Is This the Messiah?
For the Lord’s Day:  the 1st of January 2006 

John 7: 25-36

Introduction:  In our Psalm study this morning we focused upon the natural state of fallen men: men and women who can only devise perversity from their hearts.  The rest of Psalm Thirty Six will go on to demonstrate the faith and hope given by the Father to whose whom He loves.  King David could only look forward to the coming of His own greater Son Jesus Christ, yet King David did have the salvation that would come in Christ's name.  Of course we today are in a much better situation to understand all of these things that David could only hope for.  And yet, the process must remain constantly focused upon the continual work of our very own God and in His only Son Jesus Christ.

 But the world constantly wonders who is this Jesus Christ. And if we would admit it, I am sure that every once in a while, we too may lose our own confidence in this Jesus Christ and wonder if we have followed an idea into a dead end.  Sometimes we may wonder what we know for certain, what we know for a fact and even how may we know who Jesus Christ really is.  This Jesus anticipates the question of the world and He even knows of our own temporary doubts in the faith.  The claims of Jesus in the New Testament are to the thinking of the world absolutely incredible.  Anyone who comes to the Gospels especially is faced with choosing between two probabilities, either Jesus Christ is exactly who and what He says He is, or Jesus Christ is completely insane.

 By your presence here today you give evidence that you have chosen to believe the first probability.  And my calling is to encourage you to hold fast to that calling which you have from the Holy Spirit.  My text today comes from the words of Jesus recorded by John.

 Development:  Earlier in this chapter, the Apostle John declared:   John 7: 17.  "If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority."  John Calvin comments upon this verse in these words:  "that right judgment flows from the fear and reverence of God; so that if our minds are disposed to the fear of God they will easily see whether what He preaches is true or not."  Yet, the worldly are perishing because they cannot receive these and other words from Jesus Christ.  The worldly cannot accept the true religion of God's grace or the finality of God's Word.  It is when we are finally ready to follow the will of God and leave our own point of view behind that we begin to make progress in this wonderful faith freely given to us in Jesus Christ.  But the world makes our progress in faith difficult.

 I am reminded of an advertisement for one brand of beauty cream on the television.  There the models asserted her determination that she is not going to be a push over for old age.  She vowed to fight old age every step of the way. In the same way the world and the temptations contained in their hearts, are hostile to the Lord of Creation and our progress is fought every step of the way.  Jesus too was faced with opposition, even unto death.  In our seventh chapter of John we can see this opposition.  We can also hear His teaching and we can find in the sacred record some certain assurance that Jesus is indeed the Christ.

 In the first thirteen verses of our chapter, John reported that Jesus stayed for a while in Galilee because it was unsafe in Judea.  There is evidence that this stay is somewhat lengthy, because the Harvest Thanksgiving feast is now at hand.  Jesus' relatives have urged Him to go up again to Jerusalem because His miracles in Galilee will not convince the rich and powerful.  Jesus, if you are the Christ convince the people in the Capital City.  Yet this unsolicited advice is not given in the right spirit.  Those who give it are still unbelievers.  To these family and friends Jesus states that the right time has not yet come.  This reference here does not respond to His coming death.  Whenever Jesus talks about that He uses the word hour.  Here He is simply stating that while they are free to go, because the worldly Capital is friendly to them, His time to appear must be more circumspect.

 The time in Jerusalem described here is very similar to the time of the Reformation in France.  Very many young pastors came to Geneva to be trained as Reformed ministers.  However, once they were well schooled, there was a problem for them to return to France.  The government and Church of France were very unfriendly to their teaching.  These men traveled by night, lived in attics, barns and sheds.  Even their congregations had to meet in secret; all because the Gospel of Jesus Christ was hated in France during the Reformation years.  In the same way, Jesus must travel quietly to Jerusalem.

 When the feast had begun, the crowds began to discuss Jesus.  There was spirited argument both for and against Him and His teachings.  But these arguments were quietly held for fear of the Jews.  This situation was very much like the Russian society during the Stalin years.  Until he died people had to be very careful of what they said.  Even to tell a joke about Comrade Stalin could get one twenty-five years in prison.   Certainly, it was not so bad in Jerusalem, nor is it so bad in America. Yet, for one's financial and social standing, one must be careful!  Finally Jesus appears and His timing is found to be most appropriate.

 By mid-week everyone was wondering if He would appear and perhaps the authorities had relaxed their guard somewhat.  Immediately Jesus is questioned by the Urban intellectuals.  Since it was the custom of the age for all teachers to quote from their own masters, the Jews wonder from whom His knowledge comes.  Even more amazing to that age Jesus taught on His own authority.  The worldly Jews could not accept this.  They were not ready to admit that Jesus had any academic standing.  After all, the Jews wondered, where was Jesus schooled?  But this matter is not really earth shaking.  Jesus began with a discussion about keeping the law of Moses.  This referred back to the problem in an earlier chapter where He had healed the cripple on a Sabbath.

In verse nineteen Jesus asked why the Jews sought to kill Him?  This question the crowd considered incredulous!  What on earth are you talking about Jesus, why would anyone want to kill you they asked.  Jesus must be imagining things!   The worldly cannot accept the possibility of death for ideas that they do not accept. Why just a few years ago, General Juraliski of Poland proposed this same preposterous question:  "Who would ever consider having to die for an idea in our modern era."  Within weeks of that declaration, his own secret police rubbed out a Catholic Priest who was working in opposition to the Polish Communist Party.  The only surprise in Poland was that a culprit was actually put on trial!

In the same way, the crowd in Jerusalem thought they were too civilized to murder someone for their teachings.  But, Jesus reminded the people of the healing at Bethesda and He explained that this was the reason His life is at risk.  In His defense, Jesus points out that in need, the rulers of Judaism would also violate the Sabbath to perform a ritual circumcision whenever the eighth day fell on a Sabbath.  Why he asked was there a selective judgment?  If the Jews were going to judge, he asked them to judge fairly. 

As we see in our text for today, part of the crowd assented to the probability but there were other problems with this Jesus.  They knew where He came from!  Some in the crowd found further reasons not to believe in Him, yet there were some who believed that He was the Messiah.  This fact disturbed the Pharisees!  Officers were sent to make an arrest.  Jesus confronted them with a statement that they would not be able to find Him when they eventually choose to discover Him.  Of course these Jewish officers became completely confused.  They do not understand what Jesus was teaching at all.  We have also seen here that the Pharisees could not comprehend God's truth when it disagreed with their own opinions.  They were blind.  So may we be blind if we choose to ignore Jesus Christ and His teachings.  Like these crowds in Jerusalem we are challenged to put our faith in Jesus Christ.

Application:  But, just as Jesus describes the spiritual reality that men may not come to Him and find Him on their own recourse, so must we admit the frailty of the fallen human condition. In order to appreciate the context of our passage, we must look forward to the next paragraph.  In verse thirty-nine, we read John’s report that Jesus spoke “about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.”   Further, John tells us that until Jesus was to be glorified, the Spirit would not be sent.

Do we understand that the passage before us today, is locked into the context of those paragraphs that precede and follow these verses?  Years ago, I wrote a weekly column for a local paper.  The editor complained that my writing was beyond editing.  Usually, he said – any article could be shortened without damaging the argument.  But, mine – he complained were too tightly organized for shortening.

Let me go from there to make our final point for this morning.  One sermon, one verse or one chapter is not sufficient to explain the whole of the gospel message.   True, one of those may spark our interest and lead us on to consider much more of the gospel – but there is a life time of experience to be had reading and testing the words of scripture within the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Recently, I explained to my driving classes that if was forty years on the road before I realized that a Semi-tractor rig would have to drive through the middle of an arched underpass.  Never before had I run into such a situation, and so I warn them, and show them a place where that fact can all too easily be demonstrated.  And so it is with our understanding of the Gospel of Glory, day by day and year by year we grow in grace and knowledge as the Spirit teaches us all things useful for our salvation.  May we, unlike the authorities in Jerusalem go on to find not only that Jesus was the promised Messiah, but also that one day we may go to be with Him in heaven.  Amen.

Rushsylvania United Presbyterian Church 3 Feb 74 – Logan County Mission (PCA)  17 Feb 85
Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA)  12 Feb 89
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PREACHING RESOURCES

 Calvin, John:  Commentary on the Gospel of John.
Dods, Marcus.  St John.
The Holy Bible:  English Standard Version.

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