LOJ #101: Do You Know Him?
Andover Baptist Church-April 11th, 2011
Opening
A. Text for today is John 7:10-24 and our sermon is titled Do You
Know Him?
B. Scripture NET:
“7:10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus Himself also went up, not openly but in secret. 7:11 So the Jewish leaders were looking for Him at the feast, asking, “Where is He?” 7:12 There was a lot of grumbling about Him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people.” 7:13 However, no one spoke openly about Him for fear of the Jewish leaders. 7:14 When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach. 7:15 Then the Jewish leaders were astonished and said, “How does this man know so much when He has never had formal instruction?” 7:16 So Jesus replied, “My teaching is not from Me, but from the One Who sent Me. 7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, He will know about My teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from My own authority. 7:18 The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law! Why do you want to kill Me?”7:20 The crowd answered, “You’re possessed by a demon! Who is trying to kill You?” 7:21 Jesus replied, “I performed one miracle and you are all amazed. 7:22 However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath. 7:23 But if a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance, but judge with proper judgment.”
C. Children’s Sermon(SLIDE)
1. Have some pictures of people that the kids might know
2. The last picture is Jesus
3. Which of these is the Way to Heaven? Jesus
4. Who do you think is more important?
5. Who do you think we should know more about?
6. How can you find out more about Jesus?
D. Introduction
1. Think of the top three priorities in your life
2. The things that motivate and drive you to be the person
you are
3. Where did your relationship with Christ fit into that
4. Never in history have we been able to communicate,
explore or learn like we can now
5. Yet at no time in the world have there been so many
distractions from Christ and His Word
6. So I ask you this question up front: Do you know Him?
Is He and His word a priority in your life?
7. If He is not, then why do you call yourself a Christian?
Sermon
READ: John 7:10, 11 (Scripture slide)
“7:10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus Himself also went up, not openly but in secret. 7:11 So the Jewish leaders were looking for Him at the feast, asking, “Where is He?”
A. Jesus time to go to the festival was not at the beginning like His
brothers wanted Him to, but a little latter
1. Had Jesus not gone in secret a Triumphal Entry into the
city might have been pushed upon Him by the
people
2. Which would have likely caused His crucifixion a year
and 1/2 earlier
B. Why would Jesus leave latter?
1. By leaving later it was more likely that the roads would
be clear because everyone had already gotten to
Jerusalem (imagine the roads on Christmas day or
Thanksgiving)
2. Could be that Jesus took back roads or only traveled at
night
3. Jesus did not want to make a spectacle of Himself, so
He snuck in per say (this would indicate that there was
nothing special about how Jesus looked, blended in)
C. Important event because Jesus had not been in Jerusalem since
the beginning of His ministry (about a year and 1/2)
1. This is likely one of the reasons the Jewish leaders
expected Him to show up and why they were confused
as to where He was
2. They had ulterior motives for seeking Jesus (John 5:18
and 7:25 tell us that Jesus was being looked at as an
assassination)
D. Goes to show you that when your go looking for Jesus for the
wrong reasons you should expect to find Him
1. If you make plans for Jesus and He doesn’t show up,
that should tell you something
2. That maybe your plans are not His plans
READ: John 7:12, 13 (Scripture slide)
“7:12 There was a lot of grumbling about Him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people.” 7:13 However, no one spoke openly about Him for fear of the Jewish leaders”.
A. There was a lot of talk about Jesus (as there still is)
1. Here called 'grumbling'
2. These talks were not in the public forum but in
whispers, hidden from the ears of the leaders
3. To speak openly or to even appear to like Jesus would
get you into trouble with the Jewish leaders
4. Following Jesus would mean expulsion from the
synagogue, virtually crippling you socially and
spiritually
B. Public opinion varied with Jesus
1. Some people said 'He is a good man'
2. But we know that even the 'good' statement does not go
far enough in explaining Jesus
3. Others said He was a deceiver which according to
Deuteronomy 13 was worthy of the death penalty for
those who were guilty of this (Jesus was not)
4. Ironically the deceivers were the Jewish leaders
themselves
READ: John 7:14, 15 (Scripture slide)
“7:14 When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach. 7:15 Then the Jewish leaders were astonished and said, “How does this man know so much when He has never had formal instruction?”
A. The ‘feast'
1. Recall this is the Feast of the Tabernacles
2. The most popular of the feasts and one of the most
attended
3. In fact all Jewish males who lived in Israel were
supposed to attend
B. The feast was 'half over'
1. The feast was a week long, so this is likely the 4th or 5th
day
2. There were likely two reasons that Jesus waited this
long to reveal Himself
a. One so that the maximum amount of people to
hear His teaching
b. Second to make it very difficult to be arrested by
the Jewish leaders
c. We can see this in John 7:32 and 7:45-52
John 7:32 (NET)“7:32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about Jesus, so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Him.”
John 7:45–52 (NET)“7:45 Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?” 7:46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 7:47 Then the Pharisees answered, “You haven’t been deceived too, have you? 7:48 None of the rulers or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they? 7:49 But this rabble who do not know the law are accursed!”7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before and who was one of the rulers, said, 7:51 “Our law doesn’t condemn a man unless it first hears from him and learns what he is doing, does it?” 7:52 They replied, “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee!”
C. 'Jesus..temple courts...teach'
1. The temple was broken up into a number of courts
a. The court of the gentiles
b. The court of the women
c. The court of Israel (Jewish men)
d. The Court of priests (during the feast of the
Tabernacles Jewish men could enter into the area
reserved for priests)
2. So it is likely that Jesus is either in the Court of the
Gentiles, Israel or the Priests (if I had to guess I would
say the Court of Gentiles for the most people could be
reached there but I don't know for sure)
3. This is likely the first time Jesus has taught in the temple
since He was a 12 year old boy
4. How surprising this must have been for those looking
for Him
D. Those who listened to Jesus were 'astonished'
1. The crowds of Galilee had been astonished by Jesus'
teachings and now it is the Judeans turn
2. We see here that even the leaders listened to Jesus teach
3. The leaders were stunned at Jesus’ mastery of the
Scriptures
a. Literally 'How does this man know letters'
b. Now this may be said to keep people from
listening to Him by indicating that Jesus was not
even educated
c. Jesus had not gone to any rabbinical schools (i.e.
in today’s world we would say 'He never even
went to Seminary or Bible college)
d. Nobody has ever had a mastery of Scripture as
Jesus does
e. Why? Because Jesus, unlike us, does not need to
be schooled in the Word, for He is the Word
manifest in the flesh! He wrote it!
f. Jesus knew God's Word because He is the Author
of God's Word
4. Latter Jesus' disciples would be seen with such
amazement (Acts 4:13)
Acts 4:13 (NET)“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.”
E. How do you become educated in God's Word?
1. I'm going to go out on a limb and estimate that getting
feed on the Word at Church is only about 5-10% what
you should be consuming
2. I get tired of people saying: 'I just don't get feed at so
and so church'.
3. Do you know why they say that, well often times it has
verylittle to do with the Church, but everything to do
with their own personal devotional life.
4. If you only ate once or twice a week your eventually
going to physically starve to death, there is no difference
spiritually when all that you consume of God's Word is
in a church pew or Sunday School class
5. Example of Zach
READ: John 7:16-18 (Scripture slide)
“7:16 So Jesus replied, “My teaching is not from Me, but from the One Who sent Me. 7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, He will know about My teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from My own authority. 7:18 The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”
A. 'the One Who sent Me'
1. Jesus' teaching was that of His Father, Who sent Him
2. It was His Father that commissioned Him to teach
3. Jesus did not come to lift Himself up, but the Father
B. Jews would often times quote influential Rabbis instead of
giving their own views, here Jesus shows that He pulls from
the Source of all knowledge: His Father
1. While others could say: 'Thus says the LORD'….Jesus
can say 'I tell you'
2. Jews would argue and debate one another about Rabbi's
teachings...Jesus teachings are not ones to be debated
for they are not mere human opinions but the Word's of
God
3. While Jesus certainly has the authority to talk on His
Own, He defers to the Father to give Him credence
4. Here is the issue at hand and is still at hand: When the
Jewish leaders rejected Jesus' teachings it was not just
Jesus they were rejecting but the Father...the same thing
can be said today: Reject Jesus and Reject our Creator
C. If you want to do God's Will you must listen to Jesus
1. One seeking God genuinely and comes to the Word's of
Christ will be given the illumination they need by the
Holy Spirit to discern the truth
2. The Holy Spirit confirms the word of Christ is true
3. And the Word’s of Christ show the way to the will of
the Father
John 17:26 (NET)“I made known your name to them, and I will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them, and I may be in them.”
John 5:24 (NET) “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.”
Matthew 10:40 (NET)“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
4. You see the problem then as is now, is not a lack of the
Word of God it's a lack of obedience to the Word of
God
a, If you really truly don't want God...than you
won't listen to what Jesus has to say
b. The will of the Father comes into direct conflict
with our own sin infested will
c. Those who sincerely seek the Father and His will
do so through the Son and Him only
D. Who people speak for determines there integrity
1. If you speak what God would have you speak that is
righteous
2. If you speak to lift yourself up, you will fail
3. The life of the Christian nor the church is a place for
you to puff up your own pride and priorities
4. Why do you do the things you do in regard for your
faith? Is it to lift yourself up or God? Is it your will be
done or His will be done?
5. Are your motives righteous? Are they in line with
Christ?
READ: John 7:19-24 (Scripture slide)
“7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law! Why do you want to kill Me?”7:20 The crowd answered, “You’re possessed by a demon! Who is trying to kill You?” 7:21 Jesus replied, “I performed one miracle and you are all amazed. 7:22 However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath. 7:23 But if a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance, but judge with proper judgment.”
A. Moses and the Law
1. Just because they have the law does not mean they
follow the law
2. Didn't the law teach not to murder, and yet was that not
what they were plotting to do to Jesus?
3. Were these not the same men who harbored murder and
hate in their hearts against Jesus?
4. Their seeking to murder Jesus and the hate for Him in
their hearts is ample proof they don't follow the law
5. If they wouldn't listen to the Law of Moses which they
profess to love so much, if they wouldn't be obedient to
it why would they listen or be obedient to Jesus'
teaching
6. Legalistic people are simply hypocrites that point out
other hypocrites but fail to identify themselves as one
B. Circumcision
1, In John 5:1-18 Jesus had healed a paralytic man on the
Sabbath and told him to carry his mat
2. The Jews went ballistic about it claiming that Jesus was
a Sabbath breaker (not supposed to work on the
Sabbath)
3. Circumcision instituted by God in the covenant with
Abraham (Gen 17:12)
4. The law says a child should be circumcised on the 8th
day of life…..if that 8th day was a Sabbath they would
go ahead and do the circumcision…...even though it
would be considered an act of work
5. Jesus' pushes His point by showing that the Jews
circumcise on the Sabbath, but condemn Him for
healing on the Sabbath
6. If Jesus was to be considered a Sabbath breaker so too
the Jewish leaders
7. They seek to condemn Jesus for breaking their
interpretation of the Law but don't hold themselves
accountable for breaking God's actual Law in the fact
for wanting to murder Him!
8. Who should be offended? Jesus, the Son of God the
Author of Scripture at the fact that the Jews break His
law, or the Jews that Jesus breaks their interpretation of
the law?
9. Stop judging superficially….evaluate a matter
fully….make a right judgment
10. Those who speak the truth often times make
themselves a target
Application (slide)
A. How well do you know Jesus?
B. If not very well why not?
Invitation
Let us sing our last song #,
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