Sermon Central
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A Party Pooper At The Party For Jesus Series
Contributed by Gordon Weatherby on Oct 20, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: This message deals with a dinner party held in honour of Jesus shortly before his death. Both the host of the party, Simon the Leper, and also Judas were not gracious about some of what went on.
A PARTY-POOPER AT A PARTY FOR JESUS
Greenmount and O’Leary Churches of Christ
August 08, 2021https:
//youtu.be/RI7FzZ51_Ng
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Have you ever been all excited about an upcoming party, and really looking forward to it?
2.) What if when you got to the party it wasn’t what you had looked forward to?
3.) Maybe there was somebody at the party that really destroyed the whole party atmosphere, and made you wish you hadn’t gone.
4.) In some ways that is the picture we will see today as we look at John chapter twelve.
5.) We are going to a party in honour of Jesus, and yet there at the party was what we might call a “Party- Pooper” who put a bad atmosphere on the party.
I) JESUS WAS HONOURED AT A DINNER
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1) It was six days before the Passover.
A) Preparations were being made for the Passover.
aa.) People were travelling to Jerusalem.
aaa.) Passover was one of the three big feasts of the year for Jews.
aab.) The importance of this feast can be seen in the fact God’s law required every Jewish man who was twenty years of age or older to be present for the feast.
.01) The Passover celebration was not only a great time of festivity, and excitement, it was also a time of spiritual uplifting, and encouragement.
.02) Because of the spiritual implications, God also required that you would be ceremonially clean for the event.
ab.) There had to be ceremonial cleansings (11:55)
aba.) The law did not dictate any particular rituals to prepare for this feast, other than just to be generally ceremonially clean.
abb.) The ceremonial cleansings were important because without being ceremonially clean a Jew would not be allowed to partake of the feast.
.01) Exodus 19: 10-11 speaks of washing their clothes and sanctifying themselves which likely included taking a bath.
.02) Numbers 9:10 says they could not be considered ceremonially clean if they had been in contact with a dead body.
.03) Some accounts speak of abstaining from sexual relationships for holy times.
.04) All and all the regulations for being ceremonially clean would sometimes require 1-6 days, and so many were coming early for the feast to prepare for it.
.05) It was amid all these preparations and celebrations that we come to the party of our text in honour of Jesus.
2) Jesus goes to the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany.
A) My first thought from John’s gospel was that this was at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
aa.) The other Gospel writers make it clear this banquet in Jesus’ honour was at the home of Simon the Leper who was also one of the Pharisees.
ab.) We could have an entire sermon on Simon the Leper, and of his treatment of Jesus, but that is not the object of my focus in this message.
B) Jesus had somehow avoided detection by the religious authorities and got here near to Jerusalem in the town of Bethany.
aa.) We are not told how he got there undetected, but he was able to do so.
ab.) Scripture tells us they had been looking for Jesus (11:56a.).
aba.) The religious leaders themselves were keeping an eye out for Jesus.
ac.) They had guards set up to watch for Jesus in the temple area. (11:56b.)
.01) If Jesus would be seen anywhere, the most likely place to see him would be in the temple.
.011) Even here they had set up guards to watch for Jesus so that he could be arrested.
ad.) The religious leaders had also given orders to the people to report it if anyone knew where Jesus was.
ada.) (John 11:57)
adb.) The religious leaders had given all the people orders to report Jesus if anyone saw him or knew where he was.
.01) I expect thee were many true followers of Jesus who may have ignored those commandments, but you can be sure there would have been many others who would have quickly run to the religious leaders to report any sighting of Jesus.
.02) In light of all these things it seems strange that Jesus was at the home of Simon the Leper, because as a Pharisee he would have been one of the groups after Jesus.
II) PART OF THE HONOUR GIVEN TO JUSUS WAS A DINNER PARTY.
1) It was a dinner in Jesus’ honour.
A) Simon had this banquet in Jesus’ honour, though he did not do much to honour Jesus with his attitude or behaviour.
aa.) In one sense it seemed a peculiar occasion as Jesus would usually not do much to draw attention to himself.
ab.)But at this stage in the Gospel Jesus was ready to be publicly proclaimed for who He is as the Son of God.
