The Common Response to Jesus

Laurel Bible Church

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And so as we go back into chapter seven, I think it's helpful to think about the immediate context of this situation.

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We're at the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles, named so because it is a celebration, one of the three annual celebrations or festivals, commands from the

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Lord to worship, where the people would come to Jerusalem and they would essentially set up these little booths, little tabernacles, and they would have communion, they would commune with one another rather, but have fellowship and they would praise

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Yahweh for his provision. And it was a sign of gratitude because of the provision that God gave the

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Israelites when they were in the wilderness as they left Egypt. They had set up these little booths in the wilderness.

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So this was a commemoration of God's faithfulness towards them, hence the Feast of Booths or the

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Feast of Tabernacles. But also it's good for us to think about the timing. We're a bit now into this eyewitness account.

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And what we have here is this new season, a new festival. So following the Passover of chapter six, now we have this

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Feast of Booths. This would have taken place around September or October. The timing matters.

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Just six months from now there will be a new Passover and it is at that time that the Lord would be crucified.

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So that's sort of the immediate context. Imagine for a moment walking into the streets of first century

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Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths, one of the most celebrated times on the Jewish calendar.

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Crowds are bustling, the aroma of food fills the air, and everywhere you turn, voices echo in anticipation of the festivities.

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And yet in the midst of all this, a tension hangs thick. A question that cuts through the noise.

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Who is this man, Jesus? John 7 invites us into this scene and what we find is strikingly familiar to the world we live in today.

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Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the Messiah sent from heaven, stands among the people, making bold claims about his identity and his mission.

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But instead of clarity and unity, we see confusion, division, and hostility.

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In this passage, we meet four groups of people, Jesus' brothers, the crowds, the religious leaders, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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Each of them responds to Jesus in ways that reveal the human heart's struggle to grapple with his identity.

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His brothers scoff at him with skepticism. The crowds follow him with shallow enthusiasm.

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The religious leaders plot against him in hardened rejection. And the people of Jerusalem are torn between doubt and belief.

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And what about us? Do we not see these same responses in our world today?

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Some mock Jesus, reducing him to nothing more than a man of myths.

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Others follow him, but only for the benefits they think he brings. Still others oppose him outright, rejecting his claims as a threat to their autonomy, to their self -sufficiency.

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And then there are those who are wrestling, torn between belief and disbelief, haunted by the question, could this be

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God? John brings us face -to -face with two dilemmas that lie at the heart of this passage.

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The problem of dense confusion and the problem of divided conviction. These dilemmas are not just ancient challenges.

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They are alive in our hearts and our culture today. And unless we confront these problems, as Jesus does here, we risk being left in the same state as Jerusalem, a state of utter despair.

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So as we step into this text, I want to ask you, how will you respond to Jesus?

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Will you dismiss him, oppose him, or walk away undecided?

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Or will you see him for who he truly is, the Messiah, the

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Son of God, the one who came to bring light into our darkness? So let's open our hearts to his words, and let's hope that God would grant us clarity and conviction where there is confusion and doubt.

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For the stakes are eternal, and the question demands an answer. The Apostle John records

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Jesus' interaction with the inhabitants of Jerusalem as they question Jesus' identity, so that you can see people's common response to Jesus' unbelief and skepticism, and avoid making the same mistake, so that you can trust

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Jesus with your future eternal hope and your present earthly need.

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And so as we think about this passage, we looked at the immediate context, but I want to kind of zoom out a little bit and think about the biblical background and the big picture context.

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In this passage, the Apostle records for us some questions that point us back to John's purpose, and so if you've been attending the men's ministry, we've been reading this book about interpretation, and we learned this principle, it's the principle of authorial ineffectiveness.

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It's like, what in the world does that mean? Well, it just means that whatever you're reading should always tie back to what the purpose of the writer was.

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There's no verses in Scripture that are divorced from the author's purpose for writing.

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And so that's what I want to do for us as we look at verses 25 through 31. Look at just the idea here that they're struggling with.

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There's three questions in the passage. Verse 25, is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill?

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Well, John doesn't give us the answer, but the implication is, yes, it is him. That's the one they're trying to kill, yes.

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Verse 26, do the rulers truly know that this is the Christ? No, they don't know that.

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No, they don't know that. And then finally, as we move along in the narrative, another question.

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When the Christ comes, will he do more signs than this man did? The answer is no.

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There's not going to be another person that comes and does more sign wonders than Jesus Christ and at the time of this writing.

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And so in this passage, these three questions really point us to a reality that ties us back to John's purpose for writing.

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What is consequently, as we answer these questions, there is no one else to come. What is the purpose?

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Well, it takes us to John's statement. There are many signs that he did that are not recorded, but these are recorded so that you may know that Jesus is the son of God and what?

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That by believing in him, you may have life. And so that is what is going on here in the big picture.

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These verses, as we read them, and Jesus's statement about himself being sent from the father, cannot be removed from the author's purpose.

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And we really need to go back to the way that Jesus started his earthly ministry. So a supporting scripture here would be

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Luke chapter four in the gospel of Luke. We see this. It says he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the

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Sabbath and stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.

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And he opened the scroll and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the

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Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

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He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the

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Lord. And he closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them, today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

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Very important. This is how Jesus started his earthly ministry. And for you note takers, that's

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Isaiah 61 verse one and two. Think about what he's saying. He says the spirit of the

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Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, meaning the poor in spirit, to the broken hearted.

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Very important. This will be repeated after we see some events take place in the eyewitness account of the gospels.

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We can even think about the John the Baptist connection. Jesus really repeated what he said here as he started his ministry.

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We can look to the gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 11. It says this, now when

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John in prison, referring to the Baptist, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for someone else?

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And Jesus answered and said to them, go and report to John what you hear and see.

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Listen carefully to what Jesus tells John the Baptist. And it's the same thing he said in the synagogue.

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Tell John, go and report to him what you have witnessed. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

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And blessed is he who does not take offense at me. So again, the broken hearted have the gospel preached to them.

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And so Jesus says, don't look for anyone else. Look for what I've done and the signs match what was said about me.

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Going all the way back to the prophet. And so the Apostle John records

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Jesus's interaction with the inhabitants of Jerusalem as they question

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Jesus's identity. Three realities about Jesus that demand your faith.

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And from verses 25 through 31, we really uncover three profound realities about Jesus Christ that compel us to move from unbelief and skepticism to confident trust in him.

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Real conviction. We see disbelief, we see declaration, and we see dominion.

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These realities unfold as the crowd questions his identity. Jesus reveals his divine mission and God's sovereign plan unfolds before our eyes.

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Three realities about Jesus that demand your faith. Number one, disbelief. The questions of the crowd reveal confusion.

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We'll see that in verses 25 through 27. The crowd in Jerusalem is filled with speculation and contradiction.

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Their questions betray their spiritual blindness and earthly reasoning. They recognize

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Jesus's boldness but doubt his authority. They see his power but cannot reconcile it with their preconceived notions of what the

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Messiah should be. How often do we do the same? We allow our doubts, our limited understanding, and cultural assumptions to cloud our view of who

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Jesus truly is. This confusion is the birthplace of unbelief.

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And number two, declaration. The teaching of Jesus declares his origin.

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We'll look at that in verses 28 and 29. Jesus confronts their confusion with clarity.

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His teaching reveals his divine origin and mission. He is not merely a carpenter's son from Nazareth.

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He is the one sent by the Father from heaven. His words carry divine authority because he speaks not on his own but as the eternal

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Son who knows the Heavenly Father perfectly. And this is the turning point.

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Will you trust the testimony of Jesus? His teaching is not just information, it is a revelation.

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To reject his words is to reject God himself. And number three, dominion.

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The sovereignty of God secures his mission. We'll see that in verses 30 and 31.

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Despite the crowd's confusion and the leader's hostility, God's sovereign plan stands unshaken.

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The timing of Jesus' arrest is not in human hands but in God's. Even amidst opposition, many begin to believe, testifying to the power of his works.

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And here is the assurance for us today. The sovereign God who orchestrated every detail of Christ's earthly ministry is the same

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God who governs your life. You can trust in him. You can trust him with your eternal hope and your present need because his purpose cannot fail.

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These three realities, confusion among the crowd, the clarity of Jesus' teaching, and the certainty of God's sovereignty challenges us.

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It challenges us to respond to Jesus in faith. Will you remain in unbelief and skepticism?

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Or will you see him as the Messiah, trust in his words, and rest in his perfect plan?

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The decision is yours. The stakes are eternal. So trust him today.

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Three realities about Jesus that demand your faith. In verses 25 through 27, we see disbelief exposed.

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The questions of the crowd reveal confusion. So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill?

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And look, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him.

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Do the rulers truly know that this is the Christ? However, we know where this man is from, but whenever the

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Christ comes, no one knows where he is from. In verses 25 through 27, we observe a defining moment in Jesus' ministry as the people of Jerusalem question his identity.

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The response of the crowd unveils a profound reality about human disbelief.

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Confusion reigns when the truth about Christ is obscured by preconceived notions and spiritual blindness.

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This confusion is not just an ancient problem. It continues to be a hallmark of unbelief in every age, including our own.

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When you look at Christ through your own worldly lens, you realize that Christ has been misrepresented by so many.

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We need to get back to who the Christ of the Bible is. There aren't multiple versions of Jesus.

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There's just one, and it's the one that's in this Bible. And so we see the confusion of the crowd in verse 25.

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Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, is this not the man whom they're seeking to kill?

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The residents of Jerusalem, those most familiar with the religious leaders' intentions, express astonishment.

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They knew of the rulers' deep -seated hostility toward Jesus and their desire to see him silenced.

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Yet here he was, teaching openly in the temple, unrestrained and unchallenged.

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Their surprise highlights the disconnect between human schemes and divine providence.

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What the crowd failed to recognize was that Jesus' freedom to teach was not due to the indecision of the leaders, but the sovereign timing of God.

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Carnal minds often observe extraordinary works of God with astonishment, but fail to discern his hand at work.

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This is the same error repeated in our day. People marvel at the spread of the gospel or the resilience of the church under persecution, yet dismiss these as coincidences rather than the evidence of God's power.

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In verse 26, we see the crowd's speculation. And look, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him.

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Do the rulers truly know that this is the Christ? The crowd's questions deepen, shifting from astonishment to speculation.

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They wonder aloud if the leaders had secretly accepted Jesus as the Messiah, yet their skepticism is evident.

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Their confusion about Jesus' identity stems from their unwillingness to align their understanding with scripture.

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And this same dynamic plays out today. Many acknowledge Jesus as a great teacher, a moral example, or even a prophet.

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But they stop short of confessing him as Lord and Savior. Their doubts are rooted not in a lack of evidence, but in a refusal to accept the implications of his claims.

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Because the implication of his claims is very clear. He is God. He is

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God. Jesus is God. And then in verse 27, we see the crowd's dismissal.

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However, we know where this man is from, but whenever the Christ comes, no one knows where he is from.

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So here the crowd dismisses Jesus outright, appealing to a popular but erroneous belief that the

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Messiah's origins would be entirely mysterious. And this was an erroneous presupposition, really, from their culture and religious leanings.

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This tradition is based on a misreading of passages like Isaiah 53 and Malachi 3.

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Listen carefully to these words, and you can see where this religious faction had started forming this wrong opinion.

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Isaiah 53, verse 8. Verse 8 says this, by oppression and judgment, he was taken away.

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And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, that for the transgression of my people, striking was due to him?

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So you see that one line in there, and as for his generation, who considered?

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So they wrongly misinterpreted that no one would know who the Christ was in their generation.

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Listen to Malachi chapter 3, verse 1. Behold, I am going to send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.

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And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says

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Yahweh of hosts. And so you hear that in verse 1, will suddenly come to his temple, in that he'll just appear.

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They won't know where he's from. So these two verses led these inhabitants of Jerusalem to have a wrong assumption.

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But this actually conflicted with the clear prophecy in Micah chapter 5, which identified

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Bethlehem as the Messiah's birthplace. Listen to Micah 5, verse 2. But as for you,

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Bethlehem Ephrathah, I said that wrong, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be the ruler of Israel.

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His goings forth are from everlasting, from the ancient of days.

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Very important. Micah was talking about the Messiah that would come. And he says the very specific place,

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Bethlehem Ephrathah. And that second word is very important. It means fruitful in Hebrew, but the pairing there with Bethlehem means that it's south of Jerusalem.

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Not just Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, exactly where Jesus was born.

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And we often miss that when we read the Old Testament. The specific details in the

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Old Testament about Jesus and how he was going to be born and where he was going to be born is just staring them in the face.

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But yet their preconceived notions and their religious upbringing blocked them from their understanding of Scripture.

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Is that happening to you today? We need to think about the Word of God and what it says. Their superficial knowledge of Jesus' background led them to conclude that he could not be the

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Christ. This is a sobering reminder that misinformation and preconceived ideas can obscure the truth.

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Even today, people reject Jesus based on cultural misconceptions or an incomplete understanding of the

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Word of God. The responsibility lies with each of us to seek the truth diligently and not to dismiss

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Christ based on faulty assumptions. The crowd's confusion mirrors the confusion of our age.

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People today wrestle with the same questions. Who is Jesus? What do his claims mean for my life?

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Like the people of Jerusalem, they are often influenced by false assumptions, inadequate knowledge, and spiritual blindness.

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For those who are skeptical, the challenge is clear. Examine the claims of Christ with an open heart and a willingness to follow where the evidence leads.

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For believers, this passage serves as a call to articulate the truth about Jesus with clarity and compassion, addressing the misconceptions that hinders others from coming to faith.

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Ultimately, the questions of the crowd confront us with a choice. Will we, like them, remain in confusion and unbelief?

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Or will we move beyond speculation and surrender to the truth that Jesus is the

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Christ, the Son of God? The stakes are eternal. The answer demands our full attention.

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And so we see disbelief. The questions of the crowd reveal confusion. These are the citizens of Jerusalem.

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They were astonished. They were confused. They were aware of the leader's hostility toward Jesus, yet here he was, preaching boldly in the temple without interference.

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Their bewilderment gave way to speculation. Did the rulers secretly accept that Jesus was the

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Messiah? However, they quickly dismissed this idea, reasoning that they knew too much about Jesus's earthly background for him to fit their expectations of what the

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Messiah was. This confusion reveals a deeper problem, a refusal to see beyond human assumptions to divine truth.

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Like the crowd, we often rely on our own reasoning rather than humbly examining the evidence of Jesus's identity.

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Contemporary unbelief frequently arises from the same place, relying on cultural narratives or personal biases instead of confronting the claims of Christ.

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The challenge for us is to let go of superficial judgments and seriously engage with who

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Jesus is. Disbelief, the questions of the crowd reveal confusion.

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The crowd in Jerusalem was filled with speculation and contradiction. This confusion is the birthplace of unbelief.

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The Apostle John records Jesus's interaction with the inhabitants of Jerusalem as they question

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Jesus's identity, so that you can see people's common response to Jesus's unbelief and skepticism and avoid making the same mistake, so that you can trust

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Jesus with your future eternal hope and your present earthly need.

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Three realities about Jesus that demand your faith. In verses 28 and 29, we see declaration.

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The teaching of Jesus declares his origin. Look at verse 28, then

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Jesus cried out in the temple teaching and saying, you both know me and know where I am from and I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true whom you do not know.

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I know him because I am from him and he sent me. In these verses,

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Jesus stands in the temple and makes a bold proclamation that pierces through the confusion and disbelief of his audience.

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Here he exposes their spiritual ignorance and declares his divine mission, offering a reality that compels us to move from skepticism to unwavering trust in him.

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This passage reveals a central truth about Christ. His mission originates in the eternal purpose of God.

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Let us examine this declaration, which not only confronts their error, but also challenges contemporary unbelief.

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And so in the first part of verse 28, Jesus confronts the crowd's false confidence.

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And I want you to hear the voice here, because this is an irony. He's not giving them lovely flowery speech.

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He's calling out their unbelief. Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, you both know me, you both know me and know where I am from.

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I have not come of myself. You hear the irony? He's calling them out.

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In the temple courts, Jesus raises his voice to challenge the crowd's superficial knowledge.

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Their arrogance blinds them. They assume they know all there is to know about him based on his earthly background.

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And with biting irony, Jesus exposes their ignorance. They knew his hometown, but they failed to see his heavenly origin.

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Their limited understanding kept them from grasping the truth of who he really was. And this same misplaced confidence in partial knowledge characterizes unbelief today.

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People may think they understand Jesus, reducing him to a moral teacher, a historical figure or a myth.

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But unless we see him as sent by God, we fall into the same error as this crowd.

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True knowledge of Christ must go beyond the surface to recognize his divine origin and his divine mission.

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And so in the second part of verse 28, Jesus declares God's sovereign purpose. But he who sent me is true whom you do not know.

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Jesus turns their attention to the one who sent him, the true and faithful living

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God. In doing so, he directly confronts the spiritual blindness of his listeners.

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Though they were steeped in religious rituals and outward displays of piety, they did not truly know

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God. Their rejection of Jesus revealed the hollowness of their spiritual claims.

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This declaration holds a sobering warning for us. Religious familiarity does not equal a genuine relationship with God.

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The only way to know the Father is through the Son. We can think about Jesus' words, a very famous verse later in this eyewitness account.

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You all may know it, John 14, 6. What does Jesus say? I am the way, the truth, and the life.

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No one comes to the Father but through me. But the context of that passage is very important to John's purpose and to what

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Jesus says here, that he was sent by the Father. Actually, going back to verse 1,

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John 14, 1, listen to the words of Christ. Do not let your heart be troubled.

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Think about what he said about himself, what Isaiah said about him, what John the

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Baptist said about him, what Jesus said about himself and then later reiterated and doubled down.

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I came, I was sent to preach the gospel to the poor in spirit, heartbroken over their sin, to come to the brokenhearted.

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Listen to the love in the Savior's voice. Do not let your heart be troubled.

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Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places.

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If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you,

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I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also, and you know the way where I am going.

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And the Apostle Thomas, famously the doubter, Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.

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How do we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.

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No one comes to the Father but through me. If we reject Christ's claims to be sent by God, we demonstrate the same spiritual bankruptcy as those who opposed him.

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In verse 29, we see Jesus affirms his divine mission. I know him because I am from him and he sent me.

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Unlike his audience, Jesus had an intimate and perfect knowledge of God. He asserts his unique relationship with the

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Father, stating that he comes directly from him and was sent to accomplish his divine plan.

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The theologian James Montgomery Boyce highlighted this implication that I thought was so lovely in the big picture of Christ and his earthly ministry.

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He highlighted these claims that Jesus makes about himself. When Jesus affirms his divine mission, there is an implication not directly stated.

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Remember, God had sent him to heal the brokenhearted. How do you do that?

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With the gospel. He came to preach the gospel to the poor in spirit. So as we think about this idea,

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Boyce kind of latched onto this. I thought it was just so lovely. God sent

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Christ to heal the brokenhearted, and he has done this. Boyce said this, start quote,

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We do not often talk about broken hearts, for the subject is too personal.

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Yet there are broken hearts, millions of them. They are all around us, and we often are touched in this way ourselves.

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There is no one who is exempt. I talked to men whose wives have been unfaithful to them.

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Sometimes they are in ministry. I talked to women who have lost their husbands to other women, but who still love their husbands.

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Some have had their hearts broken by death, or by the fact that their children have left home and have to all appearances rejected

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Christ and Christianity. Some have failed in life. Some are homeless. These are the heartbreaks of human existence.

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And if Jesus Christ does not have the answer, there is just no answer.

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But there is an answer, of course, and he has it. Jesus said that God sent him to heal the brokenhearted, to preach the gospel to the poor in spirit.

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Will Jesus Christ fail? Abraham succeeded in the task that God gave him.

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Moses succeeded. So did David and all the rest. Is Jesus Christ only to fail?

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Not at all. He has done what the Father sent him to do in millions of cases, and he is still doing it today.

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Heartbreak may be all too real, but those who have known Christ's love and power have been able to go on with their lives rejoicing in him.

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The songwriter Horatio Bonar sang, I have no help but thine, nor do

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I need. Another arm saved mine to lean upon. It is enough, my

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Lord, enough indeed. My strength is in thy might, thy might alone.

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We sometimes get caught up in the doctrine that we forget. Jesus Christ heals brokenness.

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Jesus Christ heals broken hearts. When the Messiah comes, will he heal more than Jesus?

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The answer is no, because Jesus is the Messiah. This mission reflects not only

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Jesus's authority, but also the faithfulness of God to his redemptive purposes.

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And the practical implication here is profound. Jesus's mission is not rooted in human ambition or earthly origin, but in the eternal decree of God.

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And this truth assures us that trusting in him is not misplaced faith.

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He is the one sent by God to bring salvation to a lost and unbelieving world.

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Jesus's declaration in these verses challenges both the arrogance of unbelief and the complacency of superficial faith.

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The crowd's assumptions about Jesus prevented them from embracing the truth. Today, many fall into a similar trap, rejecting

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Jesus because they believe they already know him. The call for us is clear this morning.

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Examine our hearts and ask whether we have truly understood and trusted Jesus as the one sent by God.

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Are we clinging to partial knowledge? Are we clinging to cultural assumptions?

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Or have we fully embraced his divine mission and origin? For believers, this passage encourages us to proclaim

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Christ boldly, just as he declared the truth in the face of opposition. Ultimately, Jesus's words cut through the noise of human skepticism and point us to the eternal faithfulness of God.

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The question is, will we listen and respond with confident trust?

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Or will we, like the crowd, remain in spiritual darkness? The answer to that question has eternal consequences.

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And so we see declaration, the teaching of Jesus declares his origin. Jesus confronts the crowd's confusion head on, addressing their flawed assumptions.

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While they thought they knew his origin, Jesus declares a deeper reality.

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His true mission and authority come from the Father. He is not merely a man from Nazareth.

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He is the eternal Son sent by God. This teaching underscores his unique role as the mediator who knows the

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Father perfectly and reveals him fully. In our modern context,

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Jesus's words challenge us. They challenge us to reconsider what we base our faith on.

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Is our view of him rooted in limited human perspectives? Or do we trust his revelation about himself as the one sent from God?

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To trust in Jesus is to accept not only his humanity, but his divinity and his mission to reconcile us to God.

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Declaration, the teaching of Jesus declares his origin. His teaching reveals his divine origin and mission.

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To reject his words is to reject God himself. Three realities about Jesus that demand your faith.

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In the last two verses, 30 and 31, we see dominion, the sovereign plan of God, and the response to Christ.

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Verse 30, so they were seeking to seize him, yet no man laid his hand on him because his hour had not yet come.

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But many of the crowd believed in him, and they were saying, when the Christ comes, will he do more signs than this man did?

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In verses 30 and 31, we encounter two profound realities. The invincible sovereignty of God and the divided response of humanity to Jesus Christ.

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These verses reveal the unstoppable purposes of God and the deep divide that always accompanies the proclamation of Christ.

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The divide that always accompanies the proclamation of the gospel. As we reflect on this text, we see how it compels us to move from unbelief and skepticism to confident trust in the

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Lord who reigns over all. In verse 30, we see God's sovereignty guards his purpose.

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So they were seeking to seize him, yet no man laid his hand on him because his hour had not yet come.

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The rulers and the crowd were consumed with rage, ready to seize Jesus.

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They had the desire and the ability to act, yet they were rendered powerless.

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Why is that? Well, the scripture gives the answer. His hour had not yet come.

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The Father's sovereign timetable governed every moment of Christ's life and ministry, and no scheme of man could thwart that.

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This truth confronts us with the invincible sovereignty of God. Just as no force on earth could lay a hand on Jesus until God's appointed time, so every detail of our lives unfolds under his providence.

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This should be a source of profound peace. Though we live in a world filled with chaos, accidents, and threats, we are kept by the same sovereign hand that preserved

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Christ. Believer, your life is not at the mercy of random events, but is held securely in the plan of a faithful God.

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However, this also reminds us of the gravity of rejecting God's plan.

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Those who sought to oppose Christ were ultimately opposing the one who holds their very breath.

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Let this be a warning to those who persist in unbelief. God's purposes will prevail, but opposition to him leads to judgment.

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There is also a strong encouragement in these verses that we can't miss. So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.

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The Bible commentator and theologian A .W. Pink made this point. He said, this verse set forth a truth which should be a great comfort to God's people, and indeed it is so when received by unquestioning faith.

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We find here a striking example of the restraining hand of God upon his enemies.

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Their purpose was to apprehend Christ. They sought to take him, and yet not a hand was laid upon him.

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They thirsted for his blood and were determined to kill him, yet by an invisible restraint from above, they were powerless to do so.

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How blessed then to know that everything is under the immediate control of God.

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Not a hair of our heads can be touched without his permission. The demon -possessed

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Saul might hurl his javelin at David, but hurling it and killing him were two different things.

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Daniel might be cast into the den of lions, but as his time to die had not yet come, their mouths were mysteriously sealed.

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The three Hebrews were cast into the fiery furnace, but of what avail were the flames against those protected by Yahweh?

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And Pink goes on to give this illustration regarding Christ's death. That his hour had not yet come evidences the invincibility of God's eternal decrees.

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God has decreed, had decreed, that the Savior should be betrayed by a familiar friend and sold for 30 pieces of silver.

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How then was it possible for these men to seize him? They could no more arrest

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Christ than they could stop the sun from shining. All the hatred of men and all the enmity of Satan and his hosts could not pass in Christ's appointed death.

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Until God's preordained hour struck, the incarnate Son bowed to his

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Father's good pleasure, he was immortal until it was God's time. And blessed be to God, it is our privilege to be assured that the hand of death cannot strike us down before God's predestined hour arrives for us.

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The enemy may war against us and he may be permitted to strike our bodies, but shorten our lives he cannot any more than he could

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Job's. That's dominion, the sovereign plan of God and the response to Christ.

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In verse 31, we see that faith sparks amidst division. But many of the crowd believed in him and they were saying, when the

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Christ comes, will he do more signs than this man did? Amidst the opposition, the gospel bore fruit.

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Some believed and though their faith was imperfect, they were captivated by his miracles and began to consider that he might truly be the

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Christ. While their understanding was incomplete, their willingness to listen marked the beginning of faith.

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And this illustrates an important principle for us, the word of God never returns void. His purposes will be accomplished by his word.

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Though many mocked and scorned, others were drawn to Christ. This should encourage us in our witness.

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The gospel divides, it always has and it always will. But it also draws those whom

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God is calling. Think about this from the gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 10, the words of our

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Lord, taking on this idea that Christ is dividing, that the gospel message is dividing.

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You think, well, why is that a good thing? It is a good thing because it's from God. Listen to what Christ says about this.

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He says, therefore, everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my

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Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my

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Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

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For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household.

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And here Jesus was indirectly quoting from the prophet Micah. Think about that statement.

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And as some of you have made a profession of faith in Christ, you likely have experienced this to some degree.

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Some of your family members don't want to talk to you anymore because you're a Christian. The hope of the gospel divides.

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Belief versus unbelief. Sadly, I can say that I've lost some friends, you know, as I made a profession of faith and had a radical conversion.

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Some of those guys that I grew up with and knew for a long time, all my life, didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore.

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They were unbelievers, and I was a believer. Something had changed in our relationship.

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In that passage, as he's talking about setting a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household, he's quoting

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Micah 7. In Micah 7, verse 6, it says this, "'For son treats father as a wicked fool.

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Daughter rises up against her mother. Daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law. A man's enemies are the men of his own household.'"

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So what are we to do with this, this idea that there's division? This is what was happening with the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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Christ is going to divide when He comes back. Think about the sheeps and the goats. We've seen this division and the sifting already happening, and we see it through church history.

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Think about even going back to 2017, 2018, the social justice gospel, socialism,

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Marxism, critical race theory, the Black Lives Matter movement, and something was happening.

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God was revealing who His true followers were. It happened again in the

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COVID stuff as the lockdown of the churches happened, and God was sifting and revealing who really were

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His. It's happening now with the LGBTQ affirming. That is going on and very prevalent.

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It's happening with egalitarianism and women pastors. You either believe Christ or you don't.

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And He's exposing the church. Looking back on that time over the last five to six years, it was a difficult time.

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I actually praise God for that time. I praise God that He is still working in His church and He is sifting out those who truly follow

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Him or not. How is He doing that now today in our state? Let's make this real for ourselves. Those who are for abortion and those who are not.

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There are many churches in the state of Montana, I would bet in Laurel and certainly in Billings, where Christians are attending worship today, and a few weeks ago they cast a yes vote for CI 128.

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So you're for Christ, but also I can be pro -choice, it's self -sufficiency and self -autonomy.

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Christ is revealing who belongs to Him in this wicked time. Those who claim to be followers of Christ but advocate for the murder, slaughter, and dismemberment of an unborn child in their mother's womb are not saved in Christ.

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They do not know Him. And so God is revealing in His church who is saved and who isn't.

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This division goes back to what Christ came to do. He came to call sinners out of the world, to reveal who belongs to Him.

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Micah 7, for son treats father as a wicked fool, daughter rises up against her mother, daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law, a man's enemies are the men of his own household.

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So as we think about Jesus quoting this prophet, let's think about what this prophet is saying.

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I found this helpful from Pastor John MacArthur who noted this on the Micah passage. Micah lamented the circumstances of his day.

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In his vain search for an upright person, he compared himself to the vine dresser who enters his vineyard late in the season and finds no fruit.

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The leaders conspired together what they wanted. No one could be trusted.

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Christ used verse 6 as an illustration when he commissioned the 12 in the Gospel of Matthew.

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In spite of his dire circumstances, Micah as a watchman would intently look for evidence of God's working, trusting

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God to act in his own time and way. We can even look at the words of the prophet

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Daniel. This division that's happening in this crowd, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, is going to continue to happen through every age of the church.

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We're seeing it happen in our very lives today. It will happen at the end when

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Christ comes to settle the accounts, if you will. Daniel 12 puts it like this.

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Daniel says, many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake. These to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt.

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It's the sheeps and the goats. Christ has done it from the beginning. He's doing it now.

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And when he returns, it will be the final division. Even when opposition seems overwhelming, we must press on sowing the seed and trusting

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God to bring the increase. At the same time, this passage challenges superficial belief.

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You think about what he's saying here. J .C. Ryle said it like this, with discernment comes division.

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A person who seeks to be discerning must be willing to suffer the effects of this division. It will divide not only believer from unbeliever, but it may even divide a discerning believer from one who is undiscerning.

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It will separate the mature from the immature, the naive from the prudent. And it would be prideful and hubris -filled to think that we're the only ones that have all the answers.

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But you think about that division, a person who says that they're a follower of Christ, but who affirms the

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LGBTQ community, which God calls an abomination and will send people to hell, that is not being a friend of that community.

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A follower of Christ who is for abortion, that is not being a friend to those babies in their mother's womb.

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And so yeah, there is a division. We've even seen this recently in the election. If you're online, you may have even gone through this yourselves.

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You see this over and over. People that didn't vote the way you wanted them to vote, what happens?

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You get cut out of their lives because you didn't vote for a Democrat. Because you're a

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Christian, how could you possibly? So this division is based on the

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Word of God, discernment in what the Bible teaches. And it will divide. Many in the crowd were amazed by Jesus's signs, but had not yet grasped his deeper mission as Savior and Redeemer.

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True faith is not merely an intellectual acknowledgment of Jesus's power, but a heartfelt trust in his person and his work.

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Examine your heart. Is your faith rooted in who Christ is? Or is it based merely on what you hope he can do for you?

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These verses call us to two responses. Confidence in God's sovereignty and a wholehearted embrace of Christ and his teaching.

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For the believer, the sovereignty of God provides unshakable assurance. No trial, illness, or attack can touch you apart from the will of your

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Heavenly Father. Like Jesus, you can walk confidently in the path of God.

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The path that God has set before you, knowing that his purposes will stand. For the unbeliever, this passage demands a response to Christ.

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The division among the crowd mirrors the division today. Some mocked, others believed.

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And so what about you? Will you resist him, clinging to your skepticism? Or will you recognize that no one could do what

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Jesus has done unless he were sent by God? Ultimately, the message of verses 30 and 31 is this.

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God's sovereign plan cannot be thwarted. And his son demands a response.

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Trust in him today. Because to delay this is to risk eternity. And so this is dominion, the sovereignty of God secures his message, or his mission.

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Despite the crowd's confusion and the leader's opposition, God's sovereign plan is never thwarted.

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The timing of Jesus' arrest is not dictated by human schemes, but by divine decree.

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Even amidst the turmoil, many begin to believe in him, recognizing the unparalleled signs that he performed as evidence to his messiahship.

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And this reality assures us that God's purposes will prevail no matter the resistance.

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In a world often hostile to Christ, we can take comfort in knowing that God's sovereignty guarantees the fulfillment of his promises.

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For those struggling with unbelief, this truth invites you to rest in the security of a

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God who is in control. Dominion, the sovereignty of God secures his message and his mission.

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God's sovereign plan stands unshaken. The sovereign God who orchestrated every detail of Christ's earthly ministry is the same

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God who governs your life. The questions of the crowd, the clarity of Jesus' teaching, and the certainty of God's sovereignty all confront us with a choice.

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Will we, like the people of Jerusalem, allow confusion and skepticism to blind us to the truth?

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Or will we look to Jesus whose words and works reveal the heart of God?

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For the unbeliever, this passage challenges you to examine your doubts honestly.

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Don't dismiss Jesus based on limited understanding or cultural misconceptions.

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For the believer, it calls you to trust God's sovereign plan in your life, knowing that just as his purposes were fulfilled in Jesus, he will also complete his work in you.

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The stakes are eternal. Jesus demands a response. Will you trust him today?

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The Apostle John recorded Jesus' interaction with the inhabitants of Jerusalem as they questioned

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Jesus' identity. So that you can see people's common response to Jesus' unbelief and skepticism and avoid making the same mistake.

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So that you can trust Jesus with your future eternal hope and your present earthly need.

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Three realities about Jesus that demand your faith. Number one, disbelief. The questions of the crowd reveal confusion.

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The crowd in Jerusalem was filled with speculation and contradiction. And this confusion is the birthplace of unbelief.

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Number two, declaration. The teaching of Jesus declares his mission. His teaching reveals his divine origin and mission.

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To reject his words is to reject God himself. And number three, dominion.

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The sovereignty of God secures his mission. God's sovereign plan stands unshaken.

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The sovereign God who orchestrated every detail of Christ's earthly ministry is the same

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God who governs your life. As we close, let's consider these three compelling truths from Jesus Christ that we find in our passage this morning.

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They confront our hearts, they challenge our skepticism, and they call us to place our unwavering trust in him.

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Not just for eternity, but for the needs of today. The crowd in Jerusalem mirrors the human condition, the common response to Jesus.

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They were puzzled, debating among themselves about Jesus' identity. Their confusion gave birth to unbelief.

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They knew about him, they saw his works, they heard his words, but they did not truly know him.

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Many today find themselves in the same place, lost in a sea of speculation and contradiction about Jesus.

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But here is the warning. Confusion left unchecked leads to rejection.

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Don't make the same mistake. If you remain undecided, you are deciding against him.

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In the midst of the confusion, Jesus cried out, declaring his mission and identity. His words were not mere teachings, but divine truth, revealing that he was sent by God himself.

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To reject his words is to reject the God who sent him. And this is the turning point for every soul.

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Will you hear his voice and believe? Will you hear his voice and believe?

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Jesus is not just a prophet or a teacher. He is the Son of God, the Savior, who came to reconcile us to the

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Father. His teaching leaves no room for neutrality. Either you trust him, or you turn away.

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And finally, we see the sovereign hand of God at work. Though the crowd sought to seize him, they could not.

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Why? Because his hour had not yet come. God's plan for Christ's life and death was unshakable, and no scheme of man could alter it.

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And this same God governs your life. He is sovereign over every trial, over every joy, over every moment.

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The same God who guided Christ's mission to its glorious fulfillment is the

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God who holds your future and your present. I read this illustration from Beuys, thinking about this idea.

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We have to go beyond the doctrine and remember that Christ is someone that we can put our trust in.

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He is God. He came to preach the gospel to the brokenhearted, to the poor in spirit, those broken over their sin.

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This illustration I thought was helpful. At the time of the Civil War in America, a young man still in his teens was court -martialed by the

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Union Army and was sentenced to be shot. He had gone to the war before he had to because his friend had gone.

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And in friendship, he had been willing to stand guard one night while his friend was somewhere else.

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Unfortunately, he had been on duty himself the night before. So having been awake for two nights, he could not resist drowsiness and he fell asleep at his post.

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And for this, he was sentenced to death. When news of what had happened reached the boy's parents in New England, their hearts were broken.

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To think that their only and beloved son should be shot. The boy's sister, a little girl who had read

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The Life of Lincoln and knew from her reading how much he loved his own children, said, If Abraham Lincoln knew how my father and mother loved my brother, he would not let him be shot.

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She determined that she would see the president. And you can think in another time, security was not so strict as it is these days.

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So when the little girl reached the White House and told her story to the sentinel on duty, he was touched by her imploring looks and passed her in.

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Mr. Lincoln's private secretary did the same thing. She was ushered into Lincoln's office and found herself in the company of Lincoln and his generals.

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The little girl told her simple story, stressing the grief of her parents. Lincoln was touched.

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He then wrote out a dispatch, canceling the sentence and paroling the boy so he could return home to his father and mother.

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This is the story of how a mere man can be moved by compassion.

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But it makes the point that if a man can be so moved, how much more compassionate and ready to heal the hearts of sinners is

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Jesus Christ, who is more than man. You know, you both know me and know where I am from.

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And I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you do not know.

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I know him because I am from him and he sent me. So where does this passage leave you this morning?

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The crowd in Jerusalem responded with skepticism, disbelief, half -hearted faith.

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Some saw the signs but did not truly believe. Others outright rejected him. And so the question for you today is simple.

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What will you do with Jesus? You can trust him.

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Trust him not only with your eternal destiny, but with your daily struggles, your pain, your doubts.

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He is the Savior sent from God, the truth declared from heaven, and the sovereign

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Lord over all. Do not leave today as the crowd did, confused, skeptical, or half -convinced.

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Instead, place your full faith in the one who is worthy. Jesus Christ is not just the answer to your eternal hope, he is the answer to your present need.

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Trust him, believe in him, follow him, and let your life proclaim the glory of the sovereign