The Redeemer, Recognized and Rejected

Hearing but Not Listening

Focus will be on John 8:12-59

Key verses: John 8:46-47

Why did the Jews, particularly the Jewish leaders continue to reject Jesus. Not only reject him, but grow in their hostility to the point that they had him killed?

Drowning at camp

Maybe it’s because it’s finally warm out after that nasty week we just have but I have summer on my mind. Who went to summer camp?

I didn’t have great camp experiences. (Describe experiences)

I learned a lot. Friendship, faith, independence. (most of our best lessons are learned through mistakes)

I still remember at Youth Farm they took us to the Rosthern pool.

Now, I did finally make it over to the edge of the pool, but looking back now that is a great example of a time that I was hearing but not listening.

Hearing is a physical act. It doesn’t take much effort. Your ears pick up the noise but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re engaged with what’s going on. Listening is active. Hearing is the perception of sound, while listening is the active pursuit to understand what you hear.

It didn’t take long for me to recognize in my moment of panic that I heard what the lifeguard said, but I wasn’t listening.

Michael read from John 8: 42-47 which provides for us an example that’s very similar. A moment when the religious leaders were debating with Jesus. It becomes clear quite quickly that in this debate the leaders may have been hearing Jesus but they certainly weren’t listening. And as we move through chapter 8 of John we’ll see a number of examples of this and the danger it leads to.

PRAY

Manuscript Study Note - John 8:1-11

In a conversation this week I told someone that I was going to be preaching from John chapter 8, and they said, “Oh, isn’t that the story of the woman caught in adultery?” I said it was but we’re actually going to skip that part. Now, let me explain.

Chapter 8 opens with the story of the woman caught in adultery. A story which I’m sure many of you are familiar. You will notice that the story doesn’t actually begin at verse 1 of chapter 8 but actually verse 53 of the previous chapter.

Some of you also may notice that this story interrupts the flow of John’s narrative. In chapter 7 Jesus comes to the temple for the the Feast of Tabernacles and debates with the religious leaders. Verse 53 of chapter 7 says that after this discussion everyone went home and then came back to the temple where the woman is presented to Jesus, but you can see that the narrative flows much more easily without verses 53 of chapter 7 to Chapter 8:11.

You may remember that a few weeks ago when Pastor Mitchell was speaking on John 5, he described how most of your Bibles have omitted verse 4 and this was because scholars have found that the earliest manuscripts do not include this verse. Therefore, in an effort to preserve an accurate account of John’s testimony it’s been removed.

The story of the woman at the well is similar. It’s not in the earliest manuscripts and more than likely was added later. It doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen, it very likely did, but it most likely was not part of John’s original testimony. And like Pastor Mitchell explained a few weeks ago, these passages may well be an accurate account and do add to our understanding of the events, but is not in the earliest documents and therefore was not likely part of John’s original testimony.

This should not lead us to doubt the veracity of John’s gospel but rather give us confidence in our ability to use the thousands and thousands of copies of the New Testament to build an accurate and detailed account of Jesus’s life and God’s inerrant word.

Can one preach out of chapter 8:1-11? I don’t want to make a definitive statement on that. I think you can but it should always be prefaced in the same manner I’ve explained. Not my intention to stir up some controversy, but there you go.

Just so everyone’s aware, all questions and phone calls can go to our interim head pastor, Daniel. He’s free all week.

If this is giving you more questions than answers or if this is an area of particular interest for you there are a number of resources I can direct you to that are directed at the lay person, of which I would consider myself to be, so please come and find me at the end of the service if you’d like some of those details.

Speaking at the Temple (background)

Last week Pastor Daniel brought us through chapters 6 and 7 and we saw Jesus enter the temple for the festival of the tabernacles, a very important event in the life of a devout Jew. It is important for us to understand this festival and specifically where Jesus was during the debate he has with the Jews inside of the temple. For everything he says is connected to the events that are taking place at that time, only adding to their significance. Not only their significance but also the many connections Jesus was making throughout his teaching with the Old Testament texts of which the Jews would have been very familiar.

The Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering, is described in Numbers 29. It commemorated the period of the wilderness wanderings following the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. This was both a feast and a pilgrimage. It was a celebration which took place at the end of the harvest season. It was a time that the Jews celebrated God’s faithfulness to them in bringing them to the promised land.

The events of the feast were centred around the temple. The temple, at this time is divided into 4 courts. There was a very large outer court - this is called the court of the Gentiles and was open to both Jews and Gentiles. Inside the outer court was the court of the women. It served as a gathering place for Jewish men and women and then beyond this court would have been the court of Israel, for only Jewish men and then beyond that the court of the priests, where the main temple building would be found. Jesus during his discussion with the Jews and the religious leaders in this chapter and the previous chapter is in the court of the women. Jesus is in the court of the women, the most packed court because that was a place where everyone could be and where you could give your tithes and offerings.

During the feast of the tabernacles it would have been packed. This court is similar in size to a football field. I’m not sure if you watched the Superbowl, but when the game is over friends and family and the media flood the field to celebrate. So the images of all these people packed together on the football field after the Superbowl, that’s what we’re looking at here. And like the Superbowl, this even was a celebration as they were remembering God’s salvation, faithfulness and provision during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

This week lost celebration would have been filled with ceremonies and symbols, we saw one of these described chapter 7 where the priests would pour out water to symbolize the water or life given to the Israelites while they were in the desert and Jesus says, “I will give you living waters.”

We see at the beginning of chapter 8, at verse 12, Jesus speaks of light. During this celebration there were 4 large minoras that were lit. These symbolized God’s faithfullness to the Israelistes as they wandered in the desert for at night they were guided by a great pillar of fire, or light. It’s said they were so large and bright that they could be seen throughout the city, like floodlights. And we are not told the specific moment that Jesus speaks the words found in chapter 8, but I can imagine the people packed in the court with these large lights and Jesus, in reference to these great lights, these symbols, says, “I am the light of the world.”

Listening, not Hearing (debate) they recognized him

He’s “the light of the world.” This fits the theme that John develops in his Gospel for in John 1:6-11 “There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not.”

So, for us reading this passage it is abundantly clear what Jesus is claiming. But what about for those hearing this in the temple courts. What did the Jews make of this?

This metaphor, as Jesus as light, is steeped in Old Testament allusions.

Psalm 27:1 “Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?” the Lord is light.

Isaiah 60:19-20 “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Jehovah will be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah will be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” The Lord will be light for his people.

.Isaiah 49:6 “yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” The light will be bring salvation, not just for Israel but for all nations.

Some scholars believe that during the Feast of Tabernacles that the Levites would read from Zechariah 14:5b-8 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light; the bright ones shall withdraw themselves: but it shall be one day which is known unto Jehovah; not day, and not night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light. And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.”

God will bring light and living waters. What did Jesus just do, at this feast in the previous chapter? During part of the ceremony, when the priests are pouring out water to symbolize the life given to the Israelites in the desert, Jesus said, “I give living water.” Now he declares, “He is the light of the world.”

It should have been abundantly clear to the people listening at the temple who Jesus was claiming to be.

It wasn’t clear. v. 23-30.

It wasn’t clear for many of them, but Jesus said I will make this clear to all of you, when I am lifted up. He’s pointing to his death on the cross.

Let What You Hear Transform You

Now, it says in v. 30 that there were some you believed. There were some that had begun to not just hear and attempt to win the argument, but some actually believed what he was saying.

And so Jesus pats them on the back and says, “You’ve done it. You believe. My work here is done.” No, that’s not what he does. This is what we in the church sometimes find ourselves doing, right? Someone confesses their sins and prays to accept Christ and we say you did it. You’re in. Oh, yeah, can you help with sound Sunday morning? Come play floor hockey with us church gym. The decision to believe is followed by discipleship, the process of sanctification. A small part of that might involve providing some practical help in the church - using your gifts, and spending time with other believers. But it should also involve helping to bring about real change in every aspect of our lives. You’ve made the decision to believe! Great! Now, the real work begins.

Jesus wasn’t easy on those who believed. Look at verses 31-41.

Jesus says, “You don’t get it. You are still slaves to sin and you are putting your trust in the law to save you. You must submit completely to me. Put your trust in God and not in the law, or your ancestry.” There were still things holding them back. Like us there were areas of their lives that they were unwilling to give up to Him.

Hear and Be Transformed

Jesus calls us to listen his words and be transformed. Listen, means believe. Don’t just hear to what He says, but listen to it, internalize it, analyze it, test it and be willingly to accept the truth of His words.

From the CSB verse 47 says, “The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

The greek word akooie, is translated in your Bibles as listen or hear and it means to understand. It’s active.

That doesn’t mean you need to be a Christian to understand what he’s talking about, that would be quite the catch 22. You have to believe but the only way to understand your belief is by first believing. No.

It means that before you can hear it and internalize it, you must be willing to remove the stumbling blocks that cause you to reject it.

That’s why the religious leaders and many of the Jews in the temple cannot accept what Jesus is saying. There’s something in the way. Pride was getting in the way. Pride says, “I can do it.” The Jews put their trust in the law. I can follow the law and that will save me. But the whole purpose of God’s law was that I can’t do it. I need saving. Abraham was not saved by the law but by his faith.

Example of Nicodemus

I think this is best exemplified in comparing Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus and the debate he has with the religious leaders in chapter 8. We won’t go through the entire story of Nicodemus for this has already been covered in a previous message. It’s found in chapter 3.

But looking at the interaction with Nicodemus and the religious leaders here you notice some striking similarities, but also noticeable difference too.

Just as the religious leaders are not getting it in chapter 8, Nicodemus doesn’t really get it either. Jesus says that if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven you have to be born again. And Nicodemus is like born again what does that mean. There’s a genuine curiosity. And Jesus isn’t easy on him. He says you're Israel’s teacher and you don’t understand what I’m saying? He was a pharisee and part of the Jewish council. But that is where the story ends. We don’t get any hint of anger or animosity, but a genuine curiosity.

What happens at the end of the debate between Jesus and the religious leaders in chapter 8? v. 48-59.

Jesus has just said that they can’t hear and understand what he’s saying because they do not belong to God. This is very much what he said to Nicodemus. You’re Israel’s teacher and you don’t understand what I’m saying?

What’s the Jews’ response? They say that he must be possessed by a demon.

Then in v. 58 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am.” Now, this is undeniable. He is saying he’s God.

What’s their reaction? v. 59. “And they picked up stones to stone him.”

Now what did Jesus say to both the religious leaders and Nicodemus about how they would know, how they would be sure he was who he claimed to be? He said when He would be lifted up. When he sacrificed himself on the cross. Then they would know.

What happened at the crucifixion? Jesus is raised up on the cross, there’s a great earthquake, the curtain in the temple is ripped from top to bottom and Nicodemus, who had earlier opened himself up to Jesus’s teachings, recognized who Jesus was. How do we know this?

John 19:38-40 “And after these things Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took away his body. And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.”

What was the response of the religious leaders?

Matthew 28:11-13 “Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.”

Nicodemus humbled himself. The religious leaders did not. Even in this moment, when they recognized that he was who he claimed to be they couldn’t submit to his authority and their pride told them they could hide the truth. They could distort the truth.

Conclusion

Unbelief never has enough proof. They decided not to believe and that led to their rejection of Jesus’s arguments. You can be an unbeliever because you’re ignorant and that’s possibly a better scenario because we can work to dispel the ignorance, but the worst situation is when you are ignorant because you’re an unbeliever. So that when you’re given the proof you’re locked into your unbelief. This is what Jesus is pointing to in verses 46 and 47. Not that once you believe the truth is revealed to you but when you orient your heart toward yourself, those things which do not come from God and you choose not to listen, you’re only hearing and you will not understand.

So, why did the religious leaders reject their promised redeemer even after they recognized who he was? Pride.

Once we recognize that we’ve heard but have not been listening we can double down on our ignorance, or we can humble ourselves and recognize what is true.

God wants us to orient ourselves toward him with humility. Pride is the ultimate sin and its what kept the Jewish leaders from accepting the truth.

Jesus still speaks today. We open His word and He speaks to us. Are you merely hearing what he’s saying or are you truly listening? If you're listening, let it transform you. Listening necessitates a change in behaviour. Some of you may be recognizing that you’re only beginning to listen now. For a long time you were only hearing, but now you’ve made a conscious decision to listen to what Jesus is saying. Hallelujah! Now, commit your life to him and be transformed. Grab hold of the promise of new life that Christ brings and begin that process of transformation, the process of sanctification and rejoice in the good work that He is beginning to do in you.

The same question Jesus responded to in the temple 2000 years ago is a question each of us must put to Him as well. Is he who he says? Both the religious leaders and the apostles were given the evidence and yet they came to different conclusion.

Which side are you on? The religious leaders? The religious leaders, who choked by pride saw that if Jesus was God they would lose every they held close: their power, wealth.

What about the apostles? They chose to believe. The did believe out of pride like the religious leaders did? What was gained? They saw the resurrected Jesus and every single one of them was killed for their faith. Why were they willing to die? They died because it was true and they knew where to place their hope.

Everyone of them killed for their faith. Now, I guess one of them wasn’t necessarily killed for his faith. No, one was banished to an island to die. That was the apostle John, whose Gospel we are studying. He was banished because of his faith and on the island of Patmos wrote these words given to him in a vision of the New Jerusalem, the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan:

Revelation 21:24-26:

“23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.”

So, let us listen to the words Jesus speaks through his word today. Listen and be transformed, and grab hold of the eternal hope that only comes from Him.