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.

 

 

FANNY CROSBY — The Woman Behind the Hymns

blind hymn-writer, Fanny Crosby, Uncategorized

Most of us are familiar with the name, Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn-writer who wrote over 8000 hymns.  What picture comes to your mind when you think of that name?  Do you see a quiet woman with a solemn look on her face, sitting in a chair and dictating the words to hymns to a staff member at the care facility?  If that’s the picture that comes to your mind, you’re looking at the wrong Fanny Crosby!  My eyes were opened as I studied about this woman that I admire so much for her songs.  Now I admire her even more as I see her life and her character more clearly.  So I’d like to share some of those findings with you.

Life didn’t get off to an easy start for Fanny and her family.  She lost the sight in both eyes at six weeks of age, and her father died that same year.  Her mother had to work as a maid in order to support the family, so Fanny’s grandmother, Eunice, took care of her during the day, and the bond between them became very close.  Eunice would take Fanny for walks and sit with her outside, describing to her in great detail all the things she saw.  She also read and explained the Bible to her.  Their landlady, Mrs. Hawley, helped Fanny memorize the Bible.  With their help she memorized whole books of the Bible!

Fanny never considered herself handicapped.  She played with the other kids and was able to do many of the things they did.  Her cheerful disposition won her many friends.  At the age of eight, she composed this short poem:

Oh, what a happy child I am, although i cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world contented I will be!
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t!
So weep or sigh because I’m blind, I cannot – nor I won’t!

That has been the motto of her life, and she continued to maintain that positive attitude.  One of the blessings God gave to her was an amazing memory.  By the time she was twelve, she had memorized the first five books of the Old Testament, all four of the Gospels, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon, as well as many of the Psalms.  She was going to put that ability and that information to good use very soon.  Her prayers for a formal education were answered when she was accepted as a student at the New York Institute for the Blind, where her poetic abilities were eventually encouraged.

Let’s turn our focus away from biographical details and look at how God has used this lady, and the impact she has had on many lives.  Historians tell us that Fanny Crosby has written the words to over 8000 hymns in her lifetime, as well as many other secular songs of that time and several books of poetry.  How can you grasp the enormity of 8000 hymns?  How do you conceptualize 8000 hymns?  One writer gives the following illustration:  “Take 15 hymnals [or hardback books about 1″ thick] and stack them up.  Now visualize a hymn on both sides of every page in those 15 books.  That’s about 8000 songs!”  Isn’t that mind-boggling?  It’s even more amazing when you realize that she didn’t start writing hymns for publication until she was 44 years old!  She said, “I liked to write songs that made people want to ask Jesus into their hearts.”  Her hymns were aimed at bringing the message of the Gospel to people who would not listen to preaching.  Sometimes she would write as many as seven of them in a day.  Whenever she wrote a hymn, she prayed that God would use it to lead many souls to Himself.  Many of those hymns have some interesting stories behind them if you would care to look into them further.  One of the statements she made was, “It is not enough to have a song on your lips,  You must also have a song in your heart.”

But Fanny Crosby was much more than a hymn writer.  Her desire was to serve her Lord in every possible way that she could.  She not only believed the things she wrote; she also lived the things she wrote.  While a student, and later a teacher at the New York School for the Blind, she wrote poems for presidents, governors, and others in positions of authority in our country.  Friendships developed and at the age of 23, she was given the honor of being the first woman to speak in the U.S. Senate in Washington D.C.  She was there lobbying for the education of the blind.

Fanny Crosby and her husband, Alexander Van Alstyne, chose to live in a small apartment in Manhattan’s Lower Eastside so that they could give the rest of their money to benefit the poor and needy.  She also crocheted and knitted many clothing items for the rescue missions   Ladies, try doing that with your eyes closed, from start to finish!  After she resigned from her teaching position, Fanny loved to go to the nearby rescue missions and hold services.  She played the piano, organ, guitar, and harp.  She also had a beautiful soprano voice.  Many referred to her as “The Songbird in the Dark”, not only because of her blindness, but because she announced the light of Christ in the midst of their spiritual darkness and emptiness.

One night a week she would go to the New York City Bowery Mission to talk to “her boys”.  On a particular night, while speaking to them, she kept having the thought that there was a boy present who had wandered away from his mother and must be rescued that night, or he would be eternally lost.  She made a plea to each boy that was there that night.  At the end of the service, an 18-year-old boy came forward and said, “Do you mean me, Miss Crosby?  I promised my mother to meet her in Heaven, but as I am now living, that will be impossible.”  She prayed with him and led him to Christ.  As they finished, he said, “Now I am ready to meet my mother in Heaven, for now I have found God!”  Fanny went home that night and wrote the words to the hymn, “Rescue the Perishing, Care for the Dying.”

I like her philosophy of daily living — it’s very poetic and enthusiastic.  Here are her words:  “Live for the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.”  Isn’t that a wonderful perspective and lesson for us all?  She followed her own advice!  On her 92nd birthday, she said cheerfully, “If in all the world you can find a happier person than I am, do bring him to me.  I would like to shake his hand.”

Fanny continued to be active with speaking engagements and ministry to the poor until her death in 1915.  Her hymns continue to draw unbelievers to Christ and provide comfort and encouragement to believers.  Evangelist Billy Graham said, “Fanny Crosby, her spirit aglow with faith in Christ, saw more with sightless eyes than most of us do with normal vision.  She could have spent her life in bitterness and defeat, but she chose to give her life to Christ to be used by Him. . . .  We may never have had the songs of Fanny Crosby if she had not been afflicted with blindness.”

All of us have, or have had circumstances in life that have dragged us down, or could have dragged us down, haven’t we?  It is when we are going through the trials and difficulties of life that we are drawn closer to the Lord and can have the most effective witness before the world.  Many people were drawn to Fanny Crosby because of the difference between her physical disability and her spiritual and social vibrancy and enthusiasm.  I’ve shared a quote in a previous sermon.  It has been stated in many different ways by many different people.  I’m sharing it again because Fanny Crosby is a prime example of it’s application to her life.  “Do all the good you can, to all the people you can, in all the ways you can, for as long as you can.”  That was her desire, her prayer, and her daily practice.  It can be ours also by the grace and power of God.

The first stanza and chorus of her hymn, “I Shall Know Him”, describes the longing in her heart and the bright future that awaited her.

When my lifework is ended and I cross the swelling tide,
When the bright and glorious morning I shall see.
I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,
And His smile will be the first to welcome me.

I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed by His side I shall stand!
I shall know Him, I shall know Him 
By the print of the nails in His hand.

If you would like to hear the whole hymn, sung beautifully by Bernie and Carol Paulson, you can either type the words:  “my savior first of all – bernie and carol paulson” into your web browser and their youtube site should be at the top of the first page. Or you can simply click the following link and it will take you directly to the site:  https://youtube.com/watch?v=st1EOejvcb0

May God ignite our hearts and set our lives aglow as we seek to follow her example of love for God and for others.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

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. 

DO YOU REALLY KNOW ME? – John 7:25-30

Bible sermon, John 7:25-30 sermon

INTRODUCTION:

The agony of defeat!  Do those words bring back memories from the past?  Has a personal defeat or the defeat of your favorite team ever left you speechless for a few moments?  Did you feel shocked, drained emotionally, and at a loss for words?  We’ve all experienced times like that, haven’t we?  You don’t feel like saying anything, and even if you did, you don’t know what you would say.  You’re still trying to process it through your brain so that you can decide what to say and do next.  On June 22nd of 2018, one of Argentina’s leading sportscasters held a minute of silence after their national soccer team was defeated decisively by Croatia, with a final score of 3-0.  It was one of those occasions!

The passage of Scripture we are now studying, John 7:25-30, begins on a similar note.  After being defeated by Jesus’ arguments in verses 19-24, all is quiet on the Jerusalem front . . . too quiet!  Jesus continues to teach in the temple and the rulers of the Jews are doing nothing to stop Him.  These rulers who have been trying to kill Him, are now standing there quietly, taking it all in.  What’s going on?  The people of Jerusalem are trying to come up with an explanation for this phenomenon.  That’s the scene as we begin our study of John 7:25-30.

I.  THE PEOPLE EXPRESS THEIR THOUGHTS (verses 25-26)

In their amazement and confusion, the people of Jerusalem look at each other and ask themselves, “Could it be?”, or more accurately, “It couldn’t be, could it?”  Here are their words in verses 25-26: ” . . . Is this not the man whom they were seeking to kill?  And look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him.  The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?”  In their confusion, they are beginning to ask each other, “Is there something the rulers know that we don’t know?”  “Is there something they haven’t told us?”  “They’ve been seeking to kill Him as an impostor; do they now have evidence that proves that He’s really the Messiah?”  They are beginning to come to a conclusion based upon what they see and hear.  But that line of reasoning was very short-lived.  They dismissed that idea in a hurry.  It was an opportunity to reconsider their persuasion about Jesus, and they turned it down.  In verse 27 we learn why they quickly answered their own questions and changed their minds.

II.  THE PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR MINDS (verse 27)

Verse 27 reads, “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”  In their minds, Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah because they knew where He was from – at least, they thought they knew.  The rulers surmised that Jesus was born in Nazareth because that’s where He grew up.  They didn’t realize, nor did they care to know, that He was actually born in Bethlehem in fulfillment of Micah’s prophesy concerning the birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2).  Little did they know that, by saying those words about Jesus in verse 27, they were fulfilling prophesy.  The prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and forsaken of men . . . He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”  That’s no way to treat your long-awaited Messiah!

The rest of verse 27 tells us what caused them to change their minds in such a hurry.  They reverted back to what they had been taught.  But there is much more to their comment than just the physical birthplace of Jesus.  They are also referring to the way in which the Messiah is supposed to appear on the scene.  The rabbis taught that the Messiah would make Himself known suddenly and without warning.  A popular belief was that the immediate ancestry of the Messiah would not be known.  In fact, many of them believed that the Messiah Himself wouldn’t know who He was or where He was from.  According to the teaching of the rulers, the Messiah would have no identity nor power until the prophet Elijah suddenly appears and anoints Him as King.  Justin, a second-century writer, received that same response in a conversation with a Jew.  Suddenness was key to their beliefs concerning the coming of the Messiah.  Bible commentators, William Barclay, and Leon Morris, both share a popular saying of the rabbis of that day:  “Three things come wholly unexpectedly:  the Messiah, a godsend (or windfall), and a scorpion.”  In spite of all the prophecies of Scripture that the Lord Jesus has already fulfilled by His birth, His life, His words, and His miracles, these inhabitants of Jerusalem would rather stick with sayings and speculations that aren’t even found in the Scriptures.  It almost makes me want to shout, “Surprise!  He’s already here in your presence, and He’s the topic of your conversations!”

III.  JESUS PROCLAIMS HIS TRUE IDENTITY (verses 28-29)

Obviously, Jesus knows what they have been saying to one another about Him because He cries out in a loud voice for everyone in the temple to hear.  We live in an age of microphones, amplifiers and speaker systems, but have you ever said, in a loud voice, “Your attention, please”, or a similar phrase to get everyone to focus their attention on you and what you have to say? That was Jesus’ purpose for raising His voice.  He wanted everyone to hear what He was about to say to them because it was important information.  The Lord Jesus taught in many different areas of the temple.  For example, He taught in the Court of the Gentiles (John 2:13-16 and Luke 19:45-48), Solomon’s Porch (John 10:23), and the Court of the Women (Mark 10:41).  In this case, He was in one of the courtyards of the temple, and the bigger the room and the noisier the crowd, the louder you have to shout, right?  This is not the first time, and it won’t be the last time that He shouts loud enough for all to hear.  In those days the rabbis would sit as they instructed the people, but Jesus stood, as the prophets of the Old Testament stood when they proclaimed what God had revealed to them.   We find an example of this in verse 37.  The Lord Jesus would also be able to project His voice farther from that standing position.

The following are the words spoken by Jesus in verse 28:  “You both know Me and know where I am from, and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent me is true, whom you do not know.”  I wonder whether the first words from His mouth startled the people even more than His loud voice.  He was agreeing with them!  At least, that’s the way it appears when He says, “You both know Me and know where I am from.”  Why would He say that?  Is there any truth to that statement?  Is He being sarcastic?  No, this is all part of His plan as He directs the conversation.  After all, He did grow up in Nazareth as the Son of Mary and Joseph.  That’s all these leaders know about Him, and that’s all they care to know.  Rather than argue with them about His human origin, Jesus reminds them of His heavenly mission.  There’s more to the story than just human geography.  Before He was born, He was sent.  That makes Him greater than the prophets, who were called by God at a specific time in their lives and sent out to proclaim His message, whereas Jesus was sent before He was born.

Once again, the Lord Jesus adjusts the focus of their attention, moving it away from Himself and placing it upon the Sender.  They know that He is talking about God because He has used those words before.  He describes His Heavenly Father with these words:  “He who sent Me is true.”  Wouldn’t that be obvious to His listeners?  The Scriptures describe God as being eternal and unchanging.  But the word “true”, in this instance, has a different meaning.  Jesus is saying that the One who sent Him is “real”. He’s “authentic” and “genuine”.  He’s “worthy of being believed”.  He can be known personally and intimately.  He is worthy of genuine worship and wholehearted obedience.

This revelation about God is followed by a rebuke, as Jesus reveals what’s true concerning His listeners.  After describing the Father who sent Him, Jesus looks around at them and says “whom you do not know”.  He has made that statement several times before and He’ll be saying it again.  They did not know God because they did not know Jesus nor recognize Him as their Messiah.  You can’t know one without the other.  They are inseparable.

In verse 29, Jesus summarizes what He has just said, giving the basis for His knowledge of God.  He says, “I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent me.”  His knowledge [“I know Him”], His origin [“I am from Him”], and His mission [“He sent me”] constitute a strong foundation for His identity as the Messiah, the Son of God.

IV.  THE INITIAL RESPONSE (verse 30)

End of discussion!  Since they couldn’t refute His claims, and they refused to believe the words Jesus said about them, verse 30 tells us:  “They were seeking therefore to seize Him.”  The leaders wanted to apprehend Him and take Him into custody so that the people would no longer be able to listen to Him. 

However, there were two obstacles keeping them from accomplishing their desire.  First of all, the nation of Israel was under Roman law and the only ones who had the authority to arrest someone were the Roman authorities and the Temple authorities.  The other reason why the Jews couldn’t take Jesus into custody at that time is given in the remainder of verse 30 – ” no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”  The time of His betrayal and arrest was set by the Father, and until then, there was much work to be done.

Why is it so hard to resist revenge or retaliation, even when you’re the one in the wrong?  The problem still exists today.  Psychologists have given a name to this phenomenon.  They call it “cognitive immunization”  The term is used to explain how some people’s minds become immune to reality, and their mistaken beliefs become even stronger in the face of reality or truth.  The Bible speaks of such people as those who have “seared their own conscience as with a branding iron” (I Timothy 4:2).  It’s a matter of personal choice and responsibility.  The following true story teaches a lesson about revenge.

A successful young lawyer in Hungary during the 1950’s was a strong believer in freedom for his country.  When the uprising failed, he was forced to flee the country.  He arrived in the U.S. with no money, no job, and no friends.  He was, however, well-educated; he spoke and wrote several languages, including English.  For several months he tried to get a job in a law office, but because of his lack of familiarity with American law, he received only polite refusals.

Finally, it occurred to him that with his knowledge of language he might be able to get a job with an import-export company.  He selected one such company and wrote a letter to the owner.  Two weeks later he received an answer but was hardly prepared for the vindictiveness of the man’s reply.  Among other things, it said that even if they did need someone, they wouldn’t hire him because he couldn’t even write good English.

Crushed, this young lawyer’s hurt quickly turned to anger.  What right did this rude, arrogant man have to tell him that he couldn’t write the language!  The man was obviously crude and uneducated — his letter was chock-full of grammatical errors!  So he sat down and, in the white heat of anger, wrote a scathing reply, calculated to rip the man to shreds.  When he’d finished, however, as he was reading it over, his anger began to drain away.  Then he remembered the Bible verse, “A soft answer turneth away wrath.”

No, he wouldn’t mail the letter.  Maybe the man was right.  English was not his native tongue.  Maybe he did need further study in it.  Possibly this man had done him a favor by making him realize he did need to work harder on perfecting his English.  He tore up the letter and wrote another.  This time he apologized for the previous letter, explained his situation, and thanked the man for pointing out his need for further study.

Two days later he received a phone call inviting him to New York for an interview.  A week later he went to work for them as a correspondent.  Later, he became vice president and executive officer of the company, destined to succeed the man he had hated and sought revenge against for a fleeting moment — and then resisted.

CONCLUSION:

Life is filled with choices, isn’t it?  Most of those choices have a reason and a motive behind them.  Some of our choices can have long-lasting effects, as that illustration pointed out.  The only choice in this life that will change the direction of our lives for eternity is the personal choice to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior and follow Him.   In verse 28, after describing His relationship to His heavenly Father, He looked around at His listeners and said: “whom you do not know”.  Do you know God?  Do you have a personal and intimate relationship with Him?  That’s not possible without knowing and following the One whom He has sent.  This is an opportunity to reconsider your persuasion about Jesus Christ.  Please don’t turn it down.  Don’t respond to the truths of God’s Word with anger, hatred, or excuses.  Resist that urge.  Tear up those thoughts and feelings and start over again.   Let God give you a fresh perspective and a new life as a result of believing in Jesus Christ and following Him.  He will give you peace, joy, and purpose, with no regrets (2 Corinthians 5:17).

If you have already made that decision and are now a follower of Christ, with a transformed life and a new purpose for living, share those riches in Christ with those around you.  There is more than enough, and the need is great.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

May God give you insight and draw you closer to Him as you study and apply His Word.

 

 

GOTCHA! – John 7:19-24

Bible, Bible exposition, Bible homily, Bible sermon, Gospel of John, homilies from Scripture, homily, insight, insights, insights from the bible, J-E-S-U-S, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John 7:19-24, sermon

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.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

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LEARN BY DOING – John 7:17-18

Bible sermon, john 7:17-18

INTRODUCTION:

A man in northern Italy was urging the owner of an orchard to accept the truths of the Bible.  “You tell me it’s the Word of God”, said the owner, “but you can’t prove it.”  As they stood admiring the fruit trees, the visitor said, “What fine-looking trees you have.  Too bad they’re of such poor quality.”  “Of poor quality!”, exclaimed the owner.  “Obviously you haven’t tasted them.  Pick one and try it.”  The visitor accepted the invitation, picked a pear from the nearest tree and began to eat it.  “Yes, you’re right”, he said, smacking his lips, “these pears are excellent!”  Then he made his point.  “Sir, you must do the same thing with God’s Word as I have done with your fruit.  Taste and see that it holds the secret of the abundant life.”

I.  THE CHALLENGE (vs. 17)

Here in John 7:17, the Lord Jesus is in the temple.  It’s the Feast of Booths and He is challenging the people to put His teachings to the test.  He has already told them, in verse 16 and many other times in John’s Gospel, that His teachings are not His own, but came from the One who sent Him. Now He says, “If any man is willing to do His will, He shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.”

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, He said the following words in His sermon on the mount:  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)  The one who hungers and thirsts after God will recognize God’s messenger.  In John 7:15, Jesus’ hearers had raised the question of His competence as a teacher.  Here in verse 17, Jesus raises the question of their competence as hearers.  It’s not as if the Lord Jesus is teaching them a new principle.  We find this principle stated, in one form or another, in many places in the Old Testament Scriptures.  Let me give you just a few of them.  Psalm 111:10 says, “A good understanding have all who keep thy commandments.”  Proverbs 1:7 states:  “The fear of the Lord is he beginning of knowledge.”  The word “fear” has the connotation of awe, worship, and obedience.  The apostle Paul found that attitude among the Jews in Berea when He arrived there in Acts 17 and began to teach in the synagogue of the Jews.  Acts 17:11 describes their response:  “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.”  A willing submission to God was the foundation for understanding the Source and the truth of his teachings.  The hymn writer, John Sammis, captures that thought with these words:  “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way!”  Oswald Chambers, in his book entitled “My Utmost For His Highest”, made this observation:  “Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance.  Spiritual darkness comes because of something I do not intend to obey.”

All the Rabbi’s who were standing there listening to Jesus teach, could relate to what Jesus said in verse 17 from many years of their own personal experience.  What Jesus just said is a reflection on their own personal, life-stories.  Each one of them, at some point in his life, wanted to become a rabbi.  Each one completed his required schooling.  Then he chose a particular rabbi that he wanted to be like, went to that rabbi, and asked him if he could be one of his talmidim (disciples).  By making this request, he is telling the rabbi that he wants to be like him, and will gladly do everything the rabbi tells him to do without questioning it.  After a period of questioning and testing, if the rabbi becomes convinced that this young man has the potential of becoming like him, the rabbi will approach him and say to him, “Follow me”.  What he means by those words is:  “Come with me as my disciple and submit to my authority and my teachings.”

After several years of submitting to his rabbi and learning only his teachings, this young man will also become a rabbi who will think, act, and teach just like his teacher.  Therefore, his authority as a rabbi will not be his own, but the authority of the rabbi who discipled him.

Do you see the comparison?  The authority of these rabbis is not their own either.  They are emulating the rabbi who taught them, so their authority comes from their teacher, and these rabbis would be quick to admit it.  Not only that, but their willingness to submit to their rabbi opened the door of opportunity to learn from him.  The challenge that Jesus has just given the crowd in verse 17 runs parallel to the experiences of their religious leaders, and now these rabbis were training disciples of their own.  I believe that the Lord Jesus is not only challenging the crowd to learn by doing as they put His words into practice, but He’s also reminding the leaders that this is the way it has always been done.  Every one of those leaders is living proof of the validity of that principle.  American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, once said:  “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

II.  THE PROPER MOTIVATION (verse 18)

Now that Jesus has given them the challenge to do what He suggests, and has told them what will happen if they accept the challenge, He now focuses His attention on motives.  Verse 18 begins with these words spoken by Jesus:  “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory.”  The Lord Jesus is telling them about two different kinds of teachers and this is the first kind and the worst kind.  The teacher who “speaks from himself” is one who speaks by his own authority.  He teaches his own ideas and opinions that are not based upon, nor consistent with the Word of God.  He does not represent God.  On the contrary, he represents himself and “seeks his own glory”.  To such a person, being a teacher is a popularity contest, and his reward is the recognition and praise of others.  His motivation is pride, not humility; and self, not God and God’s Word.  The attitude of these teachers was proof that their teachings were not from God.

Indira Gandhi, the former prime minister of India, once said, “My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people:  those who do the work and those who take the credit.  He told me to try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.”  Based on what we’ve learned so far in this passage of Scripture, that was good advice to his granddaughter!

By contrast to the teachers of the Law, Jesus uses Himself as an example of the second kind of teacher.  He says, “but He who is seeking the glory of the one who has sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  For him, life is not a popularity contest.  It’s a quest to know and obey the truth.  Such a person is not an impostor.  There is no falsehood nor deception in him.  On the contrary, instead of deception there is transparency.  This is the description of the perfect teacher, the kind of teacher you would want to follow and learn from.  Jesus offered knowledge and a personal relationship in exchange for obedience.

A man named Adam Clarke was an assistant in a dry-goods store, selling silks and satins to a wealthy clientele.  One day his employer suggested to him that he try stretching the silk as he measured it out; this would increase sales and profits and also increase Adam’s value to the company.  Young Clarke straightened up from his work, faced his boss courageously, and said, “Sir, your silk may stretch, but my conscience won’t!”  God honored Adam Clarke by taking him from the dry-goods store and equipping him to write a famous commentary on the books of the Bible.  That commentary bears his name.  God gave Adam wisdom and understanding of the Scriptures in return for his obedience, and his life’s work continues to draw others to a deeper understanding of his Lord and Savior.

CONCLUSION:

Are you willing to do God’s will?  Maybe you’ve shut the door to Him in the past, but now you’re ready to open that door again, find out more about Him, and give Him His rightful place in your life.  Let me share with you a brief and true story of a person who had shut God out of his life but was challenged to re-think his position, and what happened as a result.  Many years ago, a very popular teacher at Yale University expressed atheistic views on some topics of discussion and agnostic views on other topics.  An atheist believes that there is no God, whereas an agnostic believes that it’s impossible to know whether God exists.  During a special series of meetings at the college, a visiting preacher engaged the brilliant professor in conversation.  “Doctor”,  he said, “If the things I have been preaching are true, and if Christ really forgives men who trust in Him, wouldn’t you like to know and experience this reality, since it has brought peace and joy to so many people?”  After a thoughtful pause, the professor answered, “Yes, I believe I would.”  “Well, you can come to a certain knowledge of God if you will be sincere and honest with yourself and with the Lord.  Simply accept the challenge Christ offered in John 17:7, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God.”  “But”, said the learned doctor, “I wouldn’t know where to begin.  I don’t even know if there is such a being as God.”  “Start like this”, said the preacher; pray, ‘O God — if there is such a Being — give me light.  I promise to follow such light wherever it leads.’  Then read from the Gospels and thee Psalms every day with an open mind and a willing heart.  If you do that, professor, you will find God!”  Three years later, that same man of learning stood in the chapel before all the students of Yale and said, “I have long ridiculed preachers and churches, but I have made a discovery that they were in the light, and I was in the dark.  I have put God to the test.  Now I know that Christ is my Savior.  By His grace He shall be my Friend, and I will be His disciple forever!”

If you have any doubts about God, you may want to follow that professor’s example.  God always speaks loud enough in His Word to make the willing heart listen and respond.  Obedience is the one qualification for further insight into God’s Word.

If you are a Christian, here’s a question for you to think about:  Would you be willing to live and work anonymously?  In other words, would you be willing to live your life and do your work in such a way that God always gets the glory; that the focus of attention is on Him, and your joy comes from serving Him and pleasing Him?  Would you be willing to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ in the same way that Jesus was an ambassador of His Father?  That’s a tall order, isn’t it?  It’s certainly not an overnight experience!  Let’s ask our heavenly Father each day to provide us with the desire and the power to move one step closer to the image and example of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED  

Welcome to this completed construction site:  John 7:17-18!  God wants us to be fellow-workers, and the study and application of His Word is part of His life-long building project in our lives.  Let’s willingly and eagerly put our hands to the task!

 

TEACHING WITHOUT A DEGREE – John 7:14-16

John 7:14-16, john 7:14-16 sermon

INTRODUCTION:

Do you have any “post-nominal letters”?  These aren’t letters that you write to one another or receive from one another in the mail.  The words “post-nominal” mean “after a name”.  The Wikipedia online encyclopedia gives the following definition:  Post-nominal letters are letters placed after a person’s name to indicate that that individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, or honor, or is a member of a religious institute or fraternity.  Some examples of post-nominal letters used in the field of education are:  BA [Bachelor of Arts], MS [Master of Science], and PhD [Doctor of Philosophy].  There are also “pre-nominal letters” (“before a name”) which are used mainly for a religious title or military rank.

What does this information have to do with the passage of Scripture we are now studying – John 7:14-16?  There were no scholastic degrees given in New Testament times!  True, but there were requirements to be met, especially for teachers of the Law of Moses in Judaism.  Learning those requirements is important for our understanding of these three verses of Scripture in John, Chapter 7.  Let’s take a good look at this passage of Scripture and you will soon see what I mean.

I.  THE SETTING:

In the previous passage of Scripture, John 7:10-13, we learned that Jesus went to the feast secretly in order to find out what people were saying about Him.  For several days He moved about and overheard many muffled conversations about Him.  Jesus learned what He wanted to learn.  There were many among the crowds of people who thought well of Him.  They were impressed with His character, and attracted by His personality and genuine concern for people.   It was now time for Him to come out of hiding.

II.  JESUS’ APPEARANCE IN THE TEMPLE (John 7:14)

Verse 14 says, “But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach.”  It was the middle of the feast – the fourth day, and many Bible scholars believe that it was also the Sabbath day; so the crowd would be larger than at any other time during the feast.  Many of these worshipers would also be assembled in or near the temple.  Jesus enters the temple unrecognized.  By this time the people were no longer looking for Him and didn’t expect Him to be there.  Then the news starts spreading quickly around the temple area and throughout the city of Jerusalem.  Jesus was in the court of the temple and was boldly teaching God’s Word.  People were flocking to the temple to listen to Him.  The words, “began to teach” are in the imperfect tense in the Greek, indicating that Jesus was teaching formally and continuously.  By so doing, He was winning the hearts of the people by His teaching before the Jewish leaders could put a stop to it.  His listeners were awed by His teaching. This may have been the first time that Jesus taught in the temple. but it won’t be the last time He does so.  Before His arrest, Jesus said, in Matthew 26:55, “Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.”

II.  AMAZEMENT AND CONFUSION (verse 15)

In verse 15, the apostle John focuses our attention upon the Jewish leaders.  They have arrived at the scene and are standing together at a distance, watching and listening.  What they see is a man dressed in a peasant’s robe, a lowly carpenter from Nazareth, of all places.  But they hear Him teaching the Scriptures from memory, with skill, with ease, and with authority.  The Lord Jesus was expounding the Old Testament Scriptures clearly and convincingly.  John tells us the words that are coming out of their mouths in their amazement:  “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” 

This was not the first time the leaders of the Jews stared and listened in wide-eyed amazement.  Twenty years earlier a group of elders in that same temple had similar looks on their faces and responded in the same manner, as a twelve-year-old boy sat in their midst.  Luke 2:46-47 describes that scene:

“And it came about that after three days they found Him [Jesus] in the
temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them,
and asking them questions.  And all who heard Him were amazed at
His understanding and His answers.”

A few of those teachers may still have been alive and standing among the leaders in John 7:15.  We aren’t given that information.  But if there were any of those teachers in this audience, apparently they didn’t put those two events together and realize that they were looking at the same Person.  In both those instances, they were standing in awe of the One whom they chose to reject as their Messiah.

Without realizing it, they have just paid Jesus a compliment when they said, “How can this man be learned”.  They weren’t saying that Jesus was illiterate, but were wondering about the source of this knowledge and wisdom.  As they listened to Jesus, they had to admit that He was an excellent teacher because His knowledge of the Scriptures, and His ability to interpret the Scriptures, excelled their own!  Jesus had all the qualifications of a rabbi; He just didn’t obtain those credentials in the usual way.  What was the usual way?

At that point in human history the proper way, and the only way to become a teacher of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings was to go to rabbinical school.   At home and in the synagogue, Hebrew children learned the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament Scriptures).  They read it, wrote it, and memorized large portions of it.  By the age of 12 the young men were ready to pursue their careers (usually the family business or trade).  The best students continued their studies in secondary school, called “beth midrash”, which was usually in the synagogue, where they studied the Prophets and the Writings.  They also learned the interpretations of the Law.  The very best of these students could seek to become the disciples of a rabbi so that they might become rabbis themselves after the training.  The goal was to become like their teacher.  These disciples did not teach their own interpretations of Scripture.  They taught their rabbi’s interpretations.  New Testament scholar, William Barclay, described the practice with these words:  “No rabbi ever made a statement on his own authority.  He always began:  ‘There is a teaching that . . . “.  He then went on to cite quotations and authorities for every statement he made.”

That’s the background to their question as they watch and listen to Jesus teach the Scriptures.  It doesn’t make sense to them that Jesus can interpret the Scriptures on His own authority without the benefit of having all their years of study and training.  The perception that their teachings were “secondhand”, and His were “firsthand” must have enraged them.

III.  JESUS’ SOURCE OF AUTHORITY (verse 16)

The Lord Jesus overheard their conversation, or knew what they were saying to one another, because He proceeds to answer their question concerning the source of His authority.  I would have expected Jesus to say something like the following:  “I don’t need any authority other than Myself because I’m God.  I don’t need a teacher because I’m self-taught.”  However, that’s not His reply to them.  Rather than place the focus of attention on Himself, Jesus focuses the attention upon His teachings and His Teacher.  Verse 16 says, “Jesus therefore answered them, and said, ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.’ “  I was taught, “Whenever you see a ‘therefore’, find out what it’s there for”.  The apostle John uses that word to indicate that Jesus is going to be correcting their words and their thinking.  He didn’t want them to come to the conclusion that He came up with those teachings on His own.  Rather, He is telling them that He has a Teacher, and those teachings come from Him.  The One who sent Him, the One He’s been telling them about, is His Teacher.  In a similar manner to their method of teaching, Jesus teaches only what the Father Who sent Him has imparted to Him.  So He’s saying, “My teachings are not original.  God has sent Me, taught Me, and commissioned Me to say what I have been saying.”  You might say that the Father who sent Him is the Author of His words and holds the copyright to them, whereas Jesus is the publisher – the One who proclaims them.

It’s not only His teachings that are under the authority of His Father.  His miracles, His schedule, His whole life is under the authority of His heavenly Father.  This realization has given me a new perspective on the Roman centurion’s words to Jesus in Matthew 8:5-9.  Here is that conversation:

And when He had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him
entreating Him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home,
suffering great pain.  And He said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
But the centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to
come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say
to this one ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and I say
to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”  Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled.

I used to think that the centurion was saying that he was a man “with authority” but that’s not what the Scripture says.  He describes himself as being “under authority”.  He knows that Jesus has described Himself as being under the authority of His heavenly Father, and he’s telling Jesus that he is under authority also.  He was able to give orders and have them obeyed.  His soldiers obeyed his orders because they knew where his authority came from.  It was delegated to him by the tribunes, who received their authority from the two consuls, who were appointed by the emperor himself. Being “under authority” gave him authority (delegated authority).  By disobeying him, they were disobeying the emperor, and there would be serious consequences after it was reported.  Do you see how this applies to Jesus?  He was also under authority, the authority of His heavenly Father, and there is no higher authority!  His training and His teachings were superior to theirs, and they knew it.  Yet Jesus was humble, and this surprised them.  Humility was not a typical characteristic of the rabbis of His day.  Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:6-7:  “They love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called by men, Rabbi.”  The title “Rabbi” comes from a Hebrew word which means “great”, “great one”, “master”.  Jesus allowed people to call Him by that title because He alone fit the description.  He goes on to say to His disciples in verse 8, “But do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.”

Seventeen hundred years later, there is another story about true greatness.  In 1717, King Louis XIV, who preferred to be called Louis the Great, died.  His court was the most magnificent in all of Europe, and his funeral was the most spectacular.  In the church where the ceremony was performed, his body lay in a golden coffin.  To dramatize his greatness, orders had been given that the cathedral would be very dimly lit, with only one special candle that was to be set above the coffin.  The thousands of people waited in silence.  Then Bishop Massillon began to speak.  Slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, “Only God is great.”

How true and appropriate were the words and actions of Bishop Massillon.  Only God is truly great and worthy of adoration.

CONCLUSION:

The study of these three verses of Scripture, John 7:14-16, has been a lesson in pride and humility.  Have you ever said something, out of jealousy or envy, that you wish you hadn’t said, or done something that you wish you hadn’t done?  Former president Ronald Reagan shared the following experience from his own life:

Ronald Reagan, recalling an occasion when he was governor of California
and made a speech in Mexico City:  “After I had finished speaking, I sat down
to rather unenthusiastic applause, and I was a little embarrassed.  The speaker
who followed me spoke in Spanish — which I didn’t understand — and he was 
being applauded about every paragraph.  To hide my embarrassment, I started
clapping before everyone else and longer than everyone else until our ambassador leaned over and said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
He’s interpreting your speech.”
(quoted by Gerald Gardner in “All the Presidents’ Men”)

How embarrassing!  The ambassador saved him from even further embarrassment!  Like that ambassador, Jesus is doing these Jews a favor.  He answered their question before they could say it out loud to the crowd and then wish they had never said it.  He stopped the course of their jealous thinking and mumbling before it got out of hand, thus saving them from embarrassment.

Mr. Reagan would have been quick to admit that his actions were motivated by envy and jealousy, which are both manifestations of pride.  He felt he deserved a better response from the crowd because of the position of authority he held as governor of California, and because of the content of his speech.  How do you and I handle authority?  Some of us may have credentials before our names or after our names.  We’ve worked hard to earn those credentials and they give us a degree of authority.

Are you and I under authority?  Do we live life the way we please or are we subject to authority?  If you were pulled over by a police officer for speeding, and you said, “You can’t do that to me; I’m under my own authority!”  Whose authority is going to prevail in that situation?  That police officer’s authority was delegated by the city, which received that authority from the state.  I’d want to show some respect and obedience to that authority!  Only Monopoly games have get-out-of-jail-free cards!

Our credentials, no matter how many of them we may possess, do not give us the authority to enter the kingdom of heaven.  That’s not something we can merit, nor is it something we have a right to possess.  No human credentials can give us that authority or earn us that right.  It’s God’s heaven and we have to enter it God’s way.  The only acceptable entrance requirements include humbly acknowledging our own sinfulness (Romans 3:23), repenting of our sins, believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Mark. 1:15) who paid the price that our sins deserved (I Peter 2:24), and placing ourselves under His authority by following Him and obeying Him (Ephesians 2:8-10).  Are you ready and willing to place yourself under His authority?

If you are a Christian, having already made that commitment, can you honestly and humbly say that God’s Word, the Bible, is the final authority in your life?  Do you believe and teach nothing that is contrary to the Word of God?  Is the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses in your life, and the love you have for Him, evidenced by the place that God’s Word holds in your life, and your wholeheartedness in loving and serving Him and others?

May you experience the fullness of following Him as His beloved children.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

Thank you for visiting and reading this sermon on John 7:14-16.  I hope this passage of Scripture has been an encouragement to you today.

 

 

JESUS INCOGNITO – John 7:10-13

Bible sermon, Gospel of John, homilies from Scripture, hypocrisy, insights from the bible, Jesus Christ, tabernacles, wisdomfromabove.net

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

Thank you for visiting this site – John 7:10-13. There are over 130 completed sermons on this blog site if you would like to walk around the block.  There are so many of them that it’s going to take several walks to see them all, even if you are a “marathon walker”!  My prayer is that the Word of God will draw you closer to the Living Word – the Lord Jesus Christ, and transform you more-and-more into His likeness as you seek to know Him and follow Him.  Please come back again.