So What Do You Think About Jesus? The Model of Submission

I tell you, being an emotional person is a load to carry.

It's hard.

But it's the way God wired me and so just here I am.

You must be informed by the Scripture.

In fact, you can't really sing great songs apart from the Scripture.

Tell your ma, tell your pa, our loves are going to grow.

Nothing, right?

But when we sing such a song as we just finished singing, your love never fails.

I don't know about you, but I was thinking about passages of Scripture.

And so we move from singing the Word to being instructed by the Word.

And allowing the Word to be the thing that frames our life, our worship, and our ambitions for eternity.

Isn't that right?

Turn in your Bible to John chapter 7.

John 7 · chapter mention

And I want you to look at the clock, the watch.

We don't have a clock in the front or the back.

There's a very good reason for that.

All I'm saying is I do want you to know that when John finished our time of singing together,

we're going to find out whether I can stomp on the throttle and get it done in fewer minutes.

And don't hold that against me and bring it up ever again.

So, John 7, verse 1.

John 7:1

After this, Jesus went in Galilee.

About in Galilee, he would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

Now, the feast, the Jews' feast of the booths was at hand.

So his brothers said to him,

Leave here and go to Judea that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.

For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world.

For not even his brothers believed in him.

Jesus said to them,

My time has not yet come,

but your time is always here.

Let's pray.

And here's what I want you to do as I am praying.

I would ask that you pray as well.

God, conscious, deliberate expression of your dependence upon the Spirit of God,

helping me as I preach,

and you as you attend to the Word of God.

Father,

this morning we are gathered together because of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and because you have given to us your Word,

which is entirely sufficient,

that we who are your children would be completely furnished for all good work.

We pray for the enabling of the Spirit of God both in my preaching

that you would allow me through your enabling to be clear,

to be simple in communication,

to be passionate for the things that exalt the Savior

and that your Spirit would take the word that you have here in the Scriptures

and weave it into our heart that the thing that stands out to us

would be the glory and the sufficiency and the supremacy of the Lord Jesus,

that we, having not yet seen Him, would grow to care about Him more

and long for the day that we will see our Savior face to face.

Let that be the ambition and affection of our life

and let our time in the Word of God strengthen that desire.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Now, it is important when we take a small piece of passage

to actually understand the larger context.

context. And today is no exception to that rule.

So if I were to ask you,

what is one verse that gives you an overview of what the book of John is about?

How many of you would say,

well, I'm thinking right now of John chapter 21, verse 31.

Would you say that?

These things are written, what?

So that you may know or that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,

and that by believing you may have life in His name.

When we take the book of John and we are working our way through it,

we understand that one of the characteristics of this book

is that there's a lot of detail in Christ's life that's left out.

There are actually only seven major little pictures that are given to us.

This is different than the synoptic gospels that give us lots of detail.

And so when John limits his lessons to seven particular pictures,

it's appropriate for us to really pay careful attention.

And our text this morning stays on that theme of making it clear to us who Jesus is

so that we may believe in Him as the Son of God.

I do want you to understand that Jesus, at this point in John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

is still away from Jerusalem.

You'll remember what had happened as He'd started His public ministry

in Jerusalem, the city of God.

And how had He actually begun?

How did He start?

Does anybody remember?

Wave at me if you remember what He did

for His first public demonstration of His authority and power.

What did He do?

That was actually a little more private.

You're not doing bad because that's how John starts.

But what was the big smackdown event in Jerusalem?

Cleaning the temple, right?

I mean, here is a nobody comes bopping out of the...

I am having trouble with this.

Does anyone have chewing gum to stick on my ear here?

Bear with me.

It's like masking tape might be good.

Okay.

Remember, He walks into Jerusalem and He goes into the temple

and one lone guy cleans house.

I mean, that's just unbelievable.

And you remember, it was such an impressive act

that all the scribes and Pharisees and all the leaders of Jerusalem

could do as they kind of whine a little bit and say,

yeah, and where do you get the right to do this?

You know, it's like, meh, meh, meh.

And they're intimidated.

Well, following that, Jesus ends up sensing adequate pushback

from what He had done that He moved away from Jerusalem,

went back towards Galilee.

And in that journey, you remember, He stopped and met the woman at the well,

Samaritan woman.

She came to Christ.

And later, there we have John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

And that extended passage is really an early picture

of what was developing in the ministry.

And we find that Christ's miracles were drawing lots of people

to be interested in Him.

But Christ's teaching was leading to more and more people

deciding that they didn't want what He really had to offer.

And so we are now in John 7.

And I might encourage you to actually pencil a note in your margin of your Bible.

We are six months from the cross.

I think that's important.

Six months from the cross.

And what we find in John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

and we're going to look at verses 1 through 13,

is really the widening gap

between the people that Christ came to minister to

and what His purpose and His calling really was.

So let's kind of take the passage and break it up

and realize that what we find, first of all,

is how most people actually saw Jesus.

You look there in John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

and I want you to pick up with me there, if you will, at verse 2.

And it was the timing of the Feast of Booths.

And for the nation of Israel,

there were three public celebrations

that all the nation of Israel was actually to be involved in.

One of them was a Passover,

and we know that was a pretty big deal.

But the Feast of Booths, in some ways,

was the most spectacular, the most joyful.

And it was one...

By the way, I do want to tell you that I'm going to be on vacation starting...

Actually, Pastor Saul is going to be preaching for two weeks in a row.

You get to do one of my special passages.

I'm like, shoot.

But hey, that always happens.

He is going to be preaching on John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

carrying on, and I will be back about two weeks later.

Judith and I, I have to confess this,

I'm going deer hunting.

I shouldn't say that publicly.

But then after that, we're going down to Norris Lake,

and we're going to spend a little time down there together.

And we will come back and address John chapter 7, verse 37.

John 7:37

The Feast of Booths, a great party for a nation of Israel,

was a time in which they reminded themselves of what God had done

in bringing them out of the land of Egypt and slavery.

But it was also a time of great spiritual intent or import.

It was where they actually, on the great day of the feast,

and we're going to see this in John chapter 7, verse 37,

John 7:37

they would actually take large pots of water

and pour them down the steps of the temple.

And that was an indication of the promised coming of the Holy Spirit.

It was a spectacular festival and a feast,

and everybody loved coming to it.

In that context, we find that the brothers, here in verse 4,

so his brothers said to him,

leave here and go to Judea,

that your disciples also may see the works that you're doing.

I want you to understand that the brothers were impressed

by what they saw Jesus doing,

and they, along with many,

were actually impressed with Christ's power,

but they were completely tone deaf to his truth.

They saw the miracles,

they saw the evidence of his authority and power,

but the truth of the matter is,

is they weren't the least bit moved

by the reality of what his message was all about.

I do want you to know,

if you're stopping to think carefully,

that what this passage tells us

is that Jesus actually did have half-brothers.

What does that tell you about Mary?

It tells you that she did not remain a perpetual virgin.

It tells you that she had other children besides Jesus.

And if you will keep your finger there in John,

because of the false teaching

regarding the perpetual virginity of Mary,

I want you to turn in your Bible.

At the end of the day,

the question is,

what does the Bible,

what?

What's it say?

Okay.

So we're thinking here,

Jesus had brothers?

Actually, they were half-brothers.

But turn to Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13, verse 35 and 36.

Matthew 13:35

Wow, I can hear all those pages rustling.

And I am discovering that I have tracked the wrong passage.

That means one of you deacons is going to have to save me.

35 and 36.

Where does it...

How did I do this?

Okay.

John...

I mean, Tom,

would you run the search engine that you have?

And...

Is it 55 and 56?

There we go.

Okay.

Is not...

Yes.

Three should be five.

John 13, 55 and 56.

Okay, here we go.

Is not this the carpenter's son?

Is not his mother called Mary?

Are not his brothers,

James, Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?

And are not his sisters among us.

What does this tell us?

I mean, common sense, right?

Mary had more children, quite a few actually, besides Jesus.

And so here we find that, going back to John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

his brothers, they were impressed with the power that Jesus was displaying.

It was undeniable.

They could see the things that were being done.

But they didn't believe in him at all.

And while they recognized that he was doing exceptional things,

they really didn't see the value of those exceptional things

in relationship to their own soul.

I kind of imagine what they were saying here.

In the passage, he said, listen.

He says, no one...verse 4...

No one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly.

If you do these things, evident, obvious,

show yourself to the world.

You see, in essence, what the brothers were saying is,

hey, we recognize that you are displaying some exceptional power,

and you might as well make something of yourself.

Make a name.

Let other people know what you can do.

You've done some pretty spectacular stuff out here in the countryside,

but take your game to another level.

Go up to Jerusalem and let everybody see what you can do.

It's interesting that while they recognized Christ's power,

they had no sensitivity to what his message really was about.

And I'm afraid that there are many, many people today

that, like Christ's brothers, are all caught up in the superficial.

They like good works.

They like nice deeds.

And they've completely missed the message of sin and repentance.

I was struck last week by listening to a short clip of President Obama

kind of talking very favorably about the Pope,

and he was just waxing eloquent about how the Pope was such a messenger

for the disadvantaged.

And he said this,

and the Pope has made it clear that the central tenet of Christianity is mercy.

I thought to myself, hmm,

the greatest disadvantage of the human race is not a need for mercy,

but the greatest disadvantage of the human race is sin.

And the truth of the matter is,

is that God in His mercy sent Christ to be the substitution for our sin

and to die in our place that we might have salvation through faith in Him.

So I recognize here at first that John is giving us a picture of,

so what did people think about Jesus?

Well, they kind of liked His miracles, okay.

There's a second group that we find,

and you'll pick up at the hostility.

First of all, in verse 1, it says,

the Jews were seeking to kill Him.

Again, in verse 11, it says this,

the Jews were looking for Him at the feast,

saying, where is He?

You know, they were interested,

not because they wanted help from Him,

spiritually speaking,

but they were kind of put off by,

is He going to show up and cause a problem for our party,

you know, that kind of thing.

And you read that they had gone out of their way,

actually, the Jewish leadership,

to tamp down public conversations about Jesus.

You find out that when Jesus showed up,

it says here that the people,

though they were muttering about Him,

they were very careful that they didn't do it openly

because they knew they would get kind of pushed back

from the leadership.

And so you have to recognize this,

that when the world goes out of its way

to suppress the truth,

you can be sure that what is going on

is that conviction is being resisted.

I read an article,

again last week,

being that this is the first day of the week,

I read of an esteemed doctor

who was part of Harvard

or was on the staff of faculty at Harvard

who also had visiting privileges

at a Boston hospital.

And several years ago, actually,

he put together a private research paper

that talked about the medical risks of sodomy.

When he published this,

among the other physicians in the hospital,

it led to his actually being censured

and eventually fired by the hospital.

Why?

Because he pointed out

that sin creates unintended consequences

and heartache,

and when in that private community,

he said,

listen,

has anybody ever stopped to think

that when we endorse all this kind of misbehavior

that we actually end up creating

greater public health needs?

He was fired for that.

I got to tell you that

you can be sure that

when the truth is spoken clearly

and carefully,

however kindly it is said,

it ends up being offensive

to those who hate the truth.

And you can be sure that Jesus here,

as he spoke about the need of man's soul

and the realities of sin,

he ended up deeply offending the Jewish leaders

who had proposed that ultimately

the way to solve sin problems

was just to do good works.

And you and I bump into people all the time

that are of the mind

that really the issue in their life

can be improved by a little more effort

on their part

or it's just some guy taking care of some issues

and it'll be okay.

So why are you going to go to heaven?

Well, because I'm a pretty good person.

Now, all of us have a tendency

when we're smiling in public

to say we're a pretty good person.

Isn't that right?

But the fact of the matter is

that our conscience plagues us at night

when we're alone.

And so I want you to recognize

that the Jewish hostility

over Christ's clear teaching

was understandable.

Now, there's a third group

that I want you to recognize

and you look there in verse 12

and there was much muttering

about him among the people.

They were muttering back and forth

and that word muttering here

is a word in the Greek

that actually talks about

complaining or bickering.

No one in the bickering crowd

really had a remedy

or a conclusion.

What they were doing

was just kind of going back and forth

about the issues of who Jesus was.

And so you look there at verse 12

and some said he's a good man.

Some said, well, no,

he's leading the people astray.

And back and forth they went

just kind of throwing their ideas

back and forth

and they really weren't settled

in any way

with what the reality

of who Jesus was

and what his ministry was.

They didn't get that part at all.

So instead of being humble enough

to admit what their need was,

the vast majority of people

just chose to kind of muddle along

and complain among themselves

and be uncomfortable

with the reality

that on one hand

you had the evidence

of Christ doing spectacular miracles,

undeniable,

and on the other hand,

well, he was teaching things

that were really hard to swallow.

Remember what happened

in John chapter 6?

John 6 · chapter mention

After he had finished his sermon

and as they were playing

verse 1 and only verse 1

of just as I am,

what happened?

All of you who need

to recognize Christ

as your Savior

and confess your sins

come towards the front.

Nobody came.

They all walked out.

They didn't want to hear it.

They were offended.

They were offended.

And so here we are,

John 7,

and it tells us

that the people

kind of just kind of

muttered and grumbled

and fussed a little bit

but never came to a conscious

and deliberate choice.

I'm reminded of actually

what happened

over in 1 Kings chapter 18,

1 Kings 18:21

verse 21.

Don't need to turn to it,

but you'll remember there

that Elijah,

it had not rained

for three years

and so Elijah called

for a smackdown

between him alone,

the God of the universe,

and the 450 prophets of Baal.

And when they all came together

on top of that little hill,

he said,

hey guys,

what's the problem with you?

Listen to what he said.

Elijah came near

to all the people

and said,

how long will you go limping

between two different opinions?

I like that.

How long will you go limping

between two different,

well,

on the other hand,

well,

you know,

he said,

if the Lord is God,

follow him.

But if Baal,

then follow him.

And here's what the people did.

Does anybody know

what the people did?

They didn't say a word.

And the truth of the matter is

there are some of you

here this morning

in the hearing

of the word of God

that are going to take

that passive,

non-responsive role

and play it out this way.

You heard the word,

you understand that Christ

put you on the spot

of saying yes or no

and you're just going to

kind of keep on

doing your own thing.

I would plead with you

this morning,

understand that the purpose

of preaching

is to put you on the spot

of saying yes or no

to Christ.

And understand this morning

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of the living God

and the one through whom

salvation comes.

And he calls you

to believe in him

and you who have

believed in him,

he calls you

to live a life

that is a stellar example

of his power to save.

That brings us

to one other thing

that I want us

to see this morning.

What is the truth

about Jesus?

First of all,

let's recognize

that he understood

his life's mission.

He understood

his life's mission.

His brothers wanted him

to go up to Jerusalem

and show his stuff,

make a name for yourself,

do something pretty spectacular,

heal people.

Let everybody be impressed.

Christ understood

his life's mission

was not just about

taking care of

the physiological

needs of people.

You know,

I've been sobered

when I stop and think

about all the adulation,

the praise and adoration

that our culture

has heaped on the Pope

when I am struck

by the fact

that not in a single instance

did he ever make

the gospel clear.

That's stunning.

I mean,

what would you think

of a pastor

that you listened to

for longer than an hour

and he never told you

how to get to heaven?

John chapter 7,

John 7:7

verse 7,

just in case you wonder

how Jesus handled

this issue,

here's what it says,

the world cannot hate you

but it hates me

because I testify

about the things,

or I testify it

that its works are evil.

Turn over in your Bible

if you would

to Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

Thank you, Tom,

for helping me

with that fall earlier.

I think I've got

this one right.

Luke chapter 6,

Luke 6:26

verse 26.

Woe to you, Tim.

Woe to you, Francis.

When all people

speak well of you,

for so their fathers did

to the false prophets.

Hey,

if I had one shot

at Congress,

does anybody want to guess

what I would say?

Huh?

It would be this.

Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners

and the hope

of eternal life

rests in believing

in his finished work

upon the cross.

The greatest problem

in mankind's existence

is a sinful,

wicked heart

that rejects

the glory

and the holiness

of God

and there is salvation

in no other person

but in the work

of Christ on the cross.

Isn't that true?

That is our one

singular message

that we have.

And if you wonder

what Jesus was all about,

he understood

his life's mission,

it was to draw attention

to the desperate need

of mankind's heart

and let them know

they couldn't save themselves

by their own efforts.

For another,

as you think about it,

Jesus was profoundly

merciful and gentle

but at the same time

he was also clear

that sin is man's

greatest problem.

Sin is man's

greatest problem.

I got to tell you,

Jesus in many

different instances

could have chosen

to accommodate

the world that he was in

and the people that

for a period of time

just loved his

spectacular behavior.

I mean,

what we know

in John chapter 6,

John 6 · chapter mention

it tells us

that the crowd

wanted to take him

and force him

to be their king.

He didn't do it.

And Satan comes to him

and Satan earlier,

if you're back in Matthew

or in Mark,

I believe you'll find

that when Satan

came to tempt Jesus,

it was,

hey listen,

I can give you

all this power,

all you have to do

is bow down

and say that I'm,

worship me.

No way.

So I want you

to understand

that here is Jesus

invited nowhere

to speak in Washington

or Jerusalem

other than

on his own initiative

and the thing

that he makes

undeniably clear

is that he came

to be the Lamb of God

and take away

the sins of the world

and I want you

to understand

that Christ made

that undeniably clear

over and over

and over again.

No one listened

to him for very long

and didn't understand

that the issue

of the heart

was most important.

There's a third thing

that I want you

to see this morning.

I want you to know

that Jesus knew

that his call

was to the cross.

You look there

in John chapter 7

John 7:6

verse 6

Jesus says

my time has not

yet come.

Look at verse 8

you go up to the feast

for I am not going

up to this feast

for my time

has not yet

fully come.

You know what?

Jesus knew

exactly

what

the plan was.

He knew

what his mission

was

and his life

was framed

by that singular

understanding

of what he was

there to do

and that it was

in the control

and direction

of his father

and he completely

got it.

He was focused

on his mission.

So let me ask

you a question

this morning

as you think

about the issue.

What are you

going to do

with Jesus?

The obvious

question that we

find playing out

in John chapter 7

John 7 · chapter mention

in these 13 verses

that we kind of

look at in an overview

is that we've given

we've been able

to see this picture

of how most people

saw Jesus.

Pretty good

with miracles

but I'm not

interested in what

he has to say

about my soul.

Pretty irritating

in that he

draws attention

to the fact

that self-righteousness

doesn't cut it

and

kind of confusing

because

you know

on the one hand

I see that he's

doing some

pretty big things

but on the other hand

he's really making

me uncomfortable

when he's talking

about my soul.

No,

just kind of wait.

John 7

gives us a picture

of how the majority

of people

actually looked

at Jesus.

On the other hand

we have Jesus

with a very,

very clear point

saying to everyone

that he came

in contact with

the desperate

need of your heart.

Sinful,

justly condemned

before a holy God.

Hardened,

resistant

is that there

really is

no remedy

for the ugly

darkness

of your soul

apart from me.

I want you

to think about that

because here's

the truth.

There's some of you

sitting here

today

and I think

that this passage

in John chapter 7

John 7 · chapter mention

kind of,

everybody look up

so you know

I'm talking to you,

right?

Everybody look up.

I'm talking to you.

I really am.

There's some of you

sitting here today

that are actually

pushing off Jesus

just like

that crowd

did.

Some of you

have grown up

in Christian homes.

You've heard

all the Bible

verses

and you're kind

of irritated

by some of the

idiosyncrasies

that you're having

in your context,

right?

Your parents want

this or your parents,

I'm not going to do that.

Really?

The main issue

is not what

your parents want.

The main issue

is what about

the darkness

of your heart?

Are you listening

to me?

There is no remedy

for that dark

and unhappy heart

apart from what

Jesus did on the cross

in dying for

your sins.

And when a person

comes to genuine

faith in Christ,

you know what

the Bible says?

It says they're

born again.

They stop being

who they used to be

and they are

somebody completely

different.

I get excited

about that.

I was in the car

last week

with an individual.

I tell you,

I bump into

so many people

who think they're saved.

I mean,

you know,

after all,

they find out

I'm a Baptist pastor

and they think

the safeguard is

I'm saved.

And I love

telling them,

if you're saved,

you don't have

to stay the way

you are.

In fact,

Jesus died on the cross

to guarantee

the absolute certainty

that not only

do you go to heaven,

but you get different.

I was reading this

morning in devotions

where Jesus talked

about salvation

and He kind of

compared it to,

you know,

when you plant a seed,

something happens,

right?

When you put leaven

in dough,

what happens?

If the leaven is there,

the dough does what?

I know,

some of you scientists

want to tell me

that you have to have

the right humidity

and you have to have

the right temperature.

Stop all that.

Okay?

Just dough does its thing

when there's yeast in it.

Listen to me.

There are some of you

sitting here today

that really can't

give me any evidence

or your own conscience

can't give you any evidence

that your profession

of faith

has made

any difference

in your life.

So ask yourself

the question,

which pile am I in?

If any man be

in Christ Jesus,

he is a

new creation.

And there's some of you

here today

that desperately need Christ

and you think

your problem

is other people.

It's not the case.

On the other hand,

to you who are believers,

can I tell you something?

A good picture of Jesus

ought to absolutely inspire you

to live every moment

of your life

with every breath you draw

to make the spectacular

Lord and Savior

of this world evident.

Why are you here

and not up there?

For one reason,

that Christ might be

exalted in my life

until he takes me home.

And anything less than that,

anything less than that,

dishonors the glory

of the cross.

And so I would plead

with you this morning,

if you are a believer,

glory in his name,

live your life

like he did

with his mission

clear in view

and long for the day

that you will see him

face to face.

Let's close in prayer.

Amen.