The Best Has Already Come | John 7:14–36

Introduction:

As we saw last week in John 7, Jesus is not very popular at the point in time.

In John 5 He healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath Day, and the religious leaders were furious that He did it on the holy day, so they wanted to kill Him.

In John 6 He talked about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, a picture of His death and the need to believe in Him alone for salvation. It was a picture of salvation, but many of His disciples walked away over that teaching.

So He’s recently lost many disciples and the religious leaders want to kill Him. You could say this was a low point in His ministry.

When many would have hidden from the crowds, Jesus does the opposite by going up to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.

The Feast of Tabernacles was one of three primary Jewish feasts.

Josephus, the Jewish historian, called the Feast of Tabernacles the holiest and greatest feast. It was also called the Feast of Ingathering, because it took place after harvest season in the fall, and part of its purpose was to highlight thanksgiving to God for His blessings in harvest.

It was a happy feast, as opposed to the solemn feasts. There was a joyful vibe throughout the city of Jerusalem for the entire week of the feast. If travelers didn’t have family or friends to stay with, they would build booths called tabernacles made of tree branches and live in them for seven days as a reminder of God’s provision for 40 years while Israel wandered through the wilderness.

They would build these booths on rooftops or in courtyards or even on the side of the road. Kind of like camping in town wherever you could find a place to set up your booth.

But the real activity took place at the Jewish Temple. The point of the Feast was to focus on God and His blessings and provision. So the Temple was where the action took place.

Every morning, a priest would stand in the corner of the Temple Mount and blow a shofar (a ram’s horn), announcing the start of the day’s festivities.

The another priest, carrying a golden pitcher, would lead a procession of priests singing the Psalms on the way to the Pool of Siloam.

Once there, he would dip the pitcher into the pool and recite Isaiah 12:3 “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

Jerusalem’s one water source was this pool, which came from a spring called Gihon. They recognized how much they depended on this pool for life. The water represented God’s Spirit, which is the only source of life and satisfaction for thirsty souls.

The priest would then return to the Temple with the golden pitcher of water and pour it out on the Great Altar as a sacrifice while the people sang more Psalms. The Levites would stand around the court on staircases and sing and play their instruments. Every morning would have been an incredible time of joy and thanksgiving.

The rest of the day was filled with sacrifices, either animals or flour and grain, whatever people had to bring to the Lord.

For three days, the Feast carried on as normal, like every other year. But this year was different, because halfway through the week, Jesus, who everyone’s been talking about, shows up.

John 7:14 says “Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.”

Day three or four, the Lord comes and, rather than stay in the shadows, He goes right in the middle of the Temple courtyard, the busiest place of all, filled with thousands of people, and starts teaching.

Vs. 15 - As Jesus is teaching, the religious leaders are amazed and ask, “How does He know the Scriptures (letters) - He’s never been formally trained.”

They recognized that Jesus was a Master of the Scriptures. They couldn’t argue that. They’re just trying to figure out where He learned it.

Back then, if a Jewish man wanted to become a Scribe or obtain religious education, he would attach Himself to a mentor, or Rabbi, that would personally teach Him. But the scholars and Pharisees had never seen Jesus in any Rabbinic school. He didn’t come saying, “I was taught by this teacher.” So they’re asking around, “Who taught Him?” No one knows!

I know this is Jesus Christ and everything is different for Him, but I think it’s important to point out that it doesn’t take a Bible College degree to know God’s Word. Anyone can learn it.

A seminary degree doesn’t mean you can handle the Word. And no degree doesn’t mean you can’t.

The point is - there’s no excuse for God’s people not to know the Scriptures.

So these so-called experts assume Jesus has to either have studied at a school or was self-taught. And not only did He have great knowledge, but He speaks in a different way than other teachers. In Vs. 46 they “Never spake like this man.” His words are compelling. He speaks with authority. It’s different.

Can you imagine the Word in the flesh speaking the Word of God. I wish I could have experienced that.

So when they can’t find anything in His impeccable teaching, they attack His credibility. They attempt character assassination by saying, “Yeah, but who taught Him?”

So Jesus clarifies where His knowledge has come from.

Vs. 16 - “My doctrine is straight from the Father who sent me.”

He claims to have come from the greatest teacher - God Himself.

Vs. 17 - “If you were willing to submit to the Father, you would be able to tell that my teaching is true.”

Their problem was not in their heads. Their problem was in their hearts. They didn’t want to submit to the Father. That’s why they didn’t understand Jesus’ teaching.

Knowing God’s will begins with obedience. God gives understanding as we submit to Him. So many people think they will submit once they understand God’s Word. But Jesus says, “If you submit to God, He will give you understanding.”

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit thy works unto the Lord, And thy thoughts shall be established.”

Many people expect to grow by gaining knowledge, but Jesus implies that spiritual growth comes as you obey God’s Word. You hear it, you learn, but you don’t understand until you do it.

Illustration: Talking with some men about the marriage relationship at MPM this morning. One man told another, “There’s a difference between head knowledge and experiencing something. You can know all you want about marriage, but you don’t really know until it’s experienced.”

Wise words. That’s what Jesus is saying. You can learn and memorize Scripture your whole life, but if you don’t obey what it says, you don’t understand it.

There are things we can know in our heads, but we won’t understand until we actually obey. To Jesus, submission is key to understanding.

Illustration: Starting a new job. Lots of information being thrown at you. Do you understand everything right away? No. But what happens if you say, “I know what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make sense to me. I’m going to do things my way.”

If you do that - you get fired before you ever understand. You will understand as you follow instructions.

That makes sense, but we struggle to do this with God. We want to know all of it before we act. But faith means acting whether or not we understand it all. And without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

So many believers and unbelievers alike get tripped up in this area. There are times when you’ll have to obey to understand.

So Jesus points out their problem very clearly. Until they submit to and obey the Father’s will, they’ll never see spiritual things clearly.

Vs. 18 - If Jesus was just self-taught, or even an intellectual genius, then His ministry would have been self-promoting. But one thing is certain as you study the life of Christ - He was never about Himself. He was always about His Father.

Vs. 18a - That’s the way of earthly, false teachers. About themselves.

Vs. 18b - This is Christ actually talking about Himself in third person. And as He starts to explain His relationship with the Father, one thing is clear, even if they didn’t understand who He was:

Jesus Understood Who He Was

He lays it out plainly.

I Am The True And Sinless One - Vs. 19

By claiming to be “true,” He embodies all that is true. There’s no hint of deception.

By saying, “I have no unrighteousness,” He embodies sinlessness. There’s no hint of sin.

Make no mistake, Jesus Christ is claiming to be deity. He boldly declares before the multitude that He is God. That He was sent by God.

He says that at the end of Vs. 16.

Look at what He says in Verses 28-29.

Jesus is not shying away from His claim to be God. And that’s important because it highlights His preexistence.

Meaning, he didn’t just show up on the scene at the Feast. If He had, why would they want to place their trust in Him. If He was created, He’s no different than they are.

But He says, “I came from God.” And the significance of this is, if they reject Him, they are rejecting God.

So He gives evidence pointing to the fact that He’s the true and sinless One.

1. “My teaching confirms my identity.”

Don’t get caught up in who taught me. Listen to my words. Everything I’m saying checks out.

I don’t need your school to teach me. I am bringing truth directly from the God of truth.

“My teaching confirms my identity.”

More evidence:

2. “My humility confirms my identity.”

One way you can tell I’m from Heaven - unlike other teachers, I’m not here promoting me. I’m promoting the One who sent me.

When Jesus was on earth, His aim was always to glorify the Father.

Jesus Christ is preeminent, yet He came promoting His Father.

Vs. 18a- He says, “If a teacher claims to teach God’s truth, but he’s all about himself, he is not a teacher of God’s truth.”

Someone who teaches or preaches with a spirit of pride isn’t genuinely aware of God’s majesty and holiness and power. If he was, he would be humble.

I’m sure this was a rebuke of the teachers of the day. Knowing the Pharisees and Scribes, there was a whole lot of pride in their teaching. But not with Jesus.

My teaching confirms my identity.

My humility confirms my identity.

3. “My actions confirm my identity.”

Vs. 19 - Jesus brings up Moses’ law.

They were all about Moses and the law. But Jesus says, “Moses gave you the law, but you’re not keeping it. If you were keeping it, you wouldn’t be trying to kill me.”

Whoa. Last I checked, murder is in the Ten Commandments.

So they’re caught red-handed. Look at Vs. 20. Their response is kind of like, “What do you mean kill you? You must be demon possessed. Who’s trying to kill you.”

We know that was their scheme because John 5 and John 7:1 tell us that. They wanted Jesus dead.

Not only that, the word had gotten out. Look at vs. 25. The people had heard they wanted to kill him. So now they’re breaking another law of Moses about lying.

So contrast Jesus and the Pharisees. He’s teaching truth. They want Him dead.

Who’s worse?

Vs. 21 - Jesus says, “I did one work and you all lost your minds.”

He healed the paralyzed man in John 5 on the Sabbath and they went off the rails. But then He says, “But you’ll circumcise your sons on the 8th day if it falls on the Sabbath and act like that’s no big deal.”

Vs. 22-23 - The law said that sons were to be circumcised on the 8th day. But they would do it on the Sabbath if that’s when day 8 fell.

And Jesus says, “You’re mad at me for healing a man. I made his life better. You circumcise out of obedience to mark the covenant and for cleanliness and to picture purity and justify it. But I healed a man’s entire body.”

So Jesus says, “Look at my works. Not only have I not broken the law, but I’m doing miracles no one else can do.”

My actions have confirmed my identity.

My humility has confirmed my identity.

My teaching has confirmed my identity.

So take that evidence and make the only decision that makes sense. I am the Son of God. Believe.

He says in Vs. 24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

He says, “You’ve made judgments about me based on appearance only, but it’s not accurate. Judge me based on the evidence.

Illustration: If you’ve ever seen a statue or depiction of justice, it’s often a woman with scales in her hands, but she’s wearing a blindfold. Because accurate judgment can’t be based on appearances.

They were judging Jesus inaccurately. He says, “Look at the evidence. If you do, you’ll have to come to terms with the fact that I came from the Father.”

Vs. 25-28 - The people say, “Why aren’t the religious leaders arguing with this man and His teaching? Do you think they know He’s the Messiah? Is that why they’re not saying anything?”

Then they say, “We know where Jesus is from, but based on prophecy the Messiah is going to come as a surprise.”

They could be thinking of Malachi 3:1 which says, “And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple.”

But that reference is to the Second Coming of Christ, not the first coming.

If they had been paying attention, they would have known that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

So the Lord cries out with a loud voice in vs. 28, with an almost sarcastic tone. “Oh sure, you really know me. You think you do, but I came from God. I know the Father because He sent me.”

Vs. 30 - They’ve had enough. They try to capture Him, but it wasn’t the Father’s time yet. The cross would be about six months later. It wasn’t time yet, which reminds us of God’s sovereignty. He’s the one really in charge. And even though the leaders want to silence and kill Jesus, His message gets through to a number of people.

They stop judging based on Pharisaical prejudice and they make a judgment based on the evidence.

You have these two competing ideas about Jesus:

#1 - He’s just a guy, who does He think He is?

#2 - But look at the evidence.

We can either listen to the Pharisees. Or we can look at the evidence.

I believe that Vs. 31 is the key. It’s such a compelling argument. “Many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?”

For the first time, the people aren’t having their judgment clouded by hypocritical, proud, Pharisaism. They simply stop and consider the evidence.

What does His teaching say?

What does His spirit of humility say?

What do His words say?

Look at the evidence. Stop ignoring what is already clear. The logic of this question is outstanding, “If Jesus isn’t the Messiah, then when the Messiah comes, WILL HE…”

Do greater miracles than Jesus has already done?

Teach deeper truths and with more authority?

Love people more unconditionally?

Die for more souls to be saved?

Will He go to a bigger cross?

Shed more blood?

The logic really is sound.

Will a new Messiah change our lives more than Jesus?

If you consider what Christ has done, there’s nothing more for a new Messiah to come and do. So He must be the One. THE BEST HAS ALREADY COME AND HIS NAME IS JESUS.

He is the Christ. The Son of the Living God.

The evidence is clear. He laid it out.

His teaching was true. His spirit was humble. He pointed to the Father, not Himself

His actions were impeccable. His works were merciful.

The best has already comes and His name is Jesus and He’s the Savior.

So what do we do with this?

When the people start to get it, the Pharisees didn’t like it. They try again to arrest Him.

Vs. 33-34 - Jesus says, “My time is coming. But right now you’re seeking me to harm me. One day, you’ll seek me because you need me, but you won’t be able to find me. It’ll be too late.”

They’re confused. They say, “What’s He talking about?”

So He repeats it in Vs. 36. “One day it will be too late. You’ll want to find me, but you can’t.”

When the people start to get it, the Pharisees don’t like it. They try again to arrest Him.

Vs. 33-34 - Jesus says, “My time is coming shortly. In about 6 months, in fact. But right now you’re seeking me to harm me. But one day, you’ll seek me because you need me, and you won’t be able to find me. It’ll be too late.

They’re confused. They say, “Where will He go that we can’t follow? To the Gentiles? What’s He talking about?”

So He repeats it in Vs. 36. “One day it will be too late. You’ll want to find me, but you can’t.”

Friend, that is true of everyone. There will come a time, if you reject Jesus long enough, that you will no longer be able to find Him. Either because of death or the Second Coming. At one point, it will be too late.

So seek Him while He can be found. And you might say, “I just don’t know about all of this.”

Remember the principle from Vs. 17. You may not understand, but you can submit. If you will submit, you will then understand.

Many are waiting to understand and then they’ll obey.

But Jesus says, “Seek while you can. Obey while you can. Submit while you can.”

Understanding comes later. Your one responsibility is to seek Christ today.

There’s nothing better coming. The best has already died for your sins.

Seek Him while you can.

That’s for the lost and for believers too.

The greatest thing you can do with your life is seek a relationship with Christ.

But we wait as if there’s something better out there.

We seek for money. We seek for a relationship.

We seek a career. We seek education. We seek success.

But have any of those things ever given evidence to satisfy our souls like Christ?

Can they do better works than He has done?

So seek the one who has proven Himself.

Nothing else will come along that can satisfy like He can.

CIT: Friend, seek Jesus Christ while there’s time, because nothing else will come that can satisfy like Him. The best has already come.

When you think about the evidence - His teaching, His spirit, His works - you realize nothing else can what He has already done.

Nothing can save you like Jesus.

Nothing can satisfy you like Jesus.

So seek Him while you can.

Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

If you seek Him with a desire to submit and obey, you’ll find Him.