Jesus Sign
(John 12:1-2, 9-19)
I delivered a sermon, titled Jesus Miracles based on John 11 on March 10th, 2013. It reflected my desire for a miracle in those days. Todays sermon is focused on Jesus sign, not his miracles. Jesus sign is what he showed us in order to reveal Gods glory and eternalize it in our memory for the motivation and growth of our faith. Todays passage deals with how to experience Jesus sign. How can we experience it?
1. We need to recline at the table with Jesus. In John 11, Lazarus was dead and raised from death. In John 12, his family holds a party for Jesus in gratitude for this incident. How much would he be itching to blow a trumpet about his resurrection before the crowd who chased a miracle? Nevertheless, he receded quietly among those sitting with Jesus, which was his best choice. In the passage, theres no specific mention about what Lazarus did and said. Yet verse 11 says 'for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.' Thus those who display Gods miracle as a glorious sign for Him can bring many people to Jesus as Lazarus did even though they do nothing in the process.
2. We need to recognize Jesus, riding on a donkey. After hearing Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, a large crowd of people went out to greet him, waving their palm branches. Yet, Jesus was on riding on a donkey without paying attention to their enthusiasm. Thus he outwits us by breaking our fixed idea. Jesus told his disciples to go to the village ahead of them and bring a colt tied there. (Mt.21:2) Even though Lazarus house was nearby, Jesus told his disciples to go to the opposite village and bring a tied colt. He came to Jerusalem on the small colt that had been tied in its place. Thus the key to be Jesus colt is being tied patiently to our circumstances. Its not about how great we are, but about how patiently we are tied to our helpless family, looking only for Jesus.
I met Jesus during my military service. However, after being discharged, I chased money along with a friend of mine. I sat at the table with money, not with Jesus. Yet after three months, it brought me nothing but debt. Later I was engaged in rough labor and went to church, which restored my joy. Then I entered a seminary, became a trainee pastor, and became a leader of a mission community. There I should have recognized my place and stayed more humbly, tied to ministry I failed. I was attracted to a place which drew peoples fanaticism. During my full time ministry, the purpose of my life was buying a nice car and being applauded by people rather than riding on my colt or carrying my cross. Thats why I hated meeting prosperous people, feeling small in their presence. Even in Wooridle Church, I avoided meeting giant-leaders, excellent in their ministry, feeling small physically and spiritually once again. As a result, I received a disciplinary measure from the church, which made me look straight at Jesus, entering Jerusalem, riding on his donkey.
3. We need to give testimony of our life. Jesus showed us his signs in order to reveal Gods glory to us. We, who experienced his signs, need to proclaim 'Thus Jesus saved me' instead of 'Thus I survived.' God revealed his signs to us because he wanted us to be his witness. Our mission place is where we share with others how we were raised from our death-bed, touched by the Word. Christians life should be focused only on their mission. May God bless us all to be a witness who gives testimony to Jesus signs that occurred in our life, standing firmly even in our disgraceful places.
'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. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.' (John 12: 17∼18)
