Well, turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 7 this morning. We pick up here in our study of John 7 in the temple in Jerusalem. As you remember, this is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. This was a week-long celebration that Israel was required by the law to observe every year. It was to remember how God had provided for them in the wilderness as they were tabernacling there, following his leading through the wilderness. This was one of the big events on the Jewish calendar. It was a big holiday week.

And this feast, as it approached, and as the city was filling with people, as you remember, Jesus’ brothers early in this chapter urged him. To go and make himself known. You see in verses three through five, the words of Jesus’ brothers, and as we saw and looked at these things, you see the skepticism in their words. It says in verse three, therefore his brother said to him, leave here and go into Judea, so that your disciples also may see your works which you are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known. openly, and then they say this, if you do these things, if you do these things, show yourself publicly to the world. And then John adds, in case we missed it, for not even his brothers were believing in him. But Jesus refused his brother’s encouragement to go and make himself known, and instead he goes up privately to the feast.

As we see in verse 14, he arrived about halfway through the feast. He told his brothers that his time was not yet fulfilled. It was not time yet. His hour had not yet come, though it was getting close. By this time, Jesus’ crucifixion is about six months away, and he knew that.

And what we will continue to see as the gospel goes along is the continued opposition and rejection of him by the people. And more and more people join in this opposition. Though at times it seems like he had a great following. But most of those who were following him end up rejecting him too. We saw in chapter 6. that even many who were thought to be his disciples left him. In John 6, verse 66, as a result of this, many of his disciples went away and were not walking with him anymore. And we saw at the start of this chapter, as I just read, not even his brothers, of all people, not even his brothers were believing in him. And so now he comes back to Jerusalem where he definitely doesn’t have a fan club. And we see more of the same. And when Jesus did come to the feast in Jerusalem, he immediately went to the temple and began to teach.

And there we saw the divided response of the crowd. Some thought he was a good man. Some were mildly impressed at least. while others thought he was just a troublemaker. And then we saw the Jewish leaders trying to sway the crowd against him by questioning his credentials. And last week we saw Jesus respond to these Jewish leaders. And he responded by bringing up the law and reminding them of the last time he was there in Jerusalem and how they tried to kill him for healing a man on the Sabbath.

And he told them that they were hypocrites because they didn’t even keep the law themselves. The very standard they were trying to condemn him with, they failed it too. And Jesus himself was not the one who failed it. He was not breaking the Sabbath. He was Lord of the Sabbath. And as we closed last time, Jesus says to them in verse 24, do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. Judge him with righteous judgment. See who he truly is. See what the law truly is and how it points them to him.

And what we see today as we pick up in the very next verse is the people respond by doing the exact opposite of judging with right judgment. Instead of righteous judgment, they continue in their confusion and misunderstanding. So today we’ll be looking at verses 25 through 31. And what we see in this text is exactly that. First, we see the people’s confusion. the people’s confusion there in the first few verses. But then Jesus provides some clarity. So we see the people’s confusion and then the Savior’s clarity.

And lastly, we’ll close with the different conclusions. The different conclusions that these people come to about Him. So allow me to read John chapter seven, verses 25 through 31, which will be our passage for our sermon this morning. John chapter seven, verses 25 through 31. This is the word of the Lord. So, some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? And look, he is speaking openly, and they are saying nothing to him.

Do the rulers truly know that this is the Christ? However, we know where this man is from, but whenever the Christ comes, no one knows where he is from. Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, you both know me and know where I am from, and I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you do not know. I know him because I am from him and he sent me. So they were seeking to seize him, yet no man laid his hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

But many of the crowd believed in him, and they were saying, when the Christ comes, will he do more signs than this man did?” So what we see here in this follow-up to Jesus’ teaching there in the temple is, first of all, the people’s confusion. People remain confused. After Jesus declares in the temple to those Jewish leaders that they need to judge with righteous judgment, John tells us in verse 25, so some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, is this not the man they are seeking to kill? And John points out to us that the ones saying this are the people of Jerusalem.

These are people who actually lived in the city. They weren’t visiting like many in the crowds were. In fact, the word in Greek is actually Jerusalemite. These were Jerusalemites, people of the city of Jerusalem. They lived there. So the residents of this city, they were well aware of the Jewish leader’s intent to kill Jesus. They had heard them speaking of it. And this would probably explain why the crowd in the temple at least seemed not to know about this. They were visitors. But the people of Jerusalem, they well knew, and the word of this was spreading quickly.

The word of the Jews’ intent to kill him was getting around. And the fact that these Jewish leaders had already made it known that they were looking to kill him, they were looking for him when he didn’t arrive at the city with everyone else. They said, where is he? And they had made it known that they wanted to kill him.

And you combine that with them not doing anything, when he openly is teaching in the temple, it’s causing these people to question, what’s going on here? They said they were looking for him, and here he is, and there they are, and nothing’s happening. Is this not the man they were seeking to kill? And they say in verse 26, and look, and look, he’s speaking openly, and they are saying nothing to him.

Do the rulers truly know that this is the Christ? He’s speaking openly. There’s a few elements of surprise here for these people. First of all, he’s speaking openly. Does he not know that they’re looking to kill him? He’s speaking in public. And these people are both surprised that he’s not afraid of the Jews like they were. If you read back in verse 13, yet no one was speaking openly about him for fear of the Jews. They won’t speak openly because they’re afraid of these people, but they’re surprised that He’s speaking openly. Not only that, but they’re surprised that the Jews aren’t saying anything to Him.

So they’re surprised at His courage and His boldness, and they’re surprised that the Jews aren’t doing anything. But Jesus’ boldness should not surprise us at all. Jesus knew the danger. He knew his divine timetable. And he had no fear of speaking the truth in the face of those trying to kill him. The passage that I read to open the service this morning from Isaiah 50, turn to Isaiah 50 this morning. Isaiah 50, it’s a passage that I’ve come to love more and more as I’ve studied it more.

It’s one of the servant songs of Isaiah. Isaiah is a lot about the judgment on Israel and God’s condemnation and the judgment that he’s going to pour out on them. But then you get towards the end and he starts to speak of the redemption coming, speak of the answer to their judgment. And we get into these chapters in the later part of Isaiah and he gives us these descriptions. And he calls this one that’s coming the servant, the servant of Yahweh. But listen to the way that Isaiah describes who this servant, who we know is Jesus. How he describes how he will be. Listen to the boldness that Isaiah says he will have. I’ll start in verse six. I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not hide my face from dishonor and spitting.

So we know who he’s talking about, right? We know who this is by that description alone. This is Jesus, but he keeps going. Even now, Lord Yahweh helps me. Therefore, I am not dishonored. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up to each other. Who has a judgment against me? Let him approach me. Behold, Lord Yahweh helps me. Who is he who condemns me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment. The moth will eat them.

Who is among you that fears Yahweh, that listens to the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Yahweh and rely on his God. That servant has no fear. After describing the things he will go through, the slaps and the spitting and the pulling out of his beard, he then describes how he has no fear. He has no fear of what he needs to do.

If this sounds, this passage, if it sounds familiar, this is the passage Paul is hinting at in Romans 8, when he talks about being more than conquerors. Who is it that will condemn us? We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, the suffering servant from Isaiah 50. This servant that was coming to save his people would be bold. He would be courageous.

And that’s exactly what we see here in Jesus, here in Jerusalem, preaching openly in the temple. And not only that, but this is what we see as true in Jesus’ followers too. As Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1, verse 7, God has not given us a spirit of fear or of timidity, of cowering in fear because of what may happen. God did not give us that spirit, but of power and of love and of self-control.

This is exactly what we see in the first Christians, in the book of Acts. In fact, the book is called in our English Bibles, the Acts of the Apostles. But it could very easily be called the Boldness of the Apostles, because that’s what you continue to see as you read through the Book of Acts. They continue to speak boldly no matter what happens. Some of them are killed. They keep speaking boldly. Listen to the references to their boldness here in the Book of Acts.

You can turn there if you’d like and follow along. I’m going to hit a few different passages. But in Acts chapter 4, verse 31, when they had prayed earnestly, the place where they had gathered together was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And then what?

And they began to speak the word of God with confidence. They received the Holy Spirit and they speak with confidence, with boldness. That’s that same word. They spoke with confidence just like their Lord. In fact, this is how the Jewish authorities knew that they were Jesus followers, by the way that they spoke. It wasn’t what they said, it was how they said it.

In Acts 4, verse 13, a few verses before this, this is such an awesome verse, Acts 4, 13. Now, as they observed the confidence of Peter and John. Now as they observed their confidence and comprehended that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. When they observed their confidence, they recognized them as having been with Jesus.

Can you imagine? They recognized them as having been with Jesus. Can people say that about you? Do people recognize that you’ve been with Jesus? They recognize them as Jesus’ followers because of their boldness to share the gospel. And not only them, but what’s the first thing Paul did after he got saved?

Acts chapter 9 now, starting verse 27. But Barnabas took Saul, who became Paul, and brought him to the apostles and recounted to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and he talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. So he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. Paul knocked off his horse on the way to Damascus. gets up, goes to Jerusalem, where Jesus is in our text this morning, speaking openly, and he can’t help but speak out boldly about this very Jesus. And Paul and Barnabas keep it up, because in Acts 13, verse 46, Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, speaking to these Jews that Jesus spoke to.

It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.” Ouch. That takes courage. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly in the next chapter, Acts 14. Therefore, they spent a long time there speaking boldly. with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders be done through their hands. Acts 19, Paul again, after he entered the synagogue, he continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. These are Christians. They have been with Jesus. Because they speak like him. They’re not afraid. They are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

And the very last two verses of the book of Acts leaves off Paul ministering still. Acts 28, verse 30 and 31. He stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, unhindered.

The boldness of the apostles. We see this boldness through Paul’s writing as well in 1 Thessalonians. He reminded the Thessalonians in chapter 2, verse 2, after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you, the gospel of God. He told the Philippians, according to my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now as always be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. And he said the same thing to the Ephesians.

To be a follower of Christ is to be like Christ. He boldly spoke the truth and shared the gospel and we ought to do the same with no fear. This is one of the things that drives me nuts about a lot of modern Christianity. A lot of popular teachers and preachers that that make it out as though doubt is some sort of virtue. That if we’re to be like Jesus, we must primarily be unoffensive. Or that boldness and courage seem to be equated with pride and arrogance. But the problem with all of that garbage teaching is that it’s not what we see in the Bible. That is not what we see in the apostles. That is not what we see in Jesus.

And that is one of the things that surprises the people in Jerusalem. He was boldly offending these hypocritical Jewish leaders to their face while they have a hit out on him. He wasn’t afraid. of these Jewish leaders like the Jerusalemites were. But not only that, not only were they surprised at his speaking openly, his boldness, but they were surprised at these leaders themselves.

He’s speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him. Do the rulers know that this is the Christ? They’re saying nothing to him. They said they would arrest him. They said they would kill him. But look, they’re just standing there. They’re not doing anything. Did they change their tune? Did they change their mind about him? Do they actually believe that he is the Christ? If only, right? If only they believe, but no, they do not believe.

And the Jerusalemites talk themselves out of that, too. Because in the next verse, verse 27, however, we know where this man is from. But whenever the Christ comes, no one knows where he is from. However, we know. Do you know? Do you know? And Jesus will actually say that very thing in the next verse, but here’s where we really see the confusion of these people. And Nathanael missed this too. You remember?

Back in chapter one, verse 46, Nathanael said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth? We know where he’s from. He’s from Nazareth. Can anything good come from Nazareth? See, like Nathanael and many others, these Jerusalemites, the city folk, They saw this country boy from Nazareth. We know where he’s from. There can’t be a Messiah from there. Later in verse 41, they say he’s from Galilee. We know where he’s from. He’s from Galilee, right? In fact, he’s even called often Jesus of Nazareth. And it’s true that he grew up there and his family lived there. But where’s Jesus from? Where was he born?

In Bethlehem, just like the scriptures said he would be. In Micah chapter 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 a ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from everlasting, from ancient of days. We know where he’s from. And when the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he’s from. What are we talking about? So not only were many people wrong about where he was truly from, these people think that no one would know where the Messiah was from.

And this idea of not knowing where the Messiah comes from, it comes from Jewish legend and extra biblical books, apocryphal books. There’s another set of books that a lot of people like to put alongside Scripture called the Apocrypha. A couple books in there, 1 Enoch and 4 Ezra, say things about not knowing where the Messiah is from. And they contradict what Scripture actually says about the Messiah that I just read, that tells you exactly where he’s coming from, which is one of the clear reasons why they’re not included in Scripture. because they’re wrong and they contradict true scripture.

And this often happens with extra biblical books is what happens with them is they’re coming up with wrong ideas and wrong doctrines because their books are not reliable. People get all sorts of false doctrines from these apocryphal books because they prefer them over what scripture actually says. For example, the Roman Catholic Church gets many false teachings from the Apocrypha. Things like the perpetual virginity of Mary or the doctrine of purgatory.

Those things come from books that are not scripture, but they get elevated to the place of scripture or most of the time even higher. And that is exactly what’s happening with these Jerusalemites. They’re believing in Jewish legend rather than Scripture, because they don’t know Scripture. If they did, they would see the problem here.

But they don’t know Scripture, so they don’t believe Scripture, just like Jesus said. Right? The end of John chapter 5, for if you believed Moses, if you actually believed Scripture, You’d believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” And Jesus has gone on from there to prove that they don’t know scripture. Like here, we know where he’s from, but the Messiah, no one knows where he will come from. No, you’re wrong, because you don’t know scripture. And this is what leads to their confusion over him.

In fact, later on in this chapter, you see them arguing over this point again. In John chapter 7 verse 41 and 42, apparently some of them knew their Bibles because they were saying, this is the Christ. Others were still saying, no, for the Christ is going to come, sorry, no, for is the Christ going to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said the Christ comes from the seat of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?

So this confusion continues because you have these competing theories. One of them is scripture and one of them is not. and they remain confused. And this is what we see here in our first few verses here is the people’s confusion over him, which leads to Jesus providing them some clarity. So secondly, we see the Savior’s clarity.

Verse 28 says, then Jesus cried out in the temple. They were surprised he was speaking openly, And now he cries out and teaches that he speaks over them, saying, you both know me and know where I am from. And I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true whom you do not know. I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the tone that something is said in when you read it in the words of scripture. For example, there’s a few ways to understand what Jesus says here. When he says, you both know me and know where I am from. And a lot depends on the tone he says that in. For example, some think he’s conceding to them. Yes, you do know that much. But I don’t think that’s what he’s saying.

Because later on in the next chapter, in John 8 verse 19, he says the opposite. He says, you neither know me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. So he’s saying the opposite as what he says here. So I think the way that Jesus is saying it is more like, oh, you think you know me. You think you know where I’m from. You might think you know, but you don’t know me at all. And he goes on to repeat to them what he said many times before. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you do not know. I know him because I am from him and he sent me.

You see, Jesus is cutting through the fog here. There’s all sorts of confusion among the Jerusalemites and the crowd about who he is. They’re confused about his hometown and whether or not the Messiah would even have such a thing. And Jesus cuts through all of that and gives them clarity on what’s really important.

What you really need to know is my heavenly origin. I came from the Father. And what’s more is that you don’t know him. He had not come on his own. He had been sent by the Father. And to this unbelieving crowd, and even more controversially, to these Jewish leaders, he then says, you do not know the God that you claim you know.

This would have been as shocking as you might think. These religious leaders who believe that they’re God’s chosen elites. These same leaders who are seeking to kill Jesus for interrupting their system. Jesus says right to their face, you don’t even know God.

And more than that, he says, I know him because I am from him and he sent me. These Pharisees and scribes and these Jewish leaders, they prided themselves on their knowledge of God. This is what Jesus cut at with Nicodemus in chapter three. You’re the teacher of Israel, Nicodemus, and you don’t know this?

They prided themselves on how well they knew God. If anybody wants to know God, they need to come through us because we really know. And they ought to have known. They, of all people, should have known God. These are the people Paul speaks about in Romans 9, starting in verse 4 where he says they’re Israelites. to whom belongs adoption as sons, and the glory of the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. They had all that. They had all that advantage.

And yet, their own Messiah says to their face, that’s the God that you do not know. Whom you do not know. Think about that phrase. The God whom you do not know. These Jewish leaders are no closer to God than the pagans at Mars Hill in Acts 17. Worshipping the unknown God. The God whom you do not know.

And this is something crucially important to realize about any false religion, like Judaism, that Jesus is confronting here. But this is something that gets very confused today with people who talk about religion, even though they have no business talking about religion. And their words reveal that they don’t know what they’re talking about. But these are not people who worship the same God in the wrong way. That is not what false religions are. Some people tend to think this way about modern-day Israel, modern-day Judaism. Well, they worship the right God, but not in the right way.

No, that is not what Jesus just said. Jesus just said, God the Father, you do not know. You’re not worshiping the right God. If you don’t worship Jesus Christ, whom he has sent, you don’t know God. Again, this is true of any modern day false religion. Any modern day religion that is not biblical Christianity. You worship a God that you do not know.

You do not know God. They don’t know God. Judaism had become, at this point, and still is, a false religion, with a false God. And they proved that by rejecting the Messiah. You do not know God. And they were just like their fathers who did not know God.

The priests of whom Jeremiah said, in Jeremiah chapter 2, as he’s reminding them of the things God’s done for them. Starting in verse seven of Jeremiah two, it says, I brought you into a fruitful land to eat its fruit and its good things, but you came and defiled my land. In my inheritance, you made an abomination. The priests did not say, where is Yahweh?

And here’s key, and those who handle the law did not know me. He gave them the law so that they would know him. and the very ones who handled the law did not know me. They’re worshiping something, but they don’t know God. And Isaiah says of these Israelites, Isaiah chapter one, verse three, an ox knows its owner and a donkey its master, but Israel does not know. Yes, they’re God’s chosen people and he has promises to fulfill in them, but they don’t know him. He will save them one day. All Israel will be saved, Romans 11 tells us.

But in their state of rebellion and denial and rejection of Jesus Christ, they do not know God. And Jesus says this very same thing about these Jewish people here, these Jewish leaders rejecting Him. And later on in the same conversation that carries into chapter 8, I read it earlier, John chapter 8 verse 42, Jesus said to them, if God were your Father, you would love me.

That sentence is still true today. If God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and have come from God. For I have not even come of myself, but he sent me. And later on in verses 54 and 55, Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God. And you have not known him. But I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him. And I keep His word.

You see, a lot of religions think they’re worshiping the one true God. But if you’re not worshiping Him in Jesus Christ, that’s not the God of the Bible. You’re not worshiping God. You don’t know God. These people do not know God and Jesus knows him because he’s from him. Because he is God in the flesh. And he tells them over and over and over in these few chapters, you don’t know God. This is the clarity. that Jesus brings them here. You don’t know God, that’s the problem.

And lastly we see the different conclusions. In verse 30 it says, so they were seeking to seize him, yet no man laid his hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But many of the crowd believed in him, and they were saying, when the Christ comes, will he do more signs than this man did? So again, you see two different responses. First of all, you have those that this was blasphemous to them, for him to say this. How dare he say such things?

And so once again, they try to seize him, but they fail. Because his hour had not yet come. Because he didn’t allow it to happen. Which goes to show you that when his hour does come, and when they do arrest him there in the garden, it’s only because he allowed it to happen, as he said. He is in control the whole time, but now is not his time. So nobody touched him.

And that was the first conclusion we see is hatred and rejection. But verse 31 shows us another conclusion that’s reached. It says, but many of the crowd believed in him. And they were saying, when the Christ comes, will he do more signs than this man did? They saw him. They saw the signs. But it didn’t stop there for them. They saw what the signs pointed to. This has to be the Christ. No one can do this many signs. These signs must mean He is the Christ.

And it says, many believed in Him. It doesn’t say how many, but it says many believed in Him. And as we’ve seen, this has happened before. And it doesn’t say if these are genuine believers who remain with him, but in some sense, many in the crowd believed in him.

And as we’ll see next time, this only leads to more pressure and opposition from the Pharisees and more interaction between Jesus and these Jews. But here we see there are two reactions to Jesus. as there always is. It’s either rejection and opposition because of your pride and self-righteousness, or it’s belief. You notice the Bible doesn’t give a category for apathy or ignoring Jesus. It’s one or the other. Either you believe or you reject Him. Do you see Him? Do you believe in who He is? Or are you still resisting what’s right before your eyes?

He makes it clear to us. He is the Christ, the Son of God. He was sent for sinners who believe in Him. He came and He lived and He died in your place if you believe in Him. But if you do not yet believe in Him, you need to come and trust Him as your Savior today. And if you are a believer, if you do see Him, and you believe in who He is and what He did, Do they recognize you as having been with Jesus like they did with Peter and John? Do they see your boldness for Him? Do they know that you know Him? Live and speak of Him as though you are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer this morning. Our God, we thank you for who you are. We thank you for sending Jesus Christ. We thank you for his boldness, his courage, his willingness to come and endure what he did, In the face of rejection and hatred, He came to His own, and His own received Him not. He was despised and rejected and hated, but He went to the cross for us. He went there anyways, and He saved a people who were dead in their sin. God, we thank you for the gospel.

We thank you for what has saved us. Lord, I pray if there’s any here that have not come to know you yet, that you would bring them to yourself, even this morning. Soften their heart, help them to see and recognize who he is and believe in him and trust that he died for their sin. And Lord, for those of us who do believe, help us to be recognized as having been with you. God, we thank you. We praise you and glorify you. We pray this in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.