Well, do turn to John 7.
John chapter 7, and we'll look at verses 1 to 24.
You know what it's like, don't you, in London in the summertime.
It's beautiful sunshine, and then the cloud comes over, isn't it?
Dark, menacing clouds of hostility.
And you know what's coming.
You know that at some point there's been a period of pressure,
and at some point the clouds will break, the heavens will open,
and there'll be a deluge of rain.
And what you see in John 7, 1 to 24,
are dark, menacing clouds of hostility
that haven't yet broken out into the open.
Remember chapter 6?
Chapter 6, it started, there were 5,000 people.
5,000 people coming and following Jesus,
sitting under his teaching.
They have their breath taken away by his miracles.
They enjoy a feast that Jesus provides.
And then Jesus says, in chapter 6,
boys and girls, men and women,
unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you are not going to have eternal life.
And people think he's gone over the deep end.
It's blasphemy, it's cannibalism,
it's too intense,
and they leave en masse.
There's a whole lot of them.
It's a big rejection.
Jesus goes from 5,000 people following him to 12.
He goes from being a mega church pastor
to a small group leader in four hours.
And you're thinking that's pretty bad, isn't it?
Another chapter doesn't finish, chapter 6,
before Jesus says that one of his own 12 hand-picked disciples
is going to reject him.
It's another hit.
It's rock bottom, isn't it?
Another form of rejection.
And you think, well, it can't get any worse.
But then you come to chapter 7,
and we'll see that the rejection of Jesus
is even operating within his own family,
from his brothers who came from the same womb.
So John 7 begins with him leaving the north in Galilee,
and relatively safely,
in order to go down to the south,
and Judea, into real danger.
And the storm clouds darken of opposition.
There's a dark background to John chapter 7.
And as the events unfold,
there's no doubt that the main theme of this chapter
is the rising tide of opposition towards Jesus.
The rising opposition to who he says he is.
And that is something, isn't it,
with which we're not completely unfamiliar with as a society.
Ruben's really helpfully shown us that in James, hasn't he?
That we're living in a negative culture.
Storm clouds gathering over Christ's church.
And so we should be interested in what John has to tell us in chapter 7.
Just look with me.
See the theme.
Verse 1.
They're seeking to kill him.
Verse 13.
There's a fear of the Jews,
so no one spoke openly about him.
In verse 19,
he asked,
why do you seek to kill me?
In verse 20,
you have a demon.
Verse 25.
They are whispering about him.
Is not this the man they seek to kill?
Verse 30.
They talk about arresting him,
but don't.
And then in verse 32,
you see the same theme.
And verse 45.
The chapter is about the rising tide of opposition
towards Jesus.
And what I want us to do
is just look at the three groups.
I'll spend far longer on the last group.
But the three groups in these first 24 verses.
The first group is the brothers of Jesus.
Look at verse 3 and following.
Leave here, they say,
and go to Judea.
Go to Judea,
that your disciples,
your followers, Jesus,
may also see the works that you are doing.
And it seems to me that actually
there's a touch of manipulation there.
Even a touch of cynicism.
Jesus, if you want to be a main player
on the religious scene,
you need to get amongst the big boys
in Jerusalem.
There's no point wasting your time
here in the sticks.
There's no point ministering
in a place like Cornwall
or South Wales.
Who's ever heard of places like that?
Jesus, you need to be in
St Paul's Cathedral,
Westminster Abbey.
You need to be in the corridors
of religious power.
Verse 4.
No one works in secret
if he seeks to be known.
If you want to be a public figure,
don't hide the light under a bushel.
If you do these things,
show yourself to the world.
We can hardly believe it, can we?
That the brothers,
the flesh and blood of God incarnate
would come out with something like this.
They had ate meals
with God incarnate.
They had done sweating work at times.
They had had relaxing holiday times
with God manifest in the flesh
for 30 years.
They knew him.
And yet the explanation is given
in verse 5 where we learn
that they are not believers.
And that in a sense makes the puzzle
all the greater, doesn't it?
These brothers of Jesus,
they've been with him all these years
and yet they don't believe in him
or accept his message.
Such misunderstanding.
And of course that puzzle exists today,
doesn't it?
Those who've had most access
to the truth of the gospel,
but they can't see it.
Members of a family,
maybe in your family,
they've had a living Christian
living amongst them
for years and years and years,
but they don't believe it.
They reject it.
And so if that is you,
don't beat yourself up
mercilessly as a failure.
You may feel like you've been
the only Christian in your family
for years and years
and nobody seems to take
the slightest bit of notice
or has got the slightest clue
about who you are
and who you love.
So great encouragement, isn't it?
That the same thing happened
to the Son of God.
He knows.
And don't you think
in chapter 7 and verses 3 and 4,
Jesus felt acute pain
and hurt and anguish.
Here is his own kith and kin,
his own flesh and blood
through Mary
and they haven't got a clue.
But the story, of course,
has encouragement at the end of it.
There's a postscript, isn't there?
That by the time you get
to the Acts of the Apostles,
the brothers have become disciples.
And one of them was James,
the brother of our Lord,
who became a great leader
in the early church.
So do not lose heart.
Do not lose heart.
The Gospel means
that very surprising things
can happen to people.
Very surprising things.
That's the first group,
the brothers.
The second group is the Jews,
the Jewish people.
They're mentioned in verse 1,
but they're mentioned
more specifically
in verse 11 and 13 and 15.
Now by Jews,
he probably means Judeans.
That is the general population
that's in and around
the capital city, Jerusalem.
And if the brothers' opposition
is marked by cynicism,
then Judea's opposition
to Jesus is marked by confusion.
And that confusion is seen
in that divided estimate
of Jesus they have.
Look at verse 12.
Some say he's a good man.
Others say,
no, he's leading the people astray.
I want to pause for a moment
and just ask,
which of the two reactions
in verse 12
are the more confused?
There's a question.
Which of the two reactions
in verse 12,
good man or leading the people astray,
is the more confused?
Those who thought Jesus
was a good man
or those who thought
Jesus was a deceiver?
And so we're not the kind of church
that normally asks you
to raise your hands,
but we're going to do it tonight.
All right?
Okay.
So think about the question.
Do you think
that the more confused attitude
was those who said
Jesus was a deceiver?
If so,
raise your hands now.
I'm serious, right?
Or do you think
that the more confused
were those who Jesus said,
who said Jesus
was a good man?
If you think the second,
raise your hands now.
There's about three quarters
abstentions.
You're a disgrace.
You really are.
Okay, so you're not too sure,
are you?
Even the elders
are slightly bottling it.
I think it's the second group.
Let me read to you
the quote from C.S. Lewis
that most of you
have heard before.
C.S. Lewis says this,
I'm trying here
to prevent anyone
saying the really foolish thing
that people often say about him.
I'm ready to accept Jesus
as a great moral teacher,
but I don't accept
his claim to be God.
That is the one thing
we must not say.
A man who was merely a man
and said the sort of things
Jesus said
would not be
a great moral teacher.
He would either be a lunatic
on the level with the man
who says he's a poached egg
or else he would be
the devil of hell.
You must make your choice.
Either this man was
and is the son of God
or else a madman
or something worse.
You can shut him up
for a fool.
You can spit at him
and kill him as a demon
or you can fall at his feet
and call him Lord and God.
But let us not come
with any patronizing nonsense
about his being
a great human teacher.
He's not left that open to us.
He did not intend to.
Some of the Jews,
verse 20,
if you look there,
they thought he was mad.
You've got a demon.
That's an option.
Some of the Jews,
verse 12,
said you're bad.
He's a deceiver.
That's an option.
And others of the Jews
said he was good.
Verse 12,
he's a good man
but that is not an option.
So they're more confused.
In the midst of all the confusion
that there was
in the opposition to Jesus
at this time
and that confusion
still exists today,
doesn't it?
People still have views
about the Lord Jesus
that are so confused.
There are many that think
he was a good man.
He was a good moral teacher.
Many think he was maybe
a mythical figure.
Some people think he's
on the equivalent
of a fairy tale.
That's the second group.
The brothers are the first group.
The Jews are the second group.
But then there's a third group.
And group is not really
the right word.
Category would be better.
It's a category
which the other two groups
in John 7 belong to.
Which all groups
of human beings belong to.
And that is the category
of the world,
verse 7.
The brothers' opposition
was cynical.
If the Jews' opposition
to Jesus was confused,
Jesus teaches us
that the world's opposition
to him is marked
by hatred.
That's what Jesus says.
If you look at verse 7,
it's so stark.
The world hates me.
It's very simple
and yet very profound.
The world hates me.
You've probably understood
if you've been here
over the duration
of our studies in John
that the word world
is a very important word
in John's Gospel.
It's a very important category
for John.
He uses it many,
many times
and it means for him
not just,
not the physical globe,
but it means humanity
in opposition to God.
So right at the beginning
of the Gospel,
he's mentioned the world,
isn't it?
Chapter 1, verse 10.
John saying this,
he was in the world
and though the world
was made through him,
the world did not
recognise him.
The world did not
recognise Jesus.
A few weeks ago,
I went to the rugby
and I met someone
who I didn't have a clue
who they were
and they knew me
and I didn't have a clue
who they were.
They said,
you know me
and I looked at them
and I thought,
I don't know him
and I didn't know
who they were
until they revealed themselves.
25 years have passed.
I obviously hadn't changed a bit.
But I didn't recognise them.
I didn't recognise them
until they revealed themselves.
But human beings
have got no excuse
for not recognising
our maker
in Jesus.
And there'll be certainly
no excuse on that day
when we meet him
on that judgement day.
The world does not
recognise Jesus.
That's what John
is saying in chapter 1.
But in chapter 7
he says something
more serious, doesn't he?
He says,
the world hates me.
And perhaps you're saying,
well, is that really the case?
You might think,
well, it's the case
in a place
where militant Islam
rules and reigns.
maybe northern Nigeria,
Pakistan,
certain parts of Iran.
Maybe you've read
about the hatred
in parts of the world
for Christians
and for the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we know,
don't we,
that there is much hatred
for Jesus
in many parts of the world.
But what about
in our part?
What about in our hearts?
Can that be so?
Well, it does seem to be
the Bible's teaching,
isn't it?
In that very first sermon
in Acts,
in Acts chapter 2
on the day of Pentecost.
Do you remember
how Peter finished it?
He had this great appeal
to the people
and he said to the people,
repent and be baptized
every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of sins.
And then the text
goes on to say this,
Peter warned them
by many, many words
and he pleaded with them,
save yourself
from this wicked generation.
And that wicked generation,
we are meant to see
that that applies
throughout every period of history.
Right down to today.
The world hates Jesus.
And every human heart
is ultimately resistant to Jesus.
There are different ways
of expressing it, aren't there?
And so you can just,
you can display that
by apathy.
But apathy is not the problem.
We often think it is
that people don't care.
But apathy is not the problem
according to the Bible.
Antagonism is.
And people express
that antagonism
according to their
different personalities,
depending on their upbringing,
depending on their education,
depending on their different abilities
to express themselves.
So people can be really
courteous, can't they?
They can be polite.
They can even be flattering.
But they still hate Jesus.
Why does the world hate Jesus?
Jesus gives us the reason.
Look at verse 7.
The world cannot hate you,
but it hates me.
And here's the key,
because I testify
about it,
that its works are evil.
So when Jesus begins
to expose us,
feathers start to be rustled
and feathers start to fly.
There's an example of that
in verses 14 to 20.
Do you see what's being said there?
What is it that changed
the interested observers
from verse 15
to violent opponents
in verse 20?
And the answer has to be,
Jesus said to them,
verse 19,
has not Moses given you the law
in the Old Testament?
Yet not one of you
keeps the law.
Merely exposing their hypocrisy
and duplicity
and sinfulness.
And then he goes further on
asking,
why are you trying to kill me?
And the crowd
protests.
They say,
you're demon possessed.
They go mad at that.
We're not trying to kill you,
but they were.
And Jesus is right
and he's proved right
in time
and given half a chance
the world would murder
its maker all over again.
Because the world hates Jesus
because he testifies,
he shows
that what it does is evil.
Second example is
in verses 21 to 24
and it's a rather complicated section
but there's a basic simplicity to it.
Some of the Jews
were quite happily
circumcising their children
on the Sabbath day.
Though strictly speaking
it was against their laws
to do that on the Sabbath.
And they got absolutely
mad with Jesus.
Do you remember
when he healed
the whole body of a man
who'd been lying
by the side of a pool
for 38 years?
They went mad at him
for doing that
because he'd done it
on the Sabbath.
Even though Jesus
was fulfilling
his father's intention
in the giving
of the Sabbath.
And when Jesus
exposes their hypocrisy again,
then their hatred
is rekindled.
They see their hypocrisy.
Is not this the man
whom they seek to kill,
they say?
The world hates Jesus
because Jesus testifies
against its evil.
evil.
And I mustn't use
the impersonal there.
Our evil.
Even when we become
believers in the Lord Jesus,
and those of us
who are Christians
here tonight,
we will,
we're aware,
aren't we,
there's a remnant
of opposition
that exists
in our nature
towards the Lord Jesus
and his absolute claims
on our lives.
maybe you've been
a Christian for years,
but you're aware
that there's a rebellion
that exists inside you.
There's a resistance
many times
that takes place
within us.
And so if we're honest
tonight,
when we are aware
that, aren't we,
that when things go wrong
and disappointments occur,
our knee-jerk reaction
indicates
that very often
we become resentful
of God's plan
or we start to blame him
or we start to express
doubt or disappointment
or even anger
towards him.
When our pride rebels
and the kind of
defence mechanism
kicks in,
that takes place
within us.
And all kinds
of rationalisations
take place.
When Jesus puts
his finger on something
in my life
and on
in your life,
we can often
rile up,
can't we?
I don't know
what it's like
in your house.
If I say someone
in your house
says to you,
you're always
on your phone.
What's your first reaction?
Well,
this happened
in our house
last night.
So I'll tell you
what my first reaction was.
You're on your phone
all the time.
You're on the phone
more than me.
That's immediate.
What happens,
isn't it?
We know this
and as Jesus
puts his finger
on something
in our lives,
we know our gut reaction,
even those of us
who are believers,
it's often
to really kick
against it.
And it's so important
tonight for us
to come clean
about this
and to admit that.
We will never,
we're never going
to develop,
we're never going
to mature
if we don't admit that.
It struck me this week,
I read an interview
with a man called
Fergal Keane,
he's an Irish journalist
and a BBC correspondent.
I've not read
his memoirs.
They sound brilliant.
He had a wild upbringing.
But in the interview
I read,
he comes clean
and he tells
the readership
about the kind
of guy
he is like.
He said
he'd been covering it up
for years
with various masks
and then he says
this about himself.
He says
in personal relationships
I was a taker.
I was dependent,
needy,
manipulative
and quick to use
the pain of my past
as an alibi
for selfishness.
Poor me.
If you had had
the childhood I had
you would be the same.
Those who were closest
to me saw a man
who retreated
into silence
when he was challenged
who could not
communicate feelings.
A man with
the self-obsession
and compulsiveness
of a truly
driven man
a man running.
It's a remarkable
admission isn't it?
There's hope
for a man
or a woman
or a boy
or a girl
who comes clean
tonight
because Jesus
can remake us
when we say
yes
Lord you've put
your finger
on it.
I might have
been mad about it
Jesus
but I
capitulate
I agree
or you can be
like the world
the world hates
Jesus
because Jesus
testifies to
its evil.
It puts a whole
new light
doesn't it
on the most
famous verse
in the Bible
John 3
16
for God
so loved
the world
that's actually
meaningless jargon
to most people.
Jesus loves
yeah yeah
meaningless jargon
until you actually
understand that
the God
the world
God's love
is a world
that hates
God
and once
we discover
that
it makes
the good news
of Christianity
absolutely wonderful
I can't finish
there
because John
is giving
this gospel
to present
the world
saviour
and so in
John 7
we find some
marvellous
teaching on
the planned
salvation of
the world
look in
verse 6
the right
time
for me
Jesus says
has not yet
come
the word
used there
is this
phrase
a point
in time
might simply
be a reference
to the feast
of tabernacle
as in verse 8
I'm not going
up to this
feast for my
time has not
yet fully
come
in other words
Jesus is saying
there's a timing
in everything
to do with
salvation
and it's not
the right time
for me to go
up to the
feast with the
brothers
very likely
if he'd have
gone up
there would
have been
some kind
of palm
sunday
scene
and that
wasn't the
father's
plan
at this
particular
time
it's a
wonderful
reminder
of how
precise
and how
exact
and how
minute
God's
timing
is
in the
unfolding
of salvation
and in the
lives of
his people
it's a
wonderful
truth
isn't it
that God's
perfect timing
in our lives
is so exact
so accurate
so precise
but the word
can mean
a point in
time
it can also
mean
significant
time
and if
that
is the
case
that
gives us
an
understanding
of this
huge
gulf
in verse
6
in the
reference
to
Jesus
in the
reference
to his
brothers
verse 6
my time
has not
yet come
but your
time is
always
here
and what
he means
by that
is you
brothers
at this
particular
stage
what you're
doing is
completely
insignificant
to God
as far as
salvation
is concerned
God
it's a
really strong
thing
Jesus
saying
a really
stark
truth
for the
unbeliever
who sets
his life
in opposition
to God
by going
his own
way
the living
of his
life is
absolutely
completely
and utterly
insignificant
in the eyes
of God
as far as
salvation is
concerned
but with
Jesus Christ
the timing
and the plan
is everything
there's
the utmost
significance
in what
Jesus
has come
to do
as
saviour
there was
a right
place
and a
right
time
for
Jesus
to give
up
his
life
to pay
the penalty
for our
sins
and to pay
the price
for our
salvation
and yet
it wasn't
yet
Jesus
says
my time
has not
yet come
and you
know
over and
over again
in John's
gospel
certainly
right up
through the
first half
you find
this same
idea
repeated
chapter 2
verse 4
different
words
but same
idea
at the
wedding
of
Canaan
and Galilee
my time
has not
yet
come
chapter 7
verse 30
it says
they could
not seize
him because
his time
had not
yet come
chapter 8
verse 20
almost exactly
the same
thing
they couldn't
lay hold
of him
because
his time
had not
yet come
all the
way through
this chapter
Jesus
saying
my time
has not
yet
come
not yet
and then
you reach
chapter 12
verse 23
and he
says
now the
time has
come
for the
son of
god
to be
glorified
and you
ask
what time
and the
time is
holy week
he'd come
to the
shadow
of the
cross
he's come
to within a
stone's throw
of calvary
and Jesus
was not
killed
he gave
up his
life
to pay
the price
for our
salvation
and so
john
chapter 7
is pointing
you
ultimately
to the
cross
and the
right
place
and the
right
time
where
jesus
would lay
down
his
life
to be
our
saviour
and so
you can
take the
content of
john
chapter 7
and actually
understand
the cross
in the
light of
what happens
in john
chapter 7
and ultimately
when the
time came
all the
hatred of
the world
was poured
onto the
lord jesus
christ
were you
there when
they crucified
my lord
all our
insults
all our
curses
all our
blasphemies
were put
onto him
all my
sins of
every kind
all the
thoughts that
stain my
mind
all the
evil i
designed
laid on
him
all the
ways my
feet have
strayed
all the
idols i
have made
all the
times i
have not
prayed
laid on
him
all the
told and
acted lies
all the
success and
all the
tries
sins that
i legitimize
laid on
him
all that
sinks me
in the
mire
all the
times of
base
desire
all that
needs a
cleansing
fire
laid on
him
all my
misdirected
powers
all my
many wasted
hours
all my
dreams of
ivory towers
laid on
him
john chapter
7 says that
jesus testifies
against the
evil
but at the
cross
jesus christ
took the
evil upon
himself
he took
the hatred
and he
bore it
on his
own body
on the
tree
as though
he had
done it
he never
spoke back
on the
cross
as a
sheep
before
her
shearers
is
silent
so he
opened
not his
mouth
but he
bore it
meekly
and lovingly
the hatred
the evil
alas
and did
my
saviour
bleed
and did
my
sovereign
die
did he
devote a
sacred
head
for such
a worm
as I
was it
for crimes
that I
had done
he died
upon the
tree
amazing
pity
grace
unknown
and love
beyond
degree
and if
tonight
you will
accept
him
if
tonight
you will
capitulate
and take
him
Jesus
will be
your
saviour
and you
say to
me
how can
I
accept
him
I'm
not sure
how to
do that
where can
I start
and the
answer is
given in
verse 17
where Jesus
gives a
universal
principle
we'll finish
with this
it's not
just to
the Jews
it's to
anyone in
the world
anyone of
us
tonight
verse
17
if
anyone
if
anyone's
will
if
anyone
chooses
to do
God's
will
he will
know
whether
the
teaching
is from
God
or whether
I'm
speaking
my own
authority
the
principle
is really
simple
let me
explain it
to you
if we
are
willing
to do
what
God
says
we
will
find
out
that
Jesus
is
our
saviour
and
tonight
you may
not
understand
95%
of what
God
says
but
don't
start
there
you
start
with
the
5%
that
you
know
that
God
is
saying
and
you
obey
that
and
there
may
be
only
one
thing
tonight
that
you've
understood
from
the
sermon
well
will
you
do
that
and
you
keep
on
doing
the
things
that
you
do
here
and
understand
and
as
you
do
it
you
find
out
that
Jesus
is
your
saviour
being
willing
to do
what
God
says
and
God's
great
commandment
is this
the
supreme
commandment
which
John
the
gospel
writer
expresses
in
his
epistle
in
chapter
3
and
verse
23
he
says
this
is
the
command
of
God
what
is
the
great
command
of
God
that
you
believe
that
you
believe
in
the
name
of
his
son
Jesus
Christ
and
you
love
one
another
and
if
you've
understood
anything
tonight
of
Jesus
Christ
the
saviour
of
the
world
and
his
death
on
the
cross
for
our
sake
bearing
our
sin
and
our
hatred
if
you
understood
anything
of
that
and
you
see
him
as
the
available
risen
saviour
who's
alive
here's
the
command
place
your
trust
in
him
give
your
heart
to
him
surrender
your
life
to him
and
you
might
not
understand
much
more
than
that
but
you
can
understand
this
can't
you
believe
trust
believe
in the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
and
you
will
be
saved
take
that
command
and
do
it
and
for
those
of
us
who
are
Christians
for
many
of
us
the
principle
still
applies
doesn't
it
are
you
willing
to
do
what
God
says
day
by
day
as
we
hear
his
word
Sunday
by
Sunday
and
there'll
be
a lot
that
we
don't
grasp
and
a lot
that
we
don't
understand
but
there
are
some
things
we
know
and
are
we
willing
to
do
it
and
if
you're
not
willing
to
do
it
you
will
stay
in
the
same
spot
for
30
years
willing
to
do
what
God
says
let's
pray