Amen. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 7.
While you're getting there, I'd like to do two things.
First, I want to encourage attentive listening by pointing something out to you.
When TJ was praying, he prayed for the elderly in our church.
And then did you hear how he defined elderly?
He said, older than us.
And I think if you're being a careful listener, you're going to quickly go,
what is the median age in this congregation?
So this morning, TJ called me elderly.
And I don't know how I feel about that.
I'll own it, I suppose.
Second thing I want to do is I just want to take a moment.
I don't know how regularly you might do this.
I know I don't enough.
But take a moment to pause and consider how very privileged we are
to gather together as a church on Sunday morning
to see and sing and hear, open up God's Word.
What a blessing it is.
What do you think you might be doing otherwise this morning
if it weren't for God's grace in your life?
I wouldn't be doing this.
One of the greatest high points of my week,
I'd be off flitting away time doing something meaningless
instead of gathering with you.
It's also such a privilege that I get to open God's Word to you,
this abundant Word that we have,
and take the time during the week to study it
and present it to you on a Sunday morning.
So I'm glad to be here.
I'm glad that we can open up God's Word together.
I hope you feel the very same.
Our text for today is John 7, verses 10-29.
Once again, if this bothers you
because the subtitles in your Bible are not following this,
this is following the chiastic structure of this text.
We won't spend much of any time on that this morning,
but I just want you to understand
there's a reason that we're preaching 10-29.
I mentioned briefly last week
that John continually juxtaposes
those who reject Jesus as the Christ
and those who receive Jesus as the Christ,
and that this thematic element
carries all throughout the book,
and it is established at the outset of John's writing.
He wants us to take it up,
and he wants us to see,
look, there's two groups of people being presented here, right?
Those who reject, those who receive,
and it is his hope that we will receive.
At the outset, the theme is established.
John 1, verse 9 and following.
The true light, which gives light to everyone,
was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and the world was made through him,
yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own,
and his own people did not receive him.
But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man,
but of God.
Now then, chapter 7 places us
in the middle of a growing crisis
in Jesus' ministry.
The crowds are confused.
The authorities are hostile.
The religious leaders are threatened.
The question driving this passage
is not whether Jesus is impressive,
but whether he has authority,
and more specifically,
where that authority comes from.
This text confronts us
with a sobering reality.
You can be surrounded by truth,
impressed by Jesus,
and still not know God.
May we all receive Jesus as the Christ
as we study together this morning.
Let me pray to that very end.
Father, help us as we take up your word,
as we open it together this morning.
We want to rightly understand it.
We want to glean from it
what can be gathered.
Lord, we humbly recognize
that we need your help
to do this very thing.
Help us to believe its promises,
obey its commands,
have affection for its author.
Help us to believe
that Jesus is in fact the Christ.
And we pray to this end
for his glory.
Amen.
John chapter 7, verses 10 through 21.
I'm going to begin reading
in verse 1 though,
just for some context.
I think it will help us
make some sense
of what's going to happen after.
John chapter 7,
beginning in 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 am not going up to this feast,
for my time has not yet fully come.
After this,
he remained in Galilee.
But after his brothers
had gone up to the feast,
then he also went up,
not publicly,
but in private.
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 is a good man,
others said,
No, he is leading
the people astray.
Yet for fear of the Jews,
no one spoke openly of him.
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 has 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 am 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?
The crowd answered,
You have a demon.
Who is seeking
to kill you?
Jesus answered them,
I did one work
and you all
marvel at it.
Moses gave you
circumcision,
not that it is
from Moses
but from the fathers,
and you circumcise
a man on the Sabbath.
If on the Sabbath
a man receives circumcision
so that the law
of Moses
may not be broken,
are you angry with me
because on the Sabbath
I made a man's
whole body well?
Do not judge
by appearances
but judge
with right judgment.
Some of the people
of Jerusalem
therefore said,
Is not this the man
whom they seek
to kill?
And here he is
speaking openly
and they say
nothing to him.
Can it be that
the authorities
really know
that this is the Christ?
But we know
where this man
comes from
and when the Christ
appears
no one will know
where he comes from.
So Jesus proclaimed
as he taught
in the temple.
You know me
and you know
where I come from
but I have not come
of my own accord.
He who sent me
is true
and him
you do not know.
I know him
for I come from him
and he sent me.
Alright,
let's first look
a little bit
at the context.
Feast and fear
verses 10 through 13.
Verse 10 says,
But after his brothers
had gone up
to the feast
then he also went up
not publicly
but in private.
Recall,
Jesus did not
delay his departure
because he was afraid
but because he was
awaiting
the Father's sending.
His timing
and his manner
are all about
the divine timeline.
We developed that
some last week.
Next week,
Lord willing,
we will spend
some extended time
discussing the details
of the week.
This long feast
of booze
or tabernacles
as those details
will have bearing
on our understanding
of the text.
For today,
it is enough to know
that this was one
of Israel's
great pilgrimage feasts.
!
It celebrated
God's provision
in the wilderness
after the Exodus
and it anticipated
future restoration.
resurrection.
Jesus goes up
to Jerusalem
for the feast
but he does so
quietly.
Not triumphantly,
not yet.
That will come.
But this time
to Jerusalem
he goes
quietly.
Throughout John's
gospel,
Jesus is never
rushed,
never reactive,
never careless.
He moves
according to the
divine timeline.
He goes
when he is
told
to go.
He's already
said in verse 6,
my time
has not
yet
come.
Not time
for me to go.
I trust the
Father.
I go
when the
Father
tells me
to go.
The steps
of Christ
are governed
by the
sovereign
will
of God
the Father.
Verses 11
through 13
describe
the atmosphere.
The Jews
are looking
for him
at the feast.
Where is
he?
We know
that he's
not gone
there because
they're seeking
to kill him.
The beginning
of the chapter
tells us
this.
And the people
are muttering.
Some say
he's a good
man.
Others say
no,
he's leading
the people
astray.
But they're
not talking
openly.
They're not
being loud
about it
because they're
afraid of
what the
Jews
might say.
Notice the
distinction
between the
Jews
and the
people.
The Jews
here is
referring to
the religious
leaders.
We get a
number of
hints at
this throughout
John's
writing.
It becomes
very clear
there's a
different group
here being
talked about.
The people
is everyone
else at
this festival.
Most,
to be sure,
would have
been Jewish
in ethnicity.
But there
would have
also been
those who
converted to
Judaism
from other
nations.
The people
are unsure
what to do
with Jesus
and notice
yet for fear
of the
Jews,
this distinct
group,
no one
spoke openly
of him.
There's a
festival and
there's fear
and fear
often
silences
truth.
It did
then and
it still
does
now.
So this
is the
setting
for what's
going on.
The middle
of this
week-long
celebration
is when
Jesus
begins
to teach
and I
have for
you three
points to
structure
the rest
of our
study.
So number
one,
Jesus
teaches
with an
inexplicable
authority.
Verses
14 through
18,
Jesus
teaches
with an
inexplicable
authority.
Verse 14
tells us
about the
middle of
the feast,
Jesus went
up into
the temple
and began
teaching.
We don't
know exactly
what he's
teaching,
but surely
that he
is the
Christ.
Suddenly,
publicly,
boldly,
Jesus does
not avoid
the temple,
he goes
and
confronts
it.
We can
have no
doubt
that it
was time
to do
this very
thing.
God the
Father
orchestrates
the growing
conflict we
will witness
as this
chapter
presses
on.
Again
and again
we'll see
Jesus won't
say things
the Father
doesn't tell
him to
say,
he won't
do things
the Father
doesn't tell
him to
do,
and so
we have
an ordained
encounter
happening in
the middle
of this
festival.
Verse 15
records the
response to
his teaching.
The Jews
therefore marveled
saying,
how is it
that this
man has
learning when
he has
never
studied?
Now I
don't think
that what
we are
seeing here
is a
genuine
curiosity
about
Jesus.
Remember,
this group
is seeking
to kill
him.
They're
scratching
their heads
a bit
about why
is it
that he's
able to
speak in
this way.
The context
leads me to
believe it
is contempt
that is
disguised
as a
question.
How is it
possible that
this guy
could speak
in this
way?
They're not
denying his
grasp of
scripture.
They're
questioning
his
authority.
Jesus has
no
recognized
rabbinical
training,
no official
credentials.
He's been
hanging out
in the
nowhere
land.
No diploma
hanging on
his wall,
yet he
speaks
with authority.
Why?
Because of
who sent
him to
speak.
Jesus
answers
their
question
in
verse
16.
My
teaching
is not
mine,
but his
who sent
me.
And the
implication
is,
how is it
that this
man has
learning when
he has
never
studied?
Is that
God the
Father
is the
one
who sent
me?
This is
a staggering
claim.
Jesus does
not say
he developed
these ideas
or discovered
them.
He says
he was
sent.
He's
serving
as a
mouthpiece
of God
the
Father.
This
is the
language
of
divine
commission.
Prophets
are
sent.
We'll
see
later
apostles
are
sent.
And
here
the
Son
declares
that he
has been
sent
by the
Father.
Jesus
loves
to make
huge
claims
and we
should love
it when
he does
so.
He makes
massive
claims
about
himself.
Listen to
just a few
of them
that John
MacArthur
outlines for
us in
his
commentary
on these
verses.
This is a
very well
loved
commentary.
Next
Christmas,
if any of
you are
looking for
a present
for me,
I need
a new
John 1
through 11
commentary.
Listen to
just a few
of these.
And this
is so
helpful.
I'm not
going to
read you
all the
scripture
references.
MacArthur
does that
work for
us.
It's a
really
beautifully
well done
list that
he's put
here.
But just
listen to
some of
the things
that Jesus
has claimed.
He's claimed
to have
come down
from heaven,
to have
been sent
into the
world by
the Father,
to be the
Savior of
the world,
to be the
determiner of
people's
eternal
destinies,
to be the
source of
eternal life,
to be the
only way to
God,
to have the
right to be
honored on
equal basis
with the
Father,
to be one
with the
Father,
to have
power to
raise the
dead and
even rise
from the
dead himself,
to be the
one to whom
the Old
Testament
scriptures
pointed,
to be the
supreme judge
who will
one day
return in
glory,
to be without
sin,
to have all
authority in
heaven and
on earth,
to have the
authority to
forgive sins,
to have authority
over the
Sabbath,
to have the
authority to
answer prayer,
to have the
authority to
authorize prayer
in his name,
to be greater
than the
temple,
Solomon,
Jacob,
and Abraham,
to be the
bread of
life,
the only
source of
spiritual
sustenance,
to be the
light of the
world,
to be the
resurrection and
the life,
to be the
Messiah or
the Christ,
to be the
Son of God
who would be
seated at the
right hand of
God in
glory.
Astounding,
magnificent,
huge claims
that he makes
about himself.
And if all
of these
claims are
true,
he is to
be worshipped.
Verse 17
is crucial
for us to
hear.
If anyone's
will is to
do God's
will,
he will know
whether the
teaching is
from God or
whether I am
speaking on
my own
authority.
Jesus does
not say
discernment
begins,
with
intelligence
or with
education.
He says
it begins
with the
will.
If the
heart is
submissive,
the truth
will become
clear.
Unbelief
is not
primarily an
intellectual
problem,
it is a
moral
problem.
It has to
do with
who we
are at
our
core.
Lord,
help us
to
believe.
Jesus
goes on
in verse
18 to
provide a
test of
true
authority.
He says
the one
who speaks
on his
own
authority
seeks
his
own
glory.
Somebody's
seeking their
own glory,
then they're
speaking of
their own
authority.
But the
one who
seeks the
glory of
him who
sent him
is true,
and in
him there
is no
falsehood.
Jesus is
not
self-promoting,
he is
father-glorifying.
That alone
sets him
apart from
every
false
teacher.
Jesus
teaches
with an
inexplicable
authority.
Secondly,
Jesus exposes
the hypocrisy
of religious
unbelief.
See this
in verse
19
through
24.
In
verse 19,
Jesus
confronts
them
directly.
Has
not
Moses
given
you
the
law,
yet
none
of
you
keeps
the
law?
Why
do
you
seek
to
kill
me?
They
claim
Moses.
They
claim
the
law,
yet
they're
plotting
murder.
Jesus
exposes
the
contradiction.
They
boast
in
possessing
the
law
while
rejecting
the
lawgiver
to
the
point
of
putting
him
to
death
on a
cross.
This
plot
is already
in
motion
as
Jesus
speaks
to
them.
In
verse
20,
the
crowd
then
responds,
you
have
a
demon
who
is
seeking
to
kill
you.
How
could
you
say
such
a
crazy
thing?
Truth
often
sounds
insane
to hardened
hearts.
These
two
verses,
for those
of you
who
will
care,
I
hope
some
of
you
do,
comprise
the
chiastic
center
of this
text.
So if
you
care to
plot it
out on
your
own,
this
is the
center,
verses
19 and
20.
John's
drawing our
attention to
this growing
conflict that's
going to result
in his
crucifixion.
Jesus answers
by pointing
to his
healing on the
Sabbath recorded
in John
chapter 5.
That's what he's
talking about.
That's the work
that he did
that they marvel
at.
Back in
John chapter 5,
the last time
he was in
Jerusalem,
you may
remember that
he healed
a man
at the
pool of
Siloam.
In
verse 21
through 23
he explains
that circumcision
is permitted
on the
Sabbath
because the
law itself
allows for
acts of
covenant
faithfulness
and mercy.
So they
would have
performed
circumcision
on the
eighth day
and if it
fell on the
Sabbath
they did
that work
and the
law allowed
for that.
Acts of
covenant
faithfulness
and of
mercy.
So then
what did
he do?
He did
an act
of mercy.
He healed
a man
on that
day and
it was
for that
reason
that they
were seeking
to kill
him.
His
argument
is airtight.
If on
the
Sabbath
a man
receives
circumcision
so 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?
Look
at the
hypocrisy
of your
unbelief.
Verse
24
summarizes
the issue.
Do not
judge by
appearances
but judge
with right
judgment.
Jesus is not
here forbidding
discernment.
He is
commanding it.
Superficial
judgment looks
at credentials
and at
customs.
Right
judgment is
shaped by
truth and
grounded in
God's word.
They should
have had no
issue with
his healing
on the
Sabbath.
They should
have
accepted
him
as
the
Christ
and yet
they're
so
caught
up
in
their
keeping
of
the
law
that
they're
neglecting
central
elements
of it.
So we
see that
Jesus exposes
the hypocrisy
of their
religious
unbelief.
Thirdly,
Jesus reveals
a divine
origin
that they
just
refuse
to
accept.
Verse
25
to the
end
of the
text.
Verses
25
to 27
show
the
confusion
of the
Jerusalem
crowd.
They
think
they
know
where
Jesus
is
from
and
assume
that
the
Christ's
origins
will
be
entirely
mysterious.
So much
misunderstanding
about who
the
Christ
would be.
They
misunderstood
both
Jesus
and the
Old
Testament's
teaching
about
the
Christ.
What
he was
to be
and what
he was
to do.
Verse
28
is
filled
with
so
much
holy
irony.
Jesus
proclaimed
as he
taught
in the
temple,
you
know me
and you
know where
I come
from,
but I
have not
come of
my own
accord.
He
who
sent
me
is
true
and
him
you
do
not
know.
Yes,
they
know his
earthly
background.
Word
had
gotten
around
about
who
this
Jesus
is,
this
one
claiming
to be
the
Christ,
but they
do not
know
his
heavenly
origin.
They
know
Nazareth,
they
do not
know
that he
has
come
from
the
Father
and
therefore
do
not
know
the
Father.
Verse
29
brings
the
matter
to
its
very
sharpest
of
points.
Jesus
says,
I
know
him
for
I
come
from
him
and
he
sent
me.
This
is one
of the
clearest
assertions
of Jesus'
divine
origin
in the
gospel
of
John.
Jesus
does not
merely
know
about
God,
he
knows
him
eternally
and
perfectly.
And
then comes
the
devastating
indictment
at the
end of
verse
28.
Him
you
do
not
know.
may
that
not
be
said
of
us,
him
you
do
not
know.
These
are
scripture
experts
and
devout
followers
of
the
law.
They
are
gathered
for
a
commanded
feast.
They
have
come
together
in
obedience
to
God's
word.
Jesus
says
plainly
that
they
do
not
know
God.
That
should
sober
every
one
of
us.
Every
one
of
us
should
think
them?
How
did
they
miss
that
Jesus
is
the
Christ?
Jesus
says
in
John
chapter
5
verse
39
and
40
it
says
this
to
these
Jewish
leaders
you
search
the
scriptures
because
you
think
that
in
them
you
have
eternal
life
and
it
is
they
that
bear
witness
about
me
yet
you
refuse
!
to
come
to
me
that
you
may
have
life.
search
the
scriptures
don't
stop
doing
that
search
the
scriptures
but
do
so
that
you
may
find
Jesus
go
to
him
and
have
life
in
him.
Jesus
reveals
his
divine
origin
that
they
just
do
not
accept.
So
let's
think
about
a bit
of
application.
First
let me
say
that we
ought
to be
careful
to
beware
of
respectable
unbelief.
Many
admire
Jesus'
teaching
while
rejecting
his
authority.
That
is
not
faith
as
the
author
put it
it
is
rebellion
with
manners.
We
have
spoken
before
of
C.S.
Lewis'
trilemma.
He
argues
rightly
that
you
must
either
think
Jesus
a
liar
or
a
lunatic
or
worship
him
as
Lord.
He
says
it's
not
appropriate
to
just
think
of
him
as
a
good
teacher
because
of
the
types
of
claims
he
made
about
himself.
He
either
knows
it's
not
true
and
just
lies
or
he's
a
crazy
person
he
actually
thinks
it's
true
or
it
is
in
fact
true.
And
if
so
which
is
what
I
put
forward
to
you
then
we
should
worship
him
as
Lord.
Lewis
wasn't
the only
person
to
reason
in
this
way
and
included
at
the
back
of
your
bulletin
a quote
from
G.K.
Chesterton
!
This
first
couple
sentences
are
about
not
being
able
to
make
a
crazy
person
see
the
light.
The
delusion
of
divinity
is
what
he
calls
it.
So
that's
what
these
first
sentences
are
about.
He
says
this
impossibility
of
letting
in
daylight
on
a
delusion
does
sometimes
cover
and
conceal
a
delusion
of
divinity.
It
can
be
found
not
among
prophets
and
sages
and
founders
of
religions
but
only
among
a
low
set
of
lunatics.
See
what
he's
saying?
Really
crazy
people
think
they're
God.
That's
what
he's
saying.
But
this
is
exactly
where
the
argument
becomes
intensely
interesting
because
the
argument
proves
too
much
for
nobody
supposes
that
Jesus
of
Nazareth
was
that
sort
of
person.
No
modern
critic
in his
five
wits
thinks
that
the
preacher
of
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount
was
a
horrible
half-witted
imbecile
that
might
be
scrawling
stars
on the
walls
of
a
cell.
No
atheist
or
blasphemer
believes
that
the
author
of
the
parable
of
the
prodigal
son
was
a
monster
with
historical
criticism.
He
must
be
put
higher
in
the
scale
of
human
beings
than
that.
He
can't
just
be a
lunatic.
Look
at the
things
that
he
put
on
pages
for
us.
Yet
by
all
analogy
we
have
really
to
put
him
there
or
else
in
the
highest
place
of
all.
Lord
recognize
him
as
such.
I
hope
that we
will
all
recognize
the
soundness
of
this
argument.
More
than
that
I
hope
that
we
will
all
arrive
at
the
proper
conclusion
of
this
argument
and
bow
the
knee
to
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ.
Beware
of
respectable
unbelief.
It is
still
unbelief.
It is
rebellion
with
manners.
Take
some
time
and
examine
your
will
not
merely
your
intellect.
You
can
know
something
is
true
and
yet
refuse
to
do
it.
Are
you
being
shaped
by
God's
word
in a
way
that
the
impulse
of
your
heart
and
your
will
you
want
to
do
the
things
that
God
would
have
you
do.
It
starts
with
belief.
It
ends
with
continued
belief.
obedience
to
his
way
to
the
very
end.
Ask
honestly
whether
you
are
willing
to
do
whatever
it
is
that
God
reveals
to
you
that
you
should
do.
Finally,
rest
in the
Christ
who was
sent.
It's
already a
new
year.
We are
off
and
running
and
there
are
a
thousand
tasks
!
out
before
us
so
many
things
that
we
are
determined
to
do.
Most
of
them
probably
are
good
things
that
we
should
be
set
about
doing.
I
think
already
perhaps
some
of
you
are
tired.
Can
you
believe
it?
We're
already
worn
out.
The
holidays
have
us
tired.
Perhaps
in
your
spirit
you're
tired.
Thinking
somehow
that
your
success
or
failure
this
year
already
has
put
you
in
some
right
or
wrong
standing
with
God.
Rest
in
the
completed
work
of
the
Christ
who
was
sent.
Sent
on
your
behalf
if
you
have
believed
in
him.
Jesus
did
not
come
on
his
own
initiative.
came
on
the
father's
mission
to
save
sinners
like
you
and
me
to
make
us
new
in
him
to
clothe
us
in
his
righteousness
to
not
only
justify
us
but
to
adopt
us
to
call
us
his
and that
was done
because
he
did it.
He accomplished
that work
and we can
rest in
that.
He still
speaks
Jesus
does
with divine
authority
today.
We can
believe that
his promises
for us
are sure.
In conclusion
John 7
presses this
unavoidable
question
upon us
where
did
Jesus
come
from
who
is
he
if
he
came
only
from
Nazareth
he
can
be
dismissed
if
he
came
from
heaven
he
must
be
worshipped
Jesus
says
in
John
17
verse
3
this
is
eternal
life
that
they
know
you
the
only
true
God
and
Jesus
Christ
whom
you
have
sent
let's
pray
as