Josh Benner

Tag: preaching

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

    25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 

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

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

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

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

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

    Our heavenly Father, 

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

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

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

    Introduction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    That’s the way the world is. 

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

    And that’s what we see in this passage. 

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

    That’s how the world is today. 

    We have these groups. 

    We have all sorts of assumptions about Jesus. 

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

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

    We can have all sorts of assumptions about Jesus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Jesus calls us to believe in him. 

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

    And again, a verse we looked at last week. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

    1. Positive response to Jesus 

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

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

    They’re both right. 

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

    Let’s explain this further. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The answer is: yes. 

    He’s both. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Disbelieving response to Jesus 

    We come to a second group. 

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

    Rest of verse 41 through the end of verse 43: 

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

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

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

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

    The Christ had to come from Bethlehem. 

    Which Jesus did. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    That’s the gospel. 

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

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

    That’s where much of our world is today. 

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

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

    That’s important and significant. 

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

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

    But they still don’t believe in him. 

    And there’s no middle ground with Jesus. 

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

    You believe him or you don’t. 

    So I ask. What do you believe? 

    Who is Jesus to you? 

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

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

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

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

    But they’re not. 

    There’s no middle ground. 

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

    But we must come to him. 

    And then we see the third group. 

    Opposing response to Jesus 

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

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

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

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

    But the officers in the temple do not follow through. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

    No one ever spoke like this man. 

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

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

    We see the intermingling of different responses to Jesus. 

    The positive and negative responses to Jesus coming to battle. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The irony is that one is about to. 

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

    Nicodemus had responded to Jesus with confusion and questioning: 


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

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

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

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

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

    We see these conflicts.

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

    The gospel is offensive. 

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

    And the solution to the conflicts is Jesus himself. 

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

    What do you believe? 

    The only response which Jesus accepts is belief in him. 

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

    0197 

    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 Butterfly Effect – 2 Corinthians 3:18

    And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    Prayer: Father in heaven, let those of us who know Christ set are minds on things that are above. Let us put an end to areas of sin. May we be a people who love you and who’s first desire is to know you better. Pray that your grace can be communicated to all of us. Remind us of the great forgiveness which you offer to all people. Let us approach you this day. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Intro

    When I was in college, I had this pair of jeans that I loved. Every time, I put these jeans on, magic was in the air. Every time I put these jeans on, you could almost hear the angels sinning. 

    Every time I put these jeans on, I looked so good, that the girls on campus were too intimidated to even talk to me. Having such a perfectly good fitting pair of jeans was a joy that most people have never even known. But over time, the jeans began to develop a hole in them. At first, I ignored the hole. But eventually the hole got worse and worse until I eventually had to make the hardest decision I had ever had to make. What do I do with these jeans? I didn’t want to throw them away. So I thought about it. And then I got the idea to use safety pins to try to pin the hole shut. But I wanted to do a good job. So I used like a lot of safety pins. Pinned the jeans closed. Put them on. I thought “I am so smart.” Later that evening, I was going to an event and a friend came to pickle up. I sat down in the car. And the moment I sat down, ripped right open. We were still waiting on someone else to get to the car so I had a moment to think. Options were running through my head. I’m thinking “can I go like this? I can’t go like this.” 

    So I get out of the car and start walking back to my fraternity house. But as I’m walking, I’m getting poked by the safety pins. And no matter what I do, as I’m walking, I’m getting poked. It kind of felt like, imagine that you’re walking with a porcupine between your legs that’s attacking you. I tell you that story for this reason. You can have something that you really love, but that you need to let go of. Because holding onto it will cause you a lot of pain. 

    We’re continuing our series: the Forensics of Faith this morning.

    Last week, we talked about regeneration. That’s being born again. It’s God giving us new Spiritual life. This week, we talk about sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being made holy once someone has come to faith.  

    Regeneration happens once. Sanctification happens throughout life. When we are regenerated, we are given a new Spiritual disposition and volition to follow God. Sanctification is a lifetime of fruit of that work of regeneration. 

    Sanctification must be accompanied by regeneration. Because we cannot be sanctified without the means of the Spirit and we don’t have the Spirit without the new life which is found in Christ. 

    And the main idea from our text this morning is that God makes the unholy holy.

    And we have two points today: who is sanctified and how we are sanctified. 

    I. First, Who is sanctified. 

    The text says: And we all, who with unveiled faces

    I think that it helps to give some background. When Paul talks about our faces being unveiled. It’s referring to Exodus 34. In that chapter, Moses is given commands from God and Moses is in the presence of the Lord. As a result of this experience, Moses’ face becomes illuminated. 

    Moses’ face is radiantly glowing and the Israelites are afraid of this. You might be thinking “that’s crazy, I wouldn’t be afraid.” Yeah ya would. Half of us can’t handle seeing a spider, I’m pretty sure a man with a glowing radiant face would be a bit disconcerting.  

    So Moses would put the veil to preach to the people but when he was finished preaching, he would put the veil back on.

    But the text in Exodus also tells us that when Moses would go to speak to the Lord, he would take the veil off. And so our verse this morning is saying that all believers are now able to approach God as Moses did, with unveiled faces. 2 Corinthians 3:16 says that when a person turns to God, the veil is removed. 

    We have the great benefit of all being able to approach the Lord. We have that privilege because of the work of Christ.

    God grants us access to himself. God isn’t distant from us.

    If you’re a private in the military and you need to talk to someone, you don’t go directly to the general. You follow the chain of command.

    If you work for a large company and have an issue, you don’t go directly to the CEO, you go to your supervisor. There’s a chain of command.

    God isn’t distant. He’s not too busy with other things. We have access to him. Something that is so utterly profound and wondrous that we oftentimes don’t even stop to question what a glorious privilege that is.  

    We don’t have this great wall of separation between us and God, because of what Jesus has done for us. Jesus has enabled us to enter the presence of the Lord.  

    It’s true of all Christians and it is only true of Christians. Because we are sanctified through the Holy Spirit. It is given to all who have faith in the gospel. Which is why I make this point often. But a true and sincere faith necessarily results in a changed life. Because it’s not us who are making ourselves Holy. It’s the Holy Spirit who is making us holy.

    II. How we are sanctified  

     {}

    18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    That’s profound. We who contemplate the glory of the Lord, who behold the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image.

    The means through which the Lord sanctifies us are the pillars of Christianity that I talk about so often. God sanctifies us through knowing his Word.

    2 Timothy 3:16 says All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 

    To know God’s word is to begin to know God. To know how he has revealed himself. To know what the Bible says about God, what it says about us, and what is says about his salvation in our lives. Without the Word, we are just guessing and inventing our own theology and our own God. But the Word points us to God and to truth. 

    Jesus prayed to God in John 17:17 “sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” 

    We are sanctified by God by being connected and involved in our church and through fellowship. 

    Hebrews 10:24: let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

    Real fellowship and community sanctifies us. 

    Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. 

    And those are just a couple of examples. That list is not exhaustive. 

    A lot of the pillars of faith are the same means through which we grow and through which God sanctifies us. As well as things like prayer and service. 

    But the source of the sanctification is the Spirit. And it is through this daily focus and commitment to God that God sanctifies us.

    Imagine how different life is for the person who is wholly devoted to these things. Not going through the motions, not doing things out of obligation, not making excuses to procrastinate with pursuing God, but sincere daily devotion to communion with the Almighty. 

    God does amazing things. He transforms. He sanctifies. He makes the unholy holy.  

    He’s working in the hearts of his people.

    God had made man good. And humanity fell into sin. But through Jesus, who has redeemed everyone who trusts in him, God is doing a work of restoration.

    Illustration – art 

    In 1505, the great Renaissance painter Raphael painted his Madonna del Cardellino which depicted Mary with the two babies: Jesus and John the Baptist.

    Forty years later, an earthquake hit Florence and the masterpiece fell to the ground and was shattered into 17 pieces. In an effort to restore the painting, another artist used iron nails and tried to put the painting back together. He then used paint to try to cover up seams. Over yeas, other attempts were made. And other dust and debris accumulated on the painting.

    In modern times, there was a new effort to restore the painting. Over ten years, 50 artists worked to restore the Madonna del Cardellino. They carefully got rid of added layers of paint. The restored the cracks and creases.

    What had been a beautiful design had been tarnished. It was obscured. It was inglorious. But the skilled artist was able to restore the painting to its original vibrancy and luster. Was able to restore it to what it had always been intended to be.

    That’s what God does in us as we are sanctified through His Spirit.

    He sanctifies us differently though. He sanctifies us in different ways at different times. 

    When we place faith in Christ, while we are forgiven of all of our sins, that doesn’t mean all of those sins become immediately easily manageable.

    In coming to faith, there might be things that quickly fall away, while other sins linger. You might become a Christian and know certain things are sinful while with other areas, it doesn’t even occur to you.

    Maybe you’ve been walking with Jesus for a couple years and you just feel this tug at your heart from the Holy Spirit. Saying the language you use isn’t honoring to God. Or maybe you’ve heard multiple sermons that address the subject of giving, and you’ve never given it a second thought. And then one day, you feel moved to greater generosity.

    Maybe you struggle with control issues. Always have. Never even thought of it as sin. It’s just been second nature to you for as long as you can remember. But maybe little by little, it becomes revealed to you that it’s an area where you need work.

    Or maybe God is working on something else in your heart right now. Again, he sanctifies us differently.

    One person might have a greater degree of sanctification in a certain area over someone else. Something that’s a sign of Christian maturity might come more naturally, while your struggle comes easier for the person sitting next to you.

    (slow)

    Sometimes an area where God sanctifies us can be dramatic. Almost overnight. Maybe that happened when you first became a Christian with some things. Maybe you immediately realized that it was a sin.

    Being more or less sanctified doesn’t mean a person is more or less saved or more or less right with God, because the entire process presupposes a person has faith, and it is that faith that saves. It is from God, so we must be aware that it is his work in us and not to use what God is doing as an excuse for boasting or pridefulness over someone who isn’t as far along on the journey. 

    It’s not that we are sanctifying ourselves, but we are enabled to participate in our own sanctification. How exactly that works contains an element of mystery. But an important part of that is obedience. Not obedience to trust in your salvation. But valuing the righteousness of God and saying yes to that.

    Sanctification is never complete in us, this side of heaven. Heaven is a place without sin. And we will be fully sanctified in God’s presence. But between now and then, God is working in us. He is changing us. Where are the areas in your life right now where God is working?

    What are the things that are holding you back? What are your jeans that you can’t bring yourself to throw away? Pursue God today. Pursue his will and his ways. Live for him. Again we don’t sanctify ourselves. But we do participate in our sanctification. And if there’s something in your life today where the Holy Spirit is convicting you. If there’s something in your heart that you know you shouldn’t be doing. I know it can sometimes be hard to throw those things away.

    But God is always better. His gospel is always sweeter. And in turning from sin, it is meant for your own good and for your own joy.

    I’ve given examples of means which God uses to sanctify us. But as we continue in this verse, I think that everything largely boils down to one thing.

    We all, with unveiled faces, who contemplate the Lord’s glory.  

    We contemplate the Lord’s glory, we behold the Lord’s glory, we focus on the Lord’s glory. In all of these things that we do in order to pursue a relationship with God, there is to be a focus on God, a mindfulness of God, an acknowledgement of the Lord’s glory.  

    There is something wonderful about keeping our eyes on God.

    It’s hard to have deep fellowship with the Lord, and to take great joy in him when we are actively engaging in sin.

    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 

    Of course we are free to approach him when we sin. But that mentality to approach him assumes a desire to have a change in the heart. We can’t have a mind, completely focused on the glorious God of the universe in a moment when we are also willingly rebelling against his will. 

    It’s not him, it’s us. It’s not that he is unwilling to forgive or be gracious.

    It’s so hard when we fall into a particularly bad area of sin in our lives. It can be difficult to want to turn to God in the midst of our struggles. Rather we want to hide from him. We sew fig leaves together and pretend he doesn’t see.

    But continually contemplating God is transforming. 

    The word translated as “transform” in this passage is metamorph-oumetha, from which we get our word metamorphosis. I think that makes the idea more tangible. It’s a metamorphosis that’s happening. God is totally changing us. 

    We all learned about this in school with butterflies.

    It starts out as an egg and then hatches.

    The larva of a butterfly is a caterpillar and it grows.

    Then it has the stage as a pupa where it’s in a chrysalis, which lasts several weeks, and in that span, the caterpillar is undergoing a dramatic change as it emerges as a butterfly. 

    That’s what happens to us when God comes into our lives. We totally change. You might be a caterpillar today, but God is making you a butterfly.  

    We’ve seen it in the lives of others. For those of us who are in Christ, we have experienced it in our own lives. 

    Maybe you can think of an area that you used to struggle with, and that now, isn’t something you even really think about or miss. The goodness of God in sanctifying us. In not keeping us the same.

    We see people who are full of anger become soft. We see people who are selfish become servants,  people who are apathetic become empathetic. People who walk in fear begin to walk in faith. The power of the gospel in transforming souls.

    We see it in the Bible itself, amazing things happening in the lives of God’s people.

    There is a transformation in the life of Paul, the author of our book this morning. He has been a persecutor of Christians but Jesus was dramatically revealed to him in the book of Acts. 

    Paul went on to be the greatest missionary who had ever lived, writing this book and 12 others in the New Testament.

    Sanctification points us to the power of the gospel like few other things. 

    People who are dead in their sin are made new. First God saves us, and he frees us from the penalty of sin. And in. his. goodness, he is working a metamorphosis in our lives. The change isn’t a punishment; it’s an act of grace. We all have issues, and things we wished were different. God purges the things from our lives. 

    Hoarders

    There’s this show I’ve seen before called Hoarders. 

    It’s a show about pack rats on steroids. They save everything.  

    Imagine sin being like that. We’ve got all this junk, but God is the master-organizer. Little by little, he’s taking things away. We’ve got so much excess, that sometimes he takes boxes away, and we don’t even notice it’s gone. 

    Say that you come to faith, and you have 20 things that are real issues for you. You swear like a sailor, you drink like a fish. You root for the Packers. But God chips away at our areas of sin. 

    You’re forgiven, but all of those struggles aren’t going to go away instantly. Over time, we are becoming more holy. 

    Often times, there is a lot of growth when we first come to faith. That can be a really exciting time. Or maybe there’s been another period where your relationship with God seemed more palpable. Maybe when one of your kids was born. 

     But it’s not the same now. 

    It doesn’t have to be like that forever. But it’s hard for that to improve out of nowhere. We need to focus on God. With unveiled faces, we need to contemplate the glory of God. Is there anything more important that you could think about than this? 

    You might casually think, “Well yeah, God is glorious, I get it, so what.” 

    He is the most glorious thing in the universe! He is the ruler and sustainer of the universe, the creator of the universe, of all things visible and invisible, the holy God. In every quality which can be ascribed to him, he possesses it in its superlative degree. He isn’t just a king, but the king of kings, not just a Lord but the Lord of Lords. 

    May we all have minds utterly enamored by the wonder of God.

    Like I’ve said, God sanctifies us. We don’t transform ourselves, we don’t transform our own hearts. But in participating in our sanctification, we can actively pursue God. 

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    Philippians 1:6 says, “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” 

    God is sanctifying, he is working. 

    It ebbs and flows. Sometimes, it can be like we are going two steps forward and one step backward. But God is transforming us. 

    The text says that it is with ever increasing glory. The ESV translation says “from one degree of glory to another.” Literally it’s saying we are being transformed from glory to glory. God has transformed us into his glorious image to one point today, but it’ll be at another place in five years. It’ll be at another place in ten years. 

    (slow)

    We are being transformed into the image of Christ. We are being transformed into a greater resemblance of his character.

    And the fact that we are progressively being changed into the likeness of God should give us hope. We aren’t where we will be, but we’re better than we were. It gives us the hope of what the gospel promises. Of the work that God will do in someone who is walking in faith.

    It should give us hope that for areas where we have seen defeat throughout our lives, God is still at work, we are not done. The sculptor keeps chipping away at the hard block of stone to reveal a wondrous creation. Who you are now is not who you always have to be.

    We undermine the power of the gospel when we think a person can’t change. People are being introduced to God everyday. Addictions are being broken everyday. Broken marriages are being reconciled everyday. Don’t forget the power of God and what he can do. Don’t forget what he has done in your life, what he can do in your life, and what he can do in the lives of others.

    I’m a huge fan of the musical Les Miserables. I’ve always been struck by the relationship between Jean Valjean and Javert. Valjean, the protagonist, spends several years of his life in prison. Javert is a policemen. Valjean goes on to be an honest man, but Javert keeps recurring throughout his life. For Javert, despite the fact that Valjean is an honorable man, he is, and always will be, a criminal. He is so focused on what Valjean has done, that he is blind to the changes in his life.

    But God transforms. Whatever it is you’re struggling with, God has pulled people up from greater darkness, from lower places.

    We are being transformed with ever-increasing glory

    The verse includes with Which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    We are sanctified by God the father through the Holy Spirit.

    If you study the whole passage we’re in this morning: 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, Paul was referring back to Moses and the blessings from God during the time of Moses. But Paul is saying that this is a new era, this new covenant is even greater than what they had in the time of Moses. Now we have the Holy Spirit which has been given to the faithful. The Spirit enables us to understand God’s word, convicts of sin, equips us with various Spiritual gifts, and many other things.

    It says that we are being transformed from the Lord, who is the Spirit. The point here is that the new covenant, after the time of Christ is being experienced in believers through the Spirit. We are sanctified by God the father, and also through the Holy Spirit.

    Conclusion

    The gospel is the power of God for our salvation.

    As we close this morning, two stories of redemption come to mind.

    John Newton was a debauchorous and hedonistic sailor in the 18th century. In his twenties, he was on a ship that was caught in the middle of a tremendous storm. It was a monumental event in his life and was a catalyst in the process of his finding faith.

    But Newton went on to be a slave trader. Epilepsy took him away from sailing a few years later. He began to more fervently study God’s scriptures. He would go on to serve as a pastor in England for more than 40 years. 

    The fact that Newton had been a slave trader would become a source of regret in his life, and he became an avid abolitionist in England. He also wrote the most famous hymn ever penned in the English language, Amazing Grace.

    A second story comes to mind:

    Kelly Gissandaner was executed in Georgia in September of 2015. In 1997, while having an affair, Gissendaner convinced her boyfriend to murder her husband. On death row, Gissendaner found faith, took up the study of theology, and became a mentor and Spiritual role model to other women in the prison. She went from being a woman full of hatred to having a metamorphosis that can only come from God.  

    God can lift you up from whatever you’ve done. Anyone who comes to him in true faith, God forgives.

    In the moments leading up to her death, as the drugs were being administered, Gissendaner could be heard singing those words of John Newton, “amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, yet now I see.” 

    The power of God in the gospels shows us Jesus healing lepers, feeding thousands, walking on water, and conquering death. It takes sinful people in their separation from God and makes them God’s people.

    Surely it can take a hateful person and make them loving. Surely the gospel can take a criminal and make them remorseful. We must not think that a person is undeserving of grace. None of us truly deserves it. But no sin is so great, no person is so sinful that the cross of Christ is incapable of forgiving it. 

  • 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.

  • 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?