John 12:9 tells us: "Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead." Lazarus' "nickname" now being evident!

And John 12:17 where we're told: "The people therefore that was with him when He called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record."

Wow!

"Folks," everyone back then would have said, "This is Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead!"

This is now the man's testimony.

The best known fact about him.

The very reason people liked, or hated, him.

By the way, and incidentally too, once Lazarus had spent those four days in Paradise, dead in body but alive in spirit ... he is never described as "speaking a single word" here on earth again!

Not one direct quote from the post-miracle Lazarus is recorded!

Maybe Heaven was just too grand!

Too glorious!

Too far beyond human words to describe!

Paul once went to the "third heaven" and could not tell about his trip either!

But back to Lazarus, the "man whom Jesus raised from the dead."

May his memory live forever!

Now here's the point to today's Lesson. Just like Lazarus was only known as the man whom Jesus raised ... each of us as Christian should be known for what the Lord has done for us as well.

Wouldn't it be something great if folks where we live would recognize each of us as "that man or women whom Jesus saved!"

"That person who lives for Jesus!"

"Who always goes to Church."

"Whose language and lifestyle pleases their dear Lord!"

Wow again!

Or is in fact such language about us inherent in the name "Christian?"

As in Acts 11:26, "And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."

Christ like!

Lazarus.

You all.

Me.

So impacted and influenced and inhabited by Jesus ... that everyone knows us by Him, by His working in our lives!

              --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 3, STILL VERSE 1:

True of all the Gospels to some degree, yet to the Gospel of John in an intensive way ... Jesus' last week on earth, the days just before His Crucifixion are highly emphasized!

That's because the Cross is our Lord's Major Accomplishment! He came to die for the lost.

The first verse of our current Text, John 12:1, illustrates what I'm saying. The event therein described, Mary's anointing of Jesus, begins like this: "Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead."

The twelfth chapter of John begins the last week of Jesus' Life? Yes it does. Ten chapters in that great Gospel depict Jesus last week on earth, save His Resurrection Story that immediately follows of course.

If every week in Jesus' Public Ministry had received such coverage, John's Book would have been 1,820 chapters long!

The Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus was that important, crucially so! Those events comprise the very Gospel itself, really. They are the Gospel!

So as we begin this extended study on Mary anointing Jesus, pouring that ointment, that perfume, over His Feet ... let's realize it is the beginning of a literary unit that chronologically changed the world! Jesus' Vicarious Death and Atonement for lost people everywhere!

What a week that was!

Still is, truly!

In John 12:27, speaking of Calvary, our Lord said, "For this cause came I," to His Hour of Death!

No wonder that Jesus said of Mary's extravagant gift, "She hath anointed Me for burial."

Six days before Passover ...!

                  --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 4, VERSE 2, MARTHA:

The second Verse of our John 12:1-11 Text gives a little more information. The Holy Spirit is carefully "building" the Story. "There they made Jesus a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him."

Today I simply want us to note that Martha, unlike Mary who is soon to anoint Jesus' Feet, or Lazarus who is already sitting by our Lord ... Martha is "serving!"

The Greek verb used here is "diakoneo." It's an "imperfect" verb, a term used to denote its sense of "timing" in Greek grammar. It means that Martha cooked the meal, but implies that her doing so, the love she therein shared, so impacted those around that its benefits accrued and continued on and on! The "gift" that kept on giving!

Jesus highly valued what Martha did that day!

The Verb the Text utilizes here is also the same one used to describe the work of New Testament Deacons. No, I am not saying Martha was a "deaconess," not in any official office-holding sense of the word. But she did serve well! She did minister to others ... via her kitchen too!

Some are reading here today who also "serve" their Lord, or their brothers and sisters in Christ.

I just want to tell you all that you are NOT inferior members of the community of faith, of your Church fellowship!

Servers are needed, desperately!

Oh yes, thank God for those who sit with Jesus and learn from Him day by day. And how we need to appreciate those who visibly worship Jesus, bowing before Him and heaping on Him lavish honor.

But don't forget the servers either!

And this Lesson is a tribute to the "Marthas," men or women, who busily meet the material needs of the Body of Christ.

We thank God today for you!

       --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 5, VERSE 2, LAZARUS:

In John 12:1-11, one week before Jesus' Death on the Cross, He enjoyed a meal in the home of Martha and Mary and Lazarus, three dear friends.

Verse 2 of that Text informs us: "There they made him a supper; and Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him."

This is the Lazarus whose name means "whom God helps!"

This is the Lazarus who died while Jesus was out of town. But the same Lazarus that Jesus, upon returning, raised from the dead!

That miracle, one of the greatest of all, was performed in John chapter eleven. And that account immediately precedes our current Text.

Maybe, some have observed, this meal is a "Thank You" celebration or an "Appreciation" feast held in honor of our Lord. For what He did for this little Judean Family.

Then again maybe He and His Disciples were just "in town," literally on the way to Jerusalem that final time.

Anyway, Lazarus ... according to our Text ... is seen by the Lord, sitting at table with Him. Again, "And Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him."

Now the ladies' activities are clearly made known, Lazarus' Sisters.  Martha is cooking, readying herself to serve the Lord. Mary is preparing a perfumed offering for the Saviour.

And Lazarus?

Sitting!

But note this unusual fact.

Even though one of the main benefits of a meal with acquaintances is fellowship, not one word from Lazarus is recorded!

The man has been to paradise for four days ... and has nothing to say?

This may be a parable wrapped in a historical account of Scripture.

What did Lazarus see in that wonderful place?

Whom did he see?

How did he feel about having to "come back" to earth?

Could he have given us a "testimony" about the afterlife for Believers?

Yet not a word!

It's as if the Holy Spirit has veiled that information!

And later Paul, apparently talking about himself, wrote: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth. Such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."

Paul could not talk about his "third heaven" experience!

And Lazarus did not talk about his either.

The adjective "unspeakable" is "arretos," meaning "not to be described!" Not lawful to "utter" translates "laleo," not to discuss even in casual and private conversation!

My conclusion?

Heaven is too grand, too beautiful, too glorious ... to be described with our merely human vocabularies!

What Jesus and John have told us ... must suffice! "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:2-3

Heaven ... maybe the greatest thing about it is not the surroundings!

Maybe it's just being with Jesus!

Our Lord, Who died in our stead!

                  --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 6, VERSE 3, A "POUND" OF OINTMENT:

In John chapter 12 Mary "anoints" Jesus with a fragrant perfume. In fact, with a whole "pound" of it, the equivalent of at least 12 ounces today! All at once, one occasion ... twelve ounces of ointment! "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment."

For today I'd like us to consider an adjective John uses when telling us the story. He says the "spikenard" was "very costly." Thereby using a Greek word that's only found twice in the whole New Testament.

"Polutimos" is a blend of two smaller words, "polus" (meaning "many, large, great, much, voluminous") and "time," pronounced tee-may' in Greek (meaning "price, honor, value, esteem, cost").

It's other appearance in the New Testament is Matthew 13:46 where Jesus is preaching about the pearl of "great price!" That pearl, in Bible symbolism, portrays the Church!

Now, having made these observations ... let's apply them to daily life. Something we can incorporate into our thinking today.

Mary loved her Saviour very much! Jesus was soon to die for her sins and she knew it. She longed to do something for Him! Not to earn anything. Salvation is the free gift of God. But to express her devotion!

And she gave!

She gave lavishly!

She gave freely!

She gave something of much value, "very costly!"

The Lord surely deserves our best!

Let's remember an incident in the life of David, King of Israel. In Second Samuel 24:24 he wants to worship God. David says ... "I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." David felt just like Mary! God is worthy of praise, honor, and the best expressions of love that we can bring Him!

This week-end, with Church Services abundant, let's all give the Lord Jesus our time. And our hearts. And our love. But also ... surely we too will want to give Him our treasures!

Mary loving Jesus!

Oh, by the way. That other occurrence of "polutimos," the Matthew 13 one ... is used of Jesus' attitude toward the Church! Toward you and me who are born-again! He considers us "very costly" as well!

He gave a Price for us!

His Life!

His Blood!

To forgive us and take us to be with him eternally!

We give lavishly to Him, not to earn favor. We give lavishly to him ... because He first gave lavishly to us!

Or as First John 4:19 says, "We love Him because He first loved us."

Amen!

            --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 7, VERSE 3, MARY'S HAIR:

In John 12:3 Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus' Feet with a pound of costly perfume. Then she "wiped His feet with her hair!" Here's the King James Version: "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment."

This is an unusual act for any Jewish lady of New Testament times. A bold move, really!

The Manners and Customs Books say that a woman in the first century Greek-Roman world would have never let her hair loose, let it down in that fashion. To do so would be a breach of etiquette. It might even be an indication of loose morals.

But Mary disregarded all these notions. She loved her Lord so very much that she wanted to "anoint" Him for His "Burial," using whatever means were available!

Including her life savings, that pound of ointment.

Including rubbing and drying His feet with her hair!

Jesus is worth much more than the financial cost here, to Mary anyway!

And Jesus is worth more than any social cost too!

Yes ... "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair ...."

Furthermore, the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians 11:15 teaches the ladies in that early Church that their hair was their "glory."

If Mary of Bethany already knew that truth, then what she did for Jesus, lowering herself and wiping His feet with her earthly "glory," her clearly "long hair" ... was all the more an act of worship! Our merely human "glory" freely laid at His Feet!

Then yesterday morning as I studied this subject I came across a little fact of ancient history suggesting that in those days if a slave owner had just washed his or her hands ... and no towel was available for drying ... he could summon any nearby slave and dry His his hands in her hair!

So Mary may have been saying to Jesus, "Lord I am Thy slave! I shall follow Thee anywhere! I shall obey Thy every command!"

Several different ways of viewing this amazing action of Mary! "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair ...." All of which aspects are lovely!

Worshipping Jesus!

               --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 8, VERSES 4 AND 5:

In John 12:4 we have an ironic situation. Mary the Sister of Martha and Lazarus has just anointed Jesus' Feet with a fragrant perfume. Symbolically, Jesus said, she was preparing His Body for burial!

But someone grumbled at her lovely deed!

"Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?" John 12:3-5

Wow!

A lady worshipping Jesus.

And a man unhappy about that, a supposed follower of Jesus too.

A good thing, on Mary's part.

A bad thing, on Judas' part.

But notice this. If Judas had not misbehaved, complained so loudly ... we would have never known the depth of Mary's giving! God is here taking something negative ... and allowing it to positively help us better understand this event!

Judas' stingy words once again, "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence?"

The information it provides, this appraisal?

The perfume Mary donated to Jesus, poured upon Jesus, with which she anointed Jesus ... was valued at three hundred days' labor! That's how long a person in those days would have had to work to earn that much money!

Based on Matthew 20, the parable there of the day laborers, a fair cash outlay for a day's work was a "penny," here a "pence." The Greek word used here is "denarion."

Three hundred days of work!

Counting a day off each week for Sabbath ... that's a year's salary!

Mary did give Jesus a "very costly" offering!

For some folks that's like a $50,000.00 check! For others $100,000.00 or more! Lavishly, lovingly, applied to the cause of Christ!

How long had this lady been saving?

How deep was her devotion?

What a lesson she teaches us all!

And folks today scoff at the idea of tithing to the Lord's work! Or giving extra to help support a missionary! Or helping with the building program at Church! Or taking the Preacher out for a meal, for that matter!

For the most part there's a direct correlation between a person's generosity and that individual's love for Christ, for his spirituality.

"Three hundred pence!"

But if that rascal Judah had not grumbled, we would have never known of the quality of Mary's love. No wonder the house was filled with the smell, the aroma of the ointment!

Judah's wrath ... ended up bringing praise and honor to God! Just like Psalm 76:10 says. "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain."

Amen!

               --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 9, VERSE 6:

Even as a child I was taught by godly parents and grandparents to believe the Bible. It indeed was the Word of God! Since then, I not only have believed such a thing because of my upbringing, but also by means of personal conviction.

Today's Verse, John 12:6, proves my position. There the penetrating Holy Spirit, the true Author of all Scripture, tells us some things about a man, things no one could have known but that person himself ... and almighty God!

Mary had just poured a pound of precious perfume, very costly, upon Jesus' Feet. And Judas immediately criticized her! "This should have been sold and its revenue given to the poor," he barked.

Immediately the Word of God adds ... "This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein." John 12:6

A man's heart has just been exposed!

He "cared" not for the poor, the Greek verb is "melo," meaning "to be interested, to have real passion" for a person or thing.

He was a "thief," in Greek "kleptes," suggesting an "embezzler, pilferer, a deceitful person."

And he was covetous too!

Such a reading of a man's thoughts and motives is not only incisive, if accurate, but also bold and judgmental.

Sounds just like Hebrews 4:12 and its declaration about our Bible: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." At least that's what the Scriptures do with Judas' heart!

It pierced and divided and discerned.

John in his Gospel often makes such evaluations about people. Thoughts far beyond human perception!

Yes, God is the Writer of the Bible!

And did the Spirit's "report card" on Judas prove to be true?

Oh, yes.

He did not love anyone but himself, certainly not the poor!

He did steal from the common treasury of Jesus and His Disciples, even apparently buying real estate with some of it!

And he did pay a heavy price for doing so, the verb "bare" in John 6:12 also meaning "to carry a great load!"

Again John 12:6, " "This Judas said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein."

Yes, no doubt the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, piercing, precious, living Word of God!

I need no further proof.

I believe it!

                    --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 10, VERSE 7:

I wish I had a list of the individuals Jesus "defended" while He was here on earth! Once while His men were rudely sending away some little children, the Lord defended them. Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell us Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."

The Verse we're studying today, John 12:7, gives another example. Mary had just anointed Jesus' Feet, pouring perfume over them. Thousands and thousands of dollars, the value of that gift!

But someone objected! That money should have been given to the poor! That was all wasted!

Then the Lord defends that kind Lady, clearly and forcefully! "Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this."

Those first three words are amazing, "Let her alone." They are grounded in one Greek verb, "aphiemi," framed as an "imperative!" A stark command! Jesus demands this of Mary's detractors!

The word "aphiemi" is a blend of two other words as well. The opening syllable "a" is a contraction for "apo," meaning "away, far off!" And "hiemi" means "to send, to go, to depart."

Jesus told those criticizing Mary "to go away, to go far away!" Really to "get out of here!" Her gift overwhelmed our dear Saviour!

But why?

John tells us, our verse does. "Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this."

Mary apparently saw some of the Truth Jesus had been teaching more clearly than anyone else. Even the Disciples missed it at first. Mary knew Jesus was on the way to the Cross. He is now in His last week of life on earth prior to Calvary.

And Mary, with that amazing faith, has just "anointed" Jesus for His forthcoming Burial! Mary had "kept" that perfume, not using it for years ... for that very occasion.

What insight!

What discernment!

What belief!

What trust!

No wonder Jesus defended her like He did!

Jesus defending His Own!

But in reality today Christ sits at the Right Hand of His Father ... right now ... serving as our Advocate! Our Lawyer! Our Defender!

And anytime the Devil accuses us of wrongdoing, I think I can hear Him say: "Let _______________ alone!" Put your name in that bland space, my Christian friend!

Yes, Jesus defends us too!

All those who truly and sincerely worship Him!

Because we too have by faith seen the Cross on which He died! We too have believed the Gospel. We too have been saved by the Grace of God!

What a blessing!

Defended by the Almighty Son of God!

                --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 11, VERSE 8:

Jesus made a blanket statement in John 12:8 that is captivating. Just after Mary of Bethany poured that pound of precious perfume over our Lord's Feet and dried them with her hair ... just after Judas criticized her action, accusing her of wasting thousands upon thousands of dollars which could have been given to the poor ... our Lord said: "For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always."

In justifying Mary's lavish expression of worship, Jesus made that statement. It sounds sort of pessimistic, doesn't it? "The poor always ye have with you." The word for poor is "ptochos," meaning those who "beg" for their sustenance, that very abject!

Jesus just indicated that it was permissible to worship Him when He was physically present, because He would soon be gone ... this incident occurring within a week of His Crucifixion.

But the poor will never be totally absent from society, not with mankind in charge. They will always be around. Again, a plain point of fact: "For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always."

Now, where did Jesus get the idea that the poor are ubiquitous and constantly will be present? One answer is that our Saviour is God, and as Such He would have been "omniscient," knowing everything.

I agree.

But as man, though perfect man, in His Humanity, how did Jesus know about the poor?

I believe I have found the answer.

There's an Old Testament Verse that proves Jesus' View of the poor! And it occurs in one of Jesus' favorite Books, Deuteronomy. One from which He quoted time and time again!

"For the poor shall never cease out of the land." Deuteronomy 15:11. perhaps Jesus' very devotion, His Bible Study for that morning! Isaiah 50 says He woke early each day and the Father taught Him the Word, the Scripture!

Wow!

When Jesus spoke, even though He is God incarnate, He always based His teaching and preaching and conversation on the Truth of the Written Word of God, when applicable anyway.

By the way, Jesus also believed in helping the poor, just not when Mary needed to anoint His Body for Burial. He, the Lord of Life, yet temporarily facing Death ... is far more important than the poor man who can be helped tomorrow.

Jesus and His Disciples had a little treasury among themselves, from which no doubt help was regularly dispensed to the poor. The rest of Deuteronomy 15:11, "For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land."

Jesus would not have heeded and learned from the first half of that informative verse without obeying the last half of it, being the Paragon of Perfection that He was, that He is.

Our Lord today has been noticed making one single statement, almost in passing, yet it is loaded with Scriptural Authority! "For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always."

Backed by Mosaic Legislation, authorized by God Himself!

That's how very well Christ knew the Scriptures!

He was a supreme student of the Bible!

And He know how to allude to it, to quote it, to apply it, and to obey it every moment of His Life!

He's still doing so today, at the Right Hand of God, right now. Performing every duty the Scriptures promised!

May we follow our Lord's pristine example ... by being diligent students too!

Students of the God-breathed Book we have been given!

Spend some time in the Word today.

              --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 12, VERSE 9:

Today I'd like to discuss the power of a "positive influence" for Jesus. Having a testimony that "draws" people to our lovely Lord.

In John chapter 12, Verse 9. There many people came to Bethany to see Jesus. But part of the "attraction" was their curiosity to also see Lazarus, whom Jesus had recently raised from the dead!

What Jesus had done for an individual who had been dead four days ... one who loved our Lord dearly, was such an outstanding testimony, others hungered for the Son of God.

Wow!

Am I living that kind of life?

Are you?

May it be said of us as it was of the saints of those bygone days ... "They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

                     --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 13, VERSE 10:

The verse we're considering today is John 12:10. But it "sits" in a group of verses, a context, that must be noticed too.

The paragraph describes an event that occurred at the beginning of Jesus' last week on earth, six days before His Death on the Cross.

Our Lord and His Disciples were in fact on the way to Jerusalem when they stopped by a favorite place of theirs, a home in Bethany. That was suburban Jerusalem anyway, about two miles away.

Present in that little home, owners apparently, were Martha and Mary and Lazarus, all siblings.

Yes, this is the Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, after his being "deceased" four days, in the grave that long!

Naturally such a gathering drew attention, and crowds! "Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there: and they came ...." John 12:9

Jesus was popular now, at least to some degree. Some had even spoken of making Him "King!" John 6:15 even says: "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone."

But these many people in John 12 came not only to see Jesus! But Lazarus too. The once-dead man had become a drawing-card for the Saviour! "They came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom Jesus had raised from the dead."

Then today's verse!

Jesus' enemies also showed up. They hated the Lord and wanted Him dead. As we now know, they were successful in that bid too.

Primarily because He was drawing attention away from them, the Sadducees and the Chief Priests and the Scribes, and they did not want to lose their political and social and religious power! Mark 14:1 records it this way. "After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put Him to death."

But get this. These emissaries so hated any success Jesus might have enjoyed ... that they decided to kill Lazarus too! Especially since Lazarus was drawing such attention to Jesus and His miracle working power!

"But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death." John 12:10

The verb "consulted" here translates "bouleuo" which means "determined" really!

Wow!

Kill Jesus ... and all His friends?

Or kill Jesus ... and those He raised from the dead, three people in total?

"But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death." John 12:10

Look at how illogical that thought is!

And it's the epitome of clouded, wicked thinking too!

When two people are on equal ground, intellectually and professionally speaking, I will guarantee you that the more godly man or woman will "out-think" the less godly one!

Dumb chief priests here!

Why, if they had killed Lazarus that day such an act would only have opened the door for Jesus to raise him from the dead ... again!

Now what would that have done to attract crowds?

Oh, the blessings of living for Jesus.

Including better thinking!

It was our mighty God Who said, "Come now, and let us reason together." He is the Master thinker of all!

Kill Lazarus?

Silly thought.

Everywhere Jesus went people came alive! Not one person ever died in His Presence! Not while He was also alive!

What a Saviour!

                  --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 14, VERSE 11, CONCLUSION:

The last verse of our current Text, John 12:1-11, reveals an interesting sequence of events. Let me share it with you, the verse. "Because that by reason of Lazarus many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus."

A simple meal in a little Bethany home, six days before Jesus' Death on the Cross, led to quite a crowd gathering at the front door!

The people had come to see Lazarus, newly raised from the dead! Brought back to life after four days of burial! Resurrected by Jesus, the powerful Son of God!

And when some of these sightseers thought about it all, they got saved! They trusted Jesus as Saviour!

"Because that by reason of Lazarus many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus."

The unusual thing I'd like to show you today is the verb order here in our little text. The interested Jews "saw" Lazarus, "heard" Jesus ... then did two things.

First, the Holy Spirit tells us, they "went away." It's "upago" in Greek, meaning "to go under." They just started going back to their homes. Walking the two or so miles back to Jerusalem.

Then, secondly, they "believed" on Jesus!

As they traveled?

Maybe so.

Once they returned to their living rooms?

Perhaps.

A week later?

It's possible.

But they left Jesus ... the Holy Spirit no doubt going with them, convicting and drawing them ... and subsequently they yielded their hearts and lives to our Lord!

The verb for "believed" here is "pisteuo," in its indicative mood, imperfect tense, active voice form.

They trusted Jesus ... using their own God-given will and faith to do so ... and that resultant trust ... once focused upon Jesus ... changed their lives forever!

They were eternally born-again!

So here's proof. A person can leave a service still lost ... and yet while driving home ... or even a few days later ... be birthed into the Family of God via the sweet, wooing power of the Holy Spirit.

"Because that by reason of Lazarus many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus." 

Folks, don't give up on those lost loved ones. They may not have been saved last time they were at Church. Or the last time you witnessed to them. But still ... the "seed" has been planted, and it can bear fruit days, weeks, months or even years later!

Thank God!

                  --- Dr. Mike Bagwell