You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
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Boy, we have a lot of good reasons to look at God's Word together this morning.
Hope in the face of Christ.
We're returning this morning to our study of John's Gospel, where we're seeking to do
just that, to encounter the real Jesus, to know who He is and what He's about.
John wants us, remember, to understand who Jesus really is because He wants for us to
believe.
He wants for our friends and our neighbors to believe.
He wants for us to find life in Jesus.
This issue of who Jesus is is central to John's whole account, especially to the part we're
in right now.
Everyone is asking that question.
Everyone's talking about Jesus.
After all, they have watched Him heal all sorts of people.
He has just miraculously fed 5,000 plus, and then He spoke to them about Himself.
He said, I am the bread of life.
Jesus offering, fulfilling, eternal life just by believing in Him.
But so many don't believe.
Most right now are leaving Him.
John told us this would happen.
And remember chapter 1, He came to His own people, but His own did not receive Him.
Our passage today highlights unbelief.
Not merely unbelief like, I reject everything Jesus claims and don't want anything to do with
Him, but the kind of unbelief struggles that all of us, church people who hang around Jesus,
us too, have with following Jesus.
He's a Jesus who calls us to find life in Him.
Therefore, all of life in Him.
That's where He calls us to follow Him, is in everything living with Him and for Him.
So we need to pray for our hearts this morning as we hear God's Word.
And then we'll read this next section in three different pieces as we go.
Let's pray together.
Father, I pray for our hearts this morning.
For our busy hearts.
Our hurting hearts.
Our tired hearts.
Our distracted hearts.
Our selfish hearts.
We need you.
We need you to work there.
We need you to soften and transform and comfort and enliven and inspire our hearts with the love of Jesus.
We ask that you would in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I love you.
But not that much.
Imagine you grew up loving peanut butter.
You wanted to eat everything peanut butter you possibly could.
You started growing peanuts.
You research all day the best peanut butter products imaginable.
And then you find out that the girl you've started dating is severely allergic to peanuts.
She spends her whole life protecting herself from peanut products.
No eating.
No kissing.
No touching.
I love you.
But not that much is going to be said at some point to her.
Or if you can imagine it, maybe to peanut butter.
Imagine you meet a guy in school and you become best friends.
And you just want to do everything together.
You want to hang out on the weekends.
You're going to start a business together and do all of life.
But he keeps talking smack about your mama.
I love you, man, but not that much.
Something's got to give.
Or the ultimate struggle.
Imagine you grow up obsessed with Alabama football.
From birth, your parents named you so your initials would be RTR.
And you have now become a cheerleader for Alabama
who happens to have fallen in love with the Auburn quarterback.
Who spends his whole life working against what you love most.
I don't know when that struggle will reach a breaking point.
Could be the orange and blue pom-poms he gives you for your birthday.
Could be when he asks you to say War Eagle.
Maybe it's the day of the Iron Bowl the first time.
But at some point, either he or Alabama will hear,
I love you, but not that much.
Those are mostly silly examples.
Although if I hit a little too close to home in your marriage,
I'm really sorry.
Wasn't aiming for anybody.
But the point is serious.
We can't live for someone whose life works against what we love most.
There are more serious things than those I've just said
that we love deep in our hearts.
And as people in this passage encounter Jesus,
they're going to show their struggle with following him.
John, who's always focused on belief and unbelief,
helps us realize that our struggles with following Jesus
are at their root heart issues.
Sometimes we like to tell ourselves,
they're just in my head,
it's just an intellectual conundrum that I can't get around.
There's just something I can't argue myself out of.
It's a heart issue.
We can't live for someone
whose life works against what we love most.
Listen for that as we read John 7.
This is now several months after the feeding of the 5,000
and most of Jesus' followers leaving him.
Jesus has stayed close to home for a while in Galilee.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us all he's been doing and teaching.
But he hasn't been back to Jerusalem,
which is beginning to frustrate his brothers.
Verse 1.
After this, Jesus went about in Galilee.
He would not go about in Judea
because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
Now the Jews' feast of booths was at hand.
So his brothers said to him,
leave here and go to Judea
that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.
For no one works in secret
if he seeks to be known openly.
If you do these things,
show yourself to the world.
For not even his brothers believed in him.
Jesus said to them,
my time has not yet come,
but your time is always here.
The world cannot hate you,
but it hates me
because I testify about it
that its works are evil.
You go up to the feast.
I'm not going up to this feast
for my time has not yet fully come.
After saying this,
he remained in Galilee.
Put yourself in James' sandals for a moment.
One of Jesus' brothers
that we know was later a leader
in the early church.
You are a strong, strategic go-getter
by personality.
You're sensitive to the honor
of the family name being so vital
in Jewish culture.
The best way to get ahead,
to have your family be influential
and honorable,
that's where it's at
and you know it.
And here you find yourself
with an opportunity.
This eccentric older brother of yours
is doing some really amazing, cool stuff.
There's an opportunity to capitalize on,
but he's got no sense of getting ahead,
of building a movement.
Almost no one is with him anymore
and he's spending all his time
in these small towns.
Religious credibility
comes from Jerusalem.
The crowds gathered there,
the leaders of the temple.
I've got some advice for you, Jesus.
Go to Jerusalem.
Do some events there.
You know, showcase,
show off your glory a bit.
You'll build a following.
It'll be great for my,
I mean, your car.
Can you relate to feelings like that?
I can.
I'm battling these feelings right now
because I'm preaching
at Presbytery Tuesday
to a bunch of preachers.
More than ever,
I want the people listening to me
to think well of what I say.
I'm wrestling with thoughts of,
maybe if I say this,
it'll make this guy praise me afterwards.
Maybe this will impress him.
And what I really want
is to point them to Jesus,
what we all need.
But there's a lot else
that my heart loves
and wants to happen then.
That longing
for worldly success
makes for quite a struggle
in following Jesus
wholeheartedly.
In your heart,
it may feel like pride.
In your own reputation,
your status,
wanting fame,
respect among your peers.
It might feel like envy
of what others have.
Greed
for more power,
more influence,
more money.
Loving
the praise of men.
Does it feel so good
to hear the wonderful things
they'll say?
But if those feelings
are left unchecked
to flourish in your heart,
they'll keep you
from being all in
with Jesus,
following Jesus
where he calls you
to go.
You can be like his brothers
who see the cool things
he does
and they don't mind
hanging around him
when it makes you look good,
but if you're in it
for the worldly success,
you don't believe
in Jesus.
That may sound harsh.
I mean,
maybe you think,
like I did,
that verse 5 should read,
for his brothers
believed in him.
I mean,
didn't they want people
to see his miracles?
They've seen the stuff.
They think he can do
more cool stuff.
They believed in him, right?
No.
No, they didn't.
Lots of people
have seen his miracles
but not seen
who Jesus
was.
Their hearts
are for themselves,
not Jesus.
For the praise of man,
not the praise of God.
That's why Jesus
says to them,
the world cannot
hate you
because you share
its values,
its definition
of success,
the world's pathway
to get there.
So Jesus' brothers
are clearly not
following him.
They go on
without him,
don't they?
John Piper
was really helpful
to me
in this place
pointing out
it's not a head
problem
for them.
They've seen
the great works,
they know we can do them,
but there's a heart
problem going on,
isn't there?
They love
worldly success
more than
the pathway
of Jesus.
Piper says,
our natural love
for human glory
makes it impossible
to know and follow
a person
whose whole life
is bent on
emptying himself
to glorify his father
and save sinners.
It is impossible
to know him
for who he really is
when his whole coming,
living,
dying,
contradicts
your deepest love,
namely,
the love of human praise.
Jesus seems intent
on downward
mobility
when you're longing
to move up
in the world.
You want a bigger
reputation,
a bigger house,
a bigger bank account,
and Jesus'
life and words
keep working
against that.
He's humble.
No place
to lay his head.
Share your money
with those
who have less.
Jesus.
Maybe if you're James,
you'd say,
I love you,
Jesus,
but not that much.
And his brothers
are off
to make a name
for themselves
in Jerusalem
lest they get
stuck in Galilee
when they grow up.
One of the things
I really love
at this point
in this story
is that
Jesus
is intent
on waiting
for the direction
of his father
even when it makes
no sense
from a human perspective.
Humanly speaking,
this is the time
to act.
Jesus is waiting
on his father's timing
even though his popularity
is dwindling.
His mission
seems to be faltering.
His poll numbers
are down.
The next section
shows why
it was not yet time
for Jesus
to join
the crowds
of pilgrims
who surely
would have been
alongside his brothers
at the beginning
of this very popular
week-long feast
in Jerusalem.
It wasn't yet time
for the culmination
of Jesus' life.
Entering Jerusalem
there among the crowds
almost certainly
would have led
to what it did
a few months later,
the triumphal entry
at the Passover feast.
Jesus waited
on his father's timing
and when things
had calmed a bit
after the big kickoff,
verse 10,
but after his brothers
had gone up
to the feast,
then he also went up
not publicly
but in private.
Right?
Hear the difference?
The Jews were looking
for him at the feast
and saying,
where is he?
And there was much
muttering about him
among the people.
While some said
he's a good man,
others said,
no, he's leading
the people astray.
Yet for fear
of the Jews,
no one spoke openly
of him.
The whole city
is abuzz
about Jesus.
Even before he shows up,
it's whether he's there
or not.
It's a testament
to Jesus' power
and his impact
that no one
ignores him.
Religious leaders,
the Jews,
the crowds of people,
they're all
whispering about him.
I can't believe
I'm saying this right now
but it reminds me
of the current buzz
about Taylor Swift.
Will she come
to the Super Bowl
to cheer on her boyfriend?
Y'all,
there's more buzz,
there are more articles
about whether she
will be present
next week or not
than any of the players
on the field.
Everyone's talking
about it.
Is Jesus coming
to the feast?
Where is he?
Everyone has an opinion
about Jesus.
Good
or bad.
They've all
seen or at least
heard what he does
and what he says.
You can't ignore him.
Imagine you're
a young woman
named Mary.
You're walking
the crowded streets
of Jerusalem that day
with your friends
and you ask,
hey,
have you seen Jesus
here yet?
I want to see
a miracle.
And your friend says,
I just want to hear
him teach.
I think he's so wise.
But your third
buddy comes along.
Come on, y'all.
He's just putting
on a show.
My dad says he'll
never make our lives
any better and I agree.
People need to focus
on working hard
and making life better.
Not about some
crazy revolutionary.
He's getting in the way.
And you kind of
have to agree.
Yeah, I know.
My parents told me
not to get too close
to him,
especially if any
rabbis were around.
I don't want people
to get the wrong idea.
But I would love
to see him do
something cool.
Isn't it interesting
here?
No one spoke
openly about Jesus.
Neither the ones
who liked him
nor the ones
who didn't.
They whispered
much muttering.
But they were afraid.
They were afraid
of the Jews.
We get fearful
when our comfort
is at risk,
don't we?
Staying in just
a non-committal
unbelief here.
I mean,
I kind of like
Jesus stuff.
I don't mind
going to church
occasionally.
But nothing loud
or bold
or life-altering
or uncomfortable
for me.
like when I have
the 153rd
consecutive conversation
with my neighbor
about football
and never mention
Jesus.
When at church
I avoid the person
I know is dealing
with a really
messy situation
because I've got
a busy week
coming up
and I don't know
where that'll go.
Like when I don't
share honestly
at Grace Group
because talking
honestly about my
heart is
uncomfortable
and life's okay
if I don't
mess,
let's not disrupt
things too much,
right?
Don't make me
talk about Jesus
and our relationship
openly.
Who might hear?
What might it cost me?
How might it wreck
my week?
Mary might whisper,
I love you Jesus
but not that much.
But then
Jesus does show up
midweek.
Here's Jesus
and he's going
to expose
the struggles
religious church
people specifically
have with following
him.
Verse 14.
About the middle
of the feast
Jesus went up
into the temple
and began teaching.
The Jews therefore
marveled saying
how is it that
this man has
learning when
he's never studied?
So Jesus answered
them,
my teaching
is not mine
but his who sent
me.
If anyone's will
is to do
God's will
he will know
whether the teaching
is from God
or whether I'm
speaking on my
own authority.
The one who speaks
on his own authority
seeks his own glory
but the one who
seeks the glory
of him who sent
him is true
and in him
there is no falsehood.
Has not Moses
given you the law?
Yet none of you
keeps the law.
Why do you
seek to kill me?
And the crowd
answered,
you have a demon
who's seeking
to kill you?
Jesus answered
them,
I did one deed
and you all
marvel at it.
Moses gave you
circumcision
not that it's
from Moses
but from the
fathers
and you circumcise
a man on the
Sabbath.
If on the
Sabbath a man
received circumcision
so that the law
of Moses
may not be broken
are you angry
with me
because on the
Sabbath I made
a man's whole
body well?
Do not judge
by appearances
but judge
with right
judgment.
John doesn't
even tell us
what Jesus
is teaching
yet,
that's coming
later,
but first
he's dealing
with our
hearts.
Imagine
Nicodemus
being there,
one of the
Pharisees
who had met
privately
with Jesus
and he'll speak
up by the end
of this chapter.
Imagine you
hear Jesus
teach and your
colleague turns
to you at the
end,
shakes his
head,
not even a
single rabbi
referenced and
he didn't even
quote C.S.
Lewis or Tim
Keller,
John Calvin,
none of them.
Who does he
think he is?
You're still
kind of intrigued
by Jesus and
then as you're
listening you hear
he starts talking
about the law
of Moses and
you hear someone
in the crowd
yell,
who is seeking
to kill you.
I've heard a few
discussions about
that,
you think?
And then Jesus
brings up the man
that he healed
on the Sabbath
last year.
No,
Jesus,
don't go there.
It's so clearly
against the law.
Quit making things
more complicated
for me.
We know what the
law says and we
do it.
And if you're
doing signs
and also encouraging
law breaking,
you deserve to die
as a false prophet.
Now that is making
me angry.
Stop it!
The love of our
heart exposed
here I think
is our love
for control.
Hang with me
control freaks.
I am probably
worse than you.
It's not easy.
What do we want?
We want to know
more
or do more
to control
our lives,
don't we?
At times,
if we're honest,
to control God.
Listen to Jesus'
challenge in verse 17.
If anyone's will
is to do
God's will,
then he will know
whether the teaching,
the teaching Jesus
is giving,
is from God
or whether I am
speaking
on my own
authority.
He's telling us
to come to him,
to listen to him
with appropriate
humility.
He says,
if you come
to God,
actually desiring
to learn
to follow
God's will,
then although
it sounds
upside down
at times,
although it doesn't
seem comfortable
at times,
you'll find that
it's actually
what God wants
for you
and what you
were made for
if that's the way
in which you
come to his word
and seek to
listen to Jesus.
But we like
to think we
know more.
and crazy
as it sounds,
we like to
evaluate Jesus'
teaching on the
basis of what
we already know
so that we
stay in control.
If it sounds
like he's telling
me to love
the poor
sacrificially,
that can't be
right.
That's the
liberal left.
God wants my
individual freedoms,
I know that.
And then I flip
over,
it sounds like
he's telling me
whom I can
and can't
be married to.
That can't
be right.
That is the
fundamentalist
right again.
God wants me
to be happy,
I know that.
See how
either of those
will create
a big struggle
with following
the real Jesus
who doesn't
fit in our
nice boxes?
But then
what really
gets us angry
is when we
obey,
but things
don't go
the way
we expect.
Yes?
Yeah?
Uh-huh?
We think
God's promised
us.
And Jesus,
in the midst
of our great
obedience
and careful
law-keeping,
has the gall
to tell us
that we don't
keep the law.
What?
He tells us
we've been
lost in the
details and
forgotten
the main
thing.
The heart.
Love for God.
Love for
neighbor.
See,
Moses codified
the laws
about circumcision
that were
given to
Abraham.
Circumcised,
he said,
on the eighth
day.
Whether it's
the Sabbath
or not,
the Jews
all agreed
on that.
That's what
they taught.
That makes
sense,
right?
It's an
important thing
to do.
But don't
heal someone's
whole body.
You're missing
the heart
of the Sabbath,
Jesus says.
You've
missed it.
So for us,
let me push
us.
Maybe it
feels okay
for us.
Maybe it's
okay to
identify as
selfish.
My money
for me.
To identify
as gluttonous.
My food
for me.
To identify
as impatient.
My schedule
for me.
That's okay.
But there
are some
things it's
not okay
to identify
as, right?
We clear?
You got me?
We know
it's acceptable.
So long
as we know
which things
God's okay
with,
we can keep
the rules,
those rules.
We're in
control.
Jesus says,
don't assume
your authority
or control.
don't come
to me
knowing
more,
doing
more,
thinking
that's
the way
to get
control.
When Jesus
says,
my whole
life screams,
Yahweh,
my Father
is in
control.
We
submit
to Him.
We
rest in
His grace,
not our
performance.
When our
control is
threatened,
we are
tempted,
along with
Nicodemus,
to say,
I love you,
Jesus.
but not
that much.
So what do
we do?
That's a
mess.
That's a
mess in
here.
I suspect
we all see
some manifestations
of unbelief,
some competing
loves of
worldly
success,
selfish
comfort,
or religious
control.
We can see
those in our
hearts.
perhaps
feeling like
pride,
fear,
anger.
It's because
we can't
live for
someone whose
life works
against what
we love
most,
and Jesus
loves not
His own
life even
to death.
He eschews
worldly
success,
selfish comfort,
religious
control,
so following
Him is a
struggle.
Christian,
non-Christian,
these loves
of your
heart are
keeping you
from following
Jesus.
That's what
you're experiencing.
That's what's
going on in
your heart.
What's the
treatment for
heart issues
like ones we
struggle with?
If it's not
just an
intellectual
matter,
you can't
merely argue
me into
following
Jesus.
You can't
just give
me a
formula that
convinces me
that it is
worth it to
invest all
that I have
in Him,
to be all
in with
Jesus,
and that
that's really
where life
is found.
So what
do I do?
Well,
come back
next week
is one
answer,
because Jesus
Himself explains
more of who
He is and
how that gives
us hope,
and I hope
you will,
but there are
a couple
things already
pointed to
here in the
midst of the
many struggles
we see with
following Jesus.
The treatment
for our
hearts is
repentance and
faith.
See,
what we're
talking about
this morning
is besetting
sins in
our hearts,
right?
The love of
control,
of comfort,
of success.
These are
idols that
we sometimes
love more
than we love
Jesus.
At the end
of the day,
it's really
the idol of
self,
isn't it?
It's all
about me,
my control,
my comfort,
my success,
so we
fight idols
like that
by pleading
with God
to turn
our hearts
from the
love of
self
back to
Jesus
because some
of our
great loves
have to
die.
If they
remain our
greatest loves,
we will
never embrace
Jesus.
And so we
look back at
Jesus and
we realize that
he has come
to displace
these loves
by actually
loving us
more than
we love
ourselves.
See,
there will
be a day,
it may not
be this one
where his
brothers are
talking to
him,
but there
will be a
day when
Jesus will
make a
public
showcase
in Jerusalem
to show
himself to
the world,
to display
his glory,
just not in
the way his
family suggested,
right?
he will
go to the
cross.
Thankfully,
we now can
gaze on
Jesus and
realize that
he never got
to the point
of saying,
I love you,
but not that
much.
No,
that's not
what he says.
He instead
keeps going.
He pursued
glory through
suffering.
He purchased
our ultimate
comfort through
deep pain.
He put down
control of
his own life
that we
might live
forever.
Therein is
love,
amen?
That's what
love looks
like,
John tells
us.
Love so
transformative
that success-hungry
James sees the
most amazing
work Jesus
ever performs
on his
behalf at
the cross
and is
inspired to
give his
own life
as a
martyr for
that life-changing
reality of
that love.
So transformative
that comfortable
risk-averse
Mary meets
the risen
Jesus and
can't stop
sharing with
anyone who
will listen
the good
news of
the Messiah
who brings
eternal hope
and comfort
in relationship
with him even
in the face
of death.
So transformative
that controlling
religious Nicodemus
finally starts
seeing what the
new birth that
Jesus talked
with him about
really means
that the son
of man must
be lifted up
on the tree.
Oh I see it
now Nicodemus
says and
when we
believe in
him we
find new
and eternal
life.
He is the
one that's
where life
is found.
Love so
transformative
that he dies
for success-hungry
comfort-seeking
control-obsessed
people like you
and me so
that we can
even today
find his
love most
fulfilling and
his life
eternally
satisfying.
I pray we
do.
Father,
so work in
our hearts
that Christ
would be our
true treasure.
that knowing
that he is
ours and
we are his
forevermore
would thrill
our hearts
as a result
would change
our lives,
would free
us from the
idols that we
cling to,
and would
inspire us to
live for him.
Holy Spirit,
help our
hearts.
Give us
faith.
That believes
hope in
Jesus,
not hope in
me.
That believes
glory to
come,
not glory
now.
That believes
comfort then
and forever
even if I
don't taste
it here.
Help us,
we ask,
in Jesus'
name,
for his
glory.
Amen.
For more
information,
visit us
online at
southwood.org.
Thank you.