Who is I Am? Whose am I? John 7 Lesson for October 26-27, 2013 Karen Conner Scripture Passage: John 7 NKJV) Lesson Passage: John 7: 14-18, 25-31, 33-36 (NIV, NASB, The Msg, NCV, Introduction and Context People walk different journeys with Christ, and at different points in our journey, our faith may be strong or weak. For many people, there are different milestones or periods that might describe our faith: we want to believe, we think He is a good man, we believe, we are threatened by Him when we are challenged to obedience, sometimes we don t like Him, sometimes we turn away from Him or even deny Him or scorn Him, sometimes our faith is weak, and Sometimes we boldly proclaim He is the Messiah. In the early chapters of John, people respond with belief, then some people fall away. As I read John 7 what strikes me is the multitude of responses to Christ. It is the Feast of the Tabernacles when people would build small huts and move out of their homes for a full week in remembrance of 40 years in the desert when they lived in temporary shelters. It is a celebration to commemorate God s protection, provision and His faithfulness. Ironically, Christ Himself is a fulfillment of God s promises for a Messiah, one who would save them, and yet we find in John 7 that his brothers challenge him, and as He walks among the crowds during this feast time, we hear some who say He is a good man, and others who say He leads people astray. Regardless of their opinion, folks hide their discussions of them out of fear of the Jews. Things get heated when Jesus goes up into the temple and begins to teach. Page 1 of 7
I. Know the Will of God (v14-18) Who is I Am? Whose am I? A. Jesus began to teach 1. In the middle of the feast, at the tabernacle B. The Response to Jesus 1. Jews were astonished 2. How has this man become learned, having never been educated? C. Jesus Answer 1. My teaching is not mine, but His who sent Me. 2. The best judge of the truth of God s teaching is the person who carries it out. 3. The one who speaks of himself, seeks for himself. APPLICATION & THOUGHT: Initially Jesus refrained from attending the Feast of the Tabernacles. It wasn t time for Him to make an appearance. The festival was a week long and in the middle of the week Jesus goes up to the temple and begins to teach. The Jews were astounded at His knowledge: How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? (KJV, John 7:15b) The greek word for letters in this verse is gramma (Gram -mah), meaning a writing, i.e., a letter, note, epistle, scripture. These are ancient prophecies, most often explained only by religious leaders who have studied hard. Ray Steadman says this in his article Is Jesus for Real: In that day, every Jewish rabbi began his teaching with words such as, the sages say, or the Talmud teaches or the Mishnah explains so and so. But Jesus never quoted an authority other than Scriptures. In the work that I do, my customers are always asking what s going on in the industry? What are other companies like us doing in this space? What do the subject matter experts say? It s natural to want to go to the experts for the best advice, and to question the source of people s expertise. The Jews were astounded because they knew Jesus, they knew where He came from, and they knew that He hadn t studied with the masters. They question the source of His knowledge. Jesus response is self-deprecating and God glorifying: His knowledge doesn t come from book learning or self-study, it comes from the Father Himself. True doctrine is divine doctrine it doesn t come from man. 2 Timothy 3:16,17 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. His next words guide us even today: how can we test the truth of the teaching? I prefer the KJV for this next verse (17) as well: If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. The NASB translation says is willing to do His will, but I can t help but agree with many commentaries: you can t just be willing to do His will, you have to DO His will. It s in doing His will that we know and understand His will and Him more clearly. Think about it! People hire consultants all the time. Why? Because the experts have done it before; they have more experience. People who want to get better at a musical instrument or a sport hire a coach, one who has played the same instrument or sport, who has studied it, practiced and Page 2 of 7
performed. This is how they get a feel for their craft and better understand the theories and practices. Don t get me wrong there are certainly people who have a calling or a gift for certain abilities: studying, music, medicine, sports. But the gift doesn t realize its greatest potential without actual use. Would you prefer going to a surgeon who has watched 1000 surgeries or a surgeon who has performed 500 or even 250? When we DO what Jesus instructs, what God instructs in His sacred scriptures, we come to understand not just the theory or the words, but the fullness of God s lesson: the rewards, the consequences, the reactions, the truth. We see how the truth of His word applies to the nuances of life today versus life 2000 years ago. When we DO what Jesus instructs, we gain a better understanding of who God is, and we re equipped to identify those who are teaching with a personal agenda. The one who speaks of himself, seeks glory for himself; the one who speaks of God, is focused on glorifying God. Matthew Henry says this: But see the discovery of the cheat; by this their pretentions are disproved, they consult purely their own glory; self-seekers are self-speakers. Those who speak from God will speak for God, and for his glory; those who aim at their own preferment and interest make it to appear that they had no commission from God It was both the tendency of His doctrine and the tenor of His whole conversation to glorify God. This was proof that He was true, and there was no unrighteousness in Him. False teachers are unjust to God whose name they abuse, and unjust to the souls of men whom they impose upon Christ made it appear that He was true, that He was really what He said He was, that there was no falsehood in His doctrine, no fallacy nor fraud in His dealings with us. (p777-778) A false teacher s lessons are generally littered with pretention and self-aggrandizing kinds of statements; they abuse the listener because they don t take care with the heart of the listener, instructing gently or kindly. Not only that, their teachings can generally be disproven. When God has anointed a teacher, the lesson will focus on glorifying God His omnipresence, His omniscience. The lesson will be true, the speaker will be righteous, in short, they will teach as Christ did, with no falsehood in their doctrine and they will deal well with the listener. Personal Challenge: Do you tend to discredit yourself in your relationship with God because you haven t studied theology or intense lessons? Can you think of a time when you ve come to know God better because you were obedient to God, even though you didn t necessarily understand His instruction to start out? Have you ever given credit to someone only to have them proved false? If it has seemed like Christ was proven false to you in the past, could it be because you had a false perspective or understanding of Christ s instructions or who He is? Have you ever been concerned with testing out the teachings of someone you respect or who is in a position at church? Does it help to know that Christ Himself points us to ways to prove out divine doctrine and false teachers? Page 3 of 7
II. Know God (v25-31) A. Some of the people of Jerusalem were asking: 1. Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 2. He is speaking publicly, but they are saying nothing to Him. 3. The rulers do know indeed that this is the very Christ? 4. We know where this man comes from; when Christ may come, no one knows where He is from B. Jesus Response 1. You know me 2. You know where I am from a) I have not come from myself b) He who sent me is true (1) You do not know Him C. The Response to Jesus 1. They were seeking to seize Him a) No one laid a hand on Him, His hour had not yet come 2. Many in the crowd believed in Him a) When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He? APPLICATION & THOUGHT: It is clear from this scripture that the desire to see Jesus put to death was no secret: Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? There is no doubt that the hostility and opposition towards Jesus was on the rise, but despite the threats, Jesus continues to point the listeners to God boldly and courageously. So boldly in fact that people question the rulers lack of response. If they wanted to kill Him, why would they allow Him to speak so boldly? Are they sure this is in fact Christ? These murmurs from the crowd undermine the rulers: if the rulers believe Him, then He should be followed, but if He s a deceiver, then He would be punished. If they re simply doing nothing, then they must not really know whether He is or is not the Messiah. Ironically, as we ll see in the scriptures that follow, they don t dispute what He knows, or how well He knows it, they dispute who He is! However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from. (v27) The rulers may be unclear, but those from Jerusalem believe they know exactly where Jesus was from Nazareth! Malachi 3:1 And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple. The prophecy seems to indicate that the Messenger would come so suddenly, there would be no background of the Messiah whatsoever. If this is true, and we know where this Jesus is from, then He can t possibly be the Messiah. It s logical, but it s limited logic. It ignores the divinity factor. Page 4 of 7
The Jews knew Him and knew where He hailed from but did not truly know from whom He came. If they did know God, then they would recognize He is from God, sent by God. As He has previously pointed out in John 6: 36, you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. The orthodox Jews would take pride in their identity of God s chosen people, and yet here they are being accused of not knowing Him. As we ve said previously, it s one thing to have book knowledge, it s another to know with confidence because of experience and certainty. If they knew God, they wouldn t question Christ as the Messiah. Jesus speaks boldly of His identity and His purpose: I know Him because I am from Him and He sent Me. How much bolder would I be if I laid such an equally strong claim to my own identity in Christ?! As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16: For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. The response to Christ s teaching is two-fold reaction: those who get upset and angry and want to arrest Him and others who will believe Him. Those who refuse to know God are a dying people, perishing, and when confronted with the gospel, rather than get real with themselves, they burrow further into darkness, denying the light to shine on their concept of self and life. When denied light, a perishing life simply continues to die. The alternative is to hear the gospel, apply it and to breathe new life. Despite the opposition and hostility, Jesus is boldly preaching a message to everyone who will listen. He desires to give new life, to strip away the rules of the law and to bind us to the heart of the law. Many of the crowd, the common folks, believed in Him. They believed Him because of the miracles He d performed, miracles that were prophesied, and miracles that surely proved this man was divine. Maybe they weren t bold about it, maybe they required proof, but they believed. Weak tea is still tea, weak coffee is still coffee and weak faith is still faith. The gospel will cause division. Christ will cause division. Faced with strong hostility on one side, and weak faith on the other, Christ kept preaching and He refused to compromise. Personal Challenge: How strongly, boldly do you claim your identity in Christ? Have you ever proved something without a doubt only to find you were missing some important piece of information that negated your position? How often do you keep the Divinity Factor from being a part of the solution development? How do you respond when you re in a situation where two groups are at odds? Do you seek compromise or to be right? How should the gospel be handled differently or the same? Page 5 of 7
III. Choose God (v32-36) A. Plans to arrest Him proceed B. Jesus Response 1. For a little while longer I am with you 2. Then I go to Him who sent me. 3. You will seek me and not find me. 4. Where I am, you cannot come. C. The Response to Jesus 1. Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? a) He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks is He? 2. What is this statement that He said? APPLICATION & THOUGHT: What would you do if you knew with confidence that nothing would happen to you until God ordered it so? What would you do if you knew the outcome ahead of time? The Pharisees and chief priests send officers to seize Him. Therefore Jesus said Christ knew what was going on around Him. He knew the plot of those who didn t know God, but He was also confident of His future. Boldly He proclaims that for a little while longer, He would be around, and then He would go back to His Father. His future wasn t going to be dictated by the Pharisees and the chief priests, but by His Father. He also notes that they will seek Him, but won t find them. He tells them what s going to happen and where He s going. If they truly recognized the Messiah, they wouldn t ask where He is going, whether He was going to go out to foreign lands, but they would know He would ascend to His Father, and they wouldn t be able to get to Him there. If they truly recognized what He is saying, that you will not be able to come to me, they would be devastated to be separated from God. In their questions, there is a great deal of earth bound thinking, ego and contempt: A. Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? 1. He s already said where He is going back to the One who sent Him. 2. They seem to think they ll be able to find Him He s just going on an earthly journey to another geographic location B. Does He intend to go to the foreign lands and teach the Greeks? 1. They seem to scoff at the idea that He would teach the non-jews the same thing He has preached in the temple. I wish I could say I would be different, but the truth is, I d likely have done the same thing they did they start asking questions that are rooted in our own earthly positions and perspectives, again forgetting that Divinity Factor! Page 6 of 7
In six months, the itinerary Jesus lays out here would become a reality. These folks just had a little bit longer to decide who they would follow. Will they get around to listening, really listening to what He is saying? Will they finally begin to include the divinity factor when they listen to Jesus? Will they set their ego aside? Personal Challenge: Will you? Closing & Summary Most of us listen and study and seek to know God, but we must be very careful that we don t believe because of the myriad of coincidences and blessings that seem to occur, nor that we become like the Pharisees and keep head faith and not heart faith that desires to know and see and live the will of God. Christ has provided us with the tools to know the will of God, to test the truth of the teachings of those around us, to recognize that He is who He says and the reminder that we cannot rely solely on our earth bound rules for understanding Him. He has given us a choice and the question then, is will you accept who He says He is? Closing Prayer Heavenly Father, Thank you for your Son. Thank you for the example of His teaching. Help us Lord to be as confident in our identity as your sons and daughters as Christ is. Help us to not just be willing to do your will, but to do your will so we may become more intimately familiar with you. Lord, I pray that we stand firm in our beliefs and that we would share the gospel to the lowly and to the great and would not compromise in the face of division. Keep us focused on the extraordinary truth of who you are as we seek to know and understand and follow you so that we do not impose our earthly concepts onto your greatness. Be glorified. In your son s name- Amen Helps: Henry, Matthew. An exposition, with practical observations, of the Gospel according to St. John. Matthew Henry s Commentary, Volume 5 Matthew to John. Hendrickson Publishers. (1991) Stedman, Ray C. For Those who Thirst. RayStedman.org (1984) Stedman, Ray C. Is Jesus for Real? RayStedman.org. (1984) Wiersbe, Warren. Be Alive: Get to Know the Living Savior. Chapter 7. David C. Cook. Colorado Springs, CO. (1986) Page 7 of 7