Josh Benner

Tag: Gospel of John

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

    14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” 

    Prayer 

    Our heavenly Father, 

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

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

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

    Your Son, our Lord taught: 

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

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

    1 God is our refuge and strength, 

    a very present help in trouble. 

    Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, 

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

    3 though its waters roar and foam, 

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah 

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

    the holy habitation of the Most High. 

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

    God will help her when morning dawns. 

    6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; 

    he utters his voice, the earth melts. 

    7 The Lord of hosts is with us; 

    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 

    8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, 

    how he has brought desolations on the earth. 

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

    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; 

    he burns the chariots with fire. 

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

    I will be exalted among the nations, 

    I will be exalted in the earth!” 

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

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

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


    In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Introduction – the Halo Effect 

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

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

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

    Without any corroborative information. 

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

    We take limited information and make larger assumptions. 

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

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

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

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

    We take limited information and make assumptions about a person. 

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

    We judge books by their covers. 

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

    Series context 

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

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

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

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

    We’ll look at this passage in three scenes.

    First scene – Misunderstanding Jesus 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    And we again see the low expectations of the council. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

    But that that is sinful. 

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

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

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

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

    We come to a second scene.  

    Second scene – The God Jesus points to

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

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

    Verse 16-17, Jesus responds: Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 

    Jesus’ teachings come from the ultimate source. Jesus has come with a divine message.

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

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

    It was still ultimately the teachings of men. 

     If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 

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

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

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

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

     If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 

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

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

    But how? 

    Because of the gospel. 

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

    Beginning with sin. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    It is not merely big talk. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    To attempt to follow any other way is idolatry. 

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

    Continuing in our passage. 

    Verse 18, Jesus says: The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

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

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

    The world loves to bring itself glory. 

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

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

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

    To live humbly. 

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

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

    For the glory of God. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Third scene – the law he fulfills 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Jesus has talked about the plot to kill him. 

    But where does that come from?

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

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

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

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

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

    Stay with me, we’re almost done. 

    Verses 22-23: 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?

    Let’s try to tie all of this together. 

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

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

    Their failure to recognize Jesus shows that. 

    Their desire to kill Jesus shows that. 

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

    Both of these are integral elements of Judaism. 

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

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

    Circumcision and the Sabbath. 

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

    But what about when the eighth day is the Sabbath? 

    The male was still circumcised. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    They weren’t judging based on truth. 

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

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

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

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

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

  • Sermon: 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: The Bread of Life: John 6:27-35

    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. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
    35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

    Our heavenly father,

    We thank you for this day and the opportunity to come together to praise your glorious name. Lord, may we be ever mindful of the wonders of your goodness. May we love you with all of our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. And we thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come into the world to bring your kingdom, to shine as light, and to reconcile sinful humanity. It is Jesus alone who is the author and perfecter of our faith.

    Lord, we pray for this season that we’re in. For many of us, these are stressful times. Uncertain times. We see what’s going on in our nation and around the world, and it can be easy to be discouraged. Lord, we pray for your nearness. May we not be people who are stressed by the concerns and worries of the world but let us be people who walk in faith everyday.

    We again pray for our time in your word. I thank you for every person here and I pray that we can again be encouraged, edified, exhorted, and enlightened through your Word. And most importantly, I pray that we can be pointed to your gospel.

    In Jesus’ name, Amen.

    In World War II, thousands of children throughout Europe were left as orphaned. Some of them ended up in refugee camps. With the trauma of war, losing their homes, and losing family, it should be no surprise that many of them struggled to sleep. Efforts to reassure the kids or comfort them did not help. Until someone came up with the ingenious idea to give the kids a piece of bread to take with them to bed in the evening. It was a reminder to the kids that they had eaten the day before and also had food for the next day. It was a reminder that they were cared for. It was a sense of security.

    Among our most basic needs we have as people is our need to eat. And this morning, as we continue in the Gospel of John, Jesus will make a profound statement to a crowd which has been following him when he says “I am the bread of life.” And so we’re going to look at our passage this morning in three parts and with that we’ll jump right in.

    Part 1 – A question answered
    We’re in a section in John 6 which covers Jesus feeding a multitude of 5,000 men – not to mention wives and children – with five loaves of bread and two fish. It’s the next day and Jesus is speaking to people from that crowd who have followed him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

    Beginning in 27 and Jesus says to the crowd: 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.

    So there are two kinds of food: the food that perishes. That was the food which Jesus has provided for the crowd. And a second type of food is the food which endures to eternal life. That is the food which Jesus ultimately came into the world to bring. The crowd is focused on the first kind, the food that perishes. Jesus is focused on the second kind.

    They’re preoccupied with what’s natural and physical. If you remember from last week’s passage, Jesus had rebuked the crowd when he said: you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

    They miss the true point of the sign. They’re focused on what Jesus is doing for them. They’re focused on the world around them and not the world above. Verse 28, the crowd asks: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

    Not an unreasonable question.

    But the work of God is not about a level of moral achievement which we can attain. Jesus tells them: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

    What a wonderful summary of the gospel. The world labors to earn salvation, to be good enough for God, to have a leg to stand on before the Almighty. Do you want to be right with God? Do you want to be forgiven? Do you want to know forgiveness and grace?

    Believe in the one he has sent, believe in Jesus. Where is your belief? If you ever question if you’re good enough, you’re not. But the good news is that Jesus is.

    If you ever struggle with doubts, struggle with despair, remember that salvation is not about how good we are. If it were, none of us would have any hope. Real salvation is in believing in the one whom God has sent. Jesus has already said similar things in this gospel.

    John 3:16: God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

    John 5:24: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

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

    The work of God is faith, genuine belief in who Jesus is. That is the basis for our forgiveness and right-standing before God. It is entirely the work of Christ. To quote the great Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards: “you contribute nothing to your own salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”

    Where is your faith?

    If it is in anything except for the saving work of Christ, then you are resting your hope in another gospel, which is no gospel at all.

    There is one way to do the work of God in the world and be made right with him. It is believing in the Lord Jesus.

    Point 2 – A sign demanded
    We come to our second point. They want to see greater signs from Jesus. Jesus is saying that they need to believe in him. Jesus has literally just done a sign when he fed them, but they want to be even more dazzled.

    Verses 30-31:
    So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

    Basically what the crowd is saying is that they want an even greater sign than the manna from heaven that had been provided during the Israelite wanderings. Just to get us all up to speed, while the Israelites were in the desert, they didn’t have a lot of options for food. It was a nation of people traveling. The desert is not the best ecosystem for foraging or hunting. It’s not like they could just stop at the grocery store every few days and get supplies.

    But it was God who had led them there. And if God leads, he will always provide to achieve his purposes. And so God had miraculously fed the Israelites with this bread from heaven called manna. Six days a week, and they were supposed to collect two days worth on the sixth day so they could rest on the seventh.

    But God did this week after week and year after year for the Israelites.

    The crowd demands a sing. But what’s their motivation?
    Illustration – Messianc expectations
    I’ve talked about this before, but in the first century, you had all sorts of expectations about what the Messiah would do, what he would be like. And Jesus doesn’t really fit into any of their expectations. A lot of people thought that the Messiah would be an earthly king. And that’s actually their response after Jesus originally fed them.

    John 6:15: 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.

    Jesus is the king of kings, but he did not come to primarily be the earthly king that many in the first century expected. And as we mentioned a few moments ago, Jesus has also rebuked the crowd for following him not because of who he was but because he had fed them when he said: you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

    So the crowd asks for another sign. Is it really because they want to follow him?

    Richard Phillips talks about this in his commentary of John. But he suggests that it’s because the crowd actually wants to justify themselves and continue doing what they’re doing and believing what they’re believing and so they instead undermine and challenge his authority? I think that’s the most reasonable interpretation.

    They’re not asking for a sign because they want to believe. They’re challenging Jesus because they don’t want to believe. As we’ve already seen numerous times in John, there’s a lot of irony.

    They ask for a sign when he’s already done a sign when he fed them. In fact, Jesus did another sign when he walked on water but they hadn’t seen it.

    They ask for bread when Jesus has already given them bread! The bread was the sign that was indicative of Jesus coming to provide the greater manna! The bread which Jesus gave was greater than the manna because unlike manna which needed to be collected everyday, the eternal life which Jesus provides is something that he gives once and forever.

    There’s irony in that they’re challenging him by comparing him to Moses when Jesus actually does do things greater than Moses ever did. But Jesus is not a magician. He’s not an entertainer. He doesn’t exist primarily to impress people. And he’s not going to bend to their whims.

    Back in our passage. Verse 32, Jesus is responding to the crowd who wants to see further signs.

    Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

    Jesus brings up Moses because that is what he’s being compared to. But Jesus is greater than Moses. And the bread that was provided during the time of Moses had come from God, not Moses.

    He continues: For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

    Jesus is referring to himself. He is the bread of God who comes down from heaven. While the manna sustained life, Jesus is the one who gives life, true life, eternal life to the world. Jesus is once again using a metaphor to communicate a profound truth about the world. He is the bread from heaven that sustains the human soul.
    Validation – missing the metaphor

    In chapter 3, when Jesus talks to Nocodemus, he tells him that he must be born again. Nicodemus misses the point. He takes Jesus literally. Chapter 4, Jesus talks to the woman at the well and tells her of the living water that he provides. She misses the point and thinks he’s simply talking about water. And here again, Jesus talks of the bread from heaven. And the people miss the point. Verse 34, they think he’s just talking about bread.

    They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

    And we come to the key verse in the passage.

    Point 3 – a sign explained
    Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

    Before we get into this verse, I want to give a brief aside on two words.

    “I am.”

    In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes seven statements which are known as the “I am statements.” Verse 35 is the first of the seven when Jesus says “I am the bread of life.”

    In other sections, Jesus will also go on to say:
    “I am the light of the world”
    “I am the gate.”
    “I am the good shepherd.”
    “I am the resurrection and the life.”
    “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
    “I am the true vine.”

    There are a few reasons why these statements are significant.

    First, Jesus is making revelations about himself, his ministry, and his mission in the world through these statements.

    Second. Each of these statements is unique to John’s Gospel. In the other gospels, Jesus certainly makes many statements which inform us to who he is. But the formula of him saying “I am” and following that a metaphorical statement about his identity is only in John.

    Third, the statements matter because they have resonance to the Old Testament. For instance, the bread of life alludes to the manna from heaven.

    But the I am statements also allude to Old Testament passages such as Exodus 3 when God has called upon Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Moses asks God for his divine name.

    Exodus 3:13-14: 13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

    God simply refers to himself as “I am.” He is being itself. We often like to anthropomorphize God. We give him human characteristics. Dennis Phillips points out language that the Bible sometimes uses about God in his book “Before Abraham was, I am.”

    “His hand offers protections. His arm indicates strength. The heavens are the work of his fingers. We are under his watchful eye. He is our King and at the same time, our Heavenly Father.”

    All of those ideas are Biblical. And all of them are helpful in our understanding of God.

    But God is also grand and mysterious. And it is his being that he communicates to Moses and that is the same language which Jesus picks up in his “I am” statements.

    Pure existence and being. None of us can say that. Because there was a time when we were not. And our lives depend on God’s provision and sustenance.

    But God can simply say “I am.” And so can Jesus. So while the “I am” statements do make claims about the ministry of Christ, they also inherently make claims of his own divinity.

    Jesus is the I am. Something else that’s interesting if you know a little bit about Greek. There’s basically two ways to say “I am” in Greek. The typical way is the Greek word “eimi.” That means “I am.” You’d use that in any regular setting if you had lived in first century Greece. “I am Josh.” “I am a pastor.” “I am going to the grocery store,” etc.

    But for the “I am” statements, and other times when Jesus says “I am,” they actually add the Greek personal pronoun. So you have the word “I” followed by “I am,” which seems to be done for extra emphasis. It’s the same language you find in the Greek translation of Exodus where God tells Moses “I am.” Because of that, I take the form of language in which Jesus’ “I am” statements are recorded to be an obvious claim of deity. Returning to our passage. Jesus says “I am the bread of life.”
    Bread

    Let’s think about bread for a moment. What the perfect food to pick. Something so universal, something that’s such a staple of life. Most foods, you can find someone who doesn’t like them. Cheese is amazing. There are people who don’t like cheese.

    There are people who don’t like fish, or beef. There are even weirdos who don’t like chocolate. But everyone likes bread. It’s a universal staple. Let’s talk about bread for a minute. A lot of restaurants you go to, they just give you a bowl of bread. You go to an Italian restaurant, maybe it’ll be breadsticks, maybe it’ll be bread with some olive oil. You go to a Mexican restaurant, they bring you chips and salsa. The tortilla chip is just bread that they then fried.

    They don’t even charge you for it. Just “here, have some bread.” Go to a Mediterranean restaurant, the meal will come with a pita. An Indian restaurant, it’ll be naan. And that only works with bread. Can you imagine going to a restaurant and they bring the table a bowl of broccoli? No! You can’t even imagine that. Really, a lot of popular chain restaurants are known more for their bread than their actual entrees. We love bread. It plays a major role in so many of our favorite foods. Pizza. Cheeseburgers. Fried chicken.

    Meatballs. Already a brilliant idea unto itself. A ball of meat, but we say “needs bread crumbs.” We add bread to things that have nothing to do with bread. A salad. Mostly vegetables, let’s add bread crumbs. Soup. Mostly liquid, let’s add crackers and put it in a bread bowl. A bowl of ice cream. We look and say “the soup people were onto something. Let’s get rid of the bowl and replace that with a piece of bread.”

    Most of our favorite desserts are just sweeter versions of bread. Cake. Donuts. All the best breakfast foods. Bread. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, bagels.

    We LOVE bread. Rich people love bread, poor people love bread. Old people love bread, young people love bread. Have you ever seen someone on the Atkins diet? They look the spark of light in their eyes. Bread even impacts our language and sayings.

    We judge the greatness of achievements and innovation by how it stacks up with sliced bread. We have indoor plumbing, we have cures to horrible disease, we’ve been to the moon, we have the internet. But no, when something great comes along, we compare that to the invention of sliced bread.

    When we eat together, we call that breaking bread. In many cultures, bread is a symbol of peace. We call money dough and the person who makes more money in a relationship is called the “bread winner.” If someone wants too much out of a situation, we say “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

    And then we consider it in the Bible. We’ve talked at great length about the manna. Jesus references that in the Lord’s Prayer when he teaches us to pray “Give us each day our daily bread.” It is bread to which Jesus refers when the devil tempts him. He’s quoting from Deuteronomy but he says “Man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

    Even the place where Jesus was born. Bethlehem in Hebrew means “house of bread.” And it is bread at the Last Supper when Jesus institutes communion which he takes and breaks and says “this is my body, which is broken for you.” Bread matters in our lives and the Bible.

    The crowd wanted to be dazzled with greater signs and wonders but Jesus instead explains the significance of the sign when he felt the multitudes. The manna from heaven was the bread which God gave to the Isrealites to sustain them on their desert wanderings. Jesus is the bread of life which God has given to sustain the human soul. The people had followed Jesus because he filled their stomachs, but Jesus came to save our souls.

    The people wanted to see a physical display of glory and power but Jesus came to fulfill the longings of the human soul. And it’s for that reason that Jesus is the greater bread.

    The manna had to be collected everyday. Jesus is the bread which gives eternal life at the moment you believe in him. But as the manna was collected daily, there is still a daily element to the bread which Jesus provides as he himself is the bread we need everyday for our spiritual sustenance. Without the bread which Jesus provides, we grow spiritually hungry and malnourished. We need to feed upon him everyday.

    We need to commune with Christ everyday. Anytime you’re struggling spiritually, you feel like you’re just going through the motions, the first thing you should ask yourself is what your daily time with Jesus is looking like. Going to him, praying, meditating on his word, serving his people, loving his people, orienting our lives around him.

    Jesus is the eternal nourishment and the daily bread without which we will Spiritually starve. The world wants to just satisfy your body. If you can just have enough money, you’ll be secure and have what you need.
    Some people are drawn to intimacy and feel like that will sustain their soul. It’s looking to a physical desire.
    Some look to prestige and power. Those are still ultimately fleeting accolades that you can’t take with you. Dying people in a dying world honoring one another.
    Some people look to politics. The right party being in office. Men who are fallen and sinful, flesh and bones are our hope.

    The world makes idols of what is fleeting and feeds the body. Jesus feeds the soul. Jesus is the bread of life. Where is your hope though?

    Is it in the material? Is it in today? Is it in what you have or who you are? Is it in what’s in front of you? Or is it in the eternal Lord of creation?

    The crowd had said to Jesus: What must we do, to be doing the works of God?

    Jesus says: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

    We’re called to come to him. Coming to him in humility, coming to him realizing our needs, realizing our hunger. And we are to believe in him. To trust in his gospel and his grace. We must recognize that we’re sinners in need of a savior. That is what we do to receive the bread of life. We believe in Jesus. And he invites us to never hunger or thirst because he fulfills the longings of the human soul.

    Praise the Lord.

  • There’s no such thing as a Christian who has not been born again

    Being born again is another word for the doctrine of “regeneration.” It is a supernatural work that God does within a person who comes to faith. All Christians are born again because all Christians have experienced regeneration. There’s no such thing as an unregenerate Christian. That’s not a Christian!

    Being born again is about coming to Christ, turning away from sin, and trusting in Jesus as your Lord and savior. And when we come to him, there is grace. There is forgiveness for our sins.

    But here’s a point that people too often miss. It needs to be a genuine faith in what Jesus has done. And the validation of that sincerity will manifest itself in a life that is transformed by the gospel. And if there is no change in your life, if there is no fruit, if there is no greater love for God, no appreciation for the work of Christ, no recognition of the cost of sins for which Jesus went to the cross, then for the sake of your own soul, you need to do some sincere soul searching into whether or not you actually believe.

    There are so many things that we like to tie to regeneration. For some, they want to look at baptism. Baptism doesn’t confer regeneration to you. Baptism doesn’t make you born again if you don’t have faith. Baptism doesn’t mean anything if you don’t believe in the triune God in whose name you were baptized.

    Some people like to tie it to their family. Mom and dad are Christians, or were Christians. “That’s how I was raised.” That’s a wonderful blessing. But that doesn’t mean you’ve been born again. The faith has to be your own. To

    For others, it might be the Sinner’s Prayer. “I asked Jesus into my heart.”

    But did you believe it? Did you place your trust in him? If there’s never been any evidence in your life that Jesus is in your heart, is he really? Don’t go through life thinking “I said this prayer one time,” or “I got baptized one time,” and that that’s all that matters if you’re living a faithless life.

    This isn’t meant to undermine the justifying work that Christ did on the cross. How we are justified by Christ. And what a glorious promise that is. But that presupposes faith. This isn’t meant to undermine the work that God does in our lives, he does work in our lives through his Spirt but we have to have had faith in him to have the Spirit. We’ll talk about the in June. All of those things are still true.

    But this is to say that a person who never did have faith still isn’t saved. And empty words don’t change that. And water doesn’t change that. The only thing that can change that is recognizing your inability to live up to a God who is absolutely perfect and holy. And that while you could not live up to it, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for you (Romans 5:8).

    Jesus said “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It’s the regeneration of God in our souls.

    It’s not some inconsequential change. It is a monumental miraculous work of almighty God.

    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

    Nothing existed and God spoke the universe into being by the power of his words.

    But when it comes to being born again, the regeneration that God works in us, God takes a person who is dead in sin, God takes a person who is opposed to him, who does not trust him, and he makes us alive. He gives us a new life, a new birth.

    Originally published September 5, 2017

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

  • Sermon: Walking on Water – John 6:16-21

     16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 

           Prayer 

    Our heavenly Father, 

    On this father’s day, I do want to pray for the dads in our church. No matter how young or old a father is, they have opportunities to bless, to love, and to share wisdom with their kids. It is a sacred role which you have created. 

    Lord, it is a day that can mean different things to different people. Some of us no longer have our father’s with us. Some of us might have had difficult relationships with our fathers. We thank you for the men in our lives who influenced us and helped shape us into the people we’ve become. 

    And with all of their greatnesses and imperfections, Lord may our earthly fathers point us to you, our true and perfect heavenly father. 

    You rule and reign with sovereign authority. 

    You know our needs better than we do. 

    You know the number of hairs on our heads. A sparrow does not fall without your knowledge. That is your exhaustive knowledge of our world. 

    You know the situations of our past, our present, and future. 

    Lord, you are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

    In the stressful times, instead of trying to control situations, manipulate situations, worry about situations, grumble about situations, may we instead turn to you and trust in you. 

    In times of uncertainty, may we be certain of your goodness. In times of suffering, may we rejoice knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts. 

    Lord, may we trust that there is nothing in our lives, no matter how big or small which falls outside of your sovereign will. May we remember that you are eternal and eternally faithful to your promises and Word and that you never leave us nor forsake us. 

    Lord, in the frightening times of life, may we draw near to you not run from you. 

    Lord, please bless our time as we study your Word. 

    May we again be reminded of your gospel and rejoice in your Son who has come into the world so that we can be forgiven of our sins. 

    In Jesus’ name, Amen.

           Series context  

    We’re continuing in the Gospel of John this morning. Last week, we looked at Jesus feeding the multitudes. 

    This week, we look at the story of his disciples being caught in a storm and Jesus walking on water. It’s another one of his greatest hits and best known and loved stories in the gospels. 

    This event is recorded in three of the gospels. Matthew, Mark, and here in John. In all three of those gospels, it appears directly after Jesus feeds the multitudes. 

    John’s version of the story is the shortest by a significant margin. Matthew’s account is more than twice as long as John’s, but that makes the account no less important.  

    Also, I should mention that a good exercise to do sometimes when reading a story that’s recounted in more than one gospel is to look at the stories and see what one writer emphasizes more or less than another.

    Before we jump into our passage, I just wanted to make one more comment. Last week, we talked about how John chapters 6-8 echo a number of themes found in the Exodus. We’ll see that again in our passage this week. 

    Last week, we saw it in the time of year. It’s Passover, the same time of year when the Israelites had been freed. When Jesus feeds the multitudes, it alludes to the Lord providing manna during the Exodus journey. 

    In Jesus walking on water, it echoes the crossing of the Red Sea. In the preceding passage, the current passage, and next week’s passage, John continues orienting the geography of these events around the Sea. And that will be especially relevant today. 

    So we’ll jump in and this week we will again look at this passage in three scenes. A setting, a conflict, and a resolution. 

     First scene – Setting

    After the feeding of the multitudes, last week’s passage concluded by telling us that Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself (John 6:15). 

    Just as Moses has gone up to Mount Sinai alone, Jesus departs from the multitude of people to be by himself on the mountain. 

    Verses 16-17: When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 

    So there’s a shift in time of day.  It’s now evening. 

    And so the disciples go down to the sea. Last week’s passage told us that they were next to the Sea of Galilee. 

    Now, when I hear that something is called a “sea,” I tend to think that it’s a small ocean. But the Sea of Galilee here is actually a large lake. Not impossibly large. If the Sea of Galilee were in America, it would be the 80th largest lake in America. 

    The important thing about this lake isn’t the size but it’s geography. It’s more than 650 feet below sea level, but you have hills and mountains around the lake and so it can be susceptible to severe weather as cold air coming from over the mountains mixes with the warm air over the lake. 

    Verse 17 tells us that the disciples get into a boat and start heading for Capernaum. It’s probably about five miles away from where they are. 

    John  also mentions that it’s dark. Solidifying the mood of the story. He’s already said it’s evening and now he mentions darkness. 

    Light and darkness continues to be an important theme woven throughout John’s Gospel. Yes, it’s dark, literally, but it’s also dark in the sense that they do not have the light of Jesus with them. It’s one of the few places in this gospel where there’s a temporary absence from Jesus in the story. 

    Second scene – we see the conflict 

    Verse 18 into 19: The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles

    The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 

    It can be easy to just glance at that clause and keep on reading. That’s a very brief description but they were in a precarious situation. They’ve gone about three and a half miles. 

    Based on the other gospel accounts, we know that it’s about 3 in the morning. Keep in mind that some of the disciples were professional fisherman. They knew how to sail a boat. The trip should have taken an hour or two. 

    But they get caught up in poor weather. It’s night, it’s dark, waves on the Sea of Galilee can be fierce in poor weather. They’re undoubtedly getting exhausted as they struggle with this storm. 

    It would be a frightening situation. But then Jesus enters the story. 

    Third scene – we see the resolution 

    Verses 19-20: they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

    The disciples see Jesus walking to them and they are frightened. None of the gospels mention that the disciples were actually fearful of the weather. 

    All three gospel accounts mention that the disciples were frightened when they saw Jesus walking on water. 

    Matthew 14:26: when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.

    They’re fearful because they don’t realize it’s Jesus. 

    In ancient thought, the sea was often thought as being an unfriendly and hostile environment.

    For some in the Greco-Roman world, they thought that if you drowned, you could not go to heaven and that your soul was lost. For the disciples, they might have thought that Jesus was an unfriendly spirit coming for them. 

    But instead, it’s Jesus. In the disciple’s time of need, Jesus shows up. He’s Lord even in the storms. He’s Lord even when a situation seems hopeless. He’s Lord even when we’re afraid. 

    Jesus sees the disciples struggling in this storm from several miles away. He walks out in this storm with waves crashing down on him and walks out to the boat with his disciples. 

    This is an allusion to a few events in the Old Testament. 

    It’s an allusion to creation. 

    Genesis 1:2:  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 

    Jesus is the Lord who was in the beginning and who made all things. In both creation and this miracle, we see the dominion of the Lord over the water. 

    As I referenced in the beginning, we again see allusions to the Exodus in this event. 

    In Exodus, God had worked miracle after miracle to free the Israelites. He had brought plagues upon the Egyptians. He had displayed his righteous judgment upon Egypt for their treatment of the Israelites and refusal to release them. 

    But as a final step before entering into the wilderness, the Israelites were confronted by the Red Sea with the Egyptian army following behind them. 

    Did they trust in the Lord? Did they look at how far God had already brought them? 


    Exodus 14:10: When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.

    The people question why they’ve been brought into the desert to die and talk about how things hadn’t been so bad in Egypt. 

    Their minds go to absurd places. Moses responds. From Exodus 14:13:  And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.” 

    What happens next is one of the best-known events in the Bible. Through the mediation of Moses, God parts the waters of the Red Sea and enables the Israelites to pass through on dry ground and to escape their Egyptian persecutors. 

    For the disciples, in their time of need, it is Jesus who comes to their rescue. Not by walking through the sea but by walking on the sea. Again. Remember the time of year. It’s Passover and here you have Jesus walking on water to come to the rescue of his disciples. 

    And if you read chapter 6 in one sitting, John keeps orienting the story with its proximity to the Sea. He keeps bringing it back into the story for emphasis. 

    And the similarities to Passover do not end there. To quote again from Exodus 14:13: Moses had said to the Israelites Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord

    Jesus similarly tells the disciples not to fear. 

    Verse 20: 

     But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

    Don’t be afraid. In the Exodus, Moses was able to tell the Israelites not to fear because of the Lord who was bringing salvation. Jesus can definitively say not to fear because he IS the Lord who brings salvation. 

    Where he says “It is I,” we lose the meaning in translation. Literally what Jesus says in Greek is “I am, do not be afraid.” 

    In the following section, Jesus will give the first of what are known as the “I am” statements which are statements Jesus makes which further disclose his Messianic identity. 

    It’s possible that his point is simply to say “it’s me, don’t be afraid.” In the Greek, that’s possible. And perhaps the disciples didn’t catch the reference in the moment. 

    But given all of the allusion back to the Exodus, I believe Jesus’ “I am” statement is again referring back to the Old Testament. 

    In Exodus, when God first appears to Moses and tells Moses that he has been chosen to lead the Israelites out of slavery, Moses asks God to reveal his name and the Lord says to Moses in Exodus 3:14: “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

    What does that mean? 

    I am. 

    That’s been debated since before the time of Christ. 

    In part, it speaks to God’s self-existence. That God is being in itself. That God is so uniquely and purely himself. 

    And so you have Jesus on the Sea near the time of Passover, coming to rescue his disciples and telling them not to fear because “I am” is with them.” 

    In the storm, knowing of the life and glory that was in Christ was the reason why the disciples were told not to fear. 

    You might be tempted to think “Yeah, but they actually had him with them. I wouldn’t be afraid if Jesus was with me either.” 

    How does Matthew end? 

    Jesus says: I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). 

    John 15;26, Jesus talks of the helper he sends us. The Holy Spirit: When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

    The Bible says that Jesus prays for us. 


    Hebrews 7:25: he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 

    Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus will say that he has gone to prepare a place for us. Fear not. For we have a wonderful savior. Is that always easy? It’s not. We’re still fallen and sinful. The world around us is fallen and sinful. 

    But one of the great temptations that we face is to doubt God when things don’t go the way we should. We so often put more stock into our will being done, than God’s perfect will being done. If you know Christ, then 100 percent of the things that happen in your life are for your ultimate good. Again, in the eyes of the world, that’s nonsense. In the eyes of the world, the cross is foolishness. 

    But to those who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18-20). 

    When God tells us to fear not it is not because every situation will always work out the way we think it should or the way we want it to. 

    We’re told to fear not BECAUSE every situation will work out to our great God’s sovereign will. 

    Did you know that the most common command in the Bible is to not fear. 

    An article on Crosswalk brought up that generally when the Bible tells us not to fear, it doesn’t just say that in isolation. 

    In other words the Bible doesn’t say “don’t fear. All right, onto the next thing.” 

    It says “fear not” and grounds that in a truth about who God is. 

    We actually saw that in the Exodus verse where Moses was addressing the Israelites. Final time quoting from Exodus 14:13: Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.” 

    God tells Abraham in Genesis 15:1: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

    Genesis 26:24, God is speaking to Isaac: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.

    Lots of other examples. In the Bible, people are told not to fear because God will fight for them (Joshua 10:8). 

    Joseph is told not to fear taking Mary as his wife because the child she was carrying had been conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). 

    In Luke, we’re told not to fear because God has given his kingdom (Luke 12:32). 

    I think that’s really something that should be instructive for us. When we’re fearful, or worried, or stressed, don’t put the pressure on yourself to just will yourself to not feel that way. 

    But instead, fill your mind with what God has said in his Word and hold to that in the difficulties. 

    Don’t just tell yourself to not fear, but tell yourself why you can trust in God. 

    Jesus says: “I am. Do not be afraid.” 

    Let us go to him in the times where we fear. 

    Jesus is Lord of the storm. 

    We’ve had a lot of storms as a society this year. 

    For some of us, health issues. 

    For others, struggles in our family.

    I think for all of us, we struggle with all of the little losses we’re going through right now. And those do matter too. Watching a game, going to a restaurant, traveling, the little things that add the little joys to our lives.

    I don’t know if I can think of a time in my lifetime where there was more uncertainty and angst about the future. There are concerns over the economy and what that will look like in the coming years. 

    There are worries about societal upheaval. There are worries about the future and the unknown. There are worries about our churches. Not just this church but churches throughout our nation and world. There is fear of the impact of that. There are fears for our society as America seems to be becoming increasingly secular. 

    In the Book of Revelation, also written by John, he has a vision of Christ and is terrified. 

    Revelation 1:17-18:

    17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

    God is still on the throne. 

    Fear not, for we have the God of the universe. 

    He is good. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He hasn’t forgotten us. And he loves us. 

    In Matthew 10, Jesus says:

    Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:28-31)

    Again, the subject of fear comes up. Jesus is Lord of the storm. 

    Final verse of the passage. The disciples now realize that it’s Jesus. They’re relieved. 

    Verse 21: Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 

    They want to take Jesus into the boat with them, but Jesus has just nonchalantly worked another miracle. 

    The story ends with them safely reaching the shore. 

    I love this quote from Herman Ridderboss in his commentary on John: “in virtue of the glory given him by God, no darkness was too deep, waves too high, or sea too wide for him to find them and be with them in the midst of that tumult.”

    Jesus is the God who sees us in our struggles. He’s the God who comes to us in the storms. He’s the God who’s there at our lowest moments. He’s the God who tells us not to fear. Because the safest place to be is in his presence. Even if our body dies, for those who believe in the gospel of Christ, we are eternally secure with him. We don’t always see him. But in whatever we face, he sees us. He knows what we need. 

    Will you trust in him?