“Mixed Responses” – FBC Morning Light (10/30/2024)

Well, a good Wednesday morning to you. Today in our Bible reading we're reading Matthew chapter 8 and a parallel account in Luke chapter 9, just a few verses in each of those passages.

And then the bulk of our reading is in John chapter 7 and then on into chapter 8.

And what I want us to see today is that, well, you've heard the old adage, the more things change the more they stay the same.

Well, that's applied to a lot of different things, and it's applied to politics, it's applied to, yeah, and so on.

But it's also applied to how people respond to Jesus. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

We have come through in the last couple thousand years the period of the

Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the period of the Reformation, we've come through the period of the

Enlightenment, we've come through the last century and a half of intellectualism, secularism, and all the rest of this stuff.

And the more things change, the more they stay the same. We've transformed this world from one that was fully agrarian to one that is largely, in most countries, industrial and even now the information age.

A lot of changes in the last couple thousand years, right? But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

And this is especially true in relationship to Jesus. And I want to just look at this passage in John chapter 7, where Jesus is in Jerusalem, and you see very clearly a variety of responses to Jesus, and they all exist today.

People respond to Jesus in the very same ways today. So let's notice some of these.

Some respond to Jesus with skepticism, and even perhaps an angry skepticism.

Let me show you what I mean. In verse 20, Jesus had just said, Did not

Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me? Jesus knew that this was the objective of the chief priests and the

Pharisees and so forth, but why do you seek to kill me? But the people answered and said, You have a demon.

Who is it that's seeking to kill you? So rather than believing what

Jesus is saying, they respond with hostility. You have a demon and skepticism.

Who's out to kill you? That's one way that Jesus has responded to.

And then in verses 25 through 27, there are some who respond to Jesus with sincere questions.

Let me explain. So some of them from Jerusalem said, Is this not he whom they seek to kill?

See, they knew, right? Earlier you had those responses. Nobody's trying to kill you.

And now there are some who are hearing Jesus and say, Wait a minute, isn't this the one that they're wanting to kill?

But look, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing to them. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the

Messiah? You see, they're sincere, and they're wondering, Is this man really the

Christ? Is this really the Messiah? Then they go on, However, we know where this man is from.

Like, they knew he came from Nazareth, but when the Christ comes, no one knows where he's from.

So they're not hostile to Jesus, they're not dismissing him, they're not just outright rejecting him.

They're sincerely questioning. There are people who hear about Jesus, they hear about the

Bible, and they don't just flagrantly reject him. But they wonder, they question,

Isn't he just really a man? I mean, I just heard that there's all kinds of myths about him. They're sincere, and they're questioning.

Some are just, frankly, intrigued. So the officers, the chief priests and the

Pharisees, they sent officers, guards, temple guards, to seize

Jesus and take him, and we'll say more about that in just a minute, and these officers go, and they hear

Jesus speak, and they come back empty -handed, and the officers came to the chief priests and the

Pharisees, who said to them, Why haven't you brought him? And the officers answered,

No man ever spoke like this man. They are intrigued.

They are dumbfounded that what Jesus has said has struck a chord with them.

But then there are those who respond to Jesus with just outright hostility and flagrant unbelief, and that would be the part of these religious leaders, the

Pharisees and the chief priests. After all, verse 32 says, When the Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Jesus, and the

Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. They sent officers to take him.

Why? They wanted to silence him. They hated him, and that's going to become clear, more and more clear, as we get closer to crucifixion day.

But then, as we saw in verse 45, the officers come back, they don't take

Jesus, and then the Pharisees, in verse 47, answered them when they said,

We've never heard anybody like this. They answered him and said, Are you all so deceived? Have any of the rulers or the

Pharisees believed in him? You know what they're saying? We're united in our unbelief, in our rejection of this

Jesus. And then, finally, there is a minority.

In verse 31, it says, Many of the people believed in him. Many of the people believed in him.

There's never been a time in the history of man when everybody believed in him.

There's really, honestly, never been a time when the majority have believed in Jesus, truly, savingly believed in Jesus.

But many have. These same responses carry on to this day.

Some will believe. Most will reject, in some form or another. Some are curious, sincerely questioning.

Some, skeptics, just dismiss him in anger. I trust that you are one of those whom

God has graciously touched your heart, and you believe in him. Our Father and our

God, we thank you for the Lord Jesus. We thank you for your grace that calls many to believe.

I pray that as we continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ, so would our faith and trust in Jesus our

Savior increase, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, listen. Have a good rest of your