The Gospel of John - part 20
preached March 24, 2019
“How long will you take to decide?”
Review from last week
Jesus is at the Festival of Booths (Sukkot) in which the Jewish people commemorated God’s provision during the wilderness journey and God’s provision in the annual harvest. It has been a celebration, but one in which the crowds are divided over Jesus’ identity. Last week, we looked how Jesus interrupted the celebrations to teach the people in the temple. This teaching has rekindled the animosity of the Jewish leaders, because the crowds are marveling at a carpenter’s son who teaches with greater authority than the scholars. We concluded with Jesus identifying the irony and hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders acknowledging the necessity of keeping the traditions passed down from Moses, but accusing Jesus of wrongdoing for healing a man on the Sabbath.
We return to the scene…
Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
John 7:25-31
Jesus has just stated, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement.”
Some of the people of Jerusalem marvel. “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?”
Now, they recognize who Jesus is. He is the one who has been teaching for some time, and the authorities are hostile to him. The murmurings earlier in Chapter 7 are about this guy. And look, he is speaking boldly, and they say nothing to him!
Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
It is an interesting question for John to place here. John is giving us a glimpse that even the crowds are starting to recognize something is not right with their religious leaders. There is an uncertainty in the air regarding Jesus. Is He the Messiah or not? If the leaders were to acknowledge Jesus as the true Messiah, then the crowds would easily follow suit. But, they do not which leads to the division of those who trust in their leadership and those who do not. The section of the crowd that is beginning to see the Truth are also recognizing the truth about their leadership. It has become greatly flawed.
Verse 27: But there is a hitch. They cite a teaching that when the Messiah comes no one will know from where.
Now, at first glance this statement seems quite odd. Micah 5:2 is fairly clear the Messiah would be from Bethlehem, and in Matthew 2:6, this understanding of Micah’s prophecy is reiterated. The Wise Men double check the Scriptures to see where to look for the Messiah, and sure enough, it’s Bethlehem. So why did the people not know this?
The extra-biblical Jewish Talmud helps us with this question, as well as the writings of Justin Martyr in the second century. On both sides of the history of the question lies this tradition:
When the Messiah is born, even he would not know he is the Messiah until Elijah shows up to anoint him with oil. Once he is anointed, then his reign would begin. (Cf. Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho)
For those of you thinking, “But Micah 5:2 says the Messiah would be from Bethlehem, they’re obviously wrong”, then you’re in good company, because that’s what Christians have said for about 2000 years.
Micah 5:2 - The Messiah will be from Bethlehem.
Rabbinic tradition - The Messiah will be from somewhere unknown.
Verse 28: Jesus replies to the crowd, “Yes, you know me and where I am from,” but they don’t know the whole story. He has not come of his own accord, he has been sent by the Father, and they do not know the Father.
Now, some of the crowd seek to arrest him, because they are seeing what the authorities see. Jesus is claiming to be the Son of God. They have adopted the Pharisees’ idea of the Messiah. He is supposed to be an unknown human figure until Elijah comes, and then he would usher in peace for Israel. But here, Jesus is a known figure who not only claims to be the Messiah, but He claims divinity.
But Jesus’ time had not yet come, so he leaves .
Verse 31: But many of the people believed in him. They ask the obvious question, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man?”
In other words, what else does Jesus have to do for people to believe?
Church, what else does Jesus have to do for us to believe?
As we look at the signs he performed, and as we continue to read toward the cross, it does beg the question: what else does God have to do for you to believe?
If God has carried us this far, can we not trust Him to go a little further?
The obstinate Pharisees
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
John 7:32-36
When the Pharisees hear the crowds, they sense a chance to arrest Jesus. Since they have at least some of the people’s support, they might as well try. Now, we will not see the result of the officers entering the scene until next week, so you’ll have to come back for that. However, this does provide Jesus an opportunity to give a prophecy concerning what will result from their actions. Jesus tells them He will be around a little longer, but then he will go where they cannot find him.
We can draw a contrast here with John 14 when Jesus will tell his disciples that they already know the way, because He is the way. John 14 is a great blessing and hope for the Twelve and all other Christians, however here we see the inverse and a great curse. Not only do the Jews not know where Jesus is going, but they cannot come.
Church, we cannot reach the Father without Jesus.
No amount of religion or study will make heaven open up to us. It is only through Jesus.
Living Water
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
John 7:37-39
On the last day of the Feast, Jesus shares a final call to the people—you could see it as a type of altar call.
For anyone who thirsts—whoever senses the call to Jesus, whoever wants to be saved
Let him come and drink—let that person come to Jesus and place his trust in Him
Whoever believes in Jesus, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
This is the same metaphor that Jesus told the woman at the well. Here, John gives us the meaning of the metaphor.
The River of Living Water is the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. When we place our faith in Jesus, we are born again as Jesus said in John 3, and we receive the Holy Spirit who brings us life and creates a fountain of life in our lives.
What does that mean?
It is this: Jesus gives us eternal life. We are partakers in the true life offered by Jesus. However, we are not just consumers. We are not bottles of water sitting on a shelf waiting for heaven. The Holy Spirit creates a river of living water in us. What does a river do? It flows. It feeds. It brings life all around it.
Think of the Nile. The Nile flows in Egypt right through a desert. I haven’t been there myself, but I’ve heard people talk about visiting. They can sit on the bank of the Nile looking away from it and literally see where the desert begins. Where the river flows, there is life. Outside the river is barren.
As Christians in this world, we are called to bring living water all around us, because we are flowing in barren lands.
If we have living water flowing in us, but do nothing to let that river flow—do nothing to share the love, grace, and truth of Jesus Christ—then one of two things are true: 1) either we don’t actually have living water in us, or 2) we have built a dam in our hearts that we must tear down.
In one case, we are deceiving ourselves, in the other we must repent. Either way something is terribly wrong. True faith is an active faith, a living faith, and a life-giving faith.
Back to their corners
When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
They went each to his own house,
John 7:40-53
This section is a bracket by returning to the scene of a confused crowd. However, we get a slightly different take. This time, some call Him the Prophet, some call Him Christ. The “He’s leading the people astray” opposition is silent. There is a shift in the crowd toward belief. The ones who believed before seem more vocal now.
Here we should note a general rule of application: the proclamation of truth will shift public opinion, even if not every individual becomes a believer.
You may have heard the inverse before—“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.”. This quote is attributed to Joseph Goebbels who, if you know your 20th century history, was Hitler’s propaganda man. Now, here’s something you may not know—at least I didn’t know this until this week—he didn’t actually say that. The quote is a misquote from Goebbels commentary on the English. He actually said, “The English follow the principle that when one lies, it should be a big lie, and one should stick to it.”
Now, what in the world does Goebbels have to do with Jesus? Glad you asked:
Whether to truth or to lies, people will listen. As Christians who possess the Truth of God, speak the truth loudly.
Continuing on…
Verse 42: At some point in the discussion some of the crowd remember Micah 5:2, but the division only continues. Some still wanted Jesus arrested, but no one actually did anything.
John shares why. The officers meet with the chief priests and Pharisees who wonder where Jesus is. The officers explain “No one ever spoke like this man!”
We can interpret this one of two ways: either they have begun to believe in Jesus, or at the very least, they are afraid because they recognize power behind the words of Christ. Either way, John has already stated it wasn’t yet time for Jesus to be crucified.
The Pharisees groan more about Jesus’ rise in popularity, but Nicodemus returns to the story to offer a bit of wisdom. “Shouldn’t we at least hear the man out before we judge him?” But the others will have nothing of it.
They condemn Nicodemus with the same self-righteous attitude they have condemned Christ and the people. Galileans are commoners in their eyes and no prophet can come from such ‘rabble’. However, if they searched their Scriptures a bit harder, they would find Jonah is technically from Galilee.
But, that would require the sound judgment mentioned in 7:24.
Our story is paused here as the scene ends in verse 53.
Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives, presumably with his disciples.
The Pharisees, officers, and the Sanhedrin each leave to their homes.
The divided crowds leave the Festival for their homes as well.
It is a somewhat anti-climatic story, because as John says “It was not yet His time.”
Conclusion
As we end for today, we are left with a few items to reflect upon.
First, Jesus has already accomplished so much for us. What else do we need to believe?
Second, are we listening to truth or lies these days? The crowds were divided because lies about Christ had covered the truth as given by John the Baptist and Jesus’ own signs. Have we lost sight of the truth because we have been too focused on lies?
Last, Jesus said that when someone believes in Him, they will receive the Holy Spirit and like a river of water, the person will spread eternal life. Who has been affected by your faith in your life? It is a profound metaphor, but it has very practical implications. Every time you give to someone, share time with someone, makes someone’s day brighter, anything that demonstrates love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control, you are spreading life. But even more than just small things, each time you share the Gospel of Christ, you are sharing the life you received from Christ.
If you have never placed your faith in Christ, today is the day. Believe in Him and receive this river of living water in your own life.
If you have surrendered to Christ, then remember that you surrendered your life to Christ. Get rid of the things that are lying to you, and remove whatever is blocking you from sharing the eternal life, that river of living water, that you have received from the Holy Spirit.