Josh Benner

Category: sermons

  • Sermon: Responding to Jesus – John 7:25-52

    25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 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? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 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. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 

    30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” 

    32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?” 

    37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

    40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. 

    45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” 

    Our heavenly Father, 

    We praise you for this day and for the opportunity to come together again and to worship you. May you bless our time as we study your word and proclaim your gospel. 

    May our hearts and minds be transformed by the truths of your scriptures. That Jesus is the Lord who has come into the world to redeem sinful humanity. Lord, we continue to pray for our community as covid cases are on the rise. May we continue to trust in you but to also exercise wisdom in our actions. We pray for our state and the surrounding areas. 

    Lord, we pray for our nation. It’s been an exhausting year with covid, economic issues, civil unrest, and heated political tensions. May we continue to rise above all of that and to trust in you above all things. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Introduction

    Part of this section we’ve preached over the last couple of weeks. 

    But to make sense of where we’re going in the passage, I think it’s important to have some of what precedes today’s section. As we’ve noted numerous times, Jesus is speaking to a large group of people in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths. 

    And so I look at this entire passage as three main scenes. Verses 25-36 is what we looked at two weeks ago. 

    Verses 37-39 is the second scene. That’s where we were last weekend. 

    And the remainder of our passage is the third scene and where we’ll spend most of our time. 

    But I think the first point to make if you were to look at the first scene and the third scene is that they both have a lot of similarities to each other. 

    Both at the beginning and end of the passage, we see confusion as to the origins and identity of Jesus. In the beginning and ending scenes, we see that there are some people who are drawn to Jesus but we also see there are people who reject Jesus. In both the first and last scenes, you see people questioning what others believe about Jesus, sometimes in accusatory tones. In both the first and final scene of this passage, there are attempts to arrest Jesus which are unsuccessful.  

    And the reason why I point all of these out is because I believe that makes the second scene the hinge of the whole story where in the midst of all of the chaos and the raucous environment surrounding Jesus, he stands up and says: 

    “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ 

    We see all of the division and differing opinions among the various groups in this chapter…

    That’s the way the world is. 

    The world has all sorts of assumptions that it makes for who Jesus is. 

    And that’s what we see in this passage. 

    There are those who are asking if he could be the Christ. There are those who are trying to explain why Jesus can’t be who he claims to be. You have those who are outwardly hostile to Jesus and his claims. 

    That’s how the world is today. 

    We have these groups. 

    We have all sorts of assumptions about Jesus. 

    And it’s in the midst of all of that that Jesus says: 

    “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

    We can have all sorts of assumptions about Jesus.

    But what the middle of the passage is telling us is that none of that matters. 

    Jesus isn’t calling people to have it all figured out and then come to him. 

    He’s not saying that we need to be master theologians. 

    He’s not saying we need to get all of our ducks in a row morally and then come to him. 

    He’s not giving an exhaustive explanation of the Old Testament and why he is the Christ and should be worshipped and praised. 

    He says: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

    Regardless of the arguments for or against Jesus. Regardless of what a person thinks about Jesus or what the world tells about Jesus. 

    That if we truly want to know Jesus and what he is all about that we have to experience Jesus. 

    Psalm 34:8 says: taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 

    We can have all sorts of opinions about Jesus. But he invites us to come to him and know him. He invites us to experience him. 

    In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

    He invites us to find our rest in him. He invites us to approach him. He invites us to find our hope. 

    Jesus doesn’t say in this passage that the strong or superior find rest in him, but it it those who are heavy laden. 

    That is the goodness of Jesus. He came to a dead world to bring life. He came to a guilty world to bring forgiveness. He came to a prideful world to bring grace. 

    Jesus calls us to believe in him. 

    Romans 10:13 says: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

    And again, a verse we looked at last week. 

    Revelation 22:17: The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. 

    Jesus invites us. He invites us to come to him. 

    He invites the Spiritually thirsty to come to him and to drink the water that he offers. 

    “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ 

    That’s the offer Jesus makes to the crowd in John 7. And it’s the offer that he makes to the whole world. For those who are Spiritually thirsty to come to him, to know him, to believe in him, to worship him, to come and drink.

    And with that, we come to our passage. And in the fallout of what Jesus has just said, we will see three different responses from the audience. 

    1. Positive response to Jesus 

    Verses 40 into 41: 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”

    So some suggest that Jesus could be the prophet. Others suggested Jesus could be the Christ. 

    They’re both right. 

    In the first century, there were some who thought that these were two different figures. In reality, Jesus is both. 

    Let’s explain this further. 

    For the people who have heard Jesus teaching and wonder if he could be “the” prophet, the is important there. 

    Because they’re not questioning if Jesus could be a prophet like Isaiah or Ezekiel. 

    They’re asking if he could be the prophet which is a reference to Deuteronomy 18. In that passage, Moses is still leading the Israelites in their desert wanderings and he talks of a future time when a greater leader than he would come to lead Israel. 

    Deuteronomy 18:15: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen-

    And so people question if Jesus could be this long ago promised prophet. 

    We actually discussed this over a year ago when we were in chapter 1. 

    When John the Baptist was teaching and there were people who wondered if he was the prophet. He was quick to set the record straight that he was not. 

    In John 6, after Jesus fed the multitudes, the immediate response of the crowd given in John 6:14 was: 

    When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 

    So back in our passage, there are people who wonder if Jesus could be the prophet. 

    But you also have those who wonder if Jesus could be the Christ. 

    And I think it’s helpful to give a reminder that when they refer to Jesus as the Christ, the word Christ is not a name, it’s a title. 

    The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word “Christos” which means anointed. In the Old Testament, the high priest, the kings of Israel, and the prophets would be anointed with oil. The olive oil would be ceremonially poured on them. 

    Also in the temple, some of the items were also anointed with oil. 

    The anointing was meant to show that a thing was consecrated to the Lord and set aside. 

    In the first century, there were people who were looking forward to a coming anointed one. A coming Christ. 

    And so when Jesus is teaching here, there are people who wonder if he could be that person. 

    So we do have two camps who see something special in Jesus. Is he the prophet? Is he the Christ? 

    The answer is: yes. 

    He’s both. 

    He is the prophet. And he is the Christ. Jesus who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of both. 

    He is the long ago promised prophet to lead Israel into the true Promised Land: the new heaven and the new earth. But he is also the anointed one. He is the Christ. 

    He fulfills the Old Testament. He lived a perfect life. He went to the cross and died and rose so that all who believe in him can be forgiven. 

    So that’s our first scene. That’s the favorable response to who Jesus is. 

    That’s not saying that all of the people in that camp were confessing believers or truly understood the gospel. But they’re drawn to Jesus.

    So that’s our first group. People who have a favorable response to Jesus. This group is drawn to Jesus. 

    Disbelieving response to Jesus 

    We come to a second group. 

    Others are explaining that he can’t be the Christ. This second group is people who don’t believe in Jesus but they’re not also militant in their opposition. 

    Rest of verse 41 through the end of verse 43: 

    But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him.

    Again, you have this long expected Christ figure and so the Israelites had opinions of what he would be like.

    Just like at the beginning of this section, the passage we looked at two weeks ago, some look to the origins of Jesus as disqualifying to his being the Christ. 

    Some of the people point to the fact that Jesus is from Galilee and look at that as the reason as to why Jesus cannot be the Christ. Because the Jewish people all knew Micah 5:2: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. 

    The Christ had to come from Bethlehem. 

    Which Jesus did. 

    They said that the Christ had to come from the line of David. Which Jesus did. 

    So what’s happening is there are people in the crowd who actually do have some correct understanding of the Bible but they do not have correct understanding of the facts about Jesus. 

    Makes me think of the Mark Twain quote: “What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.”

    That’s something we can all be guilty of. Having our facts wrong. But in this case, that falsity is pointing them away from the savior of the world. 

    Once again, I think that this is something that often happens in our world. People have part of the truth. They know a little bit about the Bible. They know a little bit about Jesus. 

    They hear God is love and so assume that moral opinions are somehow unbiblical.  

    They think Jesus is good, but they don’t really believe he’s Lord and so they don’t believe in him. 

    They think Jesus quaint but they don’t think he’s their savior. 

    So much of the world takes slivers of truth about Jesus but misses the whole point of why he came. 

    It was because the world was dead in sin and true life could only come from a perfect savior who died for the sins we committed and reconciled us to a righteous God. 

    That’s the gospel. 

    So from the crowd, we’ve seen those who think he’s the Christ, those who think he’s the prophet, those who think he’s not the prophet. 

    The second group doesn’t believe in Jesus but they’re not out and out hostile to Jesus here. 

    That’s where much of our world is today. 

    There are lots of Bible passages that talk about persecution. That talk about opposition to Jesus. 

    There are lots of news stories that talk about opposition to Chrsitianity and persecution. We mentioned earlier today that next Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. 

    That’s important and significant. 

    And I point that out right now because I think it’s on our radar to consider the strong-armed opposition to Jesus. 

    This second group isn’t like that though. They’re just explaining why they don’t believe Jesus is the Christ. 

    But they still don’t believe in him. 

    And there’s no middle ground with Jesus. 

    Matthew 12:30, Jesus says: Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

    You believe him or you don’t. 

    So I ask. What do you believe? 

    Who is Jesus to you? 

    Is he the Christ? Is he the savior of the world? Is he your Lord? 

    Or does he not fit the criteria that you think matters? 

    The danger humanity faces isn’t only those who are opposed to Jesus but it’s those who are indifferent to him. 

    Because the person who is indifferent to Jesus can be tempted to think that they’re all right with Jesus. 

    But they’re not. 

    There’s no middle ground. 

    Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He’s the word who became flesh. He’s the God who was in the beginning. And he has made a way for sinful people to be forgiven. He did it by going to the cross. Again. We don’t have to have it all figured out. 

    But we must come to him. 

    And then we see the third group. 

    Opposing response to Jesus 

    Verse 44, we see that there are those in the crowd who think that Jesus should be arrested for what he’s saying. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. 

    As we discussed before, at this point in John’s Gospel, we’re seeing increasing hostility to Jesus. There are people who want him arrested. There are people who want him silenced. There are those who want him killed. 

    And what follows in the passage are the interactions between these various groups of people. 

    Another attempt is made to arrest Jesus. We’ve already seen an unsuccessful attempt in the first scene. Here again the temple guards are sent for Jesus. 

    But the officers in the temple do not follow through. 

    Verses 45-46: The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 

    The priests and the pharisees are outraged. Like a looming cloud their opposition to Christ hangs over the rest of this passage. 

    The guards did not follow through on their orders to arrest Jesus. 

    Something to note here. When we hear of the religious leaders sending the guards of the temple to arrest Jesus, it’s important to understand that it’s not a swat team. They didn’t send in the Marines. The temple guards were Levites who were responsible for tending to the temple. 

    So the chief priest might have sent the guards to arrest Jesus but they too have their opinions on the Christ and what he would be like. They’ve heard Jesus teaching. 

    And so the Levites, the temple guards are taken by what Jesus has said. 

    No one ever spoke like this man. 

    Jesus’ words are forceful. They’re moving. They confront us. 

    To paraphrase an idea from the great 19th century preacher Charles Spuregon, the guards were sent to arrest Jesus, it was they who were arrested by his words. They did not take Jesus but were taken by the power of his message. 

    We see the intermingling of different responses to Jesus. 

    The positive and negative responses to Jesus coming to battle. 

    The pharisees berate the guards. And really they basically lash out against everyone there. 

    We see those who are sympathetic to Jesus coming into conflict with those who oppose Jesus. 

    Verses 47-48: The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 

    D.A. Carson adds a helpful point in their response. 

    The leaders are not mad at the guards as a commanding officer over subordinates for dereliction of duty. The derision of the authorities comes to the temple guard that they did not listen to their Spiritual and theological authorities. Moreover, the guards should have had more sense and better knowledge of the Old Testament than to be sympathetic to Jesus’ message. 

    In verse 48, they ask if any of the authorities or pharisees have believed in Jesus? 

    The irony is that one is about to. 

    But first, the religious authorities continue their rant and also criticize and insult the crowd. 

    Verse 49: this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

    Again, we’re seeing these differing opinions about who Jesus is. 


    Verse 50, we see a climactic moment of this whole scene. 

    The return of Nicodemus. Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” (John 7:50-52)

    Nicodemus is introduced in John’s gospel in chapter 3. He was the leading theologian and scholar of his time. He comes to Jesus and he’s intrigued by Jesus and his teachings. 

    In that famous passage, Jesus told Nicodemus you must be born again. 

    Nicodemus had responded to Jesus with confusion and questioning: 


    John 3:4: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

    But here we see Nicodemus coming to the defense of Jesus. We’ll also see him reappear after Jesus is crucified. 

    We’re never told specifically whether or not Nicodemus comes to faith but the fact that John continues to bring him back throughout the story indicates that Nicodemus saw Jesus for who he is. 

    Nicodemus speaks up on Jesus’ behalf in this passage. He suggests that they give a fair evaluation to Jesus’ words and what he’s said. 

    But the rest of the religious leaders lash out against him too. 

    We see these conflicts.

    And the conflicts should not be surprising, because as I’ve said many times before: the gospel is offensive. The message of Christ and him crucified, and him coming to redeem the world is offensive. Because it confronts us with our sin and coming to terms with our own sin. It confronts us with our eternal hope. It confronts us with placing our faith and trust in something outside of ourselves. 

    The gospel is offensive. 

    And so we have all of these different responses. We see these conflicts in response to what Jesus has promised. 

    And the solution to the conflicts is Jesus himself. 

    “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

    What do you believe? 

    The only response which Jesus accepts is belief in him. 

  • Sermon: The thirst Jesus quenches – John 7:37-39

    37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

    Prayer 

    Our Heavenly Father, 

    1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 

    Lord God, it is only through your gospel that the longings of the human soul can be quenched. We praise you for the salvation which you promise through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

    We thank you that we have a savior whom we can approach. 

    Lord, we ask that you again bless our time as we study your word. Prepare our hearts as we approach your scriptures. May we do it in a spirit of humility and reverence. 

    May we grow in deeper love for your goodness. 

    Lord, none but you is worthy of our praise. 

    We pray that we would be strengthened and edified as we study your sacred scriptures. 

    In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Introduction 

    Water. It helps regulate our body temperature.  It protects our joints and spinal cord. It helps brain function, energy levels, and circulation. It’s used in running the major systems of our bodies. It helps our bodies dispose of waste.

    It’s essential to human life. Our bodies are mostly made up of water. A healthy person can only survive 3-4 days without it. 

    One of the great blessings of modern, industrial societies is that we have easy access to drinking water. We just turn on the tap and there it is. 

    It’s a blessing that I know I never seriously take time to consider and appreciate. It’s just there. 

    In other parts of the world, water is in short supply due to draught and insufficient storage and purification facilities. 

    In parts of Africa, millions of people – mostly women or children – do not have indoor plumbing and have to make daily trips to communal sources of water. 

    And that’s more similar to the situation in Jesus’ day. 

    Israel gets almost no rainfall from May to mid-October. 

    And so when Jesus talks about people thirsting, it might have had a little more resonance to a first century audience than it would for us. 

    But still, thirst is an incredibly powerful metaphor. Because even though we do have easy access to water, we’ve all been thirsty at some point. Maybe you’ve been outside all day. May it’s a really hot day. There is an instant relief that water brings us. 

    And in those times, it’s a thirst that only water can quench. Maybe you’re a soda drinker, a soda isn’t refreshing when you’re truly thirsty. Maybe you’re a coffee drinker. A piping hot cup of coffee isn’t refreshing when you’re thirsty. Only water. 

    In our section, Jesus stands up and proclaims:

    If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

    Are you thirsty? 

    Over the last couple of weeks in chapter 7, we’ve seen Jesus at the Feast of Booths. 

    In today’s section, our passage opens up by saying that it is the last day of the feast. So we’ve seen quite a bit of time dedicated to this one week Feast of Booths. 

    And with that, we’ll jump right into our passage before making a few concluding observations about the passage.

    Verses 37-38: On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

    John says that Jesus cried out when he spoke. There is urgency to his proclamation. 

    If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

    The first thing that we have to understand about this passage is that Jesus does not talk about thirst and drinking out of nowhere. 

    What he’s saying fits in with the feast. 

    And it’s important to understand what Jesus is saying in light of the Old Testament. 

    One thing we have not talked about is that in Jesus’ day, as part of the observance of the Feast of Booths there was a water pouring ceremony where the high priest would take a golden pitcher of water. With an assembly of people following him, the high priest would go to the nearby Pool of Siloam and fill the pitcher. The priest would bring the water back to the temple courtyard as horns blasted in celebration. The people would recite Psalms of praise and chant three times “Give thanks to the Lord, give thanks to the Lord, give thanks to the Lord.” And the high priest would take the pitcher of water and pour it on the altar. 

    In Jesus’ day, this ceremony had developed. 

    Now, keep in mind that the Feast of Booths was, in part, meant to recall the time in which their Israelite forefathers were in the wilderness and awaiting the Promised Land. 

    For 40 years, the Israelites dwelled in their own booths or tents and brought the tabernacle with them through the desert. 

    In Exodus chapters 15, 16, and 17, the Israelites were still in the first few days and weeks into the desert wanderings. They’ve just seen God bring the plagues upon the Egyptians. They’ve just seen the Lord part the waters of the Red Sea and free them Egyptian rule. 

    The Israelites quickly fall into grumbling. In Exodus 15, they grumble about not having water. As if the Lord God who had miraculously freed them would not provide. 

    But before we judge the Israelites too harshly, we can often be as fickle and as quick to forget the Lord’s blessings in our own lives. 

    Can we not? 

    We can forget God’s blessings in our lives, God’s faithfulness in our lives, God’s provision in our lives. We’re not so different from the Israelites. 

    In Exodus, God provides water. 

    Exodus 16, the Israelites complain about not having enough food and go as far as accusing the Lord of having brought them into the desert for them all to die. 

    God is gracious. He provides manna. It was miraculous. Something which the Lord used to sustain them for every day of their 40 year journey. 

    Interestingly, in John 6, we see Jesus as something greater when he declares that he himself is the true bread of life after he had fed the multitudes. 

    Exodus 17, the people again complain about water. 

    Nevermind that God has already shown his ability to provide water. God has shown that he will provide food. But the Israelites again grumble and accuse the Lord of having brought them into the wilderness to kill them. 

    Instead of reigning down righteous judgment, God does another miracle 

    Exodus 17:4-6: So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 

    God provides water from a rock. When the Israelites were in the desert and thirsty, God gave them water. 

    And that was part of the background for the water ceremony at the Feast of Booths. 

    Again, the Feast of Booths was largely meant to look back at the time of the Israelite wanderings. 

    But there’s further significance to the water. 

    Water is a symbol of blessing in the Old Testament.

    And once again, to appreciate that, I think we have to keep in mind desert and semiarid climates where the Israelites lived in the Old Testament and in the time of Christ. 

    The water ceremony specifically was related to Isaiah 12. It’s not specifically commanded in that passage, but the connection of water and life and praise for the Lord influenced the Jewish observance of the Feast of Tabernacles. 

    Isaiah 12:3-4: 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. 

    Or again, we see the connection with water and divine blessing in Isaiah 55:1:

    “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk 

    Zechariah 14:8 prophesied of a future time of God’s blessing. 

    On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea.

    It’s interesting that even in Zechariah, he refers to living water. 

    The prophets are looking forward to a future time of the Lord’s provision where it’s compared to living water. 

    Water is important. 

    And in the Old Testament, you also see the connection of ideas of water with the Holy Spirit. Most famously in Ezekiel 36. 

    Verses 25-27 I consider this one of the three most significant passages in the Old Testament outside of Genesis: 

    25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

    In that passage, we see the specific connection between water and the Spirit and the impact that the Spirit has in the life of a believer. We’ve talked about the importance of water in the Feast of Booths in pointing back to God’s provision of water, in the importance of water for our survival. But the connection of water and the Holy Spirit is also important with their connection to the Feast of Booths because part of the celebration and hope in the Feast of Booths was that it looked forward to a future time when the Lord would pour out his Spirit on his people. 

    And that is important to understanding our passage in John. 

    Because Jesus says: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

    Ezekiel pointed to a time when people would be so filled with the Spirit that they would be enabled to live out the Law of God. Jesus says that whoever believes in him “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 

    What I believe this is saying is that the one who comes to Jesus will be given the Spirit, as the scriptures have promised. 

    And where it says Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water, it is referring to the transformed life of a believer through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

    We don’t cause it to happen. We don’t cause our own Spiritual growth. It is a supernatural work of God in the heart and life of a believer as a result of regeneration. 

    And so that drives home the significance of Jesus standing up on the last day of the feast and calling the thirsty to come to him and drink and his promise of living water. 

    The fact that the living water is the Holy Spirit is not in dispute. You have the Old Testament background. But even more specifically, John tells us that’s what’s being referenced in vere 39. 

    7:39: Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

    And really, Jesus has talked a lot about the Holy Spirit to this point in John. 

    He talks of it in reference to regeneration, being born again, when Nicodemus comes seeking Jesus. John 3:5:“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God

    Jesus is referring to water and the Spirit in John 4 when he tells the woman at the well:


    John 4:14: 

    “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

    The Holy Spirit and his coming into the hearts of believers and the necessity of that happening is really a significant theme in John. It will be a major focus towards the end of his ministry in chapters 14-17. 

    15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 

    Back in our main passage. 

    You have a large assembly of Israelite all listening to Jesus preach about the living water he provides at the feast which pointed back to their ancestors’ time in the wilderness. It was in that time that God provided physical water from a rock. But it was meant to point to something greater. 

    You have Jesus at the feast which looked forward to a future time when God would pour out his Spirit and here Jesus proclaims to the group that he is the one who has come to provide that Spirit. 

    But as John ends the passage, the Spirit had not yet been given. John says that this is because Christ had not yet been glorified. 

    Once again, his ministry has a singular focus that is always pointing forward to his death. There are people trying to kill him but unable, we’ve talked about his hour, referring to when he would die. Here again, the Spirit would not be given until after Jesus had died and rose from the dead and been glorified. 

    Jesus provides the living water to the one who comes to him who thirsts.  

    Are you thirsty? 

    And this idea is carried into the Biblical depictions of heaven. 

    Revelation 21:6, John’s vision of the new heaven and the new earth. 

    And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 

    Then again in Revelation 22:17, one of the last few verses of the entire Bible: 

    The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

    Jesus has come for thirsty people. 

    I spoke in the beginning about how much of the world struggles to get water. 

    But it’s interesting. 

    We have water, but we don’t drink it. At least not to the level that we should. 

    Studies show that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. 

    That’s amazing. 

    And I looked at some articles that suggest that there are other industrialized countries who do even worse. One article suggested 80% of Australians and others articles said upwards of 90% of British people don’t drink enough water.

    So we have people in poor countries who don’t drink enough water because they can’t get it. But many people in places who have enough water don’t drink it. 

    That is amazing when you think about it. And I consider the metaphor of thirst and living water from a Spiritual perspective. 

    So many people don’t think that they need God. Don’t think that they need the salvation which Christ offers. Feel like they can do things their own way and be fine. 

    The grace is offered but so many aren’t thirsty – or more accurately – so many people don’t know that they have the thirst for what Christ alone can quench. 

    Jesus provides the living water and he is the only source of the true water. 

    What well are you drinking from? 

    The USS Indianapolis was a battle cruiser which was sunk by a Japanese torpedo in the Pacific Ocean in July of 1945. The ship was returning from a mission which had included delivering the enriched uranium needed for the first atomic bomb. 

    The ship sunk in 12 minutes with 1,195 sailors aboard. Roughly 300 died in the initial sinking. 

    For the 900 survivors, they spent a harrowing four days in the hot sun of the Pacific Ocean with very little food or water. Some died from injuries sustained in the sinking, some died from the elements and exposure. Some were killed in shark attacks. 

    But a temptation the survivors faced in their state of extreme dehydration was the desire to drink the sea water. 

    Only 316 of the nearly 900 who survived the sinking of the ship survived the four days at sea. 

    The chief medical officer recounted his own harrowing experiences. 

    There was nothing I could do, nothing I could do but give advice, bury the dead at sea, save the lifejackets, and try to keep the men from drinking the water. When the hot sun came out, and we were in this crystal clear ocean, we were so thirsty. You couldn’t believe it wasn’t good enough to drink. I had a hard time convincing the men they shouldn’t drink. The real young ones…you take away their hope, you take away their water and food, they would drink the salt water and they would go fast. I can remember striking the ones who were drinking the salt water to try to stop them. They would get dehydrated. 

    There is living water that Jesus promises to those who come to him in thirst. 

    Anything else we drink will lead to our own death and destruction. 

    He invites us to know him. He invites us to drink. He invites us to life. 

    Have you come to him as one who is thirsty? Do you believe that he is the Lord? That he is the savior of the world? That he gives living water? 

    And at the last Supper, he invited us to his table. 

  • Sermon: The gospel and providence – John 7:25-36


    25     Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 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? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 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. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” 

    32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?” 

    Prayer

    Our heavenly Father, 

    You are the creator and the sustainer of all things. 

    Nothing has happened or will ever happen outside of your sovereign providence for your creation. 

    Lord God, we continue to pray for our nation in all of the uncertainty that we’re facing. 

    Lord, we continue to pray for this season that we’re in. It’s been a long year. It’s been a tiring year. It’s been a trying year. 

    Lord, we ask that you use this experience and this season in all of our lives to refine us and perfect us. Lord, we are imperfect people. We cling to various idols and hopes. We rely on ourselves and not on you. We look to the world for our protection and security. Lord, we have different vices and different struggles. But regardless of what we think of this virus, we’re in this season as a church and as people. Regardless of what we think, we are all impacted by the fallout. And through that, through changes, through uncertainty, through unrest, through all that we’re facing, may we more and more rely on you and trust in you. May our security be in you.

    Lord, we ask that you bless our time in the study of your word. May it point us to you and your gospel. 

    In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Introduction 

    The providence of God is one of the great themes that we see running throughout the Bible. 

    It is so prevalent that it’s almost easy to to take for granted and overlook. 

    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 

    And for the rest of the Bible, we see God’s work of sustaining his creation. It’s providence. 

    God maintains the universe. He is providential over the ongoings of the nations. He is sovereign over life and death. Over the significant and the seemingly insignificant events in our lives. Over the monumental and seemingly random events, God is providential. He is the Lord in the victories and the defeats. It is because of God’s divine providence that we can pray to him with confidence and that we can take assurance in his promises. And it is through his guiding work of providence that he has woven his gospel throughout human history. 

    On the subject of providence the late theologian J.I. Packer said “If creation was a unique exercise of divine energy causing the world to be, providence is a continued exercise of that same energy whereby the Creator, according to his own will (a) keeps all creatures in being, (b) involves himself in all events, and (c) directs all things to their appointed end.” 

    There is nothing that happens outside of God’s providential governance of his creation. 

     As Proverbs 16:33 says: 

    The lot is cast into the lap, 

    but its every decision is from the Lord. 

    It is because providence that we can have assurance in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and who are called according to his purposes. 

    And it is for that reason that God’s providence should be a great joy to all Christians. We have a God who is powerful enough to work all things together for good and who works all things according to the council of his will (Ephesians 1:11). 

    Providence is something that we see throughout the Bible and it should influence our understanding of the Bible, of human history, of the natural world, and of the events in our lives, society, and the world today. 

    This morning, we continue in the Gospel of John. Just like last week, Jesus is still speaking at the Feast of Booths, but I was struck this week as I looked at this passage and the thread that’s throughout this section is God’s providence in the ministry of Christ. 

    And so we come to this wonderful passage in God’s word that we’ll look at in three scenes this morning. 

    Just a reminder to give the setting for this event. 

    It’s the Feast of Booths, one of the great high holy days in the Jewish calendar. 

    Jesus has grown in popularity to this point in John’s Gospel but he has also grown in infamy and the ruling religious authorities are already plotting against Jesus. 


    John 7:1 alerts us of the plot to kill Jesus and how Jesus was keeping a low profile. 

    After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

    First scene – divine providence in sending

    With that, we come to our first scene which reminds us of the divine providence in sending Jesus. 

    Verses 25-26. The crowd sees Jesus openly speaking in spite of the fact that there is a plot against this and they’re confused about how this can be. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 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?

    Something that’s interesting about verse 25. John says some of the people of Jerusalem.

    Quick note. As Jesus has been speaking in this section, there are three different groups of people whom the Apostle John has identified. Leon Morris is helpful with this.  

    John refers to the Jews, which are the ruling Jewish authorities. And that’s the group whom Jesus was calling out at the end of our last section when he questioned their application of the Sabbath. That’s the same group who is seeking to kill Jesus at the beginning of chapter 7. 

    Secondly, we have the crowd. This seems to be people from all over Israel who had traveled to Jerusalem to participate in the Feast of Booths. 

    In verse 19, when Jesus talks of the plot to kill him, we see the response of “the crowd.” 

    7:20: The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”

    They’re not even aware of the plot. And that makes sense because they’re not all from the Jerusalem area. They’re not all familiar with Jesus. 

    But in our passage, John introduces a third group of people when he says the people of Jerusalem. 

    They’re the locals. They’re not the ruling authorities. They themselves are not the ones who are seeking to kill Jesus here. But they’re aware of the plot. And they’re aware of Jesus and know a bit about his reputation. 

    We see in chapter 7 that there are people from all three groups in the audience to whom Jesus is speaking. 

    Those who oppose him. Those who don’t know him. And here we have people who know him but don’t oppose him. 

    So they have awareness of the controversies surrounding Jesus in verse 25 when they ask: is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 

    But there’s confusion. 

    If there are people who want to kill this guy, Jesus, and he’s right here, why don’t they just do it? 

    Jesus is here, out in the open, speaking and teaching and yet they do nothing! 

    And so they ask Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 

    Consider that question. The Jerusalem crowd is wondering if some of the ruling authorities have actually believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. 

    That doesn’t mean that the Jerusaemites believe. In fact, they generally don’t believe, as the passage will tell us. 

    Verse 27: But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 

    In their understanding, they’re explaining why Jesus can’t be the Christ. 

    But ironically, they’re wrong in their assessment. 

    For instance, they say they know where Jesus comes from. They don’t. 

    Where is Jesus from? 

    Heaven. 

    So they don’t know his true origin. 

    But we’ll see in this passage that they also don’t know his earthly origin. They’ll say he’s from Galilee. It’s true that he grew up there but Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 

    So they don’t actually know Jesus’ origin. 

    And we also see another point that the crowd gets wrong. 

    They say that when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from. 

    That’s a statement that is a little bit odd to our ears. D.A. Carson suggests in his commentary that many Jewish people in the first century believed that the true Messiah would be a person who was an unknown. But they knew who Jesus was – or at least, they thought they did – and so in their thinking, a little familiarity with Jesus meant that he could not possibly be the Messiah.  

    But the irony is that they actually don’t know his true origin. 

    Jesus responds with irony in verse 28.

    Verse 28: Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. 

    “You know me and you know where I come from.” 

    There’s a double meaning. In one sense, they do know about Jesus and his origins. They know a little bit about his ministry and where he grew up. But in another sense, they don’t know his true origins or his true purpose. 

    Jesus continues speaking. 

    28 into 29: 

    I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”

    Jesus reiterates the idea that he’s brought up at other points in this gospel. That Jesus is not acting of his own accord, but is acting in accordance with the will of God. 

    He says twice in those two verses that he has been sent. 

    It is something that he has explained time and again in this gospel. 

    John 5:30: I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.


    John 6:38-39: I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 

    He continually points to himself as one who has been sent. 

    And as one who was sent, Jesus lived in total fidelity to the will of God. 

    In our current passage, Jesus tells the crowd that God is true but they do not know God. And this is exemplified in their failure to understand Jesus and who he is.

    The fact that Jesus has not come of his own accord shows the unity within the Trinity. We do not have competing wills within the Godhead

    I want to look at that again in the light of the providence of God. Because the fact that Jesus was sent was the divine plan for all of eternity. 

    We see it going to Genesis 3 and right after the fall.

    Genesis 3:14-15, a passage that many theologians refer to as the protoevangelium, or “first gospel.” 

    We see the curse upon the serpent. 

    14 The Lord God said to the serpent, 

    “Because you have done this, 

    cursed are you above all livestock 

    and above all beasts of the field; 

    on your belly you shall go, 

    and dust you shall eat 

    all the days of your life. 

    15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, 

    and between your offspring and her offspring; 

    he shall bruise your head, 

    and you shall bruise his heel.” 

    That’s pretty striking that in the same passage as the fall, we learn of an offspring of the woman who will bruise the serpent. And throughout the centuries, theologians and scholars have correctly understood this verse as a verse pointing forward to Christ as the one who would overcome the devil and evil through the gospel. 

    God providentially purposed his gospel since the fall, but even before the fall, he knew humanity would sin. 

    We see this talked about in 1 Peter 1:18-20: 

    you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world

    The gospel was the eternal plan of the Lord. 

    And throughout the Old Testament, we see God at work in preserving the family of Abraham through whom he made his promise. We see him intervening in the order of the world to bring forth Isaac, despite his parents’ old age. We see God calling upon Abraham to sacrifice his son, with God knowing all along that he would provide the sacrifice which pointed to the true sacrifice. 

    Jacob and Rebekah plotted to trick Isaac into giving him the birthright but even through that dishonesty, God accomplished his purpose of exalting Jacob over Esau. We see Jacob and his sons who represent the 12 tribes. They were on the verge of extinction but God intervened through the dreams of Joseph to save his family, to save Israel, and to save the line that led to Christ. 

    And throughout the Old Testament, God preserved his people and preserved the family line that led to Christ. 

    We see divine providence in the Exodus. It was God who showed his power and dominion over creation in the plagues. Quoting from Joel Beeke in “Reformed Systematic Theology” “God’s divine control is universal. The plagues upon Egypt demonstrated that the Lord controls rivers, frogs, insects, livestock, storms, light, and darkness, and human health and life.” 

    God is over all things. Big and small. 

    We see God’s providence in sustaining the Israelites during their time in the desert, in God fulfilling his promises. We see his providence in providing prophets who warned Israel. We see his dominion over the nations when Israel was conquered. 

    We also see in the prophets a long history of foretelling the coming one. Nothing by accident. It is because of God’s providence and sovereignty over creation that there could be certainty that all of these events would come to pass. 

    God orchestrated human history to bring forth his son. 


    Galatians 4:4-5: when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

    God exercises his providence over the family which led to Christ, over our salvation, through the nations of the world. 

    And all of this is reason why we should take such great joy and confidence in the promises of God. Because they’re rooted in the character of God who is providential and sovereign over creation. 

    And it’s true in our lives. 

    If you’re alive, you’re a living example of God’s providence and provision. 

    Our lives are examples of God’s divine providence. 

    Do you see it that way? 

    Nothing has been random. All of it has been in accordance with the will of God. 

    That’s not to say that we’re robots. 

    The famous analogy given is that it’s like we’re living on a great ship. You eat, you spend time on the deck, you enjoy the sights and entertainment but God is the captain of the boat and the ultimate destination of the boat is outside of your control. 

    We’ll never know on this side of eternity how our difficulties really were used for our good. We’ll never know on this side of eternity all of things we were protected from or saved from. 

    But all throughout life, God is working and he is good. 

    So that’s our first scene. The ministry of Christ looked at in light of the will and providence of the Lord. 

    The second and third scenes will be briefer than that first scene. 

    We continue in our passage. 

    Second scene – the attempt to arrest Jesus 

    Vere 30, they’re seeking to arrest Jesus. But the text tells us: no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 

    His hour had not yet come. 

    This is a phrase that we’ve seen elsewhere in this gospel which always points to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. And again, that points us to the providence of God. 

    There was nothing left to happenstance in his ministry. There was an appointed hour at which time his ministry was to come to its culmination. 

    But it’s not that God has a very specific plan for Jesus and is then leaving all of our lives up to chance. God is providential through all of time and all of creation. 


    Psalm 139:16 says: 

    Your eyes saw my unformed substance; 

    in your book were written, every one of them, 

    the days that were formed for me, 

    when as yet there was none of them. 

    It’s amazing how much of our time we can spend worrying and fearful. 

    Time where we could be fellowshipping with God, serving God, spending quality time with our loved ones. We so often let so much of our precious time be ruled by worry and stress. 

    Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: 

     do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

    My point isn’t to beat you up if you’re someone who does struggle with anxiety or worry. 

    I’ll be the first to admit that I stress out far more often than I should. 

    But we are called to trust in the Lord. 


    Psalm 9:10 says: those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. 

    We should all take comfort that there is absolutely nothing that will ever happen in our lives that is outside of God’s providence. 

    That’s not to say that everything is pleasant or enjoyable. 

    There are horrible sins that we can fall victim too. 

    And that’s confounding to the world. And that’s offensive to the world. That God could possibly allow bad things to happen. 

    But that is where the trust comes in that God really does work all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes. 

    It’s an easy verse to quote. It’s an easy verse to love. 

    But when the going gets tough, it can be one of the hardest verses to believe. 

    But we must believe it. 

    It must be at the core of our faith. 

    Trust in God’s providence and goodness must be at the core of what we believe about God. 

    Again. I realize that there are times for many of us, where that can seem easier said than done. 

    But maybe part of that is because it can be so easy to go through life and look at it as if we’re largely in control of what happens. To look at our talent or effort as the cause of any successes we have. To look at our talents and skills as being things we can take credit for. 

    Instead of daily remembering that it is all from the Lord. 


    James 1:17-18: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth

    We must consider God’s providence as it is seen all throughout scripture and all throughout our lives. 


    Isaiah 46:9-10 says: 

    remember the former things of old; 

    for I am God, and there is no other; 

    I am God, and there is none like me, 

    10 declaring the end from the beginning 

    and from ancient times things not yet done, 

    saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, 

    and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 

    Nothing happens outside of God’s providence. 

    Martin Luther said “He is almighty because it is His power alone that works in all and through all and over all…this is a most important article of faith, including many things; it completely puts down all pride, arrogance, blasphemy, fame, and false trust, and exalts God alone.” 

    There are sufferings that we face, but in them, we see God’s providence. That is true in the gospel as God took an evil and worked it for good. And it is true in our lives. 

    So again, we often face a temptation to fear and to worry. But maybe part of the reason for that is because we don’t take enough time looking at our lives, what has happened, and where God is bringing us in light of his providence. 

    There is nothing that happens in our lives which is not providential. And all of it is meant for our ultimate good. 

    So the people seek to arrest Jesus but they’re unable. 

    7:31: many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” 

    We see that some people are drawn to Jesus. They consider the signs that he’s done. Some want to arrest Jesus but there are at least some in the crowd who rhetorically ask if another person could do such wonderful signs? 

    That’s almost a quick aside in the middle of the passage. 

    Because the story quickly shifts to the attempt to arrest Jesus. 

    The temple guards had thus far been prevented from arresting Jesus. But finally, their officers are sent. Between verse 30 and 32, it’s unclear if a little bit of time might have passed. 

    7:32: The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 

    Jesus has been teaching. What he’s said is not popular with the religious authorities. They seem to tolerate it up to a point, but as people start to respond favorably, they desire to put a stop to what Jesus is saying. 

    And that’ll bring us to our third scene.

    Third scene – Jesus’s return to the Father

    They are continuing to attempt to arrest Jesus but Jesus will explain the reason it will be fruitless. 

    Verses 33-34: Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come

    He is pointing forward to the time of his death when he says I will be with you a little longer.

    It’s not yet the hour of his death. But Jesus is on the home stretch of his ministry. As we’ve said, the Feast of Booths is in the fall. Jesus would be crucified the following spring. 

    From the end of John 11 until his crucifixion, eight full chapters are dedicated to the final week of Jesus’ life. 

    And when we’re not in that week, so much of John’s Gospel is pointing forward to his hour, his death. 

    There are over 15,000 biographies of Abraham Lincoln. His life has been covered in seemingly exhaustive detail. His early life, the tragic loss of his mother in childhood. His many failures. His time in the White House. The complexities of his faith, of his relationship with Mary Todd. His leadership in the Civil War. The personal tragedies he experienced. 

    I’ve used this example before but perhaps the longest biography written of Lincoln is the 5,000 page Life of Lincoln by his two former secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay. And in 5,000 pages, they cover his assassination on just 20 of those pages. 

    But when the gospel writers wrote about Jesus, they didn’t have the luxury of writing a 5,000 page book. In fact, Jessu did so many things in his ministry that the final verse of this gospel says:

    John 21:25: there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. 

    But when you consider the sections which cover the final week of Jesus’ life and everything that points to it, in the gospels, one third to one half of each of the gospels is dedicated to his crucifixion. 

    And the reason is because that is the only way to God. That is the culmination of his ministry. 

    It is the only way to redemption. It is the only way to God. It is the only way to forgiveness. It is the only way to heaven. 

    There’s no other way than through the presence of God on earth who was torn down and raised back up three days later. 

    And it was all in fulfillment of the divine plan. 

    The temple guards are bearing down on Jesus to arrest them but his focus is on a different time when he knows he will be arrested, where he knows he will be tried, where he knows he will be betrayed, where he knows he will be crucified. 

    Because Jesus came into the world to save the world and he came into the world to fulfill the divine will. 

    It is the only way to redemption. It is the only way to God. It is the only way to forgiveness. It is the only way to heaven. 

    There’s no other way than through the presence of God on earth who was torn down and raised back up three days later. 

    Jesus talks throughout this gospel of being sent but here he talks of his return to the one who sent him. 

    As we often see in this gospel, people don’t understand what Jesus is saying. 

    35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?” 

    Once again, that ends up being an ironic statement. 

    They think that Jesus might just give up on his Jerusalem ministry and try to reach non-Jewish Greeks. 

    That’s ironic because the gospel would be for them too. The gospel is for the whole world. The gospel would extend beyond Israel. 

    But that also was on the divine timeline and the fruition of that plan would wait until after Jesus had died and rose. 

    There’s also irony in that they think that Jesus might try to get away as if he’d need to hide from them. He’s their creator and their judge. It is not because Jesus is fearful. 

    Jesus concludes this passage by pointing to the divine mission. From beginning to end, this passage points us to the providence of God. 

    We see it throughout this passage, throughout the ministry of Christ, and throughout the Bible. 

    And it is my hope that we will be a church who see God’s providence throughout our lives. 

    Nothing in life happens outside of the providence of God. And may we be people who let that influence our thinking about God, his story of redemption. May it enhance our faith. May it give us greaterner boldness in our prayers. May it give us greater assurance of God’s promises. 

    All to the glory of God. 

  • Sermon: The Father, the Son, and the Law – John 7:14-24

    14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 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. 18 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. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 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? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” 

    Prayer 

    Our heavenly Father, 

    It says in your Word that: Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 

    And: No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

    And: in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 

    Your Son, our Lord taught: 

    I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” 

    Father, we thank you for our Lord Jesus who points us to you, who makes you known, and who has reconciled us to you. May we believe and know the truth of your gospel that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let that be our only source of hope. May we know the saving work of Christ. May we live our lives in gratitude and the knowledge of your gospel. Lord, we continue to pray for greater trust and reliance on you, through all of the uncertainties and unknowns of this season. 

    1 God is our refuge and strength, 

    a very present help in trouble. 

    Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, 

    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 

    3 though its waters roar and foam, 

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah 

    4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, 

    the holy habitation of the Most High. 

    5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; 

    God will help her when morning dawns. 

    6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; 

    he utters his voice, the earth melts. 

    7 The Lord of hosts is with us; 

    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 

    8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, 

    how he has brought desolations on the earth. 

    9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; 

    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; 

    he burns the chariots with fire. 

    10 “Be still, and know that I am God. 

    I will be exalted among the nations, 

    I will be exalted in the earth!” 

    May we trust that you are our refuge and strength. May we be still and know that you are God. And may we worship you for your greatness and goodness. Lord, we do not deserve you. We are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes but you are the eternal God who has promised eternal life through your Son. 

    Jesus is the one who makes you known and it is through him and him alone that we can know you and approach you. 

    And so may we humbly come before you in adoration and in a heart of worship to again study your Word. Lord, we ask that you bless our time and bless our hearts and minds as we seek to know you and to know your truth through the preaching of your Most Holy Word. 


    In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Introduction – the Halo Effect 

    There’s the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” And the point is that we shouldn’t judge things merely by outward appearances or what’s on the surface level. 

    As people, we have a tendency to make assumptions about other people. 

    To give an example. There’s been vast psychological research into attractiveness. If all we have to go on is looks, we assume that a beautiful person is also nice, and intelligent, and competent. 

    Without any corroborative information. 

    If we think something good about someone, we’re likely to have other good associations with them. . 

    We take limited information and make larger assumptions. 

    It’s the same reason why leading male actors in movies are almost universally tall, unless a shorter stature is relevant to the story. 

    Even if the actor himself is short, they will utilize lifts in shoes, smaller props, and camera angles to make him look tall. Because we associate height with dominance and power. 

    And it works out in the real world. In a survey of Fortune 500 CEO’s, they averaged being 2.5” taller than the average person. 

    Of the 11 U.S. presidents since 1960, only one was shorter than 5’11” and the last president we had who was below average was William McKinley, almost 120 years ago. 

    We take limited information and make assumptions about a person. 

    It’s why we have family political dynasties because we assume competence to someone who’s related to someone else we like

    We judge books by their covers. 

    We’ll have more on that in a little bit. 

    Series context 

    We’re resuming in the Gospel of John this morning. 

    And to remind us of where we are in this gospel. Jesus has arrived at the Feast of Booths. And as we’ve discussed before, the Feast of Booths is an annual Jewish celebration in the fall which looked back to the time when the Israelites had to reside in the wilderness during their desert wanderings, it was a celebration of the fall harvest, and also looked forward to the following year. 

    And as we’ve talked about the autumn Jewish holidays over the last couple of weeks, this year’s Feast of Booths is actually currently happening this week. 

    But turning back to our passage. It’s the Feast of Booths and Jesus is in Jerusalem for the feast. He’s teaching in the synagogue and this is causing a stir among a new audience as well as the ruling authorities. It’s a passage where we’ll see themes relating to divine authority, the law of Moses and where we’ll revisit a controversy that Jesus has already been involved with in this gospel.

    We’ll look at this passage in three scenes.

    First scene – Misunderstanding Jesus 

     Verse 14 is where the passage begins: About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 

    John mentions it’s the middle of the feast. The feast of booths lasts 8 days. But the point isn’t so much that it was exactly day 4 or exactly day 5, but that Jesus begins teaching at the temple at some point in the middle of the week long celebration. 

    Verse 15, the crowd responds to Jesus:  The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”

    We don’t know specifically what Jesus has been teaching but the crowd is impressed with Jesus’ understanding of the scriptures and teaching of the scriptures. They knew that Jesus had not learned under any of the well known rabbis of the day and so they question how he has acquired this education. 

    For most Jewish boys in Jesus’ lifetime, your schooling ended in early adolescence, and then you generally moved into the profession of your father. For some who were especially bright, they might have continued in rabbinical training where they learned at the tutelage of a rabbi and this took several years. And having an academic pedigree mattered to the ruling authorities. 

    But Jesus did not have that. There would have been those who would have discounted what Jesus had to say because of that. Grant Osborne’s commentary of John points out that rabbis in Jesus’ day anchored much of their teaching and theology into what rabbis who had preceded them had said. People in academic circles still do this. 

    This type of elitism is certainly not unique to Jesus’ day. There are domains today where people expect a certain pedigree. Of the eight justices currently on the Supreme Court, all eight graduated law school at Harvard or Yale.

    I looked up men who have been the Chief of Operations for the United States Navy. Basically, the person who’s in charge of the navy. Of 32 men who have held that post, all but two have gone to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. 

    There were leading rabbinical figures in Jesus’ day. And Jesus hadn’t sat at their feet or learned from them. 

    After the ministry of Jesus, his disciples would still deal with this intellectual prejudice.

    Acts chapter 4, Peter and John appear before a ruling council of the Jewish leaders. 

    And we again see the low expectations of the council. 

    Acts 4:13: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.

    In fact, there are still scholars today who look at the fact that Peter would not have had much in the way of formal education and question if he was even capable of writing a book like 2 Peter, which is considered some of the highest level Greek in the New Testament. 

    It’s similar when people question Jesus’ family and background. 

    Matthew 13:53-55: 53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son?

    We see the same thing at the beginning of John’s Gospel when the first disciples are following Jesus. Philip is enamoured with Jesus but his brother is not so sure, in sights his hometown as a justification for his prejudice. 

    John 1:45-46: Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

    And here again, the crowd marvels at Jesus and they question:  “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?

    I spoke in the beginning about not judging a book by its cover. People made all sorts of assumptions about Jesus based on little information throughout his ministry. But as is so often the case in the Bible, the things that we can be tempted to criticize in others are not always so different from our own sins and flaws.Because we’re all prone to rushing to conclusions and unfair judgments of people. 

    It can be based on appearance, based on how a person dresses or looks. In a small town where so many of the families are known, we can make unfair judgments about a person based on who their family is. If it’s a good family, we can assume good things. 

    And if it’s not such a good family, or an infamous family, we can also unfairly judge people based on background rather than who they are. 

    Again, I think it’s something that we’re all susceptible to. We don’t have perfect knowledge. We’re fallible people.  But I think it’s important to be proactive in showing fairness to people. 

    In James 2, the Lord’s brother James describes a situation in the assembly where the Christians are showing partiality and bias. 


    James 2:1: My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory

    James goes on to describe a situation where two types of people come to church. 

    James continues: if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

    The point is that we do have a tendency as sinful and fallen people to make such judgments. 

    But that that is sinful. 

    And it’s actually an idea to which Jesus will again refer at the end of this passage. 

    7:24:  Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

    Again, it’s important to know the temptation to judge a book by its cover. But as Christians, it’s important to actively work against that. Because it’s an easy trap that anyone can fall into. 

    So that’s our first scene. How the world misunderstands Jesus. 

    We come to a second scene.  

    Second scene – The God Jesus points to

    So the crowd questions Jesus. It’s worth pointing out that there’s nothing wrong with them wanting to know where Jesus’ ideas come from. 

    It’s just that the problem was the ruling authorities put too much stock into man made systems as the authenticator. They’re counting on their assumptions about teaching and about the Messiah instead of on the scriptures. 

    Verse 16-17, Jesus responds: Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 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’ teachings come from the ultimate source. Jesus has come with a divine message.

    Again, in the rabbinical tradition, teachings were often looked at in light of historical precedent. 

    But what if the initial teachings were wrong? Or flawed? 

    It was still ultimately the teachings of men. 

     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. 

    As Jesus has done throughout this gospel, he confronts the audience – and us the readers – with another bold claim. 

    If you truly desire to know the will of God, you will know that what Jesus is teaching is from God. 

    Put more simply: to know God is to know Jesus. 

    Let’s unpack that. And let’s look at this statement in our own lives. 

     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. 

    It’s both an ethical statement and a theological statement. 

    If you desire to do God’s will, to live out God’s will, that person will be able to recognize whether or not Jesus’ teaching is merely opinion or whether or not its of divine authority. 

    But how? 

    Because of the gospel. 

    Let’s work through the gospel in understanding why Jesus statement is true. 

    Beginning with sin. 

    Romans 3 has one of the great summaries in the Bible of the human condition. 3:10-12: 

    “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 

    It is the natural disposition of fallen humanity to not desire God or the things of God. It is through the regenerative effect of the gospel that a person  has a desire for the will of God. 

    Titus 3:4-6: But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

    So our desire for God is not something that we simply decide to have, but it’s a result of regeneration whereby we are given God’s Spirit. 

    2 Corinthians 2, Paul talks about the natural man and the Spiritual man. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)  

    So. It is not we ourselves who desire the truth of God but it is God working in us through the Spirit. And so it is true that to desire to know the will of God that we are necessarily led to the affirmation of who Jesus is. A desire for the will of God leads us to the truth of God and to Jesus who is himself the truth. 

    But that’s only part of the equation. Because anyone could make the statement that Jesus made. In fact, others have. As we’ve discussed before. But to further authenticate that Jesus himself is the one uniquely sent form God, we have the life and ministry of Jesus. 

    It is not merely big talk. 

    But that Jesus’ life and ministry are unimpeachable through his righteousness, through his teachings. Furthermore, his miracles speak to his divinely appointed ministry. And his death and resurrection point us to the truth of his gospel. That as he died and rose, we who are dead in sin have the promise of eternal life. 

    And we’re left with the overarching truth that a desire to follow the will of God will always lead us to the Son of God. 

    Given the Spiritual aspect of faith, we cannot truly seek God and be led in the wrong direction. 

    You might be tempted to ask “well then why are there so many other religions?” 

    Because men love darkness rather than the light. (John 3:19) 

    As Paul warned Timothy: the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

    Proverbs 21:2 says:  Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

    The world likes to earn righteousness and salvation on its own and the Bible constantly points us to the reality that we cannot. Nearly every other religion works on a scale of righteousness and sins. But it is through the gospel, that we have a message of grace. Seeking the will of God leads to Christ.

    To attempt to follow any other way is idolatry. 

    As Hebrews 11:6 tells us, it is impossible to please God without faith. 

    Continuing in our passage. 

    Verse 18, Jesus says: 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.

    Jesus points again to the authority and glory of God. And Jesus himself is glorious. He is perfect. He is divine. 

    Think of the things the world applauds and celebrates? We create awards for ourselves. People who have enough prestige or wealth built monuments to themselves. Pay for schools or buildings to be named after themselves. 

    The world loves to bring itself glory. 

    Yet Jesus walked the earth to point to the glory of God. 

    As Paul wrote to the Philippians: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8) 

    I think that’s a powerful example for all of us. 

    To live humbly. 

    To live to bring glory to God. To seek to bring God glory in every domain of our lives. As spouses and parents and grandparents. As friends, siblings, and fellow church members. In our jobs. Among our neighbors. Everything we do should be to the glory of God and point to God. The great composer Johan Sebastian Bach used to sign the initials S.D.G. to his church compositions. It stood for the Latin phrase Soli Deo Gloria which means “Glory to God alone.” 

    And that should be the heart we have for everything we do in our lives. 

    For the glory of God. 

    In the Westminster Catechism, it asks: what is the chief end of man? 

    And the response is: man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. 

    1 Corinthians 10:31 sums it up well: whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

    Jesus lived a perfect life. He did not tell people he was glorious, he displayed glory through his signs. He didn’t tell people perfect, he showed people his perfection through his perfect life. And so we have Jesus who is glorious, who is righteous, who is perfect, the one in whom the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell, yet he came ito the world and was submissive to God and followed the will of God. We’re just people. Finite and frail people. We were created to bring God glory, not to glorify ourselves or to glorify men. Because we’re not glorious. 

    So we’ve seen how the world understands Jesus and the God Jesus points to. 

    We come to a third scene which is the law Jesus fulfills. 

    Third scene – the law he fulfills 

    Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”

    Verse 19, Jesus says that these people have the law of the Old Testament and that none of them keeps it. 

    I think there are layers of meaning to that statement. None of you keeps the Law. First, it’s true that no one keeps it in that no one keeps it perfectly and that everyone is sinful. Except Jesus. Secondly, we see their failure to oversee the Law in the fact that they’re seeking to kill Jesus. 

    For the experts in the Law, the religious leaders, the beginning of the passage has already informed us that they sought to kill Jesus.

    Despite the fact that Jesus is righteous. He never sinned. He broke no laws. He certainly never committed a capital offense. They would plot against Jesus. They would bring false accusations and trumped up charges against him. 

    That was a violation of the law. It’s also true on a third level in that the law and the prophets point to Jesus. So Jesus asks “Has not Moses given you the Law?”

    Having the law was a great source of pride for the Israelites, but if their ruling authorities truly understood that law, they would know to whom it pointed. 

    Jesus has already told this to a group of Jewish leaders in chapter 5. In chapter 5, Jesus has given a lengthy address in the aftermath of healing a paralyzed man on the Sabbath. 

    Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” 

    To truly know God is to know Jesus. Pause for a second. I’ve thrown a lot at you. In chapter 5, Jesus was also at the temple in Jerusalem speaking to a group. 

    It seems reasonable that not everyone listening to him in chapter 7 was in that original group. 

    So some people are totally confused by what Jesus has said. They think he’s crazy. 

    Verse 20: The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”

    And as we’ve seen many times in this gospel, Jesus responds to a question by not answering it. 

    Jesus has talked about the plot to kill him. 

    But where does that come from?

    Yes, we saw it a couple weeks ago at the very beginning of chapter 7. 

    Just as a reminder, John 7:1 says: “After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.”

    But the origin of the Jewish leaders seeking to kill Jesus originally starts in chapter 5. It’s in the wake of Jesus heals theparalyzed man on the Sabbath. This is looked at as being a violation of the Sabbath. Jesus responds that his father is working on the Sabbath and so is he. 

    And it is that incident to which Jesus refers when he responds to the crowd in verse 21. Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it.

    The one work was the healing on the Sabbath. That becomes evident as he continues speaking. 

    Stay with me, we’re almost done. 

    Verses 22-23: 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 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?

    Let’s try to tie all of this together. 

    Jesus goes directly to the heart of the Sabbath. And this ties into what he’s just been saying to the pharisees regarding the Law of Moses and the fact that they don’t keep it. 

    They don’t truly understand the law. They don’t truly understand the Old Testament. 

    Their failure to recognize Jesus shows that. 

    Their desire to kill Jesus shows that. 

    And so Jesus makes a comparison between circumcision and the Sabbath. 

    Both of these are integral elements of Judaism. 

    Both of which were Judaic practices which actually pre-dated the time of Moses. We see the Sabbath in creation and it’s observance is commanded prior to the Ten Commandments. And we see circumcision given to Abraham. 

    But then you also have them both in the Law of Moses. 

    Circumcision and the Sabbath. 

    Now Abraham was commanded that all of his offspring must be circumcised on the eighth day after they’re born. 

    But what about when the eighth day is the Sabbath? 

    The male was still circumcised. 

    And as Jesus says in verse 23, that was not a violation of the law. 

    And so Jesus asks the religious leaders: are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?

    You can circumcise a baby on the Sabbath but you can’t heal a man on the Sabbath? 

    Leon Morris adds a helpful note in his commentary. Jesus is not undermining the Sabbath. He’s not criticizing the Sabbath. He’s not liberalizing the Sabbath. 

    He’s pointing them to the heart of the Sabbath. 

    The Jewish leaders could see the rationale to circumcise a baby. Even on the Sabbath. But they couldn’t see the justification of healing someone? 

    The law is not arbitrary. The law is not just a list of commands for the sake of commands.

    The law points to God, points to holiness, points to life. 

    Now circumcision does not have the religious significance for us that it did and does for observant Jews. But for them, it was profoundly meaningful. It was a God-given symbol of the covenant. And Jesus talks of healing the entire person. 

    That act of love and grace had more to do with the heart of the Law and the heart of the Old Testament, than the unnecessary rigidity of the ruling authorities. 

    At the end of our passage, Jesus says in verse 24:  Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” 

    They needed to hear that because they weren’t doing that. 

    And it is because they were not judging with proper judgment that they got both Jesus wrong and the law wrong. 

    They got God wrong. And so they didn’t understand his law or what it pointed to. They had a worldly perspective not a heavenly perspective. 

    They had  rigid view of the law, not a loving and gracious view of the law. 

    They had manmade opinions about the Messiah, and so they missed the Messiah when he was right in front of them. 

    They weren’t judging based on truth. 

    They didn’t truly know God and so they couldn’t understand the one whom God sent. 

    They didn’t truly know the heart of the law and so they could not appreciate the heart of God. 

    Jesus pointed to a greater revelation from God. A greater fulfillment of the law and the true understanding of the law. 

    And what this passage ultimately teaches is that we cannot get Jesus wrong and God right. 

    Because God’s word points to Jesus. His will was to send Jesus. His righteousness is lived out through Jesus. His wrath is absorbed by Jesus. His creation is redeemed through Jesus. 

  • Sermon: the cost of forgiveness – Leviticus 16:1-22

    The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

     4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 

    6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 

    9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. 

    11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.

     12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 

    15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 

    18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel. 

    20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. 

        Prayer

    Our heavenly Father, 

    We again come to you in a Spirit of thanksgiving as we praise your holy name. 

    May we marvel at your majesty over your creation. We praise you for the gift of everlasting life which is available to all through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

    Forgive us our sins Lord, as we are fallen people in a fallen world. We struggle with our areas of selfishness, our failings, our instances of pride, the times when we choose sin over you. 

    Lord, may we come to you on our own in confession of our sins. 

    Lord, may you strengthen us to repent and to more and more live for you. May we be daily sanctified through your word and by the power of your Spirit. May we be transformed from one degree of glory to another. 

    I pray for each of us that we trust in Jesus, that we know him personally, that we know the salvation that he promises, that we believe in the life that he invites us into, that we have placed our hope for eternity onto his work, and that we might look to him as the greater priest who offered the final sacrifice, as the greater Son who makes us worthy to be your children, and as the greater sacrifice who gave his life for us so we could be forgiven. 

    May we all trust in that Lord. For any of us who are hanging onto any vestiges of self-justification or trusting in our own goodness as what will make us right with you, may we turn away from that and trust in Jesus. It is entirely by his work of a perfect life and his abounding grace that sinful people are forgiven. 

    We praise you as the everlasting and eternal God.  

    Context 

    Preaching out of the book of Leviticus 16 this morning. 

    By popular demand. 

    Yom Kippur is this weekend. That’s Hebrew for Day of Atonement. 

    In the Old Testament, that is the most sacred and holy day in their calendar. 

    I mentioned this last week, but there are three Jewish holy days in the fall. 

    Rosh Hashanah which is the New Year. That was last weekend. 

    Yom Kippur – the day of atonement – is from sunset tonight until sunset tomorrow. 

    And the Feast of Booths begins next weekend. When we get back into John 7 – Lord willing – next Sunday, that passage is in the middle of the Feast of Booths. 

    But today, our focus is on Yom Kippur and our passage outlines the procedures for the annual observance of Yom Kippur. 

    As the name suggests, the day of atonement was a day which revolves around atonement and holiness. 

    For the ritual aspect, the high priest would take two goats. One, he would sacrifice for the sins of Israel. The second, would be released into the wilderness. 

    But there’s much more that this passage has to say. 

    As Christians, we don’t have a mandate to observe this holiday. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth studying in the scripture. 

    Because everything in this passage points us to Christ and the gospel.

    As another note. The word atonement. Atonement refers to God’s work of dealing with our sin. 

    Because of sin, the relationship between man and God has been broken. 

    But with the Day of Atonement, it was an annual picture of forgiveness that people could have. 

    Secondary introduction 

    Before we fully delve into this passage, I have a couple brief things to note. 

    Leviticus is the third book of the Bible. 

    In Leviticus, we see the many of the laws of God given to Israel which regulated Israelite conduct for sacrifices, for worship, for ritual cleanliness, for the priestly system, for the observance of the holy days. Among other things. 

    And with that, we come to Leviticus 16.  

    Bridge 

    The main idea of this passage is that the forgiveness of our sins have a cost we cannot pay. 

    We unfortunately don’t have the time to cover everything in this chapter this evening. So we’re going to focus on three things. A priest and 2 goats. 

    I. The priests

    The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 

    To give some background. This first verse is referring to an event in Leviticus 10.

    In Leviticus, Aaron – the brother of Moses – is the High Priest. 

    In chapter 10, after the commands had been given for the priests about various the offerings and practices, Aaron’s two sons go and they defiantly do unauthorized sanctuary rituals.

    And God strikes them dead. (Leviticus 10:1-2) That might sound like a fairytale or a made up story. 

    That a couple of Old Testament priests got it wrong and God struck them dead. 

    I think our initial reaction of that might be that that’s too heavy handed. That that punishment doesn’t fit the crime, that that’s too severe. 

    But what that does is shows us the reverence we are meant to take for the holiness of God. 

    # It’s a point that I’ve made before, but we do not approach God in any ole way we want to. We don’t approach God on our terms. 

    I think our society pays little attention to the holiness of God. 

    # Some people just want to emphasize the love of God. And God is love. And he is infinite in His love, he is perfect in His love. And He loves you more than you could ever comprehend or appreciate. 

    But he is also awesomely holy. And approaching Him demands reverence. 

    And so a transgression that profanes the holiness of a righteous God is something that does warrant death. It’s God’s grace that he does not strike people dead whenever they sin. He would be within his righteous justice to do so. 

    But the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6). 

    But there is wrath towards sin. 

    And Aaron’s son’s bore that wrath for their action.  

    When we judge God’s judgment of sin, that shows a low view of God’s holiness. We can never be too holy in our lives, and Jesus shows we can never be holy enough. There is total holiness needed to approach God.  

    Do you look at God as being Holy? Morally righteous, set apart? Mighty and majestic? Worthy of praise and glory? A God who is so great that you could never truly be worthy to enter his presence on your own? 

    Because that’s who God is. 

    # There’s nothing casual about God. There’s nothing informal about approaching God. That no one has the right to profanely approach God. The two sons of Aaron, God knew saw their actions, he knew their hearts. 

    And so it’s in that context that the Lord has spoken to Moses who then tells the message to his brother Aaron, who’s the priest. 

    2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die.

     So we see here a stern warning given. 

    Where the text says “not to come at anytime,” it obviously doesn’t mean that the high priest couldn’t go ever. It meant he couldn’t come anytime he wanted. 

    The text mentions something called “the Holy Place.” 

    What’s that? 

    History 

    It’s referring to the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle. 

    As we’ve talked about numerous times, during the Israelite’s desert wanderings, they did not have the temple to worship in. They were on the move. And so God had instructed the tabernacle, which allowed them to bring the place of worship with them during their wanderings. 

    The tabernacle was a tent and it was portable. 

    Now the tabernacle was a holy place. And as we’ve said, the holiness of God demands reverence. Inside the tabernacle was an inner sanctuary which was called the Most Holy Place. Or the Holy or Holies. Or the Sanctum Sanctorum, in Latin. 

    And not just anyone could enter the Most Holy Place. It was reserved for the high priest, and even he could only go in once a year. On the Day of Atonement. 

    And the high priest was able to be in the presence of the Lord, that one day, as a representative on behalf of all of the Israelites. 

    Verse 3 starts to get at the procedures by which the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place. 

     3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

    The text says that before entering, he had to offer a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering to atone for his sins and those of his family. Because the priest was sinful too.

    Verse 4 continues: He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 

    As part of the priest’s preparation for entering the Most Holy Place, the presence of God, was that he had to put on special linen garments. Everything about entering into God’s presence was meant to be holy, set apart, different from everyday life. 

    He had to wash before entering the Most Holy Place.

    And on the Day of Atonement, one of the last things the high priest would do before going into the holy of holies was that he would take two goats. 

    Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 

    And the two goats are absolutely essential to the Day of Atonement. 

    Verse 8 says that the High Priest would cast lots over the two goats. 

    Casting lots is similar to rolling dice. In this situation, for one of the goats, you would cast lots, and if they came out a certain way, that goat would be sacrificed, if they came out a different way, the other goat would be slaughtered. 

    The ESV says “one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.” 

    Many translations will say something like “scapegoat” there. 

    We don’t know EXACTLY what Azazel means. It’s a Hebrew word. It could mean goat who’s released, or “scapegoat.” It could mean that. It could also be referring to the wilderness that the surviving goat was released into. 

    We don’t know 100% either way. 

    But regardless, the point is the same that the priest would take two goats, but only one was sacrificed. 

    For the other goat, as verse 10 tells us, he was “presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.” 

    The next couple verses continue the process by which the High Priest would prepare to enter the Most Holy Place. The sacrifices he would make, just so he could enter the presence of God. 

    Final preparations before he could enter the Most Holy Place. 

    He would take some of the blood of the bull he had sacrificed for his own sins and verse 14 tells us he would sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 

    The passage says that he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. 

    Inside the Most Holy Place, there was the Ark of the Covenant. This contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments, manna, and Aaron’s shepherd’s staff. Respectively, these were a symbol of God’s covenant with his people, his provision for his people, and the choosing of his people.  

    On top of the ark, there was a golden lid, and there was detailed artistry in forging angels in the gold, and this was the covering of the Ark of the Covenant. So you have a holy place with angels who are giving praise to God. It is a symbol for heaven. For the heavenly throne room of God. 

    This completed all of the preparations for the high priest to enter the Most Holy Place. 

    And so the High Priest enters the Most Holy Place.

    Like we said in the beginning, everything in this passage points us to Christ. 

     You have the high priest who had to cleanse himself before entering the temple. 

    But in the gospels, we see that Jesus is the true High Priest. And Jesus doesn’t need to purify himself, or atone for his own sin to enter the presence of the Lord because he is the perfect High Priest. 

    Hebrew 7:26: it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

    Keep in mind the purification rituals needed for the priest. The Holiness that was required to enter the presence of the Lord. And look at the language that’s used here to describe Jesus. Holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 

    While the Day of Atonement was just one day out of the year, there were animal sacrifices. But because Jesus is holy and righteous, he doesn’t need to purify himself to enter the presence of God. He’s God on earth. 

    Hebrews 7:27 offers another comment on the priestly system. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

    The perfect High Priest and it is only because of Christ’s perfection that we are enabled to enter into the presence of God. He is the one who is our representative before God. 

    The forgiveness of our sins has a cost we cannot pay.

    So that’s the priest. 

    Next, we look at the two goats. 

    The first goat. The one who is sacrificed. 

    II. The atonement by the goat 

    So the sacrifice the priest has thus far made is for himself. 

    Verse 15. “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.

    So the blood is sprinkled in the Most Holy Place and this is what the sacrifice is meant to do to atone for sins, to cover up our sins. The sacrifice of the goat was meant to symbolically bear the sins of the people. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. 

    All of their transgressions and sins. All of their intentional defiance to God.

    As verse 16 continues, he would finish cleansing the tent itself. 

    And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

    In verse 18-19, he would also make atonement at the alter of the Lord by sprinkling blood on the alter. 

    Again, because of the sacrifice of this goat, it was a powerfully symbolic way for atonement, for a restored relationship with the Lord. For sins being covered by the blood of the goat. 

    Today, we have the gospel. We have Jesus. But before Christ, this would have been an incredibly powerful symbol for the sins of the people being atoned for. 

    We see that the sacrifices then point us to the greater sacrifice today. That Jesus is the priest but he is also the sacrifice. Because while a goat could not atone for our sins. While a goat’s blood could not cover up our sins, Christ’s could. He was the worthy sacrifice.

    I know to the word, the idea of an animal sacrifice to atone for our sins seems arctic, seems backwards. 

    But it was merely a shadow. 

     Because our forgiveness could never have been truly paid for by the life of some animal. 

    # It’s a point that’s worth repeating but it’s not that the sacrifice of that goat actually was the reason why God forgave the people. It was a heart that came to God in faith and recognized the cost of sin that mattered. Just like today. 

    Hebrews 10:4 says: it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  

    They were never intended to take away sins. It is only the blood of Christ which can do that. 

    And atones for our sins. He covers up our sins. His blood washes away our sins. 

    The first goat on the Day of Atonement was sacrificed for sins. 

    But the second goat was not slaughtered. 

    And the attention turns to that goat in verse 20.

    III. The scapegoat

     “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

    21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

    The first goat is a symbol of the need for a sacrifice to atone for our sins. 

    But our sin is associated with the second goat too. Both hands placed on this goat. It was symbolically transferring sin to that goat. The first goat died and his blood was a symbol of our sins being covered. The second goat is the result of our atonement. It was a symbol for sin being taken away. 

    Set free in the wilderness. 

    Like in Psalm 103:12 where it says 

    12 as far as the east is from the west,

    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

    Sin is totally removed when you trust in God. 

    Again, this was the most holy day in the Jewish calendar. 

    What a reminder as that goat is set free. 

    That we are set free from sin because of God’s grace. 

    Again, we don’t need to sacrifice anymore because Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. 

    What a picture that is. If you’re someone who ever struggles to believe that God could forgive you. If you’ve done something really bad in your past, or if you have an area that you’re struggling with today and you feel like God wouldn’t love you, couldn’t forgive you. If there’s ever any lingering worry about that, our sins are taken away because of Christ. 

    They are totally removed, like the second goat, sent away, never to be heard from again. 

    We don’t deserve it but that’s how God atones for our sins. He forgives us of our sins. He removes our sins and our relationship with him can be restored. 

    Because of the work of Christ, because of the grace that God offers to all who accept him, you don’t have to feel that way. Your sins are forgiven. But not only are they forgiven, they’re totally removed, they’re taken away. 

    Not because we’re so good but because Christ is that good. 

    Both in the Old Testament and today, what mattered is faith. Trusting in the Lord. Recognizing that we don’t live up on our own. That we aren’t holy. We aren’t worthy. 

    But when we trust in Christ, he makes us worthy, he makes us holy. 

    But maybe that’s not a struggle for you. You know you’re forgiven. 

    But how are you doing at being a forgiver? 

    Because what a challenge that can be? 

    In this passage, we also see the cost of forgiveness. And the forgiveness of our sins has a cost we cannot pay.

    Forgiveness always comes at a cost. For a sinful humanity, the cost was so great that the only way that cost could be paid was for Jesus to die so our sins could be atoned for. The death we deserved. His blood shed so that our hearts could be cleansed. 

    I love this quote from Tim Keller, 

    “…God’s grace and forgiveness, while free to the recipient, are always costly for the giver…. From the earliest parts of the Bible, it was understood that God could not forgive without sacrifice. No one who is seriously wronged can “just forgive” the perpetrator…. But when you forgive, that means you absorb the loss and the debt. You bear it yourself. All forgiveness, then, is costly.”

    When you forgive someone, you pay the price. And the greater the sin, the greater the cost. If someone does something minor, might not even give it a second thought. But when someone has sinned against you or has wronged you in a major way, it’s hard to just forgive the person.

    However you’ve been wronged, whatever rights you may have at retribution or getting back at them. No matter how justified that may seem, that you forfeit any right to be angry or bitter at a person. You forgive any debt of guilt they should have. That’s hard to do. Because in forgiving a person, you’re actually bearing some of the cost yourself.

    Incredibly difficult, when it’s something major. 

    And yet there’s Jesus, paying the price for our since by sacrificing His own life. 

    # That’s how much our sin costs.  

    And that’s what we see in the gospel. That our sin was so great that Jesus was the only one who could pay it. Our sin was so great, that God on earth, dying for our sin, was the only sum that could afford it.

    The forgiveness of our sins has a cost we cannot pay.

    It’s fascinating as I think of all of the ceremonialism in the Old Testament Law. Everything was done for reasons. All of the exact and meticulous detail under which the tabernacle was built. All of the specific instructions given to the priests, the very specific laws regarding sacrifice, the specific ways in which to approach God. The cleansing that needed to be done, the atonement for sin.

    It’s teaching us the holiness of God. A holiness we don’t have, that we can’t live up to. But we are welcomed into the presence of the Lord because of Christ.

    For God to forgive us, the Lord paid the price. And he does that for anyone who comes to him by faith. Let this passage be a reminder that there is a cost for sin. And the great savior who was the great high priest who allows us to enter heaven, who’s the ultimate and perfect and final sacrifice. And who gave his life so we could be forgiven.