[Mark Welch] That truly was beautiful. Very well done. I appreciate Mrs. Rowland. I know Amanda Rowland worked a lot on that one, and she wasn't feeling well today so we appreciate all that she does as well and all the choir members that put a lot of time into that. So thank you for a job very well done. It's a beautiful song. Well, brethren, the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they tell us a great deal about Jesus the Messiah, but the Gospel of John is unique in the book of the Bible that we focus on most of all during our annual Passover service.

We read large portions of the Gospel of John:13-17, during the Passover services every year because only in John are the majority of the final words of our Savior, Jesus Christ, recorded for us. We take the time to read many of the final words of Jesus Christ to his disciples on the night that He was taken to be crucified. Now, I studied the book of John a bit more this year than I think I probably ever have in the past. So today I'd like to bring more context to the Passover service by focusing upon highlights, actually lessons from the Gospel of John, many lessons that are not specifically expounded on at the Passover service, a few to some degree certainly, but many that aren't really expounded on much during the Passover, but I believe they do add a lot of context to us being there on Passover.

So the intent is to derive greater meaning from the Passover service by having the context of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the disciple John clearly in mind when we wash one another's feet, when we partake of the unleavened bread, and when we drink the wine on Passover evening, now just one night away. So ten lessons that we'll kind of race through, but hopefully you'll be able to keep up with me, and those of you who like to take notes, this is a perfect sermon for taking notes. So ten lessons, the first one being the Gospel of John emphasizes the pre-existence of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In fact let's go to John 1, and we'll read a few verses. And the book of John, this first chapter is unlike anything else in the Bible. It really gives us a depth of understanding that we would not have if it were not included in the Bible.

John 1:1-5 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

And then he talks about John the Baptist who came to witness to that light, that he wasn't the light, but he was a forerunner to come before Jesus Christ. And then if you'll notice in verse 14.

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." This is profound. It's so important that we get this as we keep the Passover tomorrow evening. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Our Messiah, our Savior is our Creator. Jesus Christ is the one who is with the one we know as the Father from the very beginning for all eternity. Jesus, the Christ, has existed. He preexisted before He became the Son of God. He was the God of Adam and Eve primarily, introducing Himself to them in the Garden of Eden. Noah during the flood, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs. He is the God of Moses, and He is the Passover Lamb of Exodus 12. You know, the Exodus 12 symbolizes our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the Word, the Yahweh, the Logos, who became Jesus Christ.

In the beginning, He was with God the Father. He was God. He was with God. He was a member of the God family. He was the spokesman for the Father who became His Son when born of flesh and conceived of the Holy Spirit, God's power in essence. He came as a little fleshly baby. Now that's a little bit hard to comprehend that someone who has eternally existed, who is all-powerful along with the Father, emptied Himself and was born a little baby. I mean, that kind of blows my mind. But it's important that we consider this when we think about who Jesus Christ is when we come to the Passover service.

So He has existed in all power eternally, but now He's a little baby in His mother's arms. His father taking care of Him. He was the life and the light of the world as the Creator and as the Christ, the Anointed One. The perfect One who was tempted. It says, "He was tempted in every way as we are, yet He was without sin." So He grew up from a little baby into a toddler, into a small child, into a teenager, and He was without sin, and Hebrews 4:15 tells us that.

Now, the vast majority rejected Jesus Christ when He came upon the earth, when He came into the ministry at age 30 but never sinned prior to that time, never did sin. But some were called to know Him for who He is. Some few, not really that many, but to these few who were true believers, He gave the power to become the sons of God. They were destined to become born of God, born into His eternal family. John the Baptist knew Jesus had preexisted, and he recognized Him for who He is, at least partially he understood, the very Son of God. He baptized Him while understanding He was not worthy to unbuckle His sandals.

The author of the Gospel of John acknowledges that the law of God, which the Apostle Paul later says is holy, just, and good, was given through Moses, but it was Jesus Christ who brought grace and forgiveness. Now, Jesus Christ was there on Mount Sinai as well, delivering the Ten Commandments, but it was through Jesus Christ that grace and forgiveness was brought when He became flesh and died for us. It's by His shed blood that we're forgiven our sins. He was crucified on our behalf.

So we are saved by grace. We're saved by the graciousness, the favor, and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and also the Father. I and my Father are one, and it's best to think of them as one because they truly are, in the sense that they're of the same essence, the same family, completely unified in thought. Yes, two beings but one mind. It's hard for us to comprehend. I don't know that we can get that close to really comprehending what that means, but they were truly one. And it is through Jesus Christ working with the Father, that we may all be saved.

Acts 4:12 "There is no other name given in heaven and earth whereby we may be saved" that's what the Scripture tells us.

Philippians 4:10 "Every knee of those who are saved shall bow before Jesus Christ."

And we are saved again by God's favor and His forgiveness, His graciousness through His Son, Jesus Christ. And this is what the Passover is all about. We come here because we all understand the need to be forgiven. We all fall short of the glory of God. We need to be forgiven, and so we're here every year as a reminder. As a memorial of Jesus Christ's death. That Jesus Christ did die for us, and we have accepted Him as our personal Savior, our Lord, our Master, our High Priest, our soon-coming King. The author of the book of John also said in John 1:18, adding to what we've already read.

John 1:18 That "no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."

"No man has seen God the Father at any time," is what it's saying, and we'll go to a verse. In fact, we might as well go right now.

John 6:46 Here it says, "Not that any man has seen the Father. No man has seen the Father, except He which is of God, He has seen the Father."

The One who became the Christ has seen the Father, but no other human being has seen the Father. And Jesus Christ was sent by the Father, and Jesus Christ came to reveal the Father.

John 6:44 That "no man can come to Christ unless the Father draws him."

So we're here today because the Father has drawn us to the Son. And it's an awesome understanding that we've been blessed to have, not that we're any smarter than anyone else, but God has called us, and chosen us, and pulled us out of this world. Yes, we did have to respond.

Matthew 22:14 The Bible says, "Many are called, but few are chosen."

Because only a few respond. And we can even give God credit for that because God works in us so that we can comprehend, and understand, and make good decisions. Right decisions that are pleasing to God. It is through Jesus Christ working with the Father, again, that we may all be saved. So we know that the One who became Christ was manifested and seen by many in the Old Testament.

Again, no one has seen the Father, but many have seen the One who became the Christ. John the Baptist reveals that he came on the scene to make the way for the Messiah, and that is why he offered a baptism of repentance prior to the beginning of Christ's ministry to lead the way, to guide the way to Jesus Christ. To come to Christ, one must repent of his sin. And he baptized Jesus Christ to do all things that were proper and good. Jesus set that example that we ought to be baptized as well. So John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God and called him that, which is a clear reference to the unblemished Passover Lamb of Exodus 12.

So this information in John 1 is extremely important as it adds greater meaning to the sacrifice of Christ. So it is good to reflect on that Passover evening that who is this being who died for us, who laid his life down for us? One of the two beings in the God family became flesh and became the Son of God. And we know that the Scripture tells us that "Christ was slain from the very foundations of the world." This was a plan that the Father and the Word came out with because of you and me, because of the need for us to be forgiven our sins. So Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. This is what was planned. The Father and Son together planned this for us because they love us, and they want us in their kingdom.

John 8:29 Here it says, "And He that sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, for I do always those things that please Him."

Jesus Christ came to please the Father when He came on this earth. He set that example for you and me. Our goal should also be to please our Heavenly Father. Like Jesus, we should always strive to please the Father in every important decision that we make on a daily basis. The important ones, we need to have God involved, and we need to be sure that they're pleasing to Him.

John 8:42 "Jesus said unto them, 'If God were your Father, you would love me.'" He's talking to those religious leaders who were opposed to Jesus Christ. "He said, 'If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Nor have I come of myself, but He sent me.'"

The Father sent Him. But there were those who opposed Him, obviously and crucified Him. But we need to understand.

John 8:58 "Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.'"

Now, this is a clear reference back to the burning bush in Exodus 3. This being who appeared to Moses and they spoke. So Jesus is the primary being revealed in the Old Testament, who appeared to everyone I've mentioned. His sacrifice is so much more meaningful when we realize that He was the initial God-being who was revealed to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Caleb. He came to die for us and to reveal the Father. So that's the first lesson that we learned from the book of John. It's a very, very important lesson as we observe the Passover tomorrow evening.

Secondly, what about the significance of Jesus' first miracle that's given to us in the book of John? Let's go to John 2. We're not going to take the time to read the miracle, but I believe most of you are certainly aware of Jesus turning water to wine. It was at a wedding. They had run out of the wine. Jesus turns water to wine, and guess which wine was much better? That's right, Jesus' wine was much better. He had the power to do this, His mother asked Him to, how could He refuse? I don't know that it was quite the right time. Maybe, I guess it was. I'm not sure He thought it was, but He did it because He honored His mother. Now this is significant, this water to wine. It's significant because we know the power of water.

You know, the Scriptures talk about how powerful water is, and we'll talk more about water in a bit. But without water, we wouldn't live long at all. You know, we need water. In fact, our bodies are made up largely of water. You know, there's a lot of water there. That's why I weigh so much. But water is tremendously important for human beings. Now, wine is a great blessing. Not near as important as water in some ways, but wine used properly with moderation and self-control, it can be a real blessing and can add to life. Wine on Passover evening, of course, is symbolic of the shed blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And we know that the Scripture tells us there is life in the blood. Jesus is life. There's life in the blood. He shed that blood for us. Eternal life. There is eternal life in accepting Jesus' blood. That is the gift that we may receive by accepting the blood of Jesus Christ shed for us. So we must accept His sacrifice, and be willing to drink his blood, the wine, figuratively. He said we're to eat His flesh and drink His blood. A lot of people didn't understand what He was saying. Hopefully, you do understand. So Jesus Christ laid His life down, His blood was shed for us.

When we drink the wine, let's remember that first miracle of changing water to wine. And most importantly, that Jesus Christ poured His blood out for us. This was a true miracle. I don't know of anyone who has ever done this. I can't say that I've even tried. I'm pretty sure I couldn't pull it off. I don't know that any of you could. Not unless God, for some reason, allowed that. But I haven't known of any other human being except Jesus Christ who legitimately turned water to wine. And it was better than anything they'd ever drunk before.

The third lesson from the book of John, in regard to the Passover, is what about the zeal of our Savior that's revealed in John 3. Jesus Christ was very zealous. In fact, it says that "the zeal for His Father's house eats Him up," basically. In other words, it brings persecution upon Him because what did Jesus do in Chapter 3 but drive the money changers from the temple? He did it with tremendous zeal. He demonstrates His zeal for God's way of life. He was protecting His Father's house. They were taking advantage of the people. God's house was not to be used in such a manner.

We too should follow Jesus' example and be zealous for the ways of God. We should stand up and be counted as Jesus was willing to do. If ever we're put in a position, we need to stand up and be counted. We need to remember the zeal of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And if it brings persecution, so be it. Nevertheless, we need to stand up and do that which is right and pleasing to God. Certainly, this was pleasing to God when He cleansed the temple and He drove the money changers out of the temple.

Yes, He became a target from that day on when they saw what He did. You can imagine how that would bring the ire of those who were at the temple, the religious leaders who profited, to some degree, from the selling of the doves and the different sacrifices that were going on. So the zeal of our Savior, Jesus Christ is to be emulated. That's the kind of zeal that we need to have for God's truth and for God's way of life.

A fourth lesson from the book of John is that Jesus is the first to be resurrected to eternal life. He is the first of the first fruits. John talks about this, and we're called now to an understanding of God's truth and to be in the first resurrection, the better resurrection. This is our day of salvation. This is our calling right now at this time. That's why we keep the Passover because we're called now, and we understand that we need to be here. Relatively few people will be observing the Passover tomorrow evening in the manner that we will. That is significant.

Jesus reveals that the people will destroy the temple, speaking of His own physical body, but He will raise it up after three days. This was the only verbal sign that Jesus gave that He was the Messiah. There were other signs like turning water to wine, like healing people. There were miracles that He performed that certainly indicated that He was so different. That He truly was the Son of God with great power. But the verbal sign that was given was that He would be three days and three nights in the earth, and then He would be resurrected to life, to eternal life. His disciples heard and later understood that He spoke of His resurrection. They didn't get it right away, but they did come to understand. So Jesus is the first of the first fruits. Those called now follow Him in the first resurrection to eternal life. That is a part of our calling, your calling.

In Chapter 3, Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about the necessity of being born again or born from above. And in a sense, you know, that happens when we receive the Holy Spirit. We're sanctified. We're set apart. But it clearly points to a resurrection to eternal life. And that's when we enter the kingdom of God in the fullest sense. This is certainly not God's kingdom today. But that day is coming.

John 3:13 It says, "No one has ascended to heaven, but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven," or going to heaven. So it's talking about Jesus, the Christ, "No one has ascended to heaven except the Son of Man."

David, he was dead and buried. His sepulcher was still with him. He was in the grave. He didn't know anything at that point. He was asleep. He was dead. And so that's an important understanding. You know, a lot of Christians don't understand that. It's pretty fundamental, but they don't get it. It's right here in the book of John. So we should believe what we read here. And again, it speaks to our calling, that God has opened our minds to His truth. Now, we understand about heaven and hell. Now, we understand about the lake of fire. You know, what God is doing here on this earth. That's a precious truth that we all understand because God has opened our minds to understand it.

We know that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That's in the book of John 3. That whoever believes in Him should not perish but should have everlasting life. And God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world to Him might be saved. So we are saved because Jesus is the first of the first fruits. And we are following in His footsteps. We are in the process of being saved, and keeping the Passover year by year is a part of that. You know, we come here every year on the memorial of Jesus' death to commemorate His death for us, to know that He laid down His life for us. That the Father loved us enough, that He gave His only Son for us.

John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

And this is talking about also obeying Christ, obeying the Father, keeping the commandments of God. That's a part of really believing in the Son. That's a part of our calling.

John 5:28-29 Says, "Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice." The time is coming that people will hear His voice, "And they will come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life." So that's talking about certainly the first resurrection to life, "And those who have done evil..."

Now, we know the second resurrection will take place as well, and those who have never really understood who God is, who Christ is, they will have an opportunity to know the truth. It seems that most hopefully will choose God, choose His way of life, and that very few will come up in a resurrection of condemnation. That's those who have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and have rejected it. God took that spirit away from them, or they rejected God outright and wanted no part of Him. Then they will be in a resurrection of condemnation. So it is important that we understand these things, these truths in the Bible.

John 6:40 "And this is the will of Him who sent me, the Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

That's a promise. That we will be raised up at the last day when Christ returns. The seventh trumpet will blow, and we shall be changed if we're alive, and if we've already died, if we sleep in Jesus, then we will come out of the graves first. What an awesome time. What a wonderful calling for all of us. Jesus promises to resurrect His disciples, to resurrect His true followers.

Now in John 11, we read of the resurrection of Lazarus. Remember Lazarus? What an awesome display of power this was. When Jesus first heard that Lazarus was sick, He, frankly, dawdled a little bit, didn't He? He did it intentionally.

John 11:4 He said that "This sickness would not end in death, but this was happening for the glory of God and that the Son of God might be glorified."

As we know, Lazarus did die, and Jesus knew it when He set out to visit Him. When He left, He knew that He was dead. In John 11, "Jesus said unto Martha..." John 11:25.

John 11:25 "Jesus said to her, to Martha, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'"

Do you believe this? We should all believe this. Lazarus was dead, but he would live again. And in verse 40.

John 11:40-44 "Jesus said to Martha once again, 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?' Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying, and Jesus lifted up His eyes." I think he'd been dead four days, right? He'd been dead for four days. "And Jesus said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me.'" He prayed to His father, spoke to His father, "And I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I said this." He was being considerate of the others who were standing by, "I said this, that they may believe that you sent me." He wasn't doing it on his own. He was sent by the Father. "Now, when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth."

He was ready for...you know, he was already laid out. But he came forth. "Lazarus, come forth." And so he did. "And Jesus said to them, 'Loose him. Let him go.'" God is in the process of freeing all of us in that sense. You know, we will all be resurrected. Now, this was to physical life, Lazarus. That was not to eternal spiritual life at that time. But it is a type... Lazarus is a type of all followers of Christ. Though we were dead, yet shall we live in Christ. So that was lesson number four.

Lesson number five. Jesus opens the way of salvation to gentiles, to all people. You know, oftentimes it seems that we maybe give too much credit to Paul and to Peter because they opened the door to the gentiles, right? Cornelius, Peter, and Cornelius and the vision, and all that happened there. And also Paul was sent to the gentiles. You know, he was to be a vessel to the gentiles. But what about prior to that? That's what John 4 is all about. In John 4 we read of the Samaritan woman at the well. Now, this was a real game changer because Jesus is talking with a woman. And not just any woman, but with a gentile woman. That was unheard of. That was not the way things were supposed to be done. Back in those days in that neck of the woods. This is significant, and it shows how we ought to treat all people with love and respect. And not be a respecter of persons just like our Savior, Jesus Christ. He was way out of His time.

John 4:14-15 "But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst." Remember they're at the well. Samaritan woman is there. Jesus is there. And He tells her, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life or everlasting life. The woman said to Him, 'Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.'"

And I won't go into the rest of that now, but it's quite certain that in one sense this well is symbolic of Christ Himself. He is the well. He is the river of living waters. We are to drink heavily of Him and from Him. Jesus Christ is life. In Him is life. God and Christ are together the fountain of living waters leading to eternal life. Jesus Christ is the well that contains the living waters along with the Father.

All must come to Him to receive eternal life. We are to drink freely and fully from that well. And even gentiles are now welcomed to drink. The way was being opened up to the gentiles. Water is symbolic of God's Holy Spirit. And the gentiles would now be able to receive God's Spirit to dwell within them if they accept Jesus as their Savior and repent. Now, it doesn't give us a lot of detail here. But Jesus pointed out to the Samaritan woman that she didn't know how to really worship properly. But Jesus was there with her, and if she accepted Him, she too could, "Worship God in spirit and in truth," John 4:24. We worship God with understanding because God has revealed the Scriptures to us. Being at Passover is all about our calling at this time. This is our day of salvation. This is our calling.

John 4:42 "Then they said to the woman..." This is other Samaritans who were brought in afterwards after He talked to the woman. "Then they said to the woman, 'Now we believe not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him.'" He stayed two days with them. "We ourselves have heard Him, and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

So this is really quite profound. He is opening the way to the gentiles as well. So, you know, I don't know that I'd ever really looked at it that closely before and understood that as well as I do now. Book of John, pretty clear. Jesus opened the way to the gentiles. Paul and Peter were following His example. That makes sense, right?

All right, let's go on to a sixth point or six lesson. Jesus upholds the laws of God and clearly shows that He is Lord of the Sabbath by healing and restoring life on the Sabbath. Now, in John 5, we read of Jesus healing a crippled man of 38 years, and He did it on the Sabbath. He told him to rise up and walk. Now, the Jewish leaders sought to kill Him for this. Had He done a bad thing? He just healed someone that was crippled for 38 years. You know, we can think of people we know who are crippled, who are in wheelchairs, and some of them for 38 years. If we had the power to heal them, would we not do it on any day of the week? Christ showed it was wonderful to do good on the Sabbath, and He reveals Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath. He's the creator, right? We talked about that.

He rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath was created, and the Sabbath was made for man. It was made by the one who became Jesus Christ. He showed us how to observe the Sabbath, how to keep it properly. It's fine to do good on the Sabbath. And if it's an absolute emergency, we can do good on the Sabbath. We can use the Sabbath the way God says because we know how to worship him in spirit and in truth. And Christ shows us how to do this. Jesus also gives credence to Moses and to obedience to His words on God's behalf to the children of Israel and all of mankind. Jesus was in no way at odds with Moses and the law of God given on Mount Sinai. So I bring this under this point because the Sabbath is one of those commandments. The Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments that was given on Sinai. In John 7:19, John 7, and in verse 19, Christ shows His support of Moses.

John 7:19 He says, "Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?"

And in the sermonette, we heard from Mr. Japheth that Christ did not come to do away with the law. Christ came to magnify the law. To show us how to really keep it in the way He intended by observing it in the spirit of the law. So, "Did Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?" They wanted to kill Him because they were envious. They were jealous. He was stirring up their world. They didn't like it. So clearly He upholds Moses. He supports Moses and the law. The problem has always been with the people, not with the law. The problem is still with the people. It's not with the law. The law is holy, just, and good. The Sabbath is holy, and just, and good. It's a good day to keep. We come here to worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus said in John 9:5.

John 9:5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

And Jesus Christ lives in us. We are to be the light of the world. We're not to hide our lights under a bushel. We are to shine forth. In this chapter it talks about a woman taken in adultery. Remember her? Somehow the man got lost. They couldn't find him. Somehow she was taken in the act, but there was no man. I think there were a lot of respecters of persons back in those days that really were not very fair and very equitable toward women. So anyway, this woman is taken in adultery. And you know the scenario. "He who has no sin, let him cast the first stone." They all filed out. None accused her. And Jesus said, "I don't accuse you either, but go..." And what? "Go and sin no more. I forgive you."

But go and sin no more. Don't take my forgiveness lightly. Don't take my grace lightly. Do your best to go and sin no more. Strive to do your very best to put sin out of your life. So then we come into another example of a healing. This is a blind man. The blind man is healed in Chapter 9.

John 9:1 "Now, as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth."

Blind from birth. Jesus heals the man who is blind from birth. Jesus, again, is the creator and Lord of the Sabbath, and He does this on the Sabbath day. Now, He healed people after the Sabbath too. It wasn't like He just healed people on the Sabbath. He healed them every day of the week when it was important, when it came up. But Jesus clearly showed that the Sabbath is to be used for good. It's to be used to glorify and to please God. So if you ever get the power to heal people, don't be so concerned about what day it is. Give them life.

So they went after this man who was healed. He's born blind. Been blind all his life. He's healed. He's been in darkness his entire life. He's been in physical darkness. The light of the world comes along and opens his eyes. Now he sees. What a blessing. What a wonderful thing. And yet they want to kill Him for it. And they went to his parents, and because they feared the Jews... Perhaps they should not have feared the Jews. Perhaps they should have just... You know, they kind of almost throw their son under the bus here, you know, by saying, "Go talk to him." And I'm not sure that was the best way to respond there.

John 9:22 "These words spoke his parents because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any man did confess that He was Christ, that Jesus was the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue."

They wanted to kick this man out, kick his family out, kick anyone out that would declare that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

John 9:32 "Since the world began, it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing. They answered and said to him, 'You were completely born in sin.'" So they're throwing it back at Him, "You're a sinner. You don't deserve to live." Yes, it's awful what they did to our Savior Jesus Christ. You know, it led to His crucifixion. They were hell-bent, you might say, on seeing Him dead.

John 9:32 "Since the world began, it has been unheard of," no one can do these miracles. It's only the Messiah, the Christ.

John 9:41 "Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no sin,'" talking to the Pharisees and the religious leaders. "But now you say, 'We see.' Therefore, your sin remains."

Be sure your sins will find you out. If you don't repent of your sins, you will pay the consequence of those sins. God can be merciful and forgive you when you repent of your sins. But their pride, their pride blinded them. Their envy, their jealousy blinded them. They claim to see. And because of their pride, the sin remained. We must not allow pride to blind us and keep us in darkness. The Passover service is always very humbling, isn't it? I've always been humbled by the Passover service every year. It's for our good. We observe the Sabbath and the Passover faithfully. Again, Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. He upheld the laws of God.

Let's go on to a seventh lesson. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the bread of life. Now, we'll talk some about this tomorrow evening for sure. In fact, quite a bit.

John 6:4 Let's go there, "Now, the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near."

And so they were going out, and there was a great multitude. And they're wondering, "How are we going to feed all these people?" Well, Jesus basically says, "Don't worry. What have we got? We've got a couple of loaves. We've got five fish. That's plenty. We'll feed five thousand men plus women and children. Not a big deal." And that's exactly what they did. No wonder He had a following. I don't know of anyone who can do this. Otherwise, they too would have a following. Jesus did have people who follow Him, whether or not their motives were good. Maybe some were just wanting some free food. Some were intrigued, certainly, by this man. And they were flocking to see Him.

John 6:15 It says, "Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king..."

After this miracle, they said, "You know, we need to make this man king. He's got some power here, and we need Him to overthrow the Romans and to give us power here. So we're going to make Him king." Well, it wasn't His time. And later He says, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were, then my people would fight that I would not be delivered." The timing was not right. So He fled. Got out of there. Most likely miraculously. Somehow He disappeared. And then He's found walking on the water, not long after. You know, pretty amazing being that we're talking about here. You know, the Messiah.

John 6:47-48 He said, "I am the bread of life," in John 6:47. And 48, He says, "If you believe me, you have everlasting life because I am the bread of life."

John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever."

We believe that, don't we? We believe that if we accept Christ as our savior, if we let Him into our life, if we accept Him, we will live forever. That's what the Bible teaches. I believe it. Jesus willingly gave His life, His flesh. He was beaten badly. His blood was poured out for us. Yes, we have to accept that sacrifice for us. His beaten, bruised, and bloodied body given for us. We must eat. We must ingest Christ's character to become like Him. We have to let Him come into our lives and become like Him. We're to put on his character. We're to become loving like He is. We're to be joyful people, He was. We're to be peaceful, long-suffering, kind, good, faithful, meek. And we're to have self-control. Jesus had all these characteristics, and we are to become like Him.

1 Peter 1:16 Scripture says, "Become you holy even as I am holy."

That's what the one who became Christ said in the Old Testament. It's repeated in the New Testament. "Become holy even as I am holy." This is our calling to become like the Father and the Son. In John 6:69, "Also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God." "You are the Christ," they came to understand that. And then in verse 31 of John 7.

John 7:31 "And many of the people believed in Him, and said, 'When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these, which this Man has done?'"

You know, healing a blind man, healing a crippled man, turning water into wine, feeding 5,000, and many others that we haven't read about today. These miracles...Jesus proved He was the Son of God by the numerous real miracles that He did. Now, I was fascinated by John 11 as I was thinking about this point. I guess, it had never really dawned on me in the same way it did this year. But in John 11... And I've read this before many times, and I know it's in here, but I never put it together with the bread.

John 11:51-52 "Now this he did not say on his own authority, but being high priest," talking about Caiaphas, "that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one, the children of God who were scattered abroad."

Now, I got to thinking about that, I mean, that's what happens to us on the Passover. All those who are scattered abroad come together, we're gathered together. Jesus Christ died for us, we're gathered together, and we're here taking a little bit of unleavened bread, each and every one of us, all around the world on Passover night. We take a little bit of that bread, symbolic of Christ's beaten and bruised body for us. Jesus, it was prophesied that He would bring us all together. That He would gather us together. So, to me, that's interesting.

So when we come here, we gather together. We're brought together. We have something in common. Jesus is the bread of life. We've accepted Him as the bread of life. So we ingest that little bit of unleavened bread. Maybe there's some spiritual DNA. You know, it's symbolic of some spiritual DNA that we're picking up from Christ. In John 10:36... So I'm in the wrong chapter.

John 10:36 "Do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God?'"

No, He made it pretty clear. He said he was the Son of God. This is what he claimed. Why would they not back off seeing all the power that He had? They were blinded. Satan was working overtime to blind people then. God allowed that as part of His plan. So Jesus was truly the Son of God, and the Father laid down the life of His Son for us. So Passover evening is a memorial of our perfect sacrifice. Christ is our perfect sacrifice. So that was lesson number eight, is the memorial of the death of our Savior.

Now, moving on to lesson number nine, we're getting there. We are to follow Christ's example and be a servant. What better night than Passover speaks of service? You know, we have about 30 women who need help with foot washing in this congregation. We have at least 10 men who need help. We have lots of volunteers that help with the washing of the feet, and we wash one another's feet. So we kneel down. We serve one another that evening. This is a night for us to realize that God has called us to service. In John 12, it speaks of how Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, a fragrant oil, and anointed the feet of Jesus Christ. Wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the odor of the ointment. This is John 12:3.

This was to be a memorial for Mary for all time. That she understood that He would die for them all, so she prepared His body for His upcoming death and burial by anointing Him with this costly oil. She accepted Him as her sacrifice and her offering, as we should too, and she served to do that, setting an example for all of us. This is to be a memorial. This time of year, we should remember Mary, who did this for Jesus, preparing Him for His burial.

John 12:25 Here it says, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

In other words, we have to put God first. We can't love this world more than we love God. We certainly can't love the ways of this world. In fact, we're told to hate the evil ways of this world. So, obviously, we need to love God's way of life

John 12:26 Says, "If anyone serves me," Christ says, "let him follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my Father will honor."

So it is about serving one another and being willing, and I must commend you as a people. You are service-minded. You do pitch in. You do help. I couldn't do this at all in any way on my own. There's 400 plus of us. We all need to do it together. That's God's way. God wants us to work together. If we are to be true servants of God, this is our calling, and we shall be honored if we are true to our calling. Well, you know, it goes on in Chapter 12 to say, "The world's gone after Him." That's what the Pharisees were concerned about, that He was getting a huge following, "The world's gone after Him."

But, you know, in one sense, how quickly Satan and his human cohorts shut down this awesome movement. If they would have just let Him live? Well, that wasn't in the plan, was it? He had to die for us. And He's bringing lasting peace and joy to the world at His second coming. Tomorrow evening, we will read much of John 13-17 about Jesus' last Passover evening. We'll read of the very humbling but powerful example of Jesus, the servant, and how we are to follow His example of selfless service. Yes, we'll read large excerpts from John 13-17 about Christ's final words. And know that Jesus wasn't done performing miracles after He was resurrected. They were fishing, the disciples. And He shows up, they were catching nothing. Next thing, you know, they've got 153 large fish in the boat. Miraculously, "The net wasn't broken," it says. Jesus continued to serve. He served them. He continues to serve us today as our high priest. That was lesson number nine.

Lesson number 10. We are to love God and love one another. We're to take care of one another. You know, I've talked a lot about this principle. We are to love each other. To take care of each other. If you want to go to 1 John 4 and read verses 8 through 21, that would be good before Passover because it talks about God is love and what that means. So that's something good to read before the Passover. Jesus also emphasized this lesson to Peter. Remember the account where He says, "Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Do you have godly love, agape love? Do you truly love me?" He said, "If you do, feed my sheep. Take care of my people." That's what God wants all of us to do. He wants us to take care of each other. To take care of our people. To follow that example that Christ had.

And, you know, the biggest thing at the end, He says, "Follow me." That's what He says. That's the conclusion of the matter in the book of John, "Follow me no matter what," even if you become a martyr like Peter. You know, Peter was concerned that John might outlive him. You know, he had some questions about that. About the one Jesus loved, "Was John going to live longer? Was he going to be alive when Christ returned?" You know, he had some questions about that. And basically, Jesus said, "Don't worry about that. Follow me. Follow me. That's what's important." We all need to follow Christ and follow the Father.

So, brethren, having the greater context of the book of John, clearly in mind, considering these ten lessons from the book of John, I believe it does add greater meaning and understanding to our Passover service, to keeping it. So let us all humbly consider the Passover and what it means to us. You know, we repent every day of our sins, but the Passover is special. It is a memorial of the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a memorial of the fact that Jesus is resurrected. He is our High Priest. He does make intercession for us. We are forgiven through Jesus Christ. We are saved by the grace of God, by His graciousness toward all of us, by His mercy, and we are restored. And the Passover is a part of all that restoration that we are receiving through our Savior, Jesus Christ. So let's remember what the Passover is all about when we come here tomorrow night, and we'll talk some more about it tomorrow evening.