Let's turn together to John, the 11th chapter, John chapter 11, the title which you find in your bulletin, you can't just ignore him, is right and it is true. However, as I continued studying through the week, I went from more of a practical approach to asking myself, why? Was it that he so incited the Pharisees and the Sadducees of his day? Was it simply because they were challenged by the scope of the miracle? Or was it something more? John chapter 11, picking up at verse 45, many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he had done believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priest 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. But one of them, Caiaphas, 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 to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. May the Lord bless the reading of this word, his word, and the hearing of his people. When we say the Lord's prayer together, or when you read it in the scriptures, a part of that Lord's prayer, which we utter each week, is a sincere prayer, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So let me ask you by a way of introduction. What concept do you have of the kingdom of God? What is your expectation of the kingdom of God? When you think about the kingdom, what comes to mind? Are you expecting to be in the kingdom now? Are you expecting that the kingdom will be established in Jerusalem? Are you expecting that the kingdom is somehow yet still further out that it will descend from heavens at some point in the future? Was the kingdom embodied in Christ and His ministry? Is the kingdom spiritual? Is it physical? Are you a citizen of the kingdom? Are you a citizen in waiting for the kingdom? How you view the kingdom and how you view yourself in relation to the kingdom will in fact direct your response to Christ. And I believe and I am convinced that that's the key to understanding why the Sanhedrin responded the way that it did to Christ, because they don't deny the miracles, they don't deny the resurrection of Lazarus, but they have the opposite reaction of what we would presume intelligent people would have. Instead of commending Christ for it, instead of commending the people to Christ, they decide to destroy Christ and to snuff out His ministry and any lasting faults of it. To really grasp this, we're going to need to very briefly bring to our minds kingdom thoughts. And what I mean by kingdom thoughts is considering Jesus's words about the kingdom and perhaps just a little the Jewish expectation of the kingdom at the time of Christ. Jesus identified the kingdom with His own mission in Luke chapter 4 verse 43. He said, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose to proclaim the kingdom of God. There is a link between the gospel proclamation and the proclaiming of the kingdom of God that is missed by the modern church. We proclaim the gospel the salvation of sins by virtue of the atoning work of Christ on the cross and that is good and that is true and that is the gospel, but we stop short of linking with the gospel the kingdom of God which Jesus did over and over again. Think of all the kingdom parables, the kingdom of God is like a dragnet or the kingdom of God is like the pearl of great value and all in on and on and on. It goes as Jesus tried to bring some sort of a visual visualization or an understanding of the kingdom of God to His disciples because the kingdom of God is with the proclamation of the gospel. Ultimately this is the formal charge that led to his trial and crucifixion, isn't it? That he was king with the kingdom in opposition to Rome. What did they put on the cross over his head king of the Jews? Not this one came preaching freedom to captives and healing the sick and raising the dead. That was all part of what bothered the Pharisees, but then we even ask why would that be such a bother? Was it simply jealousy? Because they couldn't heal the sick and raise the dead. They never tried that we know. They didn't compete with Christ in that realm. They had a political opposition because they belonged to a different kingdom. Jesus gave ample evidence of the presence of the kingdom in His life in Luke chapter 11, verse 20. Here you remember Jesus was accused of serving the devil because when He cast out demons they said it must be by the devil's power and Jesus says to them, can a house that is at war with itself that is divided stand? And here he is saying, is not by the devil's power that I cast out the devil? That's nonsensical. It's by another power, the power of God. He says, but if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Here Jesus is simply saying, my casting out demons is evidence, not of my own power, but that the kingdom of God has arrived, that the kingdom of God is among you. In Daniel chapter 7, usually we turn to Daniel chapter 7 when we want to talk about the Son of Man and the term the Son of Man, and then we relate it to Jesus' work when He comes a supreme judge of all. And that's valid, and that is a right exegesis or interpretation of the Scripture, but there's more. There's more to the term, and Jesus is using the term Son of Man than simply saying He means. He'll come as judge in the clouds on high in Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a Son of Man and He came through the ancient of days and was presented before Him and to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. That all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed, an everlasting kingdom that is given to the one called Son of Man whom Jesus calls Himself. Matthew 4, 17, and 23, repent. Jesus says, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. At hand, here He is speaking imminently, immediately present, among them, the kingdom of heaven is here. It's at hand, so repent. The kingdom of heaven is now, Jesus says, and He went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. And then as evidence of the presence of the kingdom, healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Jewish reflections on the kingdom. And when I say Jewish reflections, here I'm saying in the masses, as the people were under the yoke of Rome, as they were struggling under the burdens of being a people subjected to an authority above them, they yearned for God to come. They heard the stories of the Exodus and the establishing of the Davidic kingdom, and they heard the story of the covenant given to David, which promised that there would be a kingdom, a throne, and a scepter which would endure forever. And they knew that there would be signs that accompanied this coming of a kingdom. In Isaiah 25, 8, He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. And in 26, 19, your dead shall live their bodies shall rise. If we turn to Revelation, which brings to conclusion the kingdom prophecies and the kingdom views, Revelation 21, 4, don't we hear basically the same thing again? He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Verse 22, and I saw no temple in the city, for it's temple is the Lord, God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. And then finally, 22, verse 3, no longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. The throne of God being established in the kingdom, and fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah, and evidenced in the person of Christ, because the dead were raised. Then they would hear Jesus say after thinking of that, in Luke 10, 9, heal the sick in the town, Jesus instructed his disciples, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you, in his healing of the sick, in his granting of sight to the blind, in his raising the dead. These were all to be interpreted as signs of the presence of the kingdom of God. These were the blessings of being in the kingdom of God, that there would be no more tear, that sicknesses are healed, that the captives are freed from their oppression, and that the dead are raised. And so here we have, at the tomb of Lazarus, a resurrection that provokes a response. It must be belief or rejection. Belief or rejection, and I choose rejection over unbelief, because unbelief may be able to provide some cover for misunderstanding. There's no misunderstanding among the Sanhedrin. They are purposefully and willfully rejecting Christ. It is an act of unbelief, but unbelief, again, might show that there's some still left, a stone unturn, or still some opportunity to bring belief, but there is no opportunity. There is outright rejection of the evidence that is given to them. It's unmistakable that Lazarus, the raising of Lazarus, has kingdom implications. The time for open-mindedness on Jesus has passed. It is now time to be decisive. No more writing the fence, no more in the lurch, no more academic inquiry. The raising of Lazarus has brought to a fine point the requirement to make your call. Do you stand with Christ, or do you stand at opposition to Christ? There is no later to make a decision that time has arrived, and we're told that some believe. Some believe Jesus, and they believe in Jesus, and they follow Jesus when He raises Lazarus, and then we are told that others left, and went to the Pharisees. How do we see that in modern day? When you're confronted with the truth of Christ, and the claims are unmistakable, they'll shift the weight of decision to issues, or others, and they'll say, let me wait and see what such and such says about that, or let me consider this philosophical idea, or this concern that I have, or this issue, or this detail. They'll shift the weight of decision off of their shoulders, and over to some other high and exalted concept that keeps them from having to make their call and commit their life. There were some who heard and believed, that's why, at the triumphal entry, you hear them saying, blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David, Huzanna, in the highest. They understood. They understood that with Jesus came the announcement of the arrival of the kingdom. What else can these words mean in Mark 11, verse 10? As Jesus is making a triumphal entry, blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David, Huzanna, in the highest. And so the Pharisees are left with this weight of decision upon them as they go now to the full Sanhedrin. Most of the Pharisees on the Sanhedrin are going to be scribes. The Sanhedrin made up of Sadducees, which are not necessarily a religious people, but more of a political machine of Rome. They are Rome's proxy government over the people. They belong to Rome and make no mistake about it. Their privileges, their status, are all granted by Rome. And it's Rome they serve. And this council, which has authority over the people of Israel, which has authority over Jerusalem, will now consider their response to Jesus. Praise God that even there though we find that some Pharisees believe, such as recorded in Luke 23, Joseph of Arimathea, were told had not consented to their decision and an action and was looking for the kingdom of God. So even among the Pharisees there were some that believed and they descended from the decision. But by and large the Sanhedrin not made up of religious people, not made up of those who were looking for the kingdom, those Sadducees, which did not even believe in a resurrection, would now decide that Jesus was a threat, not to their reputation as religious leaders, but to their hold on the kingdom, to their being able to rule the people. Because the people were now hearing and understanding with this raising of Lazarus, that the kingdom of God had come. And if the kingdom of God has come, then they no longer serve Rome. They serve God in Christ. Perhaps we could take pity on them if they had simply misunderstood or if they had had weak faith, but they acknowledge the truth of Christ's work in their accusation. They acknowledge it by saying, what are we going to do? This man performs signs if we let him go on like this, everybody's going to believe in him. They're acknowledging the truth of Christ's work. There is much as acknowledging that with this man comes every speculation concerning the kingdom of God. What are we to do? Because if the kingdom of God has come, then our place at the table of rule and authority has passed. The Pharisees hated him for showing their hypocrisy. Time after time, they sought to confound him, but they always came out confounded in themselves. Every effort to stop Jesus along the way had only strengthened his claims. The Sadducees were only interested in Jesus and so far as he was winning the support of the people. Otherwise, I would contend they would be indifferent to Jesus. What do they care about a religious zealot out preaching? There's plenty of those, but now because of the people gaining momentum with this kingdom movement, there are threat to the Sadducees' position and their rule is Rome's proxy. The people or the masses were believing that the kingdom was coming and that triumphal entry is evidence of their walking out to receive Jesus is heralding the kingdom. The Pharisees and Sadducees typically weren't cooperative until they learned that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And so we find them cooperating. Simple man. Simple man will create an unholy and distasteful alliance anytime it serves himself in his purpose and it opposes the intrusion of the kingdom of God. Sinful men will forge alliances with the people they detest most when it comes to being an opposition to the kingdom of God. There's a legend of a German astrologer and a magician, Giorg Faustus. He lived from 1480 to 1540. Martin Luther said that he had devilish power. The legend recorded in the Faust book as it was later written is that he traded his soul for 24 years of having any experience he wanted and all the knowledge that he needed. We call this now and you often hear referred to as the Faustian bargain. The Faustian bargain is basically sacrificing spiritual value for material gain. Isn't this what the Sanhedrin was involved in? They were involved in a Faustian bargain. The Sanhedrin was a part of the city of man and the kingdom of God was threatening to them rather than a blessing to them and they rejected it rather than welcomed it. Agustin in his book City of God City of Man which I've been blessed to be thumming through recently says this. We see them then that the two cities were created by two kinds of love. The earthly city was created by self-love reaching the point of contempt contempt for God. The heavenly city by the love of God carried as far as contempt for self as we consider the raising of Lazarus. We'll plan to pick this up again next week for we have a ways to go yet for we find also here the Vicarious and particular redemption of Christ prophesied by his very enemy which is an enthralling study. The bottom line, however, is how do you respond to the kingdom of God? If the kingdom of God is pressed in upon you, it requires a death to self and a living to Christ, a self degradation and a living in righteousness to Christ, a confession of sin and unworthiness and a living to Christ in his resurrected glory. The kingdom of God is not as the city of man. Its rules and its attributes are entirely different. They're out of phase, they're out of sync, they're 180 degrees different for the passions and the pursuits of men in the city of man are wholly unlike the passions and the pursuits of the people of God. The people of God are a unique presence in the earth and our function is to proclaim the kingdom of God not only with our voice but with our lives as we are committed in the community of Christ, a commitment to the church, the visible representation of the kingdom of God, a being a part of the church by way of our public profession, of our faith which is an allegiance and an alignment of ourselves to become a disciple of Christ and a commitment that our citizenship is not here, ultimately but with Christ in heaven. As the kingdom of God has pressed in upon you through the proclamation of the gospel and the proclaiming of the kingdom of God, where does your spirit belong? By what a man has overcome, it is to that that he has enslaved, bond-servant to Christ, may we all be overwhelmed and overcome by Christ or a bond-servant and slavish to the world. Are you seeking the world's affirmation, the world's gain, the world's reward, the world's friendships and alliance? Are you making a fostering bargain with your soul to gain experience and pleasure at the cost of your soul or have you seen the kingdom of God and you go out Hosanna in the highest Hail King of David for the kingdom of God is in our midst.