American Loon

We are in John 7 and Jesus is at the Feast of Booths. You can find more information about that much beloved festival here: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/feast-booths/
Jesus had let his brothers go without Him to Jerusalem while He told them it was not yet His time. (vv. 2-8) After they had been gone a bit, Jesus went there unannounced and then started to teach at the Temple. (v. 14) This caused many people to talk, some for Him and some against Him (vv. 11-13) He tells them the truth, His teaching is not His, but from the Father and He asks them “Why do you seek to kill me?” (vv. 16-19), for the Pharisees were eagerly searching for Him to lay hands on Him. (v. 11)

The people answered back to Jesus with the starkness of their unbelief. “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” (v. 20) What do you say to such a thing? This Man that spoke with such authority and clarity, now He has a demon and delusional, thinking that people are trying to kill Him. I have used this from Solomon “There Is Nothing New Under The Sun,” found in Ecclesiastes 1:4-11.

We are in the same condition today, speaking nonsense from the very top of our government down to our local authorities. Many churches have been shuttered for a good part of a year at the behest of our authorities and just now opened with the threat of further closings if they say so. What would Christ, He who created all (John 1:3) and Groom of the Church (Revelation 19:7) say to this? We see what is happening in Hebrews 12:27. God is shaking that which can be shaken and by the looks of it many of the churches have been shaken to their core. Education, Corporate structure, Government, Western Culture, the list goes on. You may disagree with that assessment, but point to any one of them and see if they are operating with Christ in mind. You say that is too high of standard, that nobody does that. And that, I point out is the problem, it should be our standard, yet it is not sought. Ok, let’s take it down a couple notches and ask if what we hear and see from our society is working in the realm of common sense? Or Truth? Not so much, I would say. Hence, the wrath of God for a people He has given up to their sins. We have blown well past the warnings of abandonment listed in Romans 1 verse 18 to the end of the chapter, and still we wonder at what’s going on around us.

Hebrews 12 also says that what can be shaken will be removed and that which remains unshaken will remain. So, how shaken are you and who do you turn to for hope? We the Called will remain unshaken, or at least we should be, and that is what Christ was looking for in the people that were following Him around. Some believed, but most were the stiff necked Jews of old. He told them to “Not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment,” but that for the most part was unheeded.

We are now up to where we left off last week.

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

It is interesting that the people had a fair amount of knowledge of the Christ. I am sure it was talked about because John the Baptist was operating in the area and with what the Temple authorities had been saying. We do not have that kind of general biblical knowledge in our society. You see it by the silly things people believe in. Part of folk wisdom as it is, has a saying, If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything. You see a lot of that these days. Not the same situation as back then, but they had the Pharisees and all their additional laws that they had said would protect God’s word from abuse. The real abuse came from their additional laws and how they enforced them.

The Pharisees, who seemed to be always around looking for an infraction of their highly esteemed law to enforce, heard the people muttering about Jesus and sent officers to arrest God. They refused to acknowledge the Kingdom walking and talking in their presence and were angry and insulted at Jesus’s supposed flaunting of their sabbath rules. (v.32)

Jesus of course knew of all that was going on and said “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” (vv. 33-34) Which the people promptly misunderstood. “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’?” (vv. 35-36) When you are a pagan, you think and act like a pagan. Again, look around you in this current day, what do you see, and more importantly, are you in support of what is being said and done? I keep bringing this up not to rub your nose in it, but to show that this is nothing new and to wake up those sleepwalking through life, thinking a minimum effort will magically give you a maximum result. Christ never offered easy terms to follow Him. I believe His terms were “Pick up your cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24-26)

The last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (vv. 37-38) That scripture He quoted might refer to Exodus 17:6 where Moses hit a rock with his rod at God’s request and the water flowed. We’ve also seen this at the well in Sychar, to the Samaritan woman. (John 4:1-28) And now I ask you, are you seeking the Waters of Life? You can’t do that, standing on the bank of that river, not wanting to get your toes wet. Jump on in, the water’s fine.

We are now in John 7 and it starts out with “After this…” indicating a period of time elapsing between the last event listed in the previous scripture and this new one. It states that Jesus was walking about Galilee and would not go to Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him. (v. 1) These Jews were the Pharisees and scribes, those who ruled the people, that had seen the signs and wonders that Jesus had done and were not moved to believe, only hate Him for violating their rules and making their false righteousness evident to all. His brothers, those born from Mary, so really half brothers came to him: “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” (vv. 3-4) It also said that His brothers did not believe in Him. (v. 5) From Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary: “The brethren or kinsmen of Jesus were disgusted, when they found there was no prospect of worldly advantages from him.”

This tells you how entrenched these people were to their rebellious attitudes. Something that is a hallmark of their heritage. A good portion of the Old Testament deals with Jews rebelling and God warning them to repent. Read it, it’s a very instructional story. (Genesis 1 to Malachi 4)

During this time, the Feast of Booths was going on, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or by its Hebrew name, Sukkot, this celebration was the last of the fall festivals and was held at the end of the agricultural year when the grapes and olives were harvested in Israel. This was a time to thank God for all of the preceding year’s provisions and to pray for a good rainy season, which lasted from October through March. Sukkot was designed to remember the wilderness journey from Egypt to Canaan, when God made the people live in booths (Lev. 23:33–43). It was a beloved festival that the people looked forward to.

Jesus responds to His brothers: “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” (vv. 6-8) After telling them this, Jesus remained in Galilee. (v. 9)

After His brothers go off to the feast and know this Feast of Booths lasts 7 days, Jesus goes also to the feast, but in private. (v. 10) Many people were looking for Him. The Pharisees because they wanted to kill Him, but others also were looking for Him and talking about Him. Some said He was good and others said He led people astray. And nobody said anything too loudly because they feared the Pharisees. (vv. 11-13)

During the middle of the feast, Jesus went up and began to teach in the Temple. (v. 14) The Jews, and I think this means all of them, marveled at what He said and the authority in how He said it. They knew who He was and where He was from and also knew that a simple carpenter could not have this knowledge. “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” (v. 15)

Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” (vv. 16-19) Jesus, when asked a question, always answered in a way that would educate those that would listen, these people had ears to hear, but they could not. (Isaiah 6:10, Jeremiah 5:21, Ezekiel 12:2, Matthew 13:15, Acts 28:27, Romans 11:8)

One of the things that has been perpetrated upon us is the perception that Jesus was a meek and mild and slightly effeminate man that just wanted to be your friend. Nothing could be further from the truth. Joshua 5:13-15 is an example of the pre-incarnate Christ, with a sword drawn, leading God’s people. Go Read It and disabuse yourselves of what has been pushed upon us, that of a mild Christ that just wants to love us and be our friend. He is our King and Savior!

Jesus never shied away from schooling those that confronted Him. He was never confrontational but the Truth is as hard as a brick wall when you run into it. And that’s all the Jews ever did, run into the Truth and it made them stupid. As evidenced by what comes next. The crowd shouted back to Him “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” (v. 20) This man cured many many people, (Luke 4:40) fed thousands (Mark 6:30-44, Matthew 15:32-39) and cast out demons, (Luke 4:35, Matthew 8:32) now they’re claiming He has a demon. Like I said, stupid, sin makes you stupid. Nehemiah 9 is where the people have returned from Babylon and they are repenting their sins. They recite a brief chronology of knowing God, rejecting God, being punished by God, repenting to God. Rinse and repeat. Read it, it is a short chapter and will give you a better understanding of these Jews and their stiff necks. We share in their stiff necked ways.

Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (v. 21-24) We should also pay attention to this lesson in this day and age. Do not judge by appearances. We base most of our judgement on looks. Even Samuel the High Priest was fooled when told to view Jesse’s sons. Samuel picked what he thought looked good, but no, God wanted somebody with a good heart, not tall and handsome. Read the story in 1 Samuel 16, it’s a good one. So, do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (v. 24)

I think we are going to stop right here and let you read about young David being chosen in Samuel 16. Also think about how you judge things. And while you’re at it, read about how you should judge not lest you be judged. Judgement, in my opinion, is one of our major faults and sins. You can use these scriptures for study: Mat 7:1-5, Luke 6:37, Romans 2:1-2, James 4:11-12, Romans 14:10-13, Luke 6:41, 1 Corinthians 4:3-5, Romans 14:3-4, Ezekiel 16:52-56 Enjoy your time enriching your mind with God’s Words and reap the blessing of your obedience to Him.

For a more thorough unpacking of this portion of John 7, I enjoin you to watch this sermon by Ben Merkle. He does a very good job of explaining the scripture and you come away with a much better understanding of Christ and the unbelief of Him and His teachings in this part of the scripture. I count this as Providence that this sermon popped up in my YouTube feed while I was writing this. God is working in all of our lives, you just have to pause and recognize it, then pause again to praise and thank God for His work in you.