September 25, 2025 - John 10-12

Not only did Jesus give sight (the man born blind), he also gives life itself.  He is the One who said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (11:25-26).  Caiphas, the high priest, “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 are scattered abroad” (11:51-52).  I’m not sure he fully understood significance of his prophecy but it was right on target.  Following his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus promised, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (12:32).  The story is moving toward a conclusion but, already, its significance is clear:  By his death, Jesus will save his people.  Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah?  “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).

Lift your glad voices in triumph on high,

for Jesus has risen and we shall not die.

Vain were the terrors that gathered around him,

and short the dominion of death and the grave.

He burst from the fetters of evil that bound him,

resplendent in glory, to live and to save.

Loud was the chorus of angels on high,

the Savior has risen, and we shall not die.   --Henry Ware (1820)