The Difference Found
“Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.
(The Gospel According to John 11: 57 to 12: 4a NASB)
Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was,
whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving;
but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
[Lazarus was alive from the dead &
Lazarus was sitting there at the dinner table, talking with the Lord]
Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair;
and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, . . .”
If we have lived long enough, gaining enough age, then we have encountered people as we’ve walked through life. As such, we have met those with the ‘best of intentions’ as well as those with their ‘worst intentions’ planned. How do we know the type of person we are encountering? Even more importantly, how do we know if the person we are meeting today is a child of God—OR—is lost and walking toward hell, toward an eternity, forever separated from God?
Should we care about each individual person we meet today?
Jesus would want us to care!
Jesus would expect us to see—The Difference Found—in every single person we talk with this day!
To help us understand this better, let’s look carefully at the people Jesus encountered mere days before He entered Jerusalem during Passover, the last week of His earthly life.
1st—Jesus encountered the chief priests and Pharisees. They were the religious elect, men who had ‘RELIGION,’ but men who were wary, suspicious, and angry. These men knew about a man named Jesus. They had talked directly with Jesus, encountered Him in His ministry, but, as a whole, these men DID NOT intimately KNOW JESUS!
We can know this to be true because collectively, they decided to react negatively against JESUS.
“Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.”
(The Gospel According to John 11: 57 NASB)
2nd—Jesus encountered a man named Lazarus. This man was home, in Bethany, and we know this man’s name because Jesus came after Lazarus’ funeral. Yes, Lazarus died. Lazarus’ body was prepared for burial and placed in a tomb. Then four days later, Jesus came to Bethany and came to the place where Lazarus’ dead body lay. We can know this to be true because after Lazarus had died, JESUS RAISED LAZARUS TO NEW LIFE!
THAT’S CORRECT!
This man Lazarus knew about a man named Jesus & this man Lazarus intimately KNEW JESUS!
“Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover,
(The Gospel According to John 12: 1-2 NASB)
[JESUS] came to Bethany where Lazarus was,
whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
So they made Him a supper there,
[the girls made a meal for the four of them: Mary, Martha, Lazarus, & JESUS]
and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.”
3rd—Jesus encountered a woman named Mary. We remember this girl because she was the one who sat at Jesus’ feet while her sister Martha scurried around doing this and that. We find—
“It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair,
(The Gospel According to John 11: 2 NASB)
whose brother Lazarus was sick.”
Then, after her brother Lazarus had been raised to new life, we notice how this same woman reacted in a similar way to Jesus during the week of Passover (before Jesus’ crucifixion).
“Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair;
(The Gospel According to John 12: 3 NASB)
and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
Mary demonstrated she knew about a man named Jesus because Mary reveals through her daily actions how she intimately DOES KNOW JESUS!
4th—Jesus encountered another man, a thief and a betrayer. We know this man’s name well; we never want to be identified with him because this is NOT the type of disciple we aspire to be as we walk throughout our lives.
This man Judas Iscariot knew about the Savior & Messiah. Judas had walked for three years in ministry with Jesus; however, this man Judas pretended to the watching world that he was something he was not. Judas Iscariot NEVER intimately KNEW JESUS!
“But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said,
(The Gospel According to John 12: 4-6 NASB)
“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?”
Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.”
How can we KNOW the Difference Found in those we meet today?
- How do we know—If they intimately KNOW JESUS—OR—If they only know about a man named JESUS?
- Truly, how can we know if the person we are meeting today—is a child of God?
- And how can we know if the person we are encountering today—is lost and walking toward hell, toward an eternity, forever separated from God?
We can know The Difference Found by looking at their actions, by listening to the way they speak, and by seeing if they display the Fruit of the Spirit.
Thus, the question becomes—Should we care about each individual person we meet?
Jesus would want us to care!
Jesus expects us to see—The Difference Found—in every single person we briefly encounter & in those we meet with, work with, and speak with—on this day the LORD has given us to live.
JESUS CHRIST, our SAVIOR would want us to care about every person’s eternal destination!
We can know this truth is fact because of a conversation Mary’s sister Martha had with Jesus.
We can know because the Bible tells us so!
“Jesus said to her,
(The Gospel According to John 11: 23-27 NASB)
[JESUS SAYS TO A BELIEVER—MARTHA]
“Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to Him,
“Yes, Lord;
I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”