Bible sermons

In Philippians now, the “Epistle of Joy”

WHO’S YOUR DADDY? — John 8:37-47

Bible sermons, John 8:37-47, Uncategorized

INTRODUCTION:

In 1976, a book written by Alex Haley was published and it became a best seller.  The book was 900 pages long and was entitled “Roots”.  The following year a mini-series based on the book was aired on TV to a huge viewing audience.  Did you read the book and see the films?

That was the beginning of a genealogy craze that swept our nation.  Over 40 years have passed since that book was written but the quest to find one’s ancestors goes on.  With the dawn of DNA testing and organizations such as Ancestry.com, millions of families and individuals are actively researching their family trees.  This preoccupation with who we are and where we came from has obsessed humanity since the dawn of creation.  The first-century Jews were no exception.  They prided themselves in their ancestry and often used it as a reason for boasting or as an excuse to justify their sinful actions.

In the previous passage of Scripture, John 8:31-36, Jesus told the Jews that a true disciple of His was a person who believed in Him and obeyed His words, resulting in freedom.  He stated that only He could give them true freedom.  They responded by saying, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been enslaved to anyone.”  Then they challenged Jesus to prove His point.  The Lord Jesus made it clear to them again, in verse 34, that He was talking about spiritual slavery to sin and, once again, offered them freedom from that slavery.

Jesus hasn’t finished His conversation with them yet.  Let’s see what else He has to say and observe their responses.

I.  A CONTRADICTION IS EXPRESSED (verses 37-38)

I continue to be amazed at the patience of Jesus toward those who are intentionally slow to learn, or who refuse to learn.  He begins by admitting that they are the physical descendants of Abraham, but they bear no spiritual resemblance to Abraham.  Verse 37 says, “I know that you are Abraham’s offspring; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”  Abraham wouldn’t try to kill Him.  On the contrary, Abraham welcomed the messengers that God sent to him in Genesis 18, showing them respect and hospitality.  He also gave a tenth of his possessions to Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of God, after receiving a blessing from him (Genesis 14:18-21; Hebrews 7:1-3).  The Jews standing before Jesus bear no spiritual resemblance to that description of Abraham.  Instead of welcoming the One whom God has sent, they are trying to kill Him.  Several attempts have already been made to arrest Him (John 7:30, 32, 44).  Abraham was also called “a friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7).  Friends don’t murder one another.  That’s the work of enemies.

At the end of verse 37, Jesus states the underlying cause of their actions when He says, “My word has no place in you.” The Greek words might be more clearly translated as, “You have no room for My word” or “My word isn’t making any headway” in your minds and hearts.  To put it into modern-day English, they were “tuning Him out”.  They were unreceptive to Jesus and to His words to them.

Once again Jesus states His source of authority, in verse 38, when He says, “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father”.  Now Jesus is claiming to be with the Father from all eternity.  He was there with the Father when Abraham walked this earth.  His knowledge of Abraham is firsthand.  With that said, Jesus gives them some food for thought.  He makes an incomplete statement, leaving them with the opportunity to think it over and fill in the blank.  Here are His words:  “therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”  Notice what Jesus didn’t say.  He didn’t say “fathers”.  Jesus said “father”,  They are all children of the same father.  Who is their father?  That’s the question Jesus wants them to answer for themselves by process of elimination.  They’ve heard the answer to that question before.  They heard it from John the Baptist.  Let’s see if they remember it and apply it to themselves.

II.  THEIR EXCUSE IS REPEATED (verse 39a)

What do you say when you don’t know what to say?  One option is to say the same thing over again and hold your ground, right?  Have you ever done that?  You may have done so to give yourself some time to collect your thoughts and come up with a better answer.  Jesus just took the wind out of their sails with His reply so “They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father’.”  They must have said it loudly and in anger in order to maintain their sense of control over the conversation.  It’s been said that a person who has nothing to brag about but his ancestors is like a potato plant.  The best part of him is underground (buried, like the potatoes).  After the reminders they were given by Jesus, I’m convinced that His listeners knew what He was talking about, and what He was implying concerning their spiritual parentage.  With some honest reflection on their part, the “mystery” father would no longer be a mystery to them.

III.  JESUS REPEATS HIMSELF (verses 39b-41a)

Jesus responds to their short answer by saying, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham.  But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.  You are doing the deeds of your father.”  Jesus made that statement earlier, in verses 37 and 38.  Why is He repeating Himself?  Is this a teaching technique?  It may be much more than that.  For example, the repeating of a person’s name is a Hebrew expression of intimacy.  We find that occurring many times in the Scriptures.  God said, “Abraham, Abraham” (Genesis 22:11), “Jacob, Jacob” (Genesis 46:2); “Moses, Moses” (Exodus 3:4).  David cried out in agony saying, “Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son” (2 Samuel 18:33).  Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” as He wept over the city and those living in it.  There are many other instances where names are repeated.  I suggest that Jesus is repeating Himself here and elsewhere out of love for them.  He’s been giving them opportunity after opportunity to repent of their sins and acknowledge Him as their Messiah, in spite of their continuing hostility and rejection.  He yearns to draw close to them and keeps giving them reasons to respond to Him the way Abraham responded.

IV.  A SARCASTIC REACTION (verse 41)

The Jews react by saying, “We were not born of fornication”.  There are two possible meanings to that statement and both possibilities might be implied.  First, they may have been saying, “Our parents were not idolaters, worshipping other gods.  Secondly, they may have been saying, “we are pure in our lineage, but  we’re not so sure about you.”  This meaning would imply that they were calling Jesus an illegitimate son of Mary and Joseph, born outside of wedlock.  It’s also possible that both of those meanings were intended by their statement.  In any case, their words were intended to be derogatory and offensive.

I think these leaders are beginning to realize that calling Abraham their father wasn’t getting them anywhere.  What do they do now?  The words of the prophet Malachi must have come to their minds.  Malachi asked the question, “Have we not all one Father?  Did not one God create us?” (Malachi 2:10). The Jews may have thought to themselves, “That’s a good idea!  Let’s take our paternity case all the way to the top!”  So they say to Jesus, “We have one Father, even God.”  They thought that, by saying those words, they would get themselves off the hook, and avoid further embarrassment.  However, they are not out of trouble yet!  Further embarrassment is on the way!

V.  WORDS OF CORRECTION (verse 42-45)

The Lord Jesus looks around at them and says, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and now am here.  I have not come on My own; but He sent Me.”  Once again, the Jews are mistaken.  The practice of their religious observances doesn’t make them children of the Father.  If they truly loved the Father, they would love His Son whom He sent, and who was standing before them at that moment.  The Lord Jesus has proven Himself to be the Son of God by His miracles and they have not been able to refute His claims.  In verse 43, Jesus asks them a question and immediately gives them the answer.  He says, “Why do you not understand what I am saying?  It is because you cannot hear My word.”  I think Jesus asked His question in the form of a plea.  When He looks around at each of them after making that plea, He sees the reason by the expressions on their faces and makes it known to them saying, “you cannot hear My word”.  He’s not implying that they are deaf, hard of hearing or stupid.  On the contrary, they have chosen to ignore His words, refusing to listen to Him or to seek to understand what He is saying. 

The Jews still haven’t asked the question that Jesus prodded them to ask in verse 38 – “Who is our father?”  Since they didn’t ask, Jesus gives them a detailed answer in verse 44, where He says, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  That rebuke by Jesus should have reminded them of the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7, where he said, “You brood of vipers”,  implying that they possessed character qualities similar to the devil.  The words of Jesus in verse 44 are the clearest statement that Jesus makes about the existence and the personality of Satan.  His listeners don’t resemble Abraham, and they don’t resemble God, but they do resemble the devil like a child resembles his father.  Satan lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden, convincing her to disobey God and entice Adam to do the same.  He tempted Cain to murder his brother Abel.  Those standing before Jesus have chosen to believe Satan’s lies about Him and are intent on murdering Him.  The truth can be embarrassing, especially when it is said publicly in the Temple for all to hear!

VI.  A CHALLENGE TO THEM (verses 46-47)

After giving that stinging rebuke to His critics, Jesus establishes His authority by giving them a challenge.  In verse 46, Jesus says, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?  If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe Me?”  His enemies are given an opportunity to find errors in what He just said but He doesn’t get an answer from any of them.  None of His enemies could prove Him wrong.  Everything Jesus said to them was absolutely true.  That question must have really frustrated and angered them.

Jesus concludes in verse 47 by reviewing their spiritual parentage and summarizing it.  He says, “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” The way they act is going to determine their destiny.

CONCLUSION:

Here are several principles I’ve gained from my study of John 8:37-47:

  1.  Spiritually, all people are children of one of two fathers:  either God or the Devil.  Which one is yours?  If in doubt, your spiritual father is the one you obey.
  2. There are only two groups of people on earth:  the children of wrath and the children of God.  If your actions indicate that you are a child of wrath, please reconsider before it’s too late.
  3. There may come a time when you may need to be brutally honest with someone.  Let’s follow Jesus’ example and make sure that it’s our last resort.

The following illustration is an appropriate conclusion to this passage of Scripture.  A preacher had delivered a powerful sermon about the Devil, warning his listeners about his wiles.  Two rude, young ruffians heckled the preacher, shouting, “Don’t you know, Mr. Preacher, that the Devil died last night?”  The old preacher came down and, putting his arms on their shoulders said, “You poor fatherless orphans!  What will become of you?”  And then he said, “Let me introduce you to my Father who has promised, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ ”

CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED

WARNINGS GIVEN, BUT UNHEEDED – John 8:21-30

Bible sermons, John 8:21-30, Uncategorized, warnings

INTRODUCTION:

In 1969, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a group of people was preparing to have a “hurricane party” in the face of a storm named Camille.  The wind was howling outside the posh Richelieu Apartments when Police Chief Jerry Peralta pulled up sometime after dark.  Facing the beach, less than 250 feet from the surf, the apartments were directly in the line of danger.  A man with a drink in his hand came out to the second-floor balcony and waved.  Peralta yelled, “You all need to clear out of here as quickly as you can.  The storm’s getting worse.”  But as others joined the man on the balcony, they just laughed at Peralta’s order to leave.  “This is my land,” one of them yelled back.  “If you want me off, you’ll have to arrest me.”

Peralta didn’t arrest anyone, but he wasn’t able to persuade them to leave either.  He wrote down the names of the next of kin of the twenty or so people who gathered to party through the storm.  They laughed as he took their names.  They had been warned, but they had no intention of leaving.

It was 10:15 p.m. when the front wall of the storm came ashore.  Scientists clocked Camille’s wind speed at more than 205 miles-per-hour, the strongest on record.  Raindrops hit with the force of bullets, and waves off the Gulf Coast crested between twenty-two and twenty-eight feet high.

News reports later showed that the worst damage came at the little settlement of motels, go-go bars, and gambling houses known at Pass Christian, Mississippi, where some twenty people were killed at a hurricane party in the Richelieu Apartments.  Nothing was left of the three-story structure but the foundation; the only survivor was a five-year-old boy found clinging to a mattress the following day.  What a terrible price to pay for their failure to heed those warnings!

I.  SETTING AND FIRST WARNING (verse 21)

The passage of Scripture that we are now studying is John 8:21-30.  Jesus has been defending Himself in the previous Scriptures by answering their questions, giving instruction, and describing His relationship with the Father.  Now He is going to take control of the conversation and issue some warnings to His listeners.  Verse 21 says, “He [Jesus] said to them, ‘I go away, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come’,”  Didn’t He just say those words in John 7:33?  Yes, but this time He inserts a warning:  “you shall die in your sin.”  In chapter 7, His listeners were composed mainly of the pilgrim Jews who had traveled a great distance to attend the feast.  They were open to His teaching and many of them were placing their faith in Him (John 7:31).  Here in chapter 8, Jesus is back in the temple on the following day and He is interacting with the Pharisees and the Jerusalem Jews.  They have been opposing Him since the beginning of His ministry, and now it’s time for them to face the music.  There are going to be dire consequences to their actions if they don’t heed His warnings.  When Jesus uses the words “die in your sin”, He is warning that they will die unpardoned.  Only the Messiah can pardon their sins and only He is the Messiah (Acts 4:12).  I don’t believe that Jesus was saying those words and the words that follow, in anger.  He was saying them with sadness and urgency in His voice, pleading with them to heed His warnings.  Before His death, Jesus expressed in words His attitude toward the Jews in Jerusalem.  In Matthew 23:37, He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”

The word “sin”, here in verse 21, is in the singular and has the same meaning that it does in John 16:8-9, where Jesus says, “And He (speaking of the Holy Spirit) when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin because they do not believe in Me . . . “.  Their sin is that of unbelief.  It is the greatest sin:  the sin of rejecting Christ.

II.  A SARCASTIC RESPONSE (verse 22)

The response of these Jews was not what Jesus wanted to hear.  Instead of heeding His warning of impending danger, we find these words in verse 22:  “Therefore the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”  They say those words sarcastically, and loud enough for Jesus to hear them.  I imagine they were probably laughing as they said them.  In their minds, they are adding up the things they have already said and thought about Jesus and are drawing their own conclusion.  “He’s a deceiver, He’s broken the law of Moses, and He’s crazy, so He must be suicidal also.  That explains why we can’t come where He is going.   He’s going to hell after He commits suicide, and we certainly aren’t going there!”  I must say, they are really stretching their imaginations to come up with that reply!  Ironically, they are the ones in danger of committing suicide spiritually and eternally by rejecting Him.

III.  EXPLANATION AND SECOND WARNING (verses 23-24)

I’m amazed at the patience and mercy of Jesus.  Instead of reacting to their insinuation about suicide, He ignores or overlooks it, gives a more detailed explanation of His first warning, and then warns them again.  In verse 23, Jesus says, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.”  There is a major difference between them and Himself:  their point of origin.  He’s from heaven and there is no one else like Him.  No one else can make that statement truthfully.  They, on the other hand, originated on earth.  They are not only in the world but they are also “of” the world.  Their attitude and their words and actions demonstrate their worldliness and their sinful resistance to the truth.

In verse 24, the Lord Jesus gives them a second warning:  “I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.”  He warned them of the consequences of their actions and gave them the only way out of their predicament.  In HIs warning, Jesus is once again claiming to be God.  The Greek text does not have the word “He”.  Jesus is speaking to them in Aramaic and is saying, “unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins.”  He is using God’s covenant name which He gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14.  It was the name the Jews would not pronounce.  When the Scribes copied the Old Testament Scriptures, they would use a new pen to write that name, and then set that pen aside.  Those listening to Jesus knew who He was claiming to be, as well as His authority to give those warnings.  Jesus has warned them again that an eternal disaster awaits them if they do not heed His warnings.  How are they going to respond to His words?

IV.  ANOTHER SARCASTIC RESPONSE (verse 25a)

Verse 25 begins with these words: “And so they were saying to Him, ‘Who are You?’ Those three words may sound innocent and inquisitive, but they are not.  Let me translate those words into a familiar expression:  “Who do you think you are to tell us what to do?”  Have you heard that expression or used that expression before?  It’s certainly not the kind of response you would like to receive after doing somebody a favor!  I think they are acting like bullies, making fun of Jesus and trying to badger Him to the point where He might lose His temper and explode in anger at them.  Do you have that impression also?

Sin’s effects in a person’s life are much like the answer to the following question:  “How does a worm get inside an apple?”  Perhaps you think the worm burrows in from outside.  Actually, the answer is “no”.  Scientists have discovered that the worm comes from inside.  But how does it get inside?  Simple!  An insect lays an egg in the apple blossom.  Sometime later, the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats its way out.  Sin, like the worm, begins in the heart and works its way out through our thoughts, words, and actions.  That principle certainly holds true for these Jews as they interact with Jesus and make jokes about His warnings and His identity.  To them, Jesus was just a poor, uneducated carpenter from Galilee, whose warnings they considered to be ridiculous and unfounded.

V.  A REBUKE (verses 25b-26)

Jesus responds to their question by asking them a question as a form of rebuke.  He says, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning?”.  Jesus has been making those statements since the beginning of HIs ministry.  If we look at John 3:31-34, we find that John the Baptist said similar words about Jesus.  So the issue, here in verses 25 to 26, isn’t lack of information, nor the clarity of that information.  The problem on their parts is a stubborn unwillingness to respond in spite of the information given to them.  Have you ever observed a situation where a person knew that something was true; the explanation was clear and irrefutable but the person refused to believe it.  This is another one of those cases.

Jesus continues in verse 26 by telling them that He has many more things that He could say to judge and condemn them, but He speaks only the things that the Father wants Him to say.  God the Father is making the judgments and Jesus is passing those words on to them saying, “the Father who sent is true; and the things I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.”  He’s pointing out that the remarks they have been making were not only directed at Him but also at God the Father.

VI.  TWO MORE CLAIMS SILENCE HIS LISTENERS (verses 27-30)

In verse 27, the apostle John makes this comment:  “They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.”  John may be writing those words as one who was there, giving a possible reason for their sudden silence.  Personally, I think they knew what He was saying but couldn’t understand how it could be true.  Therefore, they refused to believe it but didn’t know what to say to Him.  There were no sarcastic remarks this time, but they still refused to acknowledge who He is.  In verse 28, Jesus goes on to say, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”   Jesus is talking about His crucifixion, and they are the ones who will be crucifying Him.  They will be handing Him over to the Roman authorities and demanding His crucifixion.  How will His death be proof that He is the Messiah?  There will be the miracles that accompany His death and follow His death.  For example, the three hours of darkness in the middle of the day, the earthquake, the words He said while on the cross, and the unusual way that Jesus gave up His spirit.  Add to that His burial, resurrection, appearances, and ascension into heaven.  There is another unmentioned proof that Jesus is truly the Messiah – the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 52-53, Psalm 22, and many other Scripture passages in the Old Testament).  They were fulfilled completely, in every detail.  It was now obvious that these Scripture passages didn’t apply figuratively to the nation of Israel, but literally to Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ second claim, in the remainder of verse 28 as well as verse 29, was His perfect obedience and fellowship with His heavenly Father.  Here are Jesus’ words:  “I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.  And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”  Jesus’ life was consistent with His message.  They would not be able to deny that Jesus’ obedience to the Father was perfect, even to the point of death.

Verse 30 tells us, “many came to believe in Him”.  As we progress through the rest of chapter 8, we’ll learn whether or not this belief was real.

CONCLUSION:

If you are not a true follower of Jesus Christ; if you haven’t experienced a changed life as the result of making Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, please give that decision some serious thought.  Please heed the warnings before an eternal disaster strikes you.  If it happens, it will be no laughing matter!  It’s a matter or eternal life in heaven or eternal suffering in hell.  Please don’t put it off.  There will be no excuses.

If you are a Christian, God has called you to be His ambassador.  As ambassadors of Christ, believers have a responsibility to warn people of the consequences of their unbelief and rebellion against God.

Here’s an example from American history.  “Late one night a salesman drove into a strange city and tried to get a room in a hotel.  The clerk informed him that there was no vacancy.  Disappointed, he started to leave the lobby when a dignified gentleman offered to share his room with him.  Gratefully, the traveler accepted his kindness.

Just before retiring, the man who had shown such hospitality knelt and prayed aloud.  In his petition, he referred to the stranger by name and asked the Lord to bless him.  Upon awakening the next morning, he told his guest it was his habit to read the Bible and commune with God at the beginning of each day, and asked if he would like to join him.  The Holy Spirit had been speaking to the heart of this salesman, and when the host tactfully confronted him with the claims of Christ, he gladly received the Savior.

As the two were ready to part, they exchanged business cards.  The new believer was amazed to read, “William Jennings Bryan, Secretary of State.”  You see, William Jennings Bryan was not only the Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, but more importantly, he was an ambassador for Christ.

May you consider that role to be both a privilege and a responsibility, and decide to pursue it wholeheartedly.  Let’s be ready, willing, and able!

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

Welcome to this completed project:  John 8:21-30.  I hope you will come back again soon when you’re in the neighborhood.  There are many completed projects on this site.

 

 

THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY – John 8:1-11

Bible sermons, dilemma, Gospel of John, John 8:1-12, Uncategorized

INTRODUCTION:

Daniel Webster served our country as a congressman and as the Secretary of State under three presidents in the mid-1800’s.  Before going into politics he was a well-known and very successful lawyer and public speaker.  Dwight L. Moody shared the following illustration about him:

Daniel Webster was such an imposing figure in court that he once stared a witness out of the courtroom.  Apparently, Webster knew that the man was there to deliver false testimony, so he fixed his “dark, beetle-browed” eyes on the man and searched him.  According to the story, later in the trial, Webster looked around again to see if [the witness] was ready for the inquisition.  The witness felt for his hat and edged toward the door.  A third time Webster looked on him, and the witness could sit no longer.  He seized his chance and fled from the court and was nowhere to be found.  It was as if Webster could see right through the man,  and knew what this witness had been told to do, and what he was to say.  With his penetrating gaze, Webster gave this man the opportunity to examine himself, reconsider his mission, and make his getaway.  We find a similar action and reaction in this passage of scripture, John 8:1-11.

I.  THE SETTING (verses 1-2)

Verse one of John 8 tells us that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives the night before, and probably stayed at the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany.  They lived about a mile from Jerusalem, and Jesus often stayed with them when He was attending one of the feasts in Jerusalem.  The next morning we find Him back in the temple.  Verse 2 says, “And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.”  A crowd was gathering around Jesus, so He sat down to teach.  This was the usual practice of the rabbis.  They taught from a sitting position.  Often a little stool was provided for them to sit on.

II.  THE CONFRONTATION (verses 3-6a)

The Lord Jesus is just beginning to teach the people when He is rudely interrupted.  Verse 3 reads, “And the Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the midst,”.  Now what are they up to?  Whatever it is, they want the whole crowd to watch and listen to what happens next.  On the previous day the multitude was debating whether Jesus was the Prophet or the Messiah, and the temple police officers were so amazed at Jesus’ teaching that they didn’t arrest Him.  All the sarcastic remarks directed at the multitude by the leaders accomplished nothing.  The people are all assembled again, eager to hear Jesus teach.  Have the scribes and Pharisees now come up with a better idea?  Let’s see what they have to say.  Verses 4 and 5 read:  “They said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do you say?’  By asking that question, the scribes and Pharisees have just broken their own law which stated that such cases were to be handled by their own court.  They are also lying to the crowd by giving them the impression that they have come to seek His “expert opinion” on this matter.

Does their statement sound suspicious to you?  Wouldn’t you say that it’s unusual to stumble across adultery taking place?  This is not the kind of offense that can be committed by one person alone.  Where is the man?  Was no attempt made to arrest him?  He was just as guilty under the Law as the woman.  Did they let him go?  Is he one of the men who is now standing before Jesus?

By their statement and their question, they have purposely placed Jesus in a dilemma.  A dilemma is defined as a choice between two equal alternatives.  In this case, both of His options seem to be equally dangerous.  If Jesus agreed with the law and told them to stone her, He would be disobeying the Roman government which had jurisdiction over such cases, and He would be taken to a Roman court.  The Jews could then distort His claims of kingship and possibly have Him executed as an insurrectionist.  On the other hand, if Jesus refused to allow the woman to be stoned, He would be disobeying the Law of Moses, thus contradicting His claims to be the Messiah.  The crowd around Jesus would be witnesses to His disobedience and the word would spread fast.  That would soon be the end of His popularity and His authority as a teacher.  The beginning of verse six tells us their motive when it says, “And they were saying this, testing Him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him.”  It was a well-laid trap.  I can picture the smiles on their faces and the glint in their eyes as they waited for Jesus to fall into their snare.  They were hoping to bring Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor, that very day.

III.  JESUS’ RESPONSE TO HIS QUESTIONERS (verses 6b-8)

What happens next must have startled and confused them.  At the end of verse 6, it says:  “But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground.”  Try to put yourself in this scene.  Jesus is sitting on the steps or on a stool.  The scribes and Pharisees have just asked Him a difficult question and immediately Jesus takes His eyes off them, bends all the way forward and starts writing with His finger in the dust on the ground.  Do you have a picture of that scene in your mind?  Can you imagine what the scribes and Pharisees must have been thinking and saying to one another as they watched this phenomenon?  “Is He crazy?”  “Is He stalling, trying to come up with an answer?”

Verse 7 begins with the words, “When they persisted in asking Him”.  Jesus wasn’t responding to them.  He hasn’t stopped what He was doing and looked at them yet, in spite of their repeated requests.  The scribes and Pharisees are getting angrier and louder as they demand an answer.  Meanwhile, the woman and the crowd are watching and listening in silence.  When is this “intermission” going to end?

Finally, in the midst of all the noise and confusion, “He [Jesus] straightened up”, and like Daniel Webster in my introduction, He looked at each one of them with His penetrating gaze, searching their souls.  There was silence once again, and then He said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  As He said those words, I believe Jesus looked around at each one of them again, and that the eyes of some of them may already have been lowered.  They didn’t want to look at Him eye-to-eye again because of the guilt they were experiencing.

By His words, did Jesus mean “Let him who is perfect cast the first stone?”  No.  He was referring to the sin of adultery.  In Matthew 5:27-28, during His sermon on the mount, Jesus defined adultery in accordance with God’s perfect standard.  So Jesus was saying, “Anyone who has not committed this sin of adultery at some time himself, or who has not desired to do so, and would have done so if he could have gotten away with it, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

The age-old debate is:  “What was the Lord Jesus writing?”  Was He writing the commandments, or was He writing down the sins of His accusers?  There are many possibilities, but we don’t know for sure.  That information wasn’t given to us by the apostle John.  Maybe it’s because the Lord Jesus’ lesson comes, not from what He wrote, but from the act of writing with His finger.  Can you think of an occasion in the Old Testament when God wrote with His finger?  Exodus 31:18 says, “And when He [God] had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”  If this was Jesus intent, to focus their attention on the act of writing, then Jesus was once again claiming to be God, the One who wrote the commandments on the tablets of stone with His own finger for Moses and the people of Israel.  That is my thinking, and the reasons are given in the rest of this passage of Scripture, especially the following verse.  After saying those words to the scribes and Pharisees, verse 8 says, “And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground.”  Jesus is doing it again!  What’s the significance of that?  If His adversaries didn’t get it the first time, they caught on the second time, based on their response. I don’t think Jesus is repeating His actions for the sake of repetition.  He’s reminding His audience of the events that happened after God gave the commandments to Moses.  There’s more to the story, and as Jesus writes with His finger again, the rest of the story is unfolding in their minds.  Let’s take a look at what His accusers are remembering.

When Moses came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the law in his hands, he saw the people of Israel worshiping a golden calf and engaging in sexual immorality.  Exodus 32:6 says, “the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”  In anger, Moses “threw the tablets of stone from his hands and shattered them.”  As the woman’s accusers watch Jesus write on the ground this second time, they are also reminded that God showed mercy on His people, forgave their sin and wrote the law on the tablets of stone with His finger a second time.

IV.  THE WALK OF SHAME (verse 9)

A movement is taking place among the woman’s accusers.  Verse 9 says, “And when they [her accusers] heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she had been, in the midst.” Those who accused the woman became convicted of their own sinfulness and began to go away one by one.  The older men probably had the guilt of their sin gnawing at them the longest and were the first to leave.  It was a long walk of shame through the temple and to their homes.  I can imagine that they didn’t want to be seen in public for the rest of that day.  Their “perfect plan” backfired and they were caught in the recollection of their own sins.

The story is told of a time when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous writer, decided to play a practical joke on twelve of his friends.  He sent them each a telegram that read, “Flee at once. . . . all is discovered.”  Within twenty-four hours, all twelve had left the country.  Their private lives were quite different from their public lives!

As we study verse 9, it’s important to know that there is a difference between guilt and shame.  In this particular case, the scribes and Pharisees were experiencing both of these emotions.  They felt guilt inside because of the things they had done and shame because of all the people who were watching them.  Their guilt made them speechless, and in their shame, they wanted to get away from the crowd and be alone.

V.  WORDS TO THE WOMAN (verses 10-11)

The accusers have gone and Jesus is looking at the woman.  Meanwhile, the crowd is standing there quietly, anxious to see and hear what Jesus is going to say and do next.  Verse 10 reads, “And straightening up, Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, where are they?  Did no one condemn you?’ ”  The word “condemn” refers to outward punishment, not inward guilt.  He’s saying to her, “Has no one shown himself qualified or ready to begin the stoning?”  Jesus is asking her questions in order to focus her thoughts upon what just happened, as well as elicit a response from her as she stands before Him in awe and wide-eyed amazement.  Her response to Him is:  “no one, Lord.”  There is no clear indication that the woman was a follower of His, or that she became one at that moment, but I’m sure she was very grateful to Him for what He had done for her, and she made no excuse for her conduct.

Jesus ends the conversation with these words:  “Neither do I condemn you; go your way.  From now on sin no more.”  Jesus forgave her but He didn’t condone her sin.  He didn’t say, “sin as little as possible”, but “sin no more”.  Pastor Warren Wiersbe makes the following comment about this verse of Scripture:

We must not misinterpret this event to mean that Jesus was
“easy on sin” or that He contradicted the Law.
For Jesus to forgive this woman meant that He had to
one day die for her sins.  Forgiveness is free,
but it is not cheap

The woman left this assembly with forgiveness, release from the conviction and guilt of her past sins and a desire to live according to God’s laws.  She also left with a clearer understanding of Jesus Christ and the choice of following Him.

CONCLUSION:

There are several things we can learn and apply to our own lives from this passage of Scripture.  First, we are guilty of sin whether we’ve been caught or not.  Secondly, we learn that Jesus hates and condemns the sin but He loves the sinner and forgives and accepts all who come to Him in faith and with repentant hearts.

There are also principles to guide us when dealing with sin in the life of another believer.

  1.  It is wrong to approach another believer concerning a particular sin in his or her life if that same sin has not been dealt with in our own lives.
  2. Confronting wrong calls for humility, not pride.  Galatians 6:1 says, “Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.”  As the saying goes: “There but for the grace of God go you and I.”
  3. Correcting wrongs in another’s life begins with forgiveness.  Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you”  before saying “Sin no more”.

Let’s look upon others, not on the basis of their past, but on the basis of their future.  Let’s also look upon ourselves the way God sees us.

If you would like to watch the film clip of this passage of Scripture from the movie, “The Gospel of John”, please click the following link and you will be taken to the YouTube site:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8v-4t87954

 

CONSTRUCTION SITE:   COMPLETED

DEFENSE WITNESSES ARE SCORNED – John 7:45-53

Bible sermons, critical spirit, criticism, Uncategorized

INTRODUCTION:

Can you remember saying something and then you wished you had never said it?  Was it because of the negative response you received afterward?  Have you ever heard or used the phrase, “You’re gonna eat those words!”?  The intent was that you were going to have to admit that what you said was wrong, and suffer humiliation because of it.  There’s a saying that goes like this:  “Keep your words sweet.  You never know when you might have to eat them.”

In this passage of Scripture, John 7:45-53, Jesus is not present.  We are going to examine two incidents that occur in the meeting room of the Sanhedrin and consider the responses that follow and the reasons for those responses.

I.  INCIDENT #1:  THE TEMPLE GUARD RETURNS (verses 45-46)

Earlier, in verse 32, an order was given:  “the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.”  Those officers were under orders to arrest Jesus, take Him prisoner, and bring Him to them so that they could pass judgment on Him and have Him killed.  The leaders must have been in their courtroom, seated and ready to pass judgment, and wondering why it was taking those officers so long to accomplish their mission.  Finally the posse arrives, but they are empty-handed.  What’s going on?  Verse 45 describes the scene.  “The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees and these said to them, ‘Why didn’t you bring Him?’ ”  The leaders were angry and probably shouted at them, demanding an explanation.  What they heard in reply must have startled them.  Verse 46 says, “The officers answered, ‘Never did a man speak the way this man speaks.”  They were saying that Jesus was more than a man, otherwise they would have said, “No OTHER man speaks the way this man speaks.”

I don’t detect any fear on the part of these officers.  They could have come up with excuses but they chose to tell the truth.  Their sense of awe, amazement and bewilderment was so strong that there was no room for any fear of punishment.  Can you imagine what it would have been like to listen to Jesus face-to-face?  What words did they hear from Jesus’ lips that would have evoked such a response?  Among other things, they heard Jesus say, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).  It was the Word of God spoken by the Son of God.

II.  THE RESPONSE (verses 47-49)

The leaders and Pharisees respond to these remarks with anger and sarcasm.  We find their initial words in verse 47 where the Pharisees say to them, “You have not also been led astray, have you?”  Can you feel the sting in those words?  They are telling the officers that they are no better than the common people – the uneducated “nobodies” who were following Jesus.  Once again, the leaders refused to face the facts.  Instead, they directed their criticism at the officers and the crowd.

Sarcastic remarks tell us something about the person or people who made them.  Such remarks are often made by egotistical people who put others down in order to exalt themselves.  The following story is a case where sarcastic remarks cost a person his life.  Kondraty Ryleyev was sentenced to be hanged for his part in an unsuccessful uprising against the Russian Czar Nicolas I in December 1825.  But the rope broke and Ryleyev, bruised and battered, fell to the ground, got up and said, “In Russia, they don’t know how to do anything properly, and even how to make a rope.”  An accident of this sort usually resulted in a pardon, so a messenger was sent to the czar to know his pleasure.  Nicolas asked, “What did he say?”  “Sire, he said that in Russia they don’t even know how to make a rope properly.”  “Well, let the contrary be proven,” said the czar.  That broken rope might have won him a pardon, but his remark cost him his life.  It was the last sarcastic remark he ever made!  Here in verse 47, they are criticizing the King of heaven and earth.  That could have everlasting consequences!

Now the Pharisees draw attention to themselves when they say in verse 48, “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?”  They have set themselves up as the standard for truth and are berating the officials for not following their example.  By their words, these leaders are denying the teachings and the authority of God’s Word and revealing the size of their egos.  It’s as if they are saying, “How dare you believe in Him in defiance of us and our superior authority and knowledge of God’s Word!”  The leaders couldn’t prove to these officers that Jesus wasn’t the Messiah.  The evidence was too strongly in His favor; so they used diversionary tactics in order to maintain their prejudice against Jesus.

In college, I took a course in Classical Greek and Roman Mythology.  One story that fascinated me was that of Narcissus.  This young man was so beautiful in appearance that many women were attracted to him but no woman was good enough for him.  One day he saw his own reflection in a pool of water and fell in love with himself.  Since he could not have himself as a partner, and no one else met his standards of beauty, he eventually killed himself.  Psychologists use the term “narcissistic” to describe someone who is extremely selfish with a grandiose view of one’s own appearance and talents, and a craving for the admiration of others.  Is that an accurate description of the religious leaders in this passage of Scripture?  I think so.

In verse 48, the leaders were implying that the officials were just like the crowd.  Now, in verse 49, they describe their own attitude toward the crowd by saying, “But this multitude which does not know the Law is accursed.”  This is the only place in the New Testament where the Greek word translated “accursed” is used.  By using that word to refer to the multitude, the Pharisees are once again demonstrating their ignorance of the law.  They are telling God to put a curse on the multitude, whereas in Matthew 25:41, Jesus says that He will be the King on the throne passing judgment.  He will be the one who says “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”  Their pride, critical spirit, and prejudice toward the common people will be their undoing.

III.  INCIDENT #2:  THE QUESTION RAISED BY NICODEMUS (verses 50-51)

In verses 50 and 51, Nicodemus, who secretly visited Jesus one night, asks them a question.  Verse 50 tells us that he was a member of the Sanhedrin also.  He said to the rest of the group, “Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”  Nicodemus knew the answer to that question.  It’s found in Exodus 23:1-2; Leviticus 19:15, Deuteronomy 19:15 and 19:18.  The Law of Moses states that every man is entitled to a fair trial, and is considered innocent until proven guilty.

I have heard this verse used as a negative example of sharing one’s faith in Jesus Christ.  The lesson was:  “Don’t be like Nicodemus”.  I disagree with that interpretation and conclusion.  Nicodemus was not a follower of Jesus Christ yet.  He knew that he was going to get a sharp negative reaction toward himself if he said anything in defense of God’s Law and in fairness toward Jesus, but he said it anyway!  He could have taken back those words and apologized, but he didn’t.  This was his first step toward publicly identifying himself with Jesus Christ.

IV.  THE RESPONSE (verse 52)

As expected, the leaders respond by ridiculing Nicodemus and belittling him.  Here are the words they shouted at him:  “You are not also from Galilee, are you?  Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”  They treat him like they did the officers, and accuse him of not knowing the Scriptures.  In reality they were the ones who didn’t know the Scriptures.  They were wrong when they said, “No prophet arises out of Galilee,”  The prophet Jonah was from Gath Hepher, which is a village in Galilee.  Not only that, but the prophet Nahum was from Capernaum, a city in Galilee.  Capernaum means “Village of Nahum”.  The leaders were wrong on at least two counts. and yet they criticized the multitude as being ignorant of the Law!  They were bluffing in order to protect their huge egos and maintain their sense of authority.  These leaders may not have realized that by criticizing the multitude, they were also criticizing themselves because it was their responsibility to educate the people in the law, the prophets, and the writings.

Former British statesman,  Benjamin Disraeli said, “It is much easier to be critical than correct.”  The following poem, written by Charles Franklin Benvegar, depicts that statement clearly and accurately.  It is entitled:  THE WRECKER

I watched them tearing a building down
A gang of men in a busy town,
With a yo-heave-ho and a lusty yell
They swung a beam, a side wall fell.
I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled
As men you’d hire if you were to build?”
He gave a laugh and said, “No indeed!
Just common labor is all I need;
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do.”
And I thought to myself, as I went my way,
Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?
Am I shaping my work to a well-laid plan
Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks the town
Content with the labor of tearing down?

We are faced with that choice every day, aren’t we?  There is a question we need to continually ask ourselves in our relationships with others:  “Am I part of the building crew or am I part of the wrecking gang?”

V.  THE RESULT (verse 53)

Verse 53 tells us, “And everyone went to his home.”  All that time they spent criticizing didn’t accomplish anything.  The leaders went home satisfied that they were right, and that they had their say and had their way.  Even Nicodemus couldn’t stand in their way.  Nicodemus went home humiliated but one step closer to following Christ and publicly identifying himself with Him.  He knew he had done what was right in God’s sight.

CONCLUSION AND LESSONS:

There are many lessons to be learned from this passage of Scripture.  We’ve seen how easy it is, and how tempting it is to criticize others.  It’s been said that criticism is the one thing most of us think is more blessed to give than to receive.  But in reality, criticism is not necessarily a negative thing.  Constructive criticism can accomplish many positive things in a person’s life if it is coupled with love and encouragement.

Many years ago a boy complained to his father that most of the church hymns were boring to him because they were too far behind the times.  The tunes were tiresome and the words were meaningless.  The father saw his son’s earnestness and knew his son’s abilities, so he answered his 18-year-old son’s complaint by saying, “If you think you can write better hymns, then why don’t you?”  The boy went to his room and wrote his first hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”  The year was 1690 and the teenager’s name was Isaac Watts.  “Joy to the World” is also among the almost 350 hymns written by him.  His father’s encouragement ignited the fires of enthusiasm that helped launch his son’s career as a hymn writer.

In the passage of Scripture we have been studying, the leaders of the Jews were only interested in giving destructive criticism, and refused to accept any criticism of themselves.  They were proud enough to give criticism, but not humble enough to accept it.  Edward Wallis Hoch offers the following observation in his poem:

“There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly behooves any of us,
To talk about the rest of us.” 

 

From this study of John 7:45-53, there are two questions that each of us needs to ask himself and answer for himself honestly:  “How well do I give criticism” and “How well do I take criticism?”  If you are a Christian, you can expect to receive criticism, but you ought to live in such a way that no one will believe your critics.

There is one more lesson and I’ve learned it from the temple guards who were sent to arrest Jesus.  Like them, may we be so filled with awe and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ as we behold Him in His Word and spend time with Him in prayer, that we are honest and straightforward about our beliefs, and unafraid of criticism.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

Thank you for visiting this construction site:  John 7:45-53.  It’s time to gather the tools and begin the building project next door.  The new address is John 8:1-11.

A DIVIDED RESPONSE — John 7:40-44

arguing, Bible sermons, john 7:40-44

INTRODUCTION:

Arguments are started in a number of ways, as I’m sure you know.  Just think back upon your life and bring to mind some of the arguments you’ve participated in, or have observed.  Can you remember the last time you started an argument?  What was the topic of conversation?  If you can’t remember, there is a sure-fire way to start an argument:  pick a controversial topic and take a firm stand on one side of the issue while in the midst of a large group of people.  Then be prepared to defend yourself!

In the previous passage of Scripture, John 7:37-39, Jesus shouted in the temple, encouraging the people to come to Him and find new life through believing in Him.  Here in verses 40-44, we are going to take a look at the altercation that ensues after those words were spoken.

I.  THE INITIAL RESPONSE:  STATEMENT OF FACT? (verse 40)

Verse 40 reads:  “Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the Prophet’.”  They are very sure of themselves, aren’t they? Their conclusion is stated as a fact.  Do we have any idea who these people were who made that statement?  If appears to me that they must have been some of the pilgrim Jews who came a great distance to attend the feast of Tabernacles.  They didn’t know the negative attitude of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus or they wouldn’t have made that statement aloud with such conviction.  They’ve made that statement without bias, based upon what they have heard Jesus say and what they have watched Jesus do.  Nevertheless, they have jumped to that conclusion with very little evidence to support it.

Were they right?  What do they mean when they call Jesus the Prophet?  Which prophet are they referring to?  In Deuteronomy 18, Moses is telling the people of Israel not to listen to the spiritists, the diviners, and those who practice witchcraft among the people of the land they are about to enter.  Then, in verse 15, Moses spoke these words from God:  “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”  

The Jews here in verse 40 were stating that Jesus was definitely that Prophet.  Psychologists have names for the various kinds of statements used to start and continue an argument.  This first statement might be called the “expert witness”.  These Jews have stated their belief as a fact and are expecting everyone else to agree with them.

II.  THE IMMEDIATE REACTION – A “BETTER IDEA” (verse 41a)

Verse 40 tells us that those expectations weren’t met.  It begins with these words:  “Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ’.”  Once again, it was probably some of the pilgrim Jews who made that statement.  Obviously, the Jews at that time considered the Prophet and the Christ to be two different people.  About two years earlier, John the Baptist was asked to reveal his identity.  Let’s take a look at that conversation.  John 1:19-21 reads, “And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you’?  And he confessed, and did not deny, and he confessed, ‘I am not the Christ’.  And they asked him, ‘What then?  Are you Elijah?’  And he answered, ‘I am not.’  Are you the Prophet?  And he answered, ‘No’.”  Did you notice the descending order – Christ … Elijah … the Prophet.  In their minds, Christ was the highest, Elijah was second, and the Prophet was third in their ranking.  Yet the Prophet was held in high regard and his appearance was awaited.

Speaking of ranking, there is a word used in the psychology of crowd behavior called “rankism”.  It’s not related to the slang word, “rank”, which means “foul smelling”.  This word is an assertion of superiority.  By saying the words, “This is the Christ”, the second group may be saying to the first group, “You have no idea what you are talking about.  This man is much greater than who you think He is.  He’s the Christ.”  By raising Jesus to a higher position, they may be rebuking the other group in the hope of making them feel ashamed for making their statement.  At the same time, they would also be asserting their own superior discernment.  We don’t know for sure, but the argument it is causing points to that motive.  Neither this group, nor the previous group, has the insight and personal commitment to Jesus Christ to make such authoritative statements about Him.  Proverbs 13:10 says, “By pride comes nothing but strife” (NKJV).

Have you ever argued with someone only to discover that you were actually in agreement?  Your use of terms and their meanings, your voice tones and your attitudes kept you from focusing on the content of your claims and working together to solve the disagreement.  There is a question I asked earlier in this sermon and I haven’t answered it yet.  That question is:  “Who is the Prophet?”  It is my conviction that the Prophet foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15, and the Christ are the same Person.  Jesus is described in the Scriptures as both prophet, priest, and king.  I guess the saying is true in the case of these Jews:  “Don’t confuse me with facts.  My mind is made up!”

Arguments occur, not only between people, but also between countries.  Years ago, a large statue of Christ was erected high in the Andes mountains between Argentina and Chile.  It was named “Christ of the Andes”, and it symbolized a pledge between those two countries.  For as long as the statue stands, there would be peace between Argentina and Chile, and there would be no more border disputes.  Shortly after the statue was erected, the Chileans began to protest that they had been slighted – the statue had its back turned to Chile.  Just when tempers were at their highest in Chile, a Chilean newspaperman saved the day.  In an editorial that not only satisfied the people but also made them laugh, he simply said, “The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans.”  (Bits and Pieces, June 25, 1992)

III.  ANOTHER REACTION:  THE USE OF FALSE EVIDENCE (verses 41b-42)

A third group enters the argument using these words, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”  The reference is probably to Micah’s prophesy in Micah 5:2.  This group may be composed mainly of local residents because they know where Jesus is presently living.  Their form of argument is sometimes called the “strawman” argument, and it is used often to try to convince people to take their side in an argument.    These Jews have directed the focus of the conversation away from the Person of Jesus Christ and are basing their argument on where He was born.  They have created a “straw man” because the details they are giving about Jesus are untrue since they are based on false assumptions.  Just because a person lives in a particular town as an adult doesn’t mean that he was born there.  If their claims about Jesus were investigated, they would fall to pieces like straw.  The purpose of such an argument is not to communicate truth but to win the argument by making the opposing arguments appear to be ridiculous in the light of their “evidence”.  Someone has said:  “You can come up with an excuse for anything you don’t want to believe.”  It’s like the story of the farmer who asked his neighbor if he could borrow a rope. 
“Sorry,” said the neighbor.  “I’m using my rope to tie up my milk.” 
“Rope can’t tie up milk.”
“I know,” replied the neighbor, “but when a man doesn’t want to do something,
one reason is as good as another.” 

This passage of Scripture gives us a picture of strife.  It is no longer a difference of opinion.  The dust is now flying.   Voices are getting louder.  Accusations and threats are being made.  Pointing of the finger has progressed to nudging or pushing one another.  The argument keeps on going because everyone wants the last word, the final say.  The focus of contention has now become directed inward – upon one another rather than Jesus.  Can you relate to this description?  Have you seen something like this happen from your own personal experience?  Have you read about it or watched it on the television?  It’s happening all the time, isn’t it?

IV.  THE AFTERMATH (verses 43-44)

Let’s see what happens next.  Verse 43 says, “So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him.”  The argument isn’t over yet.  The people are taking sides on the issue and the shouting contest must be getting louder.  The Greek word translated “division” carries the meaning of “dividing into parts” or “breaking into pieces”.  I personally think that the pilgrim Jews wouldn’t have turned this into such an argument.  They were questioning Christ’s identity out of ignorance and a desire to know the truth about Him.  I think they may have allowed the differences of opinion between them if it had not been for the negative response of the Jewish leaders, the scribes, and Pharisees in verse 42.  They have been trying to kill Jesus since the beginning of His public ministry, and they don’t want this crowd’s discussion to lead them to believe in Him and follow Him.  The Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews, is becoming more united in their opposition to Jesus with each new exposure to Him.  Verse 44 says, “Some wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.”  They wanted to take Him by force, arrest Him, and kill Him.  But it was not yet His appointed time to die, and God restrained them.  

CONCLUSION:

This passage of Scripture has been a true example from the life of Christ, showing how contention begins, and the ways in which it is handled.  As we’ve observed, some people choose not to disagree agreeably.  Proverbs 13:10, which I quoted earlier in this message says, “Only by pride comes contention.”  Pride is not the leading cause of contention.  It is the only cause of contention.  The second half of Proverbs 13:10 says, “but wisdom is found in those who take advice.”  To disagree well, we must first understand well.  This involves listening, seeking to understand, and reconsidering, in the hope of removing the source of contention and bringing new understanding and peace of mind and heart.  Listening and reconsidering are rare commodities in this world today.  Maybe it’s because they are the outward evidences of humility.   Solomon also adds another bit of advice in Ecclesiastes 7:9, saying, “Do not be eager to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools.”  

Do you personally have disagreements about Jesus Christ – His identity, His teachings, His purposes and His accomplishments?  Unlike the people in that crowd, we have the whole story.  It’s written in the Bible.  Would you be willing to lay aside your views and seek to understand the Bible by reading it with an open mind and a desire to know the truth.  You will find, as I did, that your conceptions of Christ will change as your knowledge of the Bible increases.  The proper response to Jesus Christ is that of faith, worship, and joyful obedience.

 CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

Welcome to another construction site:  John 7:40-44.  In this passage of Scripture we have put together the makings for an argument.  The building materials used are controversial, the builders are disagreeable, the blueprint is questionable, but the finished product will be predictable.  

Please come again, and invite your friends to take a walk around the block.

 

 

A THIRST-QUENCHING INVITATION — John 7:37-39

Bible sermons, john 7:37-39, Sermon on John's Gospel, Sukkot

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever been thirsty?  We’ve all had that experience, haven’t we?  For some of us, it may occur on a daily basis, or even several times a day.  The feeling is not in your imagination.  God has given us a sense of physical thirst to let us know when our bodies need water because water is essential to human life.  Medical authorities tell us that an adult person needs about three quarts of water a day in order to operate efficiently.  Some of us need more than that amount because of strenuous work, hot climate, or other personal reasons.  Water breaks up and softens the food we eat.  Our blood, which is 90% water, carries the nutrients of that food to all the cells in our body.  Water regulates our body’s temperature through perspiration.  Without it’s lubricating qualities, our joints in our bodies would creak like an old, rusty gate.  Crrrreeeek!!!  I don’t like the sound of that! It probably feels worse than it sounds!

In this passage of Scripture, John 7:37-39, the Lord Jesus is going to be making it known to the crowd that, just as water is necessary for physical life, in the same way He and His words provide what is necessary for spiritual life.

I.  THE INVITATION (verse 37)

It’s the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot or Booths), and verse 37 refers to it as the “great day of the feast.”  It was a very special and solemn day.  The priests would march around the altar chanting Psalm 118:25 which says, “O Lord, do save, we beseech Thee; O Lord, do send prosperity.”  This would be the last morning that the priests and the people would go in procession and draw water from the pool of Siloam and place it in a gold pitcher.  During the procession the people recited Isaiah 12:3, which says, “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”  When they returned, the priest would pour out the water at the side of the altar in the temple.  This act symbolized the event in Exodus 17 where God caused the water to gush forth from the rock when Moses struck it with his staff, and the people’s thirst was satisfied.

This ceremony was not given to Moses in the Law of the feasts.  It was not commanded by God, but was added later by the religious leaders, and drew the people’s attention away from the real meaning of the feast.  The drawing of the water could not satisfy the spiritual thirst of these people.  Only God could satisfy their deepest needs.

Thousands of worshipers were inside the temple at that moment.  Can I be more specific?  Historians tell us there were over one-hundred thousand men there in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles.  Of those, how many men could fit into the temple that Herod built?  I’ve read that ten thousand people could be in the temple at one time with a comfortable distance between one another, and the temple could easily hold twice that many people for a service such as this.  That’s a lot of people, with thousands more outside watching the procession and listening to the ceremony!

It may have been right after this ceremony was over that Jesus shouts, as loudly as He can, to everyone within ear-shot of His words.  He begins by shouting an invitation:  “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”  That action on His part must have startled many people, especially the ones closest to Him.  Many must have considered those words, spoken in that manner, to be a rude interruption.  But Jesus secured their attention and thousands of people in that temple who were within “shouting distance” heard the words He uttered.

IS LOUDNESS AN ATTENTION–GETTER?

Did I get your attention?  That’s about as close as I can get to being LOUD on this page without taking up too much space.  Loudness of voice is a way of gaining attention, isn’t it?  But now you have to keep the attention of your audience once you’ve gained it.  Jesus does so by relating His words closely to the ceremony that has just been enacted before their eyes, and to the words that were said by the priests and by the people. He said, “If any man is thirsty”.  The Greek word, dipsos, expresses a passionate longing for something without which one cannot live.  In the hot, arid region of Palestine, the people knew the full meaning of physical thirst  Jesus is speaking here of a spiritual thirst, not a physical thirst for water; and His invitation is offered to all who sense their need for salvation.  He’s reminding them of the Father’s promise in Isaiah 55:1, “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters.” There is also the prayer of King David:  “O God, you are my God; my soul thirsts for you, my body yearns for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).  Jesus is holding their attention by bringing familiar Scriptures to their minds, and applying those Scriptures to Himself.

If you look at the two Scripture passages I mentioned earlier [Psalm 118:25 and Isaiah 12:3], you will observe that they both speak about spiritual salvation, yet the priests and the people have been applying those Scriptures to the provision of physical water.  The Lord Jesus extends the invitation when He says, “let him come to me and drink.”  He’s inviting each one of them to personally come to Him, their Messiah, and He will satisfy the spiritual needs of their thirsty souls.  He is the only One who can satisfy that thirst, and His supply is never-ending.  Why would anyone want to refuse such an invitation?  Can you think of some reasons?  Maybe you’ve used some of them yourself in the past.

Those words of Jesus were also a partial-fulfillment, or reminder of the words of the prophet Haggai, spoken over 500 years earlier (Haggai 2:1-7).  On the very same day  [the twenty-first day of the seventh month, which is the seventh day of the feast of Tabernacles], God spoke these words of encouragement to the remnant of His people as they began the work of rebuilding the temple:

“. . . ‘And I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations
         and I will fill this house with glory’, says the Lord of Hosts.”  (Haggai 2:7)             

God is referring to a different temple that will be built on the very same spot where Solomon built the temple in I Kings 6.  The author of Hebrews records those same words spoken by Haggai, and applies them to Jesus Christ when He returns to reign as King (Hebrews 12:26-29).  The Jews listening to Jesus, here in verse 37, were looking forward to the fulfillment of that prophesy, and Jesus is giving them a “sneak preview” of what’s to come.  The day is coming when He will be in that temple in all His glory, and will be surrounded by people from all nations of the world who have come, not just to listen to Him, but to worship Him.

II.  THE PARTICIPATION (verse 38)

In verse 38, Jesus’ description gets even better and more amazing.  He says, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  Jesus is describing to them the salvation experience:  “thirst” . . . “come to Me” . . . “believe” . . . and an “overflowing heart”.  What does He mean when He says, “come to Me” in verse 37?  It’s an act of the will, isn’t it?  It’s a recognition of one’s need and helplessness.  It’s an expression of trust.  It’s a change of direction.  The word “drink”, in verse 37, becomes the word “believe” here in verse 38.  We are coming in obedience to His calling, acknowledging our total dependence on Him, and yielding to His control over our lives.  It is a gift given from the only true source of supply.

As a result of that coming to Him by faith, Jesus says that “out of his mouth will flow rivers of living water.”  When the Spirit of God enters our lives, He changes our hearts.  That “living water” is described as a river of water being fed by an overflowing spring of clear, clean, cool, refreshing water.”  God saves us and fills us with His Spirit so that our lives might overflow as a witness to others of the saving power of Jesus Christ.

Henry G. Bosch shared a true story of an amputee soul-winner in Melbourne, Australia who has had a remarkable ministry.  A pastor who visited this woman writes,  “When this girl was 18, she was seized with a dreadful affliction and the doctor said that, to save her life, he must take off her foot.  Next the other foot was removed.  The disease continued to spread, and her legs had to be amputated at the hips.  Then the malady broke out in her hands.  And by the time I saw Miss Higgins, all that remained of her was the trunk of her body.  For 15 years now she has been in that condition.  I went to offer comfort, but I did not know how to speak to her or what to say.  I found the walls of her room covered with texts, all of them radiating joy, and peace, and power.  She explained that one day, while lying in bed, she inquired of the Lord what a total amputee could possibly do for Him.  Then an inspiration came to her.  Calling a friend of hers, who was a carpenter, she had him construct a device to fit her shoulder, and attach to it an extension holding a fountain pen.  Then she began to write letters witnessing to the grace of God.  She had to do it entirely with body movement, yet her penmanship was beautiful.  She has now received over 15 hundred replies from individuals who have been brought to Christ through the letters she produced in that way.”

The preacher asked her, “How do you do it?” and she replied, “You know Jesus said of His own that out of them ‘shall flow rivers of living water.’  I believe in Him, and He has helped me to overflow to others.”

Imagine in your mind a river that is flowing from a huge fountain of spring water.  What thoughts come to your mind when you think of such a river, or when you watch a river flowing?  In 1927, Jerome Kern wrote the music to a song, and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics.  It became one of the songs for the musical, “Showboat”.  The song is “Ol’ Man River”, and here are a few words from the chorus of that song:

 Ol’ man river
Dat ol’ man river
He mus’ know somepin’
But don’t say nuthin’,
He jes keeps rollin’
He keeps on rollin’ along.

As he describes the Mississippi River, he’s pointing out that it is constant.  It’s been around a long time and it has never stopped flowing.  The Lord Jesus is telling the people that those who believe in Him will become like “rivers of living water” spiritually, overflowing with the knowledge and the joy of their salvation, and spilling that crystal-clear, life-giving water onto others through their witness and testimonies.  The gospel will be a constant and abundant supply of blessing for them and for the world around them.

III.  THE EXPLANATION (verse 39)

In verse 39, the apostle John tells us how this amazing transformation is going to come about.  He uses the following words to tell us who is going to orchestrate this event:  “But this He spoke of the Spirit”.  It was the Holy Spirit of God who was going to empower and transform lives.  He would be the source of the “rivers of living water”.  The Holy Spirit is the One “whom those who believed in Him would receive.”  He’s explaining this to his readers because this concept was beyond the understanding of the disciples at that point in time.  Jesus’ disciples knew that the Spirit of God has been active in creation, speaking through the prophets, empowering His people, and coming upon certain individuals for a period of time.  But this was something new.  Each believer in Jesus Christ would receive the Holy Spirit when he believed.  The Lord Jesus will be saying this to them several times in the weeks ahead (Jn. 14:16-18; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15).  It’s not a concept that’s easy for them to grasp.  How is the Spirit of God going to accomplish this amazing feat in the lives of believers?  Evangelist D.L. Moody gave an illustration that may be helpful in answering that question.  Speaking to a large audience, Mr. Moody held up a glass and asked:  How can I get the air out of this glass?”  One man shouted, “Suck it out with a pump!”  Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and break the glass.”  After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass.  “There”, he said, “all the air is now removed.”  He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by “sucking the sins out of our lives” but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.

I’m sure His disciples were wondering when this transformation was going to occur, or whether it happened already.  Therefore John ends the verse by saying, “for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”  As the apostle John writes this Gospel, he’s looking back about 50 years in the past, and now he understands those words of Jesus concerning His own glorification and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit had not yet been given to all believers because Christ had not yet been glorified.  When we think of the word “glorified”, we tend to think of something that happens in heaven, or that happened to Christ at His resurrection and ascension.  However, the Bible teaches that Jesus was also glorified in His death.  When He was arrested, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of man glorified” (John. 12:23; 13:31).  After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, the Holy Spirit would be sent, and the lives of Jesus’ followers would be changed forever.

CONCLUSION:

Are you thirsting for meaning and purpose in life?  Are you sometimes frustrated because your life doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and you don’t know how it’s going to end?  Have you found that trying to please yourself and draw attention to yourself didn’t really bring you self-satisfaction?  Even if you’re a very kind and generous person, there is still something that you can’t give because you’ve never received it.  Have you finally come to the conclusion that something is missing from your life and you don’t know for sure what it is?  I hope, for your sake, that you’ve come to that point because, until you do, your deepest need will remain unmet, and your greatest joy remains unfulfilled.

There is a physical abnormality or condition called “adipsia”.  The word means “without thirst”.  The portion of the brain that controls thirst is not functioning for one reason or another  If untreated, it can lead to dehydration and eventually to death.  There are many in this world who have chosen to suffer from spiritual adipsia by ignoring or refusing to acknowledge their inner-thirst for God.   Please don’t continue in your spiritually-dehydrated condition.  You’re heading down the road to the place where your condition will change drastically:  you will always be thirsty, and that thirst will never be quenched – forever.

Fellow Christians, do our lives cause others around us to thirst for what we have?   Are we controlled by the Spirit of God and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit of God [love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control]? Let’s thoroughly enjoy the spiritual oasis we possess in this dry and weary land, and extend the invitation to others!

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

A PATH TO FRUSTRATION — John 7:31-36

Bible sermons, John 7:31-36

INTRODUCTION:

Two men were in a railroad station at midnight.  [Keep that time in mind].  The men were discussing the difference between irritation, aggravation, and frustration.  They couldn’t agree.  One of them finally said, “I’ll show you the difference.”  He went to the phone booth, circled a number in the phone book, and called it.  After ringing and ringing, it was finally answered.  “Is Ned there?”  “NO!  There’s no Ned here,” and the phone was slammed down.  “That’s irritation,” he said to his friend.  After 20 minutes he called again.  The phone rang and rang.  Finally, someone answered and the man asked again, “Is Ned there?”  The answer came back, “There is no Ned here!  I told you before!”  SLAM.  “That’s aggravation”, he said to his partner.  Another 20 minutes went by, and the man said, “Now I’ll show you frustration,” and he made another call.  Finally, the phone was answered, “I told you before, there’s no Ned here!!!”  “But this is Ned — any messages for me?”

If I was the man who was receiving those phone calls, I’d unplug or turn off my phone for the rest of the night, and then I would probably have a hard time getting back to sleep again.  How about you?

You may have heard that story before, but I think it describes the situation in the passage of Scripture we are now studying:  John 7:31-36.  The leaders of the Jews are already irritated and aggravated by the words and actions of the Lord Jesus, and they are soon going to become frustrated as well.  Let’s see what happens next.

I.  RESPONSE FROM THE CROWD (verse 31)

Verse 31 begins with the words, “But many of the multitude believed in Him;”.  Who would the “many” consist of?  It wasn’t the people of Jerusalem.  They had already expressed their feelings about Him, and they ignored the evidence and sided with the Pharisees and the rulers who were against Him.  The apostle John must be referring to the pilgrims — the Jews who lived outside the nation of Israel and who had traveled a great distance to attend the feast.  What would cause them to believe in Jesus when they hardly knew Him?  This festival may have been their first opportunity to come in contact with Him.  The rest of verse 31 gives the answer:  “and they were saying, ‘When the Christ shall come, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He’?”  They are saying that they believed because of the miracles He performed.  But Jesus didn’t perform any miracles during the feast, did He?  No, John doesn’t record any miracles during the feast.  But don’t forget that many of these pilgrims have been in town for several weeks, living in their own “tent city” on the outskirts of Jerusalem.  They composed most of the crowd that followed Jesus, watched Him heal the lame and the sick (John 6:1-2), and ate the loaves and fish that fed 5000 people (John 6:9-11).  They are saying to each other — “after all the miracles we’ve seen, how can He not be the Messiah?”  Jesus’ miracles may not seem like the best and strongest basis for one’s faith, but miracle-faith is good enough.  Remember when John the Baptist had his doubts about whether Jesus was the Messiah?  He sent messengers to Jesus to find out if He was the One.  In Matthew 11:4-6, Jesus said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see; the blind receive sight, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.”  He chose to describe His miracles to them as part of the proof that He was indeed the Messiah.  By saying those words, the Lord Jesus was also fulfilling prophecy.

The Jews knew the Messianic texts in the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.  They were eagerly awaiting their Messiah.  One of those texts is Isaiah 35:4-6, which says,
“Say to those with anxious heart, ‘Take courage, fear not.  Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, but He will save you.’  Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.  Then the lame will leap like a deer,  And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy.”  This prophecy had been fulfilled before their eyes, and many realized its fulfillment.  Rather than conform to the leaders and the Jews living in Jerusalem, and believe what they were told to believe, many of the Jews living outside of the nation of Israel decided to believe what they saw and heard, and the words of the prophet Isaiah.

II.  A TIME OF DISCUSSION (verse 32)

There’s muttering or murmuring going on again, similar to what happened among the Jerusalem Jews in verse 12, but this time it’s different.  Verse 32 reads, “The Pharisees heard the multitude muttering these things about Him; and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.”  These Jews weren’t speaking against Jesus but were agreeing with one another concerning Jesus’ qualifications.  They were supporting one another’s conclusions based on the evidence.  Verse 31 has already told us that many of these Jews believed in Jesus, and the number was growing as they discussed Him among themselves.

The Pharisees knew that these Jews were becoming convinced of the claims of Jesus so they made haste to send for the officers.  They wanted to remove Jesus from the scene and disperse the people.  In their frustration, they didn’t know what else to do, so they decided to join forces with the chief priests because they are the ones in the positions of power.

III.  A WORD OF WARNING (verses 33-34)

When the officers of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews, arrive on the scene, the Lord Jesus has some words of warning for them and for the crowd around Him.  In verse 33, Jesus says, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent me.”  Notice that Jesus has now changed the topic of His conversation from where He came from to where He is going.  He’s continuing the conversation where He left off in verses 28-29, where He told them that He was sent on a mission.  Now He’s telling them that His mission will be accomplished soon and He’ll be going back to the One who sent Him.  The completion of His mission is only about six months away.  His mission is not impossible, but it is unfathomable — too amazing and wonderful for mankind to completely comprehend.

What Jesus says to them next, requires some explanation so that it is not misunderstood.  Jesus continues by saying, in verse 34, “You shall seek Me, and shall not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”  He is not rebuking nor condemning them by the use of those words.  If you combine verses 33 and 34, you will find that Jesus is giving them a deadline and urging them to respond to Him by acknowledging Him as their Messiah and following Him before He returns to His Heavenly Father.  I’m reminded of some of the end-of-summer sales that appear in the newspapers and in the mail in September and October.  They say something like this:  “Now is your last chance to take advantage of these end-of-summer deals.  Soon this merchandise will be taken off the shelves to make way for winter fashions, and you won’t see these items again until next summer.”  These stores are doing their customers a favor by letting them know this information and giving them one last chance to purchase the things they like.

The Lord Jesus is also doing His listeners a favor.  His motivation is that of loving concern for them.  Psalm 55 is one of the Messianic psalms, so everyone within the sound of Jesus’ voice is familiar with it.  Verse 6 of Psalm 55 says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.”  That was their first warning, so you might say that Jesus is giving them a second warning.  At that moment in history, Jesus had been found by them, and He was standing in their presence.  How much nearer can you get?

With that information in mind, let’s take another look at verse 34. But first, let’s look at Matthew 23:37-39 because I think it’s the key to unlocking our understanding of John 7:34.  Jesus laments [expresses His sorrow] over Jerusalem, saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.  Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!  For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ ” Jesus is telling them, “When you say those words, you’ll be saying them to Me upon My return, because I am the Messiah.  He and I are the same Person.”  With those words and the previous information in mind, let’s examine Jesus’ words in verse 34.

Jesus is speaking about the future when He says, “You will seek Me and not find Me”.  He’s saying, “After I go back to the One who sent Me, you are going to continue to seek after the Messiah and you are not going to find your Messiah because He and I are the same Person.  He finishes His conversation by saying, “and where I am you cannot come”.  Since they have rejected their Messiah, they can’t go where He is going.  I believe that Jesus deliberately chose those words in order to cause anger, confusion, and frustration to fill their minds because of their unbelief.

Jennice Vilhauer wrote an article in Psychology Today magazine and shared some observations about anger and frustration.  She said, “The majority of the anger and frustration we experience in life occurs when we encounter someone who is not playing by our rules. . . . When things aren’t going our way, we can start to feel that we are losing our sense of control.”  That’s a good description of what is happening in this encounter between Jesus and the leaders of the Jews.  In verses 35 and 36 we’ll see what happens next.

IV.  THEIR RESPONSE (verses 35-36)

Verse 35 reveals the following reaction on the part of the Jews:  “Then the Jews said among themselves, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find Him?  He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is He?’ ”  Why didn’t they ask Jesus those questions?  He would have given them clear and honest answers.   How can they call themselves “teachers” and yet not be “learners”?  You might think that they were too proud to ask, and there is certainly truth in that thought.  But the real reason is their stubborn refusal to believe that Jesus is who He claims to be, in spite of everything they have seen and heard.  As they talked among one another, the best excuse they could come up with was that Jesus was going to go on a missionary journey to all the countries where the Jews had been scattered throughout the Roman empire, where the Greek language was spoken, and that He was never coming back.  It’s such a poor excuse in their own minds that they ask themselves the question again in verse 36 to see if they can come up with a better one!  The Jews are completely frustrated as their conversation ends.  Jesus says nothing because their questions weren’t directed toward Him.  In fact, He may not have even heard their words clearly.  I presume that they didn’t even want Jesus to hear what they were saying.

The question is still in their minds and on their lips:  “How could He go somewhere they could not go.”  It didn’t fit within their own personal rule books of the way things should happen, and how they themselves should be treated.  The conversation abruptly ends there, and the next verse begins on the following day and in a different situation.  The leaders are left with some time to cool down their emotions, collect their thoughts, and get a restless night’s sleep before the next confrontation.

CONCLUSION:

These Jews seem to have forgotten or ignored the words of the prophet Isaiah, who said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6).  In contrast to His words to the Jews, Jesus later says to His disciples, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also”  (John 14:3).  Jesus will make that possible through His own death and resurrection, and available to all who believe in Him and follow Him.

John 7:31-36 has been another study in contrasts.  On the one hand we have the pilgrim Jews, many of whom have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, refusing to conform to the Jewish leaders and the Jerusalem Jews, and now their lives are filled with joy because they have found their Messiah.  On the other hand, we have the local Jews who are unwilling to believe and are struggling to find more excuses.  Augustine of Hippo, one of the early church fathers, made this statement:  “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.”

The Lord Jesus is asking each of us today, “Are you with Me?”  If you’ve chosen to believe in Him and follow Him, you’ll be with Him forever.  The joy will never end, and you have the privilege of sharing that good news with others  If you’re not with Him, is it worth the frustration and all the excuses?  Don’t put it off until you “cannot come” — forever.  That is the ultimate in frustration!

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

While you’re here, you’re welcome to visit other sermons on this blog site.  I’ll be starting another construction site next door as soon as I put together an introduction. 

SIBLING RIVALRY – John 7:1-9

Bible sermons, criticism, Feast of Tabernacles, John 7:1-9, responding to criticism

INTRODUCTION:

If you weren’t an only-child, or if you’re the mother or father of more than one child, you’ve probably experienced sibling rivalry or watched it take place.  I was one of three boys, so when the three of us got into arguments or fights, it was usually two against one!  The rivalries don’t necessarily go away when children become adults, as you probably know.  The Old Testament Scriptures contain several rivalries between brothers, sisters, or both.  The first rivalry was between Cain and his brother Abel.  As we move through the Old Testament we also find the stories of Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Rachel and her sister Leah, and Joseph and his brothers.  There were some serious, negative results in each case.  I’m reminded of a popular TV show in the 1960s and 1970s:  “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”.  As part of their comedy routine, Tommy Smothers would say angrily to his brother, Dick, “Mom always liked you best!”, and a funny argument would ensue.  It was funny because the people in the audience could relate to what they were saying to each other.  They may have used similar phrases and had the same arguments with their own brothers or sisters at some point in their lives.

Why do such rivalries exist among family members?  What are some of the causes?  From the research I’ve done so far, I’ve learned that children are sensitive to differences in parental treatment, as well as unequal amounts of attention and discipline.

The passage of Scripture we are studying, John 7:1-9, tells us that the Lord Jesus was not an only child.  His mother Mary and His step-father Joseph had several children while Jesus was growing up.  This passage of Scripture will mention His brothers (step-brothers), but He had step-sisters as well, and we will be looking into those details as we study this text of Scripture.

TRANSITION:

Before we begin to study the text, I would like you to exercise your imaginations and recall some memories along with me.  Try to imagine yourself as the brother or sister of Jesus Christ, growing up with Him in the same household, interacting with Him and with your other brothers and sisters every day as children, then adolescents, and finally as adults.  What kinds of potential situations, issues, feelings, and tensions come to your mind?  Bring back to mind your own childhood experiences and your experiences as an adolescent and as an adult.  Now keep those thoughts in your mind and continue to ponder them.  Those thoughts and memories are going to be useful to us as the scene changes here in chapter 7 of John’s Gospel.

I.  A CHANGE OF LOCATION (verse 1)

Verse one begins with the words “After these things” – the same words the apostle John used at the beginning of the previous chapter (6:1).  John is not only referring to the things Jesus said and did in chapter 6, but also to the response from the crowd, and especially from the rulers of the Jews.  Bible commentator William Barclay aptly described John 6 as the “beginning of the end.”  Chapter seven of John’s Gospel begins the last six months of Jesus’ life.  The Lord Jesus had already “signed His own death warrant”, so to speak, by claiming to be God (5:18).  Now He has lost many of His potential defense-witnesses, in chapter 6, when He stated that belief in Him was the only way to eternal life.  Hundreds of “followers” walked away and may have become witnesses for the prosecution. 

The rest of verse 1 says, “Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.”  So Jesus was going around the region of Galilee preaching and teaching the Galileans about the kingdom of God.  He did not go from Judea to Galilee out of fear for His life, but because it wasn’t His Father’s timing for Him to be arrested yet.  His reason was not fear, but obedience to His heavenly Father.

II.  THE FEAST (verse 2)

Verse 2 says, “Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand.”  The Feast of Booths is also called the Feast of Tabernacles.  Bible expositor Warren  Wiersbe gives a brief and concise description of it:  “The Feast of Tabernacles looked back on Israel’s journey through the wilderness, and looked forward to the promised kingdom of Messiah.  The Jews lived in booths made of branches to remind them of God’s provision for nearly forty years (Leviticus 23:33-44). . . . Tabernacles was a festive time for the people.  The temple area was illuminated by large candlesticks that reminded the people of the guiding pillar of fire; and each day the priests would carry water from the Pool of Siloam and pour it out from a golden vessel, reminding the Jews of the miraculous provision of water from the rock.”

This was one of the three feasts that Jewish males were required to attend.  Great numbers of Jews arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast.  It was a time of joy and fellowship that lasted seven days, with a solemn feast on the eighth day.  Many animals were sacrificed to the Lord, and many free-will offerings were given during that period of time (Numbers 29:7-40; Deuteronomy 16:14-16).

III.  BROTHERLY ADVICE? (verses 3-5)

In verses 3 and 4, the apostle John writes down for us the only words spoken to Jesus by His brothers that are recorded in the Scriptures.  Let’s pay close attention to their words and see if we can gain any insights into their purpose for saying those words, and the manner in which they may have said them to Jesus.  Verse 3 says:

His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea,
that your disciples may behold Your works which You are doing.”

Since all of His brothers are saying these words to Jesus, they probably had been discussing the matter among themselves and had come to an agreement about what they wanted to say.to Him.  Matthew 13:55-56 gives us the names of four brothers:  “James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Jude)”.  The parentheses are mine.  Matthew also mentions that Jesus had sisters.  We find that same information in Mark 6:3.

Their words are not in the form of a suggestion or a request, but rather a command or a challenge.  The word “therefore” tells us that they must have known about all the followers who had turned away from Him in Capernaum, and assumed that this was the reason why He was now ministering in Galilee.  As you look at their words, do you detect a bit of sarcasm?  Are they making fun of Him and ridiculing Him?  We don’t know the inflection in their voices, but we do see the words “your disciples”.  His brothers are not His followers, at least not at this point in time.  They are excluding themselves by the use of those words.  To put it into today’s vernacular, they were saying to Jesus:  “Leave those lower-class Jews in Galilee and make your pitch before the ‘big wigs’ in Judea, where the action is.  Show your disciples your best miracles.  See if you can convince them, and us, that you’re really who you claim to be.  Give it your best shot!”  That paraphrase seems to fit what they say next in verse 4:

“For no one does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be
known publicly.  If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”

Notice the little word,“if” in verse 4.  His brothers don’t believe His miracles.  They have probably not seen any of them, and are unwilling to believe the reports they have heard.  In an attempt to put their words into 21st-century slang, His brothers are saying, “Come out of hiding; get the word out, and take a world tour.”  But Jesus wasn’t seeking to become a celebrity or a status symbol.  Their “marketing strategy” is similar to Satan’s temptation in Matthew 4:5-7, where Satan tried to make Jesus take action on His own, rather than submit to the will of His heavenly Father.

Even though His brothers don’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah, how could they treat their older brother in such a way.  What would motivate them to say the things they said to Him in such a cruel way?  Why are they “ganging up on Him” – four against one?

It’s time to bring back to your mind those rivalries between you and your own brothers and sisters, and rivalries between your own children.  Have the memories come back to mind?  Now ask yourself this question:  “What would it be like to grow up with a brother who never sinned; who never did anything wrong, and was never punished?”  Would you be looking for weak spots in his character?  Would you be trying to find a hole or a crack in his armor?  Would you be trying to make one?  Would you be doing everything in your power to get him into trouble just once, to make sure he was human like you?  Would there be times when you would like to get into an argument with him or pick a fight with him?  Would you be calling him names such as “Mr. goody two-sandals”?  You don’t have to answer those questions.  We both know the answers already, don’t we?

This poses another question.  As the children were growing up, did Mary and Joseph tell them about Jesus’ miraculous conception and birth, and all the details surrounding those events?  Did they tell their children that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of heaven and earth?  The Scriptures don’t give us that information, but apparently, Mary and Joseph kept that information from them, and for good reasons.  You know how hard it is for little children to keep secrets, especially if they are speaking in a brother’s defense.  For example, if someone were to say to them, “My brother is better than your brother”, they might get the response, “No he’s not, my Brother is the Messiah, the Son of God.”  If that news spread, Jesus and His whole family might be in danger of death from the Romans and the Jews!

Even though Mary and Joseph probably didn’t communicate that information about Jesus, children can detect differences in the way their parents talk to each of them and respond to each of them.  Whether they consciously realized it or not, how could Mary and Joseph hide the sense of awe and wonder they felt inside every time they looked at Jesus, touched Him, and conversed with Him.  As adolescents, His brothers and sisters may have thought to themselves, and commented to one another about their parents:  “It’s almost as if they worshiped Him.”  Such thoughts and observations could easily provoke jealousy and anger among Jesus’ siblings.

John expresses his amazement, in verse 5, by saying, “not even His brothers believed in Him”.  After all they had seen, heard, and experienced, they still refused to acknowledge that their brother was the Messiah.  He’s confirming that their words to Jesus, here in verses 3-5, were not motivated by faith in Him. This is in fulfillment of prophecy.  Psalm 69:8 says, “I have become estranged from my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s sons.”  Notice that it says “my mother’s sons”.  Jesus was not the natural son of Joseph.

IV.  JESUS’ RESPONSE TO HIS BROTHERS (verses 6-9)

Imagine yourself in this situation.  How would you feel if your four younger brothers, who showed no confidence or trust in you, were all standing around you, making fun of you, and trying to tell you what to do and how to do it?  Have you put yourself in this setting?  Can you feel the anger welling up inside?  Are you getting ready to put them in their place, teach them some manners, and demand that they show some respect for their elder brother who had taken on the responsibilities of a father to them after Joseph died?

In verses 6-9, Jesus responds to their unkind and challenging remarks calmly, honestly, and graciously.  He begins, in verse 6, by saying:  “My time is not yet at hand, but your time is always opportune.”  The Greek language has several words for time.  The word “aion” refers to long periods of time.  It’s been going on for ages or eons.  I’ll call it “abstract time”.  It was considered to be “God’s time” (not “God’s timing”, but “God’s time”), and was used to describe a lifetime or an eternity.  It extends beyond a person’s life and is not limited to it.  The second word, “chronos”, is sequential time, measuring minutes and seconds.  Let’s call it “tic-toc (or tick-tock) time”.  When I was growing up, clocks and watches ticked.  You could put your ear against them and hear it.  My grandfather had a railroad watch in his pocket, attached to his belt by a chain.  When we visited our grandparents, my grandfather would get out his watch, and my two brothers and I would take turns sitting in his lap and listening to it tick.  We thought that was a wonderful way to pass the time!

Getting back to verse 6, the Greek word translated “time” is neither of those two words.  Instead, it is the word “kairos”, which refers to a point in time.  It is used to describe the precise time, the right moment, the opportune time, the proper time, and timeliness.  Let’s call it “stop-watch time” and the stop-watch, or timer, is in the hand of Jesus’ Heavenly Father.  This is the only instance where Jesus used this particular word.  In other instances, Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come.”  Why did Jesus use “kairos” here, when speaking to His brothers?  Is there a difference in meaning?  Yes, there is.  When Jesus said, “My hour has not yet come”, He’s referring to a specific time of a particular event in the future, that is, the hour of His betrayal and arrest.  This event has already been set and cannot be changed.  When Jesus told His brothers, “My time is not yet at hand”, He is saying something like “I hope (or plan) to come, but this is not the best time for me.”  It’s somewhat similar to the phrases, “I’ll take a rain check on that”, and “I’ll catch up with you later.”  His Heavenly Father would be clicking the stopwatch or setting the timer for that event very soon.

The rest of verse 6 reads, “but your time is always opportune”.  His brothers can come and go whenever they want.  Their words and actions have not aroused the hostility of the Jewish leaders.  Even though they are Jesus’ family, the Jews have nothing against them at this time.  Let’s combine those words of Jesus with the words that follow in verse 7:  “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify to it, that its deeds are evil.”  One could easily get the impression that Jesus is getting even with His brothers for what they were saying to Him earlier; that He is being sarcastic and rebuking them for their worldliness and lack of faith in Him.  I disagree with that conclusion.  That doesn’t align with Jesus’ character.  The Lord Jesus has been protecting His family from the hostility and persecution He is experiencing.  The very things that they have been telling Jesus to do would put their own lives in danger.  They didn’t realize it, but Jesus did.  I think Jesus is saying, “The world cannot hate you because I am protecting you from that hatred at this time.”  He is doing so by not involving them in His ministry, by not mentioning them in His conversations with the Jews, and by keeping the focus of attention and hostility on Himself alone.  He doesn’t want His brothers to be identified as His followers and persecuted by the Jewish authorities when they don’t believe in Him yet.  At this dangerous point in His ministry, if Jesus went with His brothers to the feast, they would be considered as identified with Him.  Whereas, if they went by themselves, they would be identified with the world around them.  Those words of Jesus to His brothers may well have been spoken as words of reassurance from a loving and protective, older brother.  We find no negative reaction on their part.

Verse 9 concludes this interaction with the words, “And having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.”  His brothers were satisfied with His response to them, and verse 10 tells us that His brothers went to the feast without Him.  I believe that part of the Father’s will for Jesus to remain in Galilee was not only for His own protection, at this particular time, but also for the protection of His family.

CONCLUSION:

What can we learn and apply from this particular episode in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ?  Once again we observe Jesus’ absolute obedience and submission to the will of His Heavenly Father.  He’s on the Father’s timetable each moment of every day, and He’s content to wait until the Father reveals His will and the proper time to execute it.  He waits for the opportune time, the best time, because that’s His Father’s time, and the Father knows best.  No one, and nothing, is going to get in the way of doing His Father’s will, on schedule.  Not even His own brothers could deter Him from doing the will of His Heavenly Father.  Oswald Chambers shared this observation from his study of the Scriptures:  “There never was a more inconsistent Being on this earth than Our Lord, but He was never inconsistent to His Father.”

What about us?  Whose timetable do we follow?  Who holds the stopwatch in our lives?  Are we willing to wait on the Lord in prayer when the situation isn’t clear, or when the timing doesn’t seem right?

We can also learn a lesson from the way the Lord Jesus treated people – in this case, His own brothers.  Jesus’ love for His Heavenly Father did not exclude His love for His earthly family.  He didn’t interrupt His brothers but calmly listened to their advice.  They didn’t understand the potential consequences of their advice, but Jesus did.  He understood their motives and their frustrations and showed respect for their feelings.  The Lord Jesus was fulfilling the second Great Commandment by treating His brothers the way He would like to be treated.  What have you learned from His example?  By God’s grace, are you ready and willing to put those lessons into practice in your relationships with your own family members?  The Scriptures tell us the results of that loving treatment being given to His brothers by Jesus.  After His resurrection from the dead, in Acts 1:14, we find that His brothers are included among His followers.  Two of Jesus’ brothers, James and Jude, became leaders in the early church and wrote epistles that bear their names.

If you are a committed follower of Jesus Christ, the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:48-50, where He asked a question, and then answered it for the sake of those who are listening to Him, are meant for us as well.  He said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?  For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”  We are “blood-relatives” of Jesus Christ and “blood-relatives” with every other believer in Jesus Christ.  We became children of God through the shed blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, on our behalf.  Are you treating your fellow-Christians the way you would treat Jesus?  Are you treating them the way Jesus treated His own brothers?  I hope so, and He wants it to be so.  Let’s renew our commitment to follow the Lord consistently and love one another unconditionally.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

THE AFTERMATH: A FALLING OUT – John 6:60-71

Bible sermons, Christ Jesus, homily, Uncategorized, what is a disciple

INTRODUCTION:

There are books galore on the topic of leadership.  It would take you an eternity to read them all because new books about leadership are being written and published every day.  Have you ever read a book on following, or becoming a good follower?  I’ve never read, nor have I ever seen a book on that subject.  So I typed “books on following”, and “books on being a follower” into the web browser of my computer.  What I received in response was books on leadership.  I then typed, “how to be a follower” into my web browser and was given many YouTube sites telling me how to become a follower of someone’s social media site, such as Facebook, Twitter, and others.  With the click of a button or an icon, I can instantly become someone’s follower, and receive updates.  With the click of another button or icon, I can also instantly “unfollow” a person.   It’s as simple as that!  There are also many online courses being offered which will give you tools and techniques proven to increase the number of your followers.

In this age of social media, “following” has taken on a new meaning.  The number of one’s followers is a sign of popularity.  Gaining new followers can easily become an obsession, as well as a source of personal pride and competitiveness.  A friend of mine recently told me that he goes to social media sites mainly to get information.  He’s interested in keeping up-to-date on certain people and organizations.  What immediately comes to your mind when you think of the words “following” and “follower”?

TRANSITION:

During the lifetime of Jesus Christ on this earth, followers were often referred to as “disciples”.  In this passage of Scripture, John 6:60-71, we are going to study the effect that Jesus’ conversation had on His followers, and observe how Jesus responds to the situation.

I.  THE VERBAL REACTION OF MANY (verse 60)

In verse 60 of John, chapter 6, we find the immediate aftermath of Jesus’ conversation with His crowd of followers.  “Many, therefore, of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’ ”  The word “disciple” is the Greek word “mathetes”, which literally means “learner” or “pupil”, and the teacher was called a “didaskalos”.  The corresponding Hebrew words that were used during that period of time were the “talmid” and the “rabbi”.  In the first century, when you wanted to find out more about a person, and learn from him, you followed him around.  There may have been several motives for doing so, such as curiosity, entertainment, a desire to join the crowd, as well a personal commitment to that person.

For example, since you’ve come to this site and are reading this article, you may be a blogger yourself, and have your own blog site.  Let me ask you a question.  Can you follow a blog site without truly being a follower of that site?  I would say that the answer to that question is “yes”.  You can click the “follow” button or icon for a number of reasons.  You may have read one article, liked it, and clicked the “follow” button because you wanted to get email alerts when new articles are added to the site.  You may have clicked “follow” because you want your name and photo added to the list of other followers in the hope that readers might check out your site as well.  It’s a form of advertising.  Or you may have read several articles and are eager to continue to learn, grow spiritually, and share what you have learned with others.  Those are just a few possible motives.  As you can see, there are many possible reasons for following, and not all those reasons demonstrate long-lasting commitment.

Verse 60 says that “many“, not “all” of his listeners, had a negative attitude about the teachings that Jesus had just expressed to them, and they put their attitude into words, saying, “This is a difficult saying; who can listen to it.”  The Greek word translated “difficult”, literally means “hard”.  The word does not mean “hard to understand”, but “hard to accept” once you understood it.  You might say that Jesus’ words were “offensive” – His teachings were opposed to their own personal beliefs and prejudices.  Therefore they rejected His whole conversation.  True disciples wouldn’t react in that way.  A true disciple would be willing to listen, to learn, and to believe in Him because of who He is, even if the teaching might seem, at first, to be offensive.  The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, made the following statement:  “Understanding is the reward of faith.  Therefore, seek not to understand so that you may believe, but believe so that you may understand.”  The Lord Jesus has already given this crowd of followers plenty of reasons to believe in Him and trust Him.

Bible expositor, Alfred Barnes, tells us the doctrines that were apparently offensive.  First, that Jesus was superior to Moses; secondly, that God would save all that He had chosen, and those only; thirdly, that He was the bread that came from heaven; and fourthly, that it was necessary that an atonement should be made, and that they should be saved by it.  Barnes goes on to say, “These doctrines have always been the most offensive that men have been called on to believe, and many, rather than trust in Him, have chosen to draw back to perdition.”

When these so-called disciples said, “Who can hear it?”, they meant, “Who can put up with it?”.  “Who can listen to His words any longer without losing their patience and responding with outbursts of anger?”

II.  JESUS’ RESPONSE TO THE CROWD  (verses 61-65)

The mumbling and grumbling has started again, and verse 61 tells us that Jesus is aware of it.  Now He is faced with a choice.  Is the Lord Jesus going to politely back away from the conflict?  Is He going to give excuses for His offensive words?  Is He going to say something like:  “I didn’t mean to . . . what I really meant was  . .That didn’t come out right . . . what I was trying to say is . . . I’ve had a lot on my mind lately . . . I didn’t sleep well last night , , , Maybe we should start this conversation all over again.”  Do those excuses sound familiar?  Have you ever used any of them yourself?  Be honest!

The other choice would be to stand His ground, give further evidence of the truth of His statements, and then move along in the same direction, full-speed ahead..  This is the course of action that Jesus pursues in spite of their opposition.  It’s full-speed ahead!  He begins by asking them a question:  “Does this cause you to stumble?”  He’s letting them know that He hears what they are saying, and He also knows the condition of their hearts.  The word “stumble” is the Greek word “skandalizei”.  We get our English word “scandalize” from that Greek word.  Jesus is saying, “Are My teachings offensive to you?”  “Do they go against what you want to believe?”  He is also leading into what He is about to say next.  His second question, found in verse 62, is “What then if you should behold the Son of Man ascending where He was before?”  Jesus is not telling these followers that they will see His ascension into heaven because Acts 1:6-13 tells us that only the eleven apostles watched that happen.  Jesus is speaking hypothetically.  One of the statements that offended some of these followers was that Jesus claimed that He had come down from heaven.  Now He’s saying, “What if you saw me ascend to heaven – the same place that I told you I came from?”  “Would that offend you all the more?”  You might say, from Jesus’ response, that He is separating the chaff from the wheat!

In verse 63, Jesus explains His purpose for saying those things to them, and He also  reasserts His authority or right to say them.  “The spirit gives life; the flesh accounts for nothing,  The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”  I don’t personally think that Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit here, even though the beginning of His statement is also true of the Holy Spirit.  He’s clarifying His analogy by saying that He’s referring to the spirit of man, not his physical flesh.   A man’s spirit is his source of life, and God gives him that spirit.  His listeners were very familiar with Genesis 2:7, which says, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”  The Greek word translated “spirit” here in verse 63, is pneuma, which literally means “wind” or “breath”, and is sometimes used to refer to the Holy Spirit as well.  Jesus is speaking to them in  Hebrew (Aramaic), and the word Jesus probably used is ruach, which also means “wind” or “breath”.  So there is nothing lost in translation between the two languages.  The Scriptures describe Jesus’ death on the cross with the words “He gave up His spirit” (John 19:30; Matthew 27:50).

Now, in verse 64, Jesus “hits them with a bombshell” when He says to the crowd of followers, “There are some of you who do not believe.”  He’s implying, “You know who you are, and I know who you are also.  You can’t hide anything from Me.”  The apostle John goes on to explain the basis for Jesus’ words:  “For He knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.”  As God, Jesus was all-knowing, but having taken the form of a man, He temporarily laid aside the use of that attribute.  It was the Father who had revealed that information to Him.  Jesus has “opened the exit doors even wider” for those who weren’t truly His followers, and don’t want to be His followers because they don’t really believe in Him.

Preacher and author, Henry Drummond, was once asked to address a meeting at the exclusive West-End Club in London, England.  He began with these words:  “Ladies and Gentlemen, the entrance fee into the kingdom of God is nothing, but the annual subscription is everything.”  There were many in Jesus’ audience who wanted to be part of the club but didn’t want to pay the subscription fees.  Jesus had quite a following that day, but very few genuine followers.

What Jesus then shares, in verse 66, defies their understanding, and hurts the foolish pride of many of His listeners.  He reiterates what He said in verse 44, when He says in verse 65:  “no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”  Jesus is telling them that faith is a gift.  It’s impossible for us to believe by our own enabling.  Only God can draw a person to Himself.  He’s also implying that hearing His words doesn’t necessarily lead to faith.

III.  THE DESERTION (verses 66-67)

Then it happens.  Hundreds of these followers turn away from Jesus and begin to walk away, wanting nothing more to do with Him.  Verse 66 says, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore.”  The Greek word literally means “the majority”.  There were more people leaving Him than there were of those who were staying with Him.

Have you ever felt sadness because people who were close to you didn’t come through for you?  Did you ever feel a sense of abandonment by the majority of those around you because of something you said or did?  How would you feel if over half of the friends on your social media sites decided to “unfriend” you at the same time because of something you said or did?  What would be your reaction if most of the followers of your blog site decided to “unfollow” you on the same day because of something you wrote?  Would you feel a twinge of sadness and abandonment?  I certainly would!  God gave each of us emotions and, even if we don’t always express them, we feel them deep down inside and it hurts!  The Lord Jesus had a human nature like ourselves, with the same emotional makeup that each of us possesses.  Let’s see how He responds to what was happening to Him at that moment.

IV.  JESUS QUESTION TO THE TWELVE (verse 67)

Verse 67 gives us Jesus’ initial response.  “Jesus said therefore to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you’?”  I personally believe that Jesus said those words to the twelve disciples with sadness in His heart, and I think that sadness was evident to them by His facial expression and by the way He spoke those words.  This should come as no surprise to us.   The prophet Isaiah described the Messiah as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).  This was probably one of many times that Jesus was saddened and grieved at people’s rejection of Him and His words.  In this case, Jesus is hoping to receive some encouragement from the twelve.

V.  PETER SPEAKS FOR THEM ALL (verses 68-69)

Simon Peter was quick to respond, in verses 68 and 69, saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”  I don’t know whether Peter could have said it better, and that’s just what Jesus needed to hear at that sorrowful moment in His life.  Peter affirmed who Jesus was, attested to the truth of Jesus’ words, and expressed his faith in Him.  Peter was also speaking on behalf of the other eleven disciples, assuming that they all believed as he did.

VI.  JESUS’ RESPONSE TO THE TWELVE (verses 70-71)

In verse 70, Jesus corrects Peter’s words, but I think there is much more to Jesus’ words than just correcting a misconception on Peter’s part.  It reads, “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?’ “  The verse indicates that He is speaking those words, not only to Peter, but to all twelve of the disciples.  Why would Jesus say such a cutting remark?  In those days, calling someone “a devil” was pretty strong language. Was Jesus just releasing His frustrations or did He have a specific purpose in mind?

I don’t personally think that Jesus’ emotional state changed from sadness to anger in verse 70.  I believe that Jesus said those words with sadness in His heart, in His eyes, and in His words.  As He looked around at the twelve, His eyes may have lingered at the face of Judas as He said the word “devil”.  It may have been similar to the look on Jesus’ face when He turned to look at Peter after the cock crowed and Peter had denied Jesus three times.

The Lord Jesus loved Judas and wanted him to come face-to-face with his own greed.  He gave Judas the responsibility of being the keeper of the money box (John 12:4-6; John 13:21-29) to show him how easily he gave into the temptation to rob from it.  As we shall see, Jesus will wash Judas’s feet, pray for him, and show him honor.  It saddened Jesus that one who was in such close proximity to Him on a daily basis for three years, would be so distant from Him in his heart.  The Lord Jesus had chosen Judas to be one of the twelve, showed him love and concern, revealed Himself to him by His life and miracles, and offered him eternal life.  He even gave Judas the power to heal diseases and cast out demons when He sent the twelve out two-by-two to proclaim the Gospel. (Luke 9:1-11; Matthew 10).  But it was all in vain.  Judas hardened his heart again and again.

In verse 71, the apostle John adds the following personal comment:  “Now he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”  He said those words because he, Peter, and the other disciples had no idea that Judas was not a true follower of Christ.  Judas played the role so well that none of the other disciples noticed any differences.  John was as shocked as all of the others, and wants to make that known to his readers.

CONCLUSION:

Are you a genuine follower of Jesus Christ?  Have Jesus’ words, in this passage of Scripture, caused you to consider whether or not you want to be identified with Him and follow Him?  Have you turned away from Him in the past?  Many in that crowd walked away from Jesus because they didn’t want to acknowledge that He was the Messiah, the King of heaven and earth; they didn’t want to believe in His teachings.  They didn’t want to acknowledge their own sinfulness, and didn’t want to turn the control of their lives over to Him.  Do you feel an emptiness inside and a need to know God?  He wants to reveal Himself to you as you read and study His Word.  It’s not too late to turn around and choose to follow Him and become obedient to His Word.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and your life bears witness to your commitment to Him as your Lord and Savior, do you feel sadness as you look around you at those who refuse to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ and respond to Him by repentance and faith?  Are you willing to ask God to give you a greater compassion for the lost, and a burden to pray for them consistently and confidently, trusting God to change their hearts and draw them to Himself?  God wants to turn that sadness into joy in answer to your believing prayers.  We can never pray enough for those who don’t know the Lord.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

 

RESPONDING TO CRITICISM – John 6:41-47

Bible sermons, criticism, discrimination, John 6, prejudice, sermons

INTRODUCTION:

The first American steamboat took 32 hours to go from New York to Albany.  People laughed!  The horse and buggy passed an early motor car as if it were standing still.  People laughed!  The first electric light bulb was so dim that people had to use a lamp in order to see it.  People laughed!  The first airplane came down fifty-nine seconds after it left the ground.  People laughed!  But those inventors were committed to their work.  Rather than wasting a lot of time responding to the jokes and criticisms aimed at them, they devoted their time to perfecting their ideas, and we all know the results.  They are written in the history books.  Those inventors have been honored, their work has been carried on, and we are reaping the benefits of their labors.

The cause of Christ is also not without its critics.  When baseball player-turned – evangelist, Billy Sunday, first started holding crusades, he was criticized for many things, including his “coarse” language,  his use of slang terms, his “acrobatic preaching”, and his inclusive attitude toward Negroes.  Cartoons were drawn of him and put in the newspapers.  In spite of all this criticism, Billy Sunday continued to do what God called him to do.  He won the hearts of the working-class population and God changed the hearts of many of his accusers.  By 1920 he was considered to be the greatest evangelist in America at that time.

In the 1940’s another evangelist began to become visible to the American nation, and he started drawing criticism from fundamentalists because of his cooperation with the National Counsel of Churches, and from others because of his identification with the civil rights movement.  Rather than become discouraged, he announced, “I intend to go anywhere, sponsored by anybody, to preach the gospel of Christ, if there are no strings attached to my message.”  That evangelist is Billy Graham, and look how God has blessed his commitment to the Person and work of Jesus Christ!

In the passage of Scripture we are studying, John 6:41-47, we will find that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself was not excluded from criticism.  In fact, He was, and still is, one of the most criticized people of all time.  Let’s take a look at the criticisms that were leveled at Him in these verses of Scripture, and observe how He responded to them, and to the critics who expressed them.

I.  MUMBLING AND GRUMBLING (verse 41)

Verse 11 says, “The Jews therefore were grumbling about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down out of heaven’.”  The Greek word (“ouranos”) is often used to describe the place where God dwells, so the crowd knows He is claiming to be God.  This is the third time Jesus has used the phrase, “came down from heaven”, in His conversation with this crowd, and He is going to say that phrase three more times before the conversation is over.  Jesus keeps saying it again and again!

When a person keeps saying something to you that you don’t believe and don’t want to hear, do you become angry inside?  Do you feel your body tensing up?  Are you thinking to yourself, “If he (or she) says it one more time, I’m going to explode”?  Have you ever had one of those moments?  Sure you have!

Try to visualize the thoughts in the minds of this crowd as the water in a large kettle that’s hanging over a fire.  In verse 41 you can begin to see the steam rising from that kettle, and you can hear the water churning and the sound of bubbles coming to the surface and popping.  That’s a picture that comes to my mind when I think of the words “murmuring” and “grumbling”.  The words indicate discontent and anger.  These Jews are acting just like their ancestors who “murmured” against Moses (Exodus 15:24; 17:3; Numbers 14:2).

II.  THE REASON FOR THEIR GRUMBLING (verse 42)

The apostle John gives us the reason for their grumbling when he tells us the words they were mumbling to themselves and to one another.  “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”  John must have been next to Jesus, and both of them could overhear their words and the scoffing and sarcastic manner in which they were said.  I’m sure they said worse things than that as they responded to each others’ words. The Greek word which is translated “grumbling” (or “murmuring“, or “muttering“, depending on your translation) is found eight times in the New Testament, and in every case it’s used in a negative sense.  The Greek word is pronounced “gong-good’-zo”).  Their grumbling sounded like a “a noisy gong“, but it was not “good“, but “bad” in each of those cases!  I like the following definition:  “smoldering discontent”.  The embers keep burning and the smoke keeps rising, waiting for more wood to set it aflame!

Many psychological studies have been done on crowd behavior.  This particular situation sounds a lot like the “emergent norm theory” of crowd behavior.  I imagine that there were some of Jesus’ enemies in this crowd, such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes.  Because these groups were esteemed by the people, negative comments made by them would influence the others in the crowd to follow their example over the period of time they were around each other.  Thus the behavior of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes became the new normative behavior of the rest of the crowd, which initially was just curious and desirous of this “bread of life”.  We will see a similar effect occur in the crowd that is present at Jesus’ trial after His arrest.

Have you ever heard someone make fun of, or bad-mouth your parents?  Did you get mad and say or do something about it?  For many of us, negative remarks made about our parents can be more offensive and disturbing than similar statements made about ourselves.  It’s as if God has given us a “protective instinct” when it comes to our families.  As an old expression puts it:  “Them’s fightin’ words!”

These Jews had come to the conclusion that Jesus was born in Nazareth and that Joseph was his real father.  They were jumping to false conclusions without any evidence to prove them.  Obviously, they had not done their homework!  If they had done some investigation they would have, at least, found that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, where the Messiah was prophesied to be born, as recorded in Micah 5:2.  “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.”

III.  JESUS’ RESPONSE (verse 43)

We see, in verse 43, Jesus’ initial response to their grumbling.  “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves’.”  That sounds like a very short and incomplete response to me.  Does it seem that way to you also?  Those few words certainly demonstrate Jesus’ patience and wisdom in this particular situation.  Defending his parents and trying to explain His virgin-birth would only add fuel to their smoldering fire.  And those few words, “Do not grumble among yourselves”, silenced the crowd so that He could continue His conversation where He left off.  How can that be?  As I’ve mentioned before, the Jewish leaders had a deep respect for Moses the Law-giver, almost a sense of worship of him.  Many of the Jewish leaders were familiar with every word that Moses spoke.  When Jesus said, “Do not grumble among yourselves”, those who knew the words of Moses were reminded of what Moses said to their ancestors when they grumbled against him.  In Exodus 16, when the people grumbled against Moses because of the lack of food, Moses said, ” . . . in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord, and what are we that you grumble against us? . . . Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord.” (Exodus 16:7-8).   Jesus is calling upon this crowd to reconsider their grumbling against Him because of who He claims to be.  In Numbers 14, after hearing the report of the spies concerning the land of Canaan, the people grumbled against Moses again and threatened to kill him.  As a consequence of those actions, God told the people of Israel that, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, everyone twenty years and over would not enter the promised land but would die in wilderness over a period of 40 years of wanderings.  That’s a big price to pay for their grumblings.  Jesus may be calling upon this crowd to also consider the possible consequences of their grumbling.  The crowd quieted down and Jesus was able to continue His conversation.  It’s as if Jesus had set out two warning flags before this crowd, and they heeded the warnings.  They went from mumbling aloud to mulling it over in their minds:  “Hmmm . . . maybe we should think this over for a while!”

IV.  THE PROCESS OF COMING TO GOD (verses 44-47)

A.  BEING DRAWN, AND COMING (verse 44)

Jesus resumes His conversation with the crowd in verse 44, saying, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”  The Jews believed that they were chosen by God when they were born.  They concluded that, since each of them was of Jewish parents, they were automatically God’s people, with all the eternal benefits included.  Jesus is now going to correct their misconceptions.  He tells them that, without the help of God, no one is able to respond to His invitation and come to Him.  God the Father “draws” a person to His Son, and that person comes to believe in the Lord Jesus as a result.  Without the drawing power of God the Father, no one can come to Christ.  The Greek word that John uses is “helkuo”.  It is found eight times in the New Testament.  The majority of those instances speak of drawing in, or dragging a net full of fish (Jn. 21:6), dragging a person (Acts 16:19), or drawing a sword from its sheath (Jn. 18:10).  It is also used of being drawn by an inward power (Jn. 12:32).  We find this same concept in the Old Testament scriptures.  God says, in Jeremiah 31:3, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”  

In my own conversion experience, God dragged me away from my former beliefs before He drew me to Himself, revealing the truth about Himself to me so that I believed.  He changed the circumstances of my life to the point where I felt hopeless and helpless to save myself, and was gripped with a fear of death and the eternal suffering that would follow because of my sins.  There was a “drawing away” and a “drawing to” in my case.  That may be true in your case as well.  The word “draw” indicates that there is some resistance, but the power and calling of God overcomes that resistance.

Once again Jesus says what He said to them in verse 39:  “and I will raise them up on the last day.”  I wonder whether those words brought to the minds of these Jews one of the most exciting promises in the Old Testament for the nation of Israel — the vision of the valley of the dry bones.  God tells Ezekiel. “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves, My people. . . I will put My Spirit within you and you will come back to life . . . place you on your own land . . . ” (Ezekiel 37)  By saying the words, “I will raise them up”, Jesus is once again claiming to be God, and the One who will raise and rule over the people of Israel.  For the true believer in Jesus Christ, verses 39 and 44 are powerful verses on assurance of salvation.

B.  TROUGH THE WORD OF GOD (verse 45)

In verse 45, Jesus tells us the means that the Father uses in the drawing process when He says, “It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’  Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”  He’s quoting from Isaiah 54:13, letting the crowd know that the Father uses the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, to draw people to Himself.  Jesus is telling them that, if they refuse to believe His words and come to Him as their Messiah, it is proof that the Father is not drawing them, at least not at this time.

Those who will believe are drawn by the Father through the Word as He empowers them to listen to it and learn from it.  In this particular case, Jesus is the Teacher and His words are the Word of God to them.  The drawing of the Father consists of hearing, learning, and believing.  Those who listen and learn, come to Jesus.  They are the ones whom the Father has chosen and drawn to His Son.

I found the following illustration to be helpful to me.  You may find it helpful to you also.

The mere preaching of the gospel does not save an individual.  The gospel message must be activated by the election and calling of God for an individual to be drawn to Him.  It would be as if one had thrown a rope to a drowning man.  The throwing of the rope could not save the man unless someone was at the other end of the rope, drawing him into shore.

This is what God has done.  By His election, God draws to Himself the one who has heard the message.  The person may have the rope, but he still needs the effective force of God drawing him in.  Who, therefore, deserves the praise for salvation?  Is it the man who tossed the rope?  The man who grabbed the rope?  No – the God who draws him in!  Pastor and author, Warren Wiersbe, describes the process with these words:  “It is through the teaching of the Word that God draws people to the Savior.  The sinner hears, learns, and comes as the Father draws him.  A mystery?  Yes!  A blessed reality?  Yes!”

C.  EVIDENCED BY BELIEF IN HIM (verses 46-47)

In verse 46, the Lord Jesus qualifies His previous statement so that the crowd would not misunderstand His words and come to a false conclusion that is contrary to the Old Testament scriptures.  Therefore Jesus gives the following words of explanation:  “Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.”  In Exodus 33:18-20, God said to Moses, “No one can see my face and live.”  No man can see God in all his glory and live.  By His words in verse 46. Jesus is claiming to be more than a man because He has seen the Father and has been sent by the Father.  Once again Jesus is claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah.  Only He has the full knowledge of the nature, the character, and plans of God the Father.

Now that He has made that clear to them, the Lord Jesus tells them to listen carefully as He gives them the third ingredient in the salvation process.  He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”

A missionary to Africa experienced great difficulty while trying to translate the Gospel of John into a particular native dialect.  The problem he faced was to find a word for “believe”, because faith was something that wasn’t shown at all by this particular tribe.  He continued to do the best he could, but always had to leave a blank space when he came to the word “believe”.  One day, however, a runner came panting into the camp, having traveled a great distance with a very important message.  After blurting out his story, he fell completely exhausted into a nearby hammock, muttering a brief phrase as he did so.  The missionary had never heard those words before, so he asked a native what the runner had said.  “Good massa, he is only saying, ‘I’m at the end of myself.  Therefore I’m resting all my weight here’.”  Delighted, the missionary exclaimed, “Praise God, that is the very expression I need for ‘believe’!”  And so he was able to complete his translation of John’s Gospel into their native language.

The Lord Jesus is giving an invitation in verse 46 when He says, “he who believes has eternal life”.  It is similar to the invitation Jesus gives in Matthew 11:28, where He says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  Let’s examine this verse in the context of the preceding verse, Matthew 11:27, which says, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”  A person can only come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will reveal the Father only to those who are “weary and heavy-laden”. They feel weak and helpless under the heavy burden of their sin and guilt.  Only God can bring you under that conviction of sin.  Only God can draw you to Himself.  Only God can give you rest and inner peace as you entrust your life to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and rely completely on Him to hold you up and sustain you by His grace. 

Are you feeling weak and helpless under the weight of your own sin and guilt?  Do you feel like you’re drowning spiritually?  Is there a fear of death and of reaping the consequences of your thoughts, words, and actions?  Is there an emptiness inside that nothing in this life has been able to fill; a lack of meaning and purpose to your life?  The author of Hebrews, when describing Moses, says, ” . . . choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin“ (Hebrews 11:27).  Since there is pleasure in sin, the guilt and weight of conviction must be from God.  He is drawing you to Himself.  The choice is up to you to respond to the Scriptures and the leading of the Holy Spirit by putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, repenting of your sins and asking Jesus Christ to take control of your life and change your life.  He will keep His promises to you if you sincerely believe.

If Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives, one lesson we can learn from this passage is how Jesus responded to criticism, and how we can follow His example.  The Lord Jesus Christ was a man of conviction.  He didn’t follow the crowds; the crowds followed Him!  He would not compromise His Father’s will or the teachings of the Scriptures, and yet, at the same time, was compassionate toward people.  Billy Graham beautifully described Jesus’ character and convictions when he said these words:

“His own inner conviction was so strong, so firm, so unswerving
that He could afford to mingle with any group secure in the knowledge
that He would not be contaminated.  It is fear that makes us unwilling to
listen to another’s point of view, fear that our own ideas may be attacked.
Jesus had no such fear, no such pettiness of viewpoint, no need to
fence Himself off for His own protection.  He knew the difference between
graciousness and compromise and we would do well to learn from Him.
He set for us the most magnificent and glowing example of truth combined with
mercy of all time. and in departing He said:  “Go ye and do likewise.”  (Lk. 10:37)

This lesson is exemplified in a phenomenon of nature.  Sailors in the northern oceans have frequently observed icebergs traveling in one direction in spite of strong winds blowing in the opposite direction.  How can this be?  The explanation is that the icebergs, with eight-ninths of their bulk under the water’s surface, were caught in the grip of strong currents that moved them in a certain direction, no matter which way the winds blew and no matter how fiercely they raged.  In the Christian life, no matter how strongly the winds of passing opinion blow in opposition, the believer who has a close relationship to God, and a depth of living in the currents of God’s grace will be moved in the direction of following Jesus’ example.  The criticism that’s bound to come won’t blow us away.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED on 2/8/18