John 7, Part 3
Notes
Transcript
Last week
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.
34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?
36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
The fourth reaction or response to Jesus is that of the authorities, both religious and civil. They paint a clear picture of men in every generation who reject and oppose Jesus. What Jesus says is both striking and tragic for all unbelievers. The word Pharisee means “the separated one”. They felt that by carrying out every little detail of the Jewish law and by teaching others to do the same, they could save the Jewish religion and nation and keep it from dying out.
1. They were the orthodox of their day—a sect or school of religious thought. They were organized solely for preserving the law and the Jewish religion. Thereby, they were to save the Jewish nation.
2. They were strict literalists. The Jewish law was expanded into thousands and thousands of little rules and regulations by the Scribes. These rules and regulations were known as the Scribal or Oral Law. More than fifty volumes or books were eventually needed to hold the regulations.
4. There were never many Pharisees—never more than 6,000. The strictness and demands of the sect were too hard for the common people.
5. They were in dead earnest—dedicated and zealous, self-denying, and moral. No man could give his life to so desperate and restrictive a task unless he was totally genuine.
6. They were self-righteous, heartless, and hypocritical. They lacked any sense of need or sin.
7. They were bitterly opposed to the Sadducees, hating and despising them, feeling that the Sadducees were traitors to the nation. However, the Pharisees were forced to quietly cooperate with the Sadducees because the Sadducees were the primary ruling party of the nation.
8. They were the main opponents of Jesus Christ and were unsparing in their denunciation of Him. Their savage attacks were primarily for two reasons. First, He was not a graduate of any of their rabbinical schools, nor a member of any of their religious sects. Second, He attacked their rules and regulations which had been added to God’s law.
The chief priests were primarily leaders among the Sadducees who held most of the high offices of Jewish government under Roman rule (See DEEPER STUDY # 2, Sadducees—Ac. 23:8). When Rome became dissatisfied with a chief priest, he was removed and another one was placed in authority. The removal from office was a common occurrence, so there were quite a few chief priests surviving. In the eyes of the people, they were still honored despite being removed. The people blamed Rome for their removal, not the chief priests.
In the four gospels, when the Pharisees, chief priests, and Scribes are mentioned as standing together against Jesus, it means that the ruling body of the Jewish nation has taken action. (See DEEPER STUDY # 1, Sanhedrin—Mt. 26:59.) In the present situation, the Sanhedrin had apparently met and dispatched the palace or temple police to arrest Jesus. From what follows it seems that they were told to watch for an appropriate moment lest they cause a riot among His supporters.
Jesus’ reply was puzzling and tragic both to the unbeliever of His day and to the unbeliever of today. He foretold His death: “Yet a little while am I with you.” He foretold His resurrection and ascension: “Then I go unto Him that sent me”
Jesus foretold man’s destiny. Jesus predicted a tragic future for those who opposed Him and wanted nothing to do with Him. He said that the day is coming when …
• they shall seek Him
• but they shall not find Him
• where He is they will not be allowed to come
However, the great tragedy is that the unbeliever will not find Christ. It will be too late (see Mt. 25:31–46). The unbeliever has never known Christ nor what it is to walk in the Lord’s kingdom on earth; therefore, he will not know Christ or His kingdom in that day. As Christ and heaven are alien and unknown to the unbeliever today, so will Christ and heaven be alien and unknown to the unbeliever in that day. Unbelievers will not be allowed to come where He is, that is, live in God’s presence, not eternally.
The reaction of the rulers and authorities. Very simply, they were puzzled, questioning what Jesus meant. The dispersed (diasporan) refers to the Jews who were scattered all over the world. It seems that the rulers thought Jesus was going to leave Israel and go to some foreign nation, preaching to the Jews there. Those who opposed Jesus were puzzled by His death and resurrection and ascension. It was difficult for them to grasp its meaning and to believe in Him. In fact, it was offensive to them.
37 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.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
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.
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!”
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 Feast of Tabernacles was the most popular feast among the Jews. For that reason it was simply known as The Feast . It was also called The Feast of Ingathering and The Feast of the Lord. The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated for seven days. Each Jewish family built a small stucco or tent-like structure in their yard or upon some other property they owned or secured for the occasion. Then they moved out of their home into the structure for the seven-day period. The Feast celebrated two significant events. Historically, it celebrated the day when Israel wandered about in the wilderness as strangers and pilgrims without a homeland. The purpose for moving into the stucco or tent-like structure was to keep before their minds the wilderness wanderings of their forefathers. Secondly, the Feast was to be a period of thanksgiving for the completion of the harvest season and for the goodness of God in all of life. The people were to give thanks for all that God had given them: all the fruit of the land that enriched life and made life possible.
The ceremony of the festival was most impressive and gives a dramatic picture of Christ’s claims. On each of the seven days, the people came to the temple and brought some fruit as an offering and a few palm and willow branches. The branches were used to form a roof over the altar. Then the priest took a golden pitcher and led the people in a processional down to the pool of Siloam where he filled the pitcher with water. During this march the people played the flute and sang the Hillel, which was Psalms 113–118.
It was on the return march that the significant drama took place.
⇒ As the pitcher of water passed through the Water Gate, the people repeated in unison: “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”.
p 168 ⇒ When the pitcher reached the altar, the water was poured out over the altar as an offering to God. While this was being done, the people waved palm branches and recited the words “Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity”.
The idea of the processional was a dramatic way to thank God for rain, to offer prayer to God for more rain, and for a fruitful season in the coming year. It was a dramatic way for the people to acknowledge their need and dependence upon God for the rains, the water that gave them the fruit of the ground and the bounty of life. The last day of the Feast was dramatic in particular, for the people repeated the processional seven times. Note a significant point: Scripture says the Feast of Tabernacles will be celebrated and fulfilled in the end time when our Lord returns. The Feast will apparently symbolize our joy, liberty, and victory through the wilderness experience of life and the glorious provision of God: the glorious provision of living eternally and worshipping and serving God throughout the universe.
It was on “the last day, that great day of the feast,” the day when the people marched in the processional seven times, that Jesus made His phenomenal claim. Some imagine Jesus shouting His claim just as the people finished saying, “Send now prosperity”.
Imagine the scene: Jesus did two unusual things. He “stood” (a teacher always sat in that day), and He cried out (ekrazen) shouting loudly. Both actions would startle and shock the people to attention.
Jesus made three phenomenal claims.
a. Jesus Christ is the source of life: He is the One who can quench the real thirst of man’s being, who can meet the desperate need of man for prosperity, the real fruit and bounty of life.
b. Jesus Christ is the source of abundant life. Rivers of living water can flow out from a person. An abundance of life can be experienced. The death of Jesus Christ (His having been smitten for the sins of the world) is the source of the living water. Out of His death (because He died) He was able to arise, and by arising He was able to conquer sin and death and to bring forth eternal life in all of its abundance. Note: the Word of God to Moses was a picture of the living water that was to come from Christ after He was smitten.
c. Jesus Christ is the source of the Holy Spirit. Rivers of living water refer to the Holy Spirit. This is a crucial verse, for it is the only place “living waters” is defined. When Jesus spoke of giving “living water,” He meant He would give the Holy Spirit to a person. The presence of the Holy Spirit, of course, meant the experience of abundant and eternal life.
The people’s response was very divided.
a. Some said He was the Prophet.
b. Some said He was the Christ.
c. Some questioned if He could be the Messiah. They knew that He was from Galilee, and they knew the true Messiah was to come out of Bethlehem, the city of David. Therefore, they saw no possible way He could be the Messiah.
The rulers’ response was fourfold. Their response should be carefully noted, for it speaks volumes to rulers and leaders of every generation.
The leaders wished to be rid of Jesus. They opposed Him and wanted nothing to do with Him
***Note the temple police were greatly impressed with the Lord’s teaching. To them He was a great teacher.
The leaders claimed that He was a deceiver and that the people were mistaken and cursed because they followed Him.
The leaders rejected Him, strongly so. Nicodemus spoke up for Christ, charging the leaders with breaking the law themselves and suggesting that they all hear Christ and observe His works closely (see Nicodemus, Jn. 3:1f). The leaders used Scripture as the basis for rejecting Christ. They said that no Scripture pointed to a prophet coming out of Galilee.
The leaders went to their own houses and lived just as they had always chosen. God does not force any man to subject himself to His Son. Every man has the freedom to live as He wishes, either for God or for self. The leaders chose to live for self.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2004. The Gospel according to John. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
