ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT JESUS?

OCTOBER 27, 2012 

·        Our lesson opens when Jesus goes to the temple for the Feast of Tabernacles (or Feasts of Booths); this is a fall festival that celebrates God's care for Israel during the period of wandering in the wilderness.

·        This Feast falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh month; five days after the Day of Atonement, and lasts for seven days.

·        Branches of palm trees, leafy trees, and willows along with fruit trees were used to make the booths in which the Israelites would dwell for seven days.

·        These booths were usually built on the roof of their homes.

·        This feast represents, in type, the consummation of all things, when Jesus will appear suddenly.

·        In the first part of this chapter we learn that the time of tabernacles was at hand, and although the Jews in Jerusalem sought to kill Jesus because He had healed the impotent man on the Sabbath day, He nevertheless went to attend the feast as was commanded all Jewish males.

·        Here near the middle of this chapter we see that the more Jesus reveals His Deity, the more He is rejected.

·        Even His familial brothers rejected Him, for a time. 

IS JESUS’ TEACHING VALID? (JOHN 7:14-18)

14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. 15 The Jews therefore were marveling, saying, "How has this man become learned, having never been educated?" 16 Jesus therefore answered them, and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself. 18 "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.     NASB 

Verse 14:

·        To the people at the temple, Jesus was a provincial prophet who had come to the temple city.

·        They did not yet recognize Him as the Son of God who had come to dwell among them and reveal God to them.

·        Quite suddenly, Jesus appeared in the temple.

·        There in the Temple, the Lord TAUGHT!

·        We don't know all that He taught, but it must have been impressive.

Verse 15:

·        It was not their conscience which were exercised, but their curiosity that was aroused.

·        Their marveling was a carnal reaction, for they did not see God in His teachings, nor they recognize the Teacher as Divine.

·        They marveled at his knowing so much without benefit of His having attended their (human) schools.

·        They questioned His authority to teach since He did not have the authority of the rabbis behind Him.

Verse 16:

·        Jesus did not claim to speak on His own authority, but on the authority of the One who had sent Him.

·        This forced the Jewish leaders to decide if His teaching were valid.

·        Since Jesus did not have, according to them, valid teaching credentials, the validity of what He was teaching turned on whether or not what He was teaching is true.

·        He wanted the people to see that He was speaking with the authority of God the Father.

·        To reject the message of Jesus is to reject the message of God.

Verse 17:

·        This is the wonder of salvation: if anyone is willing, God will make Himself real to them and the Holy Spirit, sent by Christ, will confirm that reality.

·        If a person is willing to know the Lord's will, then we have the promise that we shall know it.

·        Those who examine the doctrine of God with carnal reasoning will readily reject the doctrine, and God will give them over to a darkened mind!

Verse 18:

·        The question is whether men want to hear God.

·        If they do, then God will speak to them in His Word and they will accept the Lord Jesus.

·        If Jesus had been trying to start a new cult, they probably would have been much more willing to listen to Him.

·        Therefore, some people get nothing out of the Bible when they read it.

·        As a general rule, we should never trust anyone whose testimony is self-serving.

·        Jesus never sought to elevate Himself, but sought only to point others to see the glory of God in His teachings.

·        It is the duty of the Lord's people not to receive teaching upon trust, but to try to discern who are sent of God. 

IS JESUS REALLY FROM GOD? (JOHN 7:25-31)

25 Therefore some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, "Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 "And look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27 "However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from." 28 Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, "You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 "I know Him; because I am from Him, and He sent Me."  30 They were seeking therefore to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the multitude believed in Him; and they were saying, "When the Christ shall come, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?"     NASB 

Verse 25:

·        The people knew that the rulers wanted to kill Jesus, but they were not there to capture Him.

·        It is a wonder to see God's people carried through the many secret and cruel plots of their enemies.

Verse 26:

·        We note that there is a division concerning who Jesus was.

·        They were confused, for Christ spoke boldly and none of the rulers were trying to stop Him.

·        In derision, they questioned whether or not the rulers now believed Him to be the Christ.

·        This verse is very revealing.

·        Obviously the people were puzzled!

·        If Jesus was the one that the rulers sought to kill, why did they not do something?

·        "Let’s see now, since He is speaking boldly, and they are not doing anything, maybe they know something that we don't - maybe this man is the Christ!"

·        They had the promises of the O.T. and professed to be looking for and waiting for the Messiah to come.

·        Yet, in their conceit, here He was standing before them, telling them who He was, and still they would not believe; in fact they were opposing Him!

Verse 27:

·        Two things are manifested in these verses.

·        Pride and Ignorance.

·        They were in effect saying they knew more than their religious rulers.

·        They might believe this is the Christ, but WE know where this man comes from.

·        We know this MAN - the Son of God was in their midst and yet they did not know Him!

·        Regardless of what the rulers might think, even if they thought Jesus was the Christ, they themselves felt that they had enough insight to not believe Him because of their supposed familiarity with His background.

·        They claimed to know something that they did not know.

Verse 28:

·        Here they reject Jesus because they know where He is from. 

John 9:29

29 "We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where He is from."     NASB 

·        Whatever light people have, their opposition proves that they have no saving knowledge of Christ. 

Ezekiel 2:5

5 "As for them, whether they listen or not — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them.     NASB 

·        Christ asserts His calling and commission before these malicious men, so that they might know there is not only a prophet, but that the Messiah is among them.

Verse 29:

·        The central affirmation of His teaching here is just this: He was sent by the Father; and, until we realize that, we cannot know who Jesus is. 

John 3:19-20

19 "And this is the judgment, that the light is 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, lest his deeds should be exposed.     NASB 

Verse 30:

·        They considered this to be blasphemy, because they did not believe that He was who He said He was.

·        Since the rulers were not doing anything to stop Jesus, the people then attempted to do something for them.

·        Whatever their rage might have been, Christ can preserve Himself and His servants even in the greatest sort of danger.

·        God’s plan cannot be altered by man.

Verse 31:

·        Many of the people did believe on Christ, for they were sure that there would be none who would come who could work greater miracles than He had done, and so it was folly to expect another.

·        So we see here that Christ, when He pleases, can make His work prosper even in the midst of His enemies. 

HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND JESUS’ TEACHING? (JOHN 7:33-36)

33 Jesus therefore said, "For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 "You shall seek Me, and shall not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come."  35 The Jews therefore said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? 36 "What is this statement that He said, 'You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come'?"     NASB 

Verse 33:

·        He had six months left to His public ministry and no power of the Pharisees could shorten that time by so much as one second.

Verse 34:

·        There were two times after the death, burial, and resurrection that the unbelieving Jews will not be able to find Jesus.

·         When they sought to find Him in the empty tomb.

·        On the Day of Judgment, when they stand before the great white throne. 

Proverbs 1:24-28

24 "Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention; 25 And you neglected all my counsel, And did not want my reproof; 26 I will even laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, 27 When your dread comes like a storm, And your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come on you. 28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they shall not find me,     NASB 

·        This means, that they would want Him, but He would be gone, and they would have missed their promised Messiah as a result of their lack of faith in rejecting Him.

·        They also committed the sin of seeking Christ for the wrong reason.

·        Those who do not seek Christ for the right reasons will surely fail to find Him at all.

Verse 35:

·        It is a sin for people when they do not see the danger of Christ leaving them, for the insinuation is that if He were the true Messiah, then He could not get such people as themselves to follow Him!

Verse 36:

·        They didn't think Jesus could hide from them.

·        Sound doctrine gets a bad reception among the wicked hearers, who can only criticize Christ's warnings.

·        Notice, they never try to get any more information from the Lord; but only discuss the matter among themselves, as if to share their ignorance.

·        Such is the darkness of those who have not been quickened by the Holy Spirit; that they will openly make fun of true doctrine, even if it is taught by the Lord Himself!