John 8:12-30

Below is the manuscript to this Sunday’s sermon. Chances are, you will encounter grammatical errors. Please be gracious. I pray this will be beneficial to you as you study the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”

In our passage today, Jesus makes a claim to be the light of the world. Now, before we begin to look at this claim, I would like for us to circle back to John 1. In order for us to truly understand what Jesus is saying here, we need to understand three things:

1. We need to understand what John has said about life, light, and darkness up until this point in the gospel.

2. We need to understand what the Scriptures say about life, light, and darkness.

3. (3) We need to understand what’s going on culturally during this time in relation to life, light, and darkness.

When we rightly understand these three things, we will undoubtedly understand that Jesus is claiming to be the one who has descended from heaven into darkness, in order to give eternal life to those who believe in him.

John 1

Back in John’s prologue, John 1:1-18, we saw John introduce to us the Word made flesh (which we know to be Jesus).

First, in verses 1 & 2 we saw that the Word (Jesus) was preexistent and eternal in nature. 

In the beginning (before anything existed) was the Word… 

Jesus was there. He was not bound by time. There was never a time that he was not. 

Second, at the beginning of creation, Jesus was there, coexisting with God…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…”

He is a distinct person from God. The Son and the Father are two distinct persons. Yet, despite this truth, we also see Jesus’ divine nature in that he is God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(Jesus) was the preexistent, personal God who was in an intimate, triune relationship with God, the Father & the Holy Spirit. 

“He was in the beginning with God.”

And if he was in the beginning with God, then that means that (v3),

"All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

If Jesus is the fully divine creator of all things, then that means that Jesus is distinct from creation. If all things were made through him, then that means he cannot be created. You cannot create something while simultaneously coming into existence yourself. Jesus was not a created being. He is distinct from creation.

Not only was Jesus distinct from creation, Jesus is also superior to creation. If Jesus was the creator, then that means that Jesus is superior to creation. Jesus and creation are not on the same level. Without Jesus nothing was made that was made.

Then, we saw that, 

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” 

Jesus is the one that literal, physical, life is found in, and he’s the one that spiritual life is found in. Where there was nothing in Genesis 1, the Father, through the Son, brought forth life. And where mankind is lifelessly dead in our sins, the Father, through the Son, brings to life those who believe in him. Jesus is literally the source of life for all things, everywhere; and he is the source of eternal life for all who believe in him. 

Light and darkness are not equal. When light shines, darkness flees. Darkness cannot overcome the light.

Then, in verses 6-8, we see that JTB came to bear witness about the light. That’s important for our passage today. We have JTB pointing to Jesus, bearing witness about the light. Then, we see in verse 9-10 that the true light, the creator of all things, has come into the world. Yet, the world did not know him.

From the start of this gospel, John has been wanting us to know that the creator of all things has come into the world, as the true light, in order to give life through his death on the cross.

Yet, all throughout this gospel, we have seen many (because of their love for darkness) have rejected him. In our passage today we will see the true light of the world, Jesus, proclaim to be the light of the world, and we will see his own people reject him. But, we will also see some who have received him, who believe in his name. And it is those who believe in him that will become children of God. They will be “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

So, from the start of this gospel, John has been telling us that Jesus, the light of the world, has come into a world of darkness in order to give life to the lifeless, through his death on the cross.

John 8:12-30

Last week we learned that John 7:53-8:11 was not originally a part of the gospel of John. It wasn’t found in the earliest manuscripts. In fact it wasn’t found here in the gospel of John until around the 5th century. So, we (I) believe the author was likely Luke. It was either a part of oral tradition or was a fragment of a text that didn’t really have a home. Therefore, scholars sought to insert it in a place that least interrupts the flow of a passage. Because the story was located at the temple and it dealt with judgment, it was placed here in the middle of a passage that was located in the temple and dealt with judgment. 

That tells us that today’s passage is a continuation of John 7:52. So, lets refresh our memory of what’s been taking place leading up to this exchange.

What’s going on culturally during this time? 

First and foremost, we saw that all of this is taking place during the Feast of Booths. That’s very important for us as we work our way through this weeks passage. The Feast of Booths was one of three pilgrimage least, which meant that all the Jews were required to journey to Jerusalem to observe this week long feast. 

This was a feast dedicated to celebrate all the different ways that God has provided for his people. It celebrated God’s complete provision of the harvest, present tense; it was a time to pray for a good rainy season, future tense; and it was a time to celebrate how God faithfully provided for his people, past tense, by dwelling with his people in the wilderness.  

John, all throughout John 7, has been showing us how Jesus is the fulfillment of this feast. In the middle of a feast that celebrated God dwelling with his people in the wilderness, Jesus came and tabernacled (dwelt) among his people; and, now, the Holy Spirit tabernacles (dwells) within the hearts of his people.

In the middle of a feast that celebrated God’s provision, Jesus invited those who were thirsty to come to him and drink. Out of the heart of those who believe in him will flow rivers of living water because the Holy Spirit will come and dwell in them. So, now we know with confidence that the LORD will never leave his people because he dwells in his people.

This message stirs up the crowd. Some believe; some reject. And now in the midst of all this chaos Jesus is about to proclaim to be the light of the world.

Now, during this feast, they would light four large golden lamp stands (likely 75 feet tall) in the court of women near “the treasury.” They would do this as a remembrance of how God dwelt with, and led his people, in the wilderness. We will read about this in a minute, but the LORD led his people in the wilderness through a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. So, these ginormous lamp stands would serve as a reminder of how the LORD provided for his people in the wilderness. Some would say that the city would be so lit up that every courtyard in Jerusalem would be illuminated.

This would have been a celebratory time, as well. Some would say that, while the lamps were lit, they partied and celebrated all night during this feast. So, it’s lit of several different occasions: it’s lit because of the lamps and it’s lit because of the celebration. 

We also see in our passage today (v. 20) that all of this is taking place in the treasury. The treasury would have been in the court of women. Which means that this would have been a well populated area in the middle of a location in the temple where both men and women were permitted to enter.

I think this location is important for us because it brings to life the invitation that Jesus is about to make. The invitation to come and follow the light of the world is not reserved for the religious elite. It’s available to all who come to him in belief. The gospel is not reserved for one type of people. As Paul tells us in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

So, it’s while these lights were lit in the treasury, and while Israel celebrated God’s dwelling with them through the pillar of fire, that Jesus proclaims to be the light of the world. 

This is a lengthy passage. So, rather than read this whole passage in one sitting, let’s take it in chunks. Our first chunk will be verse 12, and then we will progress through this passage piece by piece.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Now, again, this is not the first time that we’ve come in contact with the theme of light in the gospel of John. In fact, this is something that John’s constantly putting in front of his readers. 

But, why? Why is Jesus’s proclamation to be “the light of the world” important

Well, in one aspect, it’s important because light is a common metaphor used throughout the OT. We’re looking at a large chunk of scripture today. So, we don’t have time to go through all of the different references to light used in the OT. But, it’s often used in reference to God, the Messiah, and the Word.

Now, just because we don’t have time to dig into these OT references to “light” this morning, that doesn’t mean that they’re not important. They’re extremely important. In fact, this may be a really good discussion point for your community group this week. Y'all go home, swim around in the OT, jot down different references in the OT about “light,” then discuss these references in your group. I think this will help really help bring to light (pun intended) the claim Jesus is making here. 

But, that being said, I think John wants us to see this claim in light of what was being celebrated during the Feast of Booths. So, all of the OT references to light are good and needed. But, the one that I want us to look at today is found in Exodus 13:21-22. 

When Israel was led out of slavery, and before they made it to the promised land, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and the LORD never left them alone in the wilderness.

Exodus 13:21-22 says, 

“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

So, while Israel wandered in the wilderness, in the midst of darkness and uncertainty and hopelessness, the LORD was with them. He did not depart from his people. He was a light, the light, for his people in the midst of darkness, so that they might follow him.

Darkness is terrifying because you’re unable to see what’s lurking in the darkness. Just as my kids. Darkness is crippling because you’re unable to see where to step. Just ask any parent who’s stepped on a lego at night. But, light illuminates and comforts the fearful, and it illuminates and directs those who cannot see. 

The LORD, the creator of all things, the one true God, led his people in the wilderness by a pillar of fire at night. And, now, Jesus is saying, “I am the light of the world.” He is not claiming to be a light among many other lights, he is the light. 

Jesus here is claiming to be the creator and sustainer of all things, the LORD over all, the one who has descended from heaven into a world of darkness. With these large lamp stands surrounding them, everyone knew exactly what Jesus was saying here.

Israel would have been helplessly lost in the wilderness without the LORD going before them in a pillar of fire. So, too, is mankind helplessly lost in darkness without Jesus.

Now, think about this: what was the purpose of the pillar of fire in Exodus? Was it there for decoration? Was it there to be marveled over? No. It was meant to be followed. It led them. It would have been silly for Israel to look at the pillar of fire, agree that it was the LORD, then sit idle in the dark. The pillar of fire was meant to be followed.

Listen, in the same way that the pillar of fire was meant to be followed, so too is Jesus. Jesus says that “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

What a wonderful invitation!

Belief in Christ is not merely intellect. It is a lifestyle, an active following after Jesus. 

But, as we see in Israel’s example, following the light of the world isn’t always easy. The LORD led them through the wilderness for 40 years. Many never made it to the promised land. 

Following Jesus does not guarantee you prosperity. Your life on this earth may be hell. Your life may be plagued with famine, sickness, death, and calamity. You may never get what you long for on this earth.

But, you know what? In Christ, you have an eternal hope that cannot perish. The trials of this life cannot separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. So, while you walk in the wilderness of this life, you still have Jesus. “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” In the midst of trials, you have the light of life. You have Jesus and that’s all that you need.

Now, Jesus’s claim here assumes an important detail that we must not miss. The statement, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” tells us that whoever doesn’t follow him remains in darkness and remains lifeless. 

Darkness is (1) a place of ignorance and folly, (2) of evil and fear, and (3) a place of judgment and wrath. Therefore, Jesus is saying, “Whoever follows me will no longer follow the evil ruler of this world, walking in ignorance and folly. Whoever follows me will be spared from the wrath and judgment that he or she rightfully deserves. Whoever follows me will have life.”

Because all of humanity is “dead in their sins,” this proclamation of Jesus is a message of hope! Jesus is inviting sinners to come to him in belief, and in doing so they will find light and they will find life. Come! Believe in Jesus, and follow him for all your days!

Without Jesus, you don’t just fumble around in the darkness, but you lay lifeless in the dark. The gospel breathes life into dry bones, bringing the dead to life, and once you’ve been brought to life, you then follow after Jesus.

Jesus here is revealing himself as the long awaited Messiah, and the crowd should be ecstatic at this point. However, rather than continuing on in celebration, you hear the record scratch. The Pharisees respond in verse 13,

“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”

We’ve learned throughout this gospel that a witness is essential in establishing any claim to be factual.

• “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.” — Deuteronomy 17:6

• “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” — Deuteronomy 19:15

• “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.” — Numbers 35:30

So, on three different occasions in the OT we see the importance of having two or more witnesses in order for a charge against someone to be established as true. Someone cannot be prosecuted on the basis of one witness. During this time “my word against your word” won’t cut it.

I think their response here tells us that they’ve already made up their mind about Jesus. He is a criminal that deserves capital punishment, and they are bound and determined to convict him as such.

So, the Pharisees are dismissing Jesus’s claims to be the Messiah because he’s making the claim about himself. They’re looking around saying that there are no witnesses to confirm his claims. Therefore, because there are no witnesses, these claims must not be true.

Now, is that true? Is Jesus the only one proclaiming this message? No. 

Going back to the prologue, JTB was a witness. Jesus’s works bear witness to himself. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, told Jesus that they acknowledged these works (Jn 3:2). The Scriptures bear witness to Jesus (Jn 5). The Father bears witness (Jn 5).

Yes, Jesus is bearing witness about himself. But, he is not making this claim alone. So, again, we see that the Pharisees are not concerned with justice. They’re only concerned with silencing Jesus. They’ve put their hands over their ears and shut their eyes to the countless witnesses that have validated the words of Jesus here, and they don’t accept Jesus’s claims because he’s bearing witness about himself. 

Richard Philips says, “This reminds us that unbelief never runs out of objections and never has sufficient proof.” When you boil it down, unbelief is never an intellectual matter.  It’s always an issue of the heart. The evidence that they’re stepping over here in order to dismiss Jesus’s claim is astounding.

Jesus however, answered them,

“Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.”

So, we know (because of John 1 and John 5) that Jesus has an abundance of witnesses bearing witness to the fact that his words are true. However, Jesus says, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true…” 

So, Jesus is readdressing a point that he’s already made. But, he’s attacking it from a different angle. Jesus can offer a true testimony about himself because he knows where he came from and where he’s going. In a world full of lies and deception, an abundance of witnesses are necessary. But, that doesn’t apply to the one who is the source of truth: the Son of God. 

If Nick Saban went to a high school football team, they wouldn’t make him show his credentials to discuss football. They would sit down and listen. So, in the same way, the Son of God, the creator of all things, God in flesh, the source of truth, does not have to show his credentials. He doesn’t have to have witnesses to validate his claims. What he says is true, regardless of whether or not he has any witnesses. Light never has to defend itself.

Even if he does bear witness about himself, his testimony is true. Why? Because he knows where he came from and where he is going. But, they do not know where he came from or where he is going. 

The Pharisees, as we see in verse 15, 

“…judge according to the flesh… but Jesus judges no one.” 

The Pharisees judge only by what they see, only by appearances. In assessing who Jesus is, they’re judging by human standards. As D.A. Carson puts it, “They see his ‘flesh’, as it were, but never contemplate the possibility that he could be the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14).”

They’re looking at where he was born, at the fact that they think he’s from Galilee and not Bethlehem; they’re looking at the fact that he’s healed on the Sabbath; they’re looking at the fact that he’s bearing witness about himself; and they conclude that he cannot be the Son of God.

They’re not judging with right judgment. Jesus, however, does not judge according to the flesh. He does not judge in the same way that his accusers do. But, again, “…even if he does judge, his judgment is true, because he doesn’t judge alone.”

“Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

We saw in John 5 and we will see in a few verses that Jesus will judge. One day he will raise all the dead to a judgment of life or a judgment of condemnation, and his judgment will be in accord with the Father.

Jesus then says,

“In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

It’s almost as if Jesus is saying, “Alright, you want two witnesses? Well, here you go: I bear witness about myself and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

The Father who set the Son bears witness about the Son. Once again we see the perfect harmony between Jesus and the Father.

They respond with their eye brows pointed and a sneering grin on their face,

“Where is your Father?”

Jesus then says,

“You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

This is a point that Jesus has been making all throughout this gospel. They are unable to recognize Jesus as the light of the world because they do not know the Father. They’re celebrating the faithfulness of a God that they don’t even know. What a tragedy. If they knew the Father, they would know Jesus. If they knew Jesus, they would know the Father. But, they knew neither Jesus nor the Father. 

Where they prided themselves in being close to God because they observed and kept God’s law, they were in fact far from God. This tells us that it’s possible to know the Bible and not know Jesus.

This was a stern rebuke. Yet, despite this stern rebuke, we see in verse 20,

“These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

In response to such a rebuke, no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come. This is the third time since the start of chapter 7 that we see their attempt to arrest Jesus fell short, which tells us that no persecution falls outside the sovereign hand of God. Jesus will be arrested when it’s time for him to be arrested.

So, to summarize what’s happened thus far: 

Jesus has proclaimed to be the light of the world, and he has invited the world to follow him. He has extended to a dark, dead, and hopeless world an invitation to miraculously transition out of darkness into the light of life, out of death into life. 

Yet, the Pharisees respond with hostility and rejection, claiming that he’s guilty of breaking the law. 

Jesus then shows them that they’re not judging with right judgment, and that his message is in fact true. He’s seeking to show a group of people who thinks that they’re in the light that they are in fact in the darkness. The accusers are in fact the ones condemned. Jesus is seeking to show a group of “morally upright individuals” that they are blinded by their sin. They do not know God.

Convincing/showing religious men and women their need for Jesus is a major challenge for us in the Christian faith.

Let’s look at verse 21,

So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

He’s, again, seeking to show them that he is their only hope for eternal life. If they do not come to him in belief and follow after him, then they will not be able to go where he is going. 

Where is he going? He is going to return to where he came from. He is going to return to the Father in heaven, and they will not be able to find him because they will die in their sin. Their devotion to obeying the law will profit them none, because they have sinned against a holy, just, and righteous God. They have rejected their only hope for salvation: Jesus.

Making it to heaven is not dependent upon your ability to read the Bible, go to church, and serve others. Although those are important to the Christian faith, they’re not the foundation to it. Faith in Jesus is the foundation. Making it to heaven is dependent upon the faithfulness of Jesus to be lifted up on the cross, not your faithfulness to do x, y, and z. Do you believe in Jesus? Does your faith reside in Jesus Christ? This group of people will die in their sins because they have rejected Jesus’s invitation to come to him in belief.

The Jews therefore say in verse 22, 

“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’”

Jesus has already said something similar, and they missed the point then, too. Back in chapter 7 Jesus said the same thing and they mockingly asked, “What is he going to go to the Greeks?” Well, this is yet another example of them missing the point. 

Their question about Jesus wanting to commit suicide is yet another example of great irony. No, Jesus will not kill himself. They will kill him. They will nail him to the cross in unbelief.

Jesus responds to their question, 

“You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

Listen, Jesus is not just a morally good person. He is the Son of God who descended from above. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is the great I AM. If they (we) do not believe this, then they (we) will die in their (our) sins. Eternal life is unattainable if you only believe that Jesus was a good man. It’s one thing to believe there’s a God. It’s another thing to believe that Jesus is God. “For unless you believe that I am he (that I am the one who is from above, the one who is not from this world) you will die in your sins.”

They respond,

“Who are you?”

And Jesus says, 

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”

Jesus’s message has not changed. He is the Son of God who has come down from heaven and walked in perfect submission to the Father’s will, proclaiming the Father’s message. 

Now, John then gives a clarifying statement in verse 27, if we couldn’t figure this out already on our own: 

“They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.” 

And in verse 28 Jesus says, 

“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

To be lifted up is always a reference in John to the lifting up of Jesus on the cross. Back in John 3:14 Jesus tells Nicodemus, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." 

Jesus here was referencing Numbers 21. If you remember back to Numbers 21, it was here that we see Israel become impatient and begin to complain and grumble against the LORD. Therefore, the LORD sent fiery serpents, and those serpents bit people, and many people died. 

As a result, the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned. We’ve blown it. Please pray to the LORD for him to remove these serpents.”

And the LORD hears their prayers and tells Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on the pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”

Now, what’s incredible is that Jesus was telling Nicodemus that Numbers 21 was a foreshadow to the cross. All of mankind is sin-bitten. We are all plagued by spiritual death, dead in our trespasses and sins. But, the good news of the gospel is that whoever looks upon the Son of Man in belief will live, will have eternal life. 

It was God’s plan before the foundations of this world to save sinners like us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What grace, and what love this is! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

So, Jesus is saying, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man (after you nail Jesus to the cross), then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. You will realize that the Father is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

This tells us that the death of Jesus on the cross was pleasing to the Father. It pleased the Father to crush the Son so that we could be forgiven and free. 

Following Jesus’s death, comes his resurrection, and they will then know that Jesus is in fact that Son of God, who is one with the Father.  

“As he was saying these thing, many believed in him.”

Next week Brady is going to spend some time explaining this belief that we see here, because in next week’s passage we see this belief being tested by Jesus. 

So, I would like to close by going back to John 1:9-13, 

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

You’ve heard Jesus’s proclamation to be the light of the world. So, which is true of you?

Have you received this message or have you rejected it? 

If you’ve rejected it, then you will one day die in your sins and you will not be able to go where Jesus is, heaven. But, if you have received his message and believed in his name, then you (by the will of God) have been given the right to become children of God. Where you were once dead, you have been brought to life, and the Holy Spirit now dwells in you. No matter your circumstances, may you therefore have joy as you follow after Jesus, the light of the world. 

John 7:53-8:11

Below is the manuscript to this Sunday’s sermon. Chances are, you will encounter grammatical errors. Please be gracious. I pray this will be beneficial to you as you study the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”

TEXTUAL CRITICISM

***Mars Hill just recently did a seminar discussing in much greater detail the topic that we are about to discuss. I strongly encourage you to go to their website and listen to it.  

Now, before we dive in, let me address a possible elephant in the text (room). Most of your Bible’s will have something in a footnote or a bracket saying, “The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.” 

For some of you, you have noticed this, and it scared and confused you. But, you didn’t really know what to do about it. For some of you, you’ve noticed it and you just don’t care. So, you kept on reading. While some of you noticed it, you tackled it. Therefore, this doesn’t phase you at all. 

So, for the sake of those of us who have no idea what this footnote means, I’m going to spend a few minutes explaining what this means. But, before I seek to explain what that means, let me read our church’s stance on the Bible:

“We believe that the Bible is the breathed-out, written word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and has primary authority of all matter of faith and conduct.”

So, what that means is that we believe that Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, all of the authors of the different books of the Bible were prompted and led by the Holy Spirit to write everything that we need for belief in Christ and obedience to God. In their writing, we believe that the Holy Spirit kept them from error. 

Now, during the time of their writing, they shockingly didn’t have a printing press. There was no fax machines or copiers. Therefore, because these words were recognized as the inerrant word of God, copyist began to make copies of the original manuscripts.

So, for example, John wrote this gospel. Copies were then made, and those copies were dispersed. Then copies were made of those copies, and copies of those copies, so on and so forth.

Before you know it, hundreds and thousands of copies of the original NT manuscripts existed. Then, overtime, the original manuscripts deteriorated and became inexistent. Therefore, we don’t have any of the original manuscripts. But, we have thousands of copies of those manuscripts.

So, now we have a thing called “textual criticism,” which is the discipline of attempting to determine the original wording of a document when the original document doesn’t exists. This is a challenging discipline that I am not capable of doing. However, I’m thankful for those who do.

Textual critics take all of these copies, compare them, and then try to conclude what the original wording was/is. Although we don’t have the original manuscript of John, we have, what some scholars would call, an “embarrassment of riches” when it comes to ancient handwritten copies of the Bible.

Imagine making $1M/year by working as a cashier at McDonalds. Then one day one of your coworkers says, “Hey, I notice you drive a Tesla. How can you afford that by making minimum wage?” It would be embarrassing to reveal how much money you make to a coworker who makes so much less than you.

Well, when you compare the amount manuscript data from the NT with the data provided for the average Greco-Roman author, it’s not even a close comparison. Daniel B. Wallace says this, 

“The average classical author’s literary remains number no more than twenty copies. We have more than 1,000 times the manuscript data for the NT than we do for the average Greco-Roman author.”

So, most writings would possess around 20 copies; and no scholars doubts the credibility of these writings. Well, multiply that by 1,000 and that’s how much data we have for the NT. There’s an abundance of evidence surrounding the reliability and trustworthiness of the Bible.

Now, this abundance of evidence can create both problems and solutions for textual critics. The problem they create is the more copies you have the more variations you find. So, if you have 5,800 copies in the Greek language that were all written down by hand, then you can expect mistakes to be made. (Most of these mistakes consist of spelling errors and changes in words.)  

The more copies you have, the more variations you have. However, the more copies you have, the more those variations tend to be self-correcting. 

For example, If, back in 2017, I recorded in my journal that FSU beat Alabama in football and Chris recorded in his hot pink diary with hearts on it that Alabama beat FSU, then we would have a serious dilemma on our hands. Which is true? Nobody knows. 

However, if I recorded in my journal that FSU beat Alabama in football and Chris, Brent, Andrew, and Troy recorded in their diaries that Alabama beat FSU, then we have a better idea which is true. 

Because we have more recordings, the variations correct themselves. F.F. Bruce says, 

“If the great number of manuscripts increases the number of scribal errors, it increases proportionately the means of correcting such errors, so that the margin of doubt left in the process of recovering the exact original wording is… in truth remarkably small.”

So, with that in mind, we do not have the original manuscript of John, but we do have many copies of this original manuscript. And our little footnote in our Bible tells us that this passage wasn’t found in the earliest copies of the gospel of John.

What does that mean? Well, it means what it says.It means that, until the fifth century, this story wasn’t found in any of the early Greek manuscripts. So, that means that for around 400 years this story wasn’t found in the gospel of John. 

Not only that, but when you study the teachings and commentaries of the early church fathers, none of them mention this passage in their commentaries on the gospel of John. So, it’s safe to conclude, there’s overwhelming evidence, that this story was not a part of the original writings of John.

Now, if this gospel wasn’t written by John then 

1. Who wrote it?

2. What is it doing here?

Well, I, personally (and I’m not alone here), think there’s a lot of evidence that would point to the author of this passage being Luke. The language and writing style used in this passage doesn’t match the rest of the gospel of John. Rather, it resembles more of Luke. 

For example, Luke is often concerned with the poor, the marginalized, the helpless, the rejects of society, similar to the woman addressed in our passage today.

But, not only that, a lot of the words used here reflect Luke’s vocabulary. For example, John never uses the words “scribes and Pharisees” and the “Mount of Olives” anywhere else in his gospel. But, Luke does. The word for “early” in verse 2 isn’t found anywhere else in John. But, it is in Luke. The words for “all the people” in verse 2 is found 20 different times in Luke & Acts. The word for for “appear” is found over 24 times in Luke & Acts. The word for “accusers”and “conscience” is only found in Acts. There’s over 10 words used in this passage that aren’t found elsewhere in the gospel of John.

Imagine if Toby Keith recorded a song and put it on Drake’s new album, you would quickly realize there’s a difference between that song and the rest of his album. The tone, language, and words being used would quickly reveal Drake is not the author. You would be asking, “Since when did Drake get a southern accent, and what’s he doing talking about mud, trucks, and fishing?” 

The language and writing style in this passage doesn’t fit with the rest of this gospel. In fact, if you were to remove this passage, the story flows much smoother from John 7:52 to 8:12 than it does from 7:52 to 7:53. Which, again, tells us that this passage was inserted at a later date. Scholars do not disagree over this. 

That being said, I don’t think there is any reason to doubt the authenticity of this story. There’s details in this passage that push back against the theory of this story being fabricated and made up; and, as one commentator puts it, “It has all of the earmarks of historical veracity.”

Therefore, some scholars believe that this text was likely a manuscript fragment found separated from a larger manuscript. So, what scholars over the years have sought to do is insert this story in a place that least interrupts the flow of the text. Some have placed it here, others have inserted it following John 7:36. Some have placed it at the end of John 21:25, others have placed it after Luke 21:37-38.

It’s a passage that does have a home. Therefore, some have decided to place it here because it takes place in the temple and deals with the theme of judgment (which is so prevalent in John 7). 

So, although this story is not original to John, I believe it’s a historically accurate document that carries the same “character, tone, words, and actions of Jesus, clearly conveying the gospel.” Therefore, we will not dismiss this passage today.

Today’s passage is dripping with the gospel. In it, we will see the scribes and the Pharisees seek to trap Jesus so that “they might have some charge to bring against him,” and the way they seek to do that is by bringing a woman caught in adultery before him. 

Jesus, however, responds with a perfect balance of law and grace, truth and love, by (1) exposing the religious leaders hypocrisy and (2) giving grace to the sinner.

TWO GROUPS OF PEOPLE

Now, for my second introduction of the morning, what I would like to do is highlight two groups of people in this passage and discuss how Jesus interacts with each of them. Then, we will unpack these verses.

These are:

• The scribes and Pharisees.

• The adulteress and the adulterer.

Scribes and the Pharisees:

The scribes were a group of people who possessed a knowledge of the law. They would be responsible for copying and drafting documents about the law. The pharisees were leaders in the synagogue. These would be men who were extremely zealous over the minute details of the law. 

Both the scribes and Pharisees were men who knew the law and who were zealous for keeping the law. However, as we will see today, despite this knowledge and zeal for the law, these were men who were walking in hypocrisy. 

But, most importantly, as we will also see today, these were men who hated Jesus. They did not like Jesus; and out of their hatred for Jesus, they will seek to take the law and use it to trap Jesus. 

Now, before we look at how the scribes and Pharisees seek to trap Jesus, and how Jesus interacts with them, let’s look at two other characters in this story: the adulteress and the adulterer.

Adulteress

What makes one an adulterer or adulteress? A simple answer would be the act of adultery.

Well what is adultery? 

Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse. (Jesus also takes this a step further by including the act of looking at a man or woman with lustful intent). Adultery is one of many ways that mankind seeks to enjoy the gift of sexual intimacy outside of the confines that God has given us in his word. 

Now, I want to spend a few moments camped out here on what the Bible says about adultery. This is where things get squirmy. But, I want to do this because I did a little research this week on the topic of adultery in our culture.

There’s a study out there that shows that 20% of men and 13% of women have reported to have sex with someone other than their spouse while married. I hope those numbers reflect those outside of the church.

Not only that, but data from a survey done in 2002 indicated that, by the age of 20, 77% of boys and girls had sex before marriage. 

And, not only that, but “1 in 5 mobile searches are for pornography.” “68% of young adult men and 18% of women use porn at least once every week.” “64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they watch porn at least once a month.” 

This tells me that we don’t just live in a culture that is polluted with sexual perversion, but we live in a culture that worships, celebrates, and longs for sexual perversion.

Around every corner one can find temptations to be lured into sexual immorality. Single men and women are constantly faced with the temptation to “awaken love before one should.” Married men and women are faced with the temptation to be intoxicated with the love of someone other than his or her spouse. And, at the click of a button, both married and single men and women are tempted to chase after a fantasized love that they can find on the internet.

Remaining sexually pure in the middle of a culture that celebrates sexual perversion is a challenge for believers today.

Now, that being said, the temptation for sexual immorality isn’t new to our culture today. In fact, contrary to what some may believe, the Bible has much to say about sex. Which tells me that there’s a right way to enjoy sex and there’s a wrong way to enjoy sex.

Sex is good. But, the temptation to pervert the good gift of sex is common amongst all people. Surprisingly, the Bible strongly encourages sexual intimacy. Sex is not a bad thing. It’s a good gift from God that is to enjoyed within the confines that God has given.

God created sexual intimacy to be enjoyed between one man and one woman within the confines of marriage. However, sin has sought to distort, fracture, and destroy what marriage was originally intended to be. 

Where the marriage bed was to be the only place for sexual intimacy, we now see (1) sex being enjoyed outside of the confines of marriage and (2) married partners withholding sex from one another (which Paul rebukes in 1 Corinthians 7). 

Proverbs 5-7 give stern warnings against adultery. We see that although the lips of a forbidden woman “drip with honey, and her speech is smoother than oil” in the end she is bitter and her path leads to death. Therefore, “a young man is to keep his way far from the house of the forbidden woman.” 

Meaning: you are to flee (run from) the temptation to enjoy the good gift of sex with anyone other than your spouse. We are to flee sexual immorality like we would flee a murderer.

Lets pretend Brady has lost his mind and is now hell bent on seeing you die. You’re at his house and he starts threatening your life. When he journeys into his room to find a gun, wisdom would obviously tell you to RUN (or “flee from him”). It’s in this moment that your only hope for protection would be outside of Brady’s presence.

In your pursuit of safety, wisdom would also tell you to avoid future contact with Brady, meaning you’re not going to hang out with this crazy fool anymore, nor would you go anywhere that you think he might be. 

This means you would begin to avoid shopping at Walmart (because you know Brady is a Walmart guy), and you would start shopping at Publix’s, Whole Foods, or you would even make the expensive trip over to Fresh Market. At this point, you wouldn't care about prices because you are aware of the danger of seeing Brady again. 

This is obviously a silly analogy, but the point still remains: sexual immorality is a horrendous sin and it is one we must “seek safety from by flight.” It is our calling as Christians to run from sexual immorality. We are to seek safety from it by fleeing. Safety from sexual immorality can only be found by obediently running from it and running to God and submitting to His word.

Proverbs constantly warns us to, as we’re running, “not desire her beauty” and “not let her speech captivate you.” Avoid, flee, the temptation to enjoy sexual intimacy outside of the parameters that God has given you, which is marriage.

The book of Proverbs doesn’t just call us to run, but it also calls us to “delight in the wife of your youth.” Meaning: enjoy the gift of sex with your wife or husband. “Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well…” “Rejoice in the wife of your youth…” “Be intoxicated always in her love…”

Married couples, some of y’all need to go home, open up your Bibles to Proverbs 5 or Song of Songs, and worship the Lord by “being intoxicated in the love” of your spouse. Sex is a good gift from God that is to be enjoyed with only your spouse.

Listen, “our ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all of our paths.” God sees all and knows all. He sees your actions and he sees your thoughts. Therefore, run from sexual immorality and cling to intimacy with your spouse. This is pleasing to the Lord. 

The one who commits adultery lacks sense, and destroys himself (as the Bible says). The Bible gives stern warnings against adultery because adultery is breaking the law.

Adultery is like a kid opening up a new Christmas gift, playing with it for a moment, and then throwing it on the ground to go steal and play with another kids Christmas gift. It is a selfish endeavor that destroys ones life.

So, in our passage today, where this woman had a spouse to delight in and worship God with through sexual intimacy, this woman lacked sense and chased after her sinful desire to eat of the forbidden fruit of sex outside of marriage… And she got caught…And she stands before Jesus condemned by the law. 

Look at what the law says about adultery…

“You shall not commit adultery.” — Exodus 20:14.

“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” — Leviticus 20:10.

“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman.” — Deuteronomy 22:22.

So, the law speaks strongly against adultery, and there were serious repercussion for both the man and woman caught in adultery.

So, here in this passage you have a group of men who know and are zealous for the law and you have a man and a woman who are guilty of breaking the law through the act of adultery. Because of the scribes and pharisees distaste for Jesus, they take the woman to Jesus in hopes to trap him. 

Let’s go ahead and dive in.

53 They went each to his own house, 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

So, early in the morning, while Jesus is teaching a large crowd, the scribes and Pharisees enter the scene with a woman caught in adultery. They place her in his midst and say to him, 

“Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.

Verses 4-5 tell us the words they say, but verse 6 shows us the motivation of these words. Their goal is to test Jesus so that they might have something to charge against him. So, we have a group of men who know the law and who are zealous for keeping the law. However, we see here that they have little concern for justice. Their aim is to trap or test Jesus. 

So, we just saw that adultery was an offense that was to be punishable by death. Therefore, they bring a woman who was guilty of adultery before Jesus saying, “This woman should be stoned.”

Now, do any of us notice the inconsistency found in the words of the scribes and Pharisees here? Lets go back and read what the law said about adultery.

“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” — Leviticus 20:10.

“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman.” — Deuteronomy 22:22.

The law is clear: both the man and the woman shall be put to death, not just the woman. Yet, the scribes and Pharisees bring only the woman. This shows us that they had little concern for justice here. Rather, they were laser focused on trapping Jesus. These men who know the law and are zealous for the law are manipulating the law in order to trap Jesus.

Adultery was an offense punishable by death; and this woman was undoubtedly guilty. She was presented before Jesus (the giver of the law) as one who has gone against God’s design for marriage, and consequently the law says that she and the man is to be punished by death. Yet, she stands before Jesus alone. 

The scribes and Pharisees had little concern for justice. Rather, they were wrapped up in trapping Jesus. So, they ask Jesus what his thoughts were.

Rather than respond immediately, Jesus bends down and begins to write in the dirt with his finger.

There’s a lot of speculation over what Jesus is writing here.Some believe that he was writing Exodus 23, which speaks against spreading false reports. Which would indicate that he’s accusing them of spreading a false report.

Others believe he’s writing out Jeremiah 17:13, which says, 

“O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.”

This would mean that Jesus was writing out their names in the earth, accusing them of forsaking the Lord themselves. With them being scribes and Pharisees, they would have immediately known what Jesus was doing here. 

The reality is, we simply don’t know what’s being written here. The author leaves this detail unknown. Any attempt to figure this out would simply be speculation. But, what I think Jesus’s actions here do tell us is this: Jesus is not acting on their time table. He will not answer when they want him to answer.

So, verse 7 tells us that they continue to ask.

7 And as they continue to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 

Now, Jesus here is not saying that one cannot confront sin unless he or she is sinless. If that was the case, one could never carry out the law. What Jesus is doing here is he is forcing the scribes and Pharisees to examine their own hearts before they carry out the law. In doing so, he exposes their corruption and their inability to keep the law. 

Yes, the act of adultery was punishable by death. The scribes and pharisees were right. But, are they without sin here? Are they keeping the law by bringing just the woman? No. Are they, therefore, blameless and without sin in their pursuit of “justice?” No. 

Jesus here is humbling the arrogant scribes and Pharisees by challenging their motives. He is revealing that they do not know nor keep the law.

Then, one by one, the stones begin to hit floor and the crowd begins to dwindle. D.A. Carson says, “Those who came to shame Jesus now leave in shame.”

Can you imagine what this woman was feeling at this point? 

With her greatest sins exposed before the blameless giver of the law, Jesus, with her head down in shame, tears flowing from her eyes, thinking this is her last moments of life, I can’t imagine what’s going on in this woman’s mind. I’m sure she’s filled with great regret and remorse, fear and hopelessness.

Then, in verse 10, Jesus (the lawgiver) speaks to the woman,

“Woman where are they (where are your accusers)? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

At the feet of Jesus, rather than receive condemnation, this woman finds grace and forgiveness when her sin was exposed. Because of where Jesus was going, the cross, he is able to justly extend grace when condemnation is demanded; and following this grace, she’s sent to go and “sin no more.” 

Richard Phillips says, “We are forgiven in order that we might become holy.” We must never reverse these two. We don’t clean our life up and then come to Jesus. We come to him broken and in desperate need of forgiveness, and— because of the cross— we are sent to go and sin no more. Repentance is not a means to earn forgiveness. It is something that follows the forgiveness we find in Christ. 

A GREAT TRAGEDY

Now, as we close today, I want to highlight what I believe is one of the greatest tragedies of this passage. Where this woman’s sin was exposed and brought before Jesus, the man was able to remain in hiding. At the start of the story, it seems like the man was off the hook. He escaped judgment. 

The man was able to go home to his wife and kids, continuing on living in darkness, hiding his corruption from others. But, this woman’s deep dark secrets were exposed, and she stood before Jesus condemned. Yet, this woman walks away not condemned. She walks aways forgiven and justified.

Because of the cross, the sinner who comes to Jesus broken and empty handed can walk away a new creation, forgiven and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Because of the cross, men and women like you and I and the woman in this story, can one day stand before God holy and blameless and above reproach. 

Listen to me, the greatest lie anyone could ever tell you is that hiding your sin is worth it. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

It is a great tragedy that this man’s sin remained in the dark. Some of you are like the man in this story. You’ve gotten far too comfortable with sin and you’re way too good at hiding it. 

I want you to understand that this man did not escape judgment. Although he thought he could hide, his sin was on full display before God.

May we be a church that strives for purity. May we be a church that strives to “go and sin no more.” And, when we do fall, may we be quick to confess, clinging to the blood of Jesus.

And, lastly, some of you, have been sinned against. You have been hurt and wronged. May you find the example of Jesus here comforting. 

We know Jesus to be the giver of the law. Therefore, this woman’s sin was blatant defiance against Jesus (God) alone. Yet, he extends grace.May we, like Jesus, be quick to extend grace and mercy to those who sin against us.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” — 1 John 1:5-10

John 7:40-52

Below is the manuscript to this Sunday’s sermon. Chances are, you will encounter grammatical errors. Please be gracious. I pray this will be beneficial to you as you study the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”

One thing that I’ve begun to really appreciate about the gospel of John, especially John 7, is how it’s packed full of irony. The more I’ve begun to think through all of these ironies found in John 7, the more I’ve become convicted. 

I think John gives us these ironies to:

1. Show us the unadulterated truth about who Jesus is.

2. Show us the unadulterated hypocrisy found in the lives of Jesus’s audience, which should reveal to us the same hypocrisy in our own lives.

Today we will be finishing John 7. If you remember, all of John 7 is one fluid story that’s taking place during the Feast of Booths. This feast is very important for us to understand as we work through this chapter. The Feast of Booths was one of three pilgrimage feast, which means that Jews were required to travel to Jerusalem to observe this feast. This feast was a week long feast that (1) celebrated God’s complete provision of their harvest and (2) celebrated God’s faithfulness to provide for his people, by dwelling with his people in the wilderness. 

During this feast John has been showing us that while the religious leaders and the crowds celebrated God dwelling with them in the wilderness they don’t see that God is standing right before them. Jesus tells the crowd that they don’t see and recognize him as the Son of God because they do not know God personally. If their will was to do God’s will then they would know who Jesus was. 

So, ironically and tragically, they’re consumed with external religious practices, yet they have no relationship with God. Their heart is far from him. 

We’re then reminded of the religious leaders desire to kill Jesus because he worked on the Sabbath (Jn 5). But, ironically, Jesus shows them that they’re guilty of doing the exact same thing when they circumcise on the Sabbath.

Jesus was essentially showing them that if they want to kill him, then they must kill themselves, as well. They’re walking in hypocrisy. They’re judging by appearances, not with right judgment. The more we progress through this gospel, the more we will see this hypocritical judgment of the crowd and religious leaders exposed. 

Now, some people eventually believe in Jesus, while others want to arrest him. But no one can touch him because his hour had not yet come. The Pharisees hear about those who are beginning to believe in him. They get frustrated. They send officers to arrest him. And Jesus doesn’t budge. 

In fact, he continues to preach. He tells the Pharisees that he will eventually be going to a place that they cannot go to. “[They] will seek him and [they] won’t be able to find [him].”

The Pharisees then mockingly ask, “Where’s this man going to go? Is he going to go to the Greeks?” The only place that was so repulsive that they couldn’t imagine going to was the Greeks.

So, is he going there? Well, no. He’s going to return to the Father. And when they die in their unbelief, they won’t be able to find him. It will be too late.

But, ironically, after Jesus’s ascension, he will send his people out by the power of the Holy Spirit to those repulsive Greeks. The beauty of the gospel is that it takes enemies and strangers and makes them friends and family. The only people that the religious leaders couldn’t imagine God sending them to is the very people that God will graft into his family. 

Then, last week, on the last day of the feast— during a feast that celebrates God dwelling with his people and miraculously providing food and water for his people in the wilderness, during a feast that celebrates God’s provision for his people now— Jesus ironically and masterfully stands up and exclaims, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

He was saying, “Hey! I know your barns and your wells are full, but if any of you thirst and long for something more, come to me and drink!” In the middle of a feast that celebrates God’s provision, he asked if anyone lacked, and then he extended to them the invitation to come to him and drink.

Now, not only could he satisfy their thirst, but out of their hearts would flow rivers (plural) of living water. This is an invitation to take something that is dry, lacking, and lifeless, and make it life giving. 

If you come to Jesus in belief, God won’t simply dwell with you, he will dwell in you. If you believe in Jesus, you will receive the Holy Spirit, and from the Holy Spirit dwelling in you will flow rivers of living water. Meaning: the fruit of the Holy Spirit will flow from your heart and life, and be a blessing to both you and those around you.

A river of love, a river of joy, a river of peace, a river of patience, a river of kindness, a river of gentleness, a river of goodness, a river of faithfulness, and a river of self-control will flow from you.

Belief in Jesus is not merely intellect. Belief in Jesus leads to life giving actions that come from the Holy Spirit that dwells within the life of a believer.

Have you come to Jesus in belief? If so, out of your heart will flow rivers of living water. 

Well, as we continue to read through this gospel and finish up this chapter, we will see more irony in our passage today. There is great confusion and division surrounding who Jesus is and what he’s come to accomplish. But, in the middle of this confusion, there’s one group that’s more certain about who Jesus is than anyone else. This group is certain that Jesus is a blasphemer that is deceiving the foolish. But, we will see yet again that they are not judging with right judgment. Their judgment is based strictly upon appearances.

As we work through this passage, we will see that they’re more deceived than anyone else. Ironically, all of their accusations made against Jesus and the crowds ring true of themselves. We will see today that the self-righteous have very little concern with truth. Because of their self-righteousness, they are unwilling to judge with right judgment. 

Our passage today will once again force us to survey the evidence surrounding Jesus and decide for ourselves who Jesus is.

Let’s dive in.

“40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, ‘This really is the Prophet.’ 41 Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ But some said, ‘Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’ 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.”

Now, verse 43 tells us that there’s a division among the people over who they think Jesus is. Following Jesus’s bold invitation for anyone who is thirsty to come to him and drink, the crowd is beginning to lay their cards on the table, showing who they think Jesus is. And not everyone is in agreement. 

First, in verse 40, we see that some people heard Jesus’s words and they think that he is the Prophet. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this title thrown around in the gospel of John. Nor is this the first time that we’ve seen the crowd identify Jesus as “the Prophet.” 

Back in John 1 we saw the religious leaders approach John the Baptist and ask him if he was the Prophet. John says, “No, that’s Jesus.”

Then, back in John 6, after Jesus miraculously feeds the large crowd bread and fish, the crowd exclaims, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

They connected Jesus’s miraculous provision in the wilderness with God’s miraculous provision of manna for his people in the wilderness, through the prophet Moses. 

So, claiming that Jesus is the Prophet means that they are connecting Jesus to the OT prophecy found in Deuteronomy 18, where Moses says,

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers— it is to him you shall listen…” 

So, ecstatic they thought that they had found the prophet that Moses prophesied about, and Jesus had their attention.

Well, Jesus then leaves the crowd and on the next day he begins to proclaim to the crowd that he’s the bread of life that came down from heaven, which led to the crowd grumbling and complaining. Where they should have listened, they complained and grumbled and left. As quickly as he gained their attention in the wilderness, he lost their attention in the synagogue in Capernaum. They, and many of his disciples, left him at this point because of his claims to be “the bread of life sent from heaven.” 

Well, now, similarly, Jesus’s invitation during the feast of booths to “Come to him and drink” reminds the crowd of Moses once again. Where they were previously reminded of God providing manna for Israel in the wilderness, they are now reminded of God miraculously providing water for Israel in the wilderness.  

On several occasions, God miraculously provided water for Israel through Moses. In Exodus 17, for example, we see the people thirst for water and grumbled against Moses. God then tells Moses to strike a rock, and from the rock water will be provided. Moses does so and God miraculously provided for his people, reminding them that the LORD was with them. 

***There’s so much symbolism here of Jesus that we don’t have time to get into. In a dry and lifeless area, the rock was struck, and out of the stricken rock flows life. In a lifeless area, Jesus, the rock, was struck, and out of his death on the cross flows eternal life.

So, during the Feast of Booths, during a time to celebrate God’s provision for his people in the wilderness, Jesus invites the thirsty to come to him and drink. This proclamation leads some of the crowd to say, “This really is the Prophet.”

They’re thinking, “There’s just too many similarities between Jesus and Moses. He has to be the Prophet that Moses was talking about. Therefore, we must listen to him.”

Jesus, the Prophet, has their attention, and they’re listening closely.

Then, another part of the crowd says, “This is the Christ.”

Now, we learned a couple weeks ago that “Christ” means messiah or anointed one. The one who is anointed is divinely set apart by God for a specific task. In Luke 4 we see Jesus say, himself, that he is “the anointed one,” who would be set apart by God to proclaim good news to the poor and set the captives free. Jesus is therefore, the one who is capable of setting men and women free from bondage. Jesus is the one who was sent by God to rescue, redeem, and restore anyone who comes to him in belief. He is the Messiah that the OT has prophesied about!

Now, although it seems like the crowd thinks that the Prophet and the Christ are two separate people, we know that both of these proclamations here are true of Jesus! Jesus really is the Prophet. He really is the Messiah. So, both of these groups of people have recognized and connected Jesus as one whom the OT has prophesied about. 

But, then another part of the crowd enters the scene and says, “Nah, this can’t be the Christ.”

Look at the latter part of verse 41 and 42,

“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?”

This group of people, like the religious leaders, are not judging with right judgment; they’re judging by appearances. They’re looking at Jesus and they’re mulling over all of the things he’s said and done, and they’re thinking through the OT prophecies pertaining to the Christ, and they conclude that he’s not the Christ. 

They think Jesus is from Galilee, and they know that the Christ is to be an offspring from David born in Bethlehem. Therefore, they come to the conclusion that he’s not the Christ. 

 Now, I want us to notice a bit of irony here that John leaves unaddressed. Their references to the Scriptures are accurate. Yes, the Christ is to be a descendent of David. Yes, the Christ is to come from Bethlehem.

Psalm 89:4, for example, says,

“I will establish your (David’s) seed forever and build up your throne to all generations.”

And we saw two weeks ago that in Micah 5:2,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

So, they rightly understand the Scriptures pertaining to the Christ. However, they do not rightly understand Jesus. If they would have done their research, if they would have judged with right judgment, they would know that, although Jesus grew up in Galilee, he was born in Bethlehem.

This part of the crowd has dismissed Jesus as the Christ because of a partially, ill-informed, understanding about Jesus. They’ve looked past the works and words of Jesus, and the many witnesses pointing to Jesus being the Messiah, and they’ve rejected the idea of Jesus being the Messiah because of appearances.

Now, I struggled this week with the question, “Why doesn’t John address or answer their false understanding about Jesus here?” Why does he leave their false opinions unresolved.

Unlike Matthew and Luke, John doesn’t tell us the birth narrative of how Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Unlike Matthew and Luke, John doesn’t tell us the genealogy of Jesus, showing us how he is in fact a descendent of David. 

The crowd is rejecting Jesus as the Christ because of a misinformed perception about him; and John’s main goal in writing this gospel is show us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in his name.

So, why does he leave their questions unresolved here? Why does he not capitalize on this opportunity to expose their misunderstanding about Jesus

As I wrestled through this, I began to realize that he does expose their misunderstanding about Jesus. But, he does it in an unconventional manner.

Rather than give us more information or evidence supporting Jesus as the Christ, John takes his flashlight here and exposes the crowd's inability to judge with right judgment, which should give us more evidence to the fact that Jesus is the Christ.

We’ve come to a point in this gospel where John is beginning to force us, the readers, to look at the evidence and decide for ourselves. Up until this point, John has strategically laid out an abundance of evidence for Jesus being the Christ. And now, with the crowd, we’re beginning to be forced to make decisions about who we believe Jesus is.

The crowd here is making a judgment about Jesus strictly off of what they can see; and based off of what appears to be true on a surface level, they’ve rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They were quick to write him off because of a misinformed understanding about him.

Men and women do this all the time. We do this with God and we do this with others.

For example, one may look at his or her surroundings and conclude that God is not good because all this person sees is sin, death, and corruption. How could a good God allow bad things to happen? Without learning about God, we make a judgment about God based off of what we can see.

Not only that, but we people. We live in a social media driven world where stories are at the tip of our fingers. We quickly make judgments about men and women based off of appearances, and we are quick to condemn and judge, and often times we condemn them of things we’re guilty of ourselves.

Without learning more about Jesus, the crowd rejects Jesus as a blasphemer. Listen, I think we see here that you can always find an excuse not to believe in Jesus. But, I think we also see here that your excuse for unbelief will never be valid. 

John is seeking to show us that Jesus really is the Christ who is capable of setting you free from sin, and any excuse you have to reject Jesus as this Messiah is a surface level, illegitimate excuse. 

Anyone seriously searching to know the truth about Jesus will go to God’s word, asking for wisdom, and will discover the truth about Jesus. But, that’s not the case for the crowd here. They’re content to come to a conclusion about Jesus with the visible evidence that they have. 

So, ironically, this portion of the crowd rightly understands the prophecies surrounding the Christ. But, they don’t rightly understand that the Christ is standing right before them in Jesus, offering them eternal life.

“So there was a division among the people over him.” 

Jesus’s words are dividing the crowd down the middle. Part of the crowd is connecting the dots and identifying him as the Messiah/Prophet. Another part of the crowd is rejecting him as a deceiver. 

There’s no middle ground of apathy when it comes to Jesus. You either submit to him as Lord, giving him your full attention, trust, and obedience. Or you respond to him in hostility, rejecting him as a deceiver. 

Which is true of you? 

If you believe Jesus is the Christ, then that means you trust in him for eternal life. He is the one you’re submitting to, and he is the one who has given you the Holy Spirit so that you may bless those around you. 

If you’ve rejected Jesus, then you will continue to thirst and long for this life that is found in Jesus, and eternal damnation will be your fate.

So, following Jesus’s words, there was a division amongst the crowd, and

 “…some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.”

Why did no one lay a hand on him? Because “his hour had not yet come (v.30).” We were reminded two weeks ago that “no persecution falls outside the sovereign hand of God.” The crowd didn’t lay a hand of Jesus because it wasn’t in God’s timing for them to do so. Yes, Jesus will eventually be arrested. But, not yet. John continually directs our attention to the fact that the opposition Jesus faced was not outside of God’s control. It was God’s plan to send his Son to redeem sinful humanity through his death on the cross. So, “some of them wanted to arrest Jesus, but no one laid hands on him.”

Now, as we continue to progress through this passage, we will ironically see that those who reject Jesus, claiming him to be a deceiver, will actually be the ones who are (1) deceived themselves and (2) the ones seeking to deceive others. They’re guilty of the very thing that they’re claiming Jesus to be guilty of. Their rejection of Jesus was not birthed out rightful thinking; it was birthed out of a self-righteous hypocrisy based upon appearances.

Look at verses 45-46, 

“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!”

Let’s pause here for a moment. Two weeks ago in verse 32 we saw the Pharisees and the chief priest send the officers to arrest Jesus. Now, following Jesus’ invitation to come to him and drink, the officers are coming back empty handed, without Jesus, because Jesus is speaking in a way that is unrecognizable. 

“No one has ever spoke like this man!” Feel the weight of this. The officers heard first hand the message of Jesus, and rather than arrest him as a blasphemer, they come back saying to the religious leaders, “We couldn’t arrest him because we’ve never heard anyone say the things Jesus is saying.” They were sent out to arrest a deceiver and they came back thinking he’s a truth-bearer.

They’re saying to the teachers, the religious leaders, "We’ve grown up hearing y'all teach, but Jesus is speaking with an authority that we’ve never heard. We couldn’t do what you told us to do. He’s making connections between himself and the OT that are compelling.” 

This leads to the Pharisees saying in verse 47,

“Have you also been deceived?”

This question shows us exactly what the Pharisees thought about Jesus and the crowd. “Have you also been deceived” tell us that they believed Jesus was a deceiver. They believed he was teaching lies, manipulating truth, and leading the ignorant crowd into deception. They believe the crowd had been deceived, and they were asking if the officers have been deceived, as well.

They then say, 

“Have any of the authorities or Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accused.”

So, where there is widespread confusion over who Jesus is, the Pharisees are certain that they know the truth. They’re essentially saying to the officers, “None of us have believed in Jesus. Therefore, you shouldn’t either.” 

The evidence they’re giving to support the idea that Jesus is not the Christ is themselves. At this point, their justification for why Jesus cannot be the Messiah has nothing to do with Jesus and everything to do with their assessment of Jesus. Jesus cannot be the Messiah because we have not believed in him.

Never mind the works that Jesus has done throughout his life, never mind the words you just heard him proclaim, you’re an idiot who has been deceived if you believe in him. The religious leaders are seeking to strip the officers of any opportunity to decide for themselves, and they’re seeking to pressure them into placing their hope and confidence in their expert knowledge.

They’re saying, “Who’s job is it to study the Scriptures? Who knows the law Ours. Have any of us, who knows the law, believed in him? I don’t think so. So, what camp do you want to be in: ours or this crowds that does not know the law?”

The religious leaders are degrading those in the crowd who have believed in Jesus. They’re claiming that the crowd has brought condemnation upon themselves for believing in Jesus. They are calling them ignorant fools who don’t know the law. 

I think there’s, yet again, great irony that John wants us to pick up on here. Ironically, those who are supposed to know the law don’t recognize the giver of the law and the one that the law points to, Jesus (Jn 5). The one’s who boasted in their wisdom and expert knowledge are pointing their fingers, claiming that others are deceived, when, in fact, they are the ones who are deceived. And, ironically, this foolish crowd that is “accursed” and that “does not know the law” knows the truth. 

Now, very beautifully, John highlights and exposes their hypocrisy by bringing up Nicodemus in verse 50.

“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?”

Nicodemus is mentioned three different times in the gospel of John. He’s mentioned in John 3. He’s mentioned now. And he’s mentioned in John 19.

There’s a couple details that John wants us to notice here in verse 50 pertaining to Nicodemus.

First, He wants to remind us that Nicodemus had previously gone to Jesus with questions (Jn 3). 

Nicodemus went to Jesus at night and said, “Hey! We’ve seen all of these things that you’re doing. We know that you’re a teacher that comes from God. No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 

Jesus then tells Nicodemus that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus’s religious superiority would profit him for eternal life.

So, John wanted to remind us that Nicodemus has heard the gospel clearly taught to him, he knows the truth about Jesus, and he’s clearly been wrestling through the words Jesus has previously spoken to him. Nicodemus, unlike his counterparts, is seeking to judge with right judgment.

But, not only that, John also wants to remind us that Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Nicodemus is a part of the crowd that is zealous for the law and that is boasting in their unbelief of Jesus. 

Now, it’s unclear, at this point, whether or not Nicodemus believes himself. I think at the end of this gospel, we will see that he clearly does believe. In John 19, when everyone leaves, Nicodemus brings oil and myrrh, and buries Jesus. But, at this point in the gospel I think John is showing us the progression of Nicodemus. Where he went and heard the gospel message from Jesus in John 3, he’s now wrestling with that message in John 7, and he will be a believer of that message in John 19.

So, somewhere between John 3 and John 19, Nicodemus is converted, and I think this reminds us that evangelism isn’t always a preach once, convert immediately process. Sometimes we preach the gospel, and it appears that nothing happens. But, for months, years, or maybe decades that person wrestles over who Jesus is, and then after a long period they may decide to place their faith in Jesus.

May the slow conversion of Nicodemus comfort us in our evangelism. Don’t get discouraged. Continue to preach and continue to pray.

At this moment it’s unclear whether or not Nicodemus believes, but what is clear is that Nicodemus is not on the same brainwave as his crew; and he begins to challenge the Pharisee’s logic by asking, 

“Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”

First, notice the difference in how he and the Pharisees refer to the law. Unlike the Pharisees, who refer to the law as “the law,” Nicodemus calls it “our law.” Where the Pharisees are using the law as a tool to bring condemnation on others, Nicodemus is using the law to bring clarity to both himself and others. The Pharisees language reeks of arrogance and pride, and Nicodemus’s words have the pleasant aroma of humble submission. Nicodemus, unlike his counterparts, is seeking to judge with right judgment.

Here, he’s referencing passages like Deuteronomy 1:16-17; 17:2-6; 19:15-19, which states that a person must be heard and that evidence and witnesses must be considered before a person can be charged as being guilty. 

Nicodemus is exposing the Pharisees inability to keep the law, which means they’re ironically the ones who stand accursed. Where they’re seeking to condemn Jesus, they’re condemning themselves. 

In exposing their inability to judge with right judgement, John is giving us more evidence to the fact that Jesus is the Christ. The Pharisees then respond to Nicodemus by saying, 

“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

So, they’re mockingly asking, “What are you on his team, too? Are you from Galilee? If you knew the Scriptures, then you would know that no prophet comes from Galilee.” Once again, their words ironically fall short of being truthful because there was actually two prophets who came from Galilee: Jonah and Nahum.

So, listen, the more we progress through this gospel the more we will begin to see the sinful hypocrisy of man being exposed. The religious leaders are not judging with right judgement. They’re judging based off of appearances. Although they are zealous for the law, they do not know God. 

The more we see the hypocrisy of the religious leaders exposed, I hope we see more and more hypocrisy exposed in our own lives, as well. I hope and pray that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we put that to death.

My prayer is:

1. We will constantly be reminded that our ability to “do good works” does not grant us salvation.

The religious leaders knew God’s word, and could keep God’s word (externally). But, their self-righteousness kept them from truly knowing God and seeing their need for a savior. Rather than fall on their face before God in repentance, they keep on seeking to be blameless in the eyes of others. Listen, your ability to “do good works” does not grant you salvation. To the believer and nonbeliever, you never outgrow your need for Jesus. 

1. We are a people that is slow to make judgments about others without first learning what they do.

Hostility and division is a fruit of making judgments about others without learning about all they do. Husbands and wives, don’t make judgments about your spouse without learning his or her side of the story. Christian brothers and sisters, don’t make judgments about one another without learning his or her side of the story.  May we not be quick to make judgments about others without learning all of the facts? May we be slow to go to social media, blasting men and women for something we don’t know anything about. 

John 7:37-39

When I was growing up my grandparents liked to take my sister and I on trips during our breaks from school. We went to a lot of different places, but one memory sticks out in my mind. One trip we made was to the aquarium in Chattanooga, TN. The aquarium was really awesome, and I loved almost every second of it. There was only one thing that I didn’t enjoy. They had a new 3D max movie about the ocean. So we were all sitting there looking at cool images of jellyfish, coral reefs, and fish. They were coming out of the screen, and I thought it was the coolest thing. Then, all of the sudden, huge sharks started swimming right at me. I won’t tell you how old I was during this trip, but it scared me. So much so that I took off my 3D glasses so I couldn’t see them as well. I could make out just enough of the blurry screen to keep up with what was going on, but the picture was not clear.

We have seen in the past few weeks, while reading about the ministry and life of Jesus, that people around him did not know quite what to think of him. Over and over Jesus has sought to bring clarity to the crowds. The people knew enough of God’s promises to be looking for a Messiah.

• He promised Adam and Eve that their seed one crush the head of the one who tempted them. (Gen. 3:15)

• He promised Abraham that through his offspring, all of the nations would be blessed. (Gen. 22:18)

• He promised David that his throne would be established forever. (2 Sam. 7: 16).

• He prophesied through Isaiah that a suffering servant would be pierced and crushed for transgressions and iniquities of his people. (Isa. 53:5).

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. God’s people had an understanding that He was working a salvation for them. They had an idea that somehow God would make all things right again. They knew enough to trust God, but their picture was blurry and unclear.

Then as we have studied. John the Baptist bursts on the scene and starts preaching a message about the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He says this man is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. And we have seen the things Jesus has worked and proclaimed during his ministry so far. He has claimed unity and equality with the father. He has called himself the bread of life. He has forgiven sins, healed people, and even walked on water. Jesus, in his compassion, has extended 3D glasses to the people he comes across to help them see with clarity who he is. And today we are going to look at yet another example of Jesus going to great lengths to show the people who he is. In this passage of scripture this morning he uses the Festival of Booths to show the people that He is the provision they have been looking for all along, and that he offers more than a temporary solution to their greatest needs.

I. Jesus shows himself to be the true fulfillment of the Festival of Booths.

37 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.

Let us look at verse 37 together... the feast John is mentioning here is the feast of booths. This feast was something that Israelites celebrated to praise God for his provision after their harvest, and also to remember the provision God made for them while living in the dessert. The festival began every morning with a water ceremony. It was a pretty elaborate ceremony, listen to his description:

“It began at the crack of dawn at the Temple each morning of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. A procession of priests, musicians, and other worshipers began at the Temple and proceeded about half a mile down to the Pool of Siloam at the southern tip of the City of David. Every morning for the seven days of the Feast this great procession wound its way for a full half a mile down from the Temple to the Pool. The High Priest, dressed in full vestment and carrying a golden pitcher, led the throng. The other priests followed him, along with the Levites, musicians, and all the worshipers. When the High Priest arrived at the pool, he dipped the golden pitcher into the pool, filling it, then headed back to the Temple. He led the entire procession back to the Temple through the Water Gate. There the crowd paused as trumpet players blew three blasts on silver trumpets. Then the priests would sing or shout, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3 NKJV). From there the High Priest slowly proceeded to the altar and ascended the ramp. At the very top of the ramp were two silver basins. The priest poured water from the Pool of Siloam into one, and wine was poured simultaneously into the other as the trumpet players blew the trumpets three more times. Then the congregation and choir of Levites sang Psalms 118:25, “Save now I beseech thee, O LORD, O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.”

So, the people celebrating this festival saw this happen every morning for six mornings, but the last day was different. It was what our text calls “the great day”. People of Jesus’ time called it Hoshana Rabba. On the great day, the priests would walk around the altar seven times and trumpets would be blown seven times. Each time the priests circled the altar people would shout, “Please bring salvation now. Please God, please save and bring salvation now.”

So, you can see how intentional Jesus was in choosing this day to cry out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” notice that the text says that Jesus cried out. He was passionately pleading with people to come to him for their provision. They were crying out for salvation, and he was crying out to tell them that it was right there in front of them. He is trying to show the people that the festival they have been celebrating for hundreds of years is being fulfilled right before their eyes. Jesus is their great provision.

I think it is important for us to understand what Jesus means by thirst. The type of thirst he is referring to is an attitude of brokenness over sin and a longing for peace with God. It is more of a spiritual state than a physical condition.

When was the last time you were really thirsty? For me it was during two a days while practicing football in high school. We practiced two times a day during the hottest part of the summer in late August. I spent all day getting thrown around by guys twice my size, and I was running until I thought I was going to pass out. There were a few moments that offered me a little sliver of hope and kept me going. These moments were when our coach would blow the whistle and let us run to the water cooler. We looked like a bunch of wild animals, all trying to beat one another to the cooler. You could have offered anyone of us 100 dollars, an xbox, or a brand-new truck and I still think we would have turned you down. There was only one thing we knew would quench our thirst, and it was the ice-cold water waiting for us on the sideline.

It is easy for us to think of thirst in physical terms, and wonder how in the world anyone who heard Jesus offer would turn it down. Sadly, we know from people’s reactions to Jesus’ invitation that many people turned away from him. Why would this be the case?

Let’s think about this from the perspective of the religious leaders. Here they are during one of the most important festivals of the year. A festival steeped in tradition. They have an idea of who God is. And Jesus, the man who has claimed equality with God and healed people on the Sabbath, does not fit the bill. How could God be like this? He eats and talks to sinners. Doesn’t he know God is holy? They are blinded by their pride and are only thirsty for selfish gain.

Then we have the crowds who have been following Jesus. We have seen their hearts in the past couple of weeks. A lot of them were just looking to have physical needs met, they were not interested in what Jesus tried to offer.

People today are the same way. We are uncomfortable thinking about a God who doesn’t fit our beliefs and feelings perfectly. We are prideful and find it hard to submit to Jesus who calls us to die to ourselves and love our enemies. Parts of us do not want to extend grace to those who we deem undeserving.

We also settle so easily for things that can never satisfy us. Our hearts long to be fulfilled by something, but the truth is that all the world has to offer cannot provide for us what Jesus provides. No matter how good we are at our jobs, no matter how good of a spouse we are, no matter how many times we go to church. We will never be free from the burden of sin and guilt until we come to Jesus and drink.

If you are here this morning and you feel the weight of your sin, then hear these words of Jesus and know that the offer is being extended. Jesus, God in the flesh, died in the place of sinful man. He took the wrath of God that should have been placed on his people. He defeated sin and death, rose again, and has all authority in heaven and earth and he is offering this morning that people thirsty for pardon and reconciliation would come to him and drink and take the provision he has made.

II. Faith in Jesus overflows to those around us.

38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 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.”

The phrase whoever believes in me is synonymous with coming to Jesus and drinking. Those who are thirsty for Jesus will drink or believe, and as a result Jesus says that out of that persons’ heart will flow rivers of living water. There is not one specific text here that Jesus is referring to, but several prophecies from the Old Testament.

One example of this is from Isaiah 41: 17-20,

“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, 20 that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The phrase living water here carries a lot of significance to the crowd Jesus is speaking to. They are not living in a society with running water in their homes. They cannot just go turn on the sink when they need to cook or clean. They were dependent on a source of water to be able to do the things they needed every day. I’ve got two pictures of water here. The first one is dead or stagnant water. Let’s say you are living in a society where this is your only source of water for your family. You want to make some spaghetti for dinner. Can you tell me with a straight face that you would boil noodles in water from this pond? I don’t think so. So, let’s look at this next picture of some living or moving water. Now this is more I like it. I wouldn’t mind cooking with some crisp clean water like that.

These two pictures are just a way to illustrate what Jesus is trying to get across to the crowd. Before we believe in Jesus our hearts are spiritually dead in sin. They look like the first pond. But after God gives us a new heart along with the gift of faith in Jesus our hearts are changed into living water. We change from being unhelpful and dead... to people who can bring life and blessing to others through the message of the gospel. This new change is initiated and sustained by the work of the Holy Spirit.

John helps us understand this truth by including verse 39 in this part of the Scripture. It is kind of like a teaser, a small introduction, into what Jesus expounds on later in John. I think it would be helpful for us to look at two passages where Jesus explains more fully the role of the Spirit in the lives of his people.

John 14: 15-17,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

The Spirit in this passage is described as a helper. Jesus promises his people the very presence of God dwelling with them forever.

John 16: 4-14,

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

The Spirit in this passage is shown as the one who will bring conviction to the world and guide the people of God as they follow Jesus.

I was trying to think of an example of someone who kind of exemplifies everything that we have learned from the Scripture this morning, and I think Peter is a great example. Peter was one of the disciples that Jesus called during the beginning of his ministry, but Peter was also someone who denied Jesus three times while Jesus was being tried by the high priest. We see that he was truly broken by his sin and wept bitterly over it. Then after Jesus rose from the grave he showed great compassion to Peter by allowing him to profess his love for him three times and charged him with the task of taking care of Jesus’ people. Then on the day of Pentecost the Spirit is finally poured out on the people of God, and Peter, who once denied Christ, gives a bold witness for Christ in front of a large crowd.I want to read you some of his message in Acts 2:22-39,

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus,[c] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it...Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Know this for sure. If you are a believer here this morning. The same Spirit that convicted Peter of his sin, changed his heart from a stagnant pond to living water, and empowered him to witness for Jesus is living in you. You can have great confidence that Jesus has not left you an orphan. The Holy Spirit is with you so you can tell people with boldness about the one who quenched your thirst when nothing else would do. And if you are here this morning, broken over your sin, and you want to come to Jesus and drink. I pray that you would take his invitation now and not wait any longer.

John 7:25-36

Below is the manuscript to this Sunday’s sermon. Chances are, you will encounter grammatical errors. Please be gracious. I pray this will be beneficial to you as you study the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”

Two weeks ago, at the start of chapter 7, John tells us an important detail for us in our passage today. In verses 1-2 we saw that Jesus had been walking about in Galilee because the Jews in Jerusalem were seeking to kill Jesus.

Now, given everything Jesus said in chapter 6, he’s not avoiding the Jews out of fear. He’s avoiding them out of obedience to the Father. He’s aware of his pending death on the cross. It’s just simply not his time to die.

Two weeks ago, we also saw that the Feast of Booths was at hand. This was one of three pilgrimage feast. Therefore, Jesus would be required to journey to Jerusalem (the place where his persecutors reside) to observe this feast. This feast was a week long celebration, celebrating God’s complete provision of the harvest; it was a time to pray for a good rainy season; and it was a time to celebrate God’s faithfulness to provide for his people, by dwelling with his people, in the wilderness. While they observed this feast, they would dwell outside in booths. This would have been a nationwide campout.

Well, leading up to this feast his brothers told Jesus to go up to Jerusalem and do his miracles in public. They weren’t submitting to Jesus as Lord here. They wanted Jesus to act on their timing, not God’s timing. They were demanding Jesus to do what they wanted in order to get what they wanted. However, we see Jesus continue to submit to the Father’s will. Jesus submits not to the will of man, but to the will of the Father.

His brothers go up to the feast by themselves, and Jesus sits back and waits. Then, after his brothers go up to the feast, he went up in private.

Well, going back to Jesus’s exchange with his brothers (vs.6-8), he says something interesting. He says, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”

We saw that statement ring true in our passage last week. While teaching publicly in the temple, none of the religious leaders recognized the source of Jesus’s teaching. They’re asking, “How is this man educated without any formal education? Where did he learn all of this?”

Well, in response to these questions, Jesus testifies against the religious leaders. He tells them that the source of his teaching is the Father, and they do not recognize this because “their will is not to do God’s will.”

He’s saying to the religious leaders, the very people who know God’s law, teach God’s law, and “live out” God’s law, “You do not recognize me because your will is not to do God’s will.”  

What a convicting truth. It’s possible to study and teach God’s word and not know God.

The religious leaders are hypocritical “shell-gazers” and they do not judge with right judgment. Their assessment of Jesus is 100% wrong because their relationship with God is nonexistent.

So, ironically and tragically, during a feast that celebrates the presence of God in their midst, they were unable to recognize God in their midst. 

Well, we will see that unfortunate reality ring true once again in our passage today. One rejects Jesus because they reject God. The issue for the crowd today is not a lack of information. Their issue resides deep in the depths of their hard hearts. 

Let’s dive into our passage for today. 

“25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 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? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 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. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 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? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Now, if you’re closely reading through John 7, you may be a little discombobulated over the apparent confusion of the crowd in verse 25. 

In last weeks passage we saw that part of Jesus’s audience was oblivious to the religious leaders plan to kill Jesus. In verse 20 the crowd exclaims, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”

But, now we see a group of people aware of the religious leaders plan to kill Jesus. “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?”

So, on a surface level it seems like the crowd is confused and suffering from some type of memory loss. Their actions seem to resemble the actions of a blue fish name Dori. At one moment the crowd is unaware of the religious leaders plan to kill Jesus, and the next moment they’ve been aware of it the whole time.

What’s going on here?

Well, when you begin to dig into who it is that’s speaking, you will notice that this is two different groups of people here in the crowd. The crowd speaking in last weeks passage would likely be the large crowd who traveled into Jerusalem from out of town for the feast of booths. Since they didn’t live in Jerusalem, they would be unaware of the religious leaders plan to kill Jesus. We come to this conclusion because those speaking in this weeks passage are from Jerusalem. 

“Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, ‘Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?’”

This is therefore a group of people who live in close proximity to the religious leaders. They remember seeing Jesus heal the invalid man on the Sabbath (5:1-9). They remember watching the religious leaders get frustrated with Jesus (5:10-17). They remember hearing about their plans to kill Jesus (5:18). They’re aware of the fact that the religious leaders are now actively seeking (7:1) to kill him.

 Which leads the crowd to say,

“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, again, they remember Jesus heal the invalid on the Sabbath. They remember the religious leaders getting frustrated because Jesus claimed to be God. They remember the plan to kill Jesus.

But, now, strangely enough, Jesus has returned and he’s teaching publicly, throwing more jabs at the religious leaders, and claiming all the more to be one with the Father. And the religious leaders aren’t doing anything.

So, the crowd is scratching their head trying to reconcile everything that’s transpiring before their eyes. This math equation isn’t adding up.

On one hand, death threats have a way of weeding out falsehood. But, rather than shrink back, Jesus continues to speak openly. The threats of death do not deter the faithfulness of Jesus. 

But, on the other hand, more specifically, the crowd can’t comprehend why the religious leaders aren’t doing anything. If Jesus is lying, why aren’t they doing anything? If Jesus is falsely claiming to be God, then he must be punished. If there’s an arrest warrant out for the guy, why aren’t they arresting him? Why are they letting him preach openly? Take this man’s microphone! What’s the reason for their idleness?

Maybe the religious leaders know something that the crowd doesn’t know. Maybe Jesus is telling the truth. Maybe Jesus is the Christ. 

“Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?” 

The question they ask here is one of the most important questions anyone could ever ask. Is Jesus the Christ?

Now, I want us to stop here for a moment, because I don’t want to assume that we all know what the term “Christ” means. In fact, I would be willing to bet that some of us are thinking, “Isn’t Christ Jesus’s last name?”

The term Christ isn’t Jesus’s last name. Rather, it’s a proper title. Matthew uses the title Christ 17 times; Mark uses it 7 times; Luke uses it 12 times; and John uses it 19 times. 

So, the title “Christ” is foundational to the gospel of John. If you remember, the purpose of this gospel is given to us in chapter 20. John tells us that he’s writing this so that we might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in his name.” John is seeking to show us that the answer to the crowds question here is, “Yes.” Could Jesus be the Christ? YES! Jesus is the Christ.

But, what does the title Christ mean? 

Well, the Hebrew word Messiah is translated Christ in the Greek and it means anointed one. Anointed one means to be set apart and empowered by God for a specific task.

In the OT you would see God anoint (set apart for himself) prophets, priests, and kings. Well, there’s prophecy after prophecy in the OT speaking to this coming Messiah who would be greater than all of the prophets, priests, and kings in the past. This would be an eternal king, one who would rule for all eternity. This would be an eternal prophet, the true word of God. This would be the eternal priest, who would be set apart by God to purify and redeem his people for all eternity.

Israel was anxiously waiting for this Christ to come and establish an eternal kingdom. So, their question here is monumental! 

They’re asking, “Could the authorities know that Jesus is the one that the OT spoke about? Could Jesus be the anointed one who was set apart by God to redeem and purify us, his people? Is he, Jesus, the one we’ve been waiting for?”

This is one of those moments as a reader that you want to scream with a resounding, “YES!”

Jesus is the greater set apart, anointed prophet, who came to proclaim good news to the poor. He has come to those who have been bankrupt by their sin and he extends to them a hope of being reconciled with God.

How can this be? How can one be reconciled with God?

One can be reconciled with God because Jesus is also the greater set apart, anointed priest. He is the only sufficient mediator between man and God, and he was anointed “to offer a (once for all) sacrifice to remove the guilt of sin.”

But, how could he do this? How was his death on the cross sufficient to remove the guilt of our sin?

His death was sufficient because Jesus is the set apart king, the supreme LORD over all, the one that all things were created by, through, and for, the one that in him all things hold together. He is the one who has been anointed with all authority and all power to defeat our greatest foes: sin and death. And we, as readers, are certain of this because of the empty tomb.

You’re on the right track, crowd! 

But, unfortunately, this hopeful moment for the crowd is short lived. The idea of Jesus being the Christ was short lived because, “…we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”

So, we see in verse 27, they quickly dismissed the idea of Jesus being the Christ because they knew where he came from. Now, I was honestly confused when I first read this because I thought, “Well, aren’t there OT prophecies stating that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, which is where Jesus was born?” 

The answer to that question is, “Yes, there are OT prophecies stating that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem.” Micah 5:2 says,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days (Micah 5:2).”

So, that led me to ask, “Wouldn’t knowing where Jesus came from give you more evidence to believe that Jesus is the Christ?” 

Why do they write Jesus off here? Why do they dismiss the idea of Jesus being the Christ because “no one will know where the Christ comes from?”

Well, during this time there was an idea that the Messiah would be born of flesh and blood in Bethlehem, yes. But there was also an idea that he would remain unknown until it was time for him to act and rule as king.   

They came to this conclusion from passages like Malachi 3:1, which says, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple…”

They therefore believed that the Christ was going to remain unknown and then supernaturally arrive at the temple ready to reign as king. This was going to happen instantly.

So, this crowd is looking to Jesus and they’re saying, “He’s far too human to be the Christ. I know his mom and dad. I watched him grow up. Sure, he’s said and done some miraculous things, but the son of a carpenter can’t suddenly arrive as king in the temple.”

Jesus didn’t fit the mold of what they thought the Christ would look like. Therefore, they wrote him off. 

I think there’s some application for us here. Have you, like the crowd here, written off Jesus because he doesn’t fit into the mold of what you think he should be like? Or have you humbly come to God’s word, allowing God to teach you who Jesus is?

Now, Jesus could easily correct their false interpretation of passages like Malachi 3:1. He could easily walk them through the OT, showing them how “knowing where he comes from” should affirm the idea of him being the Christ. But, he doesn’t correct their false understanding. Rather, as we see in verse 28, he proclaims (yells, shouts, exclaims, he gives a public announcement), 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, sure, they possess an understanding of where Jesus came from. They’re aware of his hometown. They know his mom and dad. But, that’s all they know. They’re blinded to the truth about Jesus because they do not know God, the one who sent him. Jesus personally and intimately knows the Father, and he came not on his own accord. 

These have been points that have been continually reiterated throughout the gospel of John. The Father and the Son are one. The Father sent the Son. If the world knew the Father, then they would know the Son. But, they are unable to recognize Jesus as the Christ because they do not know God.

Now, again, Jesus could have easily corrected their misinterpretations of the Scriptures, but he doesn’t.  He could have easily said, “Hey, Micah 5:2, the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem. I was born in Bethlehem. The Christ was to be a descendent from David. I’m a descendent of David.” But, he doesn't. 

This tells us that the crowds biggest issue isn’t found in a lack of information. Their biggest issue is found in not knowing God. 

Jesus is crying out, “You think you know and understand what the Christ is going to be like, and you think you know and understand me, but you don’t rightly understand either because you don’t know God.”

Regardless of what the crowd thinks, Jesus really was the one who was sent down from heaven by the Father. And, similar to the religious leaders, they don’t recognize this truth because they do not know God. 

There would be no confusion over who Jesus was if they knew God. But, they don’t. They don’t know the one who sent him.

So, similar to what he’s previously said to the religious leaders, he’s now saying to the crowd. You don’t recognize me as the Christ because you do not know God. 

This is a strong rebuke against the crowd. Jesus is taking his flashlight and shining it into the dark depths of their corrupt hearts, exposing their true need of the Messiah. 

Where the crowd believed that the Messiah was going to come as a militant king with a sword drawn, ready to redeem his people from Roman domination, Jesus came with his sword drawn, ready to defeat sin and death, setting sinful hearts free from sin. 

Well, as a result of this rebuke, you see two different responses from the crowd. You see part of the crowd stiffening their neck to his words, responding in hatred and hostility. Then, you see another part of the crowd responding in trust and belief. 

Look at verses 30-31, 

“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 that this man has done?’”

So, in response to Jesus’s words, part of the crowd sought to arrest him. The exposure of sin is never pleasurable. Rather than reflect on Jesus’s words, confessing their need for a savior, they stiffen their necks and reject his message. They say, “Who are you to say that I don’t know God? And who are you to say that you are God? Arrest this fool!” As Jesus told his brothers, "The word hates Jesus because he proclaims that their works are evil.”

So, they sought “to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.” Their malicious attempt to arrest Jesus fell short of being effective.

The first question I asked here was, “How?” How does Jesus escape a crowd that’s made up its mind to arrest him? Well, John doesn’t tell us how. Which means the “how” isn’t important. 

John does, however, tell us “why.” When the hostile crowd made up their mind to arrest him, no one laid a hand on him. Why? “Because his hour had not yet come.” 

What does this tells us?

It tells us that no persecution falls outside of the sovereign hand of God. The crowd didn’t lay a hand on him because it wasn’t in God’s timing for them to do so. Yes, Jesus would eventually be arrested. But, not yet. Jesus was not to be arrested and crucified during the Feast of Booths. It was God’s plan for him to be arrested and crucified as the passover lamb, six months later during passover. 

Church, I hope and pray that this somehow offers us comfort and spurs us on to be bold in our faith.

Let me be transparent for a moment. One of my greatest fears as a young father is that pain or harm will come on my children or wife. So, being bold in my faith is crippled sometimes by a fear of my family being harmed or put in danger. Another fear of mine is just rejection in general. The simple thought of people not liking me is paralyzing. Therefore, the fear of man will lead me to shrink back from sharing my faith.

But, here’s the deal: if we’re faithfully sharing the gospel, persecution and rejection will come. 

May this verse therefore comfort and embolden us! No one was able to lay a single finger on Jesus because it was not his time to die. In this instance God protected Jesus from harm.

I think we could safely conclude that no persecution or harm that we face falls outside of God’s sovereign hand. We should never seek out harm or persecution. But, if and when we do encounter persecution for our faith may we delight in knowing that a good and gracious God allowed it to happen and he will use it for his glory! The enemies greatest attack against the church will fall under God’s sovereignty and will be used for his glory. “The crowd was seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”

So, on one hand the crowd responds to Jesus’s message with fire and pitch forks. But, on the other hand, part of the crowd responds in belief. 

Look at verse 31,

“Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, ‘When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?’”

They’re looking at Jesus, remembering the OT prophecies, remembering the works he’s done, and they respond in belief. They’re saying, “If Jesus isn’t the Messiah, then what more could the Messiah do? Where else would we go? We believe that Jesus is the Christ.”

This is what we long for and pray for. We long to see men and women see Jesus for who he truly is. We long to see men and women come to Jesus in faith. And for this we will endure persecution. 

Now, before we move on, let me ask this: What does this crowd do following their belief?

They proclaim, they speak. They go to those who do not believe and say, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

They immediately become apologist. They go to their peers, those who do not believe, and they seek to persuade them to Christ. They’re saying, “Guys, what are you waiting on? Think logically about who this is standing before you. Jesus is the One we’ve been waiting on!”

Church, proclamation is a natural response to belief. When you taste and see that the Lord is good, you then long for others to taste his goodness, as well. May we not shrink back from sharing the hope of the gospel with our neighbors.

Let’s continue reading,

“The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priest and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.”

John does an exceptional job of building suspense here. The Pharisees hear the crowd begin to speak positively about Jesus. They hear the crowd’s belief.  So, they send the officers to arrest him. And, rather than run, Jesus continues to preach.

“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.”

Once again, we see this reality that Jesus is aware of his pending death. But, he knows that his death on the cross is not the end of the story.I will be with you for a little longer, but then I will be crucified; I will rise from the grave; and I will ascend back to the one who sent me. Through his death on the cross, Jesus will be returning to where he came from. He will be returning to the Father. He will be going to a place that they cannot go to or find because of their disbelief. 

In John 6 we see Jesus allude to his ascension by asking his disciples,  “…What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” Well, now, we see for the first time Jesus explicitly say to the crowd that he will be returning to where he came from. 

Death is not the end for Jesus. Their efforts to arrest, kill, stop, and destroy Jesus’s ministry will fall short.  And, tragically, there will come a point in time where some will seek him for salvation but it will be too late because they have died in their sins (8:21). he warning here by Jesus is crystal clear. Do not tarry. Come to Jesus before it’s too late. 

His audience will die in their sins without believing in Jesus, and at that point it will be too late. They will seek him, but they will not be able to find him. Hell will be where they reside for all eternity. And there will be no second chance at this point to make things right. Where Jesus is, they will not be able to come. There is an urgency that comes with the gospel.

But, the Jews sarcastically and bitterly say 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’?”

You sense a bit of sarcasm here. Where’s this guy gonna go that we can’t go? Is he going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? In other words, is Jesus going to go to the cities outside of our country where the Gentiles live and teach them?

The only place they could fathom not going is to the nations. Heaven? No, they were not concerned about not being able to make it there. He has to be talking about the Gentile nations because there I will not go.

As gentile believers in a land far from Jerusalem, I hope we see the irony in their question here. Jesus is speaking to his returning to the Father in heaven after his death, resurrection, and ascension. His audience is mockingly thinking of a physical location that is so repulsive that they would never go to. 

But, ironically, following Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension, this message that Jesus is proclaiming, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will spread to those very people. 

Through belief, the whole world will be blessed by the faithful work of Christ on the cross. May our hearts, therefore, long to take this hopeful message into all places. May there not be a single place or group of people in Mobile that we are repulsed to go to. May we long to see the thirsty “come to Jesus and drink.”

In returning to the crowds initial question, Jesus is the greater set apart, anointed prophet. He came to proclaim good news to the poor. He has come to those who have been bankrupt by their sin and he extends to them a hope of being reconciled with God.

How is that possible? How can sinners be reconciled with God?

Sinners can be reconciled with God because Jesus is also the greater set apart, anointed priest. As the book of Hebrews tell us, he is the only sufficient mediator between us and God, and he was anointed “to offer a (once for all) sacrifice to remove the guilt of sin.”

But, how is that possible? How was his death on the cross sufficient to remove the guilt of our sin?

His death was sufficient because Jesus is the set apart king, the supreme LORD over all, the one that all things were created by, through, and fo. He is the one that in him all things hold together. He is the one who has been anointed with all authority and all power to defeat our greatest foes: sin and death. And we’re certain of this because of the empty tomb.

So, church, if you have trusted in the Christ as your LORD and Savior, then this hopeful reality should catapult you into imitating Christ in all that you do. May we day in, day out, cast our eyes on Jesus. May we cling to the hope of the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah. May we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, glorifying God is everything that we do. May we, like Jesus, humbly serve others in both our words and actions, proclaiming good news of the gospel.

Who are you sharing the gospel with?

John 7:14-24

Below is the manuscript to this Sunday’s sermon. Chances are, you will encounter grammatical errors. Please be gracious. I pray this will be beneficial to you as you study the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”

Our passage today will:

1. Give us a greater understanding to who Jesus is and what he’s come to accomplish.

2. Give us more supporting evidence to the fact that “the works of the world are evil” and that all people, everywhere, stand condemned and in desperate need of a Savior.

Similar to John 5 & 6, we will hear from Jesus himself that he is the Christ, the Son of God, God in flesh. 

Now, before we get into this passage, lets refresh our memory of what we studied last week.

Last week we saw in verse 1 that the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus. As a result, Jesus had been walking about in Galilee. We were reminded that Jesus isn’t avoiding the Jews because he’s afraid of death. He’s avoiding them because his timing to die simply isn’t here yet. He’s avoiding Jerusalem out of obedience to the father, not out of a fear of man.

We also saw that the Feast of Booths was at hand. The Feast of Booths was one of three pilgrimage fest, which meant that the Jews would be required to journey to Jerusalem in order to celebrate this feast. So, it was expected that Jesus would make the journey to Jerusalem to observe this feast. The Feast of Booths was a week long celebration, celebrating God’s complete provision of the harvest. It was a time to pray for a good rainy season. It was also a time to celebrate God’s faithfulness to provide for his people in the wilderness after they left Egypt. They did so by staying in tents or booths outside, which was to remind them of how Israel dwelled in booths whenever they were brought out of slavery and how God dwelled with them during this time. 

Now, what’s really interesting is that, during this feast they would often quote Isaiah 12 which says,

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

So, ironically, they would be reciting and quoting Isaiah saying, “Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” while the Holy One of Israel was literally in their midst (Jesus). 

That being said, we saw in verses 3-5 Jesus’s brothers approach Jesus NOT in humble submission, but in prideful arrogance. They wanted Jesus to go up to Jerusalem on their timing in order to accomplish their will. They wanted him to go up to Jerusalem to display his power and authority through his works because in doing he (and they) would obtain popularity and wealth. In unbelief, they were demanding and tempting Jesus to act according to their will, not the Father’s. 

Jesus, however, responds by saying that his time has not yet come. Jesus submits not to the will of man, but to the will of the Father. Where Jesus’s brothers want him to climb up the ladder of fame, Jesus’s life on this earth was one of descent. Jesus came down from heaven as the bread of life in order to give his life up on the cross. He’s come and dwelt among sinful humanity, and he’s testified against them, saying that their works are evil. Which has led to the world hating him, and this hatred will lead to his unjust crucifixion on the cross. 

His brothers eventually go up to the feast and Jesus sits back and waits. 

After his brother’s go up to the feast, Jesus makes his way up to the feast incognito. He goes up not publicly but in private. 

While Jesus is hiding in Jerusalem, the Jews are looking for him. They’re asking, “Where is Jesus?”

Jesus is the talk of the town at this point. We know that the Feast of Booths was in the fall, which would be football season. So, rather than talk about Alabama football in the barber shops, people are talking about Jesus. 

Some people were saying, “Jesus is a good man.” Others were claiming that he’s a deceiver. But, out of the fear of the Jews, those who were searching for him, no one spoke openly of him. They’re oblivious to the fact that the Holy One of Israel is privately in their midst, and with him in their midst, they’re giving him all the wrong titles.

Well, in our passage today, Jesus pulls his hood down, rips off his fake mustache, and begins teaching in the temple.  

Where his brothers wanted him to go and do his works (healings, feedings, resurrections) openly, Jesus went and taught openly. Where he was once hiding, he’s now revealed his location by teaching in the temple.

Lets go ahead and begin to look at this teaching and how his audience responds.

“14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

So, the first thing we see in verses 14-15 is that during the middle of the feast Jesus begins to teach openly. We saw last week that the Feast of Booths is a seven day feast. This means that several days have passed, and somewhere on day three or four, Jesus begins to teach in the temple. 

Teaching in the temple would not have been an uncommon practice. In fact, Rabbis would often go to the temple, find a location in the courtyard, and begin teaching their disciples. So, at this moment, Jesus is taking upon himself the role and responsibility of a Rabbi or a teacher.

Now, as we progress through this narrative, we will see that Jesus has attracted a pretty substantial crowd. 

So, what we see here in verses 14-15 is during the middle of the feast, Jesus has begun to teach, and the Jews (the religious leaders) are blown away by his teaching. They marveled at his teaching.

John doesn’t tell us what it is that Jesus is teaching. Rather, he tells us how the Jews respond to his teaching. Which tells us that the content of his message up until this point isn’t as important as the response to his message. The effect his message had on his listeners is what’s important.

Look at verse 15. “The Jews therefore marveled, saying, ‘How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?’”

The Jews hear what Jesus is saying and they begin to raise their right eyebrow and wonder who has taught Jesus these things.

The word for learning in Greek is “grammata,” which means letters or grammar. Basic grammar and scripture would have been taught to all children during this time. So, it’s not likely that these men are asking, “How is this guy able to talk and string together sentences?” No, they’re questioning the source of Jesus’s learning.

They’re asking, “How can this ol boy from Galilee, the son of a carpenter, have such knowledge and command of the scriptures when he’s never studied under any of our rabbis?”

They’re blown away over the fact that Jesus is educated without any educational training. They want to know where the source of his teaching resides. When and where did he get this learning?

Around the age of 13-15 students who showed promise were sent to get a formal education under the direct influence and instruction of a specific rabbi. During this time they would learn and memorize both the Scriptures and the Talmud or Mishna (oral traditions, laws, and wisdom).

The Talmud and Mishna would give further commentary on what the Scriptures teach. For example, the scriptures demand an “eye for an eye.” Well, what does that mean in practical, every day life? The oral law would give commentary on what that means and how one could live it out. 

So, a studied individual would be one who was taught and is now able to comprehend and recite both the Scriptures and the oral law. 

Jesus is demonstrating such knowledge. He is able to rightly articulate what the Scriptures are teaching.

Now, as rabbi’s taught, they would often recite the teaching of an influential rabbi by saying, “According to rabbi Johnny or Tim…” This would make it easy to discern who it was that this rabbi learned under.

This is not foreign to us today. We often times will quote the sources that we’ve studied or read. Similar to the rabbis of this time, we too quote the sources of our learning and teaching. 

However, what we continually see Jesus do in this gospel is say, “Truly, truly I say to you…” That phrase is used by Jesus 25 different times in the gospel of John.

So, it appears Jesus is speaking on his own authority and avoiding tradition. Jesus is learned and studied, but his sources are unknown or unrecognizable. Jesus is teaching in such a way that is foreign to the religious leaders of this time.

Now, sometimes we are able to discern the sources of a teacher, even when they don’t cite or quote them. Mannerisms, delivery, body language, sentence structure, analogies… all of these things may resemble that of another.

For example, when I first started preaching, I listened to a lot of Matt Chandler. I remember one of the first DNOW’s I preached at, after I preached my first message, the youth pastor walked up to me and said, “You watch a lot of Matt Chandler sermons don’t you?”

Blushing, I said, “Yeah, why?”

I was hoping that he would say that the depth of my teaching was right on par with Matt’s. But, unfortunately, he proceeded to point out my hand motions and head bobbing resembled Matt’s.

Whether we know it or not, we mirror and reflect our influences. I think there’s some application there that I’m not going to chase. But, who you surround yourself with, what you watch and listen to… all of these things impact what you say and do.

So, here in verses 14-15, Jesus, unlike anyone else, is teaching with authority. Yet, he’s giving no references to the rabbis before him. He’s expositing and rightly teaching the Scriptures in a way that clearly convicts his listeners. But, no one recognizes the source of his teaching.

“How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” Who taught him this? Where is his source?

The more I read this and meditated on this, the more I began to pick up on a condemning tone in this question.

During this time, everyone quoted their sources because, as D.A. Carson puts it, “Not to do so might indicate a certain arrogance, an independence of spirit in danger of drifting from the weight of tradition.” So, the prideful and the arrogant abandon tradition and speak on their own authority.

How is it that this “arrogant” man is teaching the Scriptures when he’s never studied? Where is his source?

Jesus hears their questioning and he answers them. Look at verse 16, “My teaching is not mine, but him who sent me.”

Translated another way, “What I teach is not what I teach.” Jesus is essentially saying, “I know you don’t recognize the source of my teaching, which is leading you to doubt my motives and the credibility of my teaching. So, let me go ahead and say this, ‘My teaching is not mine. I do have a source. My source is the Father who sent me, the One that I am one with.’”

It is God, the Holy One of Israel, the One they are celebrating during this feast, the one who descended from heaven, that is speaking to them. Yet they are unable to recognize him. They are unable to identify God’s message.

The words that he’s teaching are God’s words. And their inability to recognize this condemns them before God. Their blindness reveals to them that their works are evil and that they are far from God.

These verses are beginning to give us a greater understanding to who Jesus is.

Jesus is the Son of God, who is one with the Father. He is God in flesh, the Holy One of Israel who is in their midst. He is the one who has been sent from heaven by the Father. Therefore, when Jesus speaks, it is God who speaks.

John 1 tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us. All of this is taking place during the feast of tabernacles. So, the creator of all things has come and tabernacled among mankind. Yet, they’re unable to see that.

Which gives us more supporting evidence to the fact that “the works of the world are evil.” The religious leaders who study and know God’s word do not recognize the Son of God in their midst. 

And in verse 17 Jesus tells us why. “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.”

In other words, if you knew God, you would know me. The religious leaders were unable to recognize the source of Jesus’s teachings because their will was not in line with God’s will. It was their hardened heart that blinded them. They could not recognize Jesus because doing God’s will was far from them.  

Feel the weight of this…

Jesus, in the middle of the Feast of Booths, is saying to an audience that has memorized Scripture, taught Scripture, made sacrifices to God, and are now sleeping out in tents for a week, ”You do not recognize me because your will is not to do the will of God.” 

I can anticipate them asking, “What do you mean my will isn’t to do God’s will? I came to Jerusalem all the way from Galilee because God told me to. I’ve offered sacrifices because God told me to. I’m sleeping in a tent because God told me to. I’ve memorized the Scriptures because God told me to. I’ve taught the Scriptures because God told me to. What do you mean my will isn’t to do God’s will?”

These men are very religious, but they are very far from God. Like a white-washed tomb, on the outside they look beautiful, but on the inside they’re dead. They’re more concerned with their own glory than the will of God.

Which would you prefer: Being distant from God, but looking really good in front of your peers? Or abandoning this self-righteousness religiosity for knowing God personally.

Jesus’s words here…

1. Give us a greater understanding to who Jesus is.

2. Condemn his hearers.

If their will was to do God’s will, then they would be able to discern who it was that was speaking to them. Yet, their hearts are hardened to God and they are rejecting the message of God. They’ve been going to God’s altar but not God himself. 

Back in John 6:40, we see Jesus say, 

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

God’s will, God’s plan, has always been to redeem sinners through Jesus. So, how do we know whether or not our will is in line with the Father’s will? We know this by whether or not our belief resides in Jesus. 

If your will is to do God’s will, then you will look to the Son in belief.

If you long to please God, then you will see that Jesus is your only hope for doing so. You will come to the realization that it’s impossible to please God apart from faith in Jesus.

So, as circular as this is: to be willing to do God’s will is to believe in the Son, and to believe in God’s Son is to do God’s will. God’s will is completely and totally wrapped up in Jesus. 

Now, before we move on to verse 18, let me say this: rightly knowing and believing in Jesus is available to anyone. “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know…”

This past week we got a note home from Truett’s school praising him.

 He’s learning the letter H, and while talking about the heart, my son proceeded to tell his teacher that Jesus lives in our hearts. 

I proceeded to tell him that Jesus doesn’t live in his heart right now, but that I pray that one day he invites Jesus into his heart. This rocked his little world. He was distraught over the fact that Jesus didn’t live in his heart.

I eventually invited him over to sit in my lap and we talked about the gospel. We talked about how God made everything good; how Adam and Eve disobeyed God; how Jesus got his booty popped for us; and how, if we believe and trust in Jesus, then he will come and live in our heart to help us begin to be good. 

For the first time in his little life I felt like he understood or heard the gospel. In my lap he said, “Jesus, please come live in my heart.” 

That next morning, on the way to school, we started talking about it again. Still not fully understanding this, he proceeded to ask, “When I get older I can ask Jesus to come into my heart?”

This rocked me, and the more I think about this passage, the more I think about what my son asked on Tuesday morning. 

Son, NO! This invitation is available for all. Young or old, tall or short, white or black, smart or dumb. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know…

Anyone… Whoever longs to please God will recognize their depravity and see Jesus as their only hope.

Jesus then says in verse 18, “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.”

Jesus here is defending who he is. You can know that Jesus’s words are reliable by examining what he seeks. If Jesus were simply speaking on his own authority, then he would be consumed with living for his own glory. But, Jesus has done the opposite of that. He lived completely and totally for the glory of God. In commenting on this verse, John Piper said, “The mark of his truth is a passion for God-exaltation, not self-exaltation.” Jesus’s life was one of perfect submission to the Father, for the Father’s glory. 

Jesus then asks a question in verse 19, “Has not Moses given you the law?”

The obvious answer here would be “yes.” Yes, Moses has given us the law. We delight in it. 

But, then Jesus says, “Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”

The crowd, oblivious to the intentions of the religious leaders to kill Jesus, screams, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”

Notice the crowd doesn’t say anything about their inability to keep the law. They’re fully aware of their inability to keep the law, and they have no questions regarding such accusations. They joyfully sidestep such condemnation and accuse Jesus of having a demon because of his question, “Why do you seek to kill me?”

They’re saying, “You’re a paranoid lunatic, no one’s seeking to kill you! Why are you asking this?”

Jesus responds, 

“I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Here Jesus is undoubtedly referring back to the healing of the invalid that took place on the Sabbath. He’s saying, “You’re mad at me for “breaking the Sabbath” and you want to kill me for claiming to be the Lord over the Sabbath, but none of you realize that I did exactly what you do.”

Jesus’s response here reminds me of my ethics class in college because he presents his audience with a conundrum that they would be well acquainted with. 

At times laws will contradict one another, presenting the Jews with the challenge of having to choose obedience to one law over the other. He gives them the example of circumcision and the Sabbath.

On one hand, God’s people were commanded by God to “observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” They were commanded to rest. But, on the other hand, they were also commanded to circumcise their child on the eight day. Circumcision was a sign declaring that a person was in covenant with God.

So, if a child was born on the Sabbath, then it would be expected that that child would be circumcised on the following Sabbath. They set aside their tradition of the Sabbath because they had a God-given duty to care for the well-being of their neighbor. Therefore, the Sabbath could be set aside for something greater, something more important. Circumcision, in this instance, would take priority over the Sabbath.

So, Jesus is saying, “If it’s ok for you to set aside your tradition of the Sabbath for circumcision, then why is it not ok for me to do the same thing in order to heal a man’s whole body?”

What Jesus did on the Sabbath was not in sin. He was rightly carrying out the heart of the law of God. What is the heart of the law of God? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself.  

Is Jesus not doing that? Where the Jews “worked” on the Sabbath to cure one part of the body, Jesus “worked" on the Sabbath in order to cure a man’s whole body.

They’re judging by appearances, not with right judgment. They were so consumed with the fact that Jesus healed on the Sabbath that they couldn’t see the truth about Jesus. Their tradition blinded them. As we see in verse 17, their concern was not for God’s will. It was for outward appearances.

They thought that the appearance of keeping the law is what matters because that’s what leads to the praise of man. If I look tired and complain while I fast, then my peers will recognize and praise me. If I tithe while someone is looking, then I will appear more generous. If I persecute Jesus for working on the sabbath, I will appear to be zealous for the law.

In the words of John Piper, they were shell-gazers. They were consumed with only outward appearances. And the decisions that they were making were based solely on outward feelings and emotions. And, because of this, they stood condemned. Despite all their religious efforts, they stood far from God because they didn’t seek his will. 

Now, as condemning as these verses are, there is still great hope in verse 24. If they were to have judged rightly, then they would have seen Jesus to be their only hope to do God’s will. 

Despite our wickedness, Jesus still came to die for our sins on the cross. It was always God’s plan to redeem sinners through his Son, Jesus. So, may we cling to Jesus as our only hope. And may we boldly proclaim the hope of Jesus to a lost world. 

John 7:1-13

John 6:60-71

John 6:41-59

John 6:22-40

John 6:16-21

John 6:1-15

John 5:39-47