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Commentary on John 11 (4)
Let’s take a look at John 11:40.
“Jesus said to her, “Said I not to you that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?”
But how can she see the glory of God when she cannot believe that her dead brother will be alive?
The same goes for us.
How can I see the glory of the Lord if I do not have this basic faith that says, ‘I have been raised from the dead through Jesus Christ, and eternal life is within me.’
Therefore, listen to the Word first and accept Christ as Lord.
We must first accept Him, who is resurrection and life, as our Savior through the Word of the Lord.
So, the Lord does not continue to insist that “I am, it is me” within us.
Because we don’t realize it, the Lord says, ‘I am here, I am here, I am me within us..’
When he comes into us, He becomes our attribute within us.
He becomes life, power, and love, and thus becomes our nature.
He permeates into us as an anointing
This is his attribute.
Therefore, if you walk according to His Holy Spirit, you will not claim, ‘I am a person with gifts or abilities, or I am a person with authority.’
He says that ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’ are revealed in you (Galatians 5).
It does not mean that we are given any authority to walk according to the Holy Spirit, but that these attributes are revealed in our character.
In this way, when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, it does not mean that we always say, ‘I have the confidence to do anything because I have Jesus Christ,’ but that the attributes of Christ gradually permeate into us.
Because the word of God did not come to them, and because they were not people who heard and learned from God, it was of no use for Jesus to come in person in human form.
So, in Luke 16, when the rich man says, 'Father Abraham, I have five brothers, and I came to this hell because I believed wrongly, but please send Lazarus again so that my brothers do not come here,' what does the Bible answer? They say that if they do not receive the words of the prophets, they will not believe even if the dead come back to life.
If you do not receive the Word, you will not be able to believe even if you see the sign.
‘The word of God is not in you, the love of God is not in you.’ This is why even when Jesus comes in the flesh and preaches in his flesh, saying, “I am the resurrection, I am the life,” Martha and Mary do not believe him.
So, neither the people at the time of Jesus nor we in the age of the Holy Spirit believe better because we saw and heard the real thing, but we believe because we heard the words of the Bible after being taught directly by God through the Holy Spirit.
‘If we had seen Jesus in person, we would have believed more, but those Jews are fools.’ This is not true. Jews are not fools.
Since it was not after three days, the Holy Spirit had not taught them about Jesus Christ, they could not believe that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life, If you believe in him, you will be alive again, have eternal life, and see the glory of God.
However, people have heard that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and that he went to Egypt with his parents in the past and lived in Nazareth. No, he is saying that he is the Son of God. If that is the case, then you guys, please get a copy of the family register of a person named Jesus. What will it say on the family register?
It must be like this: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph the carpenter.
Then they won't believe it any more.
So, in Luke 3, it is recorded that ‘people’ called Jesus Christ the son of Joseph (Luke 3:23).
But God does not say, “He is Joseph’s son.” He says, “He is my beloved son.”
This means that the perspective of the people at that time was that Jesus was only the son of Joseph.
So is he a prophet who prophesied in the Old Testament?
If he is a prophet, why does he live in Nazareth?
He said he was born in Bethlehem... This is why people are confused.
Therefore, no matter how many signs and wonders Jesus performed and his powerful words testified to, they simply could not accept them. Until now...
This means that only after the Holy Spirit comes and regenerates people and teaches them directly about God and Jesus Christ, they accept the word of God when the gospel is preached to them.
That is why no one comes to Jesus Christ unless he is born of God (John 6:65)
That's why Jesus said, "Didn't I say that if you listen to me, you will see glory?" He is pointing out that you do not believe yet.
However, when Jesus came and spoke, Lazarus came back to life.
Mary and Martha, who had been meeting Jesus until now, were blocking him.
Stereotypical faith became disbelief, and Christ, the resurrection and life, was left standing outside.
But finally, starting in verse 41, Jesus speaks.
“And when he had spoken this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43)
When Jesus spoke and Lazarus came out, what does Jesus mean?
It is the Word. (John 1:1) The Word itself is resurrection and life.
If he had said, ‘Come out, you dead,’ instead of saying, ‘Lazarus, come out,’ there would have been a lot of trouble.
Because didn't all the dead since the creation of the world come out?
This is what I meant by saying that the word of the Lord is powerful.
The event of Lazarus coming back to life and coming out of the grave means that the Lord is the Word of Creation itself, and at the same time, he is resurrection and life.
He is in you and me now.
Can you believe it?
These are the attributes of Christ.
This is the attribute of Christ, who was the Word who was in the beginning.
The resurrection and the life, the attributes of Christ, are with us forever and work continuously within us.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION
To God be the glory.