The Book of John - 49

Introduction - In verses 30 through 45, we have seen the design the rulers had to take the Lord. In the final section of this chapter the Bible shows us the outcome of their failed attempt to take the Lord.

In the coming chapters of the book of John, before the intimate setting given in chapters 13-18, the Lord will denounce the opposition in chapters 9-10. In chapters 11-12, we will see the determination once again of the religious rulers to murder the Lord.

Let’s read verses 46-53 as we close out this chapter and see the bitter disgust of the religious rulers.

John 7:46–53 “46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? 49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. 50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) 51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? 52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. 53 And every man went unto his own house.”

Let’s Pray

Interestingly enough in this section, we are presented with two more witnesses.

It reminds us of how longsuffering the Lord is in the lives of people.

God gives people every opportunity to turn to Him.

2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

This statement is tempered by the coming of the day of the Lord for the Bible says,

2 Peter 3:10 “10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

In this section, we see:

k. The disgust of the religious rulers vss. 46-53

The disgust of the rulers is seen in opposition to the two witnesses presented.

Both of the two witnesses in this section are unusual and unwelcome.

This reminds us also, that the Lord uses all kind of people in His work to tells others about Him.

We see the first witness is the Officers They Sent.

The officers, we are told come back, empty- handed.

In verse 45, we have their questions.

John 7:45 “45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?”

“It seemed incredible to them that a body of armed men could not apprehend one unarmed man right in their own territory, the temple courts.” (Phillips)

And so it would be incredible indeed, if this were an ordinary man.

But this situation testifies again of the God- directed mission of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is incredible indeed, is how blinded these religious rulers were despite all of the overwhelming evidence that was constantly presented to them.

This presents a warning to you and I as well.

Unbelief, the opposite of faith has a blinding effect on us.

Unfortunately, a lack of faith is not just the plight of the lost. These religious rulers were obviously lost in their sins.

How do we know this?

The Lord’s statements here in a number of places in the gospel records indicates that they were in a lost state of unbelief.

For the Christian, the warning is for us to be adding to our faith.

Turn with me over to 2 Peter and we will read carefully the first nine verses.

2 Peter 1:1–9 “1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

Would you notice what is stated in verse 5?

Peter, a close companion of James, tells us of “the secret to concluding well.”

This of course has to do with addition.

In verse 5, Peter states, add to your faith…

To quote another expositor, “To Peter, the Christian life is largely a matter of addition.” (Phillips)

We are to add in our lives. We continue forward by faith adding to our faith. Then the Lord does something amazing.

The Lord multiplies in His work—- we see this in the book of Acts. (Acts 6:1, Acts 6:7)

We find in this epistle, that Peter compels us give all diligence to this walk in the Christian life.

There are in fact seven areas of addition that are marked for us in this passage.

The seven items are covered in our discipleship two class.

What I want you to understand is that each of these areas have their relation and foundation in faith.

The seven are:

Virtue

Knowledge

Temperance

Patience

Godliness

Brotherly Kindness

Charity

Each of these precious building blocks for the Christian life must be connected to faith.

Verse 8 tells us that if these things be in you, and abound, the result is fruitfulness in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, would you notice with me the opposite of this in verse 9.

2 Peter 1:9 “9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

The word which is translated as “…cannot see afar off…” gives the idea of being short-sighted.

It is a compound in the Greek language… one word which means “to shut” and the other means “the eye.”

“The believer who is barren and unfruitful in his knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who is so blind and shortsighted as to fail to see how great and all-demanding is both his Savior and his salvation, has evidently forgotten his old sins and the price that had to paid for them to be forgiven. Peter is describing the perpetual babe in Christ.” (Phillips)

And I say unto you, there is a danger for the Christian to be blind, lacking faith in the Lord and His Word.

The nation of Israel, the first generation is the classic example of this.

“They were brought to Sinai and taught how a redeemed people should order thier lives.” Yet “they never learned to walk by faith rather than sight, they never entered promised rest in Canaan.” (Phillips)

Let us continue in adding to our faith—- that blindness does come upon us as well.

The first set of witnesses, “the soldiers they sent” simply states, “Never man spake like this man.”

It was the Word of God, as it is in all mens lives, that makes the difference.

Here these officers were so taken by His Word.

They did not say, never a man did the miracles as this man did, though this was true.

But rather they state, “Never man spake like this man.”

“They were “arrested” by the Word of God, spoken by the Son of God.” (Weirsbe)

My friend, there is no substitute for this book.

I have read many other books that comment on this book.

But God’s Word is not the same as the words of men.

Notice the answer of the Pharisees to this testimony of faith.

John 7:47–48 “47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?”

Evidently, they were aware of those who had believed on Him.

They were aware that there were those who accepted the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And to them, they believed, surely they must be deceived, for the religious crowd—- those who know better have not received Him.

We notice that their standard of believe was based on majority opinion of the religious rulers rather than truth.

Can I say to you today, that your faith cannot be based on some other human being.

Your faith must rest upon the Word of God and the Savior Jesus Christ.

In verse 49, they not only accuse these of being deceived, but as proof, they suppose that these were not learned enough to know the law and therefore were cursed.

“What did the common people know of the scope and subtlety of the oral law and the traditions of the elders? Nothing. They were an ignorant crowd who broke the rabbinical rulings everyday. Such untaught people might imagine that the claims of Jesus had some validity. But what can you expect from such dolts?” (Phillips)

Consider for a moment their insistence that these must be knowledgable as they are to know whether or not this man was indeed Christ, the Son of God.

Paul the apostle was very versed in the Old Testament law and yet he had to be blinded by the presence of the Lord on the road to Damascus to receive Christ.

Man cannot simply climb the ladder of knowledge to know truth, we all must receive truth by faith in the One who is truth.

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:26–31 concerning this enigma, “26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

This court officers simply listened to the Word of God and quickly understood this was not the mere words of men.

But their cause for ignorance soon evaporates.

Secondly, notice the second unusual and unwanted witness to speak up.

Not only do we see the Officers they sent, but the

Official that spoke.

Nicodemus no doubt would be branded a trader and was a thorn in their flesh, as was any who turned from their opinions.

The accusation that these common people do not know the law, is at once met with the law from the lips of one of their own.

For the law states in Deuteronomy 1:16 “16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.”

Notice verses 50-53.

John 7:50–53 “50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) 51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? 52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. 53 And every man went unto his own house.”

The Holy Spirit would have us to know and not be confused that this Nicodemus is the same Nicodemus that came to Jesus by night, who according to the Bible was a ruler of the Jews. (John 3:1)

The testimony of Nicodemus is twofold. He compelled them to know His words and His works.

He states, “Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?”

Both His works and His words are divine.

There can be no doubt, if the works of Jesus Christ and the words of Jesus Christ are examined, the conclusion is sure.

What does a lost man need to see first out of the Word of God? The answer is simple, the works and words of Jesus Christ.

Then as if to further incriminate their own ignorance, they not only deride Nicodemus, but declare a further falsehood.

Their reply is found in the final verses 52-53.

John 7:52–53 “52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. 53 And every man went unto his own house.”

Notice the words we read in gospel record of Matthew chapter 4.

In Matthew 4:12–16 “12 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”

This is quotation from Isaiah 9:1-2. The prophecy of Isaiah concerning the Light of Christ in Galilee was being fulfilled. Yet they ignored this. Perhaps Nicodemus did not.

Further, we know that Jonah was a prophet from the are of Galilee. So their statements are false.

I’ll close today with this statement from Merril C. Tenney

“You cannot help but feel sorry for the people described in this chapter, people who responded to Jesus in the wrong ways. His half brothers responded with disbelief; various people responded with debate; and the result was division. Had they willingly received the truth, and had they acted with sincere obedience, they would have ended up at the feet of Jesus, confessing Him as Messiah and Son of God. But people today commit the same blunder and permit their prejudices and superficial evaluations to blind them to the truth. Don’t let it happen to you!” (Tenney)