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In this message we come to another major subsection in the Gospel of John. We have seen that this Gospel is composed of two sections: the eternal Word incarnated coming to bring God into man (chs. 1—13), and Jesus crucified and Christ resurrected going to prepare the way to bring man into God, and as the Spirit coming to abide and live in the believers for the building of God’s habitation (chs. 14—21). We have already covered the first three subsections of the first main section: an introduction to life and building (John 1:1-51); life’s principle and life’s purpose (John 2:1-22); and life meeting the need of man’s every case (John 2:23—11:57). The principle of life is to change death into life (John 2:1-11), and the purpose of life is to build the house of God (John 2:12-22). Beginning with chapter three, we see nine cases which illustrate how Christ as life can meet mankind’s every need for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This brings us to the end of chapter eleven. After this, in chapter twelve, this Gospel reveals the issue of Christ being life to man: the producing of the church. The church, a house of feasting, is the place where the Lord can rest and obtain His satisfaction. The issue of Christ being life to man is the church. What then is life’s multiplication? In chapter twelve we see a small church. It is small in number, in size, and in the growth of life. How can this church be multiplied? It is by the multiplication of life. The issue of life is to produce the church, and the multiplication of life is to increase the church in size, in number, and in the growth of life.
Chapter twelve stands alone. It is not the continuation of the nine foregoing cases; it is the conclusion of all of them. The conclusion of the nine cases is that Christ as life issues in the church. In 12:1-11 we see life’s issue, which is the church.
In chapter eleven the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead. That resurrection issued in the church life. We all were dead persons. Then the Lord came in to resurrect us. After He resurrected us, we became the church. Thus, in chapter eleven we see Lazarus resurrected and in chapter twelve we see that the resurrected person becomes the very place where the Lord can find rest and satisfaction. This is the church. Now we need to consider the church as the house of feasting.
This house of feasting is outside of religion. It was not in Jerusalem, the holy city, or in the holy temple. It was in a little house in Bethany, outside of Jerusalem and outside of religion.
The Lord being life to people to meet all of their needs brought about His rejection by the Jewish religion. Judaism could not tolerate seeing the Lord being life to so many kinds of people. So the religious ones rejected the Lord as life. This rejection began in chapter five (vv. 16, 18) and reached its climax in chapter ten (vv. 31, 39). In chapter eleven the Jewish religionists even held a council on how to put the Lord to death because He had raised Lazarus from the dead (11:53, 57). The Jewish leaders also plotted to put Lazarus to death for the same reason (12:10). This shows how much religion is against the Lord as life. It not only persecuted the Lord, but also tried to destroy those who participated in the Lord as life. Religion always renounces and rejects the Lord as life.
As we study the Gospel of John, we must see the difference between religion and Christ as life. The Lord Jesus came to earth in His incarnation not to be a religious leader but to come into man and to be man’s life. From the first case of regeneration in chapter three to the last case of resurrection in chapter eleven, all that the Lord did was to present Himself as life to people outside of the Jewish religion. If we look at religion, including Christianity, from a viewpoint other than that of life, we shall be easily cheated and misled, for religion teaches people how to know God and worship Him. It even teaches the Bible. It seems that there is nothing bad about it. However, if the Lord has mercy on us and if His Spirit opens our eyes, we shall see that what God is doing in the universe is not merely to make people worship Him or serve Him. In this age God’s desire and intention is to come into man in the Son, by His Spirit, and through His Word to be man’s life that man might live by Him. This is absolutely different from religion and altogether contrary to the religious concept.
When the Lord came as life to man, He was rejected by the Jewish religion. Throughout all the succeeding centuries, He has been continually rejected by religion. Whether that religion is Catholicism or Protestantism, as long as it is a religion it will not and cannot purely take the Lord as life. In this matter of taking the Lord as life, both the religion of Catholicism and the religion of Protestantism have been great frustrations to people, just as the religion of Judaism was in the Lord’s time and still is today. Therefore, we must be aware and alert concerning any kind of religion. If not, we might be led astray.
The rejection of the Lord by Judaism was a negative issue. But there was also a positive issue brought forth by the Lord’s being life to people — a home for Him in His rejection, a place where He could rest, feast, dwell, and be satisfied. In chapter twelve we see that the Lord has come out and has hidden Himself from the religion that rejected Him and has come into a home of His Jewish believers in Bethany. By making Himself the resurrection life to His believers, He found a home. This home may be considered a shadow of His church. On the one hand, He was rejected by Judaism and gave it up; on the other hand, He obtained a home where He could stay and rest. He had a place where He could feast and be satisfied. Formerly, the Lord had “nowhere that He may lay His head” (Matt. 8:20). But now, after raising Lazarus from the dead, He obtained a place for resting and feasting. After the Jewish religion had rejected Him, He was no longer willing to stay in Jerusalem. He always went away to stay in Bethany (Matt. 21:17-18). There He could not only stay and rest but also feast and be satisfied. This spiritually signifies that He was absolutely separated from the Jewish religion of the Old Testament and was and still is dwelling in the church as His home wherein He can rest, feast, and be satisfied.
Although there was nothing outwardly attractive about that little house, inwardly it was filled with feasting, resting, and satisfaction. Not only the Lord Jesus was feasting and resting, but so was everyone else who was there. It must be this way in the church life. When you look at the church life outwardly, nothing is attractive. Neither the building nor the chairs nor anything may seem to be very good. Outwardly, everything may be poor; inwardly, however, everything is precious, sweet, and dear. We have the sweet sensation that we are with the Lord and that the Lord is with us. He is feasting with us and we are feasting with Him. Both He and we are resting. Everyone is at rest and everyone is satisfied. This is the church life.
Let us now consider several points concerning the miniature of the church life found in John 12. Firstly, it was produced by resurrection life. Lazarus was present as a sign that the church is produced by resurrection life. The church does not come into being by man’s organization, man’s wisdom, man’s work, or man’s teaching. It comes into being by resurrection life.
Bethany was the place where the Lord accomplished His last sign — the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Therefore, Bethany is the place where the Lord raised up the dead. The believers there issued from the Lord’s resurrection life. This is exactly where the church is — in the place of resurrection where the Lord as resurrection life raises people from the dead. Originally, we were dead, for we were dead in sins (Col. 2:13). But the Lord has raised us up from the dead; He has quickened and regenerated us. The issue of this is that we who have shared in His resurrection life have become the church. The church is the produce of the Lord’s resurrection life. In the natural life there is no church. The church can come into being only through the Lord’s resurrection life. Such a church in resurrection life is the place where the Lord can find rest and satisfaction with us and where we can feast with the Lord.
The church is composed of cleansed sinners as represented by Simon the leper (Mark 14:3). When I was young, I thought that the house there in Bethany where they were feasting with the Lord was the home of Lazarus. Eventually I learned that it was not the home of Lazarus, but the house of a leper who must have been healed by the Lord. According to Mark 14:3 the feast mentioned in John 12:2 was prepared for the Lord in the house of a leper named Simon. The house of Simon, a cleansed leper, became the meeting place of the church. This is very meaningful. On the one hand, we all were dead; on the other hand, we all were lepers. Originally, the members of the church were both dead and leprous (sinful) people. In a sense we, like Lazarus, were dead and have been resurrected. In another sense we, like Simon, were contaminated lepers and have been cleansed. Hallelujah, the Lord has raised us from the dead and cleansed us from our leprosy, our sins! Now where we are becomes the meeting place of the church.
It is very strange that the place where the feast was prepared for the Lord was in the home of Simon the leper, yet John 12 is silent about Simon’s doing anything. The feast was prepared in Simon’s house, but everything was done by two sisters and one brother. In Bethany, in the house of a leper, everything was done by Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Although the church is the place where the Lord quickens and regenerates the dead and cleanses the lepers, the service in the church is not done by the lepers. This is the meaning behind the fact that Simon was absent from serving in John 12.
Bethany means house of the poor or house of affliction. Outwardly, the church may be poor and afflicted. The church on earth may not be rich in material things; it should be rich with the enjoyment of the Lord in His presence. The outward people will always look down on the church, saying that it is poor and full of affliction. They do not have a spirit to realize how rich we are in the enjoyment of all that the Lord is to us.
Inwardly, the church life is a life of feasting in and with the presence of the Lord (12:2). The Lord came to that house and His presence was there. In the church life, the first thing we need is the Lord’s presence. We must be a people in such a position and with such a condition that the Lord can come and be with us. His presence means very much to the church life. The church life is a life that absolutely depends upon the Lord’s presence. Without the Lord’s presence, the church life is empty.
Inwardly, the church life is a feast. In the church life there should always be a feast that the Lord Himself can enjoy and that His people can enjoy with Him. It is in the church that the Lord has rest, enjoyment, and satisfaction. Here there is always a feast prepared for the Lord and His people. Not only the Lord Himself enjoys it, but all the people who are with Him enjoy it as well. The church is a place where the Lord Himself can enjoy being with His people and where His people can enjoy being with Him. The church is a place where the Lord and His people come together to feast with one another and to enjoy one another.
No outsiders can understand this. No outsiders know what we are doing in the church life. More than twenty years ago, when I was still in Taipei, a Danish lady missionary came to have a long talk with me, asking about the church. She was attracted to the church but still had some problems due to the rumors. I said to her, “Sister, even if I would talk to you for days, you still could not understand what we are doing here. The best way and the only way for you to understand what we are doing is to come here and stay for two and a half years. Within this period of time, do not visit any other place and do not do any work. Simply stay with the sisters day and night and attend every meeting. You must attend all the meetings — big meetings, small meetings, home meetings, and hall meetings. Don’t miss one meeting. In addition, you must read all the books that we have put out, more than two hundred of them. If you stay two and a half years, attend all the meetings, read through all the books, I can assure you that you will be more than clear. Dear sister, will you pay the price?” Immediately she replied, “At your word I will do it.” She closed her home and moved into the sisters’ house. She truly kept my word. She did not go anywhere else. She just stayed with the sisters, attended all the meetings, and read most of the books in Chinese. In a period of time that was much shorter than two and a half years — it might have been only a few months — she came to me and said, “Brother Lee, praise the Lord. Now I am clear what we are doing here.” She did not say, “What you are doing here”; she said, “I am now clear what we are doing here.” She also said, “From today on, nothing can take me out of the church.” She remained there a good length of time and then returned to Denmark. She has passed through many hardships there, but nothing has taken her out of the church.
When people look at the church outwardly, they see one thing. It may appear black in their eyes. However, when you get into the church inwardly, it is absolutely different. It is golden yellow.
As it was there in Bethany, it is better for a church to have more sisters than brothers (12:2-3). Whenever the number of sisters in a church is smaller than the number of brothers, that church may not be so living. A living church needs to have more sisters, the more the better. If you look into a situation where the number of sisters is greater than the number of brothers, you will find that that church is living. But when the sisters are fewer in number than the brothers, that church will not be so living.
In the church life there are different functions. There are three kinds of functions in the service of the church represented by the three persons in the house. Firstly is the serving function represented by Martha (12:2). Throughout all the centuries, Martha has been treated unfairly. Throughout history, Christians have looked down on her. Do not condemn Martha. It is unfair to condemn her. We should not think that Martha is no good, for this chapter says that Martha served. This is very good, for, in the church service, the business affairs of the church must be taken care of. How could we have the food taken care of without Martha? We need her to prepare the food. I appreciate Martha’s service. We all must change our concept about her and not look down on her. We should encourage the sisters to be Marthas. Perhaps you sisters are still quite spiritual and religious, but I am rather practical. I do not want to be that spiritual. Suppose all the sisters are Marys sitting there quietly being spiritual. Who is going to prepare the meal? We must have some Marthas who are diligent, capable, active, living, and practical. Although we are spiritual, we must still serve practically. Martha’s service was needed in that house. Likewise, in the church service, the first function needed is to serve by doing certain things, by taking care of certain practical affairs.
The second kind of function in the service of the church is represented by Lazarus. It appears as if Lazarus did nothing. He just sat there at the table with the Lord, enjoying the feast with Him. But we must remember that Lazarus was the living testimony of the resurrection life. He did not testify by doing but by living in the resurrection life. His testimony was not in labor or in works; it was in the enjoyment of the resurrection life. He was a witness to the power of the Lord’s resurrection life. Wherever he was, the testimony of resurrection life was there.
Martha’s service was good, but it did not attract people. It was the testimony of Lazarus that attracted them. This does not mean that Martha’s service was not good and was not needed, for certain things had to be taken care of. Even Lazarus had to be served by Martha. Therefore, we must realize that even when we have a good testimony of life, we still need the service of Martha. Otherwise, we will have nothing to eat.
The second kind of function in the church is the testimony of life. It is not by doing but by living. It is not a kind of work; it is a kind of life. It is not by laboring; it is by enjoying the Lord. It gives people the feeling of resurrection power, the manifestation of resurrection life, and the enjoyment of the Lord as life. This is a strong testimony that the Lord can make dead persons so living and enable them to feast with Him. In the church there must be such a living testimony, such a function of life. There must be not only the service of practical affairs but also the ministry of life. Martha’s service is necessary, but Lazarus’s ministry is even more necessary.
Mary represents the third kind of function (12:2-3). She represents the dear ones who love the Lord very much and who pour out what they hold most precious upon the Lord. They love the Lord so much that they give the best to the Lord. This is what Mary did. She poured the costly ointment upon the feet of the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair. In her heart nothing was so dear, so precious, and so costly as the Lord. She, along with many others like her, loved the Lord with the best she had. Her estimate of the Lord was that He was more valuable and lovable than anything else. For her, the Lord was the most precious and the most costly One.
Mary’s pouring the precious ointment upon the Lord Jesus is a sign of the proper church life. Although you may realize that Mary anointed the Lord Jesus with the best ointment, perhaps you have not seen that this is a sign of the church life. The main characteristic of the church life is anointing the Lord with our best love. The main expression, aspect, and characteristic of the church life is that we pour out our ointment upon Him. The church here is likened to a house that is filled with the preciousness, the sweetness, and the pleasantness of the aroma of the ointment poured out upon the Lord Jesus. This ought to be the main expression of a local church. When you come into a local church, the first thing that you should smell is the loving ointment poured out upon the Lord Jesus. It is not simply that Mary loved the Lord, but that she poured out her best upon the Lord, and this becomes a sign of the proper church life. In the proper church life we all must love the Lord to such an extent.
Therefore, we have three kinds of functions: serving, testifying, and loving. We have the service, the testimony, and the love poured out upon the Lord. These three items must be found in the church life. Whenever people come to us, they must realize that among us are the service for the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, and the love poured out upon the Lord. These three items are a must. We must have the service, serving all the time. Even more, we must have the testimony, testifying that the Lord is the resurrection life to us. There is no need for us to labor in this aspect of the testimony. We simply need resurrection life. After we have been resurrected with Him, it is unnecessary for us to labor. We simply sit with Him, go along with Him, and enjoy the feast with Him. This is the real, living testimony that the church must have, and this is the very expression of the Lord. Moreover, we must also have the absolute love shown to the Lord. When people come into our midst, they should say, “Oh, these people love the Lord at any cost. They will pay any price in loving the Lord. In their hearts nothing is so costly, so valuable, so lovable, and so precious as the Lord Himself.” We must give people this kind of impression.
We all must be a triangular member of the church. We must have three corners. In the past I heard some sisters say to me, “Brother, I am not a Martha. By the Lord’s mercy, I am just a little Mary.” Once a brother who was very living said to me, “Brother, in the church some are Marthas and only a very few are a Lazarus. By the Lord’s mercy, I am just a Lazarus. I can do nothing. I just sit here testifying of the Lord Jesus.” I doubt that he was a real Lazarus. We all must be Martha, Lazarus, and Mary. When someone asks you your name, you should reply, “My name is Martha-Lazarus-Mary.” This is the proper name for us all to have.
Again I say that in the church life there must be at least three items: the diligent service for the Lord, the living testimony of the resurrection life of the Lord, and the absolute love poured out upon the Lord. If we are truly practicing the church life, we must have the service, the testimony, and the love toward the Lord. We all must be Martha, Lazarus, and Mary. Such a church is the result and issue of the Lord being life to us. Chapter twelve is the issue of chapter eleven. This kind of service, testimony, and love comes out of the Lord being resurrection life to us. With these functions, there is the genuine church life. In the real church life, the service to the Lord is rendered, the testimony of the Lord is seen, and the love toward the Lord is poured out. Here we can enjoy the Lord with other saints, and the Lord Himself can dwell, rest, and feast in satisfaction. This is the real expression of the Body of the Lord, which is a vessel to contain the Lord and to express Him.
However, in the picture of the church life portrayed here, there is something negative — the black spot of Judas (12:4). Even among the twelve apostles chosen by the Lord Jesus, there was Judas, who was a black spot. Throughout all the centuries, there has always been a black spot in the churches. The glorious church life is always spotted by some false one. Nevertheless, it is quite comforting that even in the little church established directly by the Lord Jesus Himself, there was such a black spot.
Judas cared for money; he loved money much more than he loved the Lord. Therefore, he did not appreciate what Mary did to the Lord. He thought that it was a waste. Judas pretended that he cared for the poor. Actually that was not true. He cared only for money. In the church life there is almost always such a black spot. Mammon, the embodiment of the evil one, is the real rival of the Lord. The failure to overcome mammon is so often seen in the church life. Judas’s love of mammon gave Satan the ground to enter into him and take him over (13:2). Instead of loving the Lord, he betrayed Him! It is a shame that this is often repeated in the church life.
The church life is persecuted by religion. The Jewish priests took counsel that they might kill Lazarus (12:10) who testified to the resurrection power of the Lord. He was an evident and strong testimony of the Lord’s resurrection power. This stirred up the religious people’s hatred and persecution. It is the same today. The stronger we are in bearing testimony of the Lord as life to us, the more the religious people will be provoked to anger with us.
The church life is a test. It exposes people (12:6, 10). It exposes where a person’s heart is and what his attitude is toward the Lord. Without the church people’s heart and attitude toward the Lord could never be exposed. As long as there is a church, everything comes to the surface. If there were no church in your locality, the hearts and the attitudes of men toward the Lord would be hidden and concealed. However, in the church life every man’s heart is exposed. The church exposes the hidden thoughts of man’s heart concerning the Lord.
In verse 11 we see that many believed because of the testimony of Lazarus. The living testimony of the church always causes people to believe in the Lord and brings people into the church life. The increase of the church must depend upon the church’s living testimony, not only upon the preaching of the gospel. The best preaching of the gospel that makes the church to increase is our living testimony of experiencing the Lord as our life.
When we consider all of these aspects of the church life, it is not too much to say that the house at Bethany was an early figure of the church. We do see the church life there.
Not only is the church a test and an exposure of people, but the Lord Himself is a test to all the people around Him. The chief priests and the Pharisees conspired to kill Him (11:47, 53, 57). We see a different attitude in Simon the leper, for he prepared the house for Him (Matt. 26:6). Martha served Him, Lazarus testified of Him, Mary loved Him, and Judas was about to betray Him. Many others believed in Him. All of these varying attitudes were shown toward the same Jesus. Where are you? (Are you trying to kill Him, or are you serving Him, testifying of Him, loving Him, or being seduced to betray Him?) You can never be neutral. You must do something. The very Lord in His church is a test to everyone around Him.
