John 11:54-12:8
May 1, 2022
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“A man’s real belief is that which he lives by. What a man believes is the thing he does, not the thing he thinks.”

~ George MacDonald (1824-1905), Scottish author, poet and Christian minister

“To be a true Christian is the most difficult thing in the world!”

~ John Angell James (1785-1859), English clergyman and writer.

“If your faith rests in your idea of how God is supposed to answer your prayers…then that kind of faith is very shaky and is bound to be demolished when the storms of life hit it. But if your faith rests on the character of Him who is the eternal I AM, then that kind of faith is rugged and will endure.”

~ Elisabeth Elliott (1926-2015), American author and speaker whose husband Jim Elliott was killed in 1956 during their missionary endeavors in Ecuador

“Faith matures as it moves past the safe and predictable and into the dark, doubt-filled places. Faith refuses to reduce your dreams to the size of your fears. Faith doesn’t hide from questions but passionately struggles with them. And scripture is crowded with limping, screaming, sweaty luchadors (wrestlers) who did just that.”

~ Dominic Done, contemporary pastor and author

“In this crazy world, there’s an enormous distinction between good times and bad, between sorrow and joy. But in the eyes of God, they’re never separated. Where there is pain, there is healing. Where there is mourning, there is dancing. Where there is poverty, there is the kingdom.”

~ Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian

“I am here subject to many changes, which may cause me to lose courage. But what of it? The Son of God is my Head, Who is exempt from all change. I must, then, take confidence in Him.”

~ John Calvin (1509-1564), French pastor, theologian and author

Sermon Passage

John 11:54-12:8 (ESV)

John 11

⁵³ So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴ 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.

⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

John 12

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³ Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸ For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”