Sunday Sermons – Pace Campus

John 13-17 was Jesus' private teaching to His disciples taking place in the Upper Room less than 24 hours before He was crucified. So, we are looking at some of Jesus’ most important words to His inner circle. All

believers should read and meditate deeply on these promises. In general, John 14 deals with our Hope in Heaven, and John 15 deals with our Help on Earth. The location of the talk in John 15 and the following is debated. Because of Jesus' last words in John 14 "Get up, let us go from here,” some think the words in John 15 and following were spoken as they walked through Jerusalem on the way to Gethsemane. Others feel they

didn’t leave the room right away. It was a slow go, and they didn’t actually leave the upper room until John 18:1, which says, "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went with His disciples over the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples." So whether they are slowly getting up to go…or milling around outside, Jesus begins with the last of the “I am” statements recorded in John...

We have been talking a lot about Jesus… the Gospels tell His story. But as His time on earth comes to a close…He lets His disciples know that the mission does not end with His departure…in fact, things are just getting started. The best is yet to come.

As Jesus is troubled in spirit…He knows what looms. The disciples don’t know exactly, but I bet they do not like the way He is beginning to talk. Surely, they could see in His body language that He was visibly troubled. I suspect He wasn’t one to hide His feelings. So, He has told them that He is about to go away, and they can’t go with Him. In fact, He told them that things were about to get so bad Peter would deny Him three times

before the night is over.

We finished last week's message with Jesus trying to draw people out of darkness, making it clear that He is the Light of the world. He has come to save people from darkness. Those who reject Him will be judged for that. Those who believe receive eternal life. He couldn't have made it more simple. We pick back up in Chapter 13...

The large crowd was filled with anticipation, and now they were excited as Jesus was about to enter. They prepare the way of the king with branches of palm trees (explain), crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” They sure sound like they are all in...

The plot thickens to kill Jesus as the Passover draws near. Passover celebrated the Jewish exodus from Egypt and their freedom. So they would come from all over to Jerusalem to celebrate because the temple was there. This annual celebration commemorated the original Passover when the Angel of the Lord passed over the homes of those who marked their doorposts with lamb's blood. The Passover lamb is a substitute for the firstborn, and without the lamb's death and the spreading of its blood, families would lose their firstborn.— If you are a new believer, let me just say this upfront— Jesus is the Passover Lamb. SO THIS PASSOVER AND THIS PASSOVER LAMB WAS WHAT ALL THE OTHER PASSOVER CELEBRATIONS IN THE PAST POINTED TO. We don’t know for sure what time of year Christmas was, but we know the crucifixion of Christ was in the spring…at this time because He is the Passover Lamb. And God had given Israel specific instructions in Exodus 12 about the Passover.

Jesus brings Lazarus back to life. What’s next? How do people who had been wrestling with who Jesus was respond? — Do they fall at His feet and call Him Lord? I mean what do they do?

Jesus has been going through what seems a never-ending back-and-forth dialogue with the religious Jews, plainly telling them that He was the One to come, the One they were looking for, the Messiah, and they kept demanding a sign…a greater sign. He told them they had enough to go on (it ought to be embarrassing, even a blind man believed). So we turn to John 11, where we will see that all doubt should be removed as Jesus will perform His seventh of the seven signs/miracles John records.

In our study last week, Jesus told the people that He was both the Door and the Good Shepherd. Tie that in with everything said about Jesus and everything that He has said about Himself in the previous nine chapters, and He makes His point clear that He is the only way to the Father…to eternal life…to be saved from the wrath of God’s judgment on sinners.— We learn that not only do people have trouble with reading comprehension, but in their case also oral comprehension.