There is a plot, to kill the witness

Subject: Plot to kill the witness

Text: John 12:9-11

Focus: If they plotted to kill Jesus, what makes you think they have not plotted to kill you?

⁹Much 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.

 ¹⁰But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;

 ¹¹Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus. (John 12:9-11, King James Version)

I pray that the Lord is with me while I seek to reveal the importance of this passage of scripture…

When initially looking at this passage, it took me awhile to understand why many of the Jews wanted to come and see Lazarus. It finally hit me… we as people are very curious. In modern times, we hear of people being resuscitated and get that confused for being resurrected.

Lazarus had been dead and had laid in the tomb for several days. He was swaddled as was customary during those times. This was not a situation where he had been exposed to some gas and had passed out, he was actually dead.

Now, imagine living in a time of sorcerers and all other types of black magic and such. One of the things that the folks of Jesus’ time had not seen was a dead person brought back to life.

Naturally, those who knew of Lazarus’ passing had to go and see it for themselves when they heard that Jesus had brought him back from the dead. Undoubtedly this was two-fold: first of which being to see a dead man walking… the second being to see the person who had the power to bring him back. In those days they didn’t have telephone or telegraph… all they had was tell a friend, who would tell another friend, and so on. This news spread throughout the land quickly. This was a HUGE deal, a person was actually brought back from the dead and was now functioning like nothing happened. He, Lazarus, was socializing with his sisters and friends like his death and resurrection was a common place thing.

Now here is the kicker… Why in the world would the chief priests want to kill Lazarus? It is easy to understand why they would want to kill Jesus but why Lazarus.

Follow me if you will for a second. Today, we have to have metal detectors in our emergency rooms. We had to install them because of all of the violence that was happening in our streets. A person would get shot and be critically, but not fatally wounded. They would be transported to the hospital for treatment. The person who did the shooting didn’t want to be identified and go to jail, so they would find out what hospital the victim was in and send a crew to take the witness out. Taking the witness out ensured that there was no testimony or living proof of the incident. A dead man can tell no tales.

In essence, the chief priests wanted to removed the evidence of the miracle of Jesus. The last thing that they needed was for Jesus to get more followers and continue to diminish their power and status. You see, Lazarus was a living witness, a walking testimony of the power of Christ.

If you had gone to the funeral or memorial services of Lazarus and heard a report that he was now alive, you might do a double take. You would be really hesitant to believe whoever it was that delivered the message to you. Your doubt would be so high that you would be compelled to go and see it for yourself. As was also the case with many of the Jews… they wanted to see Jesus because they had heard so many things about Him. But in truth, all of the things that they heard about Him were miracles that He performed but they had not been fortunate enough to see.

In the case of Lazarus, if they saw him breathing, walking, talking, eating… doing those things that living folks do, the power of God could not be denied and they would be moved to belief in the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, the God of Jacob.There would have been no way for the chief priests to explain this one away and those who were not believers would have become believers. So, in their true form, the chief priests extended their plot to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus also.

Now you may be wondering why this is important to us today. Without witnesses, how does the Gospel of Christ continue to be spread throughout the world? The witness in this case is not a first hand account, but it is none the less people who had experienced God in ways that left no question as to whether or not God existed. We are charged with testifying of the goodness of God. We are tasked with spreading the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection.

While we may not have Sadducees and Pharisees like we did back in the day, we still have the spirit of the enemy present today. Every time we win a soul for the kingdom, we diminish the effectiveness of the enemy. Satan has been doing this for years and realizes that his time is short. As a result, he has upped his game. It used to be really subtle but now it is pretty obvious.

The devil does not discriminate when it comes to recruiting soldiers for his army. He will take the elderly as well as the youth. Here is a prime example of how Satan will use an everyday tool against us.

In our society, the economy is so bad that both parents have to work. This means that we have to leave our kids with babysitters, most of whom are kids themselves. Babies end up watching babies. Well the teen generation gets so distracted with television, telephone, telecommunications devices that they don’t focus on training us children in the way they should go. Parents have been largely removed from this equation as well. So the television becomes the babysitter, the telephone becomes the teen sitter, and the computer becomes the adult sitter.

We are inundated with pornography, alcohol, gambling. Everywhere you turn on the TV, you see commercials and television shows filled with sexual innuendo, foul language, glamorization of gambling and other immoral activities. Look at the video games that our kids play, they come with warning about the content. Most parents don’t even pay attention to that or are easily talked out of it because of the silver tongues used by our kids, “awe mom/dad, they put those warning on all the games today… they only say the “d” word in the game and you know how the lawyers are today all sue happy and such. I promise that I won’t repeat what I heard because you taught me better.” My question is this, how can they not repeat what they heard or saw when it is all they see and hear all day long?

As I said, the enemy is not so subtle nowadays. We have become so desensitized to his methods that he doesn’t even have to try to hide the fact that he is corrupting and polluting not only our minds, but also the minds of our children. Satan doesn’t desire to kill you, only to kill your witness. If he can reset your GPS to keep you off the course and path of righteousness with minimal effort, then he has in essence taken you out of the fight.

The battle is already won but apparently Satan didn’t get that memo. The game has changed since the beginning, but the players and tactics are still the same. Good thing for us is that the plot of the enemy doesn’t have to be the outcome for our lives.

We serve a mighty God who has already given us victory. We have to continue to seek after Him with our whole hearts… we have to strive to be perfect like our Father which is in heaven. Continue to desire and do the things to keep you in right standing with the Lord and you can rest assured that your prayers will be answered and that the blood will keep you.

Don’t fall prey to the enemy. Stand for God instead of falling for the enemy.

It is my sincere prayer that all would come to Christ. Unfortunately, time is running out. The decision needs to be made today…. not tomorrow… not the day after. The Lord’s Word says:

³⁴And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34, King James Version)

Won’t you come to the Father today?

Righteous and heavenly Father… You alone are worthy of all of my praise… You are God alone and I am so grateful to be called one of your children. Lord, I present myself before you and ask for forgiveness of all sins that I have committed, those known and those unknown… I give you thanks for all of the things that you have already done in my life and all of the things that you have already set into motion to be done but that I have not yet seen the fulfillment of. Finally Father, I ask that you continue to reveal your Word to me and to others who desire a personal relationship with you. I ask that you continue to answer my “knee-mail” with the blessings that you rain down from upon the throne. Father, I know that I can count these things as done and I will continue to give you all the Honor, all the Glory, and all of the Praise in Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.