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Reading John 7:25-52 where the people mutter about who Jesus is and what to do with Him, because they don't have the Spirit of God. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
When Jesus spoke to the multitudes, the people argued about who he was. Some said he was the Messiah, others said he was a deceiver. And people will continue to be confused about Jesus, unless they receive the Spirit.
When we understand the text.
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's word, that we may be filled with the knowledge of his will. For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.
Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the Gospel of John, at chapter 7, and I'm going to begin reading in verse 25, and read through to the end of the chapter. The Apostle John wrote, Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said of Jesus, Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.
So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, You know me, and you know where I come from, but I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.
So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.
You will seek me, and you will not find me. Where I am, you cannot come. The Jews said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?
What does he mean by saying, You will seek me, and you will not find me? And where I am, you cannot come? On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
When they heard these words, some of the people said, This really is the prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?
So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees and said to them, Why did you not bring him?
The officers answered, No one ever spoke like this man. The Pharisees answered them, Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before and who was one of them, he was a Pharisee, said to them, Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? They replied, Are you from Galilee too?
Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee. So this is this is going to be a large chunk that I'm going to knock out today, especially considering how much I had focused on previous portions of chapter seven up to today's lesson.
But we've mostly been focusing on the discourses of Christ, what he has said and the extent to which he has taught the things that he has taught here. He teaches very little. This is mostly the reaction of the crowd that we're looking at here.
So I don't think it's as necessary for us to be as expository, you know, as exposing of the text. Let's look at verse twenty five. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
And here he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from. And when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.
So first of all, they say, is not this the man whom they seek to kill? Remember going back to chapter five, Jesus healed a man by the healing pool on the Sabbath, a man who was lame for over 30 years.
He got up, rolled up his mat, walked away, and the people hated him for this. They wanted to kill him because he said he had been sent by the father. And this was Jesus equating himself with God. That's the way they interpreted it.
For Jesus to say that he was the son of God was to say that he was God. So people wanted to kill him for blasphemy. But he broke the law on the Sabbath. He did work on the Sabbath. He made he told this guy to stand up, roll up his mat and walk away.
Well, that's work. He shouldn't have been doing that. And of course, this is from the Pharisees who had been adding to the law. There was nothing in the law that said, don't carry your mat on the Sabbath.
And Jesus even points out, according to the law of Moses, you were given circumcision, not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers. This was back in verse 22, 22. And you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
So eight days after he is born, he is supposed to be circumcised. If that day, that eighth day falls on the Sabbath, then he still receives circumcision. 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. So you're just talking about a part of him. And you fulfill the law of Moses by cutting off that part of him on the Sabbath.
If it so happens to fall on the Sabbath, I made a man's whole body well on the Sabbath. And yet you seek to kill me over this. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. Verse 24. Again, this is Jesus saying, use some common sense here, folks.
You're so stuck on your legalism. And legalism is very self-centered because it is thinking more highly of oneself than one ought to think. Thinking of oneself as being pure and mighty because they have an ability to follow this law or keep this commandment.
And therefore they are holier than thou. They are better than everybody else. Legalism is very self-focused. It really is not about glorifying and honoring God. So what's better to do on the Sabbath?
To leave a sick man sick or to care for the sick even on a day such as the Sabbath? Which would be more honoring to the Lord? And the passage that I mentioned to you yesterday was out of Matthew chapter 23 when Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees and said to them, you need to be considering the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness.
These you ought to have done without neglecting the other parts of the law. In the next chapter, Jesus says you judge according to the flesh. So again, don't judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
This also hearkens back to Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 11, speaking of the Christ, Isaiah says, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit and the spirit of the Lord shall be upon him, shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Verse three, and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear. And again, this is talking about Jesus. Jesus doesn't judge according to the senses.
He judges by the spirit. That's simply what Isaiah is saying there. Jesus judges mind and heart, and he knows the intentions of a man. It goes on in Isaiah 11, four, but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.
And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness, the belt of his loins, the righteousness of God, because he is holy.
Jesus is holy and without blemish faithfulness, because he does all things according to the will of the father. And that's summarizing simply what Jesus had said previously, that he does what he has seen his father do.
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. John 7, 18, kind of the summary of the last couple of lessons that we've done there.
So the people say this is the man who the teachers have sought to kill. And here he is speaking openly, John 7, 26, and they say nothing to him. And can it be that the authorities really know this is the Christ?
So it's kind of like the people are going, have they changed their minds about him now? Here he is in the temple speaking openly and no one's laying their hands on him. So maybe they actually think he's the Christ now.
But we know where this man comes from, verse 27. And when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from. Now, as you probably caught from the opening reading, as we go a little bit further on here in chapter seven, eventually the people say, but wait, we thought the Messiah was coming from Bethlehem.
But here they're saying we don't know where he comes from. It's just two different groups of people that are talking here. Some actually did believe, according to teachings of some of the Pharisees, some of the teachers of the law, some believed that they would not know where the Messiah came from until he started doing amazing, miraculous things.
And then perhaps at that point it would be known where he came from. But it's like he would just spontaneously arrive on the scene and he would liberate the people from the Romans or, you know, whatever government was oppressing them.
And at this particular time it would have been Rome. And so here he is sweeping with his might and nobody knows where he comes from. He's just suddenly appeared just as the prophets said that he would.
Well, the prophets may have been talking about Christ's second coming, not his first coming when they're talking about him coming upon them suddenly, though even here Christ's arrival is unexpected. The people weren't looking for him.
So in that sense, it is a fulfillment of what was said by the prophets. I've talked about this when we were like looking at Matthew chapter two, for example, with the arrival of the Magi. The Magi were looking for him because they had the Old Testament scriptures, but the people had grown dark in their hearts and were not listening to the word of the Lord as was delivered by the prophets.
So the arrival of Jesus, even his first arrival came upon them suddenly and unexpected. So then going on, verse 28, Jesus proclaimed as he taught in the temple, you know me and you know where I come from, but I have not come of my own accord.
He who sent me is true and him you do not know. I know him for I come from him and he sent me. Jesus saying, you know me and you know where I come from. He's speaking in an earthly sense, but then he says, I have not come of my own accord.
He starts speaking in a heavenly sense. He who sent me is true. God the father and him. You do not know. You know where I come from, Galilee, but the one who sent me, God the father, you don't know him.
I know him for I come from him and he sent me. So they were seeking to arrest him because here once again, Jesus is equating himself with God. That's the way that they perceive what it is that he's saying.
Go back to chapter five where it says that plainly, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. It was not yet time for him to be arrested and tried and put to death. Yet many of the people believed in him.
They said, when the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? So it's kind of like they're, they're trying to discern. They're trying to judge with right judgment. Look at all the miracles and the signs this guy does.
Isn't this what we're expecting from the Christ and the Messiah? How can the coming Messiah be doing more than this guy is already doing? So if this is going to be the sign of the Messiah that he's doing great signs and wonders, this guy's doing a lot.
John will even say at the end of his gospel, if, if everything had been written down of all that Jesus did in like the three years of his earthly ministry, there would not be enough books to contain all of the amazing stuff that he did.
We have so much in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and here John is even covering more things that Jesus did. Mostly what he said, we're, we're looking more at what Jesus taught in the gospel of John than we saw in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
And yet with all that we have read about him, even in the four gospels, there was so much more to be told so much that not even all the books could contain what Jesus did. So then going on in verse 32, the Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Jesus and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer. And then I am going to him who sent me, you will seek me and you will not find me where I am. You cannot come. And it's almost like Jesus saying this distracted them from, from what they were there to do.
They had come to arrest him. And here he's saying, Hey, I'm only going to be with you a little while longer. They kind of stop and like, really, where is it that you're going to go that we can't go and we won't find you.
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? The dispersion is the term that was used to refer to those Jews that did not live in Judea or in Jerusalem.
They were among the dispersion. They were dispersed among the Greeks. So is that where it is that he's going to go and then we won't be able to find him? What does he mean by saying, you will seek me and you will not find me and where I am, you cannot come.
Well, we know the answer to that. Jesus is going to ascend back to his father and they can't go there and nor will they find him when they seek him because they will be seeking him with the mind of a natural man rather than with the spirit of God.
First Corinthians two, the spiritual things are spiritually discerned and it requires the spiritual or the spirit himself to understand those things. And that's actually where we go next in the gospel of John for John talks about the giving of the Holy Spirit who had not yet come.
John 737 on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
This is very similar to what Jesus said to the woman at the well in John chapter four. And now he says it to all of the people. If anyone is thirsty, if you are seeking the spirit, if you want God and you want more of God, let him come to me and drink.
Isaiah 55 one, come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And that's what Jesus is quoting. He's quoting right from the prophets. Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
Now this he said about the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Jesus being raised up into the heavens and seated at the right hand of God.
And it was only after that he would receive or he would send rather the Holy Spirit, which would fall upon his apostles on the day of Pentecost. Verse 40, when they heard these words, some of the people said, this really is the prophet.
Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, is the Christ to come from Galilee again? Again, the word Christ means Messiah. So this is the promised Messiah of the prophets that the one who was going to come and deliver us.
Some said is the Christ to come from Galilee because they knew that Jesus came from Galilee. He was from Nazareth. Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was.
Now, this is not a contradiction to what we read in Matthew and in Luke, Matthew, chapter two, Luke, chapter two, where it says that Jesus was in Bethlehem at Luke two in particular. He was born in Bethlehem.
Well, here John is saying that that the Messiah is going to come from Bethlehem and the people are saying that Jesus didn't come from Bethlehem. So is this a contradiction? No, because remember, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph and Jesus fled to get away from the wrath of Herod and they went down to Egypt.
And then when Joseph and Mary were coming back up, they found out that Herod's son was reigning. And so Joseph was afraid to settle back into Bethlehem again, which was just four miles from Jerusalem.
So instead, they went back up to Nazareth, which was where Joseph and Mary came from in the first place. And this fulfilling the scriptures that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. So since that was the place where Joseph and Mary were from originally and Jesus grew up there, that's where the people associated him being from.
They did not think of him as being born in Bethlehem. There were some that knew that. But for the most part, the common knowledge about who Jesus was and where he came from was that he came from Galilee, that he was born in Galilee.
Jesus did not come from Bethlehem. He was born there, but he came from Nazareth. So how could this man be the Christ? And it says in verse 43, there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him again because his time had not yet come.
Verse 45, the officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, why did you not bring him? Remember, they went to arrest him and they were kind of distracted. And the officers answered, no one ever spoke like this man.
And the Pharisees answered them. Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? And it just so happens there was one such guy whose mind was kind of changing about Jesus.
And I'll talk about him here in just a moment. Verse 49. But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. So this is the Pharisees saying, if they really knew the law, they would know that we have to arrest this guy because he's blaspheming.
He's saying that he is God. He needs to be arrested and put to death. And the people don't know that that's what the law says. So they're accursed because they don't know the law and they're not following it.
And the people were asking themselves, could this be the Messiah? Could this be the Christ? The Pharisees are going, no, you guys are accursed because you're not paying attention to the law. And then verse 50, Nicodemus.
Remember, according to John 3, Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees. Nicodemus, who had gone up to Jesus before and who was one of the Pharisees, said to them, does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?
Oh, my goodness, Nicodemus with the sound reasoning here, the man who is judging with right judgment, isn't he? This guy's mind is changing about Jesus. He's not with the rest of the Pharisees. So when the Pharisees say, have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
Yeah, there is one such guy. Nicodemus is that guy. And as a matter of fact, when we get to the end of this gospel, the end of John, we're kind of given a suggestion that Nicodemus did come to believe that Jesus is indeed the Christ.
Nicodemus asks, verse 51, does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? Hey, how about that? Due process is a godly concept. We're kind of losing that sense, even among evangelicalism in the American culture today.
People are losing a sense of due process. We see videos that come out on social media. We think that we immediately have to react and make some sort of judgment about those things. And oftentimes that judgment is really quite wrong.
And there are a lot of teachers rushing to judgment who are now becoming embarrassed because they did that very thing. And I would love to spend a little bit more time on that. But there would probably be another opportunity for us to delve into that a little bit more for now.
We're done with the lesson today. And so we'll come back to the study of John hitting chapter eight. Well, we got one verse to finish up in chapter seven, but I'll talk about why that verse is singled out from the reading today and what we're going to be looking at in chapter eight when we come back to our study on Monday.
Let's conclude with prayer. Our great God, we thank you for your spirit that we might discern rightly those things that are pleasing to you and those things that are worldly, which we should stay away from and abstain, not giving ourselves over to the passions of our flesh, but desiring with the spirit of God that is within us to please our God, to live holy lives, upright, godly in this present age, convict our hearts, keep us from evil, help us to do the thing that we know pleases you in Jesus name.
Amen.
You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.
On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.