San Diego Unified School District is the second largest district in California. Their district recently approved major changes in their grading system to combat racial disparities in academic out comings.
NBC San Diego explains the background for policy changes: According to data presented by the district, under the old grading system, teachers fail minority students more than White students – a lot more. During the first semester of last year, 30% of all D or F grades were given to English learners. One in four, 25%, of failing marks went to students with disabilities. By ethnicity, 23% went to Native Americans. Another 23% of failing grades went to Hispanics. And 20% of D or F grades went to Black students.
Among the changes, if assignments are turned in late, that will not count against a student’s academic score. Grading will not be based on cumulative scores throughout a term but by academic mastery of a subject by the end of a term.
The policies also lessen penalties for cheating. Quoting from the San Diego Union Tribune: Under the new grading policy, when a student is caught cheating, schools must give the student a chance to reflect on what he or she did, repair trust and receive counseling or other help.
This is insanity.
Their grand solution to disparities in grading is to lower standards?
Lower expectations do not help to overcome disparities. Lower expectations do not help the world to overcome racism. They make everyone worse off. Basic academic expectations such as not cheating and turning things in on time help to prepare people for life in the real world. Because in life, there are consequences for cheating. In life, there are consequences for not making deadlines. In life, your performance matters.
On paper, that might show some improvements in these academic disparities. But at what cost? Are these making people perform at a higher level? It seems like this could far more easily have people performing at an even worse level. They’re removing basic consequences of student’s actions. On paper, grades might be better, but if they’re doing a worse job of preparing people for the real world, I ask of what value that is.
Part of the heart behind these changes is that some students can come from dysfunctional homes and study academically. That is a sad reality. And I recognize that there is not an easy solution to these issues. But in lowering standards to boost grades, that doesn’t change the risk of harmful unintended consequences.
Also, I question how these policies are themselves not racist? In focusing on late assignments or cheating, they say that it’s healing to fight racism to eliminate these policies? It’s the racism of low expectations.
Thanks for reading! Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe!
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”
30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Our heavenly Father,
We praise you for this day and for the opportunity to come together again and to worship you. May you bless our time as we study your word and proclaim your gospel.
May our hearts and minds be transformed by the truths of your scriptures. That Jesus is the Lord who has come into the world to redeem sinful humanity. Lord, we continue to pray for our community as covid cases are on the rise. May we continue to trust in you but to also exercise wisdom in our actions. We pray for our state and the surrounding areas.
Lord, we pray for our nation. It’s been an exhausting year with covid, economic issues, civil unrest, and heated political tensions. May we continue to rise above all of that and to trust in you above all things. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction
Part of this section we’ve preached over the last couple of weeks.
But to make sense of where we’re going in the passage, I think it’s important to have some of what precedes today’s section. As we’ve noted numerous times, Jesus is speaking to a large group of people in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths.
And so I look at this entire passage as three main scenes. Verses 25-36 is what we looked at two weeks ago.
Verses 37-39 is the second scene. That’s where we were last weekend.
And the remainder of our passage is the third scene and where we’ll spend most of our time.
But I think the first point to make if you were to look at the first scene and the third scene is that they both have a lot of similarities to each other.
Both at the beginning and end of the passage, we see confusion as to the origins and identity of Jesus. In the beginning and ending scenes, we see that there are some people who are drawn to Jesus but we also see there are people who reject Jesus. In both the first and last scenes, you see people questioning what others believe about Jesus, sometimes in accusatory tones. In both the first and final scene of this passage, there are attempts to arrest Jesus which are unsuccessful.
And the reason why I point all of these out is because I believe that makes the second scene the hinge of the whole story where in the midst of all of the chaos and the raucous environment surrounding Jesus, he stands up and says:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’
We see all of the division and differing opinions among the various groups in this chapter…
That’s the way the world is.
The world has all sorts of assumptions that it makes for who Jesus is.
And that’s what we see in this passage.
There are those who are asking if he could be the Christ. There are those who are trying to explain why Jesus can’t be who he claims to be. You have those who are outwardly hostile to Jesus and his claims.
That’s how the world is today.
We have these groups.
We have all sorts of assumptions about Jesus.
And it’s in the midst of all of that that Jesus says:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
We can have all sorts of assumptions about Jesus.
But what the middle of the passage is telling us is that none of that matters.
Jesus isn’t calling people to have it all figured out and then come to him.
He’s not saying that we need to be master theologians.
He’s not saying we need to get all of our ducks in a row morally and then come to him.
He’s not giving an exhaustive explanation of the Old Testament and why he is the Christ and should be worshipped and praised.
He says: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Regardless of the arguments for or against Jesus. Regardless of what a person thinks about Jesus or what the world tells about Jesus.
That if we truly want to know Jesus and what he is all about that we have to experience Jesus.
Psalm 34:8 says: taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
We can have all sorts of opinions about Jesus. But he invites us to come to him and know him. He invites us to experience him.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
He invites us to find our rest in him. He invites us to approach him. He invites us to find our hope.
Jesus doesn’t say in this passage that the strong or superior find rest in him, but it it those who are heavy laden.
That is the goodness of Jesus. He came to a dead world to bring life. He came to a guilty world to bring forgiveness. He came to a prideful world to bring grace.
Jesus calls us to believe in him.
Romans 10:13 says: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
And again, a verse we looked at last week.
Revelation 22:17: The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
Jesus invites us. He invites us to come to him.
He invites the Spiritually thirsty to come to him and to drink the water that he offers.
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’
That’s the offer Jesus makes to the crowd in John 7. And it’s the offer that he makes to the whole world. For those who are Spiritually thirsty to come to him, to know him, to believe in him, to worship him, to come and drink.
And with that, we come to our passage. And in the fallout of what Jesus has just said, we will see three different responses from the audience.
Positive response to Jesus
Verses 40 into 41: 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”
So some suggest that Jesus could be the prophet. Others suggested Jesus could be the Christ.
They’re both right.
In the first century, there were some who thought that these were two different figures. In reality, Jesus is both.
Let’s explain this further.
For the people who have heard Jesus teaching and wonder if he could be “the” prophet, the is important there.
Because they’re not questioning if Jesus could be a prophet like Isaiah or Ezekiel.
They’re asking if he could be the prophet which is a reference to Deuteronomy 18. In that passage, Moses is still leading the Israelites in their desert wanderings and he talks of a future time when a greater leader than he would come to lead Israel.
Deuteronomy 18:15: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen-
And so people question if Jesus could be this long ago promised prophet.
We actually discussed this over a year ago when we were in chapter 1.
When John the Baptist was teaching and there were people who wondered if he was the prophet. He was quick to set the record straight that he was not.
In John 6, after Jesus fed the multitudes, the immediate response of the crowd given in John 6:14 was:
When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
So back in our passage, there are people who wonder if Jesus could be the prophet.
But you also have those who wonder if Jesus could be the Christ.
And I think it’s helpful to give a reminder that when they refer to Jesus as the Christ, the word Christ is not a name, it’s a title.
The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word “Christos” which means anointed. In the Old Testament, the high priest, the kings of Israel, and the prophets would be anointed with oil. The olive oil would be ceremonially poured on them.
Also in the temple, some of the items were also anointed with oil.
The anointing was meant to show that a thing was consecrated to the Lord and set aside.
In the first century, there were people who were looking forward to a coming anointed one. A coming Christ.
And so when Jesus is teaching here, there are people who wonder if he could be that person.
So we do have two camps who see something special in Jesus. Is he the prophet? Is he the Christ?
The answer is: yes.
He’s both.
He is the prophet. And he is the Christ. Jesus who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of both.
He is the long ago promised prophet to lead Israel into the true Promised Land: the new heaven and the new earth. But he is also the anointed one. He is the Christ.
He fulfills the Old Testament. He lived a perfect life. He went to the cross and died and rose so that all who believe in him can be forgiven.
So that’s our first scene. That’s the favorable response to who Jesus is.
That’s not saying that all of the people in that camp were confessing believers or truly understood the gospel. But they’re drawn to Jesus.
So that’s our first group. People who have a favorable response to Jesus. This group is drawn to Jesus.
Disbelieving response to Jesus
We come to a second group.
Others are explaining that he can’t be the Christ. This second group is people who don’t believe in Jesus but they’re not also militant in their opposition.
Rest of verse 41 through the end of verse 43:
But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him.
Again, you have this long expected Christ figure and so the Israelites had opinions of what he would be like.
Just like at the beginning of this section, the passage we looked at two weeks ago, some look to the origins of Jesus as disqualifying to his being the Christ.
Some of the people point to the fact that Jesus is from Galilee and look at that as the reason as to why Jesus cannot be the Christ. Because the Jewish people all knew Micah 5:2: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
The Christ had to come from Bethlehem.
Which Jesus did.
They said that the Christ had to come from the line of David. Which Jesus did.
So what’s happening is there are people in the crowd who actually do have some correct understanding of the Bible but they do not have correct understanding of the facts about Jesus.
Makes me think of the Mark Twain quote: “What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.”
That’s something we can all be guilty of. Having our facts wrong. But in this case, that falsity is pointing them away from the savior of the world.
Once again, I think that this is something that often happens in our world. People have part of the truth. They know a little bit about the Bible. They know a little bit about Jesus.
They hear God is love and so assume that moral opinions are somehow unbiblical.
They think Jesus is good, but they don’t really believe he’s Lord and so they don’t believe in him.
They think Jesus quaint but they don’t think he’s their savior.
So much of the world takes slivers of truth about Jesus but misses the whole point of why he came.
It was because the world was dead in sin and true life could only come from a perfect savior who died for the sins we committed and reconciled us to a righteous God.
That’s the gospel.
So from the crowd, we’ve seen those who think he’s the Christ, those who think he’s the prophet, those who think he’s not the prophet.
The second group doesn’t believe in Jesus but they’re not out and out hostile to Jesus here.
That’s where much of our world is today.
There are lots of Bible passages that talk about persecution. That talk about opposition to Jesus.
There are lots of news stories that talk about opposition to Chrsitianity and persecution. We mentioned earlier today that next Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
That’s important and significant.
And I point that out right now because I think it’s on our radar to consider the strong-armed opposition to Jesus.
This second group isn’t like that though. They’re just explaining why they don’t believe Jesus is the Christ.
But they still don’t believe in him.
And there’s no middle ground with Jesus.
Matthew 12:30, Jesus says: Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
You believe him or you don’t.
So I ask. What do you believe?
Who is Jesus to you?
Is he the Christ? Is he the savior of the world? Is he your Lord?
Or does he not fit the criteria that you think matters?
The danger humanity faces isn’t only those who are opposed to Jesus but it’s those who are indifferent to him.
Because the person who is indifferent to Jesus can be tempted to think that they’re all right with Jesus.
But they’re not.
There’s no middle ground.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He’s the word who became flesh. He’s the God who was in the beginning. And he has made a way for sinful people to be forgiven. He did it by going to the cross. Again. We don’t have to have it all figured out.
But we must come to him.
And then we see the third group.
Opposing response to Jesus
Verse 44, we see that there are those in the crowd who think that Jesus should be arrested for what he’s saying. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
As we discussed before, at this point in John’s Gospel, we’re seeing increasing hostility to Jesus. There are people who want him arrested. There are people who want him silenced. There are those who want him killed.
And what follows in the passage are the interactions between these various groups of people.
Another attempt is made to arrest Jesus. We’ve already seen an unsuccessful attempt in the first scene. Here again the temple guards are sent for Jesus.
But the officers in the temple do not follow through.
Verses 45-46: The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
The priests and the pharisees are outraged. Like a looming cloud their opposition to Christ hangs over the rest of this passage.
The guards did not follow through on their orders to arrest Jesus.
Something to note here. When we hear of the religious leaders sending the guards of the temple to arrest Jesus, it’s important to understand that it’s not a swat team. They didn’t send in the Marines. The temple guards were Levites who were responsible for tending to the temple.
So the chief priest might have sent the guards to arrest Jesus but they too have their opinions on the Christ and what he would be like. They’ve heard Jesus teaching.
And so the Levites, the temple guards are taken by what Jesus has said.
No one ever spoke like this man.
Jesus’ words are forceful. They’re moving. They confront us.
To paraphrase an idea from the great 19th century preacher Charles Spuregon, the guards were sent to arrest Jesus, it was they who were arrested by his words. They did not take Jesus but were taken by the power of his message.
We see the intermingling of different responses to Jesus.
The positive and negative responses to Jesus coming to battle.
The pharisees berate the guards. And really they basically lash out against everyone there.
We see those who are sympathetic to Jesus coming into conflict with those who oppose Jesus.
Verses 47-48: The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
D.A. Carson adds a helpful point in their response.
The leaders are not mad at the guards as a commanding officer over subordinates for dereliction of duty. The derision of the authorities comes to the temple guard that they did not listen to their Spiritual and theological authorities. Moreover, the guards should have had more sense and better knowledge of the Old Testament than to be sympathetic to Jesus’ message.
In verse 48, they ask if any of the authorities or pharisees have believed in Jesus?
The irony is that one is about to.
But first, the religious authorities continue their rant and also criticize and insult the crowd.
Verse 49: this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
Again, we’re seeing these differing opinions about who Jesus is.
Verse 50, we see a climactic moment of this whole scene.
The return of Nicodemus. Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” (John 7:50-52)
Nicodemus is introduced in John’s gospel in chapter 3. He was the leading theologian and scholar of his time. He comes to Jesus and he’s intrigued by Jesus and his teachings.
In that famous passage, Jesus told Nicodemus you must be born again.
Nicodemus had responded to Jesus with confusion and questioning:
John 3:4: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
But here we see Nicodemus coming to the defense of Jesus. We’ll also see him reappear after Jesus is crucified.
We’re never told specifically whether or not Nicodemus comes to faith but the fact that John continues to bring him back throughout the story indicates that Nicodemus saw Jesus for who he is.
Nicodemus speaks up on Jesus’ behalf in this passage. He suggests that they give a fair evaluation to Jesus’ words and what he’s said.
But the rest of the religious leaders lash out against him too.
We see these conflicts.
And the conflicts should not be surprising, because as I’ve said many times before: the gospel is offensive. The message of Christ and him crucified, and him coming to redeem the world is offensive. Because it confronts us with our sin and coming to terms with our own sin. It confronts us with our eternal hope. It confronts us with placing our faith and trust in something outside of ourselves.
The gospel is offensive.
And so we have all of these different responses. We see these conflicts in response to what Jesus has promised.
And the solution to the conflicts is Jesus himself.
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
What do you believe?
The only response which Jesus accepts is belief in him.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Prayer
Our Heavenly Father,
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Lord God, it is only through your gospel that the longings of the human soul can be quenched. We praise you for the salvation which you promise through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank you that we have a savior whom we can approach.
Lord, we ask that you again bless our time as we study your word. Prepare our hearts as we approach your scriptures. May we do it in a spirit of humility and reverence.
May we grow in deeper love for your goodness.
Lord, none but you is worthy of our praise.
We pray that we would be strengthened and edified as we study your sacred scriptures.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction
Water. It helps regulate our body temperature. It protects our joints and spinal cord. It helps brain function, energy levels, and circulation. It’s used in running the major systems of our bodies. It helps our bodies dispose of waste.
It’s essential to human life. Our bodies are mostly made up of water. A healthy person can only survive 3-4 days without it.
One of the great blessings of modern, industrial societies is that we have easy access to drinking water. We just turn on the tap and there it is.
It’s a blessing that I know I never seriously take time to consider and appreciate. It’s just there.
In other parts of the world, water is in short supply due to draught and insufficient storage and purification facilities.
In parts of Africa, millions of people – mostly women or children – do not have indoor plumbing and have to make daily trips to communal sources of water.
And that’s more similar to the situation in Jesus’ day.
Israel gets almost no rainfall from May to mid-October.
And so when Jesus talks about people thirsting, it might have had a little more resonance to a first century audience than it would for us.
But still, thirst is an incredibly powerful metaphor. Because even though we do have easy access to water, we’ve all been thirsty at some point. Maybe you’ve been outside all day. May it’s a really hot day. There is an instant relief that water brings us.
And in those times, it’s a thirst that only water can quench. Maybe you’re a soda drinker, a soda isn’t refreshing when you’re truly thirsty. Maybe you’re a coffee drinker. A piping hot cup of coffee isn’t refreshing when you’re thirsty. Only water.
In our section, Jesus stands up and proclaims:
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Are you thirsty?
Over the last couple of weeks in chapter 7, we’ve seen Jesus at the Feast of Booths.
In today’s section, our passage opens up by saying that it is the last day of the feast. So we’ve seen quite a bit of time dedicated to this one week Feast of Booths.
And with that, we’ll jump right into our passage before making a few concluding observations about the passage.
Verses 37-38: On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
John says that Jesus cried out when he spoke. There is urgency to his proclamation.
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
The first thing that we have to understand about this passage is that Jesus does not talk about thirst and drinking out of nowhere.
What he’s saying fits in with the feast.
And it’s important to understand what Jesus is saying in light of the Old Testament.
One thing we have not talked about is that in Jesus’ day, as part of the observance of the Feast of Booths there was a water pouring ceremony where the high priest would take a golden pitcher of water. With an assembly of people following him, the high priest would go to the nearby Pool of Siloam and fill the pitcher. The priest would bring the water back to the temple courtyard as horns blasted in celebration. The people would recite Psalms of praise and chant three times “Give thanks to the Lord, give thanks to the Lord, give thanks to the Lord.” And the high priest would take the pitcher of water and pour it on the altar.
In Jesus’ day, this ceremony had developed.
Now, keep in mind that the Feast of Booths was, in part, meant to recall the time in which their Israelite forefathers were in the wilderness and awaiting the Promised Land.
For 40 years, the Israelites dwelled in their own booths or tents and brought the tabernacle with them through the desert.
In Exodus chapters 15, 16, and 17, the Israelites were still in the first few days and weeks into the desert wanderings. They’ve just seen God bring the plagues upon the Egyptians. They’ve just seen the Lord part the waters of the Red Sea and free them Egyptian rule.
The Israelites quickly fall into grumbling. In Exodus 15, they grumble about not having water. As if the Lord God who had miraculously freed them would not provide.
But before we judge the Israelites too harshly, we can often be as fickle and as quick to forget the Lord’s blessings in our own lives.
Can we not?
We can forget God’s blessings in our lives, God’s faithfulness in our lives, God’s provision in our lives. We’re not so different from the Israelites.
In Exodus, God provides water.
Exodus 16, the Israelites complain about not having enough food and go as far as accusing the Lord of having brought them into the desert for them all to die.
God is gracious. He provides manna. It was miraculous. Something which the Lord used to sustain them for every day of their 40 year journey.
Interestingly, in John 6, we see Jesus as something greater when he declares that he himself is the true bread of life after he had fed the multitudes.
Exodus 17, the people again complain about water.
Nevermind that God has already shown his ability to provide water. God has shown that he will provide food. But the Israelites again grumble and accuse the Lord of having brought them into the wilderness to kill them.
Instead of reigning down righteous judgment, God does another miracle
Exodus 17:4-6: So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.
God provides water from a rock. When the Israelites were in the desert and thirsty, God gave them water.
And that was part of the background for the water ceremony at the Feast of Booths.
Again, the Feast of Booths was largely meant to look back at the time of the Israelite wanderings.
But there’s further significance to the water.
Water is a symbol of blessing in the Old Testament.
And once again, to appreciate that, I think we have to keep in mind desert and semiarid climates where the Israelites lived in the Old Testament and in the time of Christ.
The water ceremony specifically was related to Isaiah 12. It’s not specifically commanded in that passage, but the connection of water and life and praise for the Lord influenced the Jewish observance of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Isaiah 12:3-4: 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
Or again, we see the connection with water and divine blessing in Isaiah 55:1:
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk
Zechariah 14:8 prophesied of a future time of God’s blessing.
On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea.
It’s interesting that even in Zechariah, he refers to living water.
The prophets are looking forward to a future time of the Lord’s provision where it’s compared to living water.
Water is important.
And in the Old Testament, you also see the connection of ideas of water with the Holy Spirit. Most famously in Ezekiel 36.
Verses 25-27 I consider this one of the three most significant passages in the Old Testament outside of Genesis:
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
In that passage, we see the specific connection between water and the Spirit and the impact that the Spirit has in the life of a believer. We’ve talked about the importance of water in the Feast of Booths in pointing back to God’s provision of water, in the importance of water for our survival. But the connection of water and the Holy Spirit is also important with their connection to the Feast of Booths because part of the celebration and hope in the Feast of Booths was that it looked forward to a future time when the Lord would pour out his Spirit on his people.
And that is important to understanding our passage in John.
Because Jesus says: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Ezekiel pointed to a time when people would be so filled with the Spirit that they would be enabled to live out the Law of God. Jesus says that whoever believes in him “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
What I believe this is saying is that the one who comes to Jesus will be given the Spirit, as the scriptures have promised.
And where it says Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water, it is referring to the transformed life of a believer through the work of the Holy Spirit.
We don’t cause it to happen. We don’t cause our own Spiritual growth. It is a supernatural work of God in the heart and life of a believer as a result of regeneration.
And so that drives home the significance of Jesus standing up on the last day of the feast and calling the thirsty to come to him and drink and his promise of living water.
The fact that the living water is the Holy Spirit is not in dispute. You have the Old Testament background. But even more specifically, John tells us that’s what’s being referenced in vere 39.
7:39: Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
And really, Jesus has talked a lot about the Holy Spirit to this point in John.
He talks of it in reference to regeneration, being born again, when Nicodemus comes seeking Jesus. John 3:5:“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God
Jesus is referring to water and the Spirit in John 4 when he tells the woman at the well:
John 4:14:
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The Holy Spirit and his coming into the hearts of believers and the necessity of that happening is really a significant theme in John. It will be a major focus towards the end of his ministry in chapters 14-17.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Back in our main passage.
You have a large assembly of Israelite all listening to Jesus preach about the living water he provides at the feast which pointed back to their ancestors’ time in the wilderness. It was in that time that God provided physical water from a rock. But it was meant to point to something greater.
You have Jesus at the feast which looked forward to a future time when God would pour out his Spirit and here Jesus proclaims to the group that he is the one who has come to provide that Spirit.
But as John ends the passage, the Spirit had not yet been given. John says that this is because Christ had not yet been glorified.
Once again, his ministry has a singular focus that is always pointing forward to his death. There are people trying to kill him but unable, we’ve talked about his hour, referring to when he would die. Here again, the Spirit would not be given until after Jesus had died and rose from the dead and been glorified.
Jesus provides the living water to the one who comes to him who thirsts.
Are you thirsty?
And this idea is carried into the Biblical depictions of heaven.
Revelation 21:6, John’s vision of the new heaven and the new earth.
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
Then again in Revelation 22:17, one of the last few verses of the entire Bible:
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
Jesus has come for thirsty people.
I spoke in the beginning about how much of the world struggles to get water.
But it’s interesting.
We have water, but we don’t drink it. At least not to the level that we should.
Studies show that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
That’s amazing.
And I looked at some articles that suggest that there are other industrialized countries who do even worse. One article suggested 80% of Australians and others articles said upwards of 90% of British people don’t drink enough water.
So we have people in poor countries who don’t drink enough water because they can’t get it. But many people in places who have enough water don’t drink it.
That is amazing when you think about it. And I consider the metaphor of thirst and living water from a Spiritual perspective.
So many people don’t think that they need God. Don’t think that they need the salvation which Christ offers. Feel like they can do things their own way and be fine.
The grace is offered but so many aren’t thirsty – or more accurately – so many people don’t know that they have the thirst for what Christ alone can quench.
Jesus provides the living water and he is the only source of the true water.
What well are you drinking from?
The USS Indianapolis was a battle cruiser which was sunk by a Japanese torpedo in the Pacific Ocean in July of 1945. The ship was returning from a mission which had included delivering the enriched uranium needed for the first atomic bomb.
The ship sunk in 12 minutes with 1,195 sailors aboard. Roughly 300 died in the initial sinking.
For the 900 survivors, they spent a harrowing four days in the hot sun of the Pacific Ocean with very little food or water. Some died from injuries sustained in the sinking, some died from the elements and exposure. Some were killed in shark attacks.
But a temptation the survivors faced in their state of extreme dehydration was the desire to drink the sea water.
Only 316 of the nearly 900 who survived the sinking of the ship survived the four days at sea.
The chief medical officer recounted his own harrowing experiences.
There was nothing I could do, nothing I could do but give advice, bury the dead at sea, save the lifejackets, and try to keep the men from drinking the water. When the hot sun came out, and we were in this crystal clear ocean, we were so thirsty. You couldn’t believe it wasn’t good enough to drink. I had a hard time convincing the men they shouldn’t drink. The real young ones…you take away their hope, you take away their water and food, they would drink the salt water and they would go fast. I can remember striking the ones who were drinking the salt water to try to stop them. They would get dehydrated.
There is living water that Jesus promises to those who come to him in thirst.
Anything else we drink will lead to our own death and destruction.
He invites us to know him. He invites us to drink. He invites us to life.
Have you come to him as one who is thirsty? Do you believe that he is the Lord? That he is the savior of the world? That he gives living water?
And at the last Supper, he invited us to his table.
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
Prayer
Our heavenly Father,
You are the creator and the sustainer of all things.
Nothing has happened or will ever happen outside of your sovereign providence for your creation.
Lord God, we continue to pray for our nation in all of the uncertainty that we’re facing.
Lord, we continue to pray for this season that we’re in. It’s been a long year. It’s been a tiring year. It’s been a trying year.
Lord, we ask that you use this experience and this season in all of our lives to refine us and perfect us. Lord, we are imperfect people. We cling to various idols and hopes. We rely on ourselves and not on you. We look to the world for our protection and security. Lord, we have different vices and different struggles. But regardless of what we think of this virus, we’re in this season as a church and as people. Regardless of what we think, we are all impacted by the fallout. And through that, through changes, through uncertainty, through unrest, through all that we’re facing, may we more and more rely on you and trust in you. May our security be in you.
Lord, we ask that you bless our time in the study of your word. May it point us to you and your gospel.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction
The providence of God is one of the great themes that we see running throughout the Bible.
It is so prevalent that it’s almost easy to to take for granted and overlook.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And for the rest of the Bible, we see God’s work of sustaining his creation. It’s providence.
God maintains the universe. He is providential over the ongoings of the nations. He is sovereign over life and death. Over the significant and the seemingly insignificant events in our lives. Over the monumental and seemingly random events, God is providential. He is the Lord in the victories and the defeats. It is because of God’s divine providence that we can pray to him with confidence and that we can take assurance in his promises. And it is through his guiding work of providence that he has woven his gospel throughout human history.
On the subject of providence the late theologian J.I. Packer said “If creation was a unique exercise of divine energy causing the world to be, providence is a continued exercise of that same energy whereby the Creator, according to his own will (a) keeps all creatures in being, (b) involves himself in all events, and (c) directs all things to their appointed end.”
There is nothing that happens outside of God’s providential governance of his creation.
As Proverbs 16:33 says:
The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord.
It is because providence that we can have assurance in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and who are called according to his purposes.
And it is for that reason that God’s providence should be a great joy to all Christians. We have a God who is powerful enough to work all things together for good and who works all things according to the council of his will (Ephesians 1:11).
Providence is something that we see throughout the Bible and it should influence our understanding of the Bible, of human history, of the natural world, and of the events in our lives, society, and the world today.
This morning, we continue in the Gospel of John. Just like last week, Jesus is still speaking at the Feast of Booths, but I was struck this week as I looked at this passage and the thread that’s throughout this section is God’s providence in the ministry of Christ.
And so we come to this wonderful passage in God’s word that we’ll look at in three scenes this morning.
Just a reminder to give the setting for this event.
It’s the Feast of Booths, one of the great high holy days in the Jewish calendar.
Jesus has grown in popularity to this point in John’s Gospel but he has also grown in infamy and the ruling religious authorities are already plotting against Jesus.
John 7:1 alerts us of the plot to kill Jesus and how Jesus was keeping a low profile.
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
First scene – divine providence in sending
With that, we come to our first scene which reminds us of the divine providence in sending Jesus.
Verses 25-26. The crowd sees Jesus openly speaking in spite of the fact that there is a plot against this and they’re confused about how this can be. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
Something that’s interesting about verse 25. John says some of the people of Jerusalem.
Quick note. As Jesus has been speaking in this section, there are three different groups of people whom the Apostle John has identified. Leon Morris is helpful with this.
John refers to the Jews, which are the ruling Jewish authorities. And that’s the group whom Jesus was calling out at the end of our last section when he questioned their application of the Sabbath. That’s the same group who is seeking to kill Jesus at the beginning of chapter 7.
Secondly, we have the crowd. This seems to be people from all over Israel who had traveled to Jerusalem to participate in the Feast of Booths.
In verse 19, when Jesus talks of the plot to kill him, we see the response of “the crowd.”
7:20: The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”
They’re not even aware of the plot. And that makes sense because they’re not all from the Jerusalem area. They’re not all familiar with Jesus.
But in our passage, John introduces a third group of people when he says the people of Jerusalem.
They’re the locals. They’re not the ruling authorities. They themselves are not the ones who are seeking to kill Jesus here. But they’re aware of the plot. And they’re aware of Jesus and know a bit about his reputation.
We see in chapter 7 that there are people from all three groups in the audience to whom Jesus is speaking.
Those who oppose him. Those who don’t know him. And here we have people who know him but don’t oppose him.
So they have awareness of the controversies surrounding Jesus in verse 25 when they ask: is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
But there’s confusion.
If there are people who want to kill this guy, Jesus, and he’s right here, why don’t they just do it?
Jesus is here, out in the open, speaking and teaching and yet they do nothing!
And so they ask Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
Consider that question. The Jerusalem crowd is wondering if some of the ruling authorities have actually believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.
That doesn’t mean that the Jerusaemites believe. In fact, they generally don’t believe, as the passage will tell us.
Verse 27: But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”
In their understanding, they’re explaining why Jesus can’t be the Christ.
But ironically, they’re wrong in their assessment.
For instance, they say they know where Jesus comes from. They don’t.
Where is Jesus from?
Heaven.
So they don’t know his true origin.
But we’ll see in this passage that they also don’t know his earthly origin. They’ll say he’s from Galilee. It’s true that he grew up there but Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
So they don’t actually know Jesus’ origin.
And we also see another point that the crowd gets wrong.
They say that when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.
That’s a statement that is a little bit odd to our ears. D.A. Carson suggests in his commentary that many Jewish people in the first century believed that the true Messiah would be a person who was an unknown. But they knew who Jesus was – or at least, they thought they did – and so in their thinking, a little familiarity with Jesus meant that he could not possibly be the Messiah.
But the irony is that they actually don’t know his true origin.
Jesus responds with irony in verse 28.
Verse 28: Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from.
“You know me and you know where I come from.”
There’s a double meaning. In one sense, they do know about Jesus and his origins. They know a little bit about his ministry and where he grew up. But in another sense, they don’t know his true origins or his true purpose.
Jesus continues speaking.
28 into 29:
I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”
Jesus reiterates the idea that he’s brought up at other points in this gospel. That Jesus is not acting of his own accord, but is acting in accordance with the will of God.
He says twice in those two verses that he has been sent.
It is something that he has explained time and again in this gospel.
John 5:30: I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
John 6:38-39: I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
He continually points to himself as one who has been sent.
And as one who was sent, Jesus lived in total fidelity to the will of God.
In our current passage, Jesus tells the crowd that God is true but they do not know God. And this is exemplified in their failure to understand Jesus and who he is.
The fact that Jesus has not come of his own accord shows the unity within the Trinity. We do not have competing wills within the Godhead
I want to look at that again in the light of the providence of God. Because the fact that Jesus was sent was the divine plan for all of eternity.
We see it going to Genesis 3 and right after the fall.
Genesis 3:14-15, a passage that many theologians refer to as the protoevangelium, or “first gospel.”
We see the curse upon the serpent.
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
That’s pretty striking that in the same passage as the fall, we learn of an offspring of the woman who will bruise the serpent. And throughout the centuries, theologians and scholars have correctly understood this verse as a verse pointing forward to Christ as the one who would overcome the devil and evil through the gospel.
God providentially purposed his gospel since the fall, but even before the fall, he knew humanity would sin.
We see this talked about in 1 Peter 1:18-20:
you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world
The gospel was the eternal plan of the Lord.
And throughout the Old Testament, we see God at work in preserving the family of Abraham through whom he made his promise. We see him intervening in the order of the world to bring forth Isaac, despite his parents’ old age. We see God calling upon Abraham to sacrifice his son, with God knowing all along that he would provide the sacrifice which pointed to the true sacrifice.
Jacob and Rebekah plotted to trick Isaac into giving him the birthright but even through that dishonesty, God accomplished his purpose of exalting Jacob over Esau. We see Jacob and his sons who represent the 12 tribes. They were on the verge of extinction but God intervened through the dreams of Joseph to save his family, to save Israel, and to save the line that led to Christ.
And throughout the Old Testament, God preserved his people and preserved the family line that led to Christ.
We see divine providence in the Exodus. It was God who showed his power and dominion over creation in the plagues. Quoting from Joel Beeke in “Reformed Systematic Theology” “God’s divine control is universal. The plagues upon Egypt demonstrated that the Lord controls rivers, frogs, insects, livestock, storms, light, and darkness, and human health and life.”
God is over all things. Big and small.
We see God’s providence in sustaining the Israelites during their time in the desert, in God fulfilling his promises. We see his providence in providing prophets who warned Israel. We see his dominion over the nations when Israel was conquered.
We also see in the prophets a long history of foretelling the coming one. Nothing by accident. It is because of God’s providence and sovereignty over creation that there could be certainty that all of these events would come to pass.
God orchestrated human history to bring forth his son.
Galatians 4:4-5: when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
God exercises his providence over the family which led to Christ, over our salvation, through the nations of the world.
And all of this is reason why we should take such great joy and confidence in the promises of God. Because they’re rooted in the character of God who is providential and sovereign over creation.
And it’s true in our lives.
If you’re alive, you’re a living example of God’s providence and provision.
Our lives are examples of God’s divine providence.
Do you see it that way?
Nothing has been random. All of it has been in accordance with the will of God.
That’s not to say that we’re robots.
The famous analogy given is that it’s like we’re living on a great ship. You eat, you spend time on the deck, you enjoy the sights and entertainment but God is the captain of the boat and the ultimate destination of the boat is outside of your control.
We’ll never know on this side of eternity how our difficulties really were used for our good. We’ll never know on this side of eternity all of things we were protected from or saved from.
But all throughout life, God is working and he is good.
So that’s our first scene. The ministry of Christ looked at in light of the will and providence of the Lord.
The second and third scenes will be briefer than that first scene.
We continue in our passage.
Second scene – the attempt to arrest Jesus
Vere 30, they’re seeking to arrest Jesus. But the text tells us: no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
His hour had not yet come.
This is a phrase that we’ve seen elsewhere in this gospel which always points to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. And again, that points us to the providence of God.
There was nothing left to happenstance in his ministry. There was an appointed hour at which time his ministry was to come to its culmination.
But it’s not that God has a very specific plan for Jesus and is then leaving all of our lives up to chance. God is providential through all of time and all of creation.
Psalm 139:16 says:
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
It’s amazing how much of our time we can spend worrying and fearful.
Time where we could be fellowshipping with God, serving God, spending quality time with our loved ones. We so often let so much of our precious time be ruled by worry and stress.
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:
do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
My point isn’t to beat you up if you’re someone who does struggle with anxiety or worry.
I’ll be the first to admit that I stress out far more often than I should.
But we are called to trust in the Lord.
Psalm 9:10 says: those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
We should all take comfort that there is absolutely nothing that will ever happen in our lives that is outside of God’s providence.
That’s not to say that everything is pleasant or enjoyable.
There are horrible sins that we can fall victim too.
And that’s confounding to the world. And that’s offensive to the world. That God could possibly allow bad things to happen.
But that is where the trust comes in that God really does work all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes.
It’s an easy verse to quote. It’s an easy verse to love.
But when the going gets tough, it can be one of the hardest verses to believe.
But we must believe it.
It must be at the core of our faith.
Trust in God’s providence and goodness must be at the core of what we believe about God.
Again. I realize that there are times for many of us, where that can seem easier said than done.
But maybe part of that is because it can be so easy to go through life and look at it as if we’re largely in control of what happens. To look at our talent or effort as the cause of any successes we have. To look at our talents and skills as being things we can take credit for.
Instead of daily remembering that it is all from the Lord.
James 1:17-18: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth
We must consider God’s providence as it is seen all throughout scripture and all throughout our lives.
Isaiah 46:9-10 says:
remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Nothing happens outside of God’s providence.
Martin Luther said “He is almighty because it is His power alone that works in all and through all and over all…this is a most important article of faith, including many things; it completely puts down all pride, arrogance, blasphemy, fame, and false trust, and exalts God alone.”
There are sufferings that we face, but in them, we see God’s providence. That is true in the gospel as God took an evil and worked it for good. And it is true in our lives.
So again, we often face a temptation to fear and to worry. But maybe part of the reason for that is because we don’t take enough time looking at our lives, what has happened, and where God is bringing us in light of his providence.
There is nothing that happens in our lives which is not providential. And all of it is meant for our ultimate good.
So the people seek to arrest Jesus but they’re unable.
7:31: many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
We see that some people are drawn to Jesus. They consider the signs that he’s done. Some want to arrest Jesus but there are at least some in the crowd who rhetorically ask if another person could do such wonderful signs?
That’s almost a quick aside in the middle of the passage.
Because the story quickly shifts to the attempt to arrest Jesus.
The temple guards had thus far been prevented from arresting Jesus. But finally, their officers are sent. Between verse 30 and 32, it’s unclear if a little bit of time might have passed.
7:32: The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
Jesus has been teaching. What he’s said is not popular with the religious authorities. They seem to tolerate it up to a point, but as people start to respond favorably, they desire to put a stop to what Jesus is saying.
And that’ll bring us to our third scene.
Third scene – Jesus’s return to the Father
They are continuing to attempt to arrest Jesus but Jesus will explain the reason it will be fruitless.
Verses 33-34: Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come
He is pointing forward to the time of his death when he says I will be with you a little longer.
It’s not yet the hour of his death. But Jesus is on the home stretch of his ministry. As we’ve said, the Feast of Booths is in the fall. Jesus would be crucified the following spring.
From the end of John 11 until his crucifixion, eight full chapters are dedicated to the final week of Jesus’ life.
And when we’re not in that week, so much of John’s Gospel is pointing forward to his hour, his death.
There are over 15,000 biographies of Abraham Lincoln. His life has been covered in seemingly exhaustive detail. His early life, the tragic loss of his mother in childhood. His many failures. His time in the White House. The complexities of his faith, of his relationship with Mary Todd. His leadership in the Civil War. The personal tragedies he experienced.
I’ve used this example before but perhaps the longest biography written of Lincoln is the 5,000 page Life of Lincoln by his two former secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay. And in 5,000 pages, they cover his assassination on just 20 of those pages.
But when the gospel writers wrote about Jesus, they didn’t have the luxury of writing a 5,000 page book. In fact, Jessu did so many things in his ministry that the final verse of this gospel says:
John 21:25: there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
But when you consider the sections which cover the final week of Jesus’ life and everything that points to it, in the gospels, one third to one half of each of the gospels is dedicated to his crucifixion.
And the reason is because that is the only way to God. That is the culmination of his ministry.
It is the only way to redemption. It is the only way to God. It is the only way to forgiveness. It is the only way to heaven.
There’s no other way than through the presence of God on earth who was torn down and raised back up three days later.
And it was all in fulfillment of the divine plan.
The temple guards are bearing down on Jesus to arrest them but his focus is on a different time when he knows he will be arrested, where he knows he will be tried, where he knows he will be betrayed, where he knows he will be crucified.
Because Jesus came into the world to save the world and he came into the world to fulfill the divine will.
It is the only way to redemption. It is the only way to God. It is the only way to forgiveness. It is the only way to heaven.
There’s no other way than through the presence of God on earth who was torn down and raised back up three days later.
Jesus talks throughout this gospel of being sent but here he talks of his return to the one who sent him.
As we often see in this gospel, people don’t understand what Jesus is saying.
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
Once again, that ends up being an ironic statement.
They think that Jesus might just give up on his Jerusalem ministry and try to reach non-Jewish Greeks.
That’s ironic because the gospel would be for them too. The gospel is for the whole world. The gospel would extend beyond Israel.
But that also was on the divine timeline and the fruition of that plan would wait until after Jesus had died and rose.
There’s also irony in that they think that Jesus might try to get away as if he’d need to hide from them. He’s their creator and their judge. It is not because Jesus is fearful.
Jesus concludes this passage by pointing to the divine mission. From beginning to end, this passage points us to the providence of God.
We see it throughout this passage, throughout the ministry of Christ, and throughout the Bible.
And it is my hope that we will be a church who see God’s providence throughout our lives.
Nothing in life happens outside of the providence of God. And may we be people who let that influence our thinking about God, his story of redemption. May it enhance our faith. May it give us greaterner boldness in our prayers. May it give us greater assurance of God’s promises.
I saw an interesting article from Barna Research a few weeks ago titled “White Christians have become even less motivated to address racial injustice.”
From the article: “One might assume that the events of 2020 have increased awareness of racial injustice in the United States and motivation to address it. But the story isn’t so straightforward, new Barna research (conducted in partnership with Dynata) suggests. Yes, there are signs the past year has clarified how Americans think about racial injustice—but that doesn’t mean they see the issue, or their role within it, with greater urgency. In the Church especially, there is a sense that people are doubling down on divides.”
The article looks at a couple of data points. They polled different racial groups with the question “do you think our country has a race problem?” Across all respondents, 46% affirmed the statement, slightly higher than 43% of self-professing Christians. When broken down by race, 33% of white professing Christians affirmed that statement (a 7% drop from the same survey a year before).
In another survey question, Barna asked self-professing Christians “how motivated are you to address racial injustice in our society.” In the survey, the number of white Christians who felt “not at all motivated” to address current issues doubled in the past year from 11% to 22% (compared to 3% of African American responders).
I distinctly remember earlier in the summer when there were people who refused to call out the rioting and looting. In fact, there were those who justified it. People talked about this as a response to injustice because of all of the hurt and pain. There were people who wanted to compare the protests to the Boston Tea Party. We needed to tear down statues of Abraham Lincoln and Christopher Columbus. We needed to
But all of this was counterproductive. Violence does not engender public sympathy. It turns people away. That’s why people are less likely to talk about these issues. Because Americans have seen months of looting, fires and destruction in major cities. We’ve seen dramatic increases in crime and murder rates in major cities. We’ve seen story after story of black children being killed in the crossfire of inner city violence without groups like BLM ever protesting those deaths. We’ve seen roughly a billion dollars in property damages this summer.
Whose lives have all of this violence and destruction helped? Who has this advanced? Who has this empowered?
Americans have been lectured all summer from the media, from sports, from Hollywood, from music, from our education systems about how racist we all are.
So yes, its’ not a shock that some people are less likely to address these issues given the destruction that has come forth from the radical movements who are beating the drums the loudest. And this is a point which many thoughtful people have brought up which is that this summer is creating greater racial divides not helping to heal racial divides.
I believe the these poll numbers will continue to trend in that direction.
We’ve seen calls to defund police in democrat controlled cities. Meanwhile, all of these efforts disproportionately harm inner cities and disproportionately harm black communities. All of this works against public support. We see increases in violence and destruction. There have been young black children all over the country who have been killed in the cross-fire of inner city violence, without a word from BLM. And I think a lot of people feel like black communities are being used as political pawns to advance an agenda.
As far as why many Christians are less likely to discuss these matters, I think there’s also the concern that the movement is ultimately supporting an ideology which is contrary to the world view of Christianity and find it unsavory and difficult to support. Critical race theory, which is the overarching ideology behind much of the current racial discussion in our culture, is popular on the political left. Modern liberalism and socialistic policies are influenced by Marxist thought, while religious people tend to be more conservative (not exclusively, but religious people are more likely to be conservative than liberal). So what we are left with is a discussion that is controlled by the left and where religious peel on the right have several areas of disagreement. All that to say: it’s not at all surprising that white Christians are less likely to talk about racial injustice.
Is it because we’re all racist or prejudiced? The cultural Marists would say yes. Which feeds into this vicious cycle of diminishing interest in discussing these matters. Interest will continue to wane in the face of radicalism.
Thanks for reading! Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe!
