John Chapter 7 - Lesson 1
Unbelieving Siblings
John 7:1
(ESV) After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea,
because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
After
giving the discourse and declaration about being The Bread of Life, Jesus
continued moving about in the region of Galilee. He did not return to Judea because He was aware of the plot to kill Him.
It was not that He feared death but simply that the perfect time the Father had
ordained for His sacrifice had not yet arrived. The cross was not a surprise or mere
happenstance to Jesus. It was the plan and purpose of God from before the
foundation of the earth.
This
time Jesus remained in Galilee was approximately seven months since He spoke
about the Bread of life at Passover (April) and it is now time for the Feast of
Booths (October). This time was probably dedicated to mentoring His disciples,
those who believed He was the Messiah. Jesus invested a great deal of time training
the Apostles (messengers, witnesses) who would be responsible for telling the world His story, for the advancement of
the Gospel, after
He had been crucified, risen, and ascended.
The
Feast of Booths or Tabernacles called Sukkoth was a harvest festival celebrated
by the Jews. For an entire week, the Jews would live in booths (outdoor
shelters) to remind them how their ancestors lived in tents and temporary
shelters during the time of wandering in the wilderness, and God provided for
them. We found an excellent article on this feast and how it relates to Jesus
here:
John 7:3 So
his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also
may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be
known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not
even his brothers believed in him.
Matthew
lists Jesus’ brothers’ names as James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.
Matthew
13:54-55 (VOICE) He came to Nazareth, the town where He had grown up. He taught
at the local synagogue, and the people were astonished.
People: Is
this our little Jesus? Is this Mary’s son? Is this the carpenter’s son? Is this
Jesus, brother of James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Didn’t we just see His
sisters yesterday at the market? Where did He learn all this? Whence His power?
These men were actually only half-brothers to
the Lord Jesus because Joseph was the biological father of James, Joseph,
Simon, and Judas; but he was the bonus dad of Jesus. Of course, Jesus’
Father was God.
Jesus’
brothers were saying, “Go be a show off, so we can make a big hoo-hah that you
are our brother, and raise the roof!” They wanted Jesus to do miracles, great exploits of
Messianic proportion, in Judea like He had done in Galilee to prove He was the Son of
God. This was the brothers’ litmus test of whether this person they grew up
with was truly the Messiah – if the Jewish powers that be in Judea believed
Him, they would. His own brothers needed Jesus to pass an authenticity test of
His Messiahship and Son-ship before they would believe. We know from scripture
that at least James and Judas (Jude) ultimately came to believe Jesus but not
until He had risen from the dead!
John 7:6
Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always
here.
Jesus
said these same words – “My time has not yet come” – to His mother, Mary, at
the wedding in Cana. He constantly had to remind people, even His own family, that He
was not on His own timetable. Everybody was always trying to rush Him! Jesus, however, knew
the Father had a specific timetable for the events of His earthly life. God is
sovereign over time. The people wanted microwave, on demand, miracles and theology,
but Jesus was a slow cooker. Did Susan just call Jesus a crockpot? I think her point is
that God has a perfect plan, and we should not try to rush Him when things
don’t seem to be going our way. When they don’t seem to make sense at all. Slow cooked meat is
always more tender, juicy, and flavorful. The Bible teaches us that there are rewards for
those who respect God’s timing:
Isaiah 40:31
(NASB) Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount
up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and
not become weary.
For
Jesus’ brothers any time that THEY said was the right time, was the perfect
time. They had no direction but their own self-gratification. Jesus was laser
focused on
God’s target,
but his brothers suffered from a case of aimlessness. Since they did not yet
believe, they wanted to see more “proof,” irrefutable evidence. Jesus never “performed”
in response to unbelief. His miracles were always done as a result of someone’s
faith.
John 7:7 The
world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its
works are evil.
Jesus
identified the reason for the world’s hatred of Him. No one likes to face
the fact that they are a sinner. Jesus confronted sin boldly. Any work that is not
surrendered to Jesus’ purpose is worthless, evil. When you are not surrendered
to God’s will, you are against Him whether you realize it or not.
Matthew
12:30 (NASB) He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather
with Me scatters.
We
do not like to hear that our works done in our own power are not sufficient to
impress God, that
our self-effort is useless.
Matthew 12:46-50
(ESV) While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his
brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man
who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching
out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my
brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and
sister and mother.”
We
cannot earn our salvation. Jesus pointed out the fact that all men fall short
to help them see their need for a Savior, to enable them to trust Him. Without the power of
the Holy Spirit in one’s life, nothing of eternal substance and value can be
accomplished. This
concept will really be developed in John chapter 15, so stick with us!
John 7:8 You
go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet
fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Jesus
was saying, “You go on, boys.” Jesus did not reveal that He would follow later because He
did not want His siblings to have time to construct a billboard announcing His
arrival. He
did not them to fashion a megaphone or bullhorn and proclaim the coming of the
wonder-worker. Jesus wanted His entry into Jerusalem to be somewhat incognito
at first, so He stayed behind awhile.
John 7:10
But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not
publicly but in private.
Jesus
did not make a lot of noise as He came into the city, but entered discretely. Remember, the Jewish
religious leaders sought to kill Him, but it was not yet time; so He avoided
them. God
was intricately in control of every movement, every action of both Jesus who was
being obedient AND the evildoers who wanted Him dead. God is meticulously
weaving history to reveal HIS story.
John 7:11
The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”
The
Jews, as Jesus foreknew, were looking all over for Him because they calculated
that He would not miss the Feast of Booths. The Jews in this context are the
Leaders (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) that were hostile to Jesus. Their intent
in looking for Him was to do Him harm. The people in the next verse are the
throngs of common people there for the feast.
John 7:12
And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He
is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for
fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
The
crowd had divided opinions of Jesus. Even those who said He was a good man were not
acknowledging Him as Messiah or Son of God. Others thought He was deceptive and leading the
people in a wrong direction. But all of this was done in whispers and murmurs
because the people feared the religious authorities. It was all in
gossip-like undertones.
Q – People still debate
about Jesus, and are still divided about Him. Many acknowledge Him as a good
man but do not recognize the reality of His deity. Some still think of Jesus as
a deceiver and say the disciples stole and hid His body, denying the
resurrection. Then there are the relatively few who trust Him as Savior, Lord,
King, and God! The few who know that Jesus is the ONLY way to God the Father.
Where do you stand in the debate about Jesus Christ?
Fri. 4/1 - Lesson 2
Jesus at the Feast of Booths
John 7:14
(ESV) 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?”
Instead
of going up to Jerusalem with the throngs of people, Jesus waited until the
middle of the week of feasting to quietly enter the temple. The Jewish authorities
were seeking to kill Him, so He didn’t want to come in drawing attention to
Himself. It was a normal occurrence within the temple for a Rabbi to expound on
the truths of Law, so He began teaching the people seated around Him. As far as the
Jewish religious leaders knew, Jesus had never studied under a prominent rabbi
or had other formal religious education; but they had to acknowledge He had
clear understanding of the scriptures. So they were wondering where on earth He
had learned this stuff. He didn’t learn it on earth but in His home in Heaven! If they had believed He
was the Messiah, they would not need to wonder at all. The Lord would, of
course, understand the word of God since He was THE WORD incarnate! He was the scripture
in the flesh!
John 7:16 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.
Jesus
taught what was given to Him by the Father who had sent Him from Heaven to
reveal God to the world and ultimately to redeem His children on the cross.
He explained that those who truly desire to do God’s will are able to discern
God’s truth when they hear it. Those who trust and depend on Jesus as their source of
life, strength, and understanding are the ones who want to obey Him. This is still true
today. If we are His sheep, we will recognize the Shepherd’s voice and follow
Him (John 10:27). Jesus explains that you can know the fakes because they are
glory hounds and have their own self-serving agenda. Jesus was continually
glorifying the Father rather than pointing to Himself. It wasn’t about Jesus
but about the One who sent Him. Jesus was sent on a mission to earth by the
Father. Bottom line – the Father is God, and Jesus is God; so it’s all about
God.
John 7:19
Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek
to kill me?”
Jesus
words about the Jews not keeping the Law will become clearer a few verses down,
but He is pointing out that even they do not perfectly keep the Law – in this
instance, the traditional Sabbath regulations.
Jesus
asks the haters why they had murder in their hearts concerning Him. As we studied earlier,
Jesus (because He is God) knew they were plotting to kill Him eventually.
John 7:20
The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”
This
is not the only place in scripture where Jesus is accused of having a demon. We will see a couple of
others in chapters 8 and 10 of John, and this accusation is also found in
Matthew 12:24. Jesus was either a looney toon, inherently evil, or He was
exactly who He claimed to be, the Son of God and Messiah. No one admitted to
their murderous thoughts, but that doesn’t matter because Jesus knew the intentions
of their hearts. He could see right through them; and by the way, He can see
right through you and me as well.
John 7:21
Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it.
Jesus
is referring to the one sign He had done in their area, the healing of the lame
man by the pool of Bethesda which we studied in John 5:1-15. The point of argument
comes from the fact that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath. The Jewish
leaders considered this “work”; and, therefore, forbidden.
John 7:22
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.”
A
baby was supposed to be circumcised at eight days old. If the eighth day
happened to fall on the Sabbath, they still observed this holy command. They performed the
surgery which would be considered “work” on the prescribed day even though
technically that would be breaking Sabbath traditions. Jesus asked them how
they could begrudge the lame man soundness of body on the Sabbath if they broke tradition
for circumcisions. Surely, it couldn’t be wrong to make a man whole. Jesus is
saying, “Don’t jump to conclusions. Assess the facts!” For example, I have a
friend whose Christian band plays in a bar regularly. Don’t be quick to
judge…they play Christian music and witness to the patrons. Jesus may have done
“work” on the Sabbath, but can healing someone ever be wrong or unrighteous?
This is what He was asking them to consider. In healing the man, Jesus was worshiping
and bringing glory to God. How could this be wrong at any time or any place?
Q
– All three of the other Gospels relate an occasion when Jesus declared that He
was Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus knew His actions were righteous and that His accusers
were steeped in traditions of men rather than the true spirit of the Old
Testament Law. Do we sometimes judge people based on the particular traditions
of our denominations even though they may not be strictly Biblical? Before
judging others look at your own behavior and take time to consider that the
Lord knows a person’s motives and only He can truly judge. Be slow to form a
hasty opinion of someone, and take time to examine the fruit of their walk.
Gospel of John 7 - Lesson 3
Is This the Christ, The Anointed One?
John 7:25
(ESV) 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.”
The
people were aware of the Jewish Religious Leaders’ desire to kill Jesus. So they wondered why
the authorities did not accost Him and lay their hands on Him to arrest Him. Then they asked the
startling question, “Can it be that the authorities really know that this is
the Christ?” The
opinions of the people and even the leadership were all over the place. Between
the leadership and the people there was no consensus regarding Jesus’ true
identity. If Jesus really was a fraud, why weren’t
the Jewish leaders arresting Him and trying Him for blasphemy? If He was truly
the Messiah, why weren’t they endorsing Him? There was a tradition that the
Messiah would appear suddenly on the scene based on two passages that the Jews
understood incorrectly. The people were basing an entire theology, something they were
going to hang their faith on, upon a misinterpretation of scripture convoluted
by the traditions of men. The people knew Jesus had been raised in Nazareth and
trained as a carpenter, so they did not believe He could be the Messiah.
John 7:28 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.”
Jesus
was not addressing what region or city He came from or refuting the fact
that they knew of His life on earth. Jesus was explaining that He came from God the
Father, not to carry out His own agenda but His Father’s plan. He stated that they did
not know the One who sent Him. So Jesus was telling them they had no relationship with
God. They
had much knowledge about God and went through the motions of temple worship,
but the only way to truly KNOW God is to recognize Him in the person of His
Son, Jesus. He had come to reveal God the Father, but they refused to open
their eyes and hearts and see Him. The people Jesus was having this conversation
with had no personal intimacy with God. They practiced rituals without
relationship.
Jesus,
of course, did know the Father intimately because they are one. Later, in John
17, we will have the joy of studying Jesus’ high priestly prayer in which He
asked the Father to make us (believers) one as He and the Father are one.
Whoo-hoo!
I’m licking my chops at the thought of it!
John 7:30 So
they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his
hour had not yet come.
Again,
John underscores God’s sovereign orchestration of times and events to fulfill
His will. They
did not arrest Jesus at this time, not because they were incapable of doing so,
but because God intervened. God had determined the specific moment for the Lamb of God to be
sacrificed. It
was not yet time for the cross. Jesus’ ministry on earth was not complete.
John 7:31
Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears,
will he do more signs than this man has done?”
Despite
all the confusion about Jesus’ identity and origin, many people believed. Those
whose eyes were opened by God, trusted in Jesus’ words. It was not just Jesus’
words that drew the people but the supernatural manifestation of wondrous
works. The
signs Jesus performed were God’s way of validating Him as Messiah. Even if there were an
“all you can eat buffet” of miracles, there would be some people who left
unsatisfied. Those
who are only interested in what God can do for them rather than realizing they
are sinners under the wrath of a Holy God and in need of a gracious Savior,
miss the point entirely. The point is to surrender to the will of the Creator, to become clay in the
hands of the Master Potter, and allow Him to spin us on His wheel into what He
predestined we should be. Those who believed as a result of the signs were enabled to
understand that Jesus was truly the Son of God.
John 7:32
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief
priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
It
looked like the time had come to complete God’s plan as the chief priests and
Pharisees moved to arrest Jesus. However, God’s clock doesn’t move any faster
because people try to make it do so. Men cannot fast forward the hands of God’s
predetermined time for an event.
John 7:33
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.”
Jesus
explained that He would soon be going back to the One who sent Him. We know He was talking
of returning to His home in Heaven, but the Jews did not understand. He said they would look
for Him, but not find Him. No, Jesus was not playing “Hide and Seek”. He knew they would be
looking on earth, and He would be gone! Only those who believed Jesus was the Son of
God, and trusted what He taught could someday follow Him to Heaven. Many of the people He
was talking to would never believe. Therefore, they would never be able to go
where He was going.
John 7:35
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’?”
The
Jewish leaders thought surely they were a powerful enough group to track Jesus
down wherever He might go in Israel. They wondered if He might go to Greek
(Gentile) nations and preach to them. The Jews considered themselves to be good
detectives because they thought they would have the intellect, tenacious
resolve, and means to find Him wherever He might go. They could not fathom a
place He could hide where they could not follow. However, they were thinking in
terms of earthly geography. But Jesus was going back to the Father, and there they
surely could not follow because they lacked the faith to do so. Even those who did
ultimately believe and trust in Jesus would be unable to follow until the Father called
them home.
Q
– Two things from this lesson:
1)
There was much disagreement about whether Jesus was truly God’s
Son. This is still true today. Has the Holy Spirit led you to the conclusion
that Jesus truly is God and is the only way to live forever with the Father?
2)
God has a perfect timeline for all of History. Do you ever want
the Lord to hurry up and answer a prayer? Wait on His timing, and you will be
glad you did!
Gospel of John 7 - Lesson 4
Rivers of Living Water
John 7:37
(ESV) 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.
There
was a tradition that each day of the Feasts of Booths water would be drawn from
the pool of Siloam and carried to the temple to be poured out as a part of the
morning offering. As the priests carrying the golden goblet of water entered
the inner courts of the temple, trumpets sounded three times and the crowd
recited Isaiah 12:3.
Isaiah 12:3
(NASB) Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.
On
the last day of the feast, Jesus used this time of pouring out the water to
make a clear invitation to come to Him as the provider of living water. His
words were reminiscent of Isaiah 55:1 though not a direct quote.
Isaiah 55:1
(NASB) “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money
come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
The
Jewish people listening to Him would recognize those scriptures and some would understand
His meaning. His statement probably made
some of their hearts burn within them.
John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water.’”
When
Jesus speaks of the scripture foretelling rivers of living water, He does not
quote a specific verse or passage. Ezekiel 47:1-9 speaks of a trickle flowing
out from the temple that becomes deeper and deeper and flows out farther and
farther. It begins at the prophet’s ankles and ends up being a river he had to
swim in. All that the river touched lived. Zechariah 13:1 has a similar message
about a fountain, again flowing water:
Zechariah
13:1 (NASB) “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and
for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.
A
river has a continuous flow. The river, being representative of God working in
the believer’s life, is a conduit of His love and grace. Oswald Chambers said of
John 7:38, “Jesus did not say – ‘he that believeth in Me shall realize the
blessing of the fullness of God,’ but – ‘he that believeth in Me out of him
shall escape everything he receives.’” He also stated, “If we believe in Jesus,
it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts.” However, as
Susan already said, a river flows continuously. God’s living water never ceases
to flow through us, so when we pour forth into others’ lives, we are then
replenished. If we are experiencing times of drought, we need only rest in Him
and wait for His rain to fall. It ALWAYS will!
John 7:39 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
prophet Joel foretold the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all those who trust
in Christ, first
manifest on the day of Pentecost as a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire and recorded in Acts 2.
This occurred after Jesus had been crucified, risen, and ascended to the Father
to return to His glorified state.
Joel 2:28 (NASB) “It will come about
after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all
mankind;
And your sons and daughters will
prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
Peter
quoted this passage from Joel in his sermon to the people to explain how the disciples
were enabled to speak in many languages that all might hear the gospel in their
native tongue.
Jesus
left us here with the job of being His witnesses and ambassadors. The rivers of living
water, the Holy Spirit, is our empowerment to fulfill our purpose. Jesus is proclaiming
Himself to be the sole source of the living water. He is the Word incarnate,
and He is the thirst quencher. He is the Living Bread and the Living Water.
Your hunger is filled, and your thirst is quenched when you surrender your
life to the Lord Jesus.
When
Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink,” He was giving a
pattern for receiving the gift of salvation. What does He mean by thirsting? To be spiritually
thirsty is to recognize that there is a separation, a disconnect between a holy
God and yourself. And that disconnect is caused by sin. To thirst is to realize
that you are a sinner, a person who falls short of God’s holy perfection and
that you are unable to reach up to Him on your own. You realize the water
fountain is twenty feet tall, and you are only three foot, two inches. No way
you can jump up and drink! Jesus says, “Come to
me,” because Jesus is the only way to the Father, the only one who can lift you
up. He is the way of escape from sin, separation from God, by receiving His
invitation and creating unity with God. Jesus is the bridge between the Father
and humanity. Or
in my earlier illustration, He is the big brother who lifts you up to the
twenty-foot high fountain. When you place your trust in the One who is offering
you the water, He will enable you to drink.
John 7:40
When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the
Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”
There
were some people who were only ready to acknowledge Jesus as a prophet but not necessarily the
Son of God or equal to God. Now there were others who believed He was the Messiah, the
Anointed One foretold in Scripture. So some were drawn closer to trusting in Jesus.
John 7:41b 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?”
As
far as the people knew, Jesus was from the village of Nazareth in the region of
Galilee, but the Old Testament predicted the Messiah would come from Bethlehem
which was located in the region of Judea. The people were focused on geography because they did not
realize He was born in Bethlehem. They were majoring on the minor instead of
majoring on the major, the fact that God had validated Jesus through signs and
wonders and his exhibiting unique knowledge of the scriptures when teaching in
the temple. They
did not seek out the facts, and did not even ask Jesus where He was born.
John 7:43 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.
There
were believers and doubters, the two camps that still exist today. As preachers often say,
you are either saved or you are lost (not saved). There were
fence-sitters, doubters, and then there were those who out and out rejected
Jesus as Messiah. The fence-sitters were still not believers but were open to
listening some more if given the opportunity, but those who had made up their
minds that Jesus was not the Christ wanted to arrest Him. The sovereignty of the
Father prevented them from arresting Jesus every time until the appointed time.
Q – Are you thirsty for
something this world cannot supply? Is there a hunger within you for a
fulfilling life that seems out of your reach? The Living Bread and Living Water
that can supply all you are missing are found in the person of Jesus Christ.
Trust Him to lift you to the Father today!
Friday 4/8 - John 7 – Lesson 5
Nicodemus Sticks Up for Jesus
John 7:45
(ESV) The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to
them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke
like this man!”
The
officers the Jewish leaders had sent out to arrest Jesus returned without a
prisoner. The
chief priests and Pharisees demanded to know why they failed to execute their
mission. The
officers declared they had never known anyone as articulate at Jesus on
whatever subject He was teaching on. They may also have been struck by the authority
with which He spoke as was often the case with His listeners such as those in
Mark 1:21.
Mark 1:21 (NASB)They
were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes.
He
expounded scripture with complete confidence. Of course He did. He inspired the
writers of the Old Testament. Perhaps the officers were becoming inclined to
believe Him.
John 7:47
The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the
authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not
know the law is accursed.”
The
authorities were basically saying the crowd was stupidly deceived because Jesus
couldn’t be the real Messiah since they, the religious leaders, had not
endorsed Him! He
had not been authenticated by the high priests and Pharisees as the religious
governing authorities. They believed the crowd was illiterate of the meaning of
the law.
Not only did they call the crowd ignorant for believing Jesus but pronounced
them accursed. I think they had things backwards! Those who do NOT believe
Jesus are the ones who are accursed. The religious leaders were actually speaking of
their own fate, the fate for all those who do not believe that Jesus is the Son
of God,
who reject God’s gift of grace.
John 7:50
Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,
51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning
what he does?”
You
may remember Nicodemus from the discussion about being born again in John
chapter three. Not sure if he was a closet believer at this point or was just
keeping an open mind. However, he accused the leadership of condemning Jesus
without the fairness of a trial. Nicodemus was giving them an opportunity to
think about it, check it out, before they jumped off a cliff and died.
Actually, we all live forever. Where the rubber meets the road is you can live
forever with God in life, liberty, and love; or you can live forever separated
from God where there is screaming, weeping, and gnashing of teeth.
John 7:52
They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises
from Galilee.”
The
priests and Pharisees responded to Nicodemus with the trite assumption that
Jesus was from Galilee and challenged him to search scripture to see if there
were any prophecies of a prophet from that region. No hearing, so no
opportunity to hear that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem according to the
prophecy found in Micah 5:2:
Micah 5:2 (NASB)“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephratha, Too little
to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be
ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
It
was the Pharisees who were ignorant, not Nicodemus. They had not checked their
facts to find out that Jesus was not originally from Galilee but was born in
Bethlehem. In Hebrew, Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” I see…the Bread of Life
was born in the “House of Bread.” Cool!
Q – Have you made up
your mind about Jesus? Are you examining the facts or just listening to others’
opinions? Read the Bible. Stick with us in studying John. You cannot stay on
the fence, walking a tightrope. Failure to trust Him is in fact rejecting Him.
There is no middle ground.
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