Dividing the Heart

Introduction: The internet is a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because there is a massive amounts of information available to us, and it is all right at our finger tips.

The curse of the internet is there is a massive amount of information right at our finger tips. The internet gives us all enough information to make us dangerous.

If you have a stomach ache; you can go on the internet and immediately you are smarter than the doctor who spent 10 years in med-school.

If your car breaks down; you can go to the internet know for sure your mechanic has been ripping you off for years— it is just a few replacement parts.

Go on legal zoom and you can avoid the bar exam. We are culture of experts. And here is why that is a problem. “A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.”

This morning as we continue in our sermon series The Gospel of John: Living in the Real World. And we will see the danger of a little knowledge.

Theme: The word of God softens some and hardens others.

Background: Jesus disrupted the Feast of the Tabernacles

Before we jump in, let’s take a moment and remember the context. Jesus had traveled up to Jerusalem for the feast of the tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was one of the three major festivals that required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Last week, we saw that Jesus stood up on the last day of the festival and cried out that He is living water. That was a significant statement given the events of the final day.

The Feast of Tabernacles had three key rituals that pilgrims participated in.

Key rituals

Water ceremony: Water was taken from the pool of Siloam and poured out on the alter.

Jesus declared he was living water. Jesus used the metaphor of thirst referencing the spiritual longing all humans have.

Touch Dance: Every night torches were light all around the temple court yard at night. People would dance and sing and celebrate God’s faithfulness all night long.

Confession: Early in the morning, before dawn, the Priests would go to the eastern wall of the temple. They would put their backs to the temple wall and face east. Simultaneously, they would confess their sin of idolatry.

They would confess their national sin of idolatry and at single moment they turn their back on the gods of the east, and turn toward the temple.- it was meant to symbolize repentance.

John highlights The feast of the tabernacles because it shows the growing tension between Jesus and the religious leaders. As we conclude John 7 today we see the priests who turn their back on Jesus.

This week we will see His words fell on three different kinds of people.

Spiritually thirsty people are who are awakening.

Knowledgeable people with no awareness.

Hard-hearted people filled with knowledge.

Open God’s word and we will examine the text.

John 7:40-52

John 7:40–52 ESV

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.”

Spiritually thirsty people who are awakening (vs 40-41)

Jesus’ words are compelling and persuasive. And those who are thirsty are ready to drink. They do not fully understand Jesus identity but they have heard and seen enough to know that he is not like other rabbis and teachers. His words have authority.

Some believe that Jesus is the prophet.

Before God’s people entered the promised land, God promised that he would send another prophet one that would be like Moses. Deuteronomy 18:15-18 Moses was prophet that spoke directly with God, and Moses did powerful miracles in the name of God. These people, under Roman occupation, longed for prophet to preform a miracle of deliverance.

Deuteronomy 18:15–18 ESV

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Others said, this is the Christ. Christ is not Jesus’ last name. Christ means “anointed” one. In the OT it is Messiah. When God’s people entered the Promised Land, God prospered them and they grow into an empire. And God provided a King, a King that was tender hearted to God. That Kings name was David.

In 2 Samuel 7:13-17 God promised that He would send another anointed King from the linage of David to sit on the throne forever! These people, under occupation of Rome awaited an eternal kingdom. A kingdom where prosperity is for all.

2 Samuel 7:13–17 ESV

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

They waited hundreds of years for a prophet and king. And while they debate the identity of Jesus, we see something about their spiritual condition.

There is an awaking occuring. They do not fully understand, but they recognize Jesus was sent from God.

Notice they says, “This is” the prophet and “this is the Christ.” Their testimony is correct, even though they don’t know they are correct. The Prophet and the King are one person.

Point: The words of Jesus awaken some.

This does not mean they fully understood, but the scales are starting to fall off. The fog is lifting and some are beginning to see.

Have you ever had to take a sleep aid? Simply sleep, or Tylenol PM. Generally speaking, I have zero trouble sleeping. No problems, I am out before my head hit the pillow. But every so often I’ll have a cold or something and I’ll have to take one of those night time meds. But I can’t stand them because when you wake up it is 3 pm in the afternoon. I might get up at my regular time, but I’m not up. I’m foggy and walking around like the walking dead.

Here is what we are seeing. The words of Jesus are slowly awaking the spiritually thirsty. God is slowly, and patiently providing revelation. And here is why that should encourage us.

1. God awakens people to His identity in His time, and this reveals his patience.

We don’t need to have it all figured out. We don’t have to know it all before we declare our faith in Jesus. I understand that many times we are shy about sharing our faith because “what if someone asks us something we can’t answer.”

Nick’s story witnessing this week

We know what we know at any given time because that is what God has revealed to us.

[warning] Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I am not saying we ought to be ok with ignorance where God has revealed Himself. His word tells us who he is and what he requires. We have a responsibility to learn.

And we need to recognize like every other relationship there is joy in discovery. God reveals more and more of his identity. And He doesn’t wait till be figure it out because He endless all eternity his people will continually discover more.

2. It is joy to watch loved ones coming to faith.

So much of life is waiting. Often disciples of Jesus want so badly to share the good news of Jesus that they try and take matters into their own hands. They argue, debate, and try to force people to confess Jesus.

I am not saying we ought not engage in sharing the reasonableness of Jesus message. Jesus is God incarnate who takes away the sin of his people. There is enough evidence of the resurrection of Jesus to be proven in any courtroom.

But faith is not about winning an argument or debating people into faith. It is the work of the Spirit in his people. Slowly, gently, and patiently Jesus reveals Himself to people. Jesus often much more comfortable where people are than I am. It is a joy to watch people slowly awaken.

3. The Holy Spirit does not crush us.

As people begin to recognize who Jesus is, they also begin to see themselves more clear. And that ain’t pretty. Jesus reveals sin.

Sin: Sin is an area of my life and heart where I want to call the shot. It is my will, desire, actions and attitudes that satisfy my will over God’s.

And the longer one walks with Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit reveals our need for Him. The Spirit unearths sins we didn’t know about, things in the past we need to fix, hurts we caused, words we need to repair. And here is the kindness of Jesus. If you and I got that email on day one of meeting Him we would be crushed!

It is like getting the email on Monday morning that tells you all the things that are wrong and you need to fix.

Jesus slowly and gently brings things to light. He does not crush us.

So the first group of people we notice are those who are awaking to Jesus. The second group are:

Knowledgeable people with no awareness (vs.42-44)

Remember where this event takes place, they are in the courtyard of the temple. The temple would have been filled with Jewish worshippers, and these are people who knew the OT. They knew the King would come from Bethlehem.

Bethlehem means house of bread. Remember John 6:48 Jesus said he was “Bread of Life”

John 6:48 ESV

48 I am the bread of life.

Obviously, John assumes that his audience knows all about the virgin birth. By this time, (80’s ad) people heard about Jesus’ birth. Jospeh taking the family to Egypt before settling in Nazareth.

But the audience in the temple they are not aware of the back story They do not know the real world back story of Jesus life. They are not aware of the Magi; they are not aware of flight to Egypt; they are not aware of shepherds and angels. All they have are some limited facts but they not are aware of Jesus’ story.

They had facts—Messiah will come from Bethlehem, but they didn’t have the awareness from the whole picture. Facts without whole story can just us into trouble.

I learned this lesson Monday morning. We came into the office Monday to a very nice present out in front of our church doors. It seemed a dog left us a little surprise right outside the doors. Immediately, I jumped to a conclusion. Clearly, someone does not think much of the church and they wanted to make a statement. But really, walking your dog up to the door to relieve himself. —”Call the Police, Call the neighborhood association, Call channel 2 to do an expose.” Then it dawned on me, “wait we have cameras. let’s see who would do such as dastardly deed” two foxes spent the night playing by our front door.

I had facts, but I didn’t have awareness of the entire story.

And here is why this is important. These were temple people, people who knew their bibles. They knew the facts about Messiah. Born in Bethlehem, bloodline of David, king to rescue his people. But they were not aware of God’s activity in places and spaces where they were not privy. God has ultimate knowledge.

Don’t we do this. We make a judgement about someone before we know their back story. Before we understand all the experiences.

The had been exposed to the Scripture, and all Scripture says of Messiah. But they could not connect the dots in their heart. And this is a very big danger even today.

There are many people who come to church, listen to pod-casts, study the scripture and they do not intimately know Jesus. They know the commands, they quote scripture, they know every “churchy” thing to say. But they don’t love Jesus; therefore, they don’t love others:

Legalism it is danger for all of us.

Legalism reduces God to rules and regulations that are cut off from relationship.

Legalism reduces God to rules and regulations that are cut off from relationship.

Legalism narrows God down to moral precepts without meaning. It never considers why God says certain things are good. And here is the problem we all have that DNA in us.

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy used to have routine called “you might be a Red Neck.” you remember those “you might be a Red Neck if you think a sub-division is a math problem.”

You might be struggling with legalism if :

You notice the sin in others before you notice your own sin

You focus on the exactness without empathy

You are preoccupied with traditions and not transcendence

Transcendence means the awe of God and beauty.

The warning in verses 42-44 is that it is possible to sit under the teaching of scripture and have knowledge of God, but no awareness of His presence. No awareness of his activity. No awareness of His love. And this makes going to church a dangerous proposition. Because from legalism we one can descend into hard heartedness.

Hard-hearted people filled with knowledge (vs45-52).

Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus, but no one laid hands on him. Jesus was in control of his destiny at every moment. vs45 tell us that the officers came to the chief priests and the Pharisees.

These officers they we temple security guards. But they were not law enforcement per se, they were trained Levities. They had responsibility to care for the temple.

Their failure to arrest Jesus was not professional incompetency. Nor did they fail to arrest Jesus because of the crowd. They did not arrest Jesus because His words were compelling. “No one ever spoke like this man!” There was no shortage of people in this era claiming to messiah figures. But no one like this. No one with authority and such working knowledge.

When the Pharisees hear this the Holy Spirit says through John. John 7:47-49

John 7:47–49 ESV

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.”

Notice the anger and the contempt in their words. “From out of the mouth speaks the heart.” They accuse the officers (Trained men of the OT and the Mishna) as ignorant, incompetent, and worthless. Moreover, they treat the crowd in the same manner.

There was a common belief in the time among some rabbis that to be legit one most be trained by a rabbi in the OT Scripture and the Mishna. The Mishna was a written work that captured oral traditions. If someone claimed to have knowledge of Scripture without sitting under a Rabbi they were thought to be the same as an animal. The Pharisees are portrayed as men of distain, arrogance, and hardheartedness.

The look down on the crowd and officers calling them “accused.”

Now here is the irony and a turn of justice. The educated elite are really the fools. The crowd knows more than they do. Pharisees didn’t remember that Ps 69:9

Psalm 69:9 ESV

9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

They didn’t see how they broke their made up laws when they circumcised on the sabbath.

And next week we will see they do not follow the Law when they try to stone a woman caught in adultery. Here we see the beauty of the gospel on display.

The Gospel sneaks up on us in ways we don’t expect. The elite are expecting a King to subdue Rome. But He comes as servant.

The elite are looking for one to come and curse sinners. But the King be accursed for sinners. Nailed to a cross. Nailed to a cross to pay for shame.

The elite are looking for king to liberty from Rome. But he will raise from the tomb to liberate from Sin.

Here is the irony, the ones who knew the scripture the best miss it the furthest.

Warning: To know the word of God without heart change is dangerous. It results in scorn, abuse, and distain. And blind ignorance.

Nicodemus makes the plea to follow their own laws the ones they claim to know and love so well. He is referring to Deuteronomy 17:1-7 this will be pivotal for next week.

Here is what I want us to realize today: Isn’t it funny how the standards we hold others too often don’t apply to us? The want to arrest Jesus, but Nicodemus reminds them of their own laws.

The chapter ends with another piece of Irony. They say, “no prophet comes from Galilee, search the scripture.” But Jonah was from Galilee. Nahum, from Galilee. And when Elijah called down fire it was in Galilee.

The irony is that the learned are foolish. The rich are poor. The elite and undone.

The learned are foolish.

The rich are poor.

The elite are undone.

Application:

(1) It is not the power of human intellect that awakens us to God. It is not wisdom of this world that gets us into the kingdom of God. It is only when the Spirit of God opens our eyes.

(2) It is not the wisdom of religion that gets us into the kingdom of God. It is only when we listen to the words of Jesus when they pierce our heart that one is made right.

Hebrews 3:15 ESV

15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”