SUCH A FUSS
John 7:40-52
S: Jesus
Th: Jesus as a cause of division
Pr: WE ARE EITHER FOR OR AGAINST JESUS.
?: How? How is it observed?
KW: Stages
TS: We will find in our study of John 7:40-52 three stages that demonstrate how we can either be for or against Jesus.
The ____ stage is…
I. DISTINCTION
II. DUMBFOUNDMENT
III. DERISION
Version: ESV
RMBC 25 August 02 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Notebook: Judge (I’m the groom)
A small-town police officer was sitting in his car on a Saturday morning when a motorist sped past him down Main Street. He quickly pulls the car over.
“Officer,” the man began, “I can explain…”
“Quiet!” snapped the officer. “We don’t ‘tolerate’ reckless driving in this town! I’m going to let you cool your heels in jail until the chief gets back.”
“But, officer, you don’t under…”
“And I said to keep quiet!” he barked, reaching for his nightstick to convince the man he meant what he said. A few hours later the officer looked in on his prisoner and said, “Lucky for you that the chief’s at his daughter’s wedding. He’ll be in a good mood when he gets back.”
“Don’t count on it,” replied the fellow in the cell. “I’m the groom.”
1. Have you ever been quick to judge?
We probably all have been guilty of this from time to time.
We make a judgement before we have all the facts.
Well, this is an issue in the text we are studying this morning.
Today, we return to the gospel of John for the final time this year.
Since April, we have been studying chapters 5-7, and now we come to the end of chapter 7.
We will pick up John again sometime next year.
As a reminder, let us remember the context in which we find this passage.
The setting is the Feast of Tabernacles.
This feast was a grand camping festival surrounding Jerusalem.
All the people made shelters out of interwoven branches and leaves and slept in those same shelters for 7 nights.
They did this to remind themselves how their ancestors slept under the stars for 40 years in the desert.
One of the daily highlights was that each morning at the time of sacrifice, the priests would draw water in a golden vessel from the Pool of Siloam and carry it to the temple to be poured out.
This was done to mark God’s gift water when they were dying of thirst.
So, it was a very festive time each day, as people would wave palm branches, rejoicing and praising God.
It was to this backdrop, we find John recording this event:
John 7:37-38 (ESV)
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.’”
You know…
2. Jesus challenged His listeners to judge with right judgment.
These were statements calling for a decision.
These were claims that are meant to prevent you from sitting on the fence.
You are either going to follow Him, or not.
The challenge for His listeners was to get beyond the mere appearances.
There was a challenge to look deeper, to consider the heart of the issue.
So, as we come to this passage, we find this…
3. Jesus’ claim results in argument and debate.
What is interesting to note is that the question of “Who is Jesus?” that began then, continues today.
It continues to be a valid question.
It is a valid question because you are here today.
This church meets together because of Jesus.
The cross behind me is not some mere decoration.
It is a reminder that it is through a cruel instrument of death our salvation came.
We have a tendency to “candy-coat” Jesus.
We like to make Him something sweet and easy to swallow.
But, when we come to the New Testament, more often than not, it is not that way.
For Jesus obviously did not read, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
He was not schooled in the fine arts of political correctness.
He did not have any of His disciples editing speeches to remove what might be offensive.
He just spoke the truth, like (Matthew 10:34-36 [ESV])…
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.”
He often just said what was hard to accept.
So we have decisions to make…
ILL Notebook: Accept (smoking)
Like the man who enjoyed smoking tobacco until they came out with the Surgeon General’s health warning on the packages. He determined he had to do one of two things: quit smoking or quit reading. So he opted for the logical decision: he quit reading.
OUR STUDY:
Let’s consider our text now.
Here we will find a process unfolding in the framework of three stages of how people decide about Jesus.
The first stage is…
I. DISTINCTION (40-44)
[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.
Again, let us note that…
1. Jesus forced people to consider His role.
I think we can tell from this passage that He did not leave people feeling wishy-washy.
When Jesus told them that He could satisfy their eternal thirst, it was a claim that had to be considered.
Ultimately, it was going to be either accepted or rejected.
We see here that some are wondering if He was the prophet Elijah that was to come before the Messiah.
Others are wondering if He was the Messiah Himself.
But, in the midst of this debate…
2. Some are troubled about His origins.
After all, He comes from Galilee.
All His main ministry and activity has occurred in the north, and not near Jerusalem.
So, there is confusion.
The people are thinking of Micah 5:2 and that the Messiah must come from Bethlehem in the south.
It is clear here that they don’t have all the facts.
And as a result, some are still unconvinced and have made their judgment.
He must be arrested.
This leads to the second stage…
II. DUMBFOUNDMENT (45-46)
[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!”
You may remember from our earlier studies that…
1. Jesus was to be arrested.
The Jewish leaders had sent the temple police out to bring Him in.
They had passed judgment on the basis of their prejudices and their superficial examination of the facts.
So, the warrants were signed.
He just needed to be brought in.
But, in the process to bring Him in, the words of Jesus gripped the temple police.
2. Jesus spoke in such a way that His words arrested their hearts.
Jesus spoke so forcefully and frankly, they knew that something special was going on.
He spoke so fearlessly, they were transfixed by His every word.
They were persuaded by His credibility.
So, when He finishes teaching for the day, He leaves.
And it is as if then they remember what they were supposed to do—arrest Him, but now He is gone.
So they return to the temple and give this solid testimony to the person of Jesus, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
ILL Notebook: Judgment (Simpson [Goettsche: “Innocent Until Proven Guilty])
There is no argument. One of the biggest media events of all time was the O.J. Simpson trial. Even though the creed of our country is, “innocent until proven guilty,” most of us had him convicted before the trial. The leaks about DNA evidence, past abusive behavior, unexplained coincidences and the pursuit of the Bronco convinced us that the true killer was behind bars.
So we waited with anticipation to see what the dream team of defense lawyers were going to do. We should not have been surprised at their tactic. It was very simple: try to cloud the issue and create reasonable doubt. Rather than deal with the guilt or innocence of your client, try to make other people the focus of the trial. So, we had charges of racism on the police force, sloppiness in the lab, and a conspiracy among them all. Insult and derision was the name of the game.
The result: “Not guilty!” Miscarriage of justice or the justice system at its best? Only time will tell.
And note the similarity as we come to the third stage…
III. DERISION (47-52)
[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.”
The Pharisees proved that…
1. When we don’t want to listen, we don’t.
Pride gets in the way.
Our minds are made up.
And instead of listening, it is easier to label people.
Note…
2. The tools of pride:
The first is…
2.1 Ridicule – “You are deceived.”
In essence, they say, “How can you be so stupid and gullible?”
“How can you listen to Him one time and think you have the whole story?”
“Don’t be so naïve!”
The tools of ridicule hurt and are hard to stand up to.
Then there is…
2.2 Coercion – “Follow us.”
In essence, they say, “If the leaders don’t believe in Jesus, then anyone who has any sense won’t believe Him either.”
“Look…have any important people like ourselves believed in Him?”
“Trust us…we have the answers.”
Finally, they use…
2.3 Belittling – “They don’t know.”
In essence, they say, “Don’t be as stupid as the crowd.”
“They are ignorant.”
“They don’t know about the law.”
“They are dull commoners.”
Interestingly, one stops and asks a question at this point.
It is Nicodemus!
He says, ““Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
But the tools of pride are still at work.
Now it is…
2.4 Sarcasm – “You must be from Galilee.”
“Are you a lowly and ignorant Galilean too?”
Which goes to show you, when you cannot answer the argument, attack the speaker instead.
But Nicodemus has exposed their flaw.
In their pride, the leaders have been in a hurry to execute judgment.
They have been quick to judge.
So much so, they get their facts wrong.
There have been prophets from the north.
For Jonah was from Galilee, as well as Hosea and Nahum.
Possibly Elijah, Elisha, and Amos were also.
Now, Nicodemus appeals for a honest hearing.
He appeals to the idea of due process.
It is something, though, Jesus will never get from the Jewish leaders, not now, and not in six months when the next Passover comes.
APPLICATION:
Such a fuss!
What is the fuss all about?
It is a fuss that has shaped history and continues to do so!
For…
WE ARE EITHER FOR OR AGAINST JESUS.
We must admit, that we don’t always like what Jesus has said or stands for.
It is hard to admit that we are dependent.
We like being independent, able to choose our own way.
The trouble, is though, that when our life does not turn out right or the way we expected, we blame others, like the testimony of this man…
ILL Notebook: Blame (women drivers)
Driving to town this morning on the Interstate, I looked over to my left and there was a woman in a brand new Mustang doing 65 miles per hour with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner! I looked away for a couple seconds and when I looked back she was halfway over in my lane, still working on that dumb makeup!!!
It scared me so bad I dropped my electric shaver, which knocked the donut out of my other hand. In all the confusion of trying to straighten out the car using my knees against the steering wheel, it knocked my cell phone away from my other ear which fell into the coffee between my legs and DISCONNECTED AN IMPORTANT CALL!
WOMEN DRIVERS!
The use of diversionary tactics and blame-shifting is something we should all be familiar with.
We don’t want to know the truth about ourselves.
We don’t want to admit our own fault.
And our culture has taught us well.
For…we say we are not responsible for our decisions because of the environment we grew up in…it is the fault of our parents.
We plead ignorance…it is the fault of the educational system.
We claim genetic predisposition…it is the fault of nature.
It is quite a predicament we get ourselves into.
For as soon as we blame someone or something else, we admit that there is a standard that we have not met.
There is a right way and a wrong way.
This brings us back to Jesus, because He had the audacity to say He was the way, and in effect, the only way.
So many of us, though, don’t want to see Jesus in this way.
We speak politely about Him.
We speak fondly of Him like at Christmas and Easter times.
But the truth is, we cannot casually brush aside His claims and treat Him as if He was not worth getting excited about, or upset about, for that matter.
For the simple truth is this.
Either Jesus is correct in what he says, or He is a deceiver, worthy of death.
If Jesus is the Son of God, as He clearly claims, then He speaks for God, and He also speaks as God.
According to Him we are sinners that deserve God’s eternal wrath.
Our only hope is His sacrifice on the cross.
He is the way.
So let me ask you this…
What have you decided about Jesus?
For you are either for Him or against Him.
You either submit to Him or stand against Him.
You either receive Him or reject Him.
Let me encourage you to fall before Him as your Savior and Lord.
He is worthy of your worship!
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Submit to Jesus—for He is the Messiah that has come to set matters right, for the world, and for you.
Receive Jesus—for never a man spoke like Him; He will catch your attention if you are willing to listen with your heart.
Be for Jesus—for He speaks the truth; He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
