Herbie Newell: 00:00

Welcome to the Defender Bible Study, a weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is ministry of Lifeline Children's Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

Miguel Zayas: 00:25

It was November 2021. On that Thursday afternoon, I was saying goodbye to our pastoral team at church, the church I was leading here in Birmingham, Alabama, when I noticed Jay standing outside of his office. He was our executive pastor. I saw him and I said, see you Sunday. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would see Jay in church until his memorial service on December 2021.

Miguel Zayas: 00:57

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Defender Bible Study Podcast. Today is Monday, April 2025. My name is Miguel Zayas. I serve as the senior director of our global orphan care team, working alongside with our partners around the world impacting the lives of more than 20,000 children globally.

Miguel Zayas: 01:18

Today, we are continuing in our study through the Gospel of John. So let's get right to it. Jay called me Saturday to let me know that he had tested positive for COVID and as was our practice and process, he would take the next two weeks off to get well. On Tuesday, my wife spoke with his wife to find out how Jay was doing, only to discover that he was not doing well at all. Jay's wife called 911, and an ambulance came to take him to the hospital.

Miguel Zayas: 01:49

A day or two later, I went up to see Jay. I was kitted out in full space gear when I walked into his room. To know Jay was to know someone who loved life. He loved his wife. He loved Jesus.

Miguel Zayas: 02:04

He loved the church. And man, did he love to worship. Every Sunday, Jay was the loudest worshiper, whooping and shouting Amen and Hallelujah. I mean, he just loved spending time with Jesus. The next time I saw Jay was when the doctors were trying to explain to his wife that Jay had experienced a serious brain event, which we later found out was a massive blood clot that had developed in his leg and the piece had broken off and went straight to his brain.

Miguel Zayas: 02:37

Through all the shock of the information we were processing, the grief his wife was feeling, and pain the family was walking through, I just didn't know what to do. On December mid morning, I went by Jay's bed and whispered in his ear, Jay, if you see Jesus walking toward you, it's okay. Just walk to him. We'll take care of your family. In the early afternoon, we stood by Jay's bed.

Miguel Zayas: 03:09

I was at the foot of the bed and Jay went to be with Jesus. While we cried and hugged one another, I was reminded about how Jay would whoop and holler, and said to the family, I could imagine him right now, whooping and hollering for what he was seeing. He was finally with Jesus. For a brief moment, we all sighed, let out a laugh, and could imagine Jay doing just that. Last week, Blake walked us through the most powerful miracle in Jesus' ministry, raising Lazarus from the dead.

Miguel Zayas: 03:52

And Blake reminded us that there is a hope that we all have as believers in Jesus. And I want us to know this morning that this hope is not just for the future. It is a hope that we have that could be part of our everyday life like right now, to see heaven happen on earth now in our time, and in our generation. In John chapter 11 verses 21 to 25, we see this interaction between Martha and Jesus, where she says, if you had just been here, my brother would not have died. And he says, But I know that even now God will do whatever you ask.

Miguel Zayas: 04:32

And Jesus said to him, Your brother will rise again. And Martha answered, I know you will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

Miguel Zayas: 04:53

When Jesus taught us how to pray, Our Father who is in heaven, praise be to your name, your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He is the resurrection and the life, and we can pray that we can see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven now. I am the resurrection and I am the life He is now. When I was a child, we used to sing a song where the chorus of the church was, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and we'll shout the victory.

Miguel Zayas: 05:32

On one hand, what a wonderful promise. And yet if our hope is only for the future, then what hope do we have for today? Even the Scripture says, hope deferred or put off to the future makes the heart sick. When we're walking through family traumas, adoption processes, counseling a birth mom in her distress or making life altering decisions, whatever those decisions we walk through daily. What is the hope that we have for today?

Miguel Zayas: 06:04

What is the promise that we have for today? He says, I am the resurrection, I am the life. As I was studying these verses, I felt like there might be some of us who are struggling with this tension of the present and future hope. Things may have just become weary on your soul. And I just want to encourage you with this this morning.

Miguel Zayas: 06:31

Jesus speaking to the Sadducees about his father in Matthew chapter 22 verses 32 says, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not a God of the dead, but of the living. You see, God is your resurrection and your life now. If you have put your faith in Jesus, then this is for you today, for now. Our hope is also now.

Miguel Zayas: 07:00

Jesus is your resurrection and your life now. Yes, he'll be there for you when you breathe your last and close your eyes for the last time, like my friend Jay did, as he closed his eyes for the last time here on earth in this reality, but opened his eyes to what is far more real, the world where Jesus sits at the right hand of God, praying for you and I. You see the cross is coming as we read here in John chapter 11 through John chapter 12. The question is, how will we respond? Jesus had just performed this great miracle, raising Lazarus from the dead, the greatest of miracles that we've seen thus far.

Miguel Zayas: 07:46

And this moment wasn't just a display of divine power, it was the spark that set everything in motion toward the cross. From this point on, the religious leaders intensified their plot against Jesus. In John chapter eleven and twelve, we see vastly different responses to Jesus. We see worship and we see resistance, even misunderstanding. Some rejected him outright, others believed in him, and still others like Caiaphas spoke truth, but applied it completely wrong.

Miguel Zayas: 08:19

These responses still echo today. How do we hear and respond to God's voice? Are we moving in faith or fear? Are we offering Jesus our best or our leftovers? Does our life testify to His power?

Miguel Zayas: 08:37

See, fear holds on tightly, but faith can let things go. In John chapter 11, we'll read from verses 45 to 57, it says this, Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him. And some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests of the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. What are we accomplishing?

Miguel Zayas: 09:06

They asked. Here is the man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation. Then one of them named Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year spoke up, you know nothing at all. You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish.

Miguel Zayas: 09:31

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation, but also for the scattered children of God to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on, they plotted to take His life. Therefore, Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead, He withdrew to a region near the wilderness, a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem from their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.

Miguel Zayas: 10:14

They kept looking for Jesus. And as they sit in the temple courts, they asked one another, What do you think? Isn't he coming to the festival at all? But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him. You see, the Pharisees were desperate to maintain control.

Miguel Zayas: 10:39

They saw Jesus as a political and religious threat. If people believed in Him, the Romans might crack down, taking away their influence. Instead of embracing the Messiah, they conspired to eliminate Him. Ironically, in trying to save their life, they rejected the only one who could truly save them. See, the high priest Caiaphas unknowingly spoke a prophetic truth.

Miguel Zayas: 11:08

Jesus would die for the people. However, he interpreted politically believing Jesus' death was necessary to protect Israel from home rather than seeing God's redemptive plan. This is a sobering reminder that we can hear truth and still misapply it when driven by fear or self interest. The questions for us today is how often do we trick twist God's truth to fit our agenda? We may justify decisions in ministry or in life or in leadership, claiming that they are for the greater good when in reality they are rooted in self preservation or fear.

Miguel Zayas: 12:01

The challenge is to trust God's plan rather than manipulate outcomes. Fear clings tightly, afraid to let things go, but faith releases open handedly. Are we operating out of fear or faith? Are we listening to God's voice with open hearts, or are we shaping it to fit our own desire? See, worship doesn't count the cost, it simply pours out.

Miguel Zayas: 12:38

We read this in John chapter 12 verses one to eight, where it says, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus lived and whom Jesus had raised from the dead. And here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took out a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Miguel Zayas: 13:13

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected. Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It's worth a year's wages. He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Miguel Zayas: 13:37

Leave her alone, Jesus replied. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. Mary's act of pouring expensive perfume on Jesus's feet was extravagant. This perfume was worth nearly a year's wage.

Miguel Zayas: 14:04

Just imagine for any one of us, take your year's salary, whatever that is, and in one moment, you're literally giving it all away. In Jewish culture such an anointing was reserved for kings or the dead. Mary was acknowledging Jesus as her King and preparing him for burial. Judas, on the other hand, saw it and thought it was wasteful. His complaint about helping the poor amassed his own greed.

Miguel Zayas: 14:44

Ministry, or things that we do for God, whether it's in church or in our neighborhoods or at small group or in serving in our community, it often demands sacrifice our time, energy and resources. Like Mary, we're called to pour out what we have for Jesus, even when others don't understand. True worship isn't about calculating, it's about surrendering. Worship isn't measured, it's poured. Are we giving God what's convenient or what's costly?

Miguel Zayas: 15:29

What does true worship look like in our daily lives? See, I believe this to be true that a changed life is a dangerous witness. John chapter 12 verses nine through 11 says, Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priest made plan to kill Lazarus as well. For an account of him, many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Miguel Zayas: 16:05

When I read that for the first time, I thought, how stupid. What are you going to threat Lazarus with? Killing him? He's already been dead once. So what are we gonna do?

Miguel Zayas: 16:16

We're gonna kill you again? It's kind of like the guy who said I bought the t shirt wearing it. Know? I mean, I've got it printed all over me. I was dead, but Jesus made me alive, so go ahead and kill me.

Miguel Zayas: 16:30

He probably could bring me back from the dead if he really wanted to. Lazarus had become a walking testimony. His very existence pointed to Jesus' power. But instead of being amazed, the religious leaders saw him as a problem. If people believed in Jesus because of Lazarus, their influence would diminish, so they plotted to kill him.

Miguel Zayas: 16:55

Our greatest witness isn't just our words, but it's our transformed lives. When we live out the gospel, some will be drawn to Christ, while others may resist or even oppose. The question is, will we continue to stand as living testimonies? I believe this that our lives preach louder than our lips. Does your life reflect the power of Jesus?

Miguel Zayas: 17:29

And how can we be bold in our witness even when it's costly? So for each of us today, how will we respond to the text? How will we respond to the story? How will we respond ultimately to Jesus? Will we release control or cling on to fear?

Miguel Zayas: 17:51

Will we pour out our lives lavishly and extravagantly as Jesus leads us or hold back? Will we be a living testimony even when it's uncomfortable? So this week, how will your life point to Jesus? Let me pray. Father, we thank you for your word this morning.

Miguel Zayas: 18:19

Lord, as we hear what you're saying and we are doing our best to respond, Lord, would we live lives that respond quickly to you? For the neighbor across the street, for the coworker, for the classmate, for the person at the store that we're passing by, Lord, wherever we are engaged with others who do not yet know you, would you help us to see that you are the resurrection and the life now for us and for others as well. Would we live lives that are so transformation, so transformational, so transformed, so changed by the gospel, that people would see the way we live, the way we treat people, the way we do life and do business and the way we handle ourselves, and they will be drawn to you so that we can tell them the good news of the gospel. Lord, would we be willing to pour out freely and not to cling on out of fear. Father, I pray for everyone who's listening that you by your spirit would encourage us this week, that we would hear your voice and we would follow you.

Miguel Zayas: 19:39

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Herbie Newell: 19:43

Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at infolifelinechild dot org.

Herbie Newell: 20:12

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Bible Study.