Amen. As I mentioned, it was a special week last week, being away for my graduation, but even then, this passage was on my mind. studying through the Bible verse by verse and finishing one passage and looking forward to the next one. Even at the banquet, sitting with my friends I’ve made through this class around the table, we are all talking with each other about the passages that we’re preaching and what we’re gonna do next. And I had this passage on my mind. So I’m very glad to be back here this morning in the pulpit, back in John chapter seven. So please turn with me in your Bibles to John seven. We will finish John chapter seven this morning.

And what we’ve seen in this chapter is Jesus is preaching. Once again, Jesus here preaching at the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. We saw in verse 14 here in John chapter seven, that when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach.

And we walked through that sermon and the reactions to it as we see in the following verses there. But then last time, we saw that a few days later at this feast, in verse 37, it says, on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. And John went on to explain that Jesus spoke of the spirit that would be given to believers, that would well up within them. And as Jesus said in verse 38, he who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water, which John goes on to explain was speaking of the Holy Spirit.

And so now following that, following that invitation of Jesus to believe in him, What we see in our text today is, once again, the divided responses of the people. And the reality is that everyone will eventually face the question, who do you say that Jesus is? Everyone will have a response to that question. As we’ve already seen, John classifies any response to that question, to who Jesus is, into two responses.

Belief or rejection. Belief or unbelief. John likes to keep it simple and plain for us. John is known for his duality or his binary focus. As much as that grates against our modern sensibilities, for John it’s one way or the It’s either light or darkness. It’s either day or night. It’s either good or evil, right or wrong. No gray area or nuance for John. And in response to Jesus, it is either belief or rejection. Everyone has a response to Jesus.

And this is seen most plainly in the man by whose authority Jesus was crucified. Pilate, he thought he could get around the matter. He found no guilt in Jesus. In fact, he tried to release Jesus four different times. And in Matthew’s gospel, Matthew tells us in Matthew 27 verse 22 that Pilate said to them, then what shall I do? With Jesus, who is called Christ. What a question. A question that means more or meant more than he even knew. What shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?

And he tried and tried to appease the crowd, but it would not work. And Pilate failed to correctly answer his own question of what shall I do with Jesus. He didn’t fail to answer it, hard as he tried to, but he failed to answer it correctly. Although he feared that Jesus might have some sort of special supernatural significance when they told him that he’s the son of God. but he did not recognize him to be the Son of God. And while Pilate tried to absolve himself of the issue by symbolically washing his hands to the crowd, by sentencing the innocent Savior to death, by his authority, Pilate ultimately condemned himself.

And since that day, multitudes of people have also made the wrong choice about Jesus, whether it’s by blatantly hating Jesus or his followers, or silently ignoring him, or trying to erase him from culture and history and society or the education systems, or by simply saying, well, that’s good for you to be a Christian, but it’s just not for me.

Whatever the case may be, there are only two responses to Jesus. And the only correct response to Him is what we see in the Bible. To confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. We see in Romans 10. And to acknowledge that there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

In Acts 4.12. And to confess your sins to the son of man who has authority on earth to forgive sins. In Matthew 9.

And then to bow into submission to him. As Paul says, At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are on heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You’re going to confess that one day, whether you like it or not. Will you do that before it’s too late? Because all who do those things, who believe and confess and repent and bow their knees to Him, all who do that are those who believe. And all who believe will be saved.

But everyone else who does not respond in that way are unbelievers. They reject Him. No matter what that rejection looks like, It is still rejection. As John said in John chapter 3 verse 18, he who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already. Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. There’s two responses.

Belief and unbelief. And the very nature of this reality of the response to who Jesus is brings division. As I read Jesus’ words earlier in the sermon, or earlier in the service, I should say, I’ll read them again because it’s just so significant. From Matthew 10, starting in verse 32, therefore everyone who confesses me before men, I will confess before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

Two responses. And he continues, do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Because there’s only two responses, he brings a sword. He goes on to explain the relationships that will change because of the response to who Jesus is. Jesus makes it plain for us. Confess Him, and He will confess you to the Father. Deny Him, and you will be denied. No middle ground. He came to bring a sword, and a sword leaves no middle ground.

And that is exactly what we see in our text this morning. We see two groups in this text in John chapter seven. We see the crowd and we see the leaders. And both of these groups themselves are divided into two responses. And I’ve structured the text this way to help us study it. But first we’ll see the crowd, the divided crowd. And they’re divided into the convinced and the questioning. We see the positive response first, and then the negative, and then we get to the divided leaders. And there we see the opposed and the open. So allow me to read our text this morning, John chapter 7, and we’ll go starting in verse 40 all the way through verse 52. John chapter 7, verses 40 through 52.

This is the word of the Lord. Some of the crowd, therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, this is truly the prophet. Others were saying, this is the Christ. Still others were saying, no, for is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seat of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid their hands on him.

The officers then came to the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they said to them, why did you not bring him? The officers answered, never has a man spoken like this. The Pharisees then answered them, have you also been led astray? Have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed. Nicodemus, he who came to him before, being one of them, said to them, does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing? They answered him, are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.

So the first group we see here in this text is the crowd. It starts with the crowd here in verse 40, where it begins by saying, some of the crowd therefore. When they heard these words, the words of Jesus inviting them to believe in him, and when they do, rivers of living water will spring up within them. When they heard those words, they were saying, this is truly the prophet. This is the Christ. So when some of these people heard Jesus, when they heard his preaching and his invitation, they were convinced that he was the prophet, the prophet that Moses told them about. Some of these people apparently got it.

And John has been showing us since the end of chapter five that Jesus is greater than Moses. You’ll remember that when chapter five ends, verses 46 and 47, Jesus says to them, if you believed in Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? And then as we saw, chapter six was all about Jesus giving them bread and then walking on the water and then preaching about being the bread of life. all of which pointed to his superiority to Moses. And if that wasn’t enough, then we come to chapter seven, here at this feast, where they remember the days of Moses and God’s provision for them.

And Jesus stands up and says that he is the source of living water. Moses asked God for bread. And Moses asked God for water and God provided. And now Jesus is saying to them, he is the provision from God that they need. He is the bread from heaven. He is the living water. He is greater than Moses. And some of the people got it. Some of the people heard what he said and saw what he meant.

And they said, this truly is the prophet. and by the prophet, they mean the prophet that Moses spoke about. There’d been a lot of prophets, a lot of men who spoke the word of God to the people of God, but Moses spoke of a prophet, a prophet who would come.

Moses said in Deuteronomy chapter 18. Starting in verse 15, this is what Moses has to tell the people as he is leaving the scene, as he is about to pass away and they will no longer have God’s mouthpiece to them. And Moses has this to say, Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers, you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of Yahweh your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly saying, let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God. Let me not see this great fire anymore or I will die. And Yahweh said to me, they have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their brothers like you and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I commanded him. There was a prophet coming. And Jesus is that prophet. He is the one who has God’s words in His mouth. And He is the one that must be listened to. This is what the people mean when they say that Jesus is the prophet.

And they were right. And it goes on to say, in verse 41, others were saying, this is the Christ. And this is an even more definite statement about who He is. There were many prophets. There’s only one Christ. And these people were convinced that this was the Christ. As you remember, earlier in chapter 7, as people were coming to the feast, many were intimidated into silence about Him. by the Jewish authorities.

But now, after all this, after these days of the feast, these people are so convinced of who Jesus is, they’re not afraid to say it anymore. And they join with the people earlier in verse 31 who said, when the Christ comes, will he do more signs than this man did?

This has to be him. Who else could it be? No one else can do this many signs that point to the fact that he’s the Christ. These people are convinced. They had seen the evidence and they make the only logical conclusion. This is the prophet. This is the Christ. And this is the positive response of the crowd. But it’s not the only one.

It’s not the only response we see because next, We see what I call the questioning. The questioning people in the crowd. And these are not people questioning in a positive sense. As if they’re truly seeking answers to their questions. They’re skeptics. They’re doubters.

The end of verse 41. Still others were saying, no. For is the Christ going to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David? and from Bethlehem, the village where David was. Oh, you can’t be serious. This isn’t the Christ. The Christ can’t come from Galilee. Have you ever been to Galilee? That backwater town? No, this can’t be the Christ. Nothing good comes out of Galilee.

And they insist there in verse 42, has not the scripture said? Hasn’t the scripture said that the Christ comes from David in Bethlehem? Read your Bible, bro. Don’t you know what your Bible says? And to be fair, in the two points that they raise, they’re right. It’s true. The Bible says, the Old Testament does say that the Christ comes from David. For example, in 2 Samuel 7, speaking to David.

God says, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you who will come forth from your own body and establish his kingdom. And what I read to open the service this morning from Psalm 89, I have cut a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant. I will establish your seed forever and build up your throne from generation to generation.

The Christ would come from David. And there’s many other places that tell us this in the Old Testament, Psalms and Isaiah and Jeremiah. They all show that the Messiah was coming from David. And the scripture also tells us that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. We know the passage well in Micah 5 verse 2. But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. and his going forth are from everlasting, from the ancient of days.

This is the Messiah. So they are right. And in their smug self-confidence, they know they’re right. This can’t be the Messiah. They would know when the Messiah gets here. They memorized these verses in Awana. They know. They know who the Messiah would be.

Be careful of this, by the way. Don’t let your knowledge of the Bible lead you into smugness, into overconfidence in yourself, as if you’ve figured it all out now because you know the Bible. A true knowledge of the Bible ought to lead us to the very opposite attitude. True knowledge of the Bible ought to lead to humility and meekness. And honestly, if you are not continually learning new things from the depths of the well of Scripture, then something’s wrong. Because you will never exhaust the Scriptures. Yes, we ought to be confident in what the Bible says. And if the Bible says it, then it’s true.

But we ought not to be smug about our own knowledge. of what the Bible says. As if there’s nothing more we can learn. Or as if there’s nothing more that we might not understand correctly. We need to approach Scripture humbly as people ready to be changed and shaped by what Scripture has to say.

Because the smugness of these people, their self-confidence in their own knowledge, blinded them to the truth. If they had actually done their homework and investigated the situation before their eyes, they would have seen that Jesus met both of their criteria.

Jesus was from the line of David. Matthew 1 verse 1, the very first verse of the New Testament, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He was from David. And not only that, Matthew chapter two, verse one. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, he’s from Bethlehem too. But in their self-assured overconfidence, they missed it. They missed who he truly was. Yes, he grew up in Nazareth, but he was born in Bethlehem. just like the Bible said.

But they were looking for reasons not to believe. And in their pride, their pride inevitably led to division in this crowd, as John goes on to tell us in verse 43 and 44. So, a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid hands on him. Again, in a similar passage to what I read from Matthew earlier, Luke speaks of the division that Jesus brings. Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 51, Jesus says this. Do you think that I came to grant peace on earth?

I tell you no, but rather division. For from now on, five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Jesus brings division because there’s only two responses to him. Don’t think that getting along means you’re right. Jesus brings division because there’s only belief and unbelief.

Because of their unbelief, for a third time on this trip to Jerusalem, they try to seize Him. They try to arrest Him. You’d think these people would get the hint eventually. Until it’s His time, you cannot seize Him. As it says there, they tried to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. And you can also see why Jesus’ disciples are always opposed to him going back to Jerusalem. This is what happens in Jerusalem. These people are very grabby. They keep trying to grab you and seize you and arrest you. But no one laid their hands on him because his time had not yet come.

And these are the two responses of this crowd, the convinced and the questioning. And next we see the response of the leaders, because John transitions now to the other people who are there looking for Jesus. Starting in verse 45, the first response of the leaders we see is unbelief, or what we’ll call the opposed.

Starting in verse 45, it says, the officers then came to the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they said to them, why did you not bring him? The officers answered, never has a man spoken like this. The Pharisees then answered them, have you also been led astray? Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd which does not know the law is accursed.” So first we see the officers mentioned again. We saw them earlier in chapter seven.

These temple guards that really have no authority outside of the temple. They don’t have any Roman authority, they don’t have any authority to arrest or imprison anybody. They’re really no more than security guards for the temple. Again, we saw this back in verse 32. The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to seize him. So again, these are temple officers for the temple. They’re like security guards or mall cops. They have a very limited jurisdiction. Not much they can really do. But they’re sent.

They’re sent to seize him. And the Pharisees are upset when they come back empty-handed. Why didn’t you seize him? We sent you to seize him. What are you even doing? And interestingly, These officers don’t give an excuse as to why they couldn’t seize him.

They don’t say, well, the crowd prevented us, they got in the way, or we tried and he slipped out of our grasp. That’s not what they say. Instead, they’re just amazed at him, bewildered by how he spoke. Verse 46, the officers answered, never has a man spoken like this. Now get this. They’re speaking to the teachers of Israel, the Pharisees, the very men who speak to them all the time about the Bible. And they say to these Pharisees, you guys have never spoken like him. Never have we heard anyone speak like him. These temple guards were religiously trained Levites.

And Jesus’ words left them stunned. They could not believe what they were hearing. And while they didn’t openly reject him and condemn him, they didn’t accept who he was either. They didn’t accept that he was the Christ. They just didn’t know what to do with him.

But again, this is not an excuse for them because Jesus makes it clear that it’s belief or unbelief. and amazement at his words does not equal belief. Thinking that he was a good guy, or a great teacher, or a man who had good intentions but was killed for his trouble, that’s all still unbelief. Believing in the historical person of Jesus, as many people do today, Believing that he was a real person that actually lived at a certain time in history is not enough to save you. That is still unbelief if you don’t believe that he is the Christ who came and died for your sin.

These officers, these temple guards are still in unbelief and the Pharisees want to make sure they stay in unbelief. Because they respond in verse 47, the Pharisees then answered them, have you also been led astray? Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him?

But this crowd, which does not even know the law, is accursed. Don’t be convinced by the crowd. You thought the crowd was smug. This crowd doesn’t even know the law. even though the crowd was quoting the law to support their unbelief. You see what pride does? Even pride in the scriptures? But this is not pride in the scriptures, is it? This is pride in their own knowledge, in their own knowledge of what they think the scripture says. And look at the proof they give these temple guards why they should not believe. What’s the reason why these temple guards should not be swayed to Jesus’ side? Verse 48, have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him?

That’s the standard. You do what we do. We tell you what’s right and wrong. If we don’t tell you to believe, then you don’t believe. You get that straight. Have the rulers or Pharisees told you that this is okay? No, so don’t believe it. That’s the standard they give them. If we don’t believe in it, then you don’t believe in it.

You do what we say. I’ll tell you, the Roman Catholic Church always tries to claim their founding in the apostles. I think they predate the apostles. Because this right here is the attitude you see in the Roman Catholic Church today. You believe what we tell you to believe.

We will interpret the scriptures for you. We will tell you the approved belief system. Don’t search the scriptures for yourself. We need to interpret it for you. And then we’ll tell you what you should believe. Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? Do any of your religious leaders believe this?

We’re the standard. And this is just as vile and satanic today as it was then. Religious leaders and priests are not the standard for belief in the church. Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone is the sole infallible rule of faith and practice. Scripture is our standard. While we do listen to other sources and teachers, the Bible is the standard. We measure what they say by the Bible. You measure what I say by the Bible.

But that’s not the standard for these Pharisees. They don’t go to Scripture to prove them wrong. They say, we don’t believe that, so you’re not allowed to believe it either. They are their own standard, and in their arrogance, they not only condemn themselves, but those who follow them.

Because their implication is that if Jesus was really the Messiah, we’re the ones that would know. But they didn’t know, and they missed it. And this is why Jesus told them in Matthew 23, verse 15, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. These very men that we’re talking about.

Hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourself. You make him twice as much a son of hell because you tell them, you only do what we say. You only believe what we tell you you can believe, and you’re wrong. Their pride made them ignorant, and in their ignorance they condemned themselves and all that they led astray.

So that’s the first response of these leaders is the opposed, those opposed to him. But lastly, we see the open. Verse 50. Nicodemus, he who came to him before, being one of them, said to them, does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing? And they answered him, are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.

Here again we see our old friend, Nicodemus. And John reminds us, Nicodemus came to him before, back in John chapter three. And there Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again. And when that shocked him, Jesus said that because he was the teacher in Israel, he should have known that. Nicodemus, why are you surprised? Aren’t you the teacher in Israel? And at this point, he probably was not a disciple of Jesus yet. He wasn’t quite believing yet, at least not from what we see, although later on we see more evidence that he does become a disciple. So we can’t quite say he’s believing yet, but here Nicodemus was at least open to hearing Jesus out, to hearing the claims he was making. The spirit was apparently working in Nicodemus as Jesus said he would.

As Jesus said, the Spirit would work. Back in John chapter 3 verse 8, Jesus said, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it’s going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. This is how the Spirit works. This is the sound of the wind Jesus was talking about. You see the evidence in someone because they’re different now. They’re changing. This is seeing the work of the Spirit in drawing someone to Christ. He may not be there yet, but he’s clearly on his way. He’s no longer just another one of the Pharisees.

And here, Nicodemus doesn’t necessarily defend Jesus, but at least he argues in his favor here. In verse 51, he says, does not our law judge a man unless Sorry, does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he’s doing? So here Nicodemus admits that the Pharisees aren’t even giving him a chance. They’re not even hearing him out. They’re not even listening to what he’s saying, but they’d already condemned him. They’d already closed their mind against Jesus and they were in no mood to be fair or just in their judgment. Instead, they turn on Nicodemus and start to mock him for even asking that question. And they say, are you also from Galilee? And you can see what they think of Galileans here, a bunch of backwater, dumb rednecks. Oh, you’re sympathetic to him? Are you a Galilean too?

And they end by taunting this Bible scholar, Nicodemus, saying, search and see. Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee. Read your Bible, Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel. You know that no prophet comes out of Galilee. And that statement reveals more than they know because not only is Jesus from Bethlehem, as we’ve already talked about, but they’re also wrong. They’re wrong in saying that no prophet comes out of Galilee. Several Bible commenters point out that Jonah was from Galilee and so was Nahum. And there’s evidence that others may have been from that region too. So not only are they wrong about Jesus and where Jesus is from, they’re wrong about the Bible. Prophets do come from Galilee. Jonah and Nahum are two of them.

And so the scripture that they prided themselves on knowing more than anybody proves them wrong. But this should not be a surprise to us. These people that pride themselves on their knowledge of scripture, Jesus already told them, you don’t know scripture. If you knew the scriptures, you’d know me. If you knew what Moses wrote, then you’d believe in me. And he was right.

And thankfully, this peer pressure didn’t cause Nicodemus to give up on Jesus. Because we see the continued work of the Spirit in him, as later on he helps with the burial of Jesus. He comes up again in chapter 19, verse 39, where he helps Joseph of Arimathea with the body of Jesus after he is crucified. But as we’ve seen here, Everyone has a response to Jesus.

Whether you call it being convinced or questioning or being opposed or open to him, the reality is there are only two responses to Jesus. Belief or unbelief. Belief is seeing him for who he truly is. Recognizing your own sinfulness and confessing that sin to him and seeing your need for a savior and trusting in him alone as your savior. Believing that he lived and died in perfect obedience on your behalf and that he took your sin to the cross and he hung there and died in your place. And now you submit your life to him in faithful obedience.

That is belief. And anything short of that, anything short of that, any other response to who Jesus is, is simply unbelief. And unbelievers remain in their sin. And unbelievers remain under the wrath of God and are condemned for eternity. If you have not yet come to Him in belief, you need to come to Him today. Do not let your pride and self-confidence and self-importance keep you from coming to Him. Listen to the words of the song that we’ll close with this morning. It says this, I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. That is belief, simple belief. That is believing in him for who he is. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. That is the only response to Jesus that saves.

And as we sing these words this morning to close, examine your own hearts. Do you believe? Stand with me as we close in a word of prayer. Our God, we thank you. We thank you for how clear your word makes it. As we look at these responses to who Jesus is, I pray that you will help us to see clearly that the only right response is belief and submission to him as our Lord and Savior. Lord, help us to understand your word better. Help us not to be prideful in our own knowledge and unteachable in what we know of your word. Continue to mold us and shape us more into the image of Christ. Continue to show us more and more what your word says and means. Help us to be better followers of Jesus. We thank you and we praise you and glorify you. In Jesus’ name, amen.