Drink Deep

Amen. You may be seated. Children, you must stay. You are forbidden to leave.

! All right, if you would open up your Bibles to John, the Gospel of John. It's on page 1061

of your pew Bible, and as you're opening, I must exhort you, stay hydrated. It's warming

up outside. I love it. We're going to be outside more. We're going to be active. You've got

to stay hydrated. Now, your body will let you know when you need water. You get thirsty.

Your mouth runs out of saliva. You get parched. You get sluggish. You get a headache. Your

body is telling you, you need water. Did you know your soul tells you when you need living

water? A living water that only God supplies. So your soul, your inner being, it will let

you know when you're parched, when you're soul-drouted, that you're desperately soul-thirsty. Now, here

are some indications of soul thirst. Purposelessness. Why am I here? Hopelessness. What do I have to

look forward to? Deep discontent. There's nothing that can make you happy. You can't find satisfaction

anywhere. Now, the world, and when I say world, I'm not talking about the planet. I'm talking

about what John talks about the world, and he defines it. It doesn't define it. It's defined

this way. The world is sinful humanity in organized rebellion against God. The world offers to satisfy

your soul thirst with its own soda fountain, and it's got multiple options on it. I love

soda fountains. I love going to Culver's. I love having options. Zach Melgren loves the root beer.

I go straight for Coke Zero. The world has its own soda fountain of sugar water. Materialism,

pleasures of various kinds, self-reliance, working on your appearance, your to-do list, and there's so

much more. But the deal is, with any kind of soda, this is why we don't let our kids drink gallons of

soda or pop. It's just carbonated sugar water. It doesn't do anything for you. You can't survive

on sugar water. This morning, Jesus offers your soul not sugar water. He's going to offer your soul

living water. And this living water hydrates your inner being forever. It satisfies you in ways

that the world's options just can't. So you need to drink deep of the living water that Jesus alone

gives. And so we're going to walk through John chapter 7. We're going to tackle the whole chapter.

John 7 · chapter mention

We're not going to be here until 3 in the afternoon. Don't worry.

What we have here are four interactions between Jesus and other people.

And we see Jesus' dialogue, and then we see this mixed response in each one of them.

And what we need to ask is, what do these conversations that were had over 2,000 years ago,

what does that have to do with us today? Well, are you thirsty?

So we're going to quickly make our way through these four interactions and see what Jesus alone

offers your soul. So interaction number one. I'm not going to read through these in full. I'm going to

point some things in order to conserve time. Just point as we go. Interaction number one. It's in

chapter 7, verses 1 through 13. It's between Jesus and his biological brothers, which you may be

surprised to hear. Jesus has biological brothers and sisters. So if you looked up, you don't need to

go there, but Mark 3, 21 and 31. But particularly Mark 6, verse 3, we learn that Jesus has four

Mark 6:3

biological brothers and a couple sisters at least. And we're even told the names of those four brothers,

and two of them are James and Jude. These are half-brothers, born to Joseph and Mary after the

conception, miraculous conception and birth of Jesus. But in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 7, we're given

kind of the back story, the setting of the scene. Jesus has just spent the last several months in

Galilee, and that's northern Israel. But he hasn't been going down to Judea because we can see it in

verse 1, the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now, that's not new. If you go back to John 5, verse 18,

John 5:18

we read, this was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking

the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.

So Jesus has been kind of biding his time to go back to Judea because he knows he's not necessarily

welcome there. In verse 2, we learn something else. Now, the Jews' feast of booths or the feast of

tabernacles was at hand. Now, this is one of the Jews' kind of like three high festivals. There was

Passover. There was the feast of weeks, which was 49 days after Passover. And then there's the feast

of tabernacles. It was an eight-day feast. And it was to commemorate God's provision, his life-giving

provision for Israel while in the wilderness. They would build these makeshift kind of shacks out

of twigs and stuff like that to kind of replicate their wilderness experience and God's provision of

them. And so what I want you to see here is that that feast is in the background of all of chapter 7.

So let's get to this conversation. In verses 3 and 4, Jesus' brothers present Jesus with an idea.

Here's how it goes. Hey, Jesus, you know, we know you want to get your thing off the ground.

So how's this? You bring your miracle show, bring it down to Jerusalem for the feast of booths

because everybody's going to be there. They're coming from Israel and around, and the big theological

hitters are going to be there. And so you just kind of roll out some of your miracles, and you will make a name

for yourself, brother. Come on.

Look how Jesus responds.

In verse 8, the beginning of what Jesus says, excuse me, verse 6, he says,

my time has not yet come. And at the end of verse 8, he says,

for my time has not yet fully come. He's like,

guys, I can't. My time hasn't fully come.

And what Jesus is getting at

is he's operating off of a different

time frame as his

brothers. Jesus is

on kingdom time,

on God's time,

on mission time.

His brothers are working off

the world's time,

as in sinful humanity and organized rebellion against God.

So Jesus has

the cross on his mind.

He's got God on his mind.

God's plan of salvation on his mind.

He's got

God's timing on his mind.

His brothers are just thinking,

hey man, how can you make a name for yourself?

Let's do what everybody else does.

Let's gather a crowd.

Make a name for yourself.

Go big.

In verse 7,

Jesus tells his brothers

that they are of the world.

Look what he says.

The world cannot hate you,

brothers,

but it hates me because I testify

about it that its works

are evil. Again, the world is

sinful humanity and organized rebellion against

God. And so Jesus is telling his

brothers,

hey, you're aligned with the world.

Of course

they're going to welcome you.

Of course

it's your time.

You're drinking from the

soda fountain of the world.

Not me though.

I speak to the world

the wrongs that they're doing.

And we're going to see two examples

in the next interaction.

So

wait on it.

what we're seeing here is that

Jesus will not compromise

God's ways for the world's ways.

His brothers

are part of the world.

And Jesus is like,

nope.

I know you're drinking from

the carbonated sugar water of the world

among God's time.

The response

that we see is mixed.

Jesus in verse 9

remains in Galilee.

Verse 10

his brothers go up to the feast.

Verse 11

there are these Jews

these are the same Jews

from verse 1

who are seeking to kill him.

They're asking the question

where is he?

And they're not asking that question

because they

want to have coffee with Jesus.

They want to kill him.

Where is he?

So you have this hostility

directed towards Jesus.

You have these brothers

who are kind of doing things

the world's way.

And then if you go on

you see this.

Verse 12

and there was much muttering

about him among the people.

There's a lot of Jesus talk going on

but nobody's going public with it

because look at verse 13

yet for the fear of these Jews

who want to kill Jesus

no one spoke openly of him.

The Jews

the authorities of the time

had a real kind of like

tender spot

when it comes to Jesus

so everybody's just

kind of talking about Jesus

hush hush.

But we also see

these other

other kind of responses.

Verse 12

he's a good man.

Others says no

he's leading the people astray.

So all I want to see here

is that Jesus

walks

he's going to eventually

go down to Jerusalem

but he's on God's time

and then

there's already talk

about him

and we have a lot of

mixed views

and postures of heart

towards Jesus.

Now

before we move on

I just want to make

you see something.

People's

posture of heart

towards Jesus

2,000 years ago

hasn't changed much.

There was a variety

of responses

to Jesus

2,000 years ago

as it is

today.

We have a lot of people

with a lot of different views

of Jesus.

A lot of mixed

responses

and what I want to help you

to see is how Jesus

steps right into that

and he's going to make

an invitation

to live.

That's the first interaction.

The second interaction

is in verses 14

through 32.

It's an interaction

with a number

of different people.

In verse 14

Jesus

purposefully

has waited

to go down

to Jerusalem

because he's going

to go down

to Jerusalem

privately

not publicly.

So if he were

to go down

at this point

and walk

into Jerusalem

or ride into it

on a donkey

it's not God's

timing yet.

That's going to be

six months

from this moment.

So Jesus

goes down

privately

after the feast

has begun

and he waited

in a similar way

as he waited

with Lazarus'

death

chapter 11.

He's got

he's got something

on his mind

he's on God's

time.

In verse 15

the Jews

who wanted

to kill him

they hear him

teaching.

So Jesus

shows up

mid feast

and he begins

teaching in the temple

and the Jews

who want to kill him

they hear him

and they are like

whoa

this is impressive

and they ask

how is

that

how is it

that this man

has learning

when he's

never studied

he didn't

study under

Gamaliel

he didn't

graduate

from the

Jerusalem

Theological

Seminary

how is this

possible?

This isn't

something that

they're saying

with like

oh man

we've never

heard this

before

and we are

in awe

we're marveling

we're going to

fall at his

feet

this marveling

is mixed

with disdain

how can this

guy teach

like that?

Jesus

responds

in verses

16 through

24

he starts

talking

my teaching

is not

mine

but his

who sent

me

Jesus'

response

to their

questions

is

hey

just to

let you

guys

know

what I'm

telling you

I didn't

come up

with on

my own

this isn't

my authority

with which

I'm telling

this

I learned

this from

the one

who sent

me

my father

God

I've

been

with him

I've

seen

him

I've

heard

him

and

I'm

just

communicating

to you

what he

says

in verse

17

if anyone's

will is to

do God's

will

if you want

to do

God's

will

Jesus

is saying

if

that is

your heart's

desire

you will

hear

that what

I am

saying

is from

God

Jesus

goes on

to say

the one

who speaks

on his

own

authority

seeks

his

own

glory

but the

one

who

seeks

the

glory

of

him

who

sent

him

is

true

and in

him

there's

no

falsehood

Jesus

is like

I'm

here

to proclaim

the glory

of my

God

my

father

and

I'm

not

I'm

not

kind

of

pitching

you

falsehood

here

I am

speaking

the truth

I am

true

and if

you would

just look

down at

verse

28

Jesus

says the

same

thing

of his

father

he who

sent

me

is

true

this

is a

claim

of

divinity

now

in

verse

19

Jesus

turns up

the

heat

a

little

bit

and

he

starts

exposing

the

evil

of

these

worldly

leaders

has

not

Moses

given

you

the

law

verse

19

yet

none

of

you

keeps

the

law

why

do

you

seek

to

kill

me

so

they're

saying

where

did

you

get

all

this

stuff

how

can

you

teach

like

this

you

want

to

kill

him

and

what

Jesus

brings

out

is

a

zing

he's

like

hey

has

not

Moses

given

you

the

law

you

know

the

law

that

you

go

to

great

lengths

to

obey

and

to

require

other

people

to

obey

and

he

goes

on

to

say

yet

none

of

you

keeps

the

law

if

you

were

one

you'd

be

like

oh

yeah

where

and

he

says

why

do

you

seek

to

kill

me

he

calls

him

out

he

says

hey

you

are

actually

in

your

hearts

breaking

the

command

thou

shall

not

murder

you

see

what

Jesus

is

doing

he's

exposing

their

hypocrisy

he's

testifying

to

these

worldly

religious

leaders

of

their

evil

works

they're

murderous

I

mean

Jesus

just

walks

right

in

and

he

starts

dropping

dimes

the

crowd

verse

20

hears

what

Jesus

says

and

they're

like

you

have

a

demon

why

would

our

leaders

want

to

kill

you

they're

actually

blaspheming

They're

attributing

to

Jesus

something

that

is

not

true

but

they're

also

showing

their

ignorance

that

they're

in

the

dark

of

what

their

leaders

are

actually

doing

these

people

were

in

the

dark

in

21

through

24

Jesus

isn't

done

he

testifies

to

another

evil

that

these

leaders

are

doing

another

hypocrisy

in

verse

21

he

says

this

I

did

one

work

and

you

all

marvel

at

it

the

one

work

he's

talking

to

about

is

what

happened

in

chapter

five

where

he

shows

up

on

the

Sabbath

in

Jerusalem

and

he

heals

a

man

who's

been

paralyzed

for

38

years

he

heals

!

him

and

everybody

responds

the

Jewish

leaders

are

like

huh

that's

law

breaking

you're

working

on

the

Sabbath

you're

healing

him

Jesus

is

like

hey

there's

this

one

thing

I

did

and

you

guys

got

all

bent

out

of

shape

over

it

and

Jesus

now

presses

in

on

it

he

goes

on

to

say

I

did

one

work

and

you

will

all

marvel

at

it

Moses

gave

you

circumcision

not

that

it's

from

Moses

but

from

the

fathers

Abraham

and

you

circumcise

a

man

on

the

Sabbath

so

according

to

the

eighth

day

following

his

birth

and

it

didn't

matter

what

day

the

eighth

day

fell

on

if

the

eighth

day

fell

on

the

Sabbath

they

would

still

circumcise

their

son

on

the

Sabbath

so

what

Jesus

is

bringing

up

is

a

little

conundrum

for

them

and

then

he

makes

a

lesser

to

greater

argument

track

it

he

goes

okay

you

guys

in order

to

keep

the

law

you

are

circumcising

your

sons

on

the

eighth

day

even

when

it

falls

on

the

Sabbath

I

healed

a

guy

I

didn't

remove

a

little

foreskin

I

healed

his

whole

body

I

brought

full

Sabbath

to

this

man

and

you're

getting

angry

of

word

he

says

you gotta

recalibrate

you gotta

rethink

what

you're

doing

verse

24

is

a

rebuke

do

not

judge

by

appearances

but

judge

with

right

judgment

he's

like

do

you

guys

not

see

what

you're

doing

Jesus

comes

right

after

him

he

walks

into

Jerusalem

to

the

temple

begins

teaching

and

calls

out

the

Jewish

leaders

I

love

him

there's

no one

like

him

the

response

is in

verses

25

to

32

again

it's

a

mixed

response

in

verses

25

to

27

some

in

Jerusalem

they

actually

know

that the

authorities

were seeking

to kill

Jesus

some

did not

some

did

and look

what they

say

is not

this the

man whom

they are

seeking

to kill

and here

he is

speaking

openly

and they

say

nothing

to

him

can

it

be

that

the

authorities

really

know

that

this

is

the

Christ

what

they're

what

they're

saying

is

it's

a little

bit

of a

conspiracy

theory

they're

like

hey

wait

hold on

a second

this

is the

guy

that

they

want

to

kill

look

at

he's

preaching

!

he's

teaching

and they're

not

doing

anything

to

stop

him

why

aren't

they

stopping

!

do

they

know

that

he's

actually

the

Christ

but

they're

not

telling

us?

in

verse

27

we

see

some

ignorance

but

we

know

where

this

man

comes

from

and

when

the

Christ

appears

no

one

will

know

where

he

comes

from

that

some

rabbis

were

teaching

at

this

time

that

when

the

Christ

comes

nobody

is

going

to

know

where

he's

from

but

what

we

know

from

our

Bible

is

that

the

Christ

will

come

from

Bethlehem

so

there's

ignorance

here

we

have

some

people

saying

hey

wait

a

second

maybe

he

is

the

Christ

others

but

they

don't

know

where

he's

from

verses

28

and

29

Jesus

chimes

in

again

he

goes

you

know

me

and

you

know

where

I

come

from

but

I

have

not

come

of

my

own

accord

he

who

sent

me

is

true

in

him

you

do

not

know

I

know

him

for

I

come

from

him

and

he

sent

me

see

one

of

the

things

that

you

see

throughout

this

gospel

is

Jesus

is

consistent

he's

consistently

telling

people

who

he

is

where

he's

from

that

God

has

sent

him

so

they

seek

to

arrest

him

in

verse

30

but

it's

not

his

time

they

can't

lay

hands

on

him

31

!

Yet many

of the

people

believed

in

him

but

it's

not

the

kind

of

belief

we're

talking

about

because

they're

still

asking

questions

when the

Christ

appears

will he

do

more

signs

than

this

man

has

done

so

there's

some

question

over

who

he

is

check

out

verse

32

the

Pharisees

heard

the

crowd

muttering

these

things

about

him

uh-oh

we've

got

some

interested

parties

in

Jesus

let's

send

out

seal

team

six

and

the

chief

priests

and

Pharisees

sent

officers

to

arrest

You

know

why?

They

want

to

shut

him

up

they

don't

want

people

listening

to

him

so

here

in

this

interaction

this

extended

interaction

we

see

Jesus

just

showing

up

in

Jerusalem

and

making

some

just

bold

statements

to

the

Jewish

authorities

there's

marveling

but

with

disdain

there's

some

confusion

about

maybe

he

is

the

Christ

what

we

see

is

these

mixed

responses

it's

the

same

with

today

mixed

responses

but

we

have

a

savior

who

shows

up

and

speaks

boldly

interaction

number

three

chapter

seven

verses

thirty

three

through

thirty

six

brief

section

I'll

be

brief

on

it

because

the

action

comes

the

next

one

the

Jews

send

in

a

SWAT

team

a

SEAL

team

six

to

get

Jesus

to

shut

him

up

but

but

Jesus

doesn't

stop

in

verses

thirty

three

and

thirty

four

he

starts

talking

about

his

departure

it's

really

the

first

time

in

John

he

starts

talking

about

his

departure

like

this

I'll

be

with

you

a

little

longer

and

then

I'm

going

to

him

who

sent

me

you

will

seek

me

and

people

hear

that

and

they

have

no

idea

what

Jesus

is

talking

about

do you

remember

Nicodemus

when

Jesus

says

hey

you

need

to

be

born

again

and

Nicodemus

is

like

what

huh

I

gotta

go

back

into

my

mama

it

was

he

was

misunderstanding

it

he

thought

Jesus

was

talking

about

literal

rebirth

where

Jesus

is

talking

about

a

spiritual

rebirth

remember

the

woman

at

the

well

Jesus

offers

her

living

water

and

she

is

like

but

you

need

a

bucket

the

well

is

deep

she

is

like

no

not

that

kind

of

living

water

it's

spiritual

life

even

in

the

last

chapter

chapter

six

where

Jesus

is

talking

about

that

he

is

the

new

and

better

manna

the

bread

of

life

and

he

says

and

this

bread

is

my

flesh

eat

my

flesh

drink

my

blood

and

people

are

like

gross

cannibalism

but

that's

not

what

he's

talking

about

he's

talking

about

a

radical

dependence

on

him

so

it is

here

Jesus

is

misunderstood

that

they hear

him

talking

about

going

away

that

they're

not

going

to be

able

to

find

him

and

they

assume

that

it's

somewhere

on

the

planet

where

verse

35

where does

this man

intend

to go

and

that

we

will

not

find

him

does

he

intend

to

go

to

!

dispersion

among

the

Greeks

and

teach

the

Greeks

that's

a

reference

to

the

Jewish

diaspora

of the

Jews

who

went

all

around

the

Greco-Roman

empire

is he

going to

go out

to them

to teach

them

these

things

there's

just a

whole

lot

of

questions

going

on

here

Jesus

raises

questions

one

of the

things

you need

to know

about

Jesus

is

he's

always

been

controversial

always

mixed

responses

it's

possible

to

misunderstand

him

today

that's

interaction

number

three

and

finally

interaction

number

four

Jesus

doesn't

stop

remember

this is

all

taking

place

during

the

feast

of

tabernacles

he's

shown up

mid

feast

and

in

verse

37

we

now

learn

it's

the

last

day

of

the

feast

this

past

week

I

read

something

interesting

that

that

during

this

eight

day

festival

there

was

a

water

pouring

right

in

the

temple

every

day

for

the

first

seven

days

a

priest

would

pour

out

water

from

a

golden

goblet

with

all

the

people

gathered

to

see

and

so

they're

coming

out

of

their