GOTCHA! – John 7:19-24

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INTRODUCTION:

“Gotcha” is an American slang term that literally means, “I’ve got you”. It has been used in a number of ways. Many of us have used that word in a conversation, and we had a specific purpose and meaning in mind. It can mean “I understand what you are saying”, or “I’ll do what you’ve asked”. The word is sometimes used in the sense of capturing or apprehending someone, taking someone by surprise, embarrassing or disgracing someone, exposing a person’s mistakes, or proving that the person is wrong. That’s quite a range of meanings and uses for the word, and that’s not all of them. Why would I be using the word “gotcha” to describe an event in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? Does that choice seem strange to you? As we study this passage of Scripture, I’ll let you decide for yourself whether or not this title is appropriate.

TRANSITION:

As we begin our study of John 7:19-22, let’s imagine the scene at that moment in Jesus’ life. It’s the week-long Feast of Booths [or Tabernacles]. Jesus arrived unnoticed, went into the temple and began to teach. A crowd of people has formed around Jesus to listen to Him. The Jewish religious authorities have arrived, have made their way to the front of the crowd, and are standing in front of Him, making accusations about Him; and Jesus is once again defending His authority. Meanwhile, the crowd is standing there, watching and listening.

I. THE ACCUSATION (verse 19a)

In verse 19, there is a change of direction. Jesus takes the offensive position against them and assumes control of the conversation. “Turnabout is fair play”, as the saying goes. It’s time for Him to examine their words and their actions, and offer His conclusions. It’s time to bring them back to reality. He begins His attack by saying, “Did not Moses give you the law”? They are thinking in their minds, “Of course he did!” They prided themselves on this and believed that every violation of the law of Moses was deserving of death. While they are gloating about their self-righteousness and their exalted position in the eyes of God, Jesus goes on to say “yet not one of you carries out the law.” Those are stinging words to His questioners! These leaders revere Moses and obey his every word – at least they try to give the impression that they do so! Jesus is telling them, “You’re not carrying out the Law that God gave to Moses. You’re carrying out your own version of it. Those aren’t the Sabbath laws that God gave to Moses. You’ve changed them and added to them to the point where they have become a despicable burden to the people. It’s no surprise that you reject My teaching because you have rejected Moses’ teaching” (John 5:46-47).

At this point in Jesus’ discussion, it’s important to know the words that Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 31:10-13. Here are those words:

Then Moses commanded them saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of the remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men, and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.” [bold print added to emphasize keywords]

We aren’t told whether or not this is the seventh year but, if not, Jesus may be alluding to that command to remind the Jewish leaders that, when the people hear the words of the Law being spoken, they will notice many of the differences between the Law of Moses and the teachings they have received from these rabbis.

II. THE QUESTION (verse 19b)

As further proof of their disobedience to the law of Moses, Jesus asks them a question: “Why do you seek to kill Me?” He is saying, “Where does Moses say specifically that I should be killed for healing a person on the Sabbath day over a year ago? What offenses deserve the death penalty in the law of Moses? If My healing-miracle is not one of those offenses, then one of the commandments in the law of Moses says, ‘You shall not kill’. So you’re the ones who are breaking the law of Moses by seeking to kill Me.”

III. THE CROWD’S RESPONSE (verse 20)

I can imagine that the leaders of the Jews were standing there dumbfounded. Jesus’ reasoning was too solid. They weren’t prepared for this and didn’t know what to say. The crowd, most of whom were from outlying areas and weren’t familiar with Jesus or with the things He was saying, come to the defense of their leaders. In verse 20 we read, The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” They weren’t telling Jesus that He was demon-possessed. During that period of time, many Jews believed that all unusual or uncalled-for behavior was prompted by the devil. In this day and age, we might use the words “you’re out of your mind”, “you’re crazy”, or “you’re paranoid”. They misunderstood Jesus’ words because they didn’t know the history behind them.

IV. THE QUESTION ANSWERED (verse 21)

I’m sure the leaders were relieved that the crowd directed the attention of Jesus away from them, but it didn’t last for long. Rather than become distracted by the crowd and direct His conversation toward them in defense of His sanity, Jesus ignores their remark and continues His conversation with the leaders of the Jews, answering His own question. In verse 21, He says, “I did one deed and you all marvel.” The religious authorities were amazed when they learned that Jesus healed, in an instant, a man who had been lame for 38 years, just by saying the words. It was a miracle that only God could perform. Yet they wanted to kill Jesus because He performed that miracle on the Sabbath Day.

V. THE APPLICATION TO CIRCUMCISION (verses 22-23)

In verse 22, we find that the Lord Jesus isn’t finished with His argument. He is still building His case against them. This time He applies their Sabbath laws to the rite of circumcision when He says, “On this account, Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath, you circumcise a man.” First, He corrects their misunderstanding about circumcision. Moses was not the originator of circumcision. Before God told Moses to put the command of circumcision into written form in Leviticus 12:3, it had been practiced by “the fathers” (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) over 700 years earlier. In Genesis 17:10-12, God said to Abraham, “This is the covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you; every male among you shall be circumcised. . . . every male among you who is eight days old.” Therefore, in obedience to that law, every man-child (male baby) is circumcised on the eighth day, no “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts” about it. There are no exceptions to the rule. It’s the law, and this ceremonial law even takes precedence over the Sabbath laws. That was the teaching of the Jewish religious authorities of that day. However, there were exceptions to that rule. In the Talmud (the collection of the teachings of the rabbis), it states that, should the baby suffer from an illness, the circumcision is postponed seven days for the sake of the well-being of the infant. Therefore, the baby’s health is more important than this rite of purification, and this is one of several exceptions in the Talmud.

With that information in mind, Jesus presents His next argument in verse 23, saying, “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath.” Jesus is saying, “You make exceptions to circumcision on the Sabbath because the health of the child is more important than the strict observance of the Law, so why are you upset because I healed this man completely on the Sabbath?” He’s telling them that they are contradicting themselves because they say one thing but do another.

There is another argument that isn’t spoken by Jesus, but it’s implied, and all the rabbis standing around Him know what that argument is. As they add this final argument to the ones already stated by Jesus, they realize that they have lost their case and there is nothing to refute. Are you wondering what that final argument is? It has to do with one of the teachings of their most famous rabbi, Hillel the Great. Hillel’s first great law of interpretation was, “The Major may be inferred from the Minor”. What does that mean? In this case, circumcision, which was considered to be the ceremonial law of the purification of newborn males) overrides the Sabbath, and health overrides circumcision. So the Sabbath and circumcision are ‘Minor’ when compared with health. Thus Jesus’ case against them might be put into these words: “I did what’s considered ‘Major’ according to your laws and the teachings of your most famous rabbi when I healed that man completely on the Sabbath, so why are you majoring in the ‘Minors’?”

What excellent arguments! Case dismissed! As I review Jesus’ arguments, a word comes back to mind. The word is GOTCHA! Does that word seem appropriate to you also?

VI. THE LESSON TO BE LEARNED (verse 24)

While those teachers of the Law are standing there, looking at Jesus in wide-eyed amazement, experiencing the shame and agony of defeat, the Lord Jesus uses that moment to teach them a lesson in verse 24. Here are Jesus’ words of instruction to these rulers of the Jews. He says to them, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” He’s telling them to repent of the way they have mistreated Him and do what’s right in the sight of God. How easy and how tempting it is to make judgments about the actions and motives of others before all the facts are known, or in spite of the facts that are known.

A newspaper correspondent attended an auction where he saw, among other items, a pair of excellent crutches. A poor, crippled boy was the first to bid on them. A well-dressed elderly man was also interested in them and kept offering more money for them. Some of the people frowned in disapproval, and one lady said, “Shame on you; let the boy have them!” Whenever the boy called out a higher price, the man would always top it. At last, the boy held up a five-dollar bill, all that he had, and made a final bid. When more was offered, the young fellow turned away in tears. The crowd muttered angrily. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the gentleman presented the crutches to the boy, saying, “These are much too small for me, so I won’t have any use for them. When I saw that you were crippled, my heart went out to you. So I decided to buy the crutches and give them to you.” The crowd began to applaud for they realized they had completely misjudged the man and the situation. They looked at outward appearances only, and came to their own conclusions when they should have given the situation time to allow the true motives to be revealed. That same principle is reflected in our attitude toward God’s Word, the Bible. Are we committed to what God’s Word actually says, or to what we want it to say?

One of the things that can cause us to make wrong judgments is peer pressure. Em Griffin in his book, “The Mindchangers”, describes an experiment done by Solomon Asch with groups of 12 people. They were brought into a room where four lines of unequal length were displayed. They had to decide which two were the same length and publicly vote for their choice. Person after person after person (11 in all) voted for the wrong line – because they had been told to do so ahead of time. The one individual who was in the dark couldn’t imagine how in the world all these seemingly normal people could all choose the wrong line. When it was his turn to vote, he had to decide, “Do I go with what I know my senses are telling me, or do I go with the crowd?” One-third of those tested caved in to group pressure and changed their vote to agree with their peers. Are you feeling the pull of peer pressure in your life? Don’t let peer pressure keep you from repenting of your sin and following Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. He will give you a new life, a changed life manifested by a love for Him, and a desire to obey Him and depend upon Him for strength, guidance, and victory.

Fellow believers, a decision needs to be made in our hearts to do what is right in God’s sight even when everyone around us, where we live or work or go to school, wants to go the wrong way. Ask God for the desire and the strength to make the right choice and do the right thing, even if it means standing alone. In actuality, we won’t be alone. The Lord will be with us, and there are many Christians over the past 20 centuries who have chosen to live righteously. Some of their testimonies are written down for us in the Scriptures and in the history books. I’ll close by giving you one of those examples. In the third century, Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, strongly opposed the teachings of Arius, who declared that Christ was not the eternal Son of God, but a subordinate being. After being exiled five times for his beliefs, he was summoned before emperor Theodosius who demanded that he cease his opposition to Arius. The emperor reproved him and asked, “Do you not realize that all the world is against you?” Athanasius quickly answered, “Then I am against all the world.”

May we have that kind of tenacity in our obedience to the truths of God’s Word.

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JESUS INCOGNITO – John 7:10-13

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INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever tried to conceal your identify in a public place where there were people who knew you? Were you successful? It’s not always easy to do so, is it? The challenge is much greater if you’re a well-known person. The Lord Jesus Christ was a man who was in the public eye. He had become well-known in Galilee, Samaria and Israel, and was attracting a lot of attention because of the miracles He was performing. He was also under close scrutiny because of the claims He made about Himself. As far as the Jewish leaders were concerned, Jesus was now “public enemy #1”, and He was on their “hit-list”.

Once you’re in the public eye, how do you get out of it? In John 7:10-13, we are going to be considering the tactics the Lord Jesus may have used in order to attend the Feast of Tabernacles incognito (unrecognized), as well as His reasons for doing so.

I. THE PROPER TIME (verse 10)

Verse 10 begins with the words, “But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up”. In verse 9, Jesus told His brothers, “Go up to the feast yourselves. I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” So He stayed in Galilee and His brothers went to the feast without Him. Did Jesus lie to His brothers when He said He wasn’t going to the feast? Did He change His mind? The answer to both those questions is “no”. Jesus was on His Father’s timetable and, after His brothers left, His Father revealed to Him that it was now the time for Him to go to the feast, so He departed from Galilee and was on His way to Jerusalem. He didn’t tell His brothers that He wasn’t going to the feast. He told them that He wasn’t going at that point in time.

II. THE CHOSEN METHOD (verse 10)

The rest of verse 10 describes the manner in which Jesus attended the feast: “not publicly, but as it were, in secret.” By this time in His ministry, Jesus had become a familiar face. How could He keep people from noticing Him – especially His brothers and the twelve disciples? Was He wearing a disguise? I don’t think so. There were thousands of Jews attending this feast, and some of them lived outside the nation of Israel and had traveled several days in order to fulfill the commands of the Law concerning feasts. These Jews had never met Jesus, and many of them may not have even known anything about Him. Jesus could have spent His time with those Jews, who probably had their own area where they set up their tents and enjoyed one another’s company. He may also have worn a covering over His head, such as a hood, keeping Himself within earshot of what was being said but not close enough to be recognized.

By staying incognito, Jesus is preventing the Jewish leaders from taking His life whenever they pleased. The Father had set a time (an “hour”) when this was going to happen, and Jesus is taking the responsibility to protect His own life until the proper time. You might say that, at this point in time, Jesus is in “self-preservation mode” once again.

III. BEHIND ENEMY LINES (verse 11)

Verse 11 tells us that Jesus was able to get close enough to the leaders of the Jews that He could hear their voices and see the expressions on their faces without being detected by them. This is what Jesus sees and hears: “The Jews therefore were seeking Him at the feast, and were saying, ‘Where is He’.” He watched as they looked around at all the people at the feast. The looks on their faces as they did so, were evidence of their anger and frustration. Some of them may have looked right at Jesus but didn’t recognize Him. They were seeking Him alright! They were seeking to kill Him! You can almost hear the tone of their voices as they kept blurting out the words, “Where is He?” The “search party” hadn’t given up their search yet; but so far, things weren’t working out according to their plans. Don’t you hate it when things don’t go your way!

IV. HIS STRATEGY BECOMES UNFURLED (verses 12-13)

Does this scene bring to mind any memories from the Old Testament? Can you think of a time when a similar strategy was used, and do you recall the reasons for that strategy and the impact it made on the people of Israel? Let’s take a look at the book of Joshua, chapter two, and verses one, eight, and nine:

Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim saying,
“Go view the land, especially Jericho.” So the men went and came into the house of
a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. . . . Now before they lay down,
she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has
given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the
inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.”

“Melted away” – those words cause me to imagine a stick of butter that’s been taken out of the refrigerator, placed on a dish, and set in the sunshine on a warm day. Before long, the strength and consistency of that butter will be completely gone and you will have to pour it on your toast! The people of that land were scared to death! In verse 24, when those two spies returned to Joshua, they repeated the good news, saying, “Surely the Lord has given all the land into our hands, and all the inhabitants of the land, moreover, have melted away before us.” After hearing those words, Joshua and all the sons of Israel were up early the next morning, ready and eager to cross the Jordan River and take on the enemy.

With those Old Testament scripture passages in mind, we learn, in verses 12 and 13 of John 7, the main reason why Jesus was attending the feast incognito. Having been in the military for a few years, a word came to mind that I haven’t used or heard since those days in the armed forces. The Lord Jesus was “reconnoitering” at the feast. How’s that for a word? Jesus was doing reconnaissance. The following is part of the U.S. Army’s definition of that word.

“Reconnaissance is a mission to obtain information by visual observation or other detection methods, about the activities and resources of an enemy or potential enemy.” This definition fits the description of Jesus’ activities – wouldn’t you agree? In verses 12 and 13, there is a quiet, public-opinion poll going on, and Jesus is nearby incognito, watching and listening to what’s being said. Let’s catch up with Him again and see if we can find out what kinds of information He’s been gathering. Verse 12 begins with the words: “And there was much grumbling among the multitudes concerning Him.” They’re mumbling and grumbling again! Why the muffled voices and low voice tones? We’re going to find out. Jesus moves a little closer to these “discussion groups” in order to hear what they are saying. Verse 12 continues, “Some were saying, ‘He is a good man’.” That’s good news to Jesus’ ears! There are people in these crowds that have a positive attitude toward Him! Those words must have encouraged His spirit and brought a smile to His face. Even though they called Him a “man”, at least He was a “good man” in their opinion. Does it make you wonder which Jews the apostle John was referring to? I think those Jews were the ones from Galilee and the outlying areas. The good news is now followed by the bad news: “others were saying, ‘No, on the contrary, He leads the multitude astray.” These Jews are the ones living in Jerusalem and its neighboring towns in the district of Judea. They have heard the Jewish leaders use those words in their conversations and are believing them and repeating their words of warning and instruction.

These two opposing views about Jesus’ character have a lesson for us to learn. Jesus is either “good” or He’s a “liar”. It’s one or the other; there are no compromises. A person can’t be good and a liar at the same time. The same is true of our own conception of Jesus Christ: He’s either the Son of God or He is a deceiver, a lair. There are no intermediate conceptions. Which of these have you chosen to believe? Do you have a firm basis for your personal choice?

Since Jesus has been prophesying, performing miracles, and calling God His Father, to call Him a deceiver would be equivalent to calling Jesus a false prophet or a false Messiah. In Deuteronomy 13, Moses wrote that a false prophet was to be stoned to death. Very soon the Jews are going to attempt to do just that.

In verse 13 we find that Jesus is not the only one who is being secretive. John writes, “Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.” The people in the crowds are also trying to be secretive in their conversations with one another. The Greek word translated “openly” can also be translated “boldly”. The leaders must have made it clear that no one was to talk about Jesus at the feast. They may have boldly announced this prohibition in loud, angry voices to let the people know that they meant business and would punish those who disobeyed. They weren’t afraid to speak boldly and loudly against Jesus. Their goal was to instill fear in the people, and it looks like they succeeded. Many leaders over the years have used that approach with success. During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?” “Who said that?” roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared to move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why.” Khrushchev used that response to demonstrate what it was like to be around Stalin. You didn’t question or criticize Joseph Stalin unless you no longer wanted to remain alive! He was a man to be feared! In the 1930’s, he had changed his birth-name to Stalin, which means “man of steel”, and he lived up to his name!

This passage of Scripture we are studying, John 7:10-13, is a lesson in contrasts. The first contrast is between the words spoken by various people in the crowd concerning Jesus. Some said He was a “good man”, others said that He was a“deceiver of the people”. If there was ever anyone who lived on this planet who was not a liar or a deceiver, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. If there was ever anyone who was truly good in every sense of the term, it was He. Yet He was being accused and denounced by some of the most deceitful and evil-minded people of that day – the leaders of the Jews. No wonder Jesus called them hypocrites (ones wearing a mask)!

The second contrast is between the reasons for silence at the feast on the part of Jesus and on the part of the members of the crowd. The religious authorities didn’t even want Jesus’ name spoken aloud. They wanted the people to act as if Jesus didn’t exist. I think the people feared being excluded from the synagogue and exposed to ridicule if they were caught mentioning His name, especially in a positive manner. It was a fear for their reputations and social status, at the very least. Fear of what others may think, say, or do is a powerful deterrent from speaking one’s mind honestly.

The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, was not motivated by fear, but by obedience to His heavenly Father. He was being silent because He was gathering information concerning the people’s attitude toward Him at the feast. He learns that there are many in the crowd who admire Him and think well of Him. In the next passage of Scripture we will examine how Jesus puts that information to good use. He learned what He wanted to learn while incognito, and is ready to openly do what the Father wants Him to do next.

CONCLUSION:

Does fear have any effect on your life? Are there times when you are afraid to speak or act because of what others may think, say, or do in response? Are you afraid to become a follower of Jesus Christ because of what you might lose, what you might have to give up, or what family and friends might do as a result? Those are concerns that many people face as they consider placing their faith in Jesus Christ. Don’t let fear get in the way of making the most important, and the most wonderful decision of your life. God will give you the strength and peace of mind and heart to make that decision if you ask Him and rely upon Him. God’s words to the nation of Israel in Isaiah 41:10 are meant for you today because He hasn’t changed: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”

If you are a fellow-Christian, then, like me, you’ve had moments when you’ve been afraid to be a witness for the Lord. Pray and ask God to fill you with a deep, unconditional love for that person. God will enable you to overcome that fear with love. The apostle John says in I John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” In the next passage of Scripture, it’s going to be love that motivates the Lord Jesus to come out of hiding and once again expose the people to truth in spite of threats to His own life. May we manifest the love of Christ as we live for Him and seek to introduce others to Him.

CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED

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