3. Jesus, on Himself,
John 7.25-39
"Then said some of
them of Jerusalem...", 7.25(a).
You know, there will
always be people who will miss the point entirely. I've had it
happen so many times, that after a bible study or a message from the
word of God, that someone will ask a question or make a comment,
entirely unrelated to the subject-at-hand. It's almost as though,
the entire time, their thoughts had been consumed-with just one
little itsy-bitsy comment in the study, or perhaps some personal
issue they may have with the preacher, rather than with the truths of
scripture. And that was precisely the case with those in Jerusalem
that day.
Jesus had been teaching,
as we read in vs. 14, important points concerning their relationship
with Moses, and the keeping of the Law, and what was their response?
"...is this not He Whom they seek to kill?", 7.25(b)...and
vs. 27..."we know this man...but when Christ cometh...".
The people weren't concerned with the teachings of the Law and the
Prophets! Rather, they were so consumed with the who and how and why
the preacher was, that they entirely missed the point of the message.
And the truth be known, they weren't even there to hear the
message, or to learn more about their spiritual
responsibilities...yes, responsibilities! They were there to dig up
dirt, and to spread the bad word, and to fire themselves up for the
kill. We see that in vs. 30 that..."they sought to take
Him...". They were working themselves up into a gossiping
frenzy, hoping that eventually, someone would dare to cast the first
stone. These people were religious fanatics...pious and
self-righteous; strangers to godliness and strangers to God; but oh,
they loved their religion! And they were willing to defend it by
every means at their disposal, even if it meant breaking the most
basic of the Laws of God.
"And then cried Jesus
in the temple as He taught...", vs. 28(a). Now I don't know
whether He literally cried, or not, but if He wasn't on the outside,
I'm sure He was on the inside. You see, He is Light, and His very
presence exposes the darkness that is in our hearts (ch. 8.12); "All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God", Romans 3.23.
Those Jewish rulers were no better than the common people...no better
than the Galileans, and it pained Jesus to see it; and it still pains
Him, and He is grieved at the knowledge of it. How plain it is that
no man comes to Christ "...except the Father draw him", Jn.
6.44!
In this case, Jesus
accuses them in vs. 28, of not even knowing the Father; that really
is the bottom line, so far as the church is concerned, isn't it? So
far as the church is concerned, our "bottom line" is too
often "what we have" rather than, "Who we have",
and believe me, there's a whole world of difference! I would like
you to think for a minute about what it means to "know" the
Father in the sense that Jesus is referring-to in these verses. What
would have been different about the people's response to one another,
and to Jesus if they had "known the Father" in the way He
did? vs. 29. How would our fellowship be identified around these
parts, if we did the same? It would have been, and would be, a
beautiful thing to see! But praise God, all is not lost! As we read
there in vs. 31..."Many of the people believed on Him..",
and what did they believe? Well, they believed what He said
concerning Himself, as recorded there in vss. 28 and 29. And they
confirmed their belief, as recorded there in vs. 31 that..."this
man must be Christ, because the miracles He does could never be
equalled by anyone else".
What is the basis for your
faith? Maybe it's time you thought about that. Is it the claims
that Jesus has made, to be the Lamb of God, the Light of the world
and the Bread of Life? Or is it some other reason? Well, the
teachings of Jesus are clear enough; it's up to us to believe and
receive, or to deny and die! Those Jews were in a sad state, weren't
they, because as we read in vs. 32, the Pharisees took matters into
their own hands and sent officers to arrest Him. At this point in
the Gospel of John there are only six months remaining before the
actual night of Jesus' arrest and crucifiction, and we can see here,
the way things are beginning to take shape. In vs. 26, we saw how
the intelligence of the rulers had been brought into question, and
how in vs. 31 they were beginning to lose their authority over their
own people; I'm sure there was quite a bit of unrest, behind closed
doors, but of course, Jesus even knows what happens behind closed
doors! And it didn't move Him a whit, because as we read in vs.
30..."His hour was not yet come". So what did He do? He
continued to teach His new disciples about His future, and what would
ultimately be, their future as well.
"Yet a little while I
am with you, and then I go unto Him that sent Me", vs. 33. Now
you can be sure that those people weren't thinking in heavenly terms,
any more than most of us do. They, and we, think in earthly
terms. In fact, hardly anything that Jesus said, made any sense to
them, just as we see from vs. 35-36. Do you realize that there is a
day coming when a man will look for Jesus and He will be nowhere to
be found? Of course that will only be a problem for those who have
made a profession of rejecting him, or neglecting Him, and one day
find themselves facing judgement, but with no one to defend them.
"Where I am, thither
you cannot come", vs. 34(b). Do you realize the significance of
that saying? Remember, Jesus knew their hearts, and He could see
that their hearts were so far from Him that they would never be able
to get to where He was. Satan had fixed such a gulf between Jesus'
heart and their's, that they could never be even inclined to find the
way to cross over. In fact, it's no surprise that they didn't
realize that Jesus was speaking here, of their spiritual condition,
because their thoughts and their deeds were of the flesh. And as 1
Corinthians 2.14 says..."the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto them,
neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned".
Jesus, of course, was
speaking of His heavenly estate, right there, in their very earthly
presence. But they thought He must be planning to go into hiding,
somewhere far from their reach; it never occurred to them that He
might be referring to their spiritual condition. Thoughts of God and
His glory couldn't have been further from their minds; and these
weren't illiterate men, either...they were well-versed in the laws
and traditions of Moses, but apparently, they had no heart for Jesus.
So then, He does all that is left for Him to do...offer the
invitation to "come unto (Him)", vs. 37.
Do you have a thirst for
the Lord today? You know something, just like on this day in the
life of Jesus as recorded here, the feast is nearly over. The
celebration that is our lives, is coming to an end. The last day of
their "solemn convocation", as it is referred-to back in
Lev. 23, had come and gone, but Jesus still had His God-given
responsibilities. Verse 37 is the gospel invitation in a
nutshell...three simple, easily understood words...thirst, come and
drink. You know, when you think of it, it really is sad that so many
people thirst for things that really, can't satisfy...the things of
this world. And to each of those perishable things, Jesus has
attached a tag that says..."Whosoever drinketh of this water
shall thirst again!" (4.13). But the thirst that Jesus is
speaking-of here, is a thirst for Him! Just as He had said back in
6.56..."eat and drink of Me!" We all have a thirst; none
of us can argue that, but not everyone can really identy their
thirst. So Jesus says, "Come"...one of the simplest and
clearest words in the English language. To come to Jesus is to do
with your heart and your mind and your will, exactly what you would
otherwise do with you feet! It's an act of faith, and it's a
faith-building act, and it's the only thing left for a really
"thirsty" person to do.
Finally, the invitation
Jesus gives is to "drink", and that's exactly where so many
people seem to falter. Jesus is offering those Jews an opportunity
of a lifetime, and yet, just like us today, there are few who take
Him at His word...the invitation to drink the Water that lives, and
that gives life...the figure of coming to Jesus in faith, out of a
deep need into a life of grace. You know, Jesus obeyed the Law by
going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and He
didn't consider it to be just an empty tradition, that's for sure;
His cry, as noted there in vs. 37, was the plea of His very
heart..."come...and drink!"
Verses 38 and 39 are two
of the most misunderstood in the Gospel of John, and beyond. You
see, the problem for those Jews lies in the fact that there is no
real Old Testament precedent for them. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah
and others all speak of water in various passages, but not to the
extent that they would shed any great light. The closest example is
found in the wilderness account as recorded in Exodus 17.1-7. From
what we read in 7.39, it's clear that Holy Spirit is involved, and in
a pretty big way at that! And whether He will flow in, or out or
both, isn't at all important; the fact of the matter is, that there's
more than enough of Him for a filling of the one who believes and
receives. We all know the benefit of a fresh draft of rushing
water...cleansing, refreshing, thirst-quenching and necessary for
life! Well that pretty much describes the work of the Spirit as
well, and I don't think that any of us who is busy serving Jesus,
would deny the need for an overfilling of His grace!
We live, after all, in
a thirsty world, indeed.
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