Josh Benner

Category: sermons

  • Sermon: Feast of burden – John 7:1-13

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    Text

    After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 

    6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee. 

    10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. 

    Prayer

    Our heavenly Father, 

    We continue to see the extreme division in our nation. 

    It says in Your Word: 

     God reigns over the nations; 

    God sits on his holy throne. 

    9 The princes of the peoples gather 

    as the people of the God of Abraham. 

    For the shields of the earth belong to God; 

    he is highly exalted! 

    May we continually be mindful of that. Lord, you are on the throne, you are our hope. 

    Lord God, let us not be swayed by the whims of the world, but let us be grounded in the truth of who you are. 

    Lord, we ask that you bless our time in your Word. May we come to you and praise you. 

    In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Introduction 

    We come to John chapter 7. 

    Several weeks ago when we started chapter 6, I had mentioned that chapters 6, 7, and 8 are a section of John where we see a lot of themes which take us back to the Exodus event and the Israelite wanderings. 

    We certainly saw that in the feeding of the multitudes as that harkened back to God’s provision of manna for the Israelites during their wanderings. 

    That will continue in this chapter, especially as we consider the feasts which were instituted during the Exodus event. 

    We also saw it in the time of year as the beginning of chapter 6 told us it was Passover. Passover, the Jewish holy day which celebrated God’s redeptive work of freeing the Israelties from slavery in Egypt. It would also be at a Passover when Jesus is crucified. In tht 6, John 6 was the beginning – give or take a few days – of the last year of Jesus’ life. 

    Chapter 5 had also been at a feast, although John doesn’t specify which feast it was. 

    Chapter 7 will begin at yet another feast, the Feast of Booths. 

    And that’s definitely something that John likes to do in this gospel is tie events in Jesus’ life and ministry to their correspondence to the Jewish holy days. 

    And in that, we see that Jesus is the greater fulfillment of the Jewish feasts and what they ultimately point to. 

    So it’s the time of year of the Jewish Feast of Booths, and Jesus’ attendance at the feast will come into question and we’ll look at this morning’s passage in three scenes. 

    1. A conflict

    Verse 1: After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

    John begins this passage “after this” and he’s referring to Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse. We had concluded that chapter in looking at the way people responded to Jesus. Some walked away and others followed him. 

    John says “after this Jesus went about in Galilee.” 

    It’s actually been about six months since the last event which John recorded. We know that because the last chapter was at the time of Passover, in the spring; as verse 2 will tell us, this is the Feast of Booths, which is in the fall. The math is pretty simple. 

    Jesus was in Galilee and John adds that he would not go about in the region of Judea because the Jewish leaders were seeking to kill him. 

    That’s not the first time we’ve seen opposition in John’s Gospel, but it really begins to pick up starting in this seventh chapter. 

    By no means a light hearted disagreement, but bloody opposition as there were people who wanted to see Jesus dead. 

    Verse 2: Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 

    We’ve already noted that. The timing of the Feast of Booths, when Jesus should go, and when he did go are all important elements in this passage. 

    Verse 3: So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.  4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”

    We see Jesus’ brothers who were originally introduced in John’s Gospel at the Wedding Feast at Cana in chapter 2. 

    They suggest Jesus go to Judea and they point out that “no one works in secret but seeks to be known openly.” Their point seems to be that “if you want people to believe in you, you’ve got to be seen! You’ve gotta market yourself.” Cinderella had better go to the ball. 

    It’s interesting. 

    Jesus’ brothers give him advice. 

    I think of the areas where we like to have opinions when we’re not truly teh experts on the topic. Play calls in football, military strategies, foreign policy decisions. We have opinions on what doctors should or shouldn’t do.

    I’m not judging that. I have opinions on things too. 

    But we aren’t experts in every domain of life. A lot of our information comes from people who actually are experts. 

    But here we have Jesus’ brothers telling him that he should go to Judea so that his works can be seen. 

    They’re telling God what he should do! 

    The all-knowing, all wise, righteous Lord needs advice from his younger brothers. 

    It’s not all that different from how the world often treats God, his word. We make our own moral judgements about God’s wisdom when we sin. 

    I think of God’s providence but we so often rebel and grumble against that. I understand the value of lament of the hurt that our sin and the sin in the world causes. 

    But it can also be tempting to look at situations and to forget that God is all-knowing, all-good and that he is working ll things together for good (Romans 8:28). And in that, we can judge God’s providence and perfect will.

    We can do the same thing for things that God allows to happen in nature or in the world where we judge God for allowing it to happen. 

    The world likes to judge God for being a righteous judge. The world likes to judge God for punishing sin. The world likes to try to dictate to God what love is, what justice is, what goodness is. 

    For commands in scripture with which we disagree, we like to find reasons why they don’t apply. 

    On and on. 

    Isaiah 45:9 says: Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? 

    The point of that verse is that fallen humanity is the clay who complains against the potter who made us. 

    In our pride and sinfulness, humanity – in our heart of hearts – likes to think we know better than God. 

    There’s irony that Jesus’ brothers suggest to him what he should do. 

    Now, there’s debate among scholars as to why they gave him this advice. 

    Are they just being supportive brothers giving advice? 

    That’s possible. 

    Although it should be noted that verse 5 says his brothers didn’t believe in him.

    That is to say that they did not believe in his Lordship.  

    Jesus’ brothers have a lifetime of seeing his righteousness, they’ve seen his signs. But they don’t believe in who he is. 

    Richard Phillips says in his commentary “if anything can prove the depravity of the human heart, it is this.” 

    Sometimes people say that they don’t believe in God because they don’t feel like they have enough evidence. 

    In the Bible, you see people interacting with Jesus, seeing his ministry and miracles. Who don’t believe. 

    In the Old Testament, Abraham had personally been given the promise of God for land and offspring. But we still see him struggle with doubts at time. We see him respond with laughter at the idea that him and Sarah could have a child in their old age. 

    You see the Israelites miraculously freed from slavery. The parting of the Red Sea. But then they quickly turn to idolatry. They had decades of God providing for them and sustaining them in their wanderings, and yet they fell into grumbling. 

    It’s easy to think that if we had a little more of the picture, a little more of a sense of God, then everything in our life of faith would suddenly be so easy. 

    That would not change that we’re still sinful people. 

    Jesus’ brothers had been in his presence for their entire lifetime and, at this point, they did not believe. 

    Think about the great Spiritual privilege that was! 

    I know we can feel a real sense of burden, a real sense of responsibility for people in our own families who are not believers. 

    We should care about that. We should pray for our families, pray for opportunities to share the gospel, to talk about faith. But we must remember that no matter who you are, how good you are, how faithful you are, it’s beyond your control. 

    Jesus had a real life family who interacted with him and lived with him and yet they still struggled. And while we’re on the subject of Jesus’ brothers, there’s another brief point that warrants mention. 

    Jesus had siblings. 

    The historical teaching of the Catholic Church is that Mary remained a virgin her entire life. That’s not supported in the Bible, and is actually contradicted in the Bible. These are siblings. Some have argued that maybe they’re other relatives, such as cousins. 

    Greek has a word for cousin. That’s not what they use here. 

    Jesus had siblings. He had a family.

    His siblings are referenced other places in the New Testament. 

    Matthew 13, his brothers are named. 

    Matthew 13:55-56: Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us?

    Jesus had a family. 

    And guess what? 

     
    One of the things that we see in the gospels is that Jesus had a sometimes complicated relationship with his family. 

    So if you think your family is dysfunctional…just remember that there were people who were related to Jesus and they did not really understand him or always get along with him. 

    That’s not to say that Jesus ever sinned. He didn’t. 

    But we do see examples in the other gospels of familial strain. 

    Mark 3:20-21, Jesus is growing in popularity and crowds are following him. But we see a response of his family early in his ministry. 

    20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” 

    As our passage explicitly tells us, Jesus’ brothers did not believe. 

    At least some of his brothers eventually came to faith. Two books in the New Testament are written by brothers of Jesus: James and Jude. 

    But at this point in his ministry, when we’re in the last six or so months of Jesus’ life, they do not believe. 

    So we’ve seen the unsolicited advice of Jesus’ brothers. 

    There’s another comment that warrants mention by way of application. I think of how important it is to have a strong family. I think about when I was nearing the end of seminary. I was single and considering different ministry opportunities. 

    I knew I eventually wanted to be the teaching pastor of a church, but part of the reason why I didn’t immediately go that route was because I thought it would be so much harder to do as a single person.

    It’s important to have the support of a family. 

    Jesus endured a lot during his ministry. In this passage, there are people plotting against him. There were people who wanted to use Jesus to suit their own ends. There were people in Jesus’ inner circle who betrayed him. There were people who plotted against him. 

    And through all of that, aside from Mary, we don’t see any support for Jesus from his own family. 

    There are so many ways how Jesus relates to us in his humanity. Family dysfunction is one of many. 

    Continuing in our passage. 

    Jesus responds to them. 

    II. We come to our second scene – divine will 

    Verses 6-8: Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

    Jesus says “my time has not yet come.” 

    I think the point is that his point of going to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths has not yet come. 

    He is not on man’s schedule or timeline. 

    Jesus’ brothers suggest that Jesus capitalize on the autumn holidays and go to present himself in Jerusalem. 

    They tell him what they would have done, but they didn’t see the world the way Jesus did. 

    There are several reasons why it’s not the right time. 

    As the beginning of the chapter informed us, there were Jewish leaders who were seeking to kill Jesus. 

    But more importantly, Jesus is always sensitive to the divine will. 

    John 5:30, Jesus said:  

    I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

    We see in the gospels that Jesus is led by God. 

    Matthew 4:1

    Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil

    Richard Phillips’ commentary points out that God had ordained a specific time for the birth of Christ. 

    Galatians 4:4: 

    when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law

    God had ordained a specific time for the death of Christ.

    John 17:1: 

    When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

    And he had ordained the timing for the events in Jesus’ life and ministry. 

    Again, Jesus’ brothers wanted him to show himself, his signs, make a big display at this feast. That was not the divine will and that is why Jesus was saying the time had not come for him to go to the feast. 

    Because he was on God’s timeline, not man’s timeline. 

    Jesus tells his brothers in verse 6: 

     your time is always here.

    Their time is always here because their focus and mission is still the things of the world, not the things of God. And so it doesn’t matter when they go to Jerusalem. 

    But Jesus’ time has not yet come because he is serving heavenly purposes.

    Verse 7, Jesus specifically connects his brothers to the sinful world. 

    The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 

    The world doesn’t hate Jesus’ brothers because they’re following the way of the world. 

    But Jesus came to bring light into a dark world and the world hates that. 

    John 3:19: this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

    Jesus continues speaking. 

    Verse 8: You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

    I find verse 8 to be the most interesting verse in this passage. 

    Jesus tells his brothers to go to the feast. That’s straightforward enough. 

    But Jesus says that he will not be going up to “this feast.”

    It’s interesting that it’s translated “I am not going up to this feast” instead of “I am not going up to the feast.” 

    The ESV, NASB, NIV, King James all say “this” and not “the.” 

    If Jesus says “I am not going to the feast,” it would seem that he’s saying that he’s not going to the Feast of Booths that’s being celebrated.

    But when he says “I’m not going to this feast,” that seems to imply that he is going up to another feast. 

    The wording “going up” is also interesting. 

    Now from where Jesus was in Galilee, to go to Jerusalem, there actually is a change in elevation where you literally would be going up to Jerusalem. But as we see so many times in this gospel, I think Jesus’ words have a double meaning. 

    Jesus uses the phrase about “going up,” “lifted up,” “ascending” in other places of this gospel. I think it refers to Jesus being lifted up on the cross and that when Jesus says that it’s not the time for him to go up to this feast, he’s looking forward to the future feast that he would go up to: the Passover the following spring when he would go to the cross. 

    And that brings us to our third scene in the passage. 

    III. The feast 

    Verse 9: After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.

    Jesus goes to the feast. 

    Just two verses before, I thought Jesus had said he wasn’t going. 

    He wasn’t going on the timeline of his brothers. 

    He was on the divine timeline. 

    Jesus does not go to make a grand entrance at this feast, but he has quietly gone to attend. He’s one among the many Israelites who have gone to Jerusalem to observe the holiday. 

    Jesus goes in private, but there were people on the lookout for him as the opposition to Jesus was increasing. 

    11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. 

    There’s a buzz about Jesus. There are people at the feast who wanted to see him. 

    We see the differing opinions that some were favorable to Jesus while others feared he was leading people astray. 

    But just as Jesus had gone to the feast in private, we see that the response to Jesus is also largely in private, most likely for fear of the ruling authorities possibly retaliating against people who were sympathetic to Jesus’ message and teachings. 

    So the passage ends with Jesus at the Feast of Booths. He’s in private, but as the passage unfolds in the following weeks, we’ll see Jesus more and more come to the forefront at this feast. 

    Feast of Booths 

    We talked a little bit about the Feast of Booths in the very beginning. 

    Providentially, it’s pretty good timing in the year to come to this event in chapter 7 when the Israelites are celebrating the Feast of Booths. There are three Jewish holy days in the fall. 

    Rosh hashanah which is the New Year in Judaism. That actually falls this weekend. 

    A second holy day is Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement which is a one of the most sacred days in Jewish life which is represents atoning sacrifice and forgiveness. 

    That’s next weekend. 

    And the third major Jewish Holy Day is the Feast of Booths, which is happening in our passage this morning. The Feast of Booths is how it gets translated in John. 

    I don’t love that translation for “booths.” 

    I hear “booth,” I think of a restaurant boof. 

    More literally, it’s the Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes called the Feast of Tents. It’s also called the Feast of Ingathering. Those are all referring to the same thing. In Hebrew, the feast is called Sukkot. 

    Sukkot is an 8 day celebration. It is a joyous celebration that corresponds to the fall harvest and a time of thankfulness and it also calls attention back to the Israelite wanderings in the desert for 40 years. 

    The significance of sleeping in tents was that it was reminiscent of the Israelites sleeping in man made structures during their time of desert wanderings. The feast has a lot of resonance to the desert wanderings of Israel.

    Sleeping in tents was also paying homage to Jewish farmers who sometimes had to sleep in these types of structures during their time of harvest. 

    And for eight days, Jewish people slept in these tents that they made. 

    Sukkot includes water and light ceremonies which will both become relevant in this chapter and we Jesus will explain how these elements ultimately point to him. 

    This year, Sukkot will fall from October 2-9. So again, we’re at the same time of year as that holy day.  

    A day like yom kippur, the day of atonement, is meaningful, but it’s not like a joyous celebration. It’s a pretty somber event. It calls our sin to mind. It’s like Good Friday.

    But it was a meaningful, festive holiday. It also had agricultural ties as did many of the Jewish feasts. 

    Richard Phillips’ commentary is again helpful in considering the feasts. 

    I mentioned some of the fall holy days. 

    But in the Israelite calendar, you also had three pilgrimage feasts where Jewish people in the first century would have traveled into Jerusalem from all over Israel. 

    The first was Passover. 

    Passover was in the spring.

    Obviously it was Passover when Jesus was to give his life as a sacrifice. 

    Passover is remembering God’s deliverance of Israel. It’s symbolized by the sacrifice of lambs. Jesus is the perfect and spotless Passover lamb who was sacrificed to deliver and redeem people from their slavery to sin. 

    Passover points to salvation. 

    About seven weeks after Passover, you have the Feast of Weeks, also called Pentecost. That’s the second of the pilgrimage festivals.

    Passover coincided with the time of year when the Israelites left Egypt. Pentecost – 7 weeks later – coincided with the time of year when God gave the Law to Israel at Mount Sinai. 

    And certainly both of those days have resonance in Christianity. 

    Passover is the time of year when we celebrate Good Friday and Easter. 

    Pentecost Sunday commemorates God pouring out his Spirit on the early church. 

    And so we have this progression in the year between Passover to Pentecost to the Feast of Booths. 

    But there is also a progression that you have Easter, before the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. And for the Isrealites, the Feast of Booths was a fall harvest celebration that also looked forward to a time of future hope in God’s promises. 

    Feast of Booths was a time that looked forward. For the Israelites, they looked forward to the coming year. They looked forward to next year’s planting. 

    Zechariah 14 pointed forward to a future time when he talked of people from the nations coming to Jerusalem together to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 

    Zechariah 14:16: everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. 

    And so when Jesus’ brothers want him to make a grand entrance at the Feast of Booths, the timing was not right. Feast of Booths was a celebration, but before that celebration would be appropriate, the Lord Jesus needed to endure the cross. 

    As Phillips says “they were advising him to put on a crown without first taking up his cross.” 

    That is why Jesus could not go to the festival on his brothers’ terms. 

    It was not the right time. 

    It’s interesting. 

    He goes up to the Feast of Booths. Again, I prefer Feast of Tabernacles. 

    As I’ve mentioned many times in our study of John, Jesus is the true tabernacle. 

    He’s the place where we meet God in the world. 

    So one last time, consider the situation. 

    It’s the Feast of Tabernacles and the true tabernacle is there. But he goes quietly, and largely unnoticed because sinful humanity wants to see him killed. 

    And just as the Feast of Tabernacles was a time when the Jewish people looked forward to a future hope, the true tabernacle, Jesus: the presence of God in the world went up to Jerusalem a final time for Passover where he would go up on the cross and give up his life so that the same sinful world who killed him could have redemption through his death and resurrection. 

  • Sermon: In our out? John 6:60-71

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    In or out? 

    John 6:60-71

    Passage

    60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 

    66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. 

    Prayer 

    Our Heavenly Father, 

    We are but frail and finite and fallen people, but we come to you as the infinite, glorious, and righteous Lord.

    You are our hope, our strength, our shield. We rejoice that we can come to you in worship. 

    You are the Almighty. You can do all things and you work all things according to the council of your will. 

    May we marvel at your greatness and praise you for the grace of your gospel which you make available through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

    Lord, we pray for our continued sanctification as your people and as your church. 

    We pray that your gospel be clearly proclaimed this morning. 

    We pray for everyone here that we would trust in Jesus as Lord and savior. 

    Lord God, may we follow your perfect will, may we be disciples who make disciples. May our lives and our words make you known to others. Lord, we pray that you would use us to be your hands and feet in the world. 

    Lord, may our hope be in the gospel and not in ourselves, our strength, our talents, our resources, our possessions, our families, our spouses, our jobs. May it be in you and you alone. 

    Lord, we continue to pray that through the unrest and disagreement and strife, through politics and uncertainty, through the struggles with this pandemic, we pray for revival in our nation and for a season of gospel fruit. Lord, we pray that you prepare the fields for harvest that your Church can reap a harvest of disciples to Christ. May we pray for that and be part of that. 

    Lord, we pray for our time in your word. May we again be challenged and encouraged by the truths of your Most Sacred Scripture. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Introduction – what’s popular isn’t always good

    What’s popular isn’t always good. 

    I think of some of the mega-churches throughout America. 

    It’s easy to think that they’ve really figured it out, like they really must be doing something right. 

    But they’re often just appealing to worldliness. 

    It’s not rocket science. Mega churches have figured out that you need to preach a motivational, self-help message that focuses on prosperity themes of God wanting to bless you because you’re good without ever really doing any deep digging into the meaning of passages or theology and downplaying sin. Mega churches have figured out that people are drawn to high production value and catchy music. They’ve figured out that people will tolerate a theologically shallow church that has good youth programs. 

    Yes, there are some large churches today and throughout church history which have been very good. But they’re the exception, not the rule. 

    What’s popular isn’t always good. 

    In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, the Apostle Paul warns 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.

    It’s not just megachurches. It’s a whole Christian segment of Christian culture. We see it in many of the best-selling “Christian” books which display a similar theological shallowness. 

    It’s easy to get on board with those things. There’s no risk to it. It asks very little of you. You can take or leave Biblical ideas based on preferences. 

    But Jesus did not preach an easy-listening message. He didn’t come to pander. He didn’t come to be a people pleaser. 

    He came into the world and taught repentance. He taught that life was found in him.

    And the things that he said in our passage from last week were not easy to accept. 

    And so in this week’s passage, as we finish up chapter 6, we’ll see the response to Jesus’ teaching. And in this passage, we’ll see the response from three groups to Jesus. 

    To give a very brief reminder for last week’s passage. Last week, we were talking about Jesus’ teaching on himself as the “Bread of Life.” And the point was that Jesus is the true bread from God who has come from heaven, and it is through consuming this bread that humanity can have eternal life. The passage also talks about faith and believing in Jesus which becomes synonymous with consuming the bread. 

    False disciples  

    And with that, we come to this closing section of this chapter. And the first of the three groups who respond to Jesus are false disciples. 

    Verse 60. Still in the aftermath of everything that Jesus has said. 

    When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

    The word “disciples” is used here. The Greek word for disciple is “mathetes” which refers to a student, or pupil, or adherent. We tend to attach a lot of theological baggage to that word. This verse is not referring to the twelve, but to an audience of people who had come to follow Jesus. 

    And these disciples say to Jesus “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

    What is the hard saying? 

    There are several aspects to what Jesus has communicated which would be challenging to their sensibilities. 

    Jesus has said that eternal life is through faith in him. 

    Jesus has said that his flesh is true food and that his blood is true drink and he has also said that a person must eat his flesh and drink his blood. 

    There have been the rebukes Jesus has given to the crowd, which may not have been well received.

    Jesus cut against the grain of their own expectations for the Messiah which could have driven some people away. 

    Jesus has made divine claims in continually talking of himself as one who has come from heaven, and he’s also made claims that he is greater than Moses. 

    And so when they say it’s a hard saying, after hearing all that Jesus has said, they’re not saying that the words themselves are hard to understand, but that his teaching is hard for them to accept. 

    The crowd has acknowledged the difficulty of Jesus’ teaching, and Jesus response: 

    Verse 61-62:

    “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 

    Another challenging statement. 

    I think D.A. Carson’s explanation of these verses is helpful. 

    There are two interpretations for what Jesus is saying. 

    One is that “if you think what I’m saying is hard to accept, how will you begin to accept the resurrection when that happens?”

    The other interpretation of this verse is that Jesus is saying the opposite. That his teachings might be hard to accept, but seeing the risen Christ will actually make it easier to believe in him. 

    So which view is correct? 

    I think it depends on the person. 

    I think for this group to whom Jesus is speaking, it’s the first interpretation. That they’re not convinced in the authenticity of who Jesus is after hearing him teaching, explaining his ministry, seeing his signs, and that nothing will convince them. 

    If his teachings are confounding to the group, to an even greater degree, his crucifixion will be. 

    And indeed, the cross is difficult. 

    1 Corinthians 1:18-19: 

    18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 

    Paul will say a few verses later in verse 23: 

    but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

    The idea of the cross is crazy in the eyes of the world.  The idea that a dead man could live again is crazy. And the idea that humanity would even need Jesus to die for us is equally absurd. 

    And for the crowd to whom Jesus is speaking, if they can’t handle his teachings, they will struggle with his resurrection which is far more radical, far more scandalous, far more unfathomable, and far more unpredictable. 

    But again, I take that phrase both ways that it’s also referring to the resurrection as the supreme faith builder for those who follow Jesus. We’ll get back to that idea at the end. 

    With either interpretation, when Jesus talks of himself as the Son of Man ascending, I take the ascension to also have a double meaning. 

    I think it’s referring both to Jesus “ascending’ in the sense that he was lifted up on the cross when he was crucified.

    It’s a similar idea to when Jesus refers to being lifted up in John 3:14: 

    as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up

    I also think when Jesus talks of his ascension, he’s referring to when he ascended into heaven after the crucifixion. As he says in our passage: the Son of Man ascending to where he was before. 

    Jesus came from heaven. 

    And that is truly a unique thing that Jesus can claim compared to other religious figures. Not only that Jesus would be in heaven, but that he had come from heaven. 

    Jesus came from heaven. As the opening of this gospel tells us, Jesus was in the beginning with God and in fact was God (John 1:1-3). 

    John 1:18 says: No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. 

    Jesus is fully God and man and came from heaven into the world so that men could go to heaven. That points to his sovereignty, authority, and divinity. 

    As the passage continues, we learn more what false discipleship looks like. 

    Verse 63-64. Jesus says:  

    It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

    Let’s unpack this. Jesus has said that it is by the Spirit that we are given life. 

    That’s already been established in this gospel. 

    When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said that he baptized with the Holy Spirit in 1:33. 

    When Jesus talks to Nicodemus, he says in 3:5-6: 

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

    We are born again through the Spirit. 

    Jesus says “the flesh is no help at all.” 

    It is not a naturalistic change that happens. It’s a Spiritual change. 

    1 Corinthians 2:12, Paul says: 

    Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

    Paul will also say in verse 14: 

    14 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

    Life comes from the Spirit, and the Words of Christ point to the Spirit and the regeneration and new life that is offered. 

    It’s easy to accept a teaching here or there from Jesus. It’s easy to accept some moral values that he gives us. 

    It’s hard to accept that a person must be born again and that his gospel allows us to become a new person, Spiritually. 

    Even what Jesus had said in the previous section about being the bread of life who’s flesh we must eat and blood we must drink is heavily Spiritualized language. 

    But the words of Christ point to life. 

    Jesus points out that there are people in this group who do not believe. 

    Verses 64-65: 

    64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 

    Because of sinfulness and unbelief, Jesus is fully aware that there will be many who reject him. 

    And we see the response of the crowd. 

    After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

    They walk away. 

    Just as people today can be drawn to various aspects of Christianity, or religion, there are also those who turn away from the gospel because they don’t like its teachings, or demands, or exclusivity, or savior. 

    This group turns away, not because Jesus lacks grace, but because they don’t like what Jesus has to say. 

    But what’s popular isn’t always right. 

    The false disciple can go one of two ways. 

    Either, they will walk away from Christ because they don’t accept the truth of Christ, who he is, what he did, and why he came. 

    Or the false disciple will continue to seek out churches and pastors who tell them what they want to hear. 

    I’ll remind us again of 2 Timothy 4: 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.

    That’s why we must all be students of the Bible and know the Word of God and use that to guide us in doctrine and to consider what we believe about God, theology, and the gospel in light of scripture. 

    We must come to Jesus for who he is. 

    There’s the famous hymn “Just as I am” 

    Just as I am, without one plea

    But that Thy blood was shed for me

    And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee

    O Lamb of God, I come! I come

    And the point is that God accepts us for who we are. 

    We need to trust in Jesus for who he is. 

    So that’s our first group. False disciples. 

    To reference the Parable of the soils, where the farmer sows his seed and some lands in good soil and produces a great yield, but other seed falls among thorns, or is scattered and eaten by birds, or falls in poor soil. 

    They’ve heard the words of Christ, but the word did not take root. 

    And that brings us to our second point and our second group: true disciples. 

    In this passage, we see that false disciples struggle with Jesus’ teachings and walk away from Christ. True disciples receive his teachings and have reverence for Christ. 

    True disciples 

    This crowd has seen the eternal God, they have the light of the world, they have the truth in their midst, they have one who has seen God with them, they have the one who provides living water and the bread of life, but they don’t like what he has to say and so they leave him. 

    Verse 67: 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 

    It’s a rhetorical question. 

    All throughout this passage, John has been pointing to the divine knowledge Jesus has. 

    Verse 61, when Jesus is talking to the false disciples: Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling

    We see his knowledge again in verse 64: Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him

    And we’ll actually see it at the end of the passage in verse 70 when Jesus refers to Judas as his betrayer: Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”  He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. 

    So Jesus is clearly aware of what’s what. Also in verse 70, Jesus says that he had chosen the twelve disciples. 

    And so when he asks them if they also want to go, he knows that they’re not going to. He knows exactly what will happen. 

    He doesn’t ask that in a sense of being insecure or needy. 

    It’s more like a challenge. 

    Are you with me? 

    Peter responds. When the disciples are together as a group, it’s generally Peter who speaks up and answers on behalf of the group in the gospels. 

    68-69: 

     Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

     The disciples never have a perfectly worked out theology, and they still have much to learn during the ministry of Jesus. 

    We see that even in some of the wording Peter uses. 

    For instance, the phrase “the Holy One of God” is interesting, because that phrase seems to actually speak to Peter’s lack of theological acumen. 

    That is not a phrase used in the Old Testament and it’s used one other time In the New Testament, and it’s a man who’s possessed by a demon who calls Jesus “the Holy one of God.” 

    Despite the novelty of the title, it’s appropriate. Jesus indeed is the Holy one of God. 

    For Peter and the disciples, they’re still learning about who Jesus is but they’re following him. And that’s how the entire Christian life goes. 

    We too become his followers, but we don’t have it all figured out. 

    Peter responds in faith and makes three affirmations. We’ll talk about these briefly. 

    1. Jesus is the only one to whom we can go who has the words of eternal life. 

    Again, that is what we have seen again and again throughout this gospel. 

    That’s the reason why John wrote this gospel. The thesis statement of this whole gospel is found in chapter 20:31: 

    these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 

    Jesus is the savior of the world. He is the christ. He is the holy one of Israel. He is the word who became flesh. And it is Christ and Christ alone through whom we have the promise and assurance of eternal life. 

    1. Peter speaks of belief in Jesus.

    we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

    They do see truth in who Jesus is. 

    They believe in Jesus, who he is, and the message that he came to bring into the world. 

    1. The final affirmation Peter makes is to the identity of Jesus. 

    Again, while the title “Holy One of God” is not common in the Bible, it’s no less true.

    Jesus is God on earth in whom we have the promise eternal life through faith in him. He has been sent by the father. He is perfectly holy and righteous. 

    What do you believe? 

    Are you with the crowd who walked away? They couldn’t get on board with his teachings, his ministry, and his gospel. 

    Or are you with his true disciples who know that Jesus has the words of eternal life and that he is the Holy One of God? 

    That is the most important thing that a person can know. 

    So we’ve seen true disciples and false disciples. 

    It’s the third kind of person. A fake disciple. 

    Fake disciples 

    The first group left Jesus, the second group is the twelve who stays with Jesus. But the passage concludes: 

     70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. 

    Judas will be important later in this gospel, but here he is introduced by name. 

    He had already been alluded to in verse 64, when speaking of Jesus’ divine foreknowledge: 

    Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him

    And the passage ends by telling us that it would be Judas who would betray Jesus. 

    In that, we see the sovereignty of God’s plan. It was no surprise in the divine plan that Jesus would be betrayed. In fact, it was part of the divine plan. 

    We talked about perseverance and eternal security a few weeks ago. And the Bible is clear that a person cannot lose salvation. Judas was not saved and then lost it. It’s that he was never saved to begin with. 

    Just because someone is around the church does not mean that they’re walking with the Lord, serving the Lord, or that they truly know the Lord. 

    Judas isn’t the only example in the Bible of a person who pretends to be faithful but is actually just a predator out only for his personal gain. 

    1 John 4:1 warns us about false prophets: 

    do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

    Matthew 7 talks about the wolves in sheep’s clothing. People who pretend to serve Christ but are doing just the opposite. 

    15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

    Matthew 7:21-23: 

    21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ 

    Matthew 24:11 says that many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 

    Sometimes it’s people who exploit the church to prey upon the church. I see some of these high profile pastors who fall from grace and some of the horrendous abuses that happen in churches and I wonder if they were ever truly walking with the Lord. 

    But that’s for the God to know and to decide. 

    But what the Bible does teach is that there are those in churches who wish to bring harm and seek their own personal gain. Judas would go on to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 

    Another important lesson from Judas is that a person can be in the very inner circle of Christ, one of the 12, and not truly be saved. 

    Just because you were baptized, just because you prayed a sinner’s prayer, just because you go to church every week, just because you know the Bible, that is not your salvation. 

    Jesus had said in verse 40: 

    For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 

    That is where salvation is and if your hope is anything else, or anyone else – including in yourself or your perceived goodness – then you are not in Christ. 

    No matter how close to Jesus someone is, there is no hope of eternal life without faith. 

    The fake disciple might speak the right churchy language and go through the motions, but he or she does not actually believe in Jesus. 

    The true disciple, the false disciple, and the fake disciple. 

    I’m reminded of a verse earlier in this passage when Jesus was talking. 

    In verses 61-62, Jesus had said to the whole group: “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 

    He was challenging them with how they would respond to the cross. 

    For many, the cross is foolishness, the cross is a stumbling block. 

    But to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. 

    To those who believe in Jesus, it is the place of greatest victory, the place where Jeus said “it is finished,” the place where sin was defeated. 

    What is your response?

    Hebrews 12;2 points to Christ’s death on the cross: 

     2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

    Which type of disciple are you? 

    Again, the world wants to rely on works and our goodness. The Bible says we cannot. 

    Paul writes in Galatians 6:4: 

    far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

    We look to Jesus as Our Holy One of God, we believe in him and the death he died to sin and the life to which he was raised, and in that we have eternal life, to the glory of God.

  • Sermon: Our Eternal bread – John 6:1-15; 22-59

    Prayer 

    Our heavenly Father, 

    You are the mighty God from whose presence earth and sky flee. Your awesomeness and immensity is that great. We praise your great and glorious name. 

    Lord God, we come to you as fallen people in a fallen world, but may we be reminded of your gospel that though we are sinful and fallen, though you are holy and hate sin, you loved us enough to send your son. 

    Let us rejoice that there is eternal life through what Christ has done. 

    Lord, we pray for our missionaries today. We pray for the work to which you have called them in various parts of our nation and throughout the world. As parts of the world become increasingly hostile to the gospel, as parts of the world and parts of our nation become less receptive to the truth of the gospel, Lord God, we pray for their work, we pray for their safety, we pray for their families and the balance of family and ministry. Lord, we thank you for people we’ve partnered with who are committed to doing your work and serving your kingdom. 

    But may we also be a church that has a burden for our own community and the surrounding communities to serve, to share the Good News, to connect with new people, to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones. 

    Lord, we ask that you bless our time in your word. May we be pointed to truth and life that is only found in Jesus Christ Our Lord. 

    In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

    Introduction 

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

    I’ve loved studying this book with you all and I hope that it’s been a blessing to you. 

    As we go verse by verse, it does take time and I know that’s time well spent but I also think it’s good to sometimes break away, which is why we did our Forensics of Faith series. But happy to be back in John chapter 6 this morning. 

    Certainly, that was a long passage that we just read. Part of this passage we’ve already preached. 

    Today we’re going to be looking at a long section of John 6. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a 90 minute sermon or anything. 

    But I think it’s helpful sometimes to get the 30,000 foot view of a passage and look at how a section works together. 

    And so we’re going to be looking at the passage this morning in three scenes. 

    Certainly part of this passage we’ve talked about before, but I think it’ll be helpful considering the whole section as we build up to Jesus profound statement in verses 53-54: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

    So we’re going to look at three scenes and each of the scenes, we will see bread as a focal point in the story, we will see allusions to the Old Testament, we will see people misunderstanding who Jesus is, and we will see Jesus progressively revealing his nature to the crowds. 

    First scene – Jesus feeding the multitude 

    Jesus feeding the multitudes is the catalyst for everything else which follows in this chapter. 

    To remind us of the passage, Jesus has been teaching and he’s near the sea of Galilee and a large crowd comes to him to hear his teaching. 

    The passage tells us that the group included 5,000 men, not including wives and children so it could easily have been 15,000-20,000 people. 

    They’re in a remote area, and as Jesus is teaching, they run into a logistical problem. 

    How are these people going to eat? 

    They find a boy who had five barley loaves and two fish. 

    And then John records the miracle in verses 11-13:  Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

    Illustration – 70-80% increase 

    The Lord Jesus does this miraculous sign when he feeds this large multitude of people. He takes a little bit of bread but then feeds thousands. Verse 13 even tells us that there were leftovers. Now, certainly that would be astonishing to see in person. 

    But I still think it’s hard for a lot of us to truly appreciate that miracle. I think we only get part of why this is amazing. We get the part that’s amazing in the sense that Jesus has made a lot of bread when he had relatively little bread. But I don’t think that we see this as a lot of people throughout history would. 

    D.A. Carson talks about this and I found it helpful. Imagine if I told you that I could increase your income by 80%. 

    You’d be probably be interested in that. Well…in first century Galilee, about 70-80% of a person’s working labor went to either growing food or some other form of work in order to be able to acquire food. 

    And for much of human history, 70-80% of your income simply went to buying food so you could live. 

    By comparison, the average American today spends about 9.5% of their income on food today, according to the USDA. And that includes going out to restaurants and that includes the fact that we buy a lto fo luxuries that we could easily live without, simply because we like them. 9.5% when a lot of people aren’t just sticking to a staple diet of bread, rice, beans, pasta, potatoes, and eggs. 

    And so the point that D.A. Carson makes about this passage is that we’re reading a story that was written in the first century. And they had views of food that were very different than our views of food. And while we might think that it’s neat that Jesus could feed this large group of people, if you had been in the crowd, it wasn’t simply that Jesus had given you a meal, it’s that you saw someone crete the thing for which you toiled and labored and he did it basically out of thin air. 

    How interested would you be if you could increase your income 70-80 percent? I think that the multitudes Jesus fed had thoughts that were much more along those lines than simply being impressed that he gave them a meal. 

    This passage alludes to the Old Testament in a few different ways. First, the beginning of the story mentions that it was the time of Passover. The time when God had used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. As God had provided bread called manna during the Israelite wanderings, we see Jesus providing bread. 

    And we see their response at the end of that section.

    Verses 14-15: When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 

    Verse 14 calls this miracle a sign. And as with the other signs that Jesus has done in this gospel, they always point beyond themselves. And as we’ll see as the passage unfolds, the sign is not simply about the bread. 

    We also see in the passage that after Jesus has fed this multitude, they want to make him their king. It’s easy for hungry people to be drawn to the one who can feed them. After Jesus withdraws from the crowd. After he performs the miracle of walking on water, we see him and the crowd together again on the following day in verse 22. And that brings us to our second scene. In the first scene, we saw Jesus providing bread. In the second scene, Jesus will reveal that he himself is the true bread. 

    Second scene – the bread of life 

    In verse 26, Jesus rebukes the crowd who had wanted to make him king. Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

    Jesus says they’re drawn to them because he fed them. And while that’s significant, it’s not the ultimate need which Jesus came to address. He came to a world that is dead in sin to bring eternal life. They wanted Jesus to be a king, and while Jesus was – and is – a king, he did not come to become king on their terms. 

    As he continues speaking to the crowd, Jesus elaborates on his previous statement in verse 27: Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

    And so the crowd asks Jesus what they must do. And the answer is that it’s not about our goodness, our actions, our behaviors. 

    Verse 29, Jesus explains to the crowd whom he’s just fed: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 

    But the crowd asks for a sign. Forgetting that Jesus had fed them the day before. 

    But they reference the Old Testament. Verse 31: Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ 

    Again, we see the Old Testament as they specifically mention Moses and the manna in the wilderness. The Exodus story was well known in the Jewish world. They were familiar with the manna in heaven. The miracle which Jesus has done reminds them of that. 

    In Exodus, the Lord had promised an abundance of bread. 

    Quoting part of Exodus 16:4:Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you

    Yes,they had seen Jesus provide bread once but God did it everyday for decades. Perhaps that was part of the thought process. If Jesus is supposedly greater than Moses, shouldn’t we see greater things? But Jesus will explain why he’s greater. 

    In verse 33, Jesus says: the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

    And the people ask for this bread. But they still don’t grasp what he’s saying. Just as we saw when Jesus told Nicodmeus that you must be “born again” and he was referring to regeneration not to entering your mother’s womb a second time. Just like when he told the woman at the well of the living water he provided and she thought that he was talking about liquid when he was talking of the cleansing and renewal that comes from the Spirit and faith, here again the crowd thinks that the bread Jesus provides is simply physical nourishment. 

    In verse 34, the crowd pleads “sir, give us this bread always.” 

    In his commentary on John, Colin Kruse notes that they want a continual supply of bread as had been given to the Israelites so they would not have to toil and labor for their sustenance. 

    And that’s when Jesus explains to the crowd: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” 

    Jesus is the eternal nourishment and the daily bread without which we will Spiritually starve. 

    The world wants to just satisfy your body. The world makes idols of what is fleeting and feeds the body. Jesus feeds the soul. And it is because he is the bread of life that he is greater than the bread. Jesus continues speaking to the crowd. 

    He again rebukes the crowd in verse 36: But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 

    The crowd is following Jesus but not for the right reasons and not out of faith. They’re drawn to the spectacle and the hope that he can meet their physical needs. As Jesus continues to elaborate, he will make several references to his mission and purpose in connection to the will and plan of God. 

    The crowd might have an incorrect theology but the truth of the divine plan does not depend on man. Jesus has come to do the will of God. Those whom God has given him, he will not cast out. Jesus will tell the crowd in verse 38 that he has been sent from heaven. And with that, we come to our third scene which is the culmination of Jesus giving bread to the multitudes and explaining that he is the bread of life. 

    He explains the bread in its relationship to eternal life. 

    Third scene – 

    In verse 40, Jesus says: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 

    As we’ve seen many times throughout this gospel, Jesus is not seeker sensitive with his statement. He speaks in absolutes and does not leave any gray area. And the crowd is taken aback. He’s telling the crowd of the necessity of faith in him. 

    There’s irony that the crowd thinks they know Jesus. They’re taking in the claims he’s making that he is the bread of life, that eternal life is found in believing in him. 

    Verses 41-42: So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 

    They question Jesus’ credentials. But Jesus responds to the group. And he largely picks up his train of thought from a few verses ago. Verse 43, he rebukes the crowd for their grumbling. The Israelites would grumble during their wanderings in the desert. They would question God’s goodness and faithfulness. 

    Jesus is the Lord on earth who they question. 

    The Israelites would eventually complain about the manna, grumble, and complain about that as their daily food source. Jesus is the true bread who they are not looking to for their Spiritual sustenance. He has already established that nothing thwarts the divine plan of the gospel. Jesus has already said that he cannot lose any who come to him in true faith. 

     44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 

    Jesus is saying that one cannot come to Him, the source of true life, unless the father draws them. 

    In the New Testament, we see this idea in action in Acts 16 when Paul is ministering to Lydia. The passage says: One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. (Acts 16:4) 

    In verses 47-48, Jesus again says that it is belief in him that is the basis for eternal life and that he is the bread of life. 

    There is a lot of repetition in this passage. Keep in mind that the original audience to whom Jesus was speaking were only listening and if you’re speaking versus writing, you sometimes will say things more times for emphasis and to get the point across. Jesus keeps reiterating that he is the bread of life, he keeps reiterating in this passage that he is the one sent from heaven. 

    With all of the discussion in this passage about Israelites and the manna, Jesus reminds them of an important fact. 

    49-50: Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 

    Yes, the Israelites had manna, but they still died. Jesus promises eternal life. In verse 46, Jesus talks of him as one who has seen God. Moses never saw God. Earlier in this passage, the audience incorrectly attributes provision of the bread to Moses instead of to God. 

    What Jesus is saying is that he is greater. He is greater than Moses. He gives greater bread. He brings something that will be greater than the Old Covenant. He gives a greater revelation of God.

    And here we come to the fruition of Jesus’ teaching point. In the first scene, Jesus provided the bread. In the second scene, Jesus said he was the bread. And here he says that it is the consumption of this bread which causes eternal life. 

    51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 

    The one who eats the bread Jesus provides has eternal life and also the bread he gives is his flesh. Obviously, he was not speaking literally. Certainly, for observant Jewish people, the idea of cannibalism would have been just as grotesque as it is for us today. The audience tries to understand. 

    Verse 52: The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 

    He’s raised the stakes. It’s not just eating his flesh, he says, but also drinking his blood. 

    How do we do this? 

    So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

    Some take his language of eating his flesh and drinking his blood to be a reference to communion. That’s certainly the Catholic understanding of this passage.

    I can see how it appears that way but the setting and language do not fit the other gospels. It’s not in the context of a meal where he’s breaking bread and giving wine. Communion is instituted just before Jesus dies, and this is a Passover which is at least a year before Jesus died. Communion is instituted as a sign of the New Covenant, this is not yet the time of the New Covenant. 

    When we take communion, while the bread is a symbol for the body of Christ, in this passage Jesus refers to the bread as his “flesh,” and so even the terms are different. Furthermore, when Jesus talks of the necessity of consuming his flesh and blood, to associate that with partaking in communion, that does not fit the context of this entire passage. 

    Consider again verse 35: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

    Coming to him and believing in him are the reasons why a person will not hunger or thirst. 

    Consider verse 40: everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life

    And then consider again verse 53: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

    Everything in this passage and this gospel has ultimately hinged on belief in Jesus. And so it’s the wrong interpretation to take verse 53 as Jesus saying that a person must participate in communion or the Lord’s Supper in order to be saved. 

    Communion is important. But it’s not salvific. 

    So while he’s not talking about communion, I think it’s important to consider that communion and this passage are both referring to the same thing which is Jesus’ sacrificial death. So this passage doesn’t refer to communion, but communion and this passage refer to the same thing. Hopefully that makes sense? Both things point to the gospel. 

    In the Spiritual sense, the flesh of Christ is eaten, and the blood of Christ is drunk by the means of having faith in Jesus. And it is that which is the culminating point of this section. Jesus is the bread of life that we must consume and that is done through having faith in him. 

    As he’s done elsewhere in this gospel, he uses an example from the physical world to communicate a Spiritual reality. And so when Jesus says we must eat his flesh and drink his blood here, it is a metaphor for believing in him. 

     Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 

    There, Jesus points us to salvation and the promise of future resurrection. 

     Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 

    Jesus points to our union with him as those who believe in him. 

    As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 

    Just as the manna needed to be collected everyday. Just as the bread Jesus gave to the multitudes only sustained them for a meal, Jesus provides the bread from which we will never hunger. 

    And so in this passage, we see that Jesus provides something greater than Moses because Jesus is greater than Moses. And we see that Jesus is the bread of life and he’s the one whose flesh was given so that we could be forgiven. He’s the one whose blood was shed so that we could have life. And the belief that his life was given so that we could have eternal life is the ultimate consumption of the bread which Jesus provides. 

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  • Sermon: Cubed – Revelation 21:9-27

    9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 

    15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 

    22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

    We’re finishing up our summer series “the Forensics of Faith” this morning. 

    We’ve spent the last several weeks talking about the work that God does in us. 

    He gives us new life, he justifies, sanctifies. He adopts us as his sons and daughters. He changes lives. 

    There are lots of other things we could have talked about. 

    As Paul says in the beginning of Ephesians, God blesses us with every Spiritual blessing. 

    We talked last week, about how God completes the work which he does in a believer. 

    And today, as we wind this series down, we talk about where this all leads. 

    Heaven. 

         Introduction 

    In Randy Alcorn’s wonderful book, Heaven, he tells a story of an English minister who was asked by a colleague what he expected after death. The man replied: “Well, if it comes to that, I suppose I shall enter into eternal bliss, but I really wish you wouldn’t bring up such depressing subjects.”

    Our views of heaven are too lowly. 

    In life, things often times leave us disappointed. 

    A movie looks hilarious in the previews….and then you see the movie and realize every funny scene was basically shown in the preview. 

    People rave about a restaurant, and you think it’s just ok. 

    We vote for a politician who we think will fix things, and they disappoint. 

    And there are other examples. 

    Perhaps that’s part of the reason why our views of heaven are too low. Because of earth. We live in a fallen world where there is sin and hurt and where things are never quite right. 

    And maybe because of that, and because of sin, because of what we hear about and see in the world, because of the experiences we have. Maybe because of something in our own life where we still question where God was at, we have a view of heaven like HEAVEN could be just one more place to disappoint. 

    Like heaven could be overrated. Like we could find it underwhelming. 

    With all of the confusion about heaven, there should be no confusion about this: heaven is going to be perfectly awesome! 

    It is not going to disappoint. You’ll never be there and feel like it didn’t live up to all of the hype.

    Heaven will never be boring. Your worst day on heaven will be better than the greatest day of your life. How do I know that? Because we have a good God who made heaven. 

    It is my prayer today that the hope of heaven can stir our love for God. 

    Ultimately our home is the New Heaven and the New Earth, and within those, God has his holy city, the New Jerusalem, which is the subject of our passage this morning. 

    The main point of this text today is that heaven is going to be perfectly awesome. 

    And in this passage, we see that through the appearance of heaven and the perfection of heaven. 

    First thing I want to talk about, the look of heaven. 

    John is given a vision. 

    Now he is not actually in the New Jerusalem: 

    Verses 10-11: 

    And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

    He carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem. 

    In verse 11, John says that this city had “the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.” 

    So this vision of the city coming down is a spectacular site to behold. 

    The Glory of God. 

    Think of glory almost like weight, or mass, the heaviness of God’s awe-inspiring glory. 

    Something else to consider. In the Book of Revelation, in the previous chapter, it talks about the presence of God in heaven and it says that from his presence, earth and sky fled away. God is massively glorious. 

    And John begins to describe the city more specifically

    In verses 12-14, ghe city is described as having a great wall with 12 gates. There are 12 gates inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. In verse 14, John mentions twelve foundations with the names of the 12 apostles. This is showing completion in God’s divine plan. There are three gates on each side of the city. This shows the openness through which the people of God are permitted to enter the city. Later in the chapter, it talks of how the gates never close.

    The reason why they never close is because the enemies of God have been vanquished and defeated. There is no danger in this city.

    As the vision continues, John sees the angel who is showing him this vision, measuring the New Jerusalem  

    Verses 16-17: 

    The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.

    The angel measuring the city alludes back to Zechariah 2:2. The measuring of the city is showing the exactness of God’s plans and his completion. The city is 12,000 stadia. A stadia is roughly 600-640 feet. 

    So 12,000 stadia would be about 1,500 miles. 

    So this city is massive. 

    1,500 miles could take you to any place in the eastern United States. 1,500 to the south, you’d be in Mexico. 1,500 miles to the west, you could make it as far as Las Vegas. 

    So it’s a very large place. 

    Verse 16 says “Its length and width and height are equal.” 

    So the city is shaped like a big cube. 

    Then the angel measures the wall of the city. 144 cubits, which would mean that the wall is over 200 feet high. 

    Now 200 feet for a wall is pretty small for a city that’s 1,500 miles high! 

    But again, we must remember that the purpose of the wall is not protection. It’s for boundaries. 

    The New Jerusalem is within the New Heaven and the New Earth. 

    Also the wall serves to radiate and reflect back the glory of God. 

     19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 

    It is undoubtedly a spectacular site to behold. Standing at this great, high wall, and looking from side to side and as far as you can see, you could drive for hours and hours and hours and not come to the end of it, a wall and the foundations of it are these spectacular stones. 

    We have a lot of stereotypes about heaven. 

    We do tend to have the cartoon view with harps on clouds in white robes.

    We aren’t going to be standing on clouds. It’s a new earth. And we are going to live there eternally. We will be resurrected bodily, which is talked about in chapter 20. So we aren’t going to be spirits or ghosts. 

    Now just think about this earth….

    There’s a lot to it. 

    Imagine if money were no object, you had the time, you could travel everywhere on earth you wanted to go to? 

    Think about how much there is to explore? 

    Who here likes earth? Who here has things that you like? Or maybe it’s not even places you’ve been to personally but that you’ve heard of or that you’d like to see? I think of some of the great artworks in Europe. Amazing beaches, different architectural achievements. Spectacular rainforests. 

    I think about when I lived in Minnesota. Beautiful state. When I first moved there, before I met Kari, on my days off, I’d just drive around, sometimes to different parts of the state and take 

    pictures. 

    And that’s just one part of one state in one country. 

    There are lots of spectacularly beautiful places in our world. 

    So heaven isn’t going to be standing on clouds: it’s a new heaven and a new earth. 

    The image of heaven in cartoons and movies is that we’ll all be playing harps. 

    First of all, they are other instruments mentioned in Revelation in visions of heaven! 

    I think the harp has become the stereotype because it does have a heavenly sound. 

    But yes, there will be music. Music is a good thing. 

    And there will be food. We won’t eat because we need food to sustain us but for the sake of enjoying a meal. 

    Heaven is going to be awesome. 

    You might secretly fear the idea of heaven because you find yourself thinking “is it just going to be like a worship service for the rest of eternity?” Your sermons only last like a half hour and even THOSE push me to the brink. How am I going to deal with this forever?! 

    I think part of the answer to that question relates to what you consider worship…

    For you, is worship just something you push through on a Sunday morning? Something that you just put up with? 

    Or do you have an entire life that is worshipful? Does your devotion to God influence your daily routine? How you raise your kids? How you love your spouse? Turning to God in prayer? When you enjoy a good meal or see a beautiful sunset, is that to the glory of God? 

    In short, do you live a lifestyle that revolves around a love for God? 

    Or do you compartmentalize? “I’ll go to church for an hour, for the church box…but for other things I do, those are for me?”

    Yes there is worship in heaven! 

    It’s the presence of God. 

    In heaven, it’ll be a better and truer form of worship. 

    Have you ever been praying or studying the Bible….and then you think “I forgot to get milk….

    Then you get back to praying….

    I need to check what the weather is going to be like today…

    Then you get back to praying….

    How is it already almost September?! 

    And just one distraction after another? Or you feel like you’re battling just to keep focused? 

    In heaven, you won’t be dealing with the stresses of life: missed appointments, issues with finances, family stresses, health concerns. 

    Heaven. Will. Be. Awesome. 

    Because God is awesome. God is good and heaven is the place that he has made for his people. 

    And there are things about heaven we can’t even imagine. 

    How are you living right now? Are you someone who’s basically a moralist? You’re a good person. Good things should happen to you because you’re a good person. And yeah, God’s ok. And if there’s something good for following him, I’ll have that? But in reality, you’re pretty lukewarm to loving God? 

    Or do you love God? Do you have a desire to know him?

    Ultimately we can have a taste of that now. But to just know that it doesn’t compare with the reality that it will be to actually be in heaven in the presence of a holy God.  

    In the Great Divorce, CS Lewis says: 

    the Blessed will say ‘We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven,’: and the Lost, ‘We were always in Hell.’ And both will speak truly.”

    I’m not saying this to be cynical or snarky. But if you dread the idea of worshipping God in heaven, I think you might need to develop a greater love for worshipping him on earth. 

    But no. Heaven will not be a church service for all eternity. It’s a new heaven and a new earth. 

    Other images that the Bible uses: it’s a great feast! 

    Who doesn’t love a great feast?! 

    Great conversations and laughter. Music, not just from harps! 

    The Bible compares heaven to a wedding. 

    Now in America, we go pretty over the top with weddings. But there are other cultures that take it further than we do. 

    And in the first century world in which this book was written, wedding celebrations could last for a week. 

    Wonderful times of joy and laughter. 

    Heaven. Will be perfectly awesome. 

    A wedding, a feast. 

    It’s not “come, join us at the jury duty selection pool of the Lord..”

    There will be wonderful company in heaven. You’ll be able to see Jesus. The Lord who took the penalty for our sins. You’ll be able to see him face to face. 

    And you’ll be you. And you’ll know who these people are. 

    Now in the movie Men and Black, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are federal agents who deal with people who have seen aliens. And when they question a person who has seen an alien, they pull out a device that looks like a pen, and it erases their memory. 

    Heaven isn’t like that. We aren’t going to become robots in heaven. We will still be ourselves. There are heavenly visions of different Biblical figures. They’re themselves. The point of making unique humans was not so that we could all become exactly the same. 

    There will be work in heaven. Work is something which exists in the Bible before the fall. Work is good. It won’t be drudgery. It won’t be “I have to do that shift in heaven today.” 

    But heaven is not an eternal stay at a retirement community. 

    For Biblical reasons, I believe there will be animals in heaven. 

    Isaiah 65:25 points to the future time of restoration and the peace that will exist with animals. 

    The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

    You’ll be able to walk through vast fields, and hear the mighty roar of a lion, but there will be nothing to fear. 

    Perhaps even pets….at least dogs. 

    No cats.

    Animals existed before the fall and were part of God’s good and perfect creation. 

    This is because the restoration is not just of humanity. God is restoring the physical world: it’s a new Heaven, a new Earth, a New Jerusalem. He’s restoring people, and he’s restoring animals. The book of Romans says that the whole creation is groaning. Sin effects everything. 

    But there will be no sin in the New Jerusalem. A perfect place. 

    Heaven should be a source of joy. 

    And the point of the new earth is not for God to make a place that’s WORSE than where we currently live. 

    But even for Christians, there’s this constant temptation to think that this life is the pinnacle of our existence. 

    It isn’t. 

    We’ll have greater perspective in heaven. We’ll continue to learn and marvel at the eternal glory and goodness of God in heaven. 

    In the presence of the Lord. 

    I remember at my former church in Minnesota. Someone had passed away and I remember the pastor saying on Sunday “I can promise you that she’s a much better theologian than I am right now.” 

    Marveling at the face of God. 

    You’ll still be you in heaven. There are places in the New Testament where people like Peter see Old Testament figures. They’re still them. You’re still you in heaven. 

    You don’t become an angel. That’s not a Biblical idea. 

    You don’t become a divine figure. 

    You’ll be you, but in the presence of God, you will be so sanctified that you’ll be you without sin. 

    It is a perfect place. 

    Revelation 21:4

    It will be a place where God will 

    wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

    For the things that have been struggles. For the things where we’ve suffered, in heaven, somehow, some way, they will be made right. Perhaps heaven will be so glorious that we just won’t care. 

    Or perhaps we’ll have a different perspective and see how all things really did work together for our good. 

    I think we get glimpses of that right now. 

    Some of us have experienced things that we wouldn’t wish on anyone. 

    But we know that without them, we wouldn’t be who we are today. 

    Verses 22-23, John says he saw no temple in the city. 

    That fact is immensely important and I’m going to unpack that in a moment. 

    He does give the reason why in the second half of verse 22: the reason why he saw no temple in the city was because the city’s “temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” 

    Not only that, but the city has no need for sun or moon to shine, for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the lamb. 

    So God’s glory illuminates the New Jerusalem. Keep in mind, we’re not talking about a crawl space that God is lighting. Maybe 1500 miles doesn’t sound like much to you….I mean you could drive that in a couple days….but we’re talking 1500 miles by 1500 miles by 1500 miles…that 1500 cubed…that’s over 3.3 BILLION cubic miles.

    It’s a perfect cube. 

    Again, this last part of the chapter talks about how the New Jerusalem doesn’t need a temple. 

    The significance of that can get lost on us if we aren’t thoughtful. 

    I talk a lot about temple themes in the Bible. 

    And that theme comes to its Biblical culmination in this passage. 

    What’s a temple? 

    In its most basic form, the temple is the place where God meets with his people. 

    Just like how I think we oftentimes have a wrong view of heaven, especially if we picture it to be boring, I think we can have a low view of the Temple. 

    Again, the presence of the Lord with his people. 

    All throughout the Bible, including to the present day, there is this theme of temple. 

    I want to list a few things: 

    The Garden

    The Tabernacle

    The Temple

    Jesus

    The Church

    The New Jerusalem  

    Maybe the connection between these six places isn’t obvious, but they all represent the presence of God. 

    In the Garden, Adam and Eve live in the presence of God in a perfect place. 

    Because of sin, they were cast out. 

    But God remained faithful. 

    He chose a man, Abraham to be the father of many nations, and the patriarch of God’s chosen people. 

    From Abraham, came Isaac who fathered Jacob who fathered 12 sons who represent the 12 tribes of Israel. 

    The Israelites were originally held in captivity in Egypt. After God had miraculously freed them, and while the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God gave them instructions for the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a tent structure that the Israelites were to travel with and it was a symbol for God’s presence with his people. 

    Exodus 40:34-35

    Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

    Once the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the plan was for them to build a permeant temple which would be a place to represent God dwelling with his people. 

    This happened during the reign of Solomon 

    And we see the presence of the Lord filling his temple in 1 Kings 8:10-11:

    And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 

    In both places, when the presence of the Lord comes into the temple, people can’t even stand in it because the presence is so glorious. 

    And in the Old Testament, the Temple is hugely important. Building the temple, the people corrupting the temple. God allowing the Israelites to be conquered and the destruction of the temple. The Israelis being released by the Persians for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. 

    But ultimately, God points forward to an even greater Temple, an even greater example of his presence with his people. 

    Jesus. 

    At the beginning of John 1, where it’s talking about Jesus, it says “the word became flesh and dwelled among us.” 

    And if you remember from last fall, that word for dwelled, it literally means “he tabernacled” among us. He “pitched a tent” among us. The presence of God on earth. 

    In John 2, Jesus says to the Pharisees: 

    “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

    They mock Jesus because that seems so absurd but they miss the point that he’s referring to himself as the temple. 

    He is the temple. 

    After Jesus died and rose and ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit is poured out on all believers 

    In Acts 2, this is dramatically described: 

    When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

    By the way, the pouring out of the Spirit of God is also pointed to in the Old Testament.

    The church is the body of Christ. The believers in the gospel are given the Holy Spirit and we are the temple. 

    1 Corinthians 3:16-17

    Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 

    When I talk about the Church, I mean the Universal Church, not just a church. It’s all churches that are faithful to God’s gospel. It’s not that the church is important in itself. It’s not that we’re so great. It’s that God has given his Spirit to his followers and it is through the Holy Spirit that we are made holy and equipped with Spiritual gifts for the sake of building up God’s church. 

    But still his points forward to a greater Temple, the New Jerusalem 

    It’s a return to the original temple, the garden. 

    The temple matters because the Temple is God’s presence with his people. It’s the relationship which was tarnished in the garden. The presence of God, it’s what Jesus came to bring. 

    And while we enjoy fellowship now, and while we should not discount that, it is still merely a shadow of the true fellowship, of being back with God in the new temple that he will build, the new heaven and the new earth. 

    And then here finally in Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem. 

    The Temple, which has been a constant theme throughout the Bible, we see the return to the temple, the presence of the Lord. 

    The text says that there is no need for the sun or the moon in this temple. 

    Because God is the light and Jesus is the lamp of the new temple. Notice the glorious and powerful moment it is when the presence of God fills the tabernacle, when it fills the temple. The rushing wind when God’s Spirit fills the believers. The enormity of the glory of God in the Bible. 

    And to be in that presence. 

    Perhaps you’ve stood by a water fall and you hear the water, and you see it. And if it’s a big water fall, as the countless gallons of water rush down, you feel it in your chest. 

    The presence of God will never disappoint. 

    Pondering his glory and holiness and goodness, is something from which we will never tire of in his presence. Because he is infinitely glorious and wonderful. God’s presence is so holy and so full of life and vibrance that it is overwhelming. 

    Heaven is a perfect place. 

    The final verse of the chapter again drives home the character of heaven 

     27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

    Nothing unclean will ever into it. 

    Sin cast us out of the garden. 

    With the tabernacle and the temple, within those rooms, there was an inner sanctuary where only the high priest could go once a year to make a sacrifice on behalf of the people. One person, one time a year. And there were purification rituals that the person went through before entering because approaching God’s Most Holy Place was so sacred. 

    The dimensions of the Most Holy Place, of the Holy of Holies were equal in terms of height, depth, and width…no coincidence in the New Jerusalem that that Most Holy Place is also a perfect cube. 

    And to enter requires holiness. 

    And that’s a holiness we cannot earn. 

    Because we cannot make ourselves holy. We cannot make ourselves pure. 

    We are enabled to enter because of the blood of the lamb. He accepts us freely but we have to accept him.

    Heaven isn’t where a person should want to go because it’s better than hell. It’s where we want to go because it’s the abode of the Lord God Almighty. 

    It’s a place whose light is the Lord God, the Almighty, and who’s lamp is the land. 

    Thanks for listening!

  • Sermon: Name Changer – Romans 8:14-17

    14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 

    Lord God,

    You are our God. You are our creator. But you are also our Heavenly Father. And let us not take it lightly that we can to approach you as Father and that because of your Son, our Lord Jesus, who took on the penalty of our sins, that we are enabled to be adopted as your Sons and daughters. 

    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

    Lord, we once again thank you for the opportunity to meet here today and to praise your great name and to remember your wondrous gospel. 

    Our Father, we pray for our time of fellowship. We pray for the city of Beirut who endured a catastrophic explosion this past week which has caused so much destruction in a city and nation that are already reeling. Lord, we also pray for missionaries and Christians in that struggling nation that they can be light in spite of this horrible event. 

    Lord, we pray that you would bless our time in your Word. May we be pointed to grace and truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.  

     This morning, we’re continuing in our series the Forensics of Faith. 

     We’ve discussed regeneration: the new Spiritual life that God works in a believer. 

    Justification: the right legal standing before God. 

    Sanctification: the process through which God makes us holy. 

    All three of those things are glorious works of grace in the lives of a believer. 

    Today we focus on our relationship to God because of the salvation of the gospel. When we come to faith in Christ, we are adopted as God’s sons and daughters and become members of the family of God. 

    It isn’t deserved or merited. It is entirely because of the grace of God through the gospel and the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. He did that so we could be forgiven of our sins but also so that we could have a relationship with God. 

    Bridge 

    Main idea: God’s son died so we could be God’s sons. 

    And certainly for ladies, you’re no less adopted, no less part of God’s family, you’re adopted as a daughter of God. I say “Son” because that’s what the text says, which is what the Greek had said, which is part of an overarching thee of sonship that is in the Bible. 

    Body 

    I. Adoption 

    14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

    Everyone who is led by the Spirit is a Son of God. 

    Sonship is an important theme in the Bible. We talked about this a few weeks ago in one of our recorded sermons we did this spring. 

    In the Old Testament, we see Israel referred to as God’s son. And during the Davidic Monarchy of Israel, the earthly king of Israel was also referred to as a Son of God.

    But we don’t see individuals referring to themselves as God’s sons in the Old Testament. Nor do we see people referring to God as their “father.” 

    (pause)

    Where the text says “sons,” of course this includes women as well. But when it talks about being sons of God, the term has this rich Old Testament background.

    Especially when we consider that the ultimate reason why this is even possible is because Jesus Christ, the son of God, has enabled us to be adopted by God. The son of God died so we could be sons of God. 

    This passage also talks about the role of the Holy Spirit in our relationship with God.

    We are regenerated by the Spirit. We are sanctified by the Spirit. We are baptized by the Holy Spirit. And here, we are led by the Spirit as an indication of our adoption into God’s family. 

    And if you look at this verse in context, when it’s talking about being led by the Spirit, it’s referring to being led by the Spirit away from sin. 

    Because we have been given God’s Spirit, it is the Spirit which leads a person in holiness and leads a person from sin. 

    Adherence to the Spirit of God shows a person who really is in the family of God. Someone who really has received this Spiritual adoption.

    15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

    We haven’t received a Spirit of fear. A spirit of doubt. But we have received the Spirit of adoption. It is only when a person has faith and the Spirit that comes through faith that a person is adopted as God’s child. 

    And because the Spirit is God, the Spirit internally witnesses to God, and it is through the Spirit that we cry “Abba! Father!” 

    Abba is the Aramaic word for Father. It’s the word Jesus himself would have used when referring to God. 

    Abba almost sounds like a word a child would use. As little ones are trying to first speak, not even putting words together, but just syllables and sounds. 

    Because we have been adopted as God’s children, due to the witness of the Spirit in our hearts, we are able to approach the infinite God of the universe in the same intimate terms in which His own son, Jesus Christ referred to him. “Abba.” 

    That when we are in the difficulties of life. When we are in the dark nights of the soul. When we are in the stormy seasons. When we are dealing with brokenness and shattered relationships. That we have a personal God to whom we can address as “Abba, Father.” 

    I very lightly touched on this point last Sunday. 

    This idea, as Americans is one that is so basic, that it is easy to lose appreciation for the magnitude of what this means. It’s just so entrenched in our vocabulary with how we talk about God that it’s good to step back and think about that. God is our Father. 

    Even nominal Christians know the Lord’s prayer, “Our father who art in heaven.” Again, that’s part of the way how we talk about God.  

    In many parts of the world, and in many other faiths, such a thing would be radical, if not outright blasphemous. 

    But God’s son died so we could be God’s sons. And because of the gospel, we can approach the King of the Universe as our Father. 

    Again, do we think about how remarkable that is? 

    You can approach God as “Father.” If you called your boss your father, he’d think you were crazy! You don’t address the president as “father.” And those are just people. But with Almighty God, we can approach him as “Father.” And I think we treat it like, “well yeah, so what?” 

    We are enabled to approach God in such a way. 

    Not because we deserve it. We don’t. God is holy and mighty and perfect and righteous. 

    And we are not.

     But the God of the universe invites you into close relationship with Him. That’s not something that is meant to be taken lightly. 

    In Jewish literature from ancient times, individuals did not refer to God as their “father.”

    I’ve already alluded to this, but in the Bible, the giants of the Old Testament didn’t address the Lord as their Father. Abraham. Who believed in God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Who God promised his offspring would be as innumerable as the stars, through whom all the nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3, 15:5, 22:18), don’t address God as his “Father.”

    Moses, the leader of Israel who led them from slavery in Egypt, through wanderings in the desert. The man to whom God gave the Ten Commandments. The man who was in the presence of the Lord and whose face shined so spectacularly that he had to wear a veil when talking to the people didn’t address God as His Father (Exodus 20, 34). David. The King of Israel. The man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) the author of 76 Psalms, some of the most loving words in scripture written about God did not address God as his father. 

    But 39 times in the gospels, Jesus personally refers to God as His Father.

    And he talked about our relationship to God as being our father. I’ve mentioned the Lord’s prayer. It begins “Our father, in heaven (Matthew 6:9).” Before the prayer, he says:

    when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:6)

    These great figures in the Old Testament. Didn’t refer to God as their father, but Jesus instructs us to do so.

    Because of what Christ has done for us so that we can be forgiven of our sins, he has invited into a relationship, and because God has given those whom he has forgiven his Spirit, we can approach God as “Abba, Father.” It’s not just that we get to use a new term to refer to God. It’s that the Spirit of God witnessing and convicting us internally affirms in our heart that God is our “Abba, Father” and that we are His children. We have a good God.

    Some people envision this abstract creator God who’s not personal or relational. But the Spirit testifies in us in these intimate terms in referring to God. Abba, father.

    Application 

    Is that something you’ve done recently? Or done ever? And I’m not so much talking about the words. 

    But do you ever rest in the grace of your loving heavenly Father? Do you ever find peace and patience in knowing God is on the throne?

    I think it’s so tempting for us to want to control everything. To want to control situations. I know it’s something I fight against. 

    But we are adopted as Sons and Daughters of the Father of all creation. We are heirs of grace because of what Christ has done. 

    We get to approach God as our Father, just like how Jesus could. Because we are adopted. We aren’t partially adopted as God’s children. We are fully adopted into the family of God. Since the adoption is a work of God, it’s not something we can lose. You can’t get disowned in this family. You are God’s child when you place faith in Christ. 

    In times of uncertainty and stress, is the first reaction to panic about it? Is it to worry and be fearful? Or do you think “My Father in heaven knows me and knows.”

    When you’re in a situation and you don’t know what to do, do you think “Father, lead me.” When you’re dealing with someone who’s difficult, do you think “Father, soften me.” When you’re facing loneliness and desire, do you say “Father, be with me.”

    God adopts us. You cannot be God’s child without having been adopted by God. 

    Being able to approach God as your Father is something only his adopted children can do. 

    While all people are created by God, not all people are his sons and daughters. 

    John 1:12 says that for all who believed in him, he gave the right to become children of God.  In our own passage, in verse 16, it is the Spirit that testifies that we are children of God. But without that means that a person is not. And the Spirit comes through faith.

    It’s not because he needs us, or because he’s lonely without us. God has always existed in a relationship with Himself, in the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit. And yet he invites us as well into relationship with Him. Purely because of his goodness and love.  

        Validation 

    We see other references from Paul to adoption. 

    Ephesians 1:5 

    In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will

     Again, the forgiveness that comes through the gospel is reserved exclusively for the person who has placed faith in Christ. 

    We see similar language used in Galatians as we do in Romans. Galatians 4:4-6

     But 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. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 

    The son of God died so we can be God’s sons.

        Meditation 

    None of this is to say we should just be totally casual in our relationship with  God. In the Ten Commandments, we are told to honor our Father and Mother (Exodus 20:12). And we should. And we must also honor our Heavenly Father. 

    Jesus honored and revered his Heavenly Father. And keep in mind, Jesus is God. We aren’t. But nevertheless, we see from Jesus humility before God. We see him living in fidelity to God’s will. 

    God is our Father in heaven. We can experience closeness and intimacy with God. But it’s a relationship that also demands reverence and honor.

    He is perfect.    

    II.

    16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.  

    There is so much that could be said about these verses. 

    The Holy Spirit bears witness in your heart the you are a child of God. 

    The Spirit witnessing to God is also touching on the doctrine of assurance.

    This again speaks to the impact of the gospel in a person’s life.

    The Spirit bears witness that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs. Being adopted as a child of God comes with an inheritance. 

    In the first century Roman world, their concept of adoption had many similarities to how adoption works here today. Again, adoption doesn’t mean someone just has a new set of roommates. It is becoming part of a family. It is having a new name. 

    In Rome, for people in the upper classes, if they did not have a male heir, sometimes they would adopt a child from another family. Perhaps the most famous example of this from the Ancient Roman world was Augustus Ceasar. 

    But here’s what’s interesting.  Since it was often times wealthier families who practiced adoption, it was to carry on the family name and it was also for the purpose of having an heir to whom to give an inheritance. 

    And those are all true for us when we are adopted as sons and daughters of God. And you do have privileges through adoption as well. 

    You have the inheritance of a future with God. You have the Spirit of God in you. You have forgiveness for your sins. You have a relationship with God. You are God’s child.  

    But there are also responsibilities with being a child of God. There are greater things we are called to.

    We are supposed to be like our father.

    Like Father, like son.

    After the Lord’s prayer, Jesus says “if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14).

    Jesus said to “be merciful, even as your father is merciful (Luke 6:33)” and those who love their enemies will be sons of God” (Luke 6:35).

     And that the peacemakers will be called “sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

    Like Father, like son. We are called upon to do what our Father does too. Obviously it’s not that we become divine now or at any point ever in the future. But in character and holiness, as God’s adopted heirs, we are to live lives as witnesses to God’s holiness and goodness in the world.

    Another part of being an heir with Christ taken directly from the text:

    if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

    Now this might not be what we’d expect. Shouldn’t we be insulated from any sort of suffering or difficulty?

    Christ wasn’t. And part of the union with Christ does involve difficulty and suffering. That cuts against the grain of what our society likes to say Christianity is. That true blessing is always the path of least resistance.

    But that view is not Biblical. 

    The Bible doesn’t hide from the reality of the fallen world in which we live. Sharing in suffering, enduring and persevering in faith through difficulty is a prelude to future glory.

    For a person who truly is adopted and truly is a child of God, even in the difficulties, we still have the Holy Spirit inside us, witnessing “Abba, father” confirming our faith to us. But in being like Christ, we all do have our crosses to bear.

    And knowing that, are you still able to trust God? Or do you want to go into doubt? Do you want to find scriptures that say that isn’t true? What’s your response?

    Some of us have been blessed with incredible dads. Dads who were always there for us. Supportive. Loving.

    But some of us didn’t have great dads.

    Sociologists say that a person’s view of their father can impact their views of God.

    But even in spite of challenges, what do you believe about God? Do you believe he is a good and loving Father?

    Conclusion 

    I talked earlier about Roman adoption. 

    It’s striking to me that something that was sometimes practiced in Roman adoptions was the adopting family giving money to the birth family for their child. The adopted Roman could often times still maintain connections with the birth family and was promised an inheritance in the new family. 

    But it’s striking that it came at a cost. 

    It makes me wonder how passages like this would have been viewed in the first century. Because our adoption into God’s family also came at a cost. The cost of God’s son dying so that we could be God’s sons. 

    Even today. In doing a domestic adoption through an adoption agency, it’s many thousands of dollars. It comes at a cost. 

    God adopting us as his sons and daughters came at a cost. 

    In the book Hidden in Plain Sight, author Mark Buchanan tells the story of a woman named Regine from Rwanda. She had become a Christian and moved to Canada. She met a man named Gordon. They got married and eventually decided to return to her homeland to spread the gospel. 

    Tragedy would strike when her only son was murdered in Rwanda. 

    Regina prayed for clarity on who had done this. She was filled with bitterness and hatred. 

    Her only son. Gone. 

    One day, she had a knock at the door and there stood a young man.

    He hesitated. Then he said, “I am the one who killed your son. Since that day, I have had no life. No peace. So here I am. I am placing my life in your hands. Kill me. I am dead already. Throw me in jail. I am in prison already. Torture me. I am in torment already. Do with me as you wish.” 

    The woman had prayed for this day. Now it had arrived, and she didn’t know what to do. She found, to her own surprise, that she did not want to kill him. Or throw him in jail. Or torture him. In that moment of reckoning, she found she only wanted one thing: a son.

    God has a son too. 

    And that son gave his life for you so you could be called God’s own son or daughter. 

    Regina took that boy in that day. She made him her own. 

    He had killed her son and deserved wrath and punishment. But what he instead found was unimaginable grace. Her son’s killer found a home. 

    We were outside the family of God. Our inheritance wasn’t joy in heaven. It was wrath in Hell. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit, it was worldliness.

    It wasn’t God as our Father. We couldn’t make him adopt us. God chose to adopt us because of his love. But the cost of that was his own son. Who died for us so we could be with God. That was the cost of forgiveness from our sins.