John 7:25-36

Sunday Morning Bible Study

March 7, 2010

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision

It is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. It took place every year in the fall. This was one of the three annual feasts where Jews from all around the world would come to Jerusalem to worship God.  The following takes place in Jerusalem while Jesus is teaching in the temple…

7:25-31 What do you know?

:25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill?

Last week we saw that some of the visitors in Jerusalem thought Jesus was crazy for thinking someone wanted to kill Him (John 7:20)

Last week we saw how Jesus reminded the crowd that there were people who wanted to kill him. Some of the people in the crowd responded with:

(Jn 7:20 NKJV) …“You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

It was the visiting crowd who had come in for the holiday that thought Jesus was crazy.

But the folks who lived in Jerusalem remembered that the leaders wanted Jesus dead.

:26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?

:26 boldlyparrhesia – freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; openly; free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance

:26 Do the rulers know… - Isn’t it amazing at just how WRONG these people are about their perceptions?

Because the rulers of the Jews had not publicly confronted Jesus as of yet, part the people were wondering if perhaps the rulers thought that Jesus was the Messiah.

We can learn from the Pharisees’ negative example.

Lesson

Silence can be misunderstood

Sometimes the best thing you can do is shut up.
(Pr 17:28 NKJV) Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.

Or, “Better to be quiet and let them think you’re a fool than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt.”

But sometimes silence isn’t so golden
Sometimes when you don’t respond at all, you can be misunderstood.
The rulers here are being understood by some to think that they might actually be in favor of Jesus.
Genesis 34 - Jacob and his sons:
Jacob had moved his family back into Canaan, and set up camp near the city of Shechem (Gen.34).
His one daughter, Dinah, ended up being raped by the prince of the city, whose name was Shechem. Jacob’s response?

(Ge 34:5 NKJV) —5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came.

He not only kept silent until his boys came home, but as far as we can tell, he never says anything or takes any action.

The vacuum created by his lack of action is filled with his sons.

They hatch a plot and end up killing all the men of the city.

Jacob’s response to this:

(Ge 34:30 NKJV) …“You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

Jacob was mad at his sons for the trouble they put the whole family into, but I think you can see that he opened the door for it by not communicating.

Lesson

Marriage communication

Even though we have been married for 32 years, I am still fairly certain that my wife has not yet learned to read my mind.  And I absolutely know I haven’t learned to read hers either.
I might slam a door or stamp my foot when I get angry at something, but unless I tell her what it is, I leave only guess what I’m upset at.
We need to speak up.
Illustration
A wife became quite concerned over her husband’s declining health. His color was very pale and lifeless and he had a terrible lack of energy for even the simplest of tasks. After much prodding and cajoling, she persuaded him to go to the doctor to find out what his problem might be. The doctor examined him carefully and ran a full battery of tests to determine the exact nature of the man’s illness. After evaluating the test results, he called the woman into his office to give his prognosis. “Your husband is suffering from a rare form of anemia. Without proper treatment, he could be dead in a matter of just a few weeks,” he informed the very anxious wife. He went on to say, “However it can be successfully treated with the right care and diet. With the proper course of treatment, I am happy to report that you can expect full recovery.” The wife was very relieved and asked what kind of action was necessary. The doctor gave his prescription, “You will need to get up every morning and fix a complete breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, etc. Make sure that he has a home-cooked lunch each afternoon of fresh-baked bread and home-made soup. For dinner prepare a meal of fresh salad, old- fashioned meat and potatoes, fresh vegetables and perhaps home-made pie or cake for dessert. Because his immune system is so compromised, you will need to keep the house scrupulously clean. It will also be important to keep his stress level very low, so avoid any kind of confrontations or arguments.” The wife emerged from the doctor’s office and with tears rolling down her cheeks, she faced her husband. The husband took one look at his wife and said very seriously, “The news is bad isn’t it? What did the doctor say?” With a choked voice, the sobbing wife told her beloved husband, “The doctor says, you’re gonna die.”
I think she left something out…

Lesson

Parent communication

Kids need to know clearly where you stand.
If you don’t say anything, then your kids won’t know their limits.
This is exactly the situation that Jacob was in.
Sometimes we don’t send a clear message…
Illustration

A mom asked her two year old daughter to take her dirty clothes and put them into the hamper.  She looked puzzled, so her mother explained. “You know; it’s the place where we put our dirty clothes before they’re washed.”   So she picked up her things, trotted into her parents’ bedroom, and dropped her clothes on the floor...on the dad’s side of the bed.

The Bible says,
(Pr 29:15 NKJV) The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Discipline requires two things:

1. Enforcement (like the “rod”)

It might be a time out.

It might be turning off the TV.

It might be a paddle.

2. Communication (like “rebuke”)

You have to make it clear to your children what you’re expecting.

Communicating well with your kids will even improve their grades!
A 1986 Stanford University study of 7,836 high school students and 3,500 parents in the San Francisco area showed that children with authoritarian or permissive parents tend to earn lower grades.  On the other hand, parents who encourage their children and are communicative enable their children to get higher grades.

:27 However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

:27 knoweido – to see, perceive; to see with the mind’s eye, signifies a clear and purely mental perception

:27 knowsginosko – to learn to know; a knowledge grounded on personal experience

:27 we know where this Man is from

To most people, Jesus is just the carpenter from Nazareth.

But there is so much more to the story.

We know that Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem.
We also know that He wasn’t “from” Bethlehem, but was “from” heaven.

:27 no one knows where He is from

There were some that thought that no one would know where Messiah was from.

“Three come unawares: Messiah, a found article, and a scorpion.” (Talmud, b. Sanhedrin 97a, Rabbi Zera)
They took passages like this:
(Mal 3:1b NKJV) …And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple…

…to mean that no one knew where He came from.

But when the Magi came looking for the Messiah, they went to Bethlehem (Mat. 2) because there were some scribes who knew the ancient prophecies:

(Mic 5:2 NKJV) “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
Even though some thought they didn’t know where Messiah was going to come from, there were others who clearly knew.
Micah even hinted at another origin of the Messiah, something before Bethlehem, that Messiah would be “from everlasting”.  He would come from eternity, from heaven itself. John has already told his readers:
(Jn 1:1–2 NKJV) —1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

:28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.

:28 know…know…knoweido – to see, perceive; to see with the mind’s eye, signifies a clear and purely mental perception

Some have suggested there might be a bit of irony in His voice like, “You think you know Me, yeah right!”, “So you think you know me and know where I am from, do you?”

(Jn 7:28 The Message) That provoked Jesus, who was teaching in the Temple, to cry out, “Yes, you think you know me and where I’m from, but that’s not where I’m from. I didn’t set myself up in business. My true origin is in the One who sent me, and you don’t know him at all.

:28 Jesus cried outkrazo – to croak like a raven; cry out aloud, speak with a loud voice

Jesus had worked to purposely keep a low profile during the Feast.

He had not gone with His brothers to the Feast because they seemed to be more interested in Jesus becoming “famous”.

Yet now, something happens that causes Jesus to raise His voice.

There have been a lot of questions that the people have been asking.

Some just wanted to know where He was (7:11)

(Jn 7:11 NKJV) Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?”

Some were trying to figure out whether He was good or evil (7:12)

(Jn 7:12 NKJV) …Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.”

Some were trying to figure out how Jesus knew so much (7:15)

(Jn 7:15 NKJV) …“How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

Some were confused about Jesus’ claim that someone was trying to kill Him (7:20)

(Jn 7:20 NKJV) …“You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

Some were wondering if the leaders secretly knew He was the Messiah (7:26)

(Jn 7:26 NKJV) …Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?

The one thing the people didn’t question and thought they knew was the issue of where He was from (7:27)

(Jn 7:27 NKJV) However, we know where this Man is from…

It’s at this point that Jesus raises His voice and addresses everyone.

I can almost get the idea that Jesus doesn’t mind you asking a lot of questions, but when you think you know something that you really don’t know, that’s when He gets a bit concerned.

It’s not until they make this statement that He “croaked” or “cried out”.

:29 But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

Jesus is talking about God the Father.

:29 knoweido – to see, perceive; to see with the mind’s eye, signifies a clear and purely mental perception

Lesson

What do you really know?

Some people take quite a bit of pride in what they know.
We like to impress people with our little bits and pieces of important knowledge.
Play video of “Are you smarter than a 5th grader”
Some people like to make you think they really know what they’re talking about when it comes to God.
But some of them simply don’t have a clue about God.
These religious people standing before Jesus prided themselves in being the one nation that knew the True God.
But Jesus pointed out that they did not know God like they thought they did.
He knew God. He came from heaven. God sent Jesus.
When it comes to knowing what God is really like, there is nobody “smarter” than Jesus. Jesus says,
(Jn 8:24 NKJV) Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
(Jn 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him,  “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Pay attention to Him.  He knows what He’s talking about.

:30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

They were quite offended at Jesus insinuating that He knew God and they didn’t.

:30 to take piazo – to lay hold of; to take, capture; to apprehend

:30 His hour had not yet come

Over and over again Jesus reminded people of God’s timing:

To His mother:
(Jn 2:4 NKJV) Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
To His brothers:
(Jn 7:6 NKJV) —6 Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.

There will be a day coming in about six months when this will all change:

(Jn 13:1 NKJV) —1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Jesus would one day be arrested, tried, condemned, and crucified, but here in John 7, that time has not yet come.  It’s still six months away.

Lesson

Not my time

Did you pay attention to why this group could not get their hands on Jesus?
Was it because of the security guards that Jesus hired to protect Him?
It simply wasn’t the right time.
There is a peace in trusting God’s plan for your life.
God has a plan

(Is 46:9–10 NKJV) —9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’

His plan is for my good

(Je 29:11 NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I need to trust Him.

(Is 12:2 NKJV) Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ”

Even the things that appear intended to harm you, God can turn around for the good.

Joseph had been kidnapped by his brothers and sold into slavery.  Yet he came to realize…

(Ge 50:20 NLT) You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

This doesn’t mean that we need to lives our lives in a reckless manner.
Satan tempted Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple, but Jesus responded by saying,

(Mt 4:7 NKJV) …‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

But there will be times when the unexpected comes up and we are afraid.  We need to settle back and find rest in God’s hands.
Illustration:
There was a story about a man who had to cross a wide river on the ice.  He was afraid it might be too thin, so he began to crawl on his hand and knees in great terror.  He thought he might fall through at any moment.  Just as he neared the opposite shore, all exhausted, one of those “Ice Road Truckers” came barreling by in his eighteen wheeler, blowin’ his horn … not a care in the world …
Sometimes we are way too afraid of things we needn’t worry about.  Say it with me …
(Is 12:2 NKJV) Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid…

:31 And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”

The phrase in the Greek implies a “no” answer.

Some of the common people were coming to trust in Jesus because of the signs (miracles) that He had done.

Many of the common people looked at all the “signs” (or, miracles) that Jesus had done, and they were led to the place of believing in Him.

(Jn 20:30–31 NKJV) —30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

7:32-36 Warrant for Jesus’ Arrest

:32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.

:32 murmuringgogguzo – to murmur, mutter, grumble, say anything against in a low tone; of those who confer secretly together

:32 Pharisees and the chief priests

The Pharisees were a very important religious and political group in Jesus’ day. They held to a very conservative, strict view of the Scriptures.

The chief priests tended to be Sadducees, the liberal sect of Judaism.

Mentioning both groups together suggests the entire leadership of the Jewish nation, the Sanhedrin. You are seeing a “bipartisan” piece of legislation being passed.

:32 to take piazo – to lay hold of; to take, capture; to apprehend

One translation has “arrest”

:32 officershuperetes – servant; an underrower, subordinate rower; in the NT of the officers and attendants of magistrates as — of the officer who executes penalties.  Sort of like the special “Sanhedrin police”

When the Pharisees heard people beginning to think about believing in Jesus, there was something that snapped. Perhaps they knew that their teachings of the traditions of the fathers were going to be at risk. They move to have Jesus arrested.

We’ll see in a few weeks that the officers would return back to the Sanhedrin without Jesus and would be questioned about it. Their response would be:

(Jn 7:46 NKJV) The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

They had been sent to “arrest” Jesus, but in the end He “arrested” them!

:33 Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.

:33 littlemikros – small, little; of time: short, brief, a little while, how little!

:33 whilechronos – time either long or short

Within six months, Jesus would be crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended back to the Father in heaven.

:34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

Remember that the Sanhedrin police have shown up to take Jesus into custody.

Is Jesus talking about going to some sort of “hideout”?

:34 Seek … and … find

Jesus said,

(Mt 7:7 NKJV) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Jesus was talking here about seeking God, about knowing God.

What Jesus is talking about in John 7:34 is that these Sanhedrin police will not be able to find Him where He is going.

:34 where I am you cannot come

You’re going to hear Jesus say this quite a few times.

He’ll say this again to the Jewish leaders:

(Jn 8:21 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

He will say something similar to His disciples:

(Jn 13:33 NKJV) Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.

But Jesus will also add this to His disciples:

(Jn 14:3 NKJV) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Jesus is going to die.

That is one place the Jewish authorities are not going to want to follow Him to.

Jesus’ death and resurrection will open up the door to heaven

Those who believe in Him will be able to follow Him into heaven.
These Jewish authorities will not believe in Jesus and so they will not be following Him to heaven.
The disciples do believe in Him. They have a place reserved in heaven.

Some see this as a prophecy that the nation would be looking for their Messiah. They are still looking for their Messiah, not realizing it was Jesus.

There will be a day when they will mourn over the truth:

(Zec 12:10 NKJV) “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

:35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?

:35 the Greeks – They wonder if Jesus is going to go and preach to those pagan Gentiles that lived outside of the land of Israel.

For the Pharisee, if Jesus went to preach to the Gentiles, this would certainly be a place that they would never follow.

:35 Dispersiondiaspora – a scattering, dispersion; of Israelites dispersed among foreign nations

:35 GreeksHellen – a Greek; in a wider sense this can refer to all Gentiles.

:36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

Lesson

Too late

They didn’t understand what Jesus was saying.
They have an opportunity before them to trust in Jesus, but they are dragging their feet and soon it will be too late.
There would be a day when it was too late.  In less than six months, Jesus will make one last trip to Jerusalem…
(Lk 19:41–44 NKJV) —41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying,  “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

They didn’t pay attention to Jesus during the few years that He was with them.

I don’t like salesmen who put pressure on you.
If we’re out buying a car, they will inevitably come up with some sort of pressure tactic like, “This deal is only good for two more hours…”
The difficult truth though is that for some of you, there is a clock ticking on your life.  There will be a day when it is too late.
There will be a day when the opportunity to follow Jesus will be gone.

(Lk 12:16–21 The Message) —16 Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. 17 He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ 18 Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, 19 and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’20 “Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’21 “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

Illustration:
There is an ancient story about three demons who were arguing over the best way to destroy the Christian mission in the world. The first demon says, “Let’s tell all the Christians there is no heaven.  Take away the reward incentive and the mission will collapse.”  The second demon says, “Let’s tell all the Christians there is no hell.  Take away the fear of punishment and the mission will collapse.”  The third demon says, “There is one better way.  Let’s tell all the Christians that there is no hurry” and all three immediately say, “That’s it! All we have to do is tell them there’s no hurry and the whole Christian enterprise will collapse.”
The Bible says,
(Is 55:6 NKJV) Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.