Latest / Bayside Davis Podcast / The Gospel of John | John 7

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The Gospel of John | John 7 · Bayside Davis Podcast

0:04
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Bayside Davis Podcast.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: You are now listening to our current teaching series in the Gospel of John.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: When you follow Jesus, you will have opposition.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: When you serve Jesus, all the summer interns, you will have opposition.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: In fact, listen to these verses.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 through 12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 15, verses 8 through 20, Jesus said, If the world hates you, pardon me, 18 through 20, if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: If you belong to the world, it would love you as it as its own.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: As it is, you do not belong to the world, but you have been chosen out of the world.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: That is why the world hates you.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: Remember what I told you.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: A servant is not greater than his master.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: And then 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 12 says, In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life, if you're pursuing godliness and you're pursuing the way of Jesus, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: You're like, Wesley, come on, 4th of July, that's our message?
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it is.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: We need to learn a lesson from the life and ministry of Jesus that we see so clearly in John chapter 7, and here's the message.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Jesus stayed faithful to his mission in the face of opposition.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Jesus stayed faithful to his mission in the face of opposition.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 7 perfectly illustrates this reality that is also a reality in our lives.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: In John chapter 7, the whole chapter, if we get through the whole thing, there's five movements.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: There's five sections as we're learning about the opposition Jesus is facing and the faithfulness of Jesus despite the opposition that he's facing.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: The first movement is in verses 1 through 10.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: We see the first series of opposition, and this comes from his family.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that true sometimes?
2:57
SPEAKER_00: Family opposition.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's quiet.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: They don't want to say anything.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Verse 1, after this, Jesus went around in Galilee.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders were looking for a way to kill him.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: Jesus remained in the northern region of Israel.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever been there?
3:21
SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: The northern region is called Galilee.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: The southern region was called Judea.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: That's where Jerusalem was.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: Judea is where all the religious leaders were, and they were plotting and planning to kill Jesus.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus, with wisdom, stayed in the north instead of going to the south because he knew that there was a plot to kill him.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: Verse 2.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: But when the Jewish festival of tabernacles was near, we'll just pause there.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: Is that okay?
3:57
SPEAKER_00: This was one of three major feasts in Israel.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: There were three pilgrimage feasts that all adult males were required to go to.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't just adult males, often the whole family became like a traveling entourage together, and so you had dad and mom and kids, and they would all go down to Jerusalem.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: They would celebrate these religious festivals and feasts in Israel.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: And the Feast of Tabernacles was one of the three major pilgrimage feasts in Israel.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: You can read more about that in Leviticus 23, in Numbers 29, and Deuteronomy chapter 16.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: But during the Feast of Tabernacles, the Israelites built temporary shelters, or what we would call in modern vernacular, tents.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: And for seven days, actually eight, but seven days they would they would camp in tents.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: The feast was eight days.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: They would camp in tents and they would tell stories to their families, recounting how as they were traveling through the wilderness into the promised land in the desert of Sinai, how God was faithful to deliver them, provide for them, guide them.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: They would tell all the Old Testament stories.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: Every year they would do this.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: So they would have this big camping trip.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: They would tell stories around the campfire, so to speak.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure the family, the kids were stoked.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: This was amazing.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: What an amazing thing to look forward to.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: This was one of the family vacations in the calendar every year.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: So all the people went down to Judea, the southern region of Israel, to celebrate the festival of tabernacles, and everybody camped out and told stories about what God had done.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: Notice verse 3.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' brothers said to him, his real brothers, leave Galilee and go to Judea.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Don't stay in the north, go down to the south, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: Everybody needs to see what you're doing, Jesus.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: You're doing miracles.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: If you think you're the Christ, the Messiah, go down where everybody is and show them what you can do.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: This is like kind of a brotherly thing, like go prove it.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: You ever had brothers and they're always in competition and they're trying to prove themselves?
6:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is Jesus' brothers tried to say, go prove yourself.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: Come on, Jesus.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: If you want to be the Messiah, go down to Judea where everybody is.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Don't be secretive.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: The brothers were like, Jesus, you're a miracle worker.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: Don't do it in secret, do it in public.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: And if you're the Messiah, show everybody.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: But notice what John says in verse 5.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: His brothers didn't say this in faith.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine if Jesus was your brother, never did anything wrong, never got in trouble, never said anything mean, never stole your candy.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: This is Jesus' brothers were probably jealous of him, maybe a little cynical about him.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: None of Jesus' brothers at this point believed that he was the Savior.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: Until after his death and resurrection, then all of them believed that he was the Savior.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: That's an amazing thing.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus' brothers were skeptical about him until they saw him rise from the dead.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: And according to Acts chapter 1, verse 14, in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 7, all of his siblings believed in him after his resurrection.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: If you saw your brother rise from the dead, you believe in him too.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus has family opposition.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it true?
8:22
SPEAKER_00: Family's a little tough.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it true?
8:26
SPEAKER_00: You guys agree?
8:28
SPEAKER_00: Why is family tough?
8:29
SPEAKER_00: Because they're a tough crowd, because they see all your flaws.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: The closer you are to human beings, the more they see your flaws.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: And families often view you from the lens of the past.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: They see your flaws, they know your past, and they interpret your life through your flaws in your past, but that's the wrong way to view people.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: The wrong way to view people is further from the lens of their flaws and their past.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: We don't view people that way.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: We view people from the lens of the gospel of Jesus.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus' brothers and Jesus' family did not believe in him.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to encourage you, sometimes your family is going to be your toughest critic.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: But don't quit doing what Jesus is calling you to do because of that.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, Jesus told them, My time is not yet here.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: For you, any time will do.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: You're on your own time, I'm not.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: You go to the festival, I am not going up to the festival because my time is not yet fully come.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is replying to his family.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: He's like, I'm on God's calendar.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: This is a great thing, by the way.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was not on man's calendar.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was not on his family's calendar.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was on God's calendar.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: There is a difference between God's calendar and man's calendar apart from God.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: They weren't believers, they weren't seeking God, they weren't in worship, they weren't praying, they weren't reading the scriptures, they didn't have divine wisdom, and they're trying to tell Jesus what to do.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is like, no, I'm on God's calendar.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: The time to present myself as the king and messiah to the world is not yet come to pass.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: The time for me to be crucified on the cross and rise from the dead is not yet come to pass.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: This calendar that Jesus was on was the heavenly calendar, was the divine calendar.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: There's a difference between your calendar and God's calendar in life.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: And some of us we get really stressed and pressed because we think everything has to be fulfilled in our timing and our calendar.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes God has to remind us through people or through circumstances or through the fact that when you get older and older, you realize you can't really plan anything or control anything in life.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: That you're reminded you're on God's calendar, not your own.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean we don't plan, but it means we submit our plans to God.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus was God, so he perfectly knew God's timeline for his life.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: And all of us should submit our timeline for our life to God.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: So after Jesus replies, he stays in Galilee, verse 10.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also not publicly but in secret.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: Jesus stayed in Galilee until his brothers left.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: He didn't need his brothers to be leading his press tour.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: He didn't need his brothers to be his marketing team.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: He didn't need his brothers to be his social media team.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: He didn't need any of that.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to do things on God's timing.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: That's a good word for us.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: It was not the right time.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: Some of us have desires, some of us have plans, but sometimes we don't submit those desires and plans to God in his timing.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we try to go faster than God, and we realize it's not the right time.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: And what's beautiful about this is that Jesus says, the Bible says, He went in secret.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: Ministry is not always done on stage, in the spotlight, among the crowds.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the most meaningful ministry happens quietly behind the scenes.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever underestimate the things that you do for God that get no public recognition.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was in college playing college basketball, but I also had a part-time job.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: I always like to make money and then save it.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: And I worked at a drugstore on Sundays, and the Lord just put it on my heart.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: Every time you walk down the aisle, if there's something on the floor, pick it up.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: Every time you see something messed up in the store, organize it.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: Well, I think he put it on my heart because that's just the way I built, but I think he used that to be a blessing.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: And that was my ministry behind the scenes in that job, just to do the things nobody would see.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Nobody was watching me, the cameras weren't on me.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: I could have just walked by that stuff, but the Lord taught me the little things matter, and the little things build character over time.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: And so every time I saw something on the ground, I picked it up.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: Every time I saw a shelf that was all displaced and needed some organization, I fixed it.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: Every time I was in the back where nobody would see anything and something was messed up, I tried to clean it up.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: And I think the Lord was teaching me a lesson that sometimes the best things happen when nobody's watching.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: Everybody wants public recognition, everybody wants to be celebrated, but sometimes just allow God to celebrate what you're doing.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's go.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: So family opposition, and then it doesn't end there.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: Then Jewish opposition in verses 11 through 30.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: The Jewish people, the Jewish leaders, many of them rejected Jesus.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: They were against him, verse 11.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: Now Jesus goes down, he's in secret, he's not on a press tour, he's not on a marking tour, he doesn't have a social media team, verse 11.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: Now at the festival, the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, where is he?
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Remember why?
15:23
SPEAKER_00: They wanted to kill him.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: So they're plotting, they're searching out, they're seeking, they're trying to find him.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12 among crowd, the crowds were there was widespread whispering about him.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Everybody knew about Jesus.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: He had popularity.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: Some said he's a good man.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: Some looked at Jesus positively.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: Others replied, no, he deceives the people.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: He's a deceiver.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: Some are like, well, he's good, and others are like, he's a deceiver.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: You can't win everybody.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: That's a great lesson.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: There's a mixed reaction to Jesus.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Some were like, he's good, some were like, he's a deceiver.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: You can't win over everybody, not even Jesus good.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: But the Jewish people knew that the religious leaders were seeking to kill him.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: So they didn't say anything about him publicly because they didn't want to get in the crosshairs of the religious leaders of the day.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: The Jews were amazed and asked, How did this man get such learning without ever having been taught?
16:47
SPEAKER_00: So halfway through the festival, it's eight days, day four or five, Jesus goes and he begins to teach in the temple publicly.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: And the people began to listen to Jesus teach, and they were, the word is thaumazoo, amazed, astonished, we would say shook, mind blown.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: There was something extraordinarily impressive about the teaching of Jesus that the people listened to his insight and authority and power, and they were absolutely amazed.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Are you amazed at the teaching of Jesus?
17:31
SPEAKER_00: Do you give your heart time to lean into the teachings of Jesus?
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Because he is the greatest Bible teacher in history.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: All of us, Wesley Town, Mark Clark, Ray Johnston, Michael Metcalf, Jason Cain, all of us, we are flawed Bible teachers.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: We're human.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: We don't have divine insight.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: We didn't inspire the Word of God.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: We try our best every week to teach the essence and truth of the scriptures and to apply it in a way that is wise.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: However, there is only one perfect Bible teacher, and his name is Jesus.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: And he inspired the Bible.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: And he taught it with perfect insight and authority.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: And they listened and they said, notice verse 15, they said, How did this man get such learning without ever being taught?
18:31
SPEAKER_00: The terminology there is that he had no education letters.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: He was never formally trained in a rabbinical school of theology and Bible.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: We would say Jesus had no degree at UC Davis.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: He didn't have his undergrad at UC Davis, he didn't have his bachelor's at UC Davis, he didn't have his master's degree at UC Davis.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: This man had no degree, but he taught better than anybody's ever taught before.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: Because he's God.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: So they're talking, they're having a conversation around the power, the insight, the learning of his Bible teaching.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Then verse 16 says, Jesus answered, I love this.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he says.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: But he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing false about him.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Has not Moses given you the law?
19:57
SPEAKER_00: Yet none of you, no one of you keeps the law.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: Why are you trying to kill me?
20:05
SPEAKER_00: Then verse 20.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: You are demon-possessed, the crowd answered.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Who is trying to kill you?
20:12
SPEAKER_00: I love Jesus' response.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Jesus responded to the amazement of his teaching, and he basically says, My teaching comes directly from God Himself.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: What a great answer.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: He claims direct knowledge from God Himself, which was another shocking statement to the religious people.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is like, I get my teaching from heaven, and God the Father sent me to teach these truths.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus makes a comment, if you notice here at the end in verse 19, he makes a comment about Moses, and this comment was an indictment on the Jewish leaders who revered Moses and the law of Moses, but he says, hey, you guys love Moses and the law, but you're a bunch of lawbreakers.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: At this point, he's not fragily dancing around the issue.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: He's just like, you guys do not see God or do not know God.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: In fact, you're a bunch of lawbreakers.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: Now, what they revered the most was following the law.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: What they did the least was following the law.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: Listen close.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes what we believe the most is disconnected from what we live the most.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: Lean in.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is like you love the Old Testament, but you don't obey it.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: There's something beautiful about application.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Leading to revelation.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Obedience leading to understanding.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: And the crowd's reaction to Jesus, of course, because he just throws a zinger at them.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: He's like, You guys love the Bible, but you don't live the Bible.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: You love the law, but you're a bunch of lawbreakers.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: So their reply, this man is demon-possessed.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: No humility, no spiritual self-awareness here.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: And then it gets better, verse 21.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: You guys with me still?
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Verse 21.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to them, I did one miracle.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: What was that one miracle?
22:38
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 5, he healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: That's a great thing to do, right?
22:43
SPEAKER_00: I did one miracle and you are all amazed.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision, though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: Now, if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man's whole body on the Sabbath?
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: This is brilliant.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: They're all mad, they want to kill him because he healed a paralyzed man on a Sabbath, the day of worship, the day of rest.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus does this argument from lesser to greater.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: They did this in the ancient world.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: The lesser is you guys circumcise your kids on a Sabbath.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: You do it all the time.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: I, greater, I healed a man for 30 plus years who had not been able to walk on a Sabbath.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: What is wrong with that?
24:01
SPEAKER_00: The law did not forbid healing on the Sabbath.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: They were judging based on their own human rules, not God's scriptures or way of life.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says to them at the end of this, he says, but instead judge correctly.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: What is he saying?
24:18
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, your judgment against me is not in alignment with God's word.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: And your judgment against me is not in alignment with God's nature.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: You are living in opposition to who God is.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Of course, God wants to heal.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: Even on a Sabbath.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: And you're also living in disalignment against the purpose of the Sabbath is not about not healing people.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: It's a blessing for you to find rest in God.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: You're missing the whole thing.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing how we can be around Jesus in the Bible a long time, and sometimes we just miss it.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is like, you guys are missing it.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's going after them.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: At that point, some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, Isn't this the man that they are trying to kill?
25:18
SPEAKER_00: Here he is, speaking publicly, and they're not saying a word to him.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: They're like, What's going on?
25:23
SPEAKER_00: I thought they're trying to kill him.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?
25:29
SPEAKER_00: There was confusion amongst the crowds, whether the Jewish authorities were tried to kill Jesus or whether some of them had accepted Jesus as their Messiah.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: Verse 27, but we know where this man is from.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: Is that true or legit?
25:48
SPEAKER_00: We'll find out.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus, still reaching teaching in the temple courts, cried out, Yes, you know me, and you know where I'm from.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: I am not here in my own authority, but he who sent me is true.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: You do not know him.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Wow, he's going right to the heart.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: You do not know God the Father, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: So the crowd's confused.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: Is this the person he's trying to kill?
26:15
SPEAKER_00: Are they still trying to kill him?
26:16
SPEAKER_00: Or do they believe in him?
26:18
SPEAKER_00: The religious authorities, do they have they come to faith in Jesus?
26:23
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, well, we know that he's from Nazareth.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: We know where he grew up.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: And that's fine.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: Because we read in the Old Testament that the Messiah would grow up and be in Nazareth.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: But what they didn't know, and what Jesus declares here, is that his origin is not Bethlehem or where he grew up in Nazareth, it is heaven.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: He's like, you actually don't know where I came from.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: I came from heaven.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: I came from the Father.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: I know the Father.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: I came from the Father.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: I've been sent by the Father.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: And notice their reaction.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: They didn't like this.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: At this, they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: They got angry, they got upset, they were enraged that Jesus said, I came from heaven, I know the Father, you don't.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: And he called me to come to earth.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: And they were enraged.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: They tried to seize him, but no one touched him.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: What's that all about?
27:34
SPEAKER_00: Because his hour had not yet come.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: God protected his life.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think sometimes when we face opposition, we forget that God's in the equation.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: We feel like somehow we have to evade or protect ourselves, or we're just kind of out there and people are attacking us for following Jesus and serving Jesus or what have you.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: But when Jesus was living his life on God's plan, God protected him.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: He was on God's timing, his hour had not yet come, his hour of crucifixion, his hour of presentation, his hour of resurrection had not yet come.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: And God protected him.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: What an amazing truth for us to remember.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: When people are attacking us, when people are in opposition to us following Jesus, that God is on our side.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: Come on, somebody, amen.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: So they're all opposing him.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: His family's opposing him, the people are opposing him, the religious authorities are opposing him.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: So notice what Jesus does next.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: It's quite amazing.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: Jesus declares two really important things to the crowd.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: First, in verses 31 through 36, he says, I will return to heaven.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: Notice verse 31, he continues.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Still, many in the crowd believed in him.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: Although people were enraged at him, there were people that were coming to faith.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: They said, When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?
29:18
SPEAKER_00: We've never seen anything like it.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32, the Pharisees, the religious leaders, heard the crowd whispering such things about Jesus.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Then the chief priest and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: Verse 33, Jesus said, I am with you for only a short time, and then I'm going back to the one who sent me.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: You will look for me, but you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: The Jews said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him?
29:50
SPEAKER_00: Will he go where our people live?
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Scattered among the Greeks, those who were dispersed, the Jews amongst the Roman Empire, and teach the Greeks?
30:02
SPEAKER_00: Is he going to go be a missionary to the Greeks?
30:05
SPEAKER_00: Is he going to go be a missionary to the Jewish people spread out among the Greeks?
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Verse 36.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: What did he mean when he said, You will look for me, but you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Jesus explained to them that he would only be there for a short while longer.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: This is the tail end of his life on earth.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: In about six months from these words, Jesus would be crucified on a cross and rise from the dead three days later.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: And then he declares to them, I'm going to heaven.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: And where I am, you cannot come.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: Shocking.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine hearing that?
30:52
SPEAKER_00: Why would Jesus say such a thing?
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Because these people hated him and refused to believe in him.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, I'm going to heaven.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: Everyone who believes in me is going to heaven.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: But if you reject me, you're not going to heaven, even though I came so that you could go to heaven.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to know something really important this morning?
31:18
SPEAKER_00: God wants you to be in heaven.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: But the bridge between earth and heaven is Jesus.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: And the bridge between being an imperfect, sinful human and God, who is holy and perfect, is Jesus.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: And he came to make the way for you and I to go to heaven, but you've got to believe in Jesus.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: And they don't get it.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is like, I'm returning to heaven.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: And you guys are going to reject me.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: And you're going to pour out all your vitriol and anger, misplaced anger upon me.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm telling you, your religiosity and your legalism is wrong.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: God isn't about legalism, God is about a relationship.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37 through 39, Jesus will return to heaven, and then the next thing he says, Jesus will send the Holy Spirit.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: We're almost done.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: This is a miracle, y'all.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: You guys with me?
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, verse 37.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: On the last and greatest day of the festival, that's the eighth day, the end, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Jesus stands up the eighth day of the feast.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me tell you a story.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: For seven days during the Feast of Tabernacle, every single day, a priest would lead a procession from the temple to a specific location where there was water from a springs.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: The priest would take a golden picture, pit not a picture, pitcher, fill it up, and carry it back, and all the people following the priest would sing Isaiah chapter 12, verse 3.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: With joy.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: You writing this down?
34:02
SPEAKER_00: Come on now.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: With joy.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: You will draw water from the wells of salvation.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: They would sing Isaiah chapter 12, verse 3, all the way back.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: The golden picture, pitcher, not picture, was then carried back to the temple.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: And the priests would march around the altar, and they would sing Psalm 113 through 18, 113 through 118.
34:33
SPEAKER_00: And then they would pour out the water on the altar.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus says what he says, this was a definitive statement.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus says on that day, when there was no water to pour out on the altar, because they had this anticipation of something in the future, Jesus says, Let everyone who's thirsty come to me, believe in me, and as the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow within them.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: What is Jesus doing here?
35:28
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, I am the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: All of the ceremony, all the anticipation on day eight of the empty jar, everything that you're doing is a picture of who I am and what I came to do in your life.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was inviting people to recognize their spiritual need for Him as their Savior.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's thirsty.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: And remember, hunger and thirst are used in chapter four, five, six, seven as metaphors.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: Everyone is thirsty.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: But most people meet their needs with things that we'll never fully satisfy.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: All of us do that, right?
36:23
SPEAKER_00: And there's some people at a point in their life where they recognize their spiritual need for a savior.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: I found something to be true in my life, and maybe you can relate as well.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: Sin makes us more thirsty.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever done something you know God doesn't want you to do?
36:48
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, oh, I feel real satisfied, I don't need to do it again.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: Sin makes you more thirsty.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus makes us satisfied.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: And he's telling the people that are doing these ceremonies over and over and over again, you need to recognize there's some of you, anyone who is thirsty, there's some of you who are gonna recognize your need.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: Then here's what you do when you recognize your need: come to me.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: Do you see what he says?
37:26
SPEAKER_00: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.
37:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm the answer to your thirst, I'm the answer to your soul, I'm the answer to your longings, I'm everything that you need.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: And then he qualifies it, he explains it.
37:41
SPEAKER_00: He says, Whoever believes in me, as the scripture said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: Belief in Jesus.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: Rivers, rivers in you, rivers, not just the faucet, not a drip, rivers.
38:06
SPEAKER_00: Do you get it?
38:06
SPEAKER_00: Rivers of living water will flow from within you, as the scriptures said.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: You're like, what scriptures, Jesus?
38:16
SPEAKER_00: You want to listen to some of these scriptures?
38:18
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah chapter 12, verse 3.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation, the exact scripture that they would say every day at this festival.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 55, verse 1, come.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: All you who are thirsty, come to the waters.
38:35
SPEAKER_00: And you who have no money, come buy and eat, come by wine and milk without money and without cost.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you don't have to bring anything.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Just come.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 58, verse 11, the Lord will guide you always.
38:51
SPEAKER_00: He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: Zechariah chapter 13, verse 1.
39:07
SPEAKER_00: On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
39:16
SPEAKER_00: Zechariah 14, verse 8.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea, and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea in summer and winter.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: These are all pictures of a spiritual satiation that only God can bring.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: But then he explains it.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: Look with me, look in your Bible.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the living water within you is the Spirit of God in you.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: Should I say that again?
39:57
SPEAKER_00: The living water within you is the Spirit of God in you.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: You will experience the Holy Spirit satisfying the depths of your soul.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: Rivers within you.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: This is what God promises us.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: This is what Jesus is fulfilling here.
40:20
SPEAKER_00: He's literally fulfilling this entire thing here.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: This is what God wants to do in our life, but we keep going after things that don't satisfy us.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: All of us do that.
40:31
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: If you are thirsty, come to me and believe.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: And receive rivers of living water flowing in you and within you.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: Don't you want that?
40:55
SPEAKER_00: I mean, who would who wouldn't raise your no?
40:59
SPEAKER_00: Who wouldn't want that?
41:01
SPEAKER_00: Don't raise your hand if you don't want it.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: But who wouldn't want this?
41:07
SPEAKER_00: The God who created you satisfying the depths of you.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: Who wouldn't want this?
41:15
SPEAKER_00: Well, some didn't.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: So at the end of this, Jesus explains all of that.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: And then from verses 40 through 52, we see five different reactions to Jesus.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: I'll just read it and then I'll quickly show you each reaction, and then we'll be done.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: On hearing his words, some of the people said, Surely this man is the prophet.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: Others said, He is the Messiah.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: Still others asked, How can this be the Messiah come from Galilee?
41:45
SPEAKER_00: Does not the scripture say the Messiah will come from David's descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?
41:52
SPEAKER_00: Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
41:55
SPEAKER_00: Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: Finally, the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who asked them, Why didn't you bring him in?
42:05
SPEAKER_00: No one ever spoke the way this man does, the guards replied.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: You mean he has deceived you also?
42:12
SPEAKER_00: The Pharisees retorted.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him?
42:17
SPEAKER_00: In other words, any of the experts, have any of us believed in him?
42:21
SPEAKER_00: No.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: What arrogance.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: But this mob that knows nothing of the law, there is a curse on them.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: That's the religious leaders.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?
42:40
SPEAKER_00: They replied, Are you from Galilee too?
42:42
SPEAKER_00: They knew him.
42:43
SPEAKER_00: He was the most famous Bible teacher in Israel.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: Look into it, they said, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: Mixed reactions.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: Five of them, in fact.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: The first reaction is the reaction of the convinced in verses 40 through 41.
43:02
SPEAKER_00: Some of the people believe that Jesus was the prophet that Moses prophesied about.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: Others believed that he was the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: Then you had the reaction of the contrary in verses 41 through 42.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: Still others objected, arguing that the Messiah could not come from Galilee, but they insisted he must be born in Bethlehem, the town of David, and we know Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the town of David.
43:29
SPEAKER_00: They didn't do good investigation.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: Then the third reaction was the reaction of the hostile in verses 43 and 44.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: There was a sharp division amongst the crowd.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: Some wanted to seize Jesus, and no one laid a hand on him.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: And then you had the reaction of the astonished in verses 45 and 46.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: I love this one.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: When the temple guards returned empty-handed, the chief priests and Pharisees demanded to know why they had not arrested Jesus.
43:57
SPEAKER_00: And the officers replied, No one has ever spoke like this man.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: Why would we arrest him?
44:05
SPEAKER_00: And then you had the reaction of the religious authorities in verses 47 through 52.
44:11
SPEAKER_00: And take note of this so we don't become these people.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: The religious leaders responded with arrogance and contempt.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: They were judgmental toward anyone who showed interest in Jesus or wanted to hear more from him.
44:25
SPEAKER_00: May we never be like the religious authorities in the stories of the gospel.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: But throughout this entire plot, this is the one thing I want you to remember out of the million verses we just read, through this entire plot, Jesus stayed committed to his mission in the face of opposition.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: What about you?
44:57
SPEAKER_00: What about me?
44:59
SPEAKER_00: What about when people don't react to you the way they should?
45:03
SPEAKER_00: What about when people dismiss you?
45:05
SPEAKER_00: What about when people tell you you're not the right person for the job?
45:10
SPEAKER_00: What about when people slander you?
45:12
SPEAKER_00: What about when people tell rumors about you?
45:14
SPEAKER_00: What about people disown you?
45:16
SPEAKER_00: All the things that Jesus experienced.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: And not the least, Jesus had a plot to kill him.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus still stayed committed to his mission in the face of opposition.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: Here's the word I have for you today.
45:36
SPEAKER_00: And the word I have for me.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: Stay committed to God's mission for your life in the face of every opposition.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: Stay committed to God's mission in your life in the face of every opposition.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: You're new to church, your friends are like, Why are you going to church all the time?
45:55
SPEAKER_00: Keep going to church.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: You're serving in the summer school of ministry, and your friends are like, Why are you wasting your summer?
46:03
SPEAKER_00: You're not wasting your summer.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: Keep serving the Lord.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: You're spending time at the coffee shop studying the Bible, and your friends are like, Why don't you go party with me?
46:14
SPEAKER_00: Keep going to the coffee shop and studying the Bible.
46:19
SPEAKER_00: Stay committed to God's mission in the face of opposition.
46:28
SPEAKER_00: You are radically changed by Jesus, and your family's making fun of you.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: Keep following Jesus.
46:34
SPEAKER_00: Eventually, they're going to come to Him too.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: Stay committed to God's mission in the face of opposition.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: Amen.