The Disciple Jesus Loved Tells All!

Studies in the Gospel of John #8 - John Chapter 7 (pg 719)

Shocking! Jesus Involved in a Feast-Fight!

Scene from “Catch Me If You Can” - The True Story of a Real Fake

Frank Abagnale was a real fake. He played the role of an Airline Pilot (passing checks on Pan AM for over 2.5 million dollars and jetting across the world free as a dead heading off duty pilot), a Doctor (a pediatrician), an Attorney (He actually passed the bar exam), and a professor in a university. And he did this between the ages of 16 and 21 years in the mid 1960’s

Once he posed as a security guard and standing outside a night deposit drop box he collected $60,000.00 in cash. Then when the bag was too heavy some state policemen helped him load it in his car. Another time he was caught and sent to state prison. He convinced the prison guards that he was an undercover agent and got them to let him out of jail.

Eventually he was caught and put in Federal Prison by the FBI. Today Frank Abagnale is a consultant for the FBI and he speaks as an expert on security to commercial firms and government agencies all around the country.

Here was a man who was good at passing himself off as almost anybody else.

What made him effective was the presentation. He was so convincing in his presentation that people simply believed everything he told them.
 
Jesus is different.

Jesus is the reality. Frank Abagnale looked like the reality but was a fake.

Jesus Christ was almost the exact opposite. Jesus was not handsome and didn’t look the part - but He claimed to be and was the son of God. Here is the God-man who looks like a peasant, works like a carpenter, teaches like a learned rabbi, preaches like a prophet, does miracles like one anointed by God. Here is the man who claimed to be God - and is not a fake. He’s the real deal.

Jesus was the reality that looked to many people like a fake. In John chapter 7 we see that there was a lot of confusion about Jesus. But Jesus clears up the confusion by stating clearly that He is God. He is God and He is worthy of our worship. He came with all the proofs and testimony. Yet many refused to believe. In fact they reacted with hatred and attempted to kill him – eventually they did. People either loved Him or hated Him.

It is impossible to be neutral about Jesus Christ. Millions of people try to be neutral toward him. They claim that he was a good man, that he did many wonderful things, but that was long ago and far away, and it has nothing whatever to do with how I live my life.

It was the same when Jesus was here on earth in person. There was confusion and conflict about Jesus. Every time Jesus came to town, he got into trouble. The first time, he cleaned out the temple, and drove the animals and birds, and moneychangers out of what he called, “My Father’s house.” On his next visit to Jerusalem we saw him heal a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. That should have sent joy bells ringing throughout the city but instead it stirred up murder in the hearts of the religious leaders. At that time, “the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath” (John 5:16) And “therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)

When Jesus left Jerusalem, and went back to Galilee, his home-region to the north, huge crowds had begun to follow Him, watching the miracles and getting their bellies full from loaves and fishes – until Jesus began to teach about the cost of following Him, and even His followers began to turn against Him.

And now, lookout, because he’s coming to Jerusalem again, and who knows what will happen this time?

Jesus had been gone for about 6 months, but the people of Jerusalem had heard about his miracles and popularity, and the leaders were still upset about his breaking the Law and claiming to be God. So as we come to John chapter 7, the animosity is still there, affecting everyone in the city. There is a buzz that fills Jerusalem – “will He show up?” “Who do you think he is?” The Jewish religious leaders are busy spreading the word that Jesus is a dangerous cult leader, doing all they can to build a case against Him. In fact in another 6 months, it will finally result in his crucifixion.

The occasion for this visit was the Feast of Tabernacles. This was one of the 3 main Jewish festivals each year, and this was a time of celebration - an 8 day “camp out” in which everyone made and lived in “booths” or shelters of boughs and branches as they looked back to the wilderness wanderings of Israel in the desert. It was held 5 days after the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest took the blood of sacrifice into the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the nation for the year. It was also a harvest festival, held in October to celebrate the gathering in of the crops. So, it was a time of joy and rejoicing.

Now let’s see the confusion about Jesus. Turn to John chapter 7 (Pg 719)

The reaction of his own brothers - tolerant amusement. (Read 7:1-5)
As everyone was getting ready to go to Jerusalem, Jesus’ brothers urged him to go to
Jerusalem too. “Go and show yourself to the people.” It was really political advice. “You want to be somebody? Well, get known!”

Now the real reason show up in verse 5, “For even his brothers did not believe in him.”

It is clear that after Jesus was born, other children were born to Joseph and Mary and these half brothers who grew up in the same home with him had never yet come to understand who he was or to believe in him as their Savior and Lord. But that changed after the crucifixion and resurrection and in Acts 1:14, we read that the followers of Jesus stayed in the upper room with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

This reminds me that there are lots of people who have grown up in Christian homes, maybe even pastor’s homes, who went to sound Bible believing churches from their earliest days, who attended kids’ clubs, and youth group, who went to camp each year - people who have had every spiritual advantage, and yet never really came to trust Christ and they are just as lost as the worst sinner in the land. They are in the community. They can still quote Bible verses. They can sound very wise about Christianity, and yet their attitude is one of tolerant amusement. It’s that condescending grin that creeps across the face and patronizingly says, “Yes, I know all about Jesus – the Son of God. He died for my sins, yada, yada, yada.” It is a dangerous place to be – because John points out clearly that they did not believe. And without belief, there is not eternal life.

The reaction of the common people - honest uncertainty  (Read 7:10-12)

When the people arrived in Jerusalem for the festival, everyone was looking for Jesus. But there was confusion about him. Verse 12: “Some said, ‘He is a good man’ -others said, ‘He deceives the people’ but no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jews.”
This reminds us that there are many people in the community who really don’t know who Jesus is. They may not have gone to church all their lives - but they have been at Christmas programs. They have heard the story of Easter. They have listened to Billy Graham and respect him. They may go to church occasionally or even regularly. They may really like what they hear from the Bible. It sounds good. It’s nice to think a person could be forgiven of their sins. But still their spiritual eyes have never been opened. They are not opposed, they are just uncertain. They may greatly admire those who openly believe in Jesus. 

But the likelihood is that they are afraid also. Like the people of Jerusalem, they are afraid to take an open stand for Jesus. They are afraid that others may laugh at them. They are afraid that their friends and relatives will call them Bible thumpers, or some other derogatory name.

Like Jesus brothers, many of these people may become believers at last. After Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, many of these people may have been in the crowds listening to Peter and the apostles. At last the Spirit of God opened their hearts and they repented and became true Christians.
 

Then there is the reaction of the Religious Establishment.

The reaction of the Jewish leaders - proud hostility

This is no longer just confusion: this is open conflict. Verse 15: “How does this man know letters, having never studied?” There was arrogant contempt here. This fellow has never gone to our theological schools; he has no degree! He has no cultural background! We see this same attitude in the Pharisees when the officers they sent to arrest Jesus came back without him. Look at v. 45 - 52 When the officers said they hadn’t brought him because, “No man ever spoke like this man!” the Pharisees said, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed on him? But this crowd that doesn’t know the law are accursed.”

Can you hear the arrogance of their statement? This is the attitude of the shepherds that were supposed to care for, to feed and to protect the sheep of Israel. Do you see why Jesus later called them thieves and robbers who do not care about the sheep? They have an arrogance that sets them far above the people – actually in a place that robbed them of the opportunity to minister to the people they are called to serve!

But their reaction was worse than that: they had murder in their hearts. The people of Jerusalem knew it. As they heard Jesus openly teaching in the temple, they asked, “Is this not he whom they seek to kill? But look, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers really know indeed that this is truly the Christ?” In v. 30 they sought to take him. This is an attitude of hostility and hatred that would never be satisfied until Calvary. It was inspired by Satan himself, and continues to this day.

That proud hostility has never gone away from this earth. On the T.V. you can hear religious “scholars” who will speak slightingly of Jesus, who will speak down about him, who will dispute any need to be converted to faith in him. In the community there is no lack of people who have a proud, arrogant, disbelieving attitude to Jesus. You need not be surprised if they not only hate Jesus, but they hate those who claim to be true Christians, too. This can be seen in the recent release of The Da Vinci Code – and the movie “Saved!” that is in theaters now. They set out to undermine and destroy Christianity – and ridicule followers of Jesus. The hostility that Jesus endured is still being faced all over the earth – sometimes it is nothing more than ridicule, but often it is open hostility. When Tom Cummings was home from Iraq, he showed us pictures of a private zoo that one of Sadam Husein’s sons had. He showed us pictures of lions that had been fed Christians under Hussein’s reign in Baghdad.

The Teaching of Jesus

We have seen the varied reactions of the people. But what of the teaching of Jesus Himself? One thing that becomes obvious as you read the scriptures: Jesus Christ did not do anything to try to draw favor to Himself on the part of those who disbelieved. He never sugar coated or soft-sold His message. In fact it can truthfully be said that Jesus Himself contributed to the conflict about Himself. In chapter 5 he goes out of his way to show them that he was the Messiah, and that he was not just a man, but that he came from heaven.
 In chapter 6, Jesus pressed them to the limit with his insistence that if they did not eat his flesh and drink his blood they had no life in them.
In chapter 7, he challenges the Jewish reaction to his healing on the Sabbath day. “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath day, are you angry with me because I made a man whole on the Sabbath day? Judge righteous judgment.” He is right in their face!

On the final day of the feast of Tabernacles, the priest would take water from the pool of Siloam, and pour it out on the alter, to remind the Jews that God had brought water from a stone during the time they spent in those tents wandering in the desert. It was at this climax of the week, that Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 

Throughout this gospel we have seen, and will continue to see Jesus claim time and again that He is the source of life and salvation. There is no other way to God. He never backs down from it, and neither will we. There is no confusion here. Jesus offers you the refreshing your soul craves. He is no fraud.  When we believe in Him, the Holy Spirit fills us, and brings eternal satisfaction to our souls. 

In verse 40 we see the various responses (read vs 40-41).

Some said “This is the Christ.” Some said, “He is a Prophet.”

How will you respond to Jesus? 

Will you treat Him with tolerant amusement?

Are you sincerely uncertain?

Or are you openly hostile?

I urge you to investigate Him further. Listen to His words, and I believe you will be left like the temple guards, who returned to the Pharisees and said, “No one ever spoke like this man.”

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, speak to us today like no one has ever spoken before. Call us to the point of decision. Over these last months we have seen you draw the line in the sand and call us to step over in faith and believe in you. This hour, call us to belief, and call us to go beyond belief, to not only find life in you, but to live for you, as your disciples. We pray in your name, Lord Jesus, Amen.