Author: michael

John 12:37-43 ³⁷ Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.⁴² Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

The Lord Jesus left them and hid himself because the Jews wanted to kill him. Although he performed many miracles, they still did not believe in him. The purpose of the miracles is to make people believe, here it says that they didn’t believe even they saw the miracles, This was to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah 6:10 also says: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” This fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, the Lord Jesus performed many miracles, the Father spoke from heaven with a voice, the testimony of John the Baptist, and the Old Testament prophecies about the Lord Jesus, yet they still did not believe, is it because the Lord would not let them believe? The Lord wants all people to come to repentance and turn to Him, but they disbelieved, hard-hearted, and were unwilling to turn to God. The Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through faith. There are two aspects to salvation, one is by the grace of God, and the other is by our faith. Some of the rulers believed in the Lord Jesus, but because of the Pharisees, they dared not admit it, for fear of being expelled from the synagogue. If anyone believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Pharisees would throw them out of the synagogue. They did this because they loved the praise of man more than the praise of God.

It is said here that the Israelites were partially hardened, but when the number of the Gentiles, that is, we non-Israelis being saved, is full, the whole house of Israel will be saved. May God bless you all!

John 12:12-19 Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” ¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. ¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Many people were going to Jerusalem for the Passover. Knowing that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. Most of the people spread their clothes on the road, others cut down branches to spread on the road, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord!” What does Hosanna mean? Hosanna means: save, we pray, here it is the word of praise.
This is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy:
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
The Lord Jesus did not ride a war horse as King. He was gentle. He humbly rode on a donkey and the foal of a donkey. The disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus died and rose again, the disciples understood that the scriptures prophesied about the Lord Jesus. Because the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the crowd went to meet him. The Pharisees felt helpless when they saw that everyone followed Jesus. Hope more people will believe in the Lord.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 12:1-11 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” ⁹ Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Here it says that six days before the Passover, which is very close to the day of the death of the Lord Jesus, someone prepared a feast for the Lord Jesus in Bethany. From the parallel passage, we know that it was in the house of Simon the leper, Lazarus who was raised from the dead was also among those who were at the table with Jesus, and Lazarus’ sister Mary took a pint of very expensive perfume, poured it on the head of the Lord Jesus, anointed his feet, and wiped it with her own hair, the price of the perfume was worth more than a year’s wages at the time. Some of the disciples were very displeased and felt that it was a waste. They said that the perfume could be sold for a lot of money to help the poor. Judas, who was about to betray Jesus, also said the same thing, he didn’t care for the poor, he carried the purse and often stole the money from it. The Lord Jesus said, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” There are always poor around, but the Lord Jesus would soon pass away, and there were not many opportunities to do good deeds for the Lord Jesus directly. Mary loved the Lord and did it to prepare for the day of the Lord’s burial, The good deeds she did to the Lord Jesus are remembered all over the world. Many Jews came to see the Lord Jesus and Lazarus who was raised from the dead, but the chief priests plot to kill Lazarus besides killing the Lord Jesus, to remove the evidence that the Lord Jesus raised him from the dead. Many people believed in the Lord Jesus because of Lazarus, I hope that more people will come to believe in the Lord Jesus.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 11 47-57 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” 49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. 55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

Here we see that the chief priests and the Pharisees knew that the Lord Jesus performed many miracles, not only did they not believe, but they were looking for countermeasures. They said, “If we let him go like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take our land and our people.” At that time, the Jews were under the Romans’ rule, if everyone believed in Jesus, they thought that this was a threat to the Romans’ rule, and the Romans would take action against them. There was a man named Caiaphas, the high priest of that year said to them, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” As the high priest, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and he didn’t prophecy on purpose, they did not know that the death of the Lord Jesus was to save the Israelites and the world. They wanted to put the Lord Jesus to death so that the Romans would not come to destroy them. So they plot to kill Jesus. The Lord Jesus knew everything, so he did not walk openly among the Jews, but was with the disciples in a village called Ephraim near the wilderness,  not that he was afraid, but his time had not yet come. Hope that many people will believe in the Lord because of many miracles He performed and know His love for us, his death on the cross for the salvation of mankind.
May God bless you and your family.

John 11:38-46 ³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” ⁴⁵ Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Here we see that the Lord Jesus came to the tomb, and the tomb was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. The tomb is not like the ones we see nowadays. The Lord Jesus told people to remove the stone. Martha said, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Martha didn’t seem to believe that the Lord Jesus would raise Lazarus, so the Lord Jesus said to Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” The Lord Jesus prayed to God the Father, and then cried out with a loud voice to the dead man, “Lazarus, come out!” Then the dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” We saw that when the Lord Jesus was working, he also wanted people to participate in his work. When the Jews saw what Jesus did, many believed in him. The Lord Jesus performed signs and wonders for the purpose that people may believe.

⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:52-53)
Here we see that after the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross and raised from the dead, the tombs of many saints were opened, and many saints were raised and appeared to many people.

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Here it is said that when the Lord Jesus comes again, the dead in Christ will be raised first, and then we who are alive and remain will be caught up with them in the clouds, and meet the Lord in the air, and we will be with the Lord forever.

in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)
When the Lord Jesus comes again, when the trumpet sounds for the last time, the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, with an imperishable body, and our body will be instantly changed to a glorious, imperishable body .
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 11:1-16 1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” 11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Here we see that a man named Lazarus in Bethany was sick. He was the brother of Mary and her sister Martha. There are several Mary’s in the Bible. This Mary poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. They sent someone to tell the Lord Jesus that their brother Lazarus was sick. They knew that the Lord Jesus had done many miracles and hoped that the Lord Jesus would heal him. The Lord Jesus could go there right away to heal Lazarus or could heal him without seeing him, but he waited two days, allowed Lazarus to die naturally, and then manifested the power of resurrection.
We saw earlier that the Jews in Judea wanted to stone the Lord Jesus, but he still decided to go, to do the work that the heavenly Father entrusted him to do before he left the world, and then he said that Lazarus had fallen asleep, and he was going to wake him up. The Bible speaks of death as sleep, the Lord Jesus knows everything, He knew that Lazarus was dead, and He would resurrect him. The disciples thought he meant a literal sleep. Thomas said to the other disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas was very brave at this time, but when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I hope that more people will believe in the Lord Jesus and be blessed by the Lord.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 10:30-42 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’ ? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. 40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.

When the Lord Jesus said, “I and the Father are one,” the Jews picked up the stones to stone him, saying that he was blasphemy, that he was a man, but claimed to be God. The Lord Jesus is the Son of God, He is one of the Trinity God, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, namely the Son. He said that he and the Father are one, that means he and the Father are united in one, the Lord Jesus said that if you see him, you see the Father, not that he is the Father, or that he and the Father are the same being, he is one of the Trinity God. Some people use the egg as an illustration. An egg has shell, yolk, and egg white. God is Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, “Isn’t it written in your law ‘I have said that you are gods’?” The Lord Jesus quoted Psalm 82:6: “I said, ‘You are “gods”;  you are all sons of the Most High.” This refers to the judges of Israel, who were called gods, they represent God, not that they had divinity. Since man can be called gods, the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, one of the Trinity God. He is divine, and it is normal to be called God. The Jews did not believe that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God. All the miracles Lord Jesus performed proved that He came from God the Father, but they still did not believe that the Father was in him and that the Father was with him. But there were many people who believed in the Lord Jesus, believed that He was the Christ, and believed what John the Baptist testified about the Lord Jesus.
May God bless you and your family.

John 10:22-29 22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

The Festival of Dedication is a Jewish holiday. The festival commemorates the Jewish retake of Jerusalem from the Syrian Seleucid King Antiochus IV under the leadership of the Maccabees and the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem to God. The festival is usually at the end of November or December.
During the Festival of Dedication, the Lord Jesus was walking under Solomon’s Colonnade in the temple courts, and the Jews came to ask him to tell them directly whether he was the Christ. The Lord Jesus told them, but they did not believe. The works, the miracles Jesus did in God the Father’s name testified about him, God the Father, John the Baptist, and the Old Testament also testified about him, but they still did not believe, because they were not the Lord’s sheep, the Lord’s sheep hear the Lord’s voice, they also follow the Lord, and the Lord knows them and give them Eternal life, Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus the Good Shepherd takes care of  the sheep and protects them, Heavenly Father God is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from his hand, from the Lord Jesus’ hand.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 10:11-21 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to 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 authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” 19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” 21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Lord Jesus is the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, the hired hand, not the shepherd, the sheep was not his, and when he saw the wolf coming, he fled, the hired hand was just for the wages, not caring for the sheep. The Lord Jesus is the good shepherd. He knows the sheep, and the sheep know him. He has an intimate relationship with the sheep. The Lord Jesus came into the world to preach the gospel to the Israelites first, and then to the Gentiles, that is, the non-Israelis. The church was not in the sheepfold of Israel, but now belongs to the Shepherd Lord Jesus. In order to save the world, the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross and then resurrected. He layed the life down of his own accord, only to take it up again, he has  authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This shows that He is the source of life and His divinity. Some Jews thought that he was possessed by a demon, because what he said was not what ordinary people said. He said that he layed down his life in order to take it back, he prophesied his death and resurrection. These Jews did not believe that he was the Christ, didn’t believe that he is the Son of God. I hope that more people will turn to the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus who loves us, know God, know the Lord Jesus, and receive new life, receive eternal life.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀