Passovers and Progress in John

Let's turn to John's Gospel, Chapter 2. The Gospel of John, Chapter 2. Verse 23 of John, Chapter 2. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men. And he did not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man.

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Look with me in John, Chapter 6. Chapter 6, verse 1. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. In the Passover, a feast of the Jews was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? Look in Chapter 11.

Chapter 11, verse 55. In the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand. And many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.

And sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that if any man knew where he were, he should show it, that they might take him. Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. And there they made him a supper, and Martha served.

But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him, and then took Mary, a pound of ointment of spikenard. That's all I'd like to read. I'll try to fill in the gaps as the time allows.

I think that if you look at the Gospel of John, you'll find, of course, we've all noticed this, that it's very different from the synoptic Gospels. I take it the Spirit of God has so directed this epistle in this particular way, that it might pertain to specific teaching that would be applicable to the presentation of the person of Christ. I appreciate what one has said, and that is that the Gospel of John is the Gospel of fulfillment.

And that is that you find in the Old Testament different pictures presented, such as Jacob's well in chapter four, which is answered by the one who said, I am the living water, and who satisfied the soul of an individual. Again, in chapter seven, we have the one who, at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, when the water was poured out, they could say that if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. Then again, you find the living bread here in chapter six, where he refers back to an Old Testament picture, but he could say that I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

And then going over to chapter 10 and other places, we notice the good shepherd and how the Lord Jesus fulfilled that picture that is presented in the Old Testament. And then, of course, the one who is indeed the life and the one who is the light in chapter nine, and chapter 11, the life, and then, of course, the true vine in chapter 15. So what we notice is that this is the gospel that fulfills, in the person of Christ, every one of these Old Testament typical presentations of him, and the way they so simply and wonderfully point out the manifestation of the great way of our Lord Jesus.

I've noticed as well that when you look at the Gospel of John, that you find at least three Passover's that are specifically mentioned, and we've read those three mentions. Now, I know very well, because some might come to say something to me about it, that in chapter five and verse one, we have another feast. And very possibly that's another Passover, depending on how you look at it.

But it's not specifically mentioned, so I will confine myself to these remarks in relation to these three. I would say that each of these Passover events in the life of the Lord Jesus seems to form the basis for and to provide a background for some specific teaching or some event that is applicable to the lives of each one of us as the Lord's people today. I want to just say that what we have pictured here in the first Passover is the inception of the beginning of life, which is connected with the new birth.

In chapter six, we have the sustaining of that life, which is pictured to us in the bread upon which we feed. He said, eat of this bread shall live forever. In chapter 11 and 12, we have the purpose of that life, and that is worship.

The occupation of the heart and devotion poured out to the feet of the Lord Jesus that is expressed, of course, by the person of Mary and her activity. So that I would take it that these Passovers in the Gospel of John indicate to us a kind of progress that should be seen in each one of our lives individually. And God desires progress.

Certainly, we can't begin to progress in a Christian life without the new birth. But the result of the new birth will be a life that is begun that is going to be manifested and can only be sustained by the bread that came down from heaven. It's only by feeding upon Christ that you and I, brethren and sisters, can be sustained, nourished, strengthened, and help to go on in the wilderness scene in which we're found.

And if we're not feeding upon Christ, if we're not feeding upon Christ, possibly there's no life there. And certainly the life will never be manifested without feeding upon him. And if we're feeding upon Christ in the right way, then the result will be the outpouring of worship and the expression of deepest appreciation for the person of Christ.

That should be manifested in every one of us. And I trust it is so for the glory and the honor of the Lord Jesus. So we should be making progress.

It's certainly a good exercise. I trust we all engage in it, not in a wrong way perhaps, but to ask ourselves, am I making progress in the things of God? Am I growing in likeness to Christ? Am I knowing more of yieldedness to the Spirit of God? Am I experiencing more of his power in my life to change me and make me more of what I ought to be? Sometimes sadly we'd have to acknowledge, if we're honest, that there's been very little progress made spiritually. I take it that that's God's desire and that's one of the reasons for the indwelling Spirit of God, that we might be strengthened in the spiritual life and go on from here.

So if we look at John chapter 2, just notice in each case something to the background that occurs before each one of these Passovers is mentioned. And obviously if we look at chapter 2 of the immediate past, we find that the Lord is engaged in the cleansing of the temple. That is, he went in that place that had been so corrupted by the desire of men to gain money from the necessities of the people.

And he could say, make not my father's house a house of merchandise. It had become corrupted. It had become ruined.

The attitude and the aspect of genuine worship was no longer being expressed. And so we find in the background before the Lord deals with this man Nicodemus, he's dealing with a house. And he's doing something to bring about restoration.

I think I can link with that, perhaps in a vague way, not specifically, but I can look back into the experience of Israel in the land of Egypt. You remember, it's very clear that they were occupied to some extent with idolatry. They carried with them out of Egypt the idols of Molech.

And even the Lord had to challenge them at the end of the wilderness journey that they still had remnants of Egypt with them. They were surrounded in an environment that was corrupting and certainly contrary to the mind of God for them to continue in that environment. And then we find the Lord not only dealing with that environment and the corruption of the house of God, but he predicts his death.

He said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. Certainly anticipating what the Passover looked forward to when the lamb was taken and selected out of the flock and slain on that 14th day of the month. The blood applied and is only by the reality of that which it pointed forward to that there would be salvation and deliverance.

But the Lord not only speaks about that death, but also the raising up again of it. And then of course we find in the end of chapter 2 the mixed multitude that is pictured. A mixed multitude you know came out of Egypt.

And here we have a multitude of people that profess to believe in his name. And yet evidently they had no reality because the Lord did not believe in them. He did not commit himself to them because he recognized and knew what was in man.

And he could not accept them as being genuine believers in Christ. But here we have the Passover. And the Passover of course indicates what is so necessary for one to begin a life and a relationship with God.

The Passover was the beginning of a national relationship, a national existence. It was the beginning of them being called out of the bondage and the slavery of Egypt. And deliver from that kind of condition which of course indicates where we were before God saved us.

How wonderful it was that God intervened on their behalf. How precious to each one of us that God ever intervened in our lives. And did a work that was beyond our capacity.

A work that brought us out of the darkness and the danger in which we were found. And brought us into the liberty of the sons of God. There are some limits, there are some relationships I believe between the Passover and the event of Israel being delivered out of Egypt and what we read in chapter 3. And of course we know very clearly what the Lord is doing is dealing with a man that represented the highest possible attainment of an individual under the Jewish law.

A man yet had all of these things and yet he had no spiritual life. And had never known the reality of a relationship with God. Sad to know how a person can rise so high in their knowledge of truth.

And even adherence to it in an outward way and even a legalistic following of that law that had been given to him. And yet do it without any essence of reality spiritually in his life. We think of the Passover as in some way we relate to what we have in chapter 3. Because you know that in Israel's deliverance out of Egypt that deliverance was a work that was essential for them to become one of the kingdom.

For them to be entered into a relationship that God was establishing. And the Lord says to this man Nicodemus that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. No part in that great kingdom of which Christ is the Lord and the ruler.

Under which we have entered in to enjoy a place today. Israel entered into that relationship with God by way of deliverance that was accomplished by the work of God alone. Also in chapter 3 in verse 4 we notice that that was a deliverance that was not according to man's comprehension.

You notice that Nicodemus had to say how can these things be? How can a man enter into his second time in his mother's womb be born? When you look back to the Passover the way of God's deliverance of his people remember that it was not the way that man would normally have chosen. It was certainly not by way of man's force of arms and by means of the normal methods by which men would be delivered from slavery. By God intervening in a way that went beyond their capacity.

How would anyone have ever thought that God would deliver them by bringing in ten plagues upon the nation of Israel? The broad judgment not only upon the nation of the land but also upon their God. So God's means of deliverance in the new birth is not by man's own wisdom. We find that in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 don't we? Where we find very clearly that God's manner of salvation is by means of the preaching of the cross.

And not according to man's wisdom whatsoever. And then in the third place we notice that this was a deliverance that was accomplished by God's power. They were brought out by the power of God and I was reading this morning in my daily reading in fact in chapter 12 of Exodus how God delivered them.

How they were urged by even the people of Egypt to leave and to depart from them. They were thrust out hastily. It was a matter of God working.

And when we think of the new birth he reminds Nicodemus that it's not a natural birth. He says it's a birth from above. It's a birth that is accomplished by the spirit of God.

And that's what you and I have experienced and began our life in a spiritual realm. As we were born from above brought into the relationship and knowledge of Christ by a work of divine power that was accomplished by the Holy Spirit. In the fourth place we remember that this is a work that was linked with heavenly things.

You can remind Nicodemus that if I have told you of earthly things and you believe not how shall I tell you of heavenly things? Because he had no capacity to understand them. And God could speak of delivering the Israel coming down from above and reaching into that dark furnace of affliction. And bring them out by his own power working on their behalf.

A heavenly deliverance that was accomplished for them. One more thing about this relationship and that is in verse 14. When he takes him to the serpent of the wilderness he reminds him that even as that serpent was lifted up into wilderness to provide life in the midst of death for the people.

It required the individual to look and to look to that serpent that they might receive healing from the bite of the serpent. That reminds us of course that the application of the blood on the night of the Passover was the responsibility of the individual. They had to apply the blood.

They had to take the lamb. They had to catch the blood in the basin. They had to apply the blood of the doorpost and over the lintel.

So we have the responsibility of taking what God has provided and personally entering into the good of it. And experiencing the blessing of deliverance that had been brought in our case by way of the new birth. Brethren and sisters you and I have life because of a divine work in our souls.

We have a relationship and a knowledge of fellowship with God. We have something we could never have possessed otherwise. It has been brought to us by the infinite expression of the grace of God.

And that began our life. That began our experience of knowing what it is to walk in communion and fellowship with the Lord. I trust we know something about that.

Perhaps there are those here this morning among those that are saved and you don't know the Savior. And you never had a time in your life when you trusted Christ. You never had a time when you're born again.

That's God's desire for you, friend. Without the new birth you'll never see the kingdom of God. Never be in God's heaven.

Never know Christ as your Savior. Never know God as your Father. Never know some of the things you have already been hearing about.

And the consoling strength that you had of God in your life. Wonderful thing if even today there are those who are born again from above. And taking the work of Christ for your own personally.

But coming over to chapter 6 we have another Passover. And this Passover was the second or the third one in the life of Christ. We find it interesting that you look at the background and you look at chapter 5 when he's speaking about those evidences and the witnesses that God had given to them and yet sadly despite five clear sufficient witnesses to the truth they failed to believe what God had given them.

The Father was a witness. John the Baptist was a witness. The word that he had spoken was a witness.

The works that he had done were witnesses. And of course even Moses himself was a witness. And all those witnesses had spoken to them the truth that would cause them to turn to him and receive the truth from him entirely and explicitly.

But they refused. He said, you search the scriptures. That's what their activity was.

But he says they failed to perceive the fact that they spoke of him. Sad thing when a person reads the word of God and they don't recognize that Christ is the purpose of it all. He is the one that God wants to draw the attention to and direct the individual so they receive of him and feed of him and enjoy the blessing that he has provided for them.

But notice that this Passover is followed by teaching that has to do with the elements that are essential for the sustaining of life that we receive by way of the new birth. That life has to be maintained. I hope and I believe we're all assured of this that you'll never maintain it by reading the material the world has to offer you.

You'll never grow spiritually by watching what the world wants you to be occupied with. You'll never grow in this spiritual life by taking up your time into things that are absolutely worthless so far as eternity is concerned. And many things could be enumerated.

Sadly, more and more, perhaps we are being occupied and inundated with these influences that are contrary to the development of the life that we have had and received in Christ. But you notice that, first of all, he brings before them, actually there are events in chapter 6 that relate to the early experience of the children of Israel in that we find the Lord passing over the Sea of Galilee. The children of Israel passed through the sea when God delivered them.

But he's come over to the other side. And here on the other side, they're in the wilderness. And there's nothing in the wilderness that would sustain them.

But he was sufficient for them even in the wilderness circumstance. And even as he provided for them in the Old Testament by means of the manna, so we could say that in that wilderness scene, I am the bread of life. I am the bread that came down from heaven.

If a man eat of me, he shall live forever. And so as the children of Israel passed over that sea, and, of course, in this chapter as well, we see the power of Christ over the sea. Even as he divided the sea to bring the children of Israel through, we find that in the wilderness scene in which you and I are found like Israel of old, there's more than enough in the person of Christ to sustain us and enable us to go on in a pilgrim pathway.

I think that when you look at the Lord looking upon the multitude in verse 5, we saw the multitude coming to him. A multitude that was in a wilderness and they had nothing to eat. And the Lord knew that need before it was ever expressed to him.

There are other times when the disciples came to the Lord and said, what should we do? We can't send the people away hungry because they're famished and they need something to eat. But here the Lord saw the people coming to him. Before they ever expressed the need, he discerned it.

And he tested the disciples to ask them, how shall we satisfy the hunger of the people? When shall we buy bread that these may eat? Of course, oftentimes they were doing the only thought upon a natural, physical level. But the Lord wanted to bring them into something far deeper. I think about the fact that the Lord here in this wilderness scene, he has an ability to provide for the needs.

He knew the need and he provided it by a miraculous way. Notice we see that he said as he took what they had available to them, not 200 penny worth of bread in verse 7, but just a lad with five barley loaves and two small fishes. What are they among so many? They were more than enough in the hands of the Lord Jesus.

Five barley loaves would be the food of the poor, the lowly ones, the ones that were the simple ones in Christ that would feed upon the barley. Of course, that is enough for any person if it's in the hands of Christ. The two small fishes taken out of the depth of the sea.

There they are brought out to be the source of nourishment for the people. Notice the Lord just simply took them. Had the people sit down in ranks and in order.

And then he provided in the hands of the disciples, that which they distributed unto the people to eat. I love to think about the fact that the Lord could take even so little, such a little bit to feed such a great multitude of people. And he ministered to the needs of the people through the hands of the disciples.

They had a responsibility in participating in the work of God. And all that we can give to others to feed their souls, and all that we can give for nourishment to the saints of God is what we receive from him. If it's not from him, of course, it will have no value whatsoever.

May God help us to always seek to be in the presence of God to get something. Some little portion from the word of God to feed the people of God with. And to nourish them in a way that will strengthen them and enable them to go on for God.

Many words can be spoken. Sometimes when you boil them all down, maybe there's only a thimble of thoughts. But God help us to have something of material that would be a blessing in hell.

And so we find that this is a supply that more than met their need, and I'm sure that you and I have found the same thing as well. Not only did the disciples have a responsibility to take what the Lord gave to them, but it's wonderful to realize that there's not one of these people that was feeding of what the Lord provided them that ever had to go away saying, I just wish I would have had one more piece of bread. There was more than enough.

And God's supply is so infinite, brethren. We hardly appreciate the greatness of what he has provided for us. We limit ourselves.

It's not he that limits us. He wants to pour out upon us infinite unveiling of the truth that concerns the Lord Jesus. I hope we know something of just getting along with God.

And feasting upon the person of Christ. Receiving something that he wants to minister to us. Maybe not in a public way, but perhaps it's more precious of what lasts the longest.

It's what we've gotten, as we've already heard, a word from the Lord directly for our needs. And so we find that here he's going to move from that. Sufficiently meeting the needs of the people, and he's going to move from that to remind them that there was a bread that they received from heaven in the Old Testament.

And yet that bread that came down from heaven was only a picture of himself. Remember the manna? They passed through the sea in chapter 14. They praised God in chapter 15, and then they murmured.

But in the wilderness, after they murmured and cried unto God for the hunger that they had, we find the Lord provided the manna. What was the manna? What was the food from God? It was the food that God provided them. The psalmist calls it angel's food.

And we know that it was round. It was white. It was precious.

It was like bdellium stone. It was fragile because it melted when the sun arose. It was that which was pure.

And every aspect of it points to the person of our Lord Jesus. We consider him who came down in humility. Came down in relation to the work of the Spirit of God, the dew.

Came down in the expression of his purity and his holiness. Came down in the preciousness of that manhood. And that one who came in humility and lowliness, brethren and sisters, came that it might be the food of his people in the wilderness.

And it reminds us as well of the purity and the sufficiency of the word of God. You know, brethren and sisters, only as we're feeding upon God's word will we be sustained and help to go on for God. A portion for the word of God, perhaps even a small portion.

A little bit every morning will feed our souls and sometimes it will meet a need that we do not even perceive and are not even aware of prior to the moment at which we encounter it. They had to go out and they had to gather the manna every morning. But he could say that your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they're dead.

That was not a food that could give life, but it could only sustain a physical life. But he uses it to point forward to something far greater. And ultimately he brings them to this hard statement, he says, that one had to eat the flesh, verse 53, of the Son of Man and drink his blood, he hath no life in you.

Verse 54, whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life. Interesting to notice the difference in the words the Lord Jesus uses. In verse 53, it's a word that has to do with the initial act of eating.

And that is, of course, what took place when we first tasted of Him. We'll taste and see that the Lord is good. Very precious.

We began to feed upon Him the moment we trusted Christ. But he uses another word when he comes to verse 54, and it has to do with a continual aspect of feeding, assimilating, of taking into ourselves that which pertains to all that the flesh and the blood speak of. It's not the Lord's supper, necessarily.

It's not that at all. It's a personal partaking of all that He is representing, and all that we receive through Him in relation to the perfection of His life, His humanity, His sacrifice, His sufficiency. Whatever we eat, you know, becomes a part of us.

And God's desire is that we might feed upon Christ. You know, brethren, you'll never find a more precious food than Christ Himself to meet your need, to sustain your soul and to give you strength in a wilderness world in which we live. And the more we feed upon Him, the more we become like Him.

You know, we become at least shaped by what we eat. What we're feeding upon, spiritually speaking, sometimes can dwarf our spiritual life, can ruin our appetite for the things of God. You know, I feel it's sorry.

It's very sad, rather. When you think of the course of the history of the children of Israel, they began and they could say it was so sweet. It was like honey.

It was sweet to their taste and they appreciated it. Later on, it became something very distasteful. Something about it because the manner had never changed.

They had changed and they lost their appetite. And, brethren and sisters, we need to guard ourselves that we do not lose our appetite for the Word of God itself and for the person of Christ that is so beautifully portrayed in it. I wonder if Christ means the same to us today as He did at one time.

We've become like those in Ephesus that have lost our first love. Somehow, we've gotten our eyes off on something else and other things have filled our souls in a way that crowds out that sincere, deep affection for Him. May God stimulate us during these two days of conference here in Waukesha where we might get a fresh look at Christ and get occupied with Him again.

But quickly, looking at chapter 11 and 12, I just want you to notice that the result of that in this last Passover recorded, which, of course, leads on to the suffering and the passion and the death of the Lord Jesus, we have, first of all, following in chapter 12, the genuine worship of a believer. I like to think that Mary's activity along with that of Martha and Lazarus would depict the experience of God's people in this present day. That house of Bethany was a very precious place.

It was a place of fellowship. It was a place where the Lord was at home. It was a place where you find Martha in this time serving without any complaint.

And so we find service for Christ linked with Lazarus in His communion with the Lord. Service linked with communion. Service linked with fellowship.

Coming out from the relationship with Christ and enjoying fellowship with Him with glad service that would honor His name. Well, that service and that fellowship was in the atmosphere of worship. We look at Mary and we find her here again as she always was at the feet of the Lord Jesus.

She was at the feet of Christ to learn. She was at the feet of Christ, of course, as she was worshiping. And she was there at the feet of Christ, there in other places as well.

So we find her as a worshiper. And I would take it that that's the purpose of why you and I have received a new birth, why we've been born again by the Spirit. The Father seeketh worshipers.

And God's desire for you and me is that we might be genuine worshipers. You notice that that worship of Mary Coster was a very costly thing. You notice that Judas knew how to evaluate the monetary value of an object.

He knew very little of how to evaluate properly the Lord Jesus when He sold Him for 30 pieces of silver. It's sad to say there were so few in that environment that knew what it was to worship as Mary did. And being at His feet, pouring out that flask of ointment that was very, very precious, costing so much, we find that she was one who had greater discernment as to the purpose of His death and what was going to be the result of it.

I would take it from these three incidences of the Passover in John's Gospel that God has saved us so that we might feed upon Christ. And in feeding upon Christ, we might be genuine worshipers. You know, worship really is a daily activity.

And if we don't worship every day, we have a hard time worshiping on the Lord's Day. If we're not worshiping every day in our privacy of our homes and our hearts, we're not perhaps able to do more than express words on the Lord's Day. Worship is that which pervades the entire atmosphere of believer's life.

We serve out of worship. We seek to learn more of Christ because of our worship of Him. We do have a desire to manifest the honor of His name and to speak to God of the worth of His beloved Son.

Mary, above all others, was a worshiper. I think that more than anyone else, perhaps I've wondered if there are any of the disciples during the lifetime of the Lord Jesus, and I could be corrected on this. I'd be glad to be so.

I wonder if any of them really knew what it was to worship Him. They knew what it was to hear Him. They followed Him.

They obeyed Him. But I don't find any of them acting like Mary did. Perhaps when you come to the resurrection scene after His resurrection, Thomas, seeing the wounds in his hands and his feet, to decide, my Lord and my God, is one who came very near.

So we should seek to be worshipers, genuine worship as a result of feeding upon Him and seeking to give honor to His blessed name. But notice as well that following that in verses 12 through 19, we have the adoration of the multitude. And we think that perhaps that would point forward to the coming day when He will be received by the nation.

And what we've been hearing about already will be brought to pass. And the Lord will return in triumph into the city. And they'll see Him, the one whom they pierced.

For I shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for an only son. And that's when Psalm 24 will be fulfilled. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up.

And the King of glory shall come in. He's going to come back in His power and glory. And they will adore Him then and that day.

Sad to say, in this case, of course, it was a temporary thing. It was possibly the same ones that were expressing hosanna to God of the highest as He came into Jerusalem were the ones that later were saying, crucify Him, crucify Him. But notice as well in chapter 12 and verse 20 that there we have a universal seeking, the Gentiles coming to seek Him.

So first of all, we have the worship of believers in this present day. We have the adoration of Israel in the coming day. And along with that, of course, we have the universal acknowledgment as the Greeks sought Him in that day.

We look forward to that day. But we thank God that until then we have nourishment for a wilderness scene. May God nourish our hearts and our souls not only today at this conference, but may He also nourish us day by day in our experience as we feed upon Christ.

I remember a brother once saying to me that whenever he opened his Bible to read it as a daily activity, he sort of just simply lifted his heart to prayer, Oh God, show me Thy glory. Show me something to thyself. And I believe that if we read God's word and come to it in that attitude, we'll feed upon Christ and we'll get something that will cause worship to rise in our hearts.

May it be so.