A PLACE FOR CHRIST
[p. 525] A PLACE FOR CHRIST
John 4: 39 - 42; John 12:1 - 3; John 12:9 - 11; John 20: 19 - 23
John makes much of a place here for Christ. Indeed it would be in his mind that the Son of God had come to obtain and hold a footing here. So he enlarges on the love of Christ that would provide for this footing. It is a footing which involves His liberty to come at His pleasure; not in an arbitrary way, or by force. He will do that presently; He will come out in power. John says in the Revelation that He will come out in a military way, the armies of heaven following. It will be no question then of persons who love Him making room for Him, but of taking up His rights in power. But now, as I said, in this gospel it is a question of room being made for Him by those who love Him, and this was to give character to christianity. It was not something set up here and left to work its way automatically, but it afforded the means of Christ coming in at His pleasure, each incoming involving fresh interests and fresh impressions. This should not be regarded as anything unexpected. It is a principle with God in what He creates or inaugurates that He never leaves it to itself. Although furnishing it amply, He never leaves any creation or thing to itself, not even a person. There is not a person in the world that is left to his own organisation, wonderful as his organisation is, and wonderful the environment in which he is set, as it is said, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being”, Acts 17: 28. As the apostle says to the Athenians, “Though he be not far from every one of us” — good or bad — “for in him we live, and move, and have our being”. And so in regard to the wide universe itself, for whatever we may be told by those who look into these scientific matters,
[p. 526] the fact remains that the universe is not left to work itself, although wonderfully furnished. God has kept His hand on it, and does keep His hand on it. The earth receives the grain of wheat or any other cereal falling into it, but the seed is not left to itself. It has in itself life, and it dies, but “God gives to it a body as he has pleased”, 1 Corinthians 15: 38. It is God not only in infinite power in a general way, but in infinite detail, as a faithful Creator.
All this enters into christianity. John would show how the Lord comes in, not to force Himself on us, but as knocking at the door. John quotes this in the last address to the assemblies in the Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking”, Revelation 3: 20. That is divine activity — one of the most touching things conceivable, because it involves reproach. One standing at the door and knocking becomes, it may be, the object of the derision of those that pass by. He stands at the door and is knocking. He does not force the door. He knocks; He knocks loud and hard, it may be, but He knocks, and it is for you to open. He does not force the door, but His attitude shows this principle, that in the darkest days, at the end, when indifference and worldliness have set in. He knocks; that is His attitude. “If any one ... open the door”, He says, “I will come in unto him”, not come into his house merely, but to “him”, a person, “and sup with him, and he with me”. That is His attitude, and the end of the dispensation indicates how this began. How active the Lord was in the inauguration of it, appearing first to Cephas, then to the twelve, then to above five hundred brethren at once, then to James, and then to all the apostles, and then to Paul. Such is His activity! These were only instances; how many others there were, who can say? And so it goes on. I do not say He does not come where He is not invited. He also comes judicially, and that is [p. 527] involved in what I have been saying about Laodicea. He comes judicially, but I am concerned now in these scriptures to show that the Lord apprehended as with us gives fulness and effectiveness to any light or truth He may have ministered to us. I want you to note this. It is one thing to listen to ministry or teaching, to be taught, but in order to have the full bearing of anything administered we must see it in relation to Christ, and not only place it in relation to Christ, but, when He comes in see that room is made for Him, and then He will place Himself in relation to it.
Now that is one of the greatest services, and the Lord is doing it.
Those who listen to ministry and know nothing about the Lord coming in, never see the full bearing of what is ministered. They may enjoy it for a time, and it may please, but to see it in its fulness, room has to be made for the Lord, and that is how christianity has been maintained. It is that the Lord ministers through the gifts, as it says, “for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4: 12), but He comes in following upon the ministry Himself as room is made for Him, and gives effect to it, and indicates its full bearing. If one is free from oneself, one wishes to see the full bearing of the truth, and so I began with this passage in chapter 4 as illustrative in a peculiar and striking way of the initial feature that I have in my mind.
The woman had listened to Christ and she left her waterpot, meaning that she was affected by what He said. She understood by His remarks to her that she herself was to be a vessel of living water. She understood that, and that is what is meant by her leaving her waterpot; she might have taken it back full of water otherwise. She went to the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?” John 4: 29.
[p. 528] She did not convey anything beyond what had happened in herself, but while it is one thing to see the working of the truth in oneself, it is another thing, a much better thing, to see the bearing of it universally, and one would urge all this so that we should become universal in our outlook and affections. As soon as we see the bearing of the truth as the Lord identifies Himself with it, we shall become universal in outlook, we shall become enlarged; so as the woman goes off and tells the men, the Lord begins to speak to His disciples about food, and of lifting up their eyes to see the fields “already white to harvest”; far and wide as their eyes could scan, there they were, the fields white to harvest. This comes in between the woman’s mission to the men of the city and their full acceptance of it; that is to say, as we read down the chapter we are to pay attention to the fact that it is not simply this woman that is in mind. She has already got the light of herself being a vessel, but she is only one person. The Lord is thinking of the fields “white to harvest”, and so those to whom she spoke believed, showing how effective her ministry was. They believed on account of her testimony, which would show how effective one may be in speaking to others when one is converted and in the full enjoyment of the light; they believed on account of her testimony. But that was not the end of it. We might count the number who believe and think we have accomplished something — an evangelist might have done that. But in spite of the fact that her body was a vessel she could not give full effect to the truth, nor can any vessel, even a Paul, and so the men went to Jesus themselves, for such is the effect of good evangelisation, that the converts go to the Lord themselves, and they say “we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world”. That is a much greater thought than she conveyed to them. How did they get that [p. 529] thought? Not from the woman; they got it as they went to Him. They invited Him to stay, it says, as you will observe, “When therefore the Samaritans came to him they asked him to abide with them, and he abode there two days. And more a great deal believed on account of his word; and they said to the woman, It is no longer on account of thy saying that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world” (verses 40 - 42). Now, dear brethren, you see that they had invited the Lord to stay with them. I wonder how much this is understood. I am afraid not much, for in moving about I observe a great preponderance of local feeling in the prayers of the brethren, narrowness of outlook. Good and blessed are local prayers; the Lord hears them, but how He loves to expand our hearts and to get us to see things as He sees them. How has this to come about? as we make room for Him — they invited Him to stay with them. The woman did not invite Him, apparently she had no place to invite Him to — not like Martha or Lydia — her domestic relations were sorrowful, but she was secured herself. We have to run down the chapter to find the house secured, the picture is not complete without the house being secured, and that is the nobleman’s at Capernaum. No house is mentioned in Samaria, but the Lord nevertheless remained there two days. Two days would mean adequate testimony for the purpose on hand, and that purpose was that these dear people should come to see the full truth as the Lord identified Himself with it, and they became universal as far as their confession went — He was the Saviour of the world. Not simply the Saviour of any locality, or country, or continent, but of the world. What an immense thing it is to see the truth, not simply the truth in relation to Him, but to see Him in relation to the truth. It is thus we apprehend the bearing of it, and it makes us [p. 530] evangelical. It is not simply ministry, it is Christ apprehended as He abides with us. It may be only for a moment — the two days here afforded adequate opportunity for the Samaritans to apprehend Him in relation to truth that had come to them through the woman, and now they hear Him themselves. And when the Lord preached the gospel what a touch He would give it, what a bearing He would give it, He would make everybody present feel that they should come into it. Like the ark of old, He was great enough to take in all creation.
Now in chapter 12 we have the Lord coming in not by invitation. He remained in Samaria by invitation, not merely, as I have been showing, to gratify those who invited Him, but to indicate the bearing of the truth they had received. But He comes into Bethany of His own volition. I am speaking now of chapter 12, not chapter 11 — the visit had in view the result of chapter 11, that He might show the full bearing of chapter 11. I am speaking of this because one knows in oneself, and one sees it among the brethren, how we fail to come to the end of things, the end of a movement of God, to see the full bearing of it, and if we see the full bearing of anything we must see Christ in relation to it, not only to see it in relation to Him, but to see Him in relation to it. I think we shall see in the millennial day the full bearing of all the testimony of God. It will be a wonderful time. The light will be seen in all the testimony of God, and then we will understand. The assembly is to be the temple in that day; it now “groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord”, Ephesians 2: 21. The bearing of that remark is millennial, so that all that is seen is intelligible in the temple. That is what we are, dear brethren. Hence the importance of being instructed now for that wonderful structure.
And so He comes to Bethany six days before the passover, meaning that there is ample time for the [p. 531] object He had in view, not two days, but six days, and it is said. He “came ... where Lazarus was”, John 12: 1. We have often remarked on this, I do not dwell on it, what I am concerned about is that He is going to identify Himself with Lazarus. He is going to sit down at table, and Lazarus is to be one of those sitting down with Him. We shall never see Lazarus aright until we see Him there. Now you will observe there is nothing said about the people coming to see Lazarus in chapter 11. There were those who believed, who had seen the wonderful things that had been done, but nothing about coming to see Lazarus until the Lord identifies Himself with him, and then you see Lazarus as he should be seen. He is not an isolated risen man, he is a man risen and sitting at the table with Jesus. That is how we begin to see the bearing of resurrection. “Lazarus was one of those”; there were others, but he was one that sat at table with Jesus. Jesus had come to Bethany in relation to him — it was “where Lazarus was”. It might be said that Lazarus may perhaps have gone away somewhere, but the Lord knew, and He knows where we all are. If He comes to Birkenhead He comes in relation to the saints and those who know Him “where Lazarus was”, not where he had been, but where he was. It was the dead man Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead. “There therefore they made him a supper”, but the point is to give full bearing to what happened, and so Lazarus sits at the table. Now you never see Lazarus as he should be seen according to the mind of God until you see him there, and if you see him there you see him properly. Then you see Martha properly, too; she has never been seen as she is seen here. All this means that the Lord has had to say to Martha, and His service to her has taken effect. Now, He says, ‘I want you to see Martha as I intend her to be seen’. How is she to be seen? As serving; that was her [p. 532] particular ministry, but she never shone as she shone here. His presence there gave full effect to what He had effected in her. Then Mary, did she ever shine like this? No, she had sat at His feet and listened to His word, but we never hear anything about a box of ointment until now. Did the Lord not know that she had that box? He did, but it means that He had effected His own work in her, and He would show the full bearing of that, and so He came to Bethany where He could see Mary as He intended her to be seen. You see the importance of apprehending the Lord in the midst, letting Him have His place. If the light, as God intends it, shines, it is as He stands in relation to it, because it is a question of the testimony now; by and by, it will be a question of my standing in relation to Him before God, but if I am to be here in testimony He must stand in relation to me, that is how each of us is seen rightly, and so Mary is seen here as she was never seen before. The Lord knew she had this box. It was not an impromptu thing, it was something she had kept to use six days later. She intended to use it when He died, but she says, ‘I may never get another opportunity’ and so the principle is that she seizes her opportunity — a fine thing to get hold of — to seize the opportunity, and not miss it. It was six days too early, but the Lord knew that, and she never shone as she shone here. The Lord set Himself in relation to her. He went there, they did not go to Him. When we go to Him, then it is our being in relation to Him. He shines, but in the testimony He must stand in relation to us if we are rightly to represent Him and what He indicates in us. Then you see how Lazarus’ value comes out; people came to see Lazarus. People might go to see a noted preacher, and as in the history of the church there have been men who have been outstanding, people have sought to see them because of this, but that is not the principle; the principle is [p. 533] that Lazarus is understood because Jesus has placed Himself in relation to Him. Lazarus is not said to have said anything in Scripture; it is not a question of what he was saying, it is a question of what the man was. He was a risen man in connection with whom Jesus has placed Himself, that is the idea. That is the force of resurrection, it is not something in itself, we speak of the resurrection as something, it is not something in itself. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection”; that is the idea. He stands in relation to it; that is how the resurrection is seen in its fulness. So that Lazarus is sought out, and it says the chief priests sought to kill him because many came and believed on Jesus on account of him; you do not get this until after Jesus places Himself in relation to Him.
What you observe in chapter 20 is that it was the first day of the week, and that the Lord came where the disciples were. It does not say in the original they were assembled. It is a question of the persons; that is to say, persons who had received the most wonderful message that ever was sent to men, and that was that the Lord Jesus said to Mary, “Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. She came, we are told, and told the disciples these things, and then the Lord comes in and He stands in the midst. As some of us were saying the other day, it is not in this gospel that He stood in their midst, it is not a question of signalising those particular persons only. In Luke it says “in their midst”, that is to say, in the midst of people whose features were expressed in what they were saying, but the disciples here are not saying anything. They had received a message from Him, and He came and stood in the midst, the doors being shut; that is to say, in a spiritual way “in the midst”. It is not limited, it is not a local thing. John has got that in view in this [p. 534] chapter. It is the idea of the Lord as ascended up “in the midst”. “I ascend” — that message was already in their hands, and in their hearts, I believe. The Lord came in that the message should have its full effect. I am speaking of things being made effective in their full bearing, and this is conditional on the Lord being apprehended “in the midst”. The bearing of that is universal; I may say, eternal.
And so He speaks peace unto them; that peace that He spoke is like the ripple from something thrown into a sea of water, it extends to the utmost limit. It is eternity from His point of view; peace is to prevail there. His attitude “in the midst” has that in view. So He shows them His hands and His side, which has, too, an eternal bearing, not as in Luke, but it is more the ark at rest, and the love that is there, the testimony to it in that riven side. His hands and His side. What are the hands for? hands are not always for work. As in Canticles, they are for love, too. “His left hand would be under my head”, says the loved one, “and his right hand embrace me”, Song of Songs 8: 3. It is eternity, it is the fulness of divine thoughts, it is giving effect to the message that He had sent them, and they were glad, the ripple of gladness inspired by His presence that is to extend until it reaches the utmost bounds of the eternal scene. We are lifted out of time really. And after they rejoice, He confirms them in it. It is not a passing joy, a passing ripple, as that caused by the angel that disturbed the water at the pool at the sheepgate at a certain season, not like that, the ripple of joy is to be permanent. So that you have peace again; He said, “Peace be to you” that is confirmatory peace. The first “peace” is productive of joy, the second “peace” is confirmatory, to make the enjoyment permanent. The joy begins here, and what begins here is to be permanent, but then, as I was saying, it is not simply in view of eternity, it is [p. 535] that John always has the full bearing of all on the testimony here, so that the Lord says, “As the Father sent me forth”. I want you to follow what I am saying. The attitude in which they were set up is not as in Matthew to go to Galilee, or as in Luke to stay in the city, but “As the Father sent me forth”, to be brought on to His own level, not only in family relationship, but in physical service, that is the principle. So that all that had preceded in the gospel is gathered up here in this company in the upper room with the doors shut, and the Lord comes in to make all that effective, to show the full bearing of it, and how He regarded their ministry, for they were to go out. This is the highest level on which levitical service can be carried on. It is as we are sent out, as the Father sent out Jesus, “As the Father sent me forth, I also send you” on that level. He sends us out as the Father sent Him forth, and then so as to ensure that that should be maintained in them and that it should not be simply a question of light. He breathes into them — no transaction like this in Luke. It is on this great levitical level “He breathed into them” and He says, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. O! how urgent that is. It would be on His level, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Not a question of the Person of the Holy Spirit, although it is really that, but the article is left out here, it is the character of the thing, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Not simply that I am sealed, but I receive Holy Spirit; it is breathed into me. The most intimate transaction conceivable, but it is necessary so that we may see the exalted position whence we are sent out, and then they have confidence that the Lord works with them, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained”. He has full confidence in whatever they do. It gives the remission first here, it is the reverse in Matthew, there it is the binding first and then the remission,
[p. 536] but here it is remission first and then retention. Grace works in John, and so unto the present time. In dealing with the brethren in the systems around, we think of them in grace, the spirit of forgiveness and remission, but if they refuse and reject the truth and turn away back, then their sins will have to be retained, and that is a solemn thing.