depravity

9: When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

10: So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,

11: because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

John 11:45-57 (ESV)

Faith, and the Nature of Fear

45: Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,
46: but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47: Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
48: If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

54: Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55: Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
56: They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?”
57: Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Understanding, and the Nature of Prophecy

49: But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.
50: Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
51: He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52: and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
53: So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Rev. Jim Phillis

Colossians 2:6-3:4 (ESV)

6: Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

7: rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

8: See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

9: For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

10: and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

11: In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

12: having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

14: by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

15: He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

3:1: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2: Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

3: For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4: When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

John 11:38-44 (ESV)

A Manifest Glory

38: Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

39: Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”

40: Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

A Redeeming Prayer

41: So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

42: I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

A Powerful Command

43: When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

44: The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

John 11:28-37 (ESV)

Jesus’ Plan

28: When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
29: And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.
30: Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.
31: When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32: Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Jesus’ Anger

33: When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
34: And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
35: Jesus wept.

Jesus’ Power

36: So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37: But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Micah 1 (ESV)

1: The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2: Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

3: For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

4: And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.

5: All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

6: Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.

7: All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

8: For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.

9: For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

10: Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.

11: Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place.

12: For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.

13: Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.

14: Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.

15: I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

16: Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.

John 11:17-27 (ESV)

The Reality of Death

17: Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

18: Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,

19: and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

20: So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

The Limitedness of Faith

21: Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22: But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

23: Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24: Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

The Sufficiency of Christ

25: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

26: and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

27: She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

John 11:1-16 (ESV)

For His Glory

1: Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2: It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3: So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4: But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

For His Work

5: Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6: So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7: Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8: The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9: Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10: But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

For Our Faith

11: After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12: The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13: Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14: Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15: and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16: So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Luke 1:5-25 (ESV)

5: In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6: And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

7: But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8: Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,

9: according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

10: And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

11: And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

12: And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

13: But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

14: And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

15: for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

16: And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,

17: and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

18: And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

19: And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

20: And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

21: And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.

22: And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.

23: And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

24: After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,

25: “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

John 10:7-21 (ESV)

Redemption through the Door

7: So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8: All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

9: I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The Sacrifice of the Shepherd

11: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12: He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

13: He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14: I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

15: just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

The Nature of His Authority

16: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

17: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

18: No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Reason and Conclusion

19: There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

20: Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”

21: Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”