There Are No Closet Christians (John 7:1-52) Series

This morning, we find ourselves (somehow) in John 7. Throughout the gospel of John, we have found people confronted with one basic choice-- will they give their allegiance to Jesus, or not?

Some people, hearing Jesus' words, and learning, have come to place their trust in Jesus. They've given their allegiance to him. Other people-- people who are wicked, and/or who make too much of Moses-- refuse.

We, as AJ's (Author of John's) readers, are used to this pattern by now. When we see Jesus interacting with people, we find ourselves wondering, will they respond like Jesus' disciples, and the Samaritans, and the official whose son was healed, and give their allegiance to Jesus? Or, will they respond with hostility, and reject Jesus, and try to kill him? Or, will they try to stay neutral, and uncommitted either way-- like the crowds?

Now, we've hopefully also been noticing one another thing about the way that people respond. Lots of people find themselves attracted to Jesus at first, knowing that he is in some sense from God. They are somewhat open to Jesus. But when people refuse to really come to Jesus, and abide with him, that openness begins to disappear. What we find, instead, is people hardening their hearts against Jesus. And where has this been happening? In Judea, among Jesus' own people-- among the Judeans.

Now, before we read anything in John 7 today, we need to refresh our memory, and read about what happened last time Jesus was in Judea. Let's turn to John 5:1-18:

(1) After these things, there was a feast of the Judeans,

and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

(2) Now, there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate, a pool,

the one being called in Aramaic (Hebrew?) Bethesda,

five porticos having.

(3) In these a great number of the sick ones were lying down-- blind, lame, paralyzed.

(5) Now, a certain man was there,

38 years being in his sickness.

(6) This man , Jesus, seeing lying there, and knowing that a long time already he is sick, says to him,

"Do you want, healthy, to become?

(7) The sick one answered him,

"Lord/sir, a man I don't have,

in order that whenever the water is stirred up, he would put me into the pool."

Now, while I am coming, another before me goes down."

(8) Jesus says to him,

"Rise up.

Take your mat,

and walk!,"

(9) and immediately, he became healthy-- the man--

and he picked up his mat,

and he walked.

Now, it was a Sabbath on that day.

(10) Then, the Judeans were saying to the one having been healed,

"A Sabbath it is,

and it isn't allowed for you to pick up your mat."

(11) Now, he answered them,

"The one making me healthy-- that one to me said,

'Pick up your mat,

and walk!'"

(12) Then, they asked him,

"Who is the man-- the one saying to you, "Pick up and walk."

(13) Now, the one being healed didn't know who it is.

For Jesus withdrew,

a crowd being in the place.

(14) After these things, Jesus finds him in the temple,

and he said to him,

"LOOK! Healthy you have become.

No longer sin,

in order that worse to you, something may happen."

(15) The man departed,

and he proclaimed/declared to the Judeans,

that Jesus, The one making him healthy was,

(16) and for this reason, the Judeans were persecuting Jesus,

because these things he was doing on the Sabbath.

(17) Now, he answered them,

"My Father until now is working,

and I am working."

(18) Then, for this reason, even more, the Judeans were seeking to kill him,

because not only he was breaking the Sabbath,

but also his own Father, he was calling [the] God,

equal himself making with God.

At this point in the gospel, Judeans have flat-out rejected Jesus. They've hardened their hearts, and they've decided that they are going to kill Jesus. So Judea has become a place of great danger.

Now, let's start reading in John 7. In verses 1-2, AJ gives us our background/framework for reading:

(1) And after these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee.

For he didn't wish in Judea to walk,

because they were seeking him-- the Judeans-- to kill.

Jesus knows that Judea is a place of danger, because the Judeans want to kill him. And so he doesn't want to go to Judea. He doesn't want to die.

Is Jesus staying in Galilee because he's afraid to die? Is he simply being wise? This should raise a question in our minds.

Verse 2:

(2) Now, the feast of the Judeans was near-- the [feast of] Tabernacles.

Maybe next week, I'll talk a little about the Feast of Tabernacles. For now, let's just stay focused on the three pieces of information AJ wanted us to know, going in to chapter 7: (1) The Judeans (in Judea) want to kill Jesus; (2) Jesus doesn't want to go to Judea; (3) it's the time of the Feast "of the Judeans."