Sunday Sermon John 7:37-53 Part 3
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Good Morning and welcome to Church at Home. A time for us to dig deep into the Word of God and for our hunger and thirst to be satisfied. We are so glad that each one of you is here to worship with us in Spirit and in Truth.
Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers out there listening!
Thank you! Thank You! Thank You! For all that you do and for all that you are! Thank you for praying for your families, for the church, for the community.
You are the Pillar of the church!
Prayer
As I prayed about what to teach in the this morning, I felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit to continue our study here.
Read John 7:37-53
Review
Review
We know that this is the final day of the feast of Tabernacles.
We also learned that the feast of Tabernacles lasted seven days, and that on each one of those days there was a water ritual or tradition if you may, conducted by the priest where the priest drew water from the pool of Siloam and carries it in a procession back to the temple. Once arrives at the temple they would march around the altar and They would quote:
Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.
3. While the temple choir sang Psalm 113-118 called the Hallel in Hebrew.
4. Then upon completion the priest would pour water out of the pitchers they were carrying.
5. It is here, that we find the backdrop of this text. As the last priest poured out the water commemorating God’s provision of water in the wilderness Jesus stands up (which was not the position of a Rabbi while teaching and speaks:
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Church I think it is important to note: That this ceremony was not prescribed in the Old Testament, but was an oral tradition created centuries before Jesus’ time.
Can you imagine the reactions of the Religious Leaders? And by the way remember when Jesus cried out, it was not some quiet voice. It was loud and very authoritative.
Jesus was making a point.
He was trying to get their attention.
He is trying to get out attention.
Does Jesus have your undivided attention? Was your hunger and thirst satisfied by Jesus this past week? Or?
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Praise God that the Bible interprets the Bible.
Here we see John’s commentary on this verse
He clearly tells us that this living water is the Holy Spirit.
The Greek text is literally, “the Spirit was not yet,” but clearly John does not mean that the Holy Spirit did not yet exist!
There are multiple OT references that talk about the Holy Spirit starting all the way back in Genesis:
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
What John means here is that the Spirit was not yet manifested on earth as He would be on, and after the Day of Pentecost, after Jesus was crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven (“glorified”).
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Feast Fight (John 7)
Water for drinking is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. (Water for washing is a symbol of the Word of God; see John 15:3 and Eph. 5:26.) Just as water satisfies thirst and produces fruitfulness, so the Spirit of God satisfies the inner person and enables us to bear fruit. At the feast, the Jews were reenacting a tradition that could never satisfy the heart. Jesus offered them living water and eternal satisfaction!
I almost forgot to remind you that we had also learned that Jesus always gives an invitation to come to Him and we see that here in John 7:37-39.
The invitation is Come-Drink- Believe
Lets move on in the text:
Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” So there was a division among the people because of Him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Church, here we see the result of the invitation:
The people were divided:
When the Jesus Christ and his Gospel are presented as the Bible prescribes, it will always present division. WHY?
Church, when the true gospel is presented, it will not allow you to remain neutral!
You will either accept Jesus and his Gospel, or you will reject Jesus and his Gospel.
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
Although the ultimate end of the gospel is peace with God we can see this here in:
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
The immediate result of the Gospel proclamation is conflict:
Often conversion to Christ can result in strained family relationships, persecution, and in some countries even martyrdom
Though Christ is called the Prince of Peace here in:
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
He does not want his disciples to think for a moment that their lives will be free from conflict.
Let us look at the responses of those who heard Christ say, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink!”
Once we have identified with Jesus Christ and confessed Him, we are part of a war. We did not start the war; God declared war on Satan (Gen. 3:15). On the night our Lord was born, the angels declared, “On earth peace” (Luke 2:14). But Jesus seemed to deny this truth. “I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34). Had Israel accepted Him, He would have given them peace. But the people refused Him, and the result was “a sword. W>W
Christ’s preaching was explosive. It did not create an atmosphere of one big happy family.
Truth is, very few actually responded.
Christ’s preaching was very divisive. Let me point out what Christ’s preaching actually did.
It divided people in several ways:
Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.”
(Division #1) - Some thought Jesus was “ the ” prophet. 7:40b
This would have been the prophet predicted by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), who would be “the” prophet of God. Moses predicted that God would raise up a Jewish prophet that eventually they all would listen to. This, was in fact, that prophet, however they didn’t really get it. They did not know who they were dealing with.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
See church, in Jesus’ day, the common view was that the Prophet and Christ were two separate persons.
We know Jesus was the Prophet that Moses spoke about church, but we know him also as Messiah, the Christ!
Let’s look at the next response:
Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee?
(Division #2) - Some thought Jesus was the Messiah. 7:41a
Some were convinced that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed of God.
They did think there was a possibility that He might be the King, the One who would rule and reign.
Yet even thinking this way, they had not come to terms with their own sin and with the fact that He was their only Savior.
While this view is absolutely correct, and a step up from viewing Jesus only as a Prophet, it is still inadequate because it does not reflect any personal commitment or submission to Jesus as Lord and Christ.
Church, the text seems to indicate that they held their views as a point to debate with others, but not as disciples willing to follow Him no matter what the cost:
Read Luke 14:27-33
But there are many who say, “I believe in Jesus as my Savior,” but they don’t live in submission to Him as their Lord. They don’t bow before Him as their king. C. H. Spurgeon
A. W. Pink (Exposition of John, on monergism.com) says, “Unless our hearts are affected and our lives molded by God’s Word, we are no better off than a starving man with a cook book in his hand.” In other words, intellectual belief in Christ without the accompanying obedience to Him is useless. Saving faith is obedient faith.
Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”
(Division #3) - Some did not think Jesus was the Messiah.
Some were saying - this can’t be the Messiah because the Messiah has to be in the Davidic
line and must be born in Bethlehem and not come out of Galilee.
Truth is, He was born in the Davidic line, He was born in Bethlehem and He was raised in Galilee> Nazereth
Now, of course, there would have been a simple way to resolve this - they could have gone to Christ and asked if He were in the line of David and if He had been born in Bethlehem.
Church, they do not even bother checking the facts before they believed something.
How often do we do the same? Someone says something to us and we believe it, with out first checking it out?
They made all of these assumptions without checking the Biblical facts. Truth is, the O.T. predicted that
the Messiah would be born in the Davidic line (Psalm 89:3-4; 132:11), which Christ was (Matthew 1:1; II Timothy 2:8); the O.T. predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), which Christ was (Luke 2:4-6); and the O.T. predicted that the Messiah would have a connection to Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2, 6), which Christ did.
They correctly asserted that the Messiah was from Bethlehem because of their theological knowledge, but yet they would not confess that Jesus was the Christ.
It is interesting the throughout Jesus ministry he never once tried to explain his birthplace was Bethlehem.
Instead Church, Jesus always pointed to the divine, heavenly origin he came from.
The sad thing here is that they thought they knew God!
And church If they knew God, he would know that Jesus was the Christ!
Can we go to church all of our life and not know God? YES
There theological knowledge did not bring them to the place of knowing Jesus was the Messiah!
These people are rejecting truth about Jesus Christ because they do not know how to rightly divide Scripture.
So there was a division among the people because of Him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Did you see that? There was division because of him!
Church, the devil has done a great job at convincing us that there is a fence with being a follower of Jesus Christ. Truth is, there is no fence! You are either in the game or not.
Christianity is not a spectator sport. There is no benches on the sidelines.
You either believe in Jesus Christ or you don’t.
Did you notice how they tried to rationalize or intellectualize Jesus away?
We should not be surprised when the wise refuse to trust Jesus Christ, or when religious folks, or even religious leaders reject Him.
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
Paul was a very intelligent rabbi when God saved him, yet he had to be knocked down on Damascus Road before he would acknowledge that Jesus was Lord.
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
Paul here in 1 Corinthians gives us an explanation for the difficulty of winning smart religious people to Jesus.
Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived?
Today, that same question is being asked by the world! Are you deceived? Why would you want to follow this Jesus? Why? The religious leaders of Jesus day worked really hard to get people to not believe in Jesus. They work really hard today to do this same thing. The only difference is they say it must be Jesus, plus this or that. They teach Jesus is not enough.
Is Jesus enough for you?
How do you respond when confronted with the question, “Is Jesus Messiah?” Do you attempt to rationalize away your salvation? Do you attempt to allow your intellect convince you, “I go to church, that is enough?”
What is your response? Jesus is asking,
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
Do you want to be made well?
Today, is the day of salvation so do not harden your hearts!
Have you truly surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Are you tired of playing Church and ready to get in the game?
Prayer
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Benediction
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
The Lord bless you!
Your mission starts now!