Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon Text

Outline

1. Division among the people (v.40-43)

2. Division among the authorities (v.44-49)

3. The possible faith of one (v.50-52)

1. Division among the people (v.40-43)

Read Verse 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”

Question: What words is the writer speaking of in verse 41?

The writer is referring to what Jesus said in verses 37-38.

John

Question: What would prompt the people who heard what they heard in verses 37 and 38, to say that Jesus was the prophet?

I believe it was what He said particularly in verse 38.

Let’s look closely to what Jesus said,

1.

“Whoever believes in me”

Jesus was essentially telling His listeners to have a complete trust and reliance in Him.

He was telling them to have confidence in Him, to have faith in Him.

Which would have been an offense to someone who did not believe Jesus to be God

to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance—‘to believe in, to have confidence in, to have faith in, to trust, faith, trust.’

Jesus spoke of Himself as the object of faith when speaking about belief

, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’

”

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 375., as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’

”

Speaking this authoritatively of Himself, would have had either one rejecting Him or accepting what He was saying

2. “as the Scripture has said”

Jesus referenced the Holy Scriptures when speaking of Himself

He referenced them and He told them what would happen when one believes in Him according to what the Scriptures had spoken

Making mention of what the Scriptures had spoken, the listeners were left with what the Scriptures said about One who would come, speaking and doing what Jesus had said and done

Which would have left them with the option of the Prophet that was promised

3. “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”

During this time of the feast it was said that was recited and read openly

Verse 1 of chapter 14 talks about the day that is coming for the Lord

In context this was a messianic text speaking of the day of the Lord

It was also where the prophet spoke of living waters

This is why they must have thought that Jesus was the prophet promised by Moses.

Jesus referenced the Scriptures and spoke about Himself as what Zechariah prophesied about.

In verse 41, we see that others said this is the Christ (a statement) and (a question) that some had concerning Jesus.

Verse 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”

But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?

Read Verse 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”

But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?

With people saying He was the prophet they were referring to the prophet spoken of by Moses in .

In verse 41 it speaks of others saying that Jesus is the Christ.

Remember verse 26,

This was a question asked then and now we see that there were some who acknowledged Jesus as the Christ.

(literally ‘one who has been anointed’) in the NT, titles for Jesus as the Messiah—‘Christ, Messiah’ (but in many contexts, and especially without an article, Χριστός becomes a part of the name of Jesus; see 93.387).

The Christ literally meant “one who has been anointed.”

In the New Testament it was used to speak of the Messiah.

Which again was what the people wanted.

The question that followed after in verse 41 was, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?”

Apparently, they didn’t know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Galilee was his home.

But Jesus was born in Bethlehem which fulfilled the prophecy from

Not only did they not know that Jesus was born there, but they didn’t know that He was a descendant of David.

We see this in verse 42.

Read Verse 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.

This is actually is nothing new.

The question of Jesus being who He said He was is the most important question.

With what Jesus said about Himself, He would only leave us with two options.

Either He is who He said He was or He was not who He said He was.

C.S.Lewis said,

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’

That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse….

You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher.

He has not left that open to us.

He did not intend to.”

The people were divided then as there are people now.

We at Christ Alone Fellowship have found the Scriptures to be true and infallible.

Even when tired and weary of life.

Jesus spoke of Himself as the Christ promised by the prophets.

We have come to the conclusion that Jesus is who He said He was.

Not only were the people divided but the authorities also were divided.

2. Division among the authorities (v.44-49)

Verse 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

As verse 44 states, there were some there who wanted to arrest Him, but it says, that “no one laid hands on Him.

In contrast to verse 30 where it reads....

…they were seeking to arrest Him and here they wanted to arrest Him.

But it says that no one laid hands on Him.

They were seeking to arrest Him and here they wanted to arrest Him.

But it says that no one laid hands on Him.

Verse 30 tells us the reason why they didn’t arrest Him.

It was because his hour had not yet come.

Which we can find also in verse 20 of John chapter 8.

Verses 45 and 46 tell us why in particular here they didn’t arrest Him.

Read Verse 45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”

Read Verse 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

Jesus was proclaiming.

Augustine said of Jesus’ proclaiming,

his words are thunderbolts whose life is as lightning

Augustine was right and it was the reason why the officers at their shock didn’t arrest Him.

His proclamation of what was true crippled them to not do what they were charged to do!

Jesus’ proclamation caused much unrest and division.

It also caused some to believe.

The officers here were more specifically Jewish temple guards.

Which is why they could say that in comparison to what they have heard in the temple, no one ever spoke like this man.

They didn’t arrest Jesus and the Pharisees answered with saying tp the officers,

Read Verse 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?