ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT JESUS?
John 7:14-18, 25-36
Whenever the secular media try to do specials on religion in America, Evangelicals are usually characterized as being part of a “subculture.” That is, we are not considered to be part of mainstream America. We sort of live in our own little world. To some extent there is some truth in that. I guess that I am really glad that this is the case. In my little world there are no drug dealers or drug abusers. Lying, stealing and cheating are not acceptable behavior, divorce is not the recommended solution for solving marital problems, men marry women and women marry men, children don’t have two daddies or two mommies, child abuse is not expected nor tolerated, and abortion is not an acceptable method of birth control. In my little world studying the Bible and regular attendance at church is not an oddity, prayer is not a strange thing for a person to do, traditional values of integrity, honesty, fidelity, temperance, and kindness are the norms. In my “subculture” we don't burn down whole areas of cities and loot the merchants, we don't have drive-by shootings, and we don't redefine perversion as normal. In my little world we openly speak of trusting in Jesus, we call him Lord, His name is given reverence and is not just another swear word, we believe that He is coming again and that one day every person (living and dead) will have to give an account to Him of everything we've ever thought said or done – down to every idle word.
When our subculture intersects mainstream America, then we find that we really do live a sheltered life. In the work-a-day world, we cross paths with people who see no problem with doing a little marijuana, getting drunk, being involved in homosexual practices, cheating on their spouse, solving unwanted pregnancies with abortion, nor using the name of Jesus only with an exclamation mark behind it.
What do we do when we encounter cultural conflicts? Do our words and body language say to the person, “I'm with you, you're OK.” or do we communicate that we don't agree with the prevailing culture and that the so-called mainstream behavior is not acceptable? In other words, do we affirm the fact that Jesus is the Christ and that He has a claim on our life or do we just try to fit in with the world?
Two thousand years ago when Jesus was in the midst of His earthly ministry, people were confronted with the question of who this Man really was. There were disagreements then just as there are now. The way we answer the question affects every decision we make, and every decision we make is an affirmation of what we really believe about Jesus.
Is Jesus’ Teaching Valid? – 7:14-18
14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. 15 The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. 18 “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. John 7:14-18 (NASB95)
Is it safe to say that everyone has an agenda? Those who would deny having an agenda would be like someone saying he has no purpose in life. Everyone has a purpose or something that motivates them whether they recognize it or not. In these verses we see something of Jesus’ agenda or purpose. Even though He was attempting to keep a low profile during this time because of the danger posed by the Jewish leaders, He found a reasonably safe environment in the crowd at the temple and He began to teach. This activity was directly related to His purpose that He later stated to Pilate in John 18:37 “for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.”
There are several significant things which we can see in these few verses. One thing that is clear is that the “seasons” of our lives have “multiple levels” for lack of a better term. While it was a season of relative desecration and caution for Jesus, the local situation provided Him an opportunity to be “instant in season and out of season” in that the large crowd in the temple area provided some degree of protection against being arrested since the High Priest was concerned about how the common people might react if Jesus were arrested in such a public setting. Jesus made good use of the opportunity and taught the people.
Another thing we see is that a formal higher education is not a requirement for a person to understand and share the truth of the word of God. Many people today put a great deal of confidence in the opinions of those in seminaries and universities and tend to dismiss those who are “self-taught” in the word of God. The major influence in a person’s ability to know God’s word is how close that person is walking with God in his or her life. Just as God by the Holy Spirit revealed His word to those who authored the Scriptures, He reveals the message of the written word to those who are willing to obey those truths and incorporate them into their very lives. Those who seek to learn for the sake of knowledge may be operating on a self or ego agenda and will not be able to fully comprehend the truth that is the word of God.
Is Jesus Really from God? – 7:25-31
25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 “Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27 “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” 30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?” John 7:25-31 (NASB95)
While most people in “the crowd” had not heard anything about the plot to eliminate Jesus, some had heard about it. Because they had heard the rumors, they were surprised that Jesus had showed up in the temple area and that He was not arrested. What they did not know was that some temple guards had been sent to arrest Jesus but they did not carry out their mission because they were so impressed with what Jesus taught. This behind-the-scenes plot was mentioned by John later on in this chapter.
People will try to make sense of what they see happening; and if they do not know the facts, they will make up a story (speculation) that would seem consistent with what they have seen. In this case, some speculated that the leaders had not arrested Jesus because they thought He was the Messiah. We know that was not true. This is why we cannot always trust what we see.
At the same time some of those who were observing the events concluded that Jesus was not the Messiah because the common belief was that no one would know where the Messiah was from and they knew that Jesus was from Nazareth. Such conclusions result from thinking in physical terms rather than spiritual terms. Jesus came from God and they did not know God since they had chosen to ignore Him and had abandoned His ways in favor of rites and rituals for the sake of “religion.”
Jesus knew that these arguments and discussions were going on among the people and He addressed the issue in verse 28. The statement “you know Me, etc.” was actually a challenge to point out that they just thought they knew Him and where He was from. Then Jesus told them in somewhat cryptic terms that He came from the One who had sent Him, and they did not know the One to whom He referred. My guess is that no one in the crowd had any idea of the truth that Jesus had just revealed to them. No one even asked Him to explain the meaning of what He had just said. They were too caught up in their own speculations and ideas they had invented to try to convince each other of their own personal opinions of what was going on. Some were close to connecting the works (miracles and teaching) of Jesus with the obvious conclusion that these were indications (not necessarily proof) that He was the Messiah.
Can We Understand Jesus’ Teaching? – 7:32-36
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? 36 “What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?” John 7:32-36 (NASB95)
We probably should not take John’s reporting of what occurred that day in chronological order. The crowd speculating about whether Jesus was the Messiah was likely an ongoing conversation in the crowd and we really don’t know how long Jesus taught in the temple area. The temple guards did go to the area and listened to what Jesus said but did not arrest (seize) Him. Jesus knew what was happening and made another cryptic comment about the situation. He essentially told the Jewish leaders that they would not have much longer to be concern about His physical presence because He (Jesus) was going to return from where he came. After that time, the Jews would still be looking for the Messiah to come, but since they had rejected Him, all their searching would be in vain.
The message from Jesus was related to the spiritual reality of the situation and the Jews were focused only on the physical meaning of what they heard. As is the case when people see and hear things that do not make sense to them, they created a possible scenario that would seem logical to them. They speculated that since the Jews in Judea would not accept Jesus’ teaching, then He would go to those Jews who lived among the Greek-speaking areas of the world and teach them. In a sense, they were onto something in that Jesus did eventually call the Apostle Paul to take the Gospel message to the Jews who were scattered among the Greeks and to the Gentiles also.
Regarding whether people can understand the teaching of Jesus, the answer is “yes we can” if we will listen with spiritual ears and get beyond the physical and temporal and refocus our view to the eternal. We are living in the reality of being those who have been given much and of whom much is expected since we have the benefit of seeing and hearing the teaching of Jesus from a “post-cross” historical view. Because we have been given as much understanding as we have, then we should have the same kind of drive to share this truth as Jesus did.
To claim that Jesus is the Messiah and that He is Lord will cause controversy with the world. The question of “Who is Jesus?” is the most important question we will ever answer because all of our eternity depends on our answer. People were divided on this important issue and much debate was generated over who He was. For that matter, much debate is still generated over who He is even today. We can look back on the situation and clearly see that the argument about a prophet coming out of Galilee was pointless because they did not have all the data. They did not know that He was born in Bethlehem in accordance with the scriptures and that Mary and Joseph were direct descendants of David. Today people have the benefit of a better overview of the alignment of the life of Jesus with the prophecies of the scriptures and it is not so much a case of “they cannot believe” as it is a case of “they will not believe.” To believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah is to admit that He has a claim on our lives and that we are not free to do or say or even think just anything or everything.
Because some were beginning to believe and to claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the religious leaders in Jerusalem had determined that it would be best if He were silenced. These men had abandoned their principles and their ability to reason and think clearly in an effort to hold on to power. We see such a concerted attempt in our nation today to remove all references to God and to turn everyone to the “religion of the day” of Secular Humanism. For this reason, we need to be even more diligent to learn how the word of God can help us answer the questions the world has about Jesus.
