Who is Jesus Christ? This is the ultimate question. Many answers have been given.
• Muslims believe Jesus was a great prophet sent by God, but superseded by Mohammed.
• Buddhists believe Jesus was a wise and enlightened man.
• Mormons believe Jesus was a man who became a god.
• Jehovah’s Witnesses believe Jesus was the first creation of Jehovah.
• The Church of Scientology believes Jesus is one of many good teachers.
The title of the cover story in the March 31, 2008 edition of MacLean’s magazine was “Jesus Has an Identity Crisis.” The article quotes Gretta Vosper, pastor of West Hill United Church in suburban Toronto. Here are a few statements she makes about Jesus:
“In trying to capture exactly what [Jesus] said, we have found, quite by accident, that what he said has little power” (p. 41).
“If we say we follow Jesus without clarification, we allow the assumption that we agree with all of his ideas, including the bad ones” (p. 41).
“Why do we need a ‘revolutionary’ voice from two millennia ago to guide us? We have fabulous ideas of our own, that are constantly weakened by having to tie them back to Jesus and Scripture” (p. 42).
People are no less confused about the true identity of Jesus today than they were back in His day. He is still misunderstood.
Confusion about Jesus in John 7 and 8 (these two chapters take place during the Feast of Tabernacles, except for 7:53-8:11):
• “He is a good man” (v. 12).
• “No, he deceives the people” (v. 12).
• “You are demon-possessed [crazy]” (v. 20).
• “Surely this man is the Prophet” (v. 40).
• “He is the Christ” (v. 41).
SCENE ONE (7:14-24)
There are three groups of people in this passage:
(1) “The Jews” (v. 15, 35) – the religious leaders and enemies of Jesus, who hated Jesus and wanted Him killed.
(2) “The crowd” (v. 20) – pilgrims in Jerusalem because of the Feast, who were unaware of the plot to kill Jesus.
(3) “The people of Jerusalem” (v. 25) – people residing in Jerusalem, who were aware of the plot to kill Jesus.
14Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?”
16Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20“You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (John 7:14-24).
• Subject: The TEACHING of Jesus
• Question: Where did this man get such learning?
“How did this man get such learning without having studied?” (v. 15). Jesus had never received any rabbinical training, yet He possessed an amazing knowledge of the Scriptures.
• Answer: HEAVEN
“My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me” (v. 16). His diplomas were divine.
Originality was not prized by the Jews. A rabbi would teach by quoting other rabbis. If a teacher didn’t quote others, he was considered arrogant. Jesus often began His teaching with the phrase “I tell you the truth.” He didn’t quote other teachers. (He was also different from the OT prophets who began with the phrase “Thus says the LORD.”) But Jesus’ teaching was not His own. It came from the Father (“him who sent me”).
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law (Matthew 7:28-29).
Jesus’ authority came directly from the Father.
• Irony: Jesus, the all-knowing Son of God, was regarded as an uneducated person.
The “one miracle” to which Jesus refers in v. 21 was His healing of the lame man in chapter 5. This miracle was performed on the Sabbath.
So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:16-18).
The command concerning the Sabbath:
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work…” (Exodus 20:8-10).
The command concerning circumcision:
“On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:3; cf. Genesis 17:9-14).
(Believers today are not required to obey the commands concerning the Sabbath and circumcision.)
What should be done when the eighth day falls on a Sabbath?
The difficulty that Jesus raised was that two commandments of God apparently conflicted with one another. The Jews were to circumcise their males on the eighth day after birth (Lev. 12:3); yet, no regular work was to be performed on the Sabbath. What should be done when the eighth day fell on a Sabbath? The Jews had always concluded that it was permissible to go ahead and circumcise on the eighth day regardless of whether it fell on a Sabbath or not (Andreas J. Kosetenberger, John, p. 234).
“Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (v. 24). The religious leaders’ judgment was wrong in two ways:
(1) It was inconsistent. They allowed the cutting of a single body part (circumcision) on the Sabbath but not the healing of a whole person.
(2) It was hypocritical. They were guilty of hatred and seeking to kill Jesus. “Not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” (v. 19).
SCENE TWO (7:25-31)
25At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? 27But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
30At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?”
• Subject: The ORIGIN of Jesus
• Question: Where did this man come from?
“Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from” (vv. 26b-27).
Some people thought the Christ would have a sudden appearance. They could have based this belief on a verse such as Malachi 3:1:
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.
We understand the prophecies concerning the suddenness of Christ’s coming to refer to His second coming. Jesus cautioned, “Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).
Later, others rejected Jesus because they expected the Christ to come from Bethlehem. (They didn’t realize He was born in Bethlehem.)
Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” (John 7:41b-42; cf. Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-6).
Jesus’ critics occasionally disbelieve Him on contradictory grounds, united only in their opposition to Him.
• Answer: HEAVEN
“Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me” (vv. 28-29).
• Irony: The people believed no one would know where the Christ came from, and they actually didn’t know the true origin of Jesus.
SCENE THREE (7:32-36)
32The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time. 34You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
35The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
• Subject: The DEPARTURE of Jesus
Jesus was crucified six months later during the Passover. (The Feast of Tabernacles occurred six months prior to the Passover.)
• Question: Where is this man going?
“Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?” (v. 35).
• Answer: HEAVEN
“I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come” (vv. 33-34).
• Irony: After Jesus’ departure, His followers preached the gospel to the Greeks.
WHY DO MANY “SMART” PEOPLE NOT BELIEVE?
It was the religious leaders—those most educated in the OT Scriptures—who were the biggest enemies of Jesus. In our day, often those most educated in the NT Scriptures refuse to believe that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Why?
In the TV series X-Files, FBI agent Fox Mulder, a “believer” in the existence of aliens, has a poster of a UFO on the wall behind his desk. The poster reads, “I want to believe.”
Some people want to believe something so badly that they will believe, regardless of the evidence. The opposite is also true. Many people don’t want to believe in Jesus. Some think the idea that God became a man is too crazy. Others don’t like Jesus’ teachings (for example, eternal punishment). So they come up with countless theories to explain why Jesus can’t be who the NT Gospels present Him to be.
“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (v. 17).
Acceptance of Christ depends not only on the mind, but also on the WILL.
Augustine wrote, “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.”
Why doesn’t God provide irrefutable evidence for the true identity of Jesus so that all will believe? Because God delights in faith.
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION: Who Is Jesus?
The One Who Is Misunderstood
John 7:14-36
SCENE ONE (7:14-24)
• Subject: The ____________________ of Jesus
• Question: Where did this man get such learning? (v. 15)
• Answer: ____________________
“My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me” (v. 16).
• Irony: Jesus, the all-knowing Son of God, was regarded as an uneducated person.
SCENE TWO (7:25-31)
• Subject: The ____________________ of Jesus
• Question: Where did this man come from?
• Answer: ____________________
“Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me” (vv. 28-29).
• Irony: The people believed no one would know where the Christ came from, and they actually didn’t know the true origin of Jesus.
SCENE THREE (7:32-36)
• Subject: The ____________________ of Jesus
• Question: Where is this man going? (v. 35)
• Answer: ____________________
“I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come” (vv. 33-34).
• Irony: After Jesus’ departure, His followers preached the gospel to the Greeks.
WHY DO MANY “SMART” PEOPLE NOT BELIEVE?
“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (v. 17).
Acceptance of Christ depends not only on the mind, but also on the _______________.
Augustine wrote, “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.”
Life Group Questions
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24 NKJV).
1. Read John 7:21-23. What was wrong the the religious leaders’ judgment? How do we make the same mistakes today?
2. Read Mark 2:23-28. What did Jesus mean when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (v. 28).
3. Read Mark 3:1-6. What point was Jesus making when He asked, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (v. 4).
4. Read Matthew 7:1-6. What did Jesus teach about judging? Is it always wrong to judge?
5. What do the following verses teach about judging: Romans 14:1; 1 Corinthians 5:12; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Philippians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1.
6. How would you summarize the Bible’s teaching on Christian judgment?
