John 7:37-53

Our passage today shows us Jesus still at the Feast of Tabernacles:

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

This is an interesting picture of Jesus, because is tells us that He basically shouted out to the people there. We usually think of Jesus humbly going about in a quiet way, but He knew the desperate need and longing of these people and He wanted to get their attention. Jesus came to seek and save the lost - those who were weak, weary, hungry and thirsty. He wanted people to know that what they were seeking to fill that need was met fully in Him. And it’s not just that He offered a cool drink - He promised overflowing refreshment that would come from within the deepest part of our souls. The indwelling Holy Spirit would be a constant source of satisfaction to us - filling us so full that our joy would spill over to others.

I read somewhere that older people have a greater danger of dehydration, because they don’t recognize thirst. I think that is the spiritual condition of most of us. We have tuned out the desire for spiritual things because we are so distracted by the world - and we have no awareness of our need. Surely there are times in our lives when Jesus has to shout to get our attention! “Come to me and drink!”

Once again, the response of the crowd was mixed:

On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”


Others said, “He is the Christ.”


Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. (vs.40-44)

Now this reminded me of the whole “birther” thing. If Jesus could have just produced a birth certificate from Bethlehem, He could have settled this whole identity thing right there! :) But for most, there is never enough evidence. It’s not that they CAN’T believe - it’s that they WON’T! And that leads us to the next scene when the temple guards, who had been sent to arrest Jesus, return to report:

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”


“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared.


“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” (vs.45-49)

Talk about spiritual pride! Hey, if the Pharisees don’t put their stamp of approval on Jesus, forget about it! It would be funny if it weren’t so serious. These leaders were the religious authority over God’s chosen people - and they were contemptuous of Jesus - calling him a “deceiver!” They even turned on one of their own who sees the need to investigate Jesus’ claims:

Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”


They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” (vs. 51-52)

Those who are in leadership positions are held more accountable for what they model. These leaders were making it more difficult for their “sheep” to know the truth! This reminds me of the serious position we hold as parents and grandparents to spiritually lead our children and grandchildren. If we aren’t modeling for them a strong commitment to the Savior, we will be held accountable.

Years ago, when I was the head of Sunday School for the church my girls grew up in, it amazed me how parents looked to the Sunday School teachers to be the ones to teach their children everything about God and the Bible. It was as if they just wanted to drop their kids off and assume that all of their spiritual instruction would take place for an hour a week. Just taking your kids to church and signing them up for mid-week programs is not the spiritual instruction God requires of us. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 is very clear that spiritual instruction is a 24/7 job:

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

We need to be making our life with God visible to our kids every day. They need to hear our stories of His faithfulness; they need to be taught His Word from an early age. I’m feeling convicted about that as a grandparent!

Off to teach!

 

John 7:14-36

I’m making a confession here! When I read this passage yesterday morning, I could not get excited about it. I dug in, however, but got to the point where I knew I couldn’t go forward. It was time to rely on the Holy Spirit big time! John tells us at the end of his gospel that there were MANY other things which Jesus did that John did not include. In fact he wrote, “If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25) And in John 20:31 he wrote, “These were written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Therefore, whatever John included in his gospel, he did with this purpose in mind. So, as I reflected on that yesterday afternoon (having given up in the morning), I decided that John included this passage in chapter 7 to show us the build up of the opposition of the religious leaders to Jesus. Because there are people who deny that Jesus claimed to be God, it is really important that we see exactly what it was that lead to his death. They did not crucify people who just claimed to be teachers. Nor did they crucify someone for working on the Sabbath. So what was is that got the religious leaders’ panties in a twist to the point that they HATED Jesus and plotted to KILL him. John will show us how this animosity increased. With that in mind, let’s now look at today’s verses.

Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” (John 7:14-15)

According to Jon Courson, at the time Jesus lived there were more than 30 seminaries in Jerusalem, and Jesus had not attended any of them. The crowds marveled that He was such a great teacher without any formal training. Jesus didn’t need training in the Word, because He IS the Word! In the verses that follow this passage Jesus affirmed that His teaching came from God, and that if anyone were willing to do God’s will, they would understand that (we saw in John 6:28-29 that the will of God is that we believe in His Son). Instead, they were seeking to kill him ostensibly because he had healed the lame man on the Sabbath.  However, the real hatred arose from His claim that God was His Father (John 5:18).

Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” (verses 21-24)

Basically Jesus pointed their hypocrisy, saying, in essence, “You are fine with causing pain to a newborn on the Sabbath, but you are upset that I healed a man and made him whole on the Sabbath!” In the rest of this passage the people debated among themselves about whether or not Jesus could be the Christ.

At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from”... many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” (vs. 25-27,31)

There was great confusion among the people in Jerusalem. Some were looking to their religious leaders to make a judgment about Jesus, others were convinced by His miracles. This upset the Pharisees. They did not want their power usurped. So they sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus (vs.32). Again, Jesus stirs controversy wherever He shows up! It’s clear from this passage that feelings about Jesus were strong. The people understood that knowing His true identity mattered - whether or not He was the Christ had major implications. The Pharisees understood that, as well, but it’s revealing that they were not interested in getting at the truth if it led to a lessening of their own authority.

We, too, all have to come to a decision about Jesus’ identity. And we instinctively know that the ramifications of our decision will be huge. Making that leap of faith is a scary thing! We know that if we decide that He is, indeed, the Christ, the Son of God, our lives will be forever changed. For some, unfortunately, that is asking too much...

 

John 7:1-13

In John 7 we get a quick peek at Jesus’ family. After the crowds walked away, Jesus continued to stay in the region of his home. Then the Feast of the Tabernacles came. This was a time when the Jews commemorated God’s faithfulness to His people during their years spent wandering in the wilderness. The people would camp out in tents. Jon Courson calls it the “Jewish equivalent to Family Camp.” :)

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him. (John 7:1-5)

It seems here that Jesus’ brothers were almost challenging Him here, for we’re told that they did NOT believe in Him at this point. It was not until after the crucifixion and resurrection that they were actually numbered among the disciples. Jesus’ brother, Jude, would write the book that bears his name, while James was one of the church leaders in Jerusalem and wrote the Book of James. At this point in Jesus’ ministry, however, they did not believe.

Courson speculates about what it must have been like to have Jesus for an older brother. He was the most loving brother ever! Yet, they did not believe! He reminds us that while, we may be the kindest neighbor or friend or parent, there will be many who will reject our message about Christ.

Jesus tells his brothers that they can go on up to the Feast if they want to, but it’s not yet His time. The opposition of the Jewish leaders was strong because of His healing of the lame man on the Sabbath (chapter 5). Nevertheless, He did follow His brothers. While it would have been safer to wait in Galilee, Jesus was here to obey His Father, so He followed them to Judea:

Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, “Where is that man?”


Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”


Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. (vs. 12-13)

It’s interesting that the crowds had the same response to Jesus as we hear today. “He’s a good teacher. He does nice things - after all He gave us the Golden Rule.” Most of the world today would at least grudgingly acknowledge that. Others, even though they might not say it so bluntly, would have to conclude that He was deceiving or tricking the people. And, surely, if what He was saying about Himself was not true, if He was NOT the Son of God, if people could not attain eternal life through Him, then He would not be a good teacher, but a liar in open rebellion against God. He would be a blasphemer!

Jesus draws these kinds of strong responses. He doesn’t leave you with any other option but to either fully accept Him as LORD, or to completely reject Him. And if you reject Him, you really can’t claim Him to be a “good teacher.” “Good teachers” don’t purposely lead people astray. And if He were just delusional and honestly believed He was the Son of God, but wasn’t, then He would have been crazy, even psychotic! What’s it going to be: liar? lunatic? or LORD?