John 7:1-24

Well, do turn to John 7.

John chapter 7, and we'll look at verses 1 to 24.

John 7 · chapter mention

You know what it's like, don't you, in London in the summertime.

It's beautiful sunshine, and then the cloud comes over, isn't it?

Dark, menacing clouds of hostility.

And you know what's coming.

You know that at some point there's been a period of pressure,

and at some point the clouds will break, the heavens will open,

and there'll be a deluge of rain.

And what you see in John 7, 1 to 24,

are dark, menacing clouds of hostility

that haven't yet broken out into the open.

Remember chapter 6?

Chapter 6, it started, there were 5,000 people.

5,000 people coming and following Jesus,

sitting under his teaching.

They have their breath taken away by his miracles.

They enjoy a feast that Jesus provides.

And then Jesus says, in chapter 6,

boys and girls, men and women,

unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood,

you are not going to have eternal life.

And people think he's gone over the deep end.

It's blasphemy, it's cannibalism,

it's too intense,

and they leave en masse.

There's a whole lot of them.

It's a big rejection.

Jesus goes from 5,000 people following him to 12.

He goes from being a mega church pastor

to a small group leader in four hours.

And you're thinking that's pretty bad, isn't it?

Another chapter doesn't finish, chapter 6,

before Jesus says that one of his own 12 hand-picked disciples

is going to reject him.

It's another hit.

It's rock bottom, isn't it?

Another form of rejection.

And you think, well, it can't get any worse.

But then you come to chapter 7,

and we'll see that the rejection of Jesus

is even operating within his own family,

from his brothers who came from the same womb.

So John 7 begins with him leaving the north in Galilee,

and relatively safely,

in order to go down to the south,

and Judea, into real danger.

And the storm clouds darken of opposition.

There's a dark background to John chapter 7.

John 7 · chapter mention

And as the events unfold,

there's no doubt that the main theme of this chapter

is the rising tide of opposition towards Jesus.

The rising opposition to who he says he is.

And that is something, isn't it,

with which we're not completely unfamiliar with as a society.

Ruben's really helpfully shown us that in James, hasn't he?

That we're living in a negative culture.

Storm clouds gathering over Christ's church.

And so we should be interested in what John has to tell us in chapter 7.

Just look with me.

See the theme.

Verse 1.

They're seeking to kill him.

Verse 13.

There's a fear of the Jews,

so no one spoke openly about him.

In verse 19,

he asked,

why do you seek to kill me?

In verse 20,

you have a demon.

Verse 25.

They are whispering about him.

Is not this the man they seek to kill?

Verse 30.

They talk about arresting him,

but don't.

And then in verse 32,

you see the same theme.

And verse 45.

The chapter is about the rising tide of opposition

towards Jesus.

And what I want us to do

is just look at the three groups.

I'll spend far longer on the last group.

But the three groups in these first 24 verses.

The first group is the brothers of Jesus.

Look at verse 3 and following.

Leave here, they say,

and go to Judea.

Go to Judea,

that your disciples,

your followers, Jesus,

may also see the works that you are doing.

And it seems to me that actually

there's a touch of manipulation there.

Even a touch of cynicism.

Jesus, if you want to be a main player

on the religious scene,

you need to get amongst the big boys

in Jerusalem.

There's no point wasting your time

here in the sticks.

There's no point ministering

in a place like Cornwall

or South Wales.

Who's ever heard of places like that?

Jesus, you need to be in

St Paul's Cathedral,

Westminster Abbey.

You need to be in the corridors

of religious power.

Verse 4.

No one works in secret

if he seeks to be known.

If you want to be a public figure,

don't hide the light under a bushel.

If you do these things,

show yourself to the world.

We can hardly believe it, can we?

That the brothers,

the flesh and blood of God incarnate

would come out with something like this.

They had ate meals

with God incarnate.

They had done sweating work at times.

They had had relaxing holiday times

with God manifest in the flesh

for 30 years.

They knew him.

And yet the explanation is given

in verse 5 where we learn

that they are not believers.

And that in a sense makes the puzzle

all the greater, doesn't it?

These brothers of Jesus,

they've been with him all these years

and yet they don't believe in him

or accept his message.

Such misunderstanding.

And of course that puzzle exists today,

doesn't it?

Those who've had most access

to the truth of the gospel,

but they can't see it.

Members of a family,

maybe in your family,

they've had a living Christian

living amongst them

for years and years and years,

but they don't believe it.

They reject it.

And so if that is you,

don't beat yourself up

mercilessly as a failure.

You may feel like you've been

the only Christian in your family

for years and years

and nobody seems to take

the slightest bit of notice

or has got the slightest clue

about who you are

and who you love.

So great encouragement, isn't it?

That the same thing happened

to the Son of God.

He knows.

And don't you think

in chapter 7 and verses 3 and 4,

Jesus felt acute pain

and hurt and anguish.

Here is his own kith and kin,

his own flesh and blood

through Mary

and they haven't got a clue.

But the story, of course,

has encouragement at the end of it.

There's a postscript, isn't there?

That by the time you get

to the Acts of the Apostles,

the brothers have become disciples.

And one of them was James,

the brother of our Lord,

who became a great leader

in the early church.

So do not lose heart.

Do not lose heart.

The Gospel means

that very surprising things

can happen to people.

Very surprising things.

That's the first group,

the brothers.

The second group is the Jews,

the Jewish people.

They're mentioned in verse 1,

but they're mentioned

more specifically

in verse 11 and 13 and 15.

Now by Jews,

he probably means Judeans.

That is the general population

that's in and around

the capital city, Jerusalem.

And if the brothers' opposition

is marked by cynicism,

then Judea's opposition

to Jesus is marked by confusion.

And that confusion is seen

in that divided estimate

of Jesus they have.

Look at verse 12.

Some say he's a good man.

Some say he's a good man.

Others say,

no, he's leading the people astray.

I want to pause for a moment

and just ask,

which of the two reactions

in verse 12

are the more confused?

There's a question.

Which of the two reactions

in verse 12,

good man or leading the people astray,

is the more confused?

Those who thought Jesus

was a good man

or those who thought

Jesus was a deceiver?

And so we're not the kind of church

that normally asks you

to raise your hands,

but we're going to do it tonight.

All right?

Okay.

So think about the question.

Do you think

that the more confused attitude

was those who said

Jesus was a deceiver?

If so,

raise your hands now.

I'm serious, right?

Or do you think

that the more confused

were those who Jesus said,

who said Jesus

was a good man?

If you think the second,

raise your hands now.

There's about three quarters

abstentions.

You're a disgrace.

You really are.

Okay, so you're not too sure,

are you?

Even the elders

are slightly bottling it.

I think it's the second group.

Let me read to you

the quote from C.S. Lewis

that most of you

have heard before.

C.S. Lewis says this,

I'm trying here

to prevent anyone

saying the really foolish thing

that people often say about him.

I'm ready to accept Jesus

as a great moral teacher,

but I don't accept

his claim to be God.

That is the one thing

we must not say.

A man who was merely a man

and said the sort of things

Jesus said

would not be

a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic

on the level with the man

who says he's a poached egg

or else he would be

the devil of hell.

You must make your choice.

Either this man was

and is the son of God

or else a madman

or something worse.

You can shut him up

for a fool.

You can spit at him

and kill him as a demon

or you can fall at his feet

and call him Lord and God.

But let us not come

with any patronizing nonsense

about his being

a great human teacher.

He's not left that open to us.

He did not intend to.

Some of the Jews,

verse 20,

if you look there,

they thought he was mad.

You've got a demon.

That's an option.

Some of the Jews,

verse 12,

said you're bad.

He's a deceiver.

That's an option.

And others of the Jews

said he was good.

Verse 12,

he's a good man

but that is not an option.

So they're more confused.

In the midst of all the confusion

that there was

in the opposition to Jesus

at this time

and that confusion

still exists today,

doesn't it?

People still have views

about the Lord Jesus

that are so confused.

There are many that think

he was a good man.

He was a good moral teacher.

Many think he was maybe

a mythical figure.

Some people think he's

on the equivalent

of a fairy tale.

That's the second group.

The brothers are the first group.

The Jews are the second group.

But then there's a third group.

And group is not really

the right word.

Category would be better.

It's a category

which the other two groups

in John 7 belong to.

Which all groups

of human beings belong to.

And that is the category

of the world,

verse 7.

The brothers' opposition

was cynical.

If the Jews' opposition

to Jesus was confused,

Jesus teaches us

that the world's opposition

to him is marked

by hatred.

That's what Jesus says.

If you look at verse 7,

it's so stark.

The world hates me.

It's very simple

and yet very profound.

The world hates me.

You've probably understood

if you've been here

over the duration

of our studies in John

that the word world

is a very important word

in John's Gospel.

It's a very important category

for John.

He uses it many,

many times

and it means for him

not just,

not the physical globe,

but it means humanity

in opposition to God.

So right at the beginning

of the Gospel,

he's mentioned the world,

isn't it?

Chapter 1, verse 10.

John saying this,

he was in the world

and though the world

was made through him,

the world did not

recognise him.

The world did not

recognise Jesus.

A few weeks ago,

I went to the rugby

and I met someone

who I didn't have a clue

who they were

and they knew me

and I didn't have a clue

who they were.

They said,

you know me

and I looked at them

and I thought,

I don't know him

and I didn't know

who they were

until they revealed themselves.

25 years have passed.

I obviously hadn't changed a bit.

But I didn't recognise them.

I didn't recognise them

until they revealed themselves.

But human beings

have got no excuse

for not recognising

our maker

in Jesus.

And there'll be certainly

no excuse on that day

when we meet him

on that judgement day.

The world does not

recognise Jesus.

That's what John

is saying in chapter 1.

But in chapter 7

he says something

more serious, doesn't he?

He says,

the world hates me.

And perhaps you're saying,

well, is that really the case?

You might think,

well, it's the case

in a place

where militant Islam

rules and reigns.

maybe northern Nigeria,

Pakistan,

certain parts of Iran.

Maybe you've read

about the hatred

in parts of the world

for Christians

and for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we know,

don't we,

that there is much hatred

for Jesus

in many parts of the world.

But what about

in our part?

What about in our hearts?

Can that be so?

Well, it does seem to be

the Bible's teaching,

isn't it?

In that very first sermon

in Acts,

in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

on the day of Pentecost.

Do you remember

how Peter finished it?

He had this great appeal

to the people

and he said to the people,

repent and be baptized

every one of you

in the name of Jesus Christ

for the forgiveness of sins.

And then the text

goes on to say this,

Peter warned them

by many, many words

and he pleaded with them,

save yourself

from this wicked generation.

And that wicked generation,

we are meant to see

that that applies

throughout every period of history.

Right down to today.

The world hates Jesus.

And every human heart

is ultimately resistant to Jesus.

There are different ways

of expressing it, aren't there?

And so you can just,

you can display that

by apathy.

But apathy is not the problem.

We often think it is

that people don't care.

But apathy is not the problem

according to the Bible.

Antagonism is.

And people express

that antagonism

according to their

different personalities,

depending on their upbringing,

depending on their education,

depending on their different abilities

to express themselves.

So people can be really

courteous, can't they?

They can be polite.

They can even be flattering.

But they still hate Jesus.

Why does the world hate Jesus?

Jesus gives us the reason.

Look at verse 7.

The world cannot hate you,

but it hates me.

And here's the key,

because I testify

about it,

that its works are evil.

So when Jesus begins

to expose us,

feathers start to be rustled

and feathers start to fly.

There's an example of that

in verses 14 to 20.

Do you see what's being said there?

What is it that changed

the interested observers

from verse 15

to violent opponents

in verse 20?

And the answer has to be,

Jesus said to them,

verse 19,

has not Moses given you the law

in the Old Testament?

Yet not one of you

keeps the law.

Merely exposing their hypocrisy

and duplicity

and sinfulness.

And then he goes further on

asking,

why are you trying to kill me?

And the crowd

protests.

They say,

you're demon possessed.

They go mad at that.

We're not trying to kill you,

but they were.

And Jesus is right

and he's proved right

in time

and given half a chance

the world would murder

its maker all over again.

Because the world hates Jesus

because he testifies,

he shows

that what it does is evil.

Second example is

in verses 21 to 24

and it's a rather complicated section

but there's a basic simplicity to it.

Some of the Jews

were quite happily

circumcising their children

on the Sabbath day.

Though strictly speaking

it was against their laws

to do that on the Sabbath.

And they got absolutely

mad with Jesus.

Do you remember

when he healed

the whole body of a man

who'd been lying

by the side of a pool

for 38 years?

They went mad at him

for doing that

because he'd done it

on the Sabbath.

Even though Jesus

was fulfilling

his father's intention

in the giving

of the Sabbath.

And when Jesus

exposes their hypocrisy again,

then their hatred

is rekindled.

They see their hypocrisy.

Is not this the man

whom they seek to kill,

they say?

The world hates Jesus

because Jesus testifies

against its evil.

evil.

And I mustn't use

the impersonal there.

Our evil.

Even when we become

believers in the Lord Jesus,

and those of us

who are Christians

here tonight,

we will,

we're aware,

aren't we,

there's a remnant

of opposition

that exists

in our nature

towards the Lord Jesus

and his absolute claims

on our lives.

maybe you've been

a Christian for years,

but you're aware

that there's a rebellion

that exists inside you.

There's a resistance

many times

that takes place

within us.

And so if we're honest

tonight,

when we are aware

that, aren't we,

that when things go wrong

and disappointments occur,

our knee-jerk reaction

indicates

that very often

we become resentful

of God's plan

or we start to blame him

or we start to express

doubt or disappointment

or even anger

towards him.

When our pride rebels

and the kind of

defence mechanism

kicks in,

that takes place

within us.

And all kinds

of rationalisations

take place.

When Jesus puts

his finger on something

in my life

and on

in your life,

we can often

rile up,

can't we?

I don't know

what it's like

in your house.

If I say someone

in your house

says to you,

you're always

on your phone.

What's your first reaction?

Well,

this happened

in our house

last night.

So I'll tell you

what my first reaction was.

You're on your phone

all the time.

You're on the phone

more than me.

That's immediate.

What happens,

isn't it?

We know this

and as Jesus

puts his finger

on something

in our lives,

we know our gut reaction,

even those of us

who are believers,

it's often

to really kick

against it.

And it's so important

tonight for us

to come clean

about this

and to admit that.

We will never,

we're never going

to develop,

we're never going

to mature

if we don't admit that.

It struck me this week,

I read an interview

with a man called

Fergal Keane,

he's an Irish journalist

and a BBC correspondent.

I've not read

his memoirs.

They sound brilliant.

He had a wild upbringing.

But in the interview

I read,

he comes clean

and he tells

the readership

about the kind

of guy

he is like.

He said

he'd been covering it up

for years

with various masks

and then he says

this about himself.

He says

in personal relationships

I was a taker.

I was dependent,

needy,

manipulative

and quick to use

the pain of my past

as an alibi

for selfishness.

Poor me.

If you had had

the childhood I had

you would be the same.

Those who were closest

to me saw a man

who retreated

into silence

when he was challenged

who could not

communicate feelings.

A man with

the self-obsession

and compulsiveness

of a truly

driven man

a man running.

It's a remarkable

admission isn't it?

There's hope

for a man

or a woman

or a boy

or a girl

who comes clean

tonight

because Jesus

can remake us

when we say

yes

Lord you've put

your finger

on it.

I might have

been mad about it

Jesus

but I

capitulate

I agree

or you can be

like the world

the world hates

Jesus

because Jesus

testifies to

its evil.

It puts a whole

new light

doesn't it

on the most

famous verse

in the Bible

John 3

16

for God

so loved

the world

that's actually

meaningless jargon

to most people.

Jesus loves

yeah yeah

meaningless jargon

until you actually

understand that

the God

the world

God's love

is a world

that hates

God

and once

we discover

that

it makes

the good news

of Christianity

absolutely wonderful

I can't finish

there

because John

is giving

this gospel

to present

the world

saviour

and so in

John 7

we find some

marvellous

teaching on

the planned

salvation of

the world

look in

verse 6

the right

time

for me

Jesus says

has not yet

come

the word

used there

is this

phrase

a point

in time

might simply

be a reference

to the feast

of tabernacle

as in verse 8

I'm not going

up to this

feast for my

time has not

yet fully

come

in other words

Jesus is saying

there's a timing

in everything

to do with

salvation

and it's not

the right time

for me to go

up to the

feast with the

brothers

very likely

if he'd have

gone up

there would

have been

some kind

of palm

sunday

scene

and that

wasn't the

father's

plan

at this

particular

time

it's a

wonderful

reminder

of how

precise

and how

exact

and how

minute

God's

timing

is

in the

unfolding

of salvation

and in the

lives of

his people

it's a

wonderful

truth

isn't it

that God's

perfect timing

in our lives

is so exact

so accurate

so precise

but the word

can mean

a point in

time

it can also

mean

significant

time

and if

that

is the

case

that

gives us

an

understanding

of this

huge

gulf

in verse

6

in the

reference

to

Jesus

in the

reference

to his

brothers

verse 6

my time

has not

yet come

but your

time is

always

here

and what

he means

by that

is you

brothers

at this

particular

stage

what you're

doing is

completely

insignificant

to God

as far as

salvation

is concerned

God

it's a

really strong

thing

Jesus

saying

a really

stark

truth

for the

unbeliever

who sets

his life

in opposition

to God

by going

his own

way

the living

of his

life is

absolutely

completely

and utterly

insignificant

in the eyes

of God

as far as

salvation is

concerned

but with

Jesus Christ

the timing

and the plan

is everything

there's

the utmost

significance

in what

Jesus

has come

to do

as

saviour

there was

a right

place

and a

right

time

for

Jesus

to give

up

his

life

to pay

the penalty

for our

sins

and to pay

the price

for our

salvation

and yet

it wasn't

yet

Jesus

says

my time

has not

yet come

and you

know

over and

over again

in John's

gospel

certainly

right up

through the

first half

you find

this same

idea

repeated

chapter 2

verse 4

different

words

but same

idea

at the

wedding

of

Canaan

and Galilee

my time

has not

yet

come

chapter 7

verse 30

it says

they could

not seize

him because

his time

had not

yet come

chapter 8

verse 20

almost exactly

the same

thing

they couldn't

lay hold

of him

because

his time

had not

yet come

all the

way through

this chapter

Jesus

saying

my time

has not

yet

come

not yet

not yet

and then

you reach

chapter 12

verse 23

and he

says

now the

time has

come

for the

son of

god

to be

glorified

and you

ask

what time

and the

time is

holy week

he'd come

to the

shadow

of the

cross

he's come

to within a

stone's throw

of calvary

and Jesus

was not

killed

he gave

up his

life

to pay

the price

for our

salvation

and so

john

John 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

is pointing

you

ultimately

to the

cross

and the

right

place

and the

right

time

where

jesus

would lay

down

his

life

to be

our

saviour

and so

you can

take the

content of

john

John 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

and actually

understand

the cross

in the

light of

what happens

in john

John 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

and ultimately

when the

time came

all the

hatred of

the world

was poured

onto the

lord jesus

christ

were you

there when

they crucified

my lord

all our

insults

all our

curses

all our

blasphemies

were put

onto him

all my

sins of

every kind

all the

thoughts that

stain my

mind

all the

evil i

designed

laid on

him

all the

ways my

feet have

strayed

all the

idols i

have made

all the

times i

have not

prayed

laid on

him

all the

told and

acted lies

all the

success and

all the

tries

sins that

i legitimize

laid on

him

all that

sinks me

in the

mire

all the

times of

base

desire

all that

needs a

cleansing

fire

laid on

him

all my

misdirected

powers

all my

many wasted

hours

all my

dreams of

ivory towers

laid on

him

john chapter

John 7 · chapter mention

7 says that

jesus testifies

against the

evil

but at the

cross

jesus christ

took the

evil upon

himself

he took

the hatred

and he

bore it

on his

own body

on the

tree

as though

he had

done it

he never

spoke back

on the

cross

as a

sheep

before

her

shearers

is

silent

so he

opened

not his

mouth

but he

bore it

meekly

and lovingly

the hatred

the evil

alas

and did

my

saviour

bleed

and did

my

sovereign

die

did he

devote a

sacred

head

for such

a worm

as I

was it

for crimes

that I

had done

he died

upon the

tree

amazing

pity

grace

unknown

and love

beyond

degree

and if

tonight

you will

accept

him

if

tonight

you will

capitulate

and take

him

Jesus

will be

your

saviour

and you

say to

me

how can

I

accept

him

I'm

not sure

how to

do that

where can

I start

and the

answer is

given in

verse 17

where Jesus

gives a

universal

principle

we'll finish

with this

it's not

just to

the Jews

it's to

anyone in

the world

anyone of

us

tonight

verse

17

if

anyone

if

anyone's

will

if

anyone

chooses

to do

God's

will

he will

know

whether

the

teaching

is from

God

or whether

I'm

speaking

my own

authority

the

principle

is really

simple

let me

explain it

to you

if we

are

willing

to do

what

God

says

we

will

find

out

that

Jesus

is

our

saviour

and

tonight

you may

not

understand

95%

of what

God

says

but

don't

start

there

you

start

with

the

5%

that

you

know

that

God

is

saying

and

you

obey

that

and

there

may

be

only

one

thing

tonight

that

you've

understood

from

the

sermon

well

will

you

do

that

and

you

keep

on

doing

the

things

that

you

do

here

and

understand

and

as

you

do

it

you

find

out

that

Jesus

is

your

saviour

being

willing

to do

what

God

says

and

God's

great

commandment

is this

the

supreme

commandment

which

John

the

gospel

writer

expresses

in

his

epistle

in

chapter

3

and

verse

23

he

says

this

is

the

command

of

God

what

is

the

great

command

of

God

that

you

believe

that

you

believe

in

the

name

of

his

son

Jesus

Christ

and

you

love

one

another

and

if

you've

understood

anything

tonight

of

Jesus

Christ

the

saviour

of

the

world

and

his

death

on

the

cross

for

our

sake

bearing

our

sin

and

our

hatred

if

you

understood

anything

of

that

and

you

see

him

as

the

available

risen

saviour

who's

alive

here's

the

command

place

your

trust

in

him

give

your

heart

to

him

surrender

your

life

to him

and

you

might

not

understand

much

more

than

that

but

you

can

understand

this

can't

you

believe

trust

believe

in the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and

you

will

be

saved

take

that

command

and

do

it

and

for

those

of

us

who

are

Christians

for

many

of

us

the

principle

still

applies

doesn't

it

are

you

willing

to

do

what

God

says

day

by

day

as

we

hear

his

word

Sunday

by

Sunday

and

there'll

be

a lot

that

we

don't

grasp

and

a lot

that

we

don't

understand

but

there

are

some

things

we

know

and

are

we

willing

to

do

it

and

if

you're

not

willing

to

do

it

you

will

stay

in

the

same

spot

for

30

years

willing

to

do

what

God

says

let's

pray