John 8:31-41 The Marks Of A True Disciple

07.06.09 John 8:31-41 (NASB)

Sermon Audio File: John 8:31-41

Going Deeper: Study Guide

The Marks Of A True Disciple

On CBS way back when, back in the 50’s and 60’s there was a show that aired on TV named ‘To Tell the Truth.’ Maybe some of you remember watching that show. Here is a description of the show from a web site:

"Contestants on To Tell the Truth were introduced in threes. All of them purported to be the same individual. Following the introduction, emcee Bud Collyer would read an affidavit describing the life, activities, and/or unique experiences of the person who all the contestants claimed to be. The panel of four celebrity guests then asked questions of the three contestants, trying to determine which one was telling the truth and which two were lying. Following the question session, each panelist had to vote for whom he thought was really the person described in the affidavit. Wrong guesses, by the panelists, were worth money to all three contestants, who split the winnings equally. The famous closing line for each round was: "Will the real ______ please stand up!"

As we left off on our last sermon in at chapter 8, ending in verse 30 we found this statement - Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. So we discovered the transforming power of God’s Word - that as Jesus spoke the truth to the people, the Holy Spirit was working in their midst. Some of those in the crowd were saved from their sin, yet as we find out today that some of these people who believed in Jesus, only possessed a shallow commitment of faith, which would be put under the gun of examination and questioning.

Today Jesus in a sense is calling forth those who were true disciples….Will the real disciple please stand up. In real life many profess to be a disciple of Christ, but inevitably there will always be some frauds…there will always be those who tell the truth and there are those who are lying or sincerely in error. As we proceed into the closing verses of chapter 8 we find The Marks Of A True Disciple. In our section today we can identify at least three marks of a true disciple, these being:

A True Disciple Perseveres In The Truth (vv. 31-32)

A True Disciple Acknowledges Sin’ Bondage (vv. 33-36)

A True Disciple Acts Upon God’s Word In Faith (vv.37-41)

This is what our text tells us: 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, [then] you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, `You will become free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 "I speak the things which I have seen with [My] Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from [your] father." 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus ^said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."

1. A True Disciple Perseveres In The Truth (vv. 31-32)

We have had a much later spring in Vancouver this year, but one thing I still find quite amazing, is that spring actually begins in the winter, with the cherry blossoms. When we look at the plant world we realize that most of our vegetation around us grows and perseveres year after year. For example a tree never stays stagnant. From the moment it is hatched as from a seedling it grows….spring, summer, fall, and winter. Some of the tallest trees are found in BC. And when they mature they can be several hundred feet tall. One thing we can observe from even mature trees is that they continue to grow. Perhaps they don’t grow taller but they do produce more branches, and leaves. In a sense we can say that they persevere in growth until they are either chopped down, which is a real possibility in BC, or they just die.

This process of growth and perseverance applies to the true disciple. If there is no perseverance in the truth, in the disciple we have to really be suspect of their salvation. Jesus was suspect of the Jews for this reason.

v.31 - Jesus speaks to those Jews who had believed Him and gives them a warning. The warning encompasses what true discipleship is - that those who profess Christ must not just talk the talk but walk the walk. In other words Jesus’ disciples - that is - true Christians don’t merely just say that they are Christians without any accompanying demonstration of their profession. True Christians continue in Jesus’ word….they live it out, they persevere in the faith and make it to the finish line. I would venture to say that over one’s life time, whether a Christian or not - you have probably seen many professed Christians - just dash out of the starting gate - with great form, a burst of energy, optimism - but what happens?

Somewhere down the track they just colapse, or simply get off the course, run out of steam….and never complete it. This is where AT Robertson says ‘future loyalty will prove the reality of present profession.’ The true test of discipleship will come on the journey of life, demonstrated by whether we can continue in the Word of God or not - proving if our claim to Christ is genuine or counterfeit.

v.32 - Those who persevere are the ones that Jesus says - will know the truth, and WHAT? ….the truth will make you free. Those who have a knowledge of the truth no matter how elementary because many of those present before Jesus had just put their faith in Him - they would certainly know the impact of the truth - and will be given over time a deepening understanding of it. You could perhaps say that these people didn’t even make into pre-school yet, but they were enrolled.

A person who hears the Gospel and responds to the saving message of Jesus Christ will inevitably need to progress deeper in the knowledge of Christ and His Word. The person who meets Jesus whether for the first time, or the thousandth time, must get to know Him better to have a deep and real relationship with Him. Well what can make this happen? It is not really what, but Who. All of this is made possible by the working of the Holy Spirit changing us from within - for the true disciple perseveres in the truth because a true disciple is indwelt with the resident teacher of truth - the Holy Spirit.

It is the Gospel that sets us free (Gospel - meaning Good News - that good news being that Jesus Christ came to save the sinner from sin). Before a person is saved we are in bondage to our sin nature and eternal death…living under the yoke of Satan. But it is through the Gospel where we find rest from sins sting and through faith in Christ are able to live in obedience to Christ and His righteous ways. We are no longer slaves of sin. We will grow in our freedom in Christ.

The mark of a true disciple is perseverance in the truth. This is what causes us to grow. It is great that we all start off well, but in order to run the race to continue on the tightrope of faith, sometimes it seems overwhelming. Yet we do not need to worry as a true disciple, whether we have enough resources for spiritual growth … because we do. We have the truth of God’s Word. God’s divine source of spiritual power has provided everything we need for life and godliness through Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:3). In fact spiritual growth and perseverance are commanded by God - 2 Peter closes off with this command - but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him [be] the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2 Pet. 3:18).

So the next time you are worn out and parched by the race, take a break - by refreshing and recharging your batteries with the spiritual thirst quencher - the Bible. The Holy Spirit works when we study the Word of God - and that is what is meant by being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians. When we are immersed in the Word of God the Holy Spirit helps our minds with unlearning what is unBiblical and displeasing to God, and then learning what is the truth. Persevering in the truth will help you to walk in fellowship with Christ. Things like our ignorance, superstitions, vocabulary, thoughts, actions - will all be changed as we let Jesus the Light of the world shine on us. This small seed of faith that has germinated, will through Christ, take full root, thrive, and persevere.

The second mark of a true disciple is that….

2. A True Disciple Acknowledges Sin’ Bondage (vv. 33-36)

If we were to do a survey today, by going over to Granville Street, and we asked 50 people if they thought that they lived in freedom - what do you think the response would be? I think that you would probably guess that there would be an overwhelming response that - yes we are free. Now if you were to ask these people if they thought that being a Christian was to live in freedom the responses would vary. I would think that most people who were not Christians would think that being a Christian was restricting. They would think that we Christians live in bondage.

In the unbelievers mind there are at least ten restrictions - the ten commandments - the thou shall nots of the Bible. In addition Christians should not smoke, get drunk, gamble, lie, cheat….and the list goes on. For the unbeliever it is all about personal rights and freedoms. The mindset is - you can’t do that to me…I can do that if I want…in the 60’s it was love, pot, peace and tolerance, in the 70’s it was I am woman, in the 80’s it Macho, Macho man, in the 90’s it was the me generation, in our day it is post modernism (emergent church) - we are all free to live together and have our own flavour of truth.

May I suggest to you, today… that this is not freedom. In fact God calls these people prisoners…slaves….slaves to sin…and their task master is Satan. They are in bondage to sin. They are indebted to God because of their sin that has amassed. These people are living in bondage to their debt of sin - awaiting to pay it off with their souls by being credited with eternal death, in the unyielding cesspool of hell forever. We see these same kinds of attitudes in the people of Jesus’ time.

v.33 - Once again we see the blind ignorance of the Jews that were before Jesus. They object to what Jesus implied when He said that they would be set free - for in their minds they have never yet been enslaved to anyone - after all they believed and claimed the rights of being the physical descendants of, the so called, holy people of the one true God. So they say to Jesus - we are Abraham’s descendants - implying that they had a corner on being the children of God, and all the blessing associated with this was their right - including the right of freedom.

Yes this may be true about the right to freedom in some sense, but they were also lying to Jesus. We know that over the course of the people’s history they had many times become enslaved by other foreign countries…the Egyptians and the Babylonians, just to name 2 ….even at this present time they were under the oppression of the Romans.

But when Jesus spoke about being set free, He spoke of freedom from a spiritual perspective. So we might ask who then are the spiritual descendants of Abraham? God’s view of who the real descendants of Abraham are is set out in Romans 9:6-8 it states ‘…For they are not all Israel who are [descended] from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "through Isaac your descendants will be named." 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

Freedom from their bondage to sins, would only come through His saving grace evidenced by being born again - born from above to be God’s children…. the children of promise. If this takes place then the people would indeed be the spiritual inheritors of the spiritual blessings of God’s promise to Abraham through faith in Christ alone. These Jews were so boastful in themselves that they remained in a state without the saving grace of Christ - they lacked the humility which would have given them the hammering realization that they need Jesus. They remained in the sinful bondage to their legalism, ritual, and man made traditions.

v.34 - We find in verse 34 one of those ‘Truly, truly, I say to you’ statements meaning that this is something that is important to know - this in light of the lack of truth that the Jews ascribed to. Jesus tells us - everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. It is important to translate the Greek word in the verse, for ‘commit’ here because, the tense of the word tells us that the pattern of sin that Jesus identifies is a continual and habitual - therefore they are enslaved to sin.

We don’t need to look too deep into our own life to understand that we continually sin. Those who are without Christ are the greatest slaves to sin. If we are found in Christ, and the truth that He makes known, then we have been forgiven our great debt of sins. Not only this, we also have in Christ’s death and resurrection the victory to overcome sin - and no longer are slaves to sin - the truth has set us free. Turn to Romans 8:1-4 which states this reality -

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God [did]: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

We all, apart from Christ, are slaves to sin - in such a condition from birth we willingly abandon freedom, because our love for sin is greater than our love for righteousness - so we deliberately sin. What is sin? What is the character of sin?

Sin permeates our innermost being and is at the core of the human soul (Matt 15:19-20). The root cause of sin is man’s rebellion against God. Sin places man at the center of all activity and removes God from His rightful place as Creator and Lord - and this is what these Jews were doing - they placed them selves in the place of righteousness and place Christ off to the side along with the truth. Sin affects our intellect (2 Cor 4:4), conscience (1 Tim 4:2), will (Rom 1:28), and heart (Eph 4:18). Sin is not just failure and lack on our behalf, or even a deficiency of some sort, but it is the lack of true knowledge which would include the exchange of truth for falsehood (Rom 1:25). Sin would also consist of acts of omission and commission. The result of sin is that man is totally depraved (Eph 2:1-3).

Theologian Herbert Lockyer wrote this - Sin corrupts man and therefore in his soul he rejects God and His holiness, and diminishes the sinfulness of sin (Ps 14:1). "Sin ensnares the soul . . . blinds, deludes, deceives, defiles, then destroys. If unforsaken, sin results in irretrievable ruin."

v.35 - Jesus continues and uses an illustration - that of a slave and a son of a household. It goes without saying that the son of a family will enter into his inheritance, but a slave on the other hand - though he may have some temporary power to execute his task, he never will become a rightful heir to the estate. Jesus was saying to these Jews, that if they did not come to understand their own sinfulness, they fail to see sin as God does, they will continue to hide their own sin, and deny responsibility for their guilt…so as a result they cannot discover sin’s cure in the person who was addressing them - that is Jesus. Until man realizes that his sin is utterly loathsome, he will never know God, but only the terrifying consequences of eternal damnation in hell.

v.36 - Christ asserts the truth that these Jews and anyone else for that matter - if we don’t come to Christ the Son, who makes you free - for the perfect and permanent solution for sin - there is no one else that we can turn to. Only in Christ is their true freedom. There is a fairly well known saying about freedom - Freedom is not doing what you want, but freedom is doing what is right. For these Jews they chose not to respond to Christ and His certain, and realizable freedom from sin - they chose not to be free indeed.

The Jews that professed faith did not posses saving faith for they did not acknowledge the sinfulness of sin in their lives…and because of this did not acknowledge Jesus as the sole means of true saving grace.

Real disciples of Christ acknowledge sin. That is how we became Christians…in response to Christ’s saving grace we confessed that we are sinners before a Holy and righteous God. We let go of any thoughts of saving our self, any thoughts about being able to work at being forgiven, any thoughts about being able to please a sinless God, and instead we surrendered our self to Christ as the only Saviour who could save us from eternal damnation….we died to self to be set free and to be alive in Christ and therefore cannot be permanently held in bondage to sin again.

The true disciple not only acknowledges sin, but through out his or her life continues in acknowledging sin. In 1 John 1:9-10, we are told this - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

When we acknowledge and confess sin we are forgiven and cleansed…set free from sins bondage. The only way we know that we are sinning is through the Word of God, the Bible.

The results of freedom compels the believer to one priority - worship of God….and gives us one crowning purpose - to lead others to Christ through the Gospel of truth. Finally….

3. A True Disciple Acts Upon God’s Word In Faith (vv.37-41)

v.37 - Only Jesus has the right to grant freedom through faith in Him and Jesus acknowledges the claim of the Jews to be Abraham’s descendants - yet only as a worthless claim. Jesus was really driving the point home that the Jews were hypocrites about their being Abraham’s descendants…since they were ready to kill Jesus, manifesting murder in their hearts. All their foolish boasting was really useless since they we not like Abraham - they did not care to hold to Jesus’ teaching…since as Jesus said - because My word has no place in you.

Once they realized that a true disciple of Jesus was to submit and obey God’s Word then they were turned off by the truth - the cost of discipleship was just too much. It was something that they were unwilling to yield to since they wanted to be independent and boast in themselves. Through their abundant love for sin they became haters of Jesus and of God’s truth, and therefore there was no spare seat for Jesus - sorry the bus is full.

v.38 - Jesus’ response is based on what He has seen with [His] Father - capital F as in God the Father - that Jesus is by the side of the Father and in perfect fellowship and accord with Him. This is in contrast to the ‘father’ (lower case f) that Jesus is telling them that they subscribe to one who is not the Father. Jesus uses these opposites to underscore their rejection of his teaching. Once again it goes back to the reality that a true disciple will follow Jesus’ teaching as the Word of God. In a deeper sense is that those who love God will embrace the Gospel but those who do not will oppose it. The Word of God will always be welcomed by God’s people.

Jesus is saying to them - why are you so upset that I tell you to follow what God the Father has entrusted to Him to reveal? …unless the root of the problem is that they don’t have the same Father.

v.39 - The Jews in their arrogance totally miss what Jesus is saying and they continue to extol their pedigree as Abraham’s children. But it was a very clear and accurate assessment by Christ that they were placing their heavenly confidence in man and not God. It was by works - through a genetic link to Abraham, which they believed gave the right to a claim of a heavenly connection. In our day and age we can see the same kind of thing taking place where people claim to be a Christian because they think we live in a Christian country, their parents are Christians, they regularly attend church…meaning only at Christmas and Easter, and at weddings and funerals - some think that they have done just enough good and not too much wrong to merit God’s attention.

These are very common beliefs which demonstrate the lack of genuine faith - man centered - misguided beliefs, that people actually believe. But they are in direct contradiction to the living Word of God.

In reality these people have a human perspective on the truth, which is mere hypocrisy since they have no means of acting upon the Word of God in faith - because they lack Christ. There is no knowledge of the truth and truth is ridiculed by the way that they live.

Back to the Jews, they insisted that they are spiritual pure breeds, with a godly bloodline, yet Christ outright rejects their life of lies since they should do the deeds of Abraham. If these Jews really had the same spiritual heritage of Abraham then it would go without saying that they should do the things which Abraham was known for. Abraham was a known to be ‘the friend of God’ (2 Chron. 20:7; Is. 41:8) and these religious Jews were enemies of God. Abraham was also cleansed from his sin because he believed in the Lord, through faith alone (Gen. 15:6), yet these Jews depended upon human connections and their empty works - the Lord was starring them in the eyes and they did not believe.

v.40 - So what does Jesus do? He strips away the pretense and reveals the truth that was from God, that these Jews were seeking to kill Jesus - and in so doing were definitely not doing what Abraham did. As always Jesus was not promoting His own glory but instead, the glory of God the Father.

v.41 - Once again Jesus states that the Jews - are doing the deeds of [their] father - and He does this without identifying who their father is at this point anyway- and what do the Jews do? …they protested against Jesus’ revelation - We were not born of fornication - in other words that they were not illegitimate children. The Jews response could be an underhanded blow to the gut - a stab in the back - that in their eyes - Jesus’ paternal origins related to His ‘so called’ virgin birth was in question.

And so they set themselves above the crowd, and even Jesus Himself, and lay claim that - we have one Father: God that they follow - another lie. Jesus is making it plain that the Jews exploits are a result of them being like their father - ‘like father, like son’ as the saying goes - and these Jews increasingly realize that Jesus is implying that their father is not Abraham nor is it God.

The unbeliever has no room for God’s Word because they are full of themselves - and to them God just wastes space. A true disciple of Christ Acts Upon God’s Word In Faith. All genuine disciples live their lives constantly trusting in their Saviour - and applying God’s Word moment by moment. It is a life long, on going commitment to obedience to Jesus Christ as one’s Master.

1 John 2:3-6 clearly spells out the criteria for discipleship - it states - By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

This is what the Jews failed to do. 2 Corinthians 5:7, tells us this about a true disciple - ‘for we walk by faith, not by sight.’ This instructs and informs us that God’s will for His disciple is to evaluate life through the Word of God with eyes of faith, and not merely through our natural senses. A true believer is empowered to act upon God’s Word through divine means. This empowerment comes through the powerful indwelling presence of Jesus Christ in all believers.

In today’s passage, there is a gross miscomprehension of who Jesus is because of the Jews earthly ideas and darkened minds. Yet Jesus tackles things head on and ups the ante, and lays it all out in the open - no more allusions, no more implied statements, but the full force delivery the of truth prevails…and in so doing Jesus marks out true discipleship for us to understand.

Will the real disciple please stand up….

　

John 8:12-30 The Power of Living in the Light

31.05.09 John 8:12-30 (NASB)

Audio Sermon File: John 8:12-30

Going Deeper: Study Guide


The Power of Living in the Light

A number of years ago in one of the editions of the National Geographic, there was an article titled the Power of Light. This is what the introduction stated:

Light reveals the world to us. Body and soul crave it. Light sets our biological clocks. It triggers in our brains the sensations of color. Light feeds us, supplying the energy of plants to grow. It inspires us with special effects like rainbows and sunsets. Light gives us life changing tools - from incandescent light bulbs, to lasers, and fiber optics. Scientists don’t fully understand what light is or what it can do. They just know that it will illuminate our future

. Light has a tremendous impact on our life.

Light has a tremendous impact on our life. Today we are going to look at the topic of light. Not light as what was described in the National Geographic, but something which is more profound - the cause of light that being Jesus Christ the light of the world. We will consider THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT through our continued study of the Gospel of John, chapter 8:12-30. As we look at this section we perhaps could divide this passage into three applications to consider this week:

1. Make sure you know who the Light is v.12-20

2. Make sure you understand what the consequences are v.21-27

3. Be Transformed by the Light v.28-30

Since the beginning of chapter 7 and now into chapter 8 we discovered that a direct and open hostility to Jesus and His ministry was growing. Jesus’ opponents hated Him and because of this Jesus could not move around as freely and openly as before, but despite this opposition - Jesus according to the Father’s will goes to Jerusalem. So in chapter 7, it was half way through the Feast of Tabernacles, that Jesus begins to teach in the temple. As a result there was a lot of grumbling about Jesus by the people different groups of people each had a distinct assessment of who Jesus was.

Some thought Jesus was the long awaited Prophet that Moses had written about, others thought that Jesus was the coming Christ. Alongside all this confusion was also the attempt by the chief priests and Pharisees to seize Jesus, as they dispatched the temple police, yet this proved unsuccessful since it was outside the will of God’s perfect timing.

Allow me to read to you today’s passage: 12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, "You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true." 14 Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 "You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. 16 "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone [in it], but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 "Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 "I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me." 19 So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." 20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. 21 Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." 22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, `Where I am going, you cannot come'?" 23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 `Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am [He], you will die in your sins." 25 So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you [from] the beginning? 26 "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world." 27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [He], and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." 30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.

Today in chapter 8:12, the setting is the same as in chapter 7, but the Feast of Tabernacles was now over. Jesus continues to teach to those who stayed in the city. To set the stage for what Jesus states in our passage we need to understand the historical context of an event that takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles.

During the Feast of Tabernacles there were rites involving water drawing and lamp lighting, which the people observed. As I had explained before in chapter 7:37-38, the water rite symbolized the blessing of having water to satisfy the Israelites thirst in the wilderness. In this context Jesus therefore said - "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." Jesus was saying that He is the only source that satisfies spiritual thirst for all people and therefore fulfilled the symbolism of the water rite.

As Jesus makes His opening statement of our passage today, we are confronted with this application:

1. Make sure you know who the Light is v.12-20

v.12 - As Jesus again spoke to the people - He makes this statement - I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. The impact of the statement would immediately draw the people’s minds to the lamp lighting rite they had experienced. On each evening of the Feast, there were four large golden candelabra which were lit in the court of the women. These were large candlesticks which were approximately 75 feet high, so the brilliant light they produced could be seen throughout the city.

During this time the Levites would play music and the people would dance and sing songs, and cry out praises. These four candelabra reminded the people of God’s Shekinah glory that had once graced the Temple (1 Kings 8:10-11). The priests would declare on behalf of the people their allegiance to God as their source of light, the One who would also send forth the Messiah to save His people. As Jesus stood teaching in the temple near the treasury, these now darkened candlesticks would have been clearly visible. Their lights were out, but Jesus offered them a light which would never be extinguished - Himself. Jesus declared that He is the Light of the world. When we examine what light does we all know that light dissipates darkness. Many of us have at one time or another been caught in a blackout. At that time it was likely that we lit a match to see, or even turned on a flashlight. When we did that the result was that everything around us in the room was illuminated.

Spiritually speaking, Jesus is the only light that enlightens us so that we can see Him for who He is. Jesus is the Light of the world and if we do not have a personal relationship with Him then we will walk in the darkness - and we have no means of salvation from the toll of sin that is ever present in us. Jesus is the Light of life. Jesus calls all of us to accept Him as the true light by following Him. There is a commitment that we are to make to Christ if we are to be His true disciples.

By nature and definition, light is invisible yet it has the ability to illuminate all things. To follow Jesus is to possess THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT. It is a hard call that Christ calls us to….to make a radical shift in every aspect of our life - Jesus calls each of us to turn away from sin and to turn to Him in denial of our self, and to be in full submission to Him - it is also a call to live a life of obedience to Jesus as revealed in the Bible. Hard stuff isn’t it? Yet Jesus is sufficient for empowering us to live a life of godliness.

When this takes place THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT will dispel the deeds of darkness - we will have entered into the process of sanctification, being set apart each day more for Christ. Each day the sins that have characterized us will be put away, as in Christ we are new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Each day we will be shaped to be more like Christ in the beauty of His holiness. That is why if we are sure who the Light is and repsond to Christ, then we will have all that we need to bring glory to Him.

It is important to note that Jesus begins speaking by using the words I am. This is significant because it is a strong and clear allusion to His nature - that Jesus just as God had declared to Moses in the Old Testament that He was the great I AM - Jesus gives an answer to the Jewish authorities and the people’s questions of who Jesus is - back in chapter 7 - that Jesus is deity. The ‘I AM’ statements by Jesus will become absolutely and unmistakably clear, by the end of chapter 8. The words I am - confront us and say to us today that Jesus is no mere man, but that He is in very nature God (cf. Phil. 2:6)….therefore make sure you know who the Light is.

THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT necessitates that we believe that Jesus is God, otherwise we have a false religion, no salvation from our sins, and no hope of eternal life with Christ.

v.13 - The Pharisees challenged Jesus on His statement. In a cloaked and slick way - they try to make Jesus out to be a liar. They come at Jesus from a technical aspect - that anyone who is to be a witness was to have supporting witnesses. What they are saying to Jesus is this - If you claim to be the light of the world, then where are your witnesses? …if you don’t have any one to back you up on this then your testimony is not true …. we are not going to accept what you say - it is not pertinent, it is unconvincing, groundless, - it is null and void - it is not true…but was it? Was what Jesus claimed really unfounded and therefore not true - a lie?

v.14 - This is how Jesus responds and He gives the first of three reasons why His testimony is true.

1. a) The first reason is by virtue of His Divine origin

- Jesus asserts His authority to make such statements which are fully valid - since He is absolutely clear on where He came from - speaking to His divine origin, and also His sure destination - His heavenly home - where He will be going. The Pharisees, despite outward religious piety, were living in spiritual darkness and therefore had no clue about the truth - in this condition truth could not penetrate their blackened and spiritually dead hearts. Just because the Pharisees rejected Jesus’ statements…it will never nullify the truth.

v.15 - Jesus continues and presses His point a little deeper. Jesus points out that the Pharisees judge according to the flesh - that is that they make their assumptions based on external perception - so they were not capable of bringing down a verdict because they used the wrong criteria. It was by the unregenerate mind that mislead them to their unfounded and erroneous conclusions. But Jesus doesn’t operate in this way - Jesus’ whole premise lay in what He said back in chapter 3 - 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

Jesus didn’t come to judge like the Pharisees, but Jesus came to save us - to be the light that imparted eternal life. THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT gives us real living and meaningful purpose.

v.16 - Yet when Jesus does judge us, there will be no decision that is unjust - everything Jesus does is right and true. In fact when this takes place, Jesus will not be acting alone, but He and the Father who sent Him will act. Therefore Jesus, God the Son, acts in full harmony with God the Father.

1. b) This is the second reason why Jesus’ testimony is true - it is by virtue of His unity with the Father. This oneness is the guarantee that whatever judgement that Jesus declares will be valid. This relationship gives us the security that Jesus justifiably has the right to make the jusdgement that He does.

1. c) The third reason why Jesus’ testimony is true - is by virtue of identical witness proclaimed by Jesus and God.

v.17 - In the law, in the book of Deuteronomy, there was a requirement that there be two or three witnesses to establish the truth (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). When this took place then whatever was agreed upon by the testimony of these witnesses - it would be valid in a courtroom to establish justice.

v.18 - If by the Law, it allowed for and relied upon mere men as witnesses….then isn’t it infinitely more valuable and sound, that what Jesus testifies to be true come from Himself…and the second witness is God the Father? Jesus had made the claim to be the light of the world - and now He backs it up with two witnesses. Now if Jesus was lying about being the light then the testimony would fall apart because God the Father’s testimony would contradict His. But God was the One who sent Jesus, so it goes to demonstrate that Jesus is indeed the light of the world. There was no higher authority than Jesus and the Father’s testimony.

v.19 - In response the Pharisees want Jesus to call forth the second witness, and they say to Jesus - Where is Your Father? They don’t ask who is your father…for Jesus made that clear three times is chapter 7 - but with sarcasm they mock Jesus by asking Him to bring forth the invisible God. Does Jesus answer their question? NO. Instead He goes and points out their ignorance, that they have no clue to who either Jesus or God is.

If they had knew anything about Jesus then it would go without saying that they would know the Father also. As in the past and now here, the Pharisees are shut up. It was a well established fact that the Pharisees proudly made themselves out to be tight - in close touch with God ….but they didn’t know Christ, which would conclude that they had no substance to their boasts. If we remember back to John 1:18 - it is only through Christ that we can know anything at all about God. If you know Christ then you know God - it doesn’t always work the other way around.

v.20 - This whole confrontation between the Jews and Jesus takes place in the treasury, as He taught in the temple in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. This once again is in the court of the women, a very public place - where 13 boxes for collecting offering were located. Despite the fury of the Pharisees, Jesus was not seized and taken away - once again we see the sovereign hand of God effecting His will - because His hour had not yet come.

We all are called by God today, to make sure we know who the Light is, and that is to believe that Jesus is God, Jesus is the sustainer and agent of life, and that His testimony is true - based upon His Divine origin, unity with the Father, and identical revelation with the Father. Next you are to…

2. Make sure you understand what the consequences are v.21-27

v.21 - At verse 21 Jesus once more addresses the Pharisees and the people. This time Jesus lays out the consequences of not knowing who the Light is. Jesus unmasks 4 ways that these people reaped the consequences of spiritual death...4 marks of apostasy.

2. a) The first mark of spiritual apostasy is Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus says about unbelief about Himself - he tells everyone present that He is to go away. The words go away is the usual wording that the Gospel writer, John, expresses Jesus’ death. So when Jesus voluntarily dies on the cross, is resurrected from the dead, and ascends to heaven…when that takes place, the people will seek for Jesus but they are not going to be able to find Him. It will be too late because of the consequences of unbelief. When Jesus dies He is going back to the Father who sent Him and that place is in heaven. And because the Jews were so hardened to the truth, even though Jesus - God in human flesh appeared and spoke to them, they cannot come to the place that Jesus will be.

These so called religious leaders had committed the unpardonable sin - the fullest expression of depravity and ultimate hard heartedness - which is attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan - sheer irrevocable blasphemy (Matt. 12:22-32). These Pharisees personally witnessed the miracles of Christ, they knew in their heart that Jesus claims were true, but instead of attributing these things to God - they deliberately gave the credit to Satan and out rightly reject Christ - therefore they sinned against the Holy Spirit….this why Jesus says so plainly - you will die in your sin. THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT was suffocated, because they did not desire to know and love Jesus the light of the world.

v.22 - Of course the Jews once again misunderstand what Jesus is saying…they have consistently been doing that through out our Gospel. Yes, they reckoned that Jesus was speaking about His death - because they ask Surely He will not kill Himself, will He. But in the Jews minds they sincerely must have believed that they were heading for heaven - yet Jesus had already just told them that they were not going to heaven. The Jews didn’t want to hear that so they re-interpreted (cf. Rom. 1:25) what Jesus was saying, to mean that he was going to kill Himself - that is to commit suicide. Suicide was an abomination to the Jews - and they believed that those who killed themselves would be transported to hell…. so hesitantly they surmised that Jesus was going to commit suicide.

They in their unbelief were trying hard to give another meaning to what Jesus clearly stated - they wanted to rationalize the truth - and that is why these Rabbis wanted to think that could not go down that path - there was no way that they would end up in hell. In their blind pride, and self righteousness they mistakenly thought they were headed for heaven…but they were wrong about what Jesus was clearly saying.

v.23 - So Jesus continues to establish the truth and sets out a contrast.

2. b) The second mark of spiritual apostasy is the love for earthly darkness.

Jesus says in verse 23 - You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Let’s look at this verse together for a moment - Jesus says that You are from below - meaning that they are earthly; I am from above - that is Jesus has a heavenly origin . You are of this world - once again earthly; I am not of this world - once again heavenly. Because these religious Jews were so caught up in themselves and reject Christ, they belonged to the world. The consequence of having a hardened heart towards Jesus, the light of the world - bound them to live in, and submit to the dominion of Satan…they were living in earthly darkness.

v.24 - It is apparent that after all that Jesus said up to this point, the truth still did not get into the thick skulls of the Jews - so Jesus continues and makes a strong and emphatic statement and therefore unmasks 2. c) The third mark of spiritual apostasy which is unbelief in the true identity of Jesus. Jesus says in verse 24 - Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am [He], you will die in your sins.". Once again Jesus uses those two words - I am - which once again are a clear allusion to His nature. What Jesus is declaring again is that if you do not come to believe in the Person of Christ - that He is God the Son - absolute Deity - God veiled in human flesh appearing to men - all that He is and has done to save us from our sins - then you have no hope - you are dead in your trespasses and sins (cf. Eph. 2:1).

The consequence of not believing in the true identity of Jesus Christ is that when you die all your sins will not be forgiven and you will be judged - and the greater implication of this verse is that one who is in this condition will be condemned to eternal darkness in hell. Hard to swallow isn’t it - the Jews certainly thought so, as they were burning inside as their hatred towards Christ intensified. But this is what Jesus wants us to clearly know.

Doesn’t this discourse sound perhaps like some of the conversations that you may have had with unbelievers? You speak the truth but the truth doesn’t seem to take hold of their heart. In the mean time other issues will arise out of the conversation - questions and statements which dance around the main issue - the saving message of Jesus Christ. Unbelievers would rather ponder upon the existence of angels, miracles, suffering, purpose, dinosaurs, the way that the earth was created, and more….and there is a place for these topics…but instead the person who is in love with earthly darkness - lives in unbelief, fails to seek the One who said - I am the light of the world. Like the unbelieving Jews, they do not want to hear the reality that their sin will condemn them to hell…and that they will not be able to enter into heaven where Jesus is.

v.25 - Jesus is clear in the truth that He speaks, yet the more He explains and restates things…the Jews became more exasperated…and after all that they had seen in the ministry and words of Jesus they ask Jesus a question. This question by the Jews reveals 2. d) The final mark of spiritual apostasy which is willful ignorance. They ask - Who are you? The bottom line is that at this point - Jesus does not give them the answer they wished to hear - which was a direct statement that He is God - which would launch the Jews in a charge of blasphemy. Yet Jesus allows His mission, works, and character to speak for themselves.

v.26 - There was a lot to speak and to judge of those who stood in unbelief before Jesus that day. There was no way, no matter what the people thought - that they would be able to evade the truth - to shrink back from the responsibility of applying what Jesus had said - judgement would await them in the future, because they rejected His claims and His person. But for now, Jesus didn’t get side tracked by the central issue at hand - the truth that God who is fully true, had given Jesus to proclaim to the world. The central issue at hand was what are they going to do with this Jesus guy, who dispensed hard truth….hard truths which had consequences related to one’s response to Him.

v.27 - John gives us an insight into the heart of these people, that they are in a sense brain dead. They do not understand - they were fixed upon earthly thoughts - a Messiah made in their own minds , though it was made so clear that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father .

The Power of Living In the Light as Christians calls us to do the same as Jesus did - that is not to be get side tracked by all the peripheral issues, but instead to proclaim the truth of the Gospel.

Jesus Christ is the sole object of true saving faith.

The consequence of not knowing Jesus is great. It is marked out by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, a love for earthly darkness, unbelief in the true identity of Jesus, and willful ignorance. Not coming to Jesus with a repentant heart for the forgiveness of sins is eternally damning to your soul. Therefore you will never be able to experience THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT in your life. So it is imperative that we make sure we know who the Light is, and that we also know what the consequences are of rejecting Jesus the light of the world…if we sincerely do that and confess our sin and need for Christ then we can….

3. Be Transformed by the Light v.28-30

v.28 - Jesus continues and now turns to something which will happen to Him as His ministry comes to a close. Jesus speaks of His death. It will take place that in Jesus’ last moments on earth that the sinful desires of the religious authorities will be played out - that is that they will carry out the murder which was welling up in their hearts. Jesus will die by crucifixion - that is what is meant in verse 28, where Jesus uses the phrase - lift up the Son of Man (cf. 3:14; 12:32). At this time and beyond, many will know that Jesus is God - incarnate - the One who came down into darkness in the person of the Son - the great I am - and that everything that He has stated is true because it was what the Father has taught. Jesus will be glorified in His death and therefore draw sinners to Himself as their Savior.

v.29 - Jesus is God sent, yet being sent Jesus is not alone but God is with Him. Jesus makes a point that whatever He does - it is always that which are pleasing the Father. Jesus found great joy in fulfilling the Father’s will as He actively worked in perfect sinless obedience to the Father, it would go against His essential character to be and to do otherwise. Jesus was devoted to do the Father’s will, which produced a life that was marked out by holiness.

v.30 - We end our passage by witnessing the transforming power of God’s Word - that as Jesus spoke the truth, many came to believe in Him. Some of those in the crowd were saved from their sin. It becomes apparent in the following verses that these people who believed in Jesus only possessed a shallow commitment of faith, which would be tested.

THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT calls all who have no faith to respond to the loving command of God to repent of sin and to turn to Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. To respond in belief that the only way that we can be cleansed from our sin is that we believe in the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death is the only means that satisfies the wrath of a Holy God - at the beginning of 1 Jn. 2:1-6, God tells us this…

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for [those of] the whole world. 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

If the Lord draws you to profess Christ and to believe in what was spoken today, then you will Be Transformed By The Light. For us Christians whether young or mature in the faith - THE POWER OF LIVING IN THE LIGHT is a wake up call to us. Jesus said this - " "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 "nor does [anyone] light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 5:14-16).

We are to live our lives in the power of the light so that all men will know that we are saved by His grace. God has given us the Gospel of Christ… not for us to keep, but it is to be given away - offered to all. It is God’s gospel, not ours - so we must fulfill our identity as light , and share the Gospel.

There are some people who live their whole life rejecting God and they make it very plain and evident for all to see. Then there are some people who live their life well, but you would be hard pressed without asking - if all that they do and are as a person, whether it is powered by the light of Christ’s saving grace - with these kind of people - you could say that it is a 50/50 probability that they are Christians. For these kind of people, when they die, they leave the Christians who are still living with a burden upon their minds - asking…was he/she really a Christian?

It is an awful thing to go through life living in such a lukewarm way. Yet we really should take stock of our own lives and if we have really been transformed by the light - I encourage you to live your life in such an unmistakable way, that those around you do not have to guess or question your salvation….this is the kind of Christian Jesus wants you to be. Jesus wants all of us to live in the power of His light…Jesus is the Light of the world. Let us all unmistakably shine for Him.

John 7:53-8:11 Throwing Stones - Responding To Critical Attacks

24.05.09 John 7:53-8:11 (NASB)

Audio Sermon File: John 7:53-8:11

Going Deeper: Study Guide

Throwing Stones - Responding to Critical Attacks

A guy came to his pastor and said, "Pastor, I only have one talent." The pastor asked, "What’s your talent? The man said, "I have the gift of criticism." The pastor was wise and replied, "The Bible says that the guy who had only one talent went out and buried it. Maybe that’s what you ought to do with yours."...

Some of us may joke about having the gift of criticism, but on a more serious note - our lesson today strikes at the heart of each one on us - none of us can say that we are exempt from it. I encourage you to consider for yourself some of the applications that are presented today. Our passage today is a very well known story - the account of the woman caught in adultery, and the attempt by the religious establishment to satisfy the Law by having her stoned. The story deals with a critical attack on the woman, but the real focus and real attack is upon Jesus. Criticism can be constructive and given with the aim to edify, but what we are dealing with today is critical attacks, that have the aim to destroy. Critical attacks can be dished out by us - or maybe we are on the receiving end - but in both cases they should be buried. There are some basic reasons why this happens which may include jealousy - someone gets a promotion at work and you hear these words - ‘he didn’t deserve that promotion….the guy is an idiot…he just got it because he does whatever the boss wants’ - a stone is thrown. Perhaps critical attacks can stem from pride - look at Stella, she thinks that her term paper is so great - she should have focused more on this area… she is such a loser - pride causes us to think that we are better than the other person so we judge and criticize them - another stone is thrown.

Sometimes we attack others because it is a way that we can cover our own sin - just like in our passage where the religious authorities want to take the focus off their sin in light of truth - and they set up a smoke screen - set the attention upon someone else, on Jesus - and stones are picked up. Another reason why critical attacks take place is due to our insecurities - they can often lead us to maliciously judge and criticize others - we are threatened by the success and hard work of a colleague and we think this - I’m going to really give it to Donald in front of everyone tonight at our team meeting - and then we follow through on it - the stone is thrown….

Whatever the root is - we must realize that critical attacks are not edifying and it is sin. Scripture tells us that we are not to tear one another down but instead we are to what?…… encourage one another and build up one another (1 Thess. 5:11).

Our passage today is very well known story - the account of the woman caught in adultery, and the attempt to satisfy the Law by having her stoned. Yet many of us do not realize that this story has its unique challenges, in terms of where it belongs in Scripture. In terms of the Gospel of John most Bible scholars would agree that this passage does not belong at this juncture. Most believe that at some point in time this story was added since the best manuscripts of John do not have it. In addition no leaders of the Greek Church refer to it for about 1000 years after Jesus' time. The style and vocabulary speak against its inclusion, so does the fact that it seems to interrupt the flow of events that are in chapter 7. There are even manuscripts that place this story at different places in the Gospels. So we might ask - is this story for real then? The answer is that there is no reason to believe that this account is not historically correct or lacks any historical veracity. It does seems that this account though not belonging to the gospel of John, that it was preserved and communicated from a very early time. It is also treated by most as belonging to the Bible, but the question was - where? Most of our English translations keep it at this point. It is possible that we are incorrect about all of the above, and therefore it is kept in the text at this point. So what do we do with it then? The account gives no reason to dismiss it as fabricated, since it appears to be in full agreement with Jesus' character, so it is taught and considered.

From today’s passage we can get some insight into how to respond to critical attacks. The first realization is that…

CRITICAL ATTACKS WILL ALWAYS BE PRESENT (v.7:53-8:5)

People will always try corner you in, there will always be someone that wants to slam you for no good reason…this can be anywhere…even at church by those who are immature and also those who are supposed to be mature.

Let us begin our passage… 53 [Everyone went to his home. 8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and [began] to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center [of the court], 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?"

v.7:53 - With the fiery exchange of opinions, assertions, and insults of chapter 7, one would have expected that Jesus would have been seized and arrested. Jesus from a human standpoint was vulnerable, in enemy territory - but we observe that God has His way as always - and He sovereignly controls the details of history. What happens is that the gathered Sanhedrin are scattered - their evil plans against the Son of God are held at bay by God's hand. As a result Everyone went to his home.

v.8:1 - In contrast Jesus follows a familiar pattern of His - that is He teaches in Jerusalem and then departs in the evening to a place outside the city. This time as on other occasions Jesus heads for the Mount of Olives, a favourite place for Him. It is quite possible that Jesus went to the town of Bethany, to stay with His friends Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Or simply He could have slept on the mountainside as Scripture records on other occasions.

v.2 - Early in the morning, at daybreak... Jesus went into the temple courts. Once again Jesus follows His regular pattern of teaching the people, when He enters into the temple. There came a continuous stream of people gathering around Him, so Jesus teaches them.

v.3 - In the midst of Jesus' teaching - this is where the critical attack begins - The scribes and the Pharisees, that is members of the Sanhedrin, bring to Jesus, a woman. It becomes apparent that a trap was being laid out before Jesus - and this is confirmed in verse 6. If we think through the circumstances we can observe some suspicious details. The first is that this was early in the morning. It seems to be a real possibility, that the Sanhedrin were out all night devising a scheme to trap Jesus....and this is what they came up with. Picture this in your minds - there is a growing crowd around Jesus and suddenly there is a growing disturbance of voices....these are of the people. The Sanhedrin members push aside the people in order to get to the front - where Jesus sat. They bring this woman and they - set her in the center - so that everyone could see this spectacle. The second thing which seems unusual is that the Sanhedrin brought the woman to Jesus, where they normally would have dragged her off to their own courts to bring her to trial - instead they publicly flaunt their 'prized catch.'

v.4 - The captors say to Jesus - Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. The fact that this woman was guilty was not an issue. Another thing that seems odd about the Sanhedrin's circus act was - how did these guys actually catch this woman in adultery? In those days adultery was a severely punishable sin...unlike today where marital unfaithfulness is unfortunately statistically high - and it seems that it has become increasingly more accepted - and perhaps even a lifestyle option. In Jesus' time those daring enough to engage in adultery would certainly have hidden it well. Another consideration is this - adultery involves 2 people...what happened to the counterpart - the man who was caught in adultery? It becomes a possibility that these teachers of the law and Pharisees could have set up this woman.

v.5 - The captors continue saying - Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say? The Law which they referred to was from one of two verses. The first is from Lev. 20:10 and the second which is essentially the same, comes from Deut. 22:22 - "If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die…. The manner of putting the adulterer and adulteress are not mentioned. To stone someone was prescribed in the case of adultery involving an engaged virgin girl (Deut. 22:23). It was clear that these are the verses they had in mind and they wanted to prescribe stoning. These teachers of the law and Pharisees go to Jesus with this and say to Him - what then do You say? They have conveniently pointed out that a woman such as this should be put to death. They took what they believed to be a ‘legal and political hot potato’ and they cast it into Jesus’ hands - putting the focus on Him. Critical attacks can come at anytime. They usually catch us off guard and they hit hard. In our passage it came from those we would least expect it from - religious leaders. It was a shameful display of their heart attitudes. The attack was slick for it was dressed in the form of a sincere question regarding the Law, but we know of the depth of the wickedness that was present. Often critical attacks will lead ‘stone throwers’ to enter into a cesspool of sinful activity. In this case a woman caught in adultery, though guilty, none the less was needlessly publicly shamed, as she was caught in the attackers web of sin. They shamelessly use her as a tool to trap Jesus (in their eyes she was disposable - it was the cost of doing business). People get unnecessarily hurt when others launch malicious attacks. In addition, we may note that to launch a critical attack, it often involves bending the rules - in order to carry out sin it may call for added sinful activity. Jesus faced critical attacks dozens of times - unfortunately they are a part of life and are ever present, so we need to consider how we can respond to them.

RESPOND TO CRITICAL ATTACKS BY NOT REACTING (v.6)

They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.

v.6 - Verse 6 makes it clear that this question was designed as a trap - testing Him - designed to trip Jesus up - so that they might have grounds for accusing Him….which would ultimately lead to justifying their plot to kill Jesus. The word testing, can also be translated as ‘tempt’ - this word can be defined as putting someone to the test with the likely result of failing that test. So they were thinking that they got Jesus, now - He’s not going to get out of this one. This was a corrupt scheme. They were more interested in nailing Jesus, but if the woman got stoned to death in this process - they probably wouldn’t have given her a second thought. Let me explain to you the context of why this is a trap. At this time of history, the Jews were under the rule of the Romans. Now the Romans did not have such a penalty of death for adultery. So, if Jesus was to say - Yes I agree with you and you should stone her - then Jesus would be open to being prosecuted by the Romans, for inciting the people to go against Roman law - because they were responsible to make the decision regarding capital crimes. In addition Jesus’ character would come into question since He was always known for demonstrating compassion and forgiveness for sinners. If Jesus said - No, she should not be stoned - then Jesus was therefore in offense against God’s law. So the question and situation was a tricky one - a seemingly no win situation….just as the Jews wanted. It is possible that Jesus could have refused to answer the question…and therefore they couldn’t pin anything on Him….but the fate of the woman would have been sealed - the Jews would have moved forward to have her stoned. In short this was a malicious attack.

This is how Jesus responds - Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. What Jesus wrote or drew is left only to speculation - yet for a moment Jesus does ignore those around Him as He stooped down. It is as without words Jesus is saying to the accusers that they are simply not worth listening to…and that is usually the case. We can learn a lesson from Jesus - Don’t react - that is don’t launch a counter attack…instead if we take some time to pray, to reflect on applicable Scripture, to calm down - just to remain composed then we can better avoid the trap that is set. At that time then we can respond in a appropriate manner. Those who criticize others often want a reaction. They want to see you fume. They want you to strike back in such a way to discredit you. They want to make a fool out of you. 1 Pet. 5:8 - teaches us this - Be of sober [spirit], be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. We need to be careful because Satan is ready and willing to use us or someone else to throw stones… Instead Respond with care based on and within the framework of God’s Word.

J. Oswald Sanders in the book Spiritual Leadership quotes from the book Evangelical Thought by - R.D. Abella - this is what is written: There is nothing else that so kills the efficiency, capability and initiative of a [person] as destructive criticism….It tends to hamper and undercut the efficiency of man’s thinking process. It chips away at his self-respect and undermines his confidence in his ability to cope with his responsibilities. Sanders continues and he states… ‘No [person] lives a day without criticism, and humility will never be more on trial than when criticism comes.’ One way to demonstrate that humility is to….

RESPOND TO CRITICAL ATTACKS BY ALLOWING GOD’S WORD TO CONVICT (v.7-9)

But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him [be the] first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they [began] to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center [of the court].

v.7 - Jesus’ accusers were so bent on cornering Him with an answer to their question, that they persisted in asking Him - they don’t relent with the pressure. According to the OT (Deut. 17:7) the witnesses are the ones who would be responsible to administer the first blows of the stoning. This ensured that the witnesses were certain of what they saw - for if they brought false testimony then they would be held accountable for their actions - they would be responsible for taking an innocent life. Jesus gets up - and what He says are very well known words - He who is without sin among you, let him [be the] first to throw a stone at her. The words were so concise and convicting that Jesus’ accusers were totally unarmed. I imagine that there was utter silence at that moment. Jesus’ answer speaks to His Divine nature and wisdom - it doesn’t reject the law and it offers refuge to the guilty woman. It sets the conscience into gear and warns those present of their own sinfulness. The only one who could condemn this woman would have to be righteous and pure.

v.8 - Once again Jesus stooped down and continued to do what He had done - He wrote on the ground. Once again Jesus seems to ignore his accusers - yet it opened up a moment of silence where self examination could take place and their hearts would be searched.

v.9 - As Jesus’ words sunk in and those who heard it, which included those who intended judgment upon Jesus and the woman, and those people who watched this circus act - they now introspectively looked at their own lives….suddenly the focus was shifted from the woman’s sin to their own….no one had anything further to add. One by one starting with the older ones - they probably left first because they immediately got the message, since they lived life longer and had amassed a greater debt of sin which quickly flooded their minds. So all the people left with their heads hung down in shame - in one great continuous procession. It is possible that in these kinds of times in our own lives - when we realize our own sinfulness before we point it out in others - that our consciences will be pricked and we will respond - but what kind of response will it be - temporal or eternal? The Holy Spirit can do His work in these times of self analysis - we can submit to the work that He is doing and change - or we can walk away from Him in rejection. It is a sad observation to make, but we should note that none of these people who walked away - walked to Christ in repentance seeking a righteous heart - it was merely remorse - a worldly sorrow - not a godly sorrow leading to life. In the end only Jesus was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center [of the court]. One question that we may have from this section is this - Is Jesus setting a precedence here that we are not to correct anyone because we are all sinners? No. We are all painfully aware that there is something that is unrighteous in ourselves…maybe because of pride we don’t admit it openly….but we do know that is our state. What Jesus is saying is that we are not to be hypocrites. For example, if we ourselves are engaged in gossip and when someone spreads some gossip about us…what do we do… we immediately reach for the rocks. Scripture does call believers to confront others about their sin and even administer discipline - just look at a well known passage as Matt. 18 referring to church discipline. The issue is not are we holy enough to cast stones - a quick answer to that is NO. Jesus’ point is that we must start by questioning ourselves and take stock of our own sins and point the finger at our self first - if we do that I believe that you will find that you will say a lot less about others. We must also maintain a proper attitude towards sin. Sin is to be mortified - that is to be put to death. Sin must be loathsome to us - we must hate it in our self, and in others. In this way we will not attack people but strike at the enemy within. The more we love sin the more it will sideline us in being a holy people - a holy church. The evilest desires of men are smashed by God’s hand when we let God speak into the situation.

Jesus, in verse 7, gives us words which most, if not all of us know - and have probably even quoted. We can respond to those who attack us by putting God’s Word into speech and action. Let His Word do what it is intended to do - Isaiah 55:10 God says - my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty , but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. When we sin we are given a second chance - whether we are on the giving end or the receiving we can know that….

WE CAN BE FORGIVEN FOR BEING CRITICAL (v.10-11b)

Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."]

v.10 - Jesus got up and speaks to the woman - the address ‘woman’ used by Jesus is respectful. He asks her where everyone is. Where are all your accusers? Did no one condemn you? v.11 - There is a fitting conclusion to this episode….the woman replies that no one condemns her. And Jesus Himself declared that He will not condemn her. This doesn’t imply that in any way that Jesus approves of adultery…sin is sin…. and sin unconfessed will not go unpunished. But in Christ, those who trust Him to remove our sins can be forgiven. This woman was caught in the sniper fire at Jesus, but she stands as a beacon of hope for us. She is forgiven for her sin of adultery, which establishes the hope that we can be forgiven for our sins - no matter what they are. When we find that we have been critical of others - humbly stand before Jesus for forgiveness - and He will set your heart straight for Jesus calls us to this final point…

RESPOND BY LIVING A TRANSFORMED LIFE (v.11c)

The very last words of our passage are these - "Go now and leave your life of sin." Jesus doesn’t condemn the woman, even though she is guilty….instead He gives her a command of obedience - Go now and leave your life of sin. Jesus tells her to sin no more…stop the sin you have walked in….don’t go back to that path….make a clean break. Jesus addresses the specific sin of adultery, and sin in general - through an appeal to live a righteous life in light of a merciful Lord. Even when we fail morally, there is sufficient grace found through the cross of Christ. The hope of living a life of righteousness can be a reality, by coming to Jesus humbly in repentance, and turning away from sin. Author and Bible teacher - Merril Tenney, wrote this about Jesus’ response in our passage…. They brought the woman as a captive; He questioned her as a free person They regarded her as an accessory to their convenience; He respected her as a human being They saw only the blackness of her past - "the very act"; He thought in terms of her future - "sin no more" They were eager to stone her; He was ready to save her.

Jesus sets for us an example of how we can respond to critical attacks and turn things around so that He will be glorified. Phil 4:4-9 teaches us how to live a transformed life…. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

What are some of the stones that you are carrying today? Maybe the weight of the stones that you hold are crushing you, and you don’t even remember not carrying them. May I encourage you to put your stones away…it is going to be hard….I know, but we must. Start by confessing to Jesus asking Him to take them from you…stones aimed at ex-friends, wives, husbands, a boss, co-worker, or someone who has deeply hurt you. And may we all live transformed lives, by the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 7:37-52 Rivers of Life and a Flood of Controversy

10.05.09 John 7:37-52 (NASB)

Sermon Audio File: John 7:37-52

Going Deeper: Study Guide

Rivers Of Life And A Flood Of Controversy

In our last passage of John 7, we found that Jesus arrives in Jerusalem halfway through the Feast. And as soon as He arrives in the city He goes to the temple courts and then begins to teach. An outcome of Jesus’ authoritative teaching of truth, results in what should have been expected that is error would be exposed. And when error is exposed, people will respond with repentance or repulsion. In the case of part of the crowd, they believed in Jesus and were saved. For the others there was rejection, especially from the Jewish authorities who try to arrest Jesus, but it was not according to God’s divine timetable and therefore it is unsuccessful.

As we come to today’s passage we can discover that Jesus continues teaching. Jesus offers WATERS OF LIFE - that is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which comes from Jesus’ offer of eternal life to those who are listening to His teaching and who humbly respond. This is true living - true life - a life that is spiritually rich, full, satisfied.

Yet like Jesus’ earlier teaching, the people respond in different ways and there arises A FLOOD OF CONTROVERSY. We will discover as we get to verse 40, that peoples’ responses can be broken into 6 different reactions.

This is our text from the Scriptures for today:

WATERS OF LIFE - 37 Now on the last day, the great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, `From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' " 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet [given], because Jesus was not yet glorified.

FLOOD OF CONTROVERSY - 40 [Some] of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, "This certainly is the Prophet." 41 Others were saying, "This is the Christ." Still others were saying, "Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? 42 "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, "Why did you not bring Him?" 46 The officers answered, "Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks." 47 The Pharisees then answered them, "You have not also been led astray, have you? 48 "No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 "But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed." 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) ^said to them, 51 "Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?" 52 They answered him, "You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee."

Today we are going to look at the single most important issue we all face. This issue revolves around two realities that all people fall under. These two areas are - Spiritual Fullness and Spiritual Emptiness. And the question that we should be asking ourselves in relating God’s Word to our life is - Am I spiritually full or am I spiritually empty?

WATERS OF LIFE (v.37-39)

Before we get into our text, some background is necessary so that we fully understand what Jesus is going to teach. If you remember we are in Jerusalem, at the time of the Feast.

v. 37 The feast which the text refers to is the Feast of Tabernacles, which is held around September/October and is also called The Feast of Booths or Ingathering. This was a joyful celebration. The Jews during this observance gave thanks to God for the special blessings that He bestowed upon Israel in the wilderness. During the wilderness wanderings God made Himself present in the tabernacle. In remembrance the people would build and live in temporary shelters made from leaves and branches - to remind them of the wilderness wanderings of their forefathers in the days of Moses. The feast later on had an added meaning which was attributing thanks to God for the blessings received in their annual harvest.

The feast of Tabernacles was one of the three major feasts that the Jews were required to observe in Jerusalem (Deut. 16:16) - the others being Passover and Pentecost. During the feast of Tabernacles there were rites involving water drawing and lamp lighting, which the people observed. The water rite involved a the High priest leading a procession from the Temple down to the pool of Siloam. It was here that the priest would fill a golden pitcher with water. The procession would then return to the Temple area and the water would be used by pouring it out at the base of the Temple altar.

The water was offered to God which symbolized the blessing of having sufficient rainfall for their crops. This context becomes important to understand in reference to the statements that Jesus is to make in our passage today about Himself, being the source that satisfies spiritual thirst for all people, for everyone of you here today.

As the celebrations of the feast came to an end, it was on this last day, the great day that the High priest would come once again to the altar to pour out the water in his golden pitcher. This would be the high point of the Feast accompanied by the reciting of Scripture and the singing of Psalms. One of the Scripture they would recite was from Isaiah 12:3 - which says 'Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation'. It was at the close of this ceremony that Jesus stood up and suddenly cried out in a loud voice, just as He did back in verse 28 - If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. In so doing Jesus gave a greater meaning to the water ritual - He gave it a deeper spiritual significance. For the people, they were more focused on the memorial of the Israelites thirst in the wilderness, and the physical benefits of water. And now with Jesus’ words - He focused the people upon their own soul’s parched spiritual condition.

This is something that I found - it is a secular commentary of life, but it does speak to the issue of pursuing the fullness of life, but in the end finding not more of life but less of it…as one writer remarks….

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and lie too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've done larger things, but not better things; we've cleaned up the air, but polluted the heart; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice; we write more, but learn less; plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes; but lower morals; more food but less appeasement. We build more computers, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure and less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. Indeed it's all true.

In the book of Ecclessiastes it reminds us that Solomon had everything that he could imagine, and more - yet what did he say? It was all meaningless….vanity….a chasing of the wind.

I want all of you to think about something - and it deals with spiritual thirst in our lives - have you tried different things, maybe even everything that has come your way that been offered to you, but are still empty?….here is the solution…..

v.38 - The water theme continues and Jesus now states - "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, `From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' This was a call by Jesus, to every individual present, for a personal response of faith in Him. Jesus draws the attention of the people in realizing that the person who believes in Jesus will be given… rivers…an inexhaustible flow…an abundance - not just a symbolic single golden pitcher full of water…, but an unlimited source of spiritual refreshment… of living water… coming from your innermost being….provided only by faith in Christ. John does not give the Scripture reference Jesus refers to, but we do know that the water rite of the Feast pictures the end times rivers of living water, in a passage such as Zech 13:1- 'In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.'

v.39 - Since this is a very important statement Jesus makes, the Apostle John gives us the inspired interpretation of what Jesus was referring to. The rivers of living water Jesus spoke of was none other than the Holy Spirit, who was to be given to those who believed in Him after Jesus ascended to heaven. The giving of the Holy Spirit would transition people into the next phase of God’s redemptive plan - from the Law to the New Covenant.

The New Covenant was spoken of by Ezekiel - this is what Ezekiel 36:25-27 says - it is printed in our bulletins if you would like to look at it - 'Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.' It was in the Father’s plan that the Holy Spirit would not be given until Jesus was glorified. The word glorified is one of the key words in the Gospel of John. In this context it refers to Jesus’ forthcoming suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead. This was the demonstration of God’s love and power - and the humble means that Jesus would enter into His glory.

Have we been chasing after the goods of life? Is our life like going to the grocery store - we grab a shopping cart and we go down the aisles - and we start filling up our cart with items - chocolate chip cookies, BBQ chips, cream soda, black forest cake, chocolate covered almonds, cinnamon buns….do you get the picture? All these items are going to get you by, but in the end you are going to be malnourished. If this is all you ever eat in your life….your body is going to be empty….your body is going to crave for real food - meat, vegetables, fruits - stuff that will really feed your body - in fact your body will demand it - otherwise your body is going to shut down.

In our lives are we filling up the cart with ‘spiritual substitutes’ - it’s all about our personal image - our hair style, hair colour, our clothes, our jewelry; maybe it is our traditions - the stanley cup, high school re-unions, giving gifts; maybe it could be our experiences - extreme is in these days - extreme dating, extreme sports…...may I suggest to you today, that whatever it is…all it boils down to is the reality that if these are the goals of your life….then these are all ‘spiritual substitutes’ - the more that I can achieve, the more I can accumulate, the bigger the better - these are things which attempt to plug a gaping hole in our lives because we are sinners…..spiritually empty……thirsty…..

Why are people like that? Why are we like that? The answer is that we are all made in the image of God. We were created to be in fellowship with God, but sin blocks that fellowship. And because we love sin we will find ‘things’ to fill in that spiritual void, but we find none. Yet Jesus has been glorified and can stand in the gap. Because Jesus speaks the truth, there erupts a…..

2. FLOOD OF CONTROVERSY (v.40-52)

In our passage Jesus was predominantly addressing those who did not have faith in Him. But as we go through this section , as Christians there are some possible implications for us too. Yes, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit - we may not be spiritually empty in the sense of not being saved, but in some senses we may be spiritually empty because we hinder the work of the Spirit in our lives (1 Thess. 5:19). We can be spiritually immature because we can react to truth, in the same way as those who don’t know Jesus.

Therefore spiritual emptiness can lead to the following 6 reactions …….

1. People being sincerely wrong (v.40)

v.40 - Once again as on previous days when Jesus taught at the Temple, there was confusion over what He meant. In the OT there is a passage which speaks about the coming ‘Prophet’ which was declared by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15 (The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him). Moses foreshadowed that this person would be on the level of the regular ordinary people. This Prophet would not come with the alarming manifestations as seen in the wilderness wanderings - that is with thunderous voice and fire - instead the Prophet would be one of their countrymen. So as this OT verse flashed through the minds of some of the people, part of the crowd interpreted Jesus’ words to mean that He was claiming to be that Prophet, Moses spoke of. Since the people were spiritually empty they thought they had assessed Jesus correctly - but they were sincerely wrong, that thinking of Jesus as merely a great prophet. We see this with many of the cults - they claim to be Christians but are void of spiritual truth, because they have an incomplete and therefore wrong Jesus. Spiritual emptiness can result in…

2. People who are sincerely right (v.41)

v.41 - But, others in the crowd interpreted Jesus’ teaching as meaning that This is the Christ - not merely the Prophet, but instead He was the long awaited Messiah. This is a proper identification of Jesus that can only come through the drawing of God (Jn. 6:44). Only God can open our minds to who He is. We see this reality in our lives as Christians - we didn’t have to do anything to get God’s attention, but He put us in a place where we recognized that we couldn’t do anything to please Him because of our sin; He offered us forgiveness in Christ for the penalty due our sin; and He gave us the faith to believe in Jesus as the only true Saviour from our sin - leading to rivers of living water (cf. 38).

Being spiritually empty makes…

3. People sincerely skeptical (v.42)

v.42 - Still another group present, questioned these beliefs - they said - Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? - they couldn’t believe that someone as great as the Messiah would come from the country - a small town nobody. They believed that the Christ was to come from the descendants of David. Yes, that is what the Scripture said - and they were right. They also were correct in interpreting that the Christ was to be from David’s town of Bethlehem - according to Micah 5:2. But they were skeptical and did not come to know Jesus. There are many people today who have the intellectual knowledge of who Jesus is yet they may not really accept the fact that Jesus is God, and that we can have a personal relationship with Him.

So far we have seen that there are those who are wrong about Jesus, there are those who are right, and those who are skeptical….

v.43 - There was such a FLOOD OF CONFUSION because of Jesus that the people were divided. The word ‘division’ in verse 43 in the Greek is the word schisma - our English word ‘schism’ comes from this word - pointing to the fact that there was a clear split over their views. The schism arose in part because of the question of Jesus’ origins; they assigned Jesus as coming from Nazareth, so some of them discounted Him as the Messiah. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but He grew up in Nazareth - and this is were the disconnect lay - a portion of the crowd had possessed only a part of the truth, and therefore ignorantly assumed it was an untruth.

v.44 - In the end, the teachings of Jesus were so provocative that some people wanted to seize Him - probably in order to drag Jesus before the Sanhedrin - which was the central authority, for the Jews comprised of members from the Sadducees and Pharisees. But no one laid hands on Him - and so we see once again, just like back in verses 30 and 32, that God controlled the outcome - nothing would be allowed to transpire outside of God’s will. And in the light of this, it was not Jesus’ Divinely appointed time to be arrested.

The rest of our passage reveals the final three results of a lack of spiritual life. We find fourthly that…

People become easily confused (v.45-46)

In this case it is the temple guards.

v.45 - If we remember back in verse 32 - the officers (temple guards) were dispatched to arrest Jesus. They now return back to the chief priests and Pharisees empty handed. They failed their mission without any arrest and there was an infuriated eruption amongst the Sanhedrin - and they were reprimanded with these words -

Why did you not bring Him?

v.46 - The officers (temple guards) that were sent out responded by saying that - Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. The words of Jesus so captured these guards, that they were mesmerized. I pointed out last time that these guards were Levites, so they had a strong religious knowledge. In contrast to the members of the Sanhedrin, Jesus’ words conflicted with the words of their superiors, because Jesus’ words were full of authority and power. As a result they these officers became confused and did not follow their orders.

Today many people have been asked to come to Jesus, make Him your Lord and Saviour, but there is no context to it. Many people have grown up in the church but are not Christians. Yes people would agree that Jesus had a lot of good things to say which were packed with a punch…but they are confused, because in the end they don’t really understand what it all means. The reason for this is that the context of what is said in the Bible, needs to be spiritually discerned.

Number 5 - with spiritual emptiness…

There are people who simply don’t care

v.47-48 - The Sanhedrin were disappointed to say the least, as the Pharisees returned fire by accusing the guards of being deceived by Jesus - in other words they were saying… ‘No way…are you so foolish that you believe in what Jesus said?’…Look at us rulers and Pharisees…have we been led astray by Jesus…..absolutely not! In this statement we get a clear glimpse of the spiritual pride that was overflowing in their hearts. They set themselves above the temple guards (officers)….

v.49 - And they set themselves above the people as well. The Jewish authority believed themselves to be the educated - those amongst the Jewish people that had all the brains. In fact the Pharisees were so upset that they slammed those who had sympathies towards Jesus as ignorant and common people. The Pharisees’ heart attitude was saying this - what right do these people think they have to question our decision about Jesus - we don’t believe Him - therefore Jesus is a fraud - we are right and you are wrong.

In contrast to themselves, they pass judgment on the crowd - labeling them as idiots - not having a clue of the law - and these Pharisees are so stuck up that they proceed to pronounce them accursed - meaning that they were condemned to destruction, because they believed that these people were incapable of having any intelligence. The Sanhedrin professed intellect above the common people, but in their own knowledge they were at fault.

What they were trying to do was put down anyone who would get in the way of their rage against Jesus. They were so bent on evil that they willfully did not care and sadly disregarded the truth.

Spiritual emptiness…deadness… allows ones heart to cultivate pride, but pride people from Jesus…and they simply don’t care to know Him. All they care about is holding onto their own version of the truth - and looking out for number one - that being self….they live by their own rules….they place themselves in a position of being God….they are a religion unto themselves, and condemn those who - quote unquote are being deceived by Jesus. And lastly there are...

6. People who are undecided

v.50 - In verse 50 we see the resurfacing of Nicodemus. We were introduced to him back in chapter 3. If you remember he had gone to Jesus at night to ask Jesus some burning questions on his own heart. Nicodemus was one of them - a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin.

v.51 - He opposed what the Sanhedrin was doing to Jesus and he speaks out against this injustice. He stands up for doing the right thing. There was a legal procedure to be followed in the Law - and Nicodemus challenges his colleagues to observe it - that is that a man must first be heard before they could judge and condemn. As a note, it is not certain at this point if Nicodemus was defending Jesus because he was ‘born again’ or it could simply have been his will to do what is lawful and right.

v.52 - The Sanhedrin do not answer Nicodemus’ question about this legal detail - which demonstrated their own disregard for the law - it was a ‘do as I say and not what I do’ scenario. Not only did the Sanhedrin put down the people for their thoughts about Jesus, but they did not stop at insulting even one of their own members - by mocking Nicodemus, insulting him with this question - You are not also from Galilee, are you? They expected a ‘no’ answer since they would have know this fact about Nicodemus, but what they were driving at, was that his sympathy for Jesus was putting him into the same category as the crowd. They further press on Nicodemus by challenging him to do some study - so that he would discover that no prophet arises out of Galilee. This statement by the members of the Sanhedrin was unfounded, since the prophet Jonah, and also Hosea, and Nahum were from Galilee.

Despite spiritual emptiness, there are those like Nicodemus in whom God works in their heart. God begins the process of drawing them to Jesus, but in this process comes indecision….you could say that they could fall on either side….belief or unbelief. But in the end - if God is indeed drawing… it is only a matter of time that a person will move to the point of a deep spiritual thirst that they will respond to Christ’s call to saving faith - to possess ‘rivers of living water.’

Often we go through life in a similar way, that is with some or much spiritual emptiness. And we may find that we go to any lengths to get to the end, but there are those hills in our life which just won’t let us get to the top….because we are spiritually empty.

If you are not a Christian, I know that there are going to be a lot of those hills in your life. Maybe you think you have made it to the top, but you haven’t. Let’s be honest, you don't have it all together - and Jesus certainly knows that you don’t. That is why as Christians we meet, we know we don’t have it all together, but at one point in our lives, Jesus opened our eyes and helped us figure out that we were spiritually empty - and that Jesus was the only way. We came to know Jesus and the Holy Spirit now lives in us, to fill us with true purpose in our lives.

Jesus in a loud and clear voice reminds us, today, right now - that - "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, `From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' " Do you passionately long for spiritual refreshment? Is your soul so parched that you can’t move forward? In these times may understand that in order to get to top, we need to turn to the One who provides rivers of living water.

In these two verses Jesus was calling the people to Himself...maybe you today. That Jesus is saying to you I know that you are longing for spiritual satisfaction. You need Me to help you recognize this. You need to have your sins forgiven, your unrecognized spiritual thirst quenched, and I am the only Person in the world who can do that for you. Come and drink... repent of your sins and receive Me, and within you I will grant the rivers of living water unto eternal life.

This is the good news that Jesus offers…a gospel invitation to true spiritual life.

Back to Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived - and from Ecclesiastes, really summed it up (12:13-14): The conclusion, when all has been heard, [is]: fear God and keep His commandments, because this [applies to] every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.