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Join Reverend Daniel as we enter into the season of Passion Time, focusing on the sufferings of Christ. Today's sermon is taken from John chapter 11, verses 45 to 54, and it's entitled The Plot Against Jesus and Its Paradox.

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Good morning, church. This morning's Gospel reading is taken from the book of John, chapter 11, verses 45 to 54. John chapter 11 verses 45 to 54. The plot to kill Jesus. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and taught them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and Pharisees gathered the council and said, What are we going to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiphaeus, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim. And there he stayed with the disciples. This is the gospel of Christ. Praise to Christ our Lord.

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Church, this week is uh continues a season of passion type in which we focus particularly on the sufferings of Christ. Of course, Good Friday that will intensify, but it's nevertheless a season where we remember the passion of Christ. So I've chosen the Gospel of John as a point of meditation for us this morning. And the title of the sermon today is The Plot Against Jesus and Its Paradox. So Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead in the previous account. So in John chapter 11, verse 1 to 44, we read, we read that uh Lazarus was being raised from the dead, a great miracle that was being done. Uh so he was he had new life, and Jesus then announced that I am the resurrection and the life. So as a result of that, many of the Jews who had come with Mary and had seen what he did put their faith or belief in him. However, there were some who went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So presumably in not a good way, they kind of wanted to make a report against Jesus. So we see in John's Gospels, uh, in John's Gospel, uh Jesus' words and deeds frequently divided the Jews. There's almost always a mixed response. Some were like him and what he said, and some were dislike him. We see that in different points in John's Gospel, and particularly in John chapter 6, verse 14 to 15, and in John 7, verse 10 to 13. So John 6, 14 to 15, it says, When the people saw the sign that he, that Jesus had done, they said, This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Yet, verse 15 tells us, perceiving then that they were about to take, to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. So they had a misconception of what a prophet would do, right? So they wanted to take him by force. So there's a kind of misunderstanding, despite seeing the sign that Jesus performed. And in John 7, 10 to 13, it says, But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he, referring to Jesus, also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast and saying, Where is he? And there was much muttering among him, among the people. While some said, He's a good man, others said, No, he is leading the people astray. Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. So again we see a mixed response, something he's good, he's a good man, something that he is leading the people astray. So the similar the similar pattern happens here in John chapter 11, verse 45 to 54. Some believed in him, but others went to make a report to the Pharisees. So the Pharisees responded by gathering with the chief priest and the council. It tells us in John 11, verse 47 to 48. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were an influential minority. They were not a large group in terms of if you compare it, draw a pie chart and compare it, they were not a very large group, but they were certainly influential, and they included scribes, people who study the oral tradition of the Jews in addition to the Old Testament. So they were well versed in Hebrew scriptures and the interpretation of the scriptures. However, the highest judicial body in the land was what is known as the council or the Sanhedrin. So these are the people that control the Jewish affairs and were mainly made up of chief priests and the uh Sadducees, right? So they are different sect uh within the first century Judaism. So the the chief priests and the Sadducees were the ones that controlled the Jewish affairs. So of course, when they gather together with the Pharisees, they become a powerful group. So the response of the chief priests and the Pharisees in John 11, 47 was this: What are we to do? What are we to do? What are we to do? They had seen Jesus perform many signs, and therefore they were afraid that their place, their place referring to their worship, the Jewish tradition and worship in the temple, and their nation referring to their semi-autonomous status. They were not fully autonomous because they had uh overlord, which is the Romans, yet there was certain freedom to practice the Jewish faith. So they were afraid that their place, their worship in the temple, the rites, the rituals, and the tradition would be disturbed and their nation, their semi-autonomous status would be taken away by the Romans. And more than anything else, the chief priests and the Pharisees were concerned about their own position of power and prestige, and that was their principal focus throughout in their interactions with Jesus. They feel threatened by his ministry, by his authority and his power. So they were worried. What are we to do? Those seeing many signs in John's gospel, the signs point to Jesus. But they were not able to recognize Jesus in all the signs. And one powerful sign earlier was in John 9 of the healing of the man born blind. So there was a lot of murmuring and uttering by the Pharisees, questioning the blind man twice, you know, and the fear of the Pharisees also set in. But the whole conversation, if you refer to John chapter 9, there was a lack of understanding of who Jesus really is. So, in other words, the sign of the healing of the man born blind uh wasn't uh understood by the Pharisees. And the the account, just immediate account just before our reading today, the public raising of Lazarus, again, the Pharisees could not see that Jesus was is the resurrection and the life. So there's a turn in the narrative because a person of power and of authority, the high priest appointed for the year, Caiphus, was presided over the Sanhedrin, meaning that he is the chief priest over the Sanhedrin, over the council that year. So he spoke up, and when he spoke up, everyone listened because he's the one holding the calling the shots, he's the high priest appointed that year. So he said this in verse 49 of John 11. But one of them, Caiphus, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you understand it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesies that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. Very interestingly, here Caiphus actually used a sacrificial language in John 11, verse 50, and John 11, verse 51. And John brings us to attention in verse 50. No, do you understand that it's better for you that one man should die for the people? So the sacrificial uh language is the phrase for the people. For the people. That is good that one man should die for the people. Again in verse 51. Typhus did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. For the nation. So, in other words, uh Typhus was speaking something prophetically, you know, for uh foretelling that uh this is what is going to happen. So John often used a literary device known as uh a double meaning. Uh, it was used in John chapter 3 when Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to enter the kingdom of God, he must be born again. The word again or anoint in Greek could mean to be born again, uh literally a second time, right? To be born into the mother's womb, if taken literally a second time, but doesn't make sense, right? You can't can never go into your mother's womb to be born again. Or it could also mean the again could mean to be born from above, right? So the idea of being born again while pointing to a physical rebirth to Nicodemus, according to Jesus, it's not a physical rebirth, but it's a birth from above, right? Uh above from above, from on high. So in this instance, Caiphus spoke and prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and would gather into one those who belong as children of God. Yet he did not say this on his own accord. So what does it mean? It means that Caiphus, a pagan high priest who had no sense of who Jesus and what his mission was, and spoke. But when Caiphus spoke, it was God who was speaking, right? That's the irony. That when Caiphus spoke, God was speaking, right? God used a pagan uh high priest. Um, well, I mean a Jewish high priest, in some way, he did perhaps did not really fully understand what Jesus came to do. So, in fact, but he spoke. And John tells us, not on his own accord, not in his own mind and understanding, but he prophesied, John tells us. So, in other words, these were God's word to uh the people. When Caipher spoke, the irony there's actually God was speaking, right? God was speaking, even though it was Caipher that spoke, God was speaking. So we also see a contrast between Jesus and the chief priests and the Pharisees with a tint of irony. Caifer spoke that Jesus would die for the people and nation. Whereas we see the chief priests and the Pharisees, they were concerned primarily with their own positions of power and prestige. Observable in John 11, verse 48. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. So Caipha said, What is better for you, for you, for your benefit, as a counsel? Don't waste time. Let this one man die, lah. You know, uh, it's better for you for your own benefit that one man should die for the people, not the whole nation should perish, right? And it's it's logical, right? I mean, if you are in the meeting, it makes sense, right? Let him die so that we can preserve our benefit, perhaps. So this is set in contrast with Jesus who would die for the nation. So if I set the contrast up, what is better for you, for your own interests, uh, for your own power, preservation of power and prestige, versus Jesus dying for you. There's a contrast between the self-serving interests of the chief priests and the Pharisees, their own positions of power and prestige, versus Jesus dying sacrificially for the people and the nation. So John concludes his narrative by telling us in John 11, 53 that from that day on the chief priests and the Pharisees made plans to put Jesus to death. One man, let him die, rather than all of us die. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim. And there he stayed with the disciples. So, what is the application for us today, this morning? As I mentioned earlier, in the season of Passion type, we focus on the sufferings of Christ as Holy Week approaches. At the center of our meditations today, I'd like to suggest to us is the sacrificial dying of Jesus for us. Jesus died for us. Sacrificial language. It is for us that he came to die. Following the central idea of John 11, 45 to 54, which is the contrast between what is better for you, for us, for our own benefit, versus Jesus dying for you. I like to focus our application on precisely this contrast between what is better for us versus what Jesus did by dying for us. Like the chief priests and the Pharisees, we are often tempted to choose what is better for us and to our own interests than what God desires. That means when we are put to our natural mode of being, right? Let's say uh in the most natural course of things, we most of the time we'll choose what is easy for us or what is convenient for us, what is palatable to our understanding. So that is why it's very easy to uh be like-minded people. You know, you put a group of people, uh professionals together of the same so-called uh vocation, and they can talk till the cows come home because there's a lot of uh things to talk about, whether it's a group of engineers, lawyers, doctors, you put them together, they have commonness to talk about, right? So because there's a particular interest in that area, in that field. So it's very natural for us to be inclined to things we choose that's comfortable to us. And all of us, I think, including myself, will choose naturally what is more comfortable and favorable to us, what is to our own benefit. So on an honest note, right, just sharing with us openly, when I receive the call to be a servant and shepherd of God's flock, right? A servant and shepherd, uh, this is taken from the ordinal uh servant and shepherd. This is what uh pastors are called to do, to be a servant and shepherd of God's flock. I find myself being empowered by God to care for his flock. So over the years, relating to others sincerely and generally, I believe comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in me, and I find God giving me the strength beyond my personality to relate to others. So for this, I am forever grateful. So at the same time, uh I believe there is still ground to break uh in my own journey with God as his servant and shepherd. I still see myself uh when left to my own as an introvert at heart and somewhat an awkward socializer. An awkward socializer. I would rather be left alone than have someone talk to me, or to start a conversation with a stranger. I appreciate the inner workings of my mind. What uh counselors or those who study personalities would say intrapersonal strengths. I appreciate the inner workings of my mind better than the outward chatter and noise, what we call uh interpersonal skills, uh, which is very valuable, very much valued today, right? And for good reasons. So I don't usually appreciate large social gatherings, especially if I need to meet new people, or when I'm caught in an environment that I'm not conditioned or used to. Thoughts that run through my mind will be such, and these are real thoughts, you know, when I'm in a social gathering when I'm totally new and foreign, uh, I'll be processing some questions. One is this how do I place myself? I mean, when I go in, I get my food, how do I place myself? Who should I engage with after I get the food? Can I eat alone? Would that look weird? So these are some processing that I do, even while I'm just kind of lining up to collect the food. Yet, as a pastor, socializing and networking is needed and good for the ministry. I know it, and at times I have to nudge myself to attend those events, especially it's uh inter-church events, uh grassroots events, and events where I have to just break out of who my natural inclinations. So I have to nudge myself to attend those events, though with an end in mind. And the end is this it'll be over soon. So, like all of us, I realized I must step out of my comfort zone to be in unfamiliar environments and with unfamiliar people to grow in ministry, in some sense for the sake of the church. The hope I'd like to share with us is that God is able to take us past our personalities and personal preferences and orientations to bring us deeper into Him and His purposes for our lives. Do not be constrained by your own limitations, but step up and step out to lay hold of what God desires for you. Do not choose what is better for you in your own eyes, but rather ask God what He desires for you. But since we are in the season of passion type, it's good to reflect further. I believe that. The issue at stake is deeper, it's not it's more than just going out of our comfort zone or choosing what is better suited to our interests and inclinations. In John 11, verse 45 to 54, the chief priests and the Pharisees were concerned primarily with their own positions of power and prestige. When we are so much focused on what is better for us, we can that self-concern can slide very easily into sin. So if for me for me, if I allow myself to continue to be reclusive and uh introverted, ministry will suffer in the end, right? I start to block people out and start to live in my inner world, then it'll be disastrous, right? It becomes selfishness, right? And I won't be able to fulfill the calling God has placed in our lives. So similarly, our interests, something we uh we are naturally suited or comfortable with, when carried to its logical end, when we just hold on to it too much, it can lead into sin. Not always, but sometimes lead into sin. So when we are very much focused on what is better for us or what is in for us, what is to our benefit, uh, we can slide into sin because when we preserve our own security and interests at all costs. Uh Singapore, we say we are uh kyasu kya kyasi. And what else? I don't know. Kiyasu kyasi, yeah. Okay. So that the sin, I think, is that of self-centeredness that we are talking about today. So for the Pharisees and the Chief Priests, they were concerned of preserving their own prestige and power. So it the focus is on their self. You know, the right at the center of their world is this their self. Their self is being enthroned. So when we are focusing a lot on ourselves, our interests, our pursuits, our position, our titles, our prestige, then basically we are self-centered. We are centered on ourselves. So as John Calvin would say, we are curled inwardly to ourselves. I like this picture. We are curled inwardly to ourselves. We have no room or capacity beyond our own nose, so to speak. So let's consider the opposite. The opposite is actually Jesus dying for us. So we have the hope because Jesus had set example for us in his dying. So the example of Jesus dying for us is the opposite of self-centeredness, it's self-sacrifice, it is self-giving such that one forgets himself in order to live for God. So it's good for us to be reminded as we enter into Palm Sunday next week that Jesus is calling all of us to prepare to give up our lives, to die, to deny ourselves so that we may live. I'm reminded of what Jesus said in a later passage in John chapter 12, verse 23 to 25. In the context of his impending death, he's going to the cross, he's going to die for the sins of the world. And he says this John 12, verse 23 to 25. Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground, falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life will lose it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. I believe this is not the first time we read this passage, but sometimes we perhaps have not meditated on it enough to allow the words of Jesus to sink into our hearts. And yeah, but it tells us whoever loves his life. If we love our lives, if we love ourselves, if we focus inwardly on ourselves, if we are curled in on ourselves, Jesus said that we will lose our life, right? Whoever loves his life loses it. Whoever hates his life, again the contrast, will keep it for eternal life. So the example of Jesus' death becomes an example for all of us to follow. The principle is this whoever loves his life loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. So instead of focusing on ourselves, our self-centeredness, our own security and interests, Jesus is calling us as Christians to give of ourselves in self-giving and self-sacrifice. Just as how Jesus, in his dying for us, saved us from our sins. It's almost a given that as Christians, we must find some way, some outlet to give of ourselves to others. Because when we do so, we are following the teachings of Jesus. Like I have shared, like I shared in the AGM uh just past, that I do sense that as a church we need to move outward to the community around us through acts of compassion and mercy. And this is really part of the ethic of giving ourselves in sacrifice to others, to serve the community beyond just the happy fellowship we are having. So we are looking at ways where YCCA can engage the community, probably a particular segment of the community, whether it's the elderly, whether it's the very young parents, whether it's young children, but there is something I believe God is doing in our hearts and lives. Because if we don't give of ourselves to serve, we don't sacrifice, then something is wrong. Then we are not truly living as Jesus lived. Because His was a life of self-giving and sacrifice. So we are called to give of ourselves. So in giving, we receive and we enter into the fullness of life. And I want to encourage us also on this note to consider those of us who have not even crossed your minds to join us for our yearly uh mission trip to West Timor. It is where we all gather to serve the community overseas. Right? And it's tiring, those of us have been there twice, and those of us who have been there for decades, it's tiring work because we had to set up the medical station. We see uh up to 300 or more, uh 200 to 400 that range of uh um clients that were come for treatment and so on. So it's tiring, right? But it's fulfilling. Not only that at the end of the day we have a good meal, but it's just refreshing to be able to be out there to serve. So again, that is an opportunity for us to serve the community overseas. Far from us. But when we serve them, we serve them with joy and God is pleased. So this year the mission trip is in September. Uh more details will follow soon, but I want to honestly uh challenge us to consider going for the mission, to be uncomfortable so that you can grow as a disciple of Jesus. So I've discovered in my own journey of serving God as his servant and shepherd that I do not lack anything. He gives me the grace to face each challenge. But crucially, and this is very crucial, I the posture of my heart must be right. So, in other words, when God calls me to serve him, I cannot serve him yet hold on to my own self-interest and pursuits. So if I do that, it's a character issue, right? So uh if I if I if I'm coming to serve God, I say, God, I'm coming to serve you. I want to be your servant and shepherd, or I want to be serve you in a church, and yet I come and I have uh agenda behind, hmm, what's in for me? Maybe I can get certain benefit for my family or for myself, you know. So that should never be the case. And that when it's observable, it becomes very ugly in the church of God. When we are applying in to gain benefit for ourselves. So that is ugly, right? So I cannot serve God. This is what I learned. The posture of my heart. I cannot serve God and yet hold on to my own self-interest and pursuits. All I do must be, with the orientation of what is helpful to build up God's people. What is needed for me to put God's purpose first and to commit to live for a purpose bigger than my own self-interest. I guess that is a way of saying that we need to die to ourselves. You know, the self-centeredness in us needs to die. That's why Jesus said many times in all four Gospels, deny yourself. Anyone who wants to say that you want to be my disciple and follow me, die. That's the first condition, and there are conditions to discipleship. There's no condition to salvation in the sense that Jesus died for us, but we need to make a response to him through repentance and faith. Right? We can never merit the salvation, what Jesus did. But we need to respond in repentance and faith. Similarly, discipleship, uh, we can never be a fruitful disciple of Jesus unless we learn to die to ourselves. We learn to deny ourselves. If over the years we are still very much inward looking, focusing on ourselves, ourselves, what is to our benefit, what can we get, then I think we are on the wrong footing. And but it's never too late. We all know, right? We've God that is endless, endless grace, right? And He pours out His grace, His mercies, every morning they are new. So every morning we can cry out to God for new mercies and new grace and new strength. So, what is holding you back from serving God most fully today? Are you willing to put aside your own self-centered pursuits and interests and seek to align your life to God's desires and purposes? When we do so, I believe our life in God will be so exciting. You will see Him take you to people and places you never knew possible. When God challenges and brings you beyond your own limitations and your own uh fears, faith will arise and you'll see his strength made perfect in his calling for you. He will supply what is needed, you will never lack, as you choose to walk in his desires and calling. So I'd like to urge us as we enter Palm Sunday next week, as we wave palm branches and welcome Jesus. Let us first lay aside our self-centeredness. Let us crucify ourselves so that we can truly live and serve others, just as how Jesus came to serve and not to be served, just as he came to die for us in complete self-giving. So the challenge for us today is it, are we looking to our own benefit? What's in for me? Or are we emulating Jesus dying for us?

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We pray that you've administered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Ishun Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.