Jesus controls the narrative

 

I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.  --Job 42:2

My father used to tell a story of a time he was in Seminary.  He, along with the other 30 or so students, were listening to a lecture and were taking notes.  A fellow student raised his hand.  The professor, annoyed with being interrupted, called on him.  "Professor," the student asked earnestly, "that last point you made--was that subsection 4 of point B, or was that point C?"  He was trying desperately to structure his notes into a proper outline form on the fly, while the lecture was going on in real time.

The instructor shook his head.  "Son," he said dryly, "don't worry about the skeleton.  Get the meat."

I was thinking about that story as I prepared for this blog post today.  My mind kind of jumps around, so try to follow me here.  I am kind of a drama nerd.  Sometimes when I read Scripture, I see a movie in my mind, with actors playing all the parts.  So when I read our passage today in the last part of John 7, my mind went immediately to the stage or screen.

So here is my summary of John 7:32-53:

Scene 1

In the halls of the Sanhedrin, adjacent to the home of the High Priest Caiaphas

Caiaphas:  This Jesus is sowing discord among the people!  He must be stopped.  Guards!

Moishe and Sh'muel approach

Sh'muel: Yes, my priest?

Caiaphas: Go, arrest this Jesus.  Bring Him in for questioning.  Go quickly!

Moishe and Sh'muel exit

Scene 2

Outside the inn where Peter and the other Disciples are staying

Moishe: Listen, Peter, your boy Jesus is in trouble.  The High Priest has sent us to arrest Him.  Just give Him a heads up, okay?

Peter: All right, thanks for the heads up.  We'll tell Him.

Jesus from inside the room : It's all right, Peter.

Peter opens the door a little wider, and Jesus appears in the doorway

Jesus: I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I will go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.

Moishe exits, scratching his head

Moishe: Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Diaspora among the Greeks and teach them there?  Hmm, I wonder.

Scene 3

On the Temple steps, in the Temple courts

Jesus: If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of His heart will flow rivers of living water.

Sh'muel: Truly this is the Prophet.

Moishe: I agree; this is surely the Christ. Let's get out of here.

Scene 4

 Back at the home of the High Priest

Caiaphas: Why have you not brought Jesus?  We told you to arrest Him!

Moishe: No man ever spoke like this Man!

Caiphas: Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that doesn't know the law is cursed for following Him.

Nicodemus: Wait a minute.  Does our law judge a man before we hear him and figure out what he is doing?  Let's not be so quick to judge.

Caiphas: Are you also from Galilee like this Jesus is?  Search the scrolls, look at the Scriptures; no prophet has ever arisen out of Galilee.  Or are you one of His disciples, too?

Now, the problem with turning Scripture into a movie or a play is that, in order to flesh out the story, you have to add things that are not there, in order to have continuity in the story.  And you need to make some assumptions.  For instance, verse 32 says "the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him."  Then verse 33 says, "Jesus said to them, 'I shall be with you a little while longer.'"  Now who is Jesus talking to? His disciples? The men who went to arrest Him?

In my little script above, I made the assumption that Jesus spoke to the men who were going to arrest Him, because of the syntax.  The "them" in verse 33 refers back to the antecedent, the "men" in verse 32 who were sent to arrest Him.  If that was true, then why didn't they arrest Him then and there?  Jesus's words seem kind of cryptic, and I wouldn't think they would change the minds of the soldiers, unless the Holy Spirit convicted them right at that moment.  That's why I made the editorial decision to portray the soldiers as giving the disciples a warning, even though the text doesn't actually say that. It makes more sense that Jesus would have said those words to the disciples, when they heard that the Pharisees were looking to arrest Him.  John leaves out little details like this, in order to get to the meat of His message.  Even here, Jesus controls the narrative, and if we are left wondering about the details, then we miss the point.

So let's take a quick dive into what the Scripture actually says, shall we?

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priest sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that He has said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"  --John 7:32-36

Jesus knows that His time has not yet come.  He will eventually be arrested and tried and found guilty, but not this day.  John remembers the words of Jesus, which to him are much more important than the context.  A lot is apparently going on here--the Pharisees are trying to arrest Jesus, the crowds are all abuzz about His teaching and His miracles, and all the while there are multitudes in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths (which the Jews now call Sukkot), where everyone builds a temporary shelter and sleeps outside for 7 nights to commemorate the Jews in the Old Testament who lived in tents and tabernacle. In the chaos, Jesus's words are what's important. Sometimes we need to remember to focus on the words of Jesus rather than the chaos around us.  There will always be debates among Bible scholars about the context and what it means, but details are less important than the actual words of Jesus.  We must always remember this when we pick up our Bible to read and understand.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  --John 7:37-39

Apparently, according to the commentaries I read, one of the traditions during the Feast of the Tabernacles was that the priests would take great big pots of water to the Temple steps and pour it out in front of all the people.  This would happen daily for seven days, but on the eighth day there was no water poured out.  The pouring out of the water was meant to commemorate Moses striking the rock and providing water for the people of Israel while they wandered in the wilderness. On the final day, no water was needed, just as when the people of Israel arrived in the promised land, there was no further need for manna or quail.  God's provision lasts as long as it is needed, and no more. 

Jesus used this opportunity to preach the Gospel to the people.  Just as He had told the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus calls Himself the living water.  There are many Old Testament references to water flowing from the Temple to bless all mankind, one of which is Ezekiel 47:1-12.  Many of the Jews there may have been thinking of these Old Testament scriptures as being fulfilled in Jesus.  They weren't wrong, but John adds a little commentary of his own here.  He says that Jesus was not only looking back and fulfilling Old Testament prophecies about Himself (He was), but He was also looking forward to the celebration of Pentecost in Acts 2, where the Holy Spirit flowed out like water and filled all believers.  John is essentially saying that the best is yet to come.

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"  The officers answered, "No man every spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  --John 7:40-49

The crowds believed, but they misunderstood.  They had heard that Jesus came from Galilee, not knowing that He was actually born in Bethlehem.  The Scriptures they had read stated clearly that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, but Jesus and most of His disciples grew up in Galilee.  This is why it is important to study all of Scripture, not just selected verses.  Both Matthew and Luke go into great detail about the birth and ancestry of Jesus to show how the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Him.  John, however, only hits the highlights.  His gospel emphasizes the works and words of Jesus.

We see here the confession of the guards who had been sent to seize Jesus and arrest Him.  When asked why they had failed in their mission, they replied in such a way as to indicate that they believed Jesus was the Messiah.  Psalm 105:15 says, "Touch not My anointed."  They did not want to follow an illegal order, for fear of God's retribution on them.  The Pharisees, on the other hand, doubled down on their anger: they accused the crowds that followed Jesus of not knowing the Law, and assigning a curse on them.

Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."  And everyone went to his own house.  --John 7:50-53

Nicodemus stands up and encourages them to not be so rash.  He wants them to slow down and think about what they are doing, to consider the potential consequences.  They accuse him of being one of the disciples.  Then they say something that shows they are not infallible.  They demand that Nicodemus search the Scriptures, because they are sure that no prophet ever came out of Galilee.  They are wrong on this point, for at least two and maybe more of the Old Testament prophets were, in fact, from Galilee: Jonah, who was called to preach against Ninevah; and Elijah, considered one of the greatest prophets in history, were both from Galilee.

Even in their error, Jesus controls the narrative.  Just as Jonah was sent to a wicked people, so Jesus was sent to preach repentance to the Jews.  And just has Elijah spoke the truth, healed the sick and even raised the dead, so Jesus came with signs and wonders to show He was sent from God.  That they did not believe in Him showed that they did not really believe the Scriptures at all.

What about you?  Do you follow vain traditions or rely on your own belief system to discount the works and words of Jesus?  Do you fall into the trap of trying to focus on the context rather than the message of Christ?  I would encourage you to read the Bible, not with your own preconceptions, but to allow Jesus to control the narrative. 

 

Driven to distraction

 

 

You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.  --Isaiah 26:3

We are often warned against distracted driving, and for good reason.  If we are barreling down the road at 10 miles above the speed limit and we hear our text tone jingle out from the cell phone we pay entirely too much attention to, we are tempted to pick it up and see the message.  When we see who the message is from, our minds are immediately flooded with such thoughts as: 

• our opinions on the sender, 
• our obligations to reply or not, 
• whether we remembered to do something that they had asked us to do,
• if our schedule will allow us to take that person to lunch,
• where we might like to go to lunch today,
• our need to go grocery shopping so we can have dinners next week,
• the need to put detergent on the grocery list...

and a thousand other rabbit trails that our minds might wander toward.  With our minds thus engaged, we may drive past a school bus without noticing its flashing lights, or we may run a stop sign.  If we see a policeman behind us, our minds immediately flood with a thousand other thoughts.

Such is life.  Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we are driven to distraction.  As it is today, so it was in Jesus's day.  In today's study of John 7, we see Jesus trying to preach to the people, to teach them sound doctrine, and at every point in the story the people miss what He is saying and start voicing their own thoughts, chasing their own rabbit trails.

Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up to the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered and said, "My doctrine is not mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  --John 7:14-18

Here Jesus is preaching in the temple, probably about what it means to keep the Sabbath.  We know that later in the passage Jesus refers to His healing of a man on the Sabbath (see John chapter 5) and being confronted by the Pharisees for it.  His message is interrupted by some murmuring about His curriculum vitae.  Some readers might think they were wondering about how this Son of a carpenter could read, as many in the trades in that day were illiterate.  Some Bible scholars might think they were asking about His academic credentials, as in which great teacher did He study under, and what school of thought He followed.  They were more concerned about whether He followed the line of thinking of the House of Hillel, or of the House of Shammai.

In present day terms, we might ask whether a speaker has a degree from a prestigious university like Harvard or Yale.  If he has no degree, or if he went to a lower ranking university, or--worse yet--if he went to an unaccredited college, his teaching may be subject to criticism.  In much of Jesus's ministry, He was confronted with questions meant to pigeon-hole Him in the camp of the Pharisees or of the Sadducees.  Most of the time Jesus was able to answer in such a way as to keep them guessing as to which school of thought He most favored.

In this case, Jesus said that His doctrine, His teaching, was from God and not man.  People who flaunt their resumes or their credentials were more concerned about being popular, whereas Jesus was more concerned about righteousness.  His wisdom--the wisdom of God--was shared by the ancient prophets.  Isaiah 54:13 says, "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children."  Jeremiah 31:33-34 says,  "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  For no more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.  For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."  Micah 4:2 says,  "Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.'  For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

Next, Jesus references Moses, who did not subscribe to the two prevailing schools of thought either.  Moses's words pointed to Jesus.  Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19 says, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren.  Him you shall hear.  [The Lord said] I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among your brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.  And It shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My Name, I will require it of him."  Thus Jesus says this:

"Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."--John 7:19-24

Again, Jesus was referring to the confrontation with the Jews after He had healed a man who had been sick or lame for 38 years.   Jesus healed him completely, but the Jews wanted to stone Him to death because He had done this work on the Sabbath.  Not only that, but Jesus had told the sick man to pick up his bed, meaning that He was instructing others to break the Sabbath as well.

Apparently, not all the people at the temple that day were aware of this incident or this confrontation.  They objected, saying, "Who is trying to kill you?  You must be crazy!"  Jesus let the accusation slide, and did His best to stay on topic.  His message was righteousness, not rules; His concern was obedience to God, not observation of good works.

Those in the know, who lived in and around Jerusalem (and therefore were familiar with the incident that Jesus was referencing and the confrontation with the Jewish leaders) started debating among themselves.

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill? But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have no come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"  --John 7:25-31

Jesus was able to speak to the hearts of some of them, convincing them that He was the Messiah, the One sent by God to save the people from their sins.  Some wondered why the Jewish leaders were trying to arrest Him; others wondered why the Jewish leaders would not arrest Him, for He was making some outlandish claims.  Somehow they had in their minds that when Messiah came, He would appear from heaven suddenly.  These were likely the same ones who had been looking for a military leader, someone who would overthrow the tyranny of Rome.  But this Jesus?  They knew Him; they knew His family, His hometown, they knew everything about Him.  How, then, could He be the Christ?

The counter argument came immediately: "When the Messiah comes, will He do more than Jesus has done?  Will He do more signs, more wonders, more miracles?  Will He speak with more authority?  I don't think so!" 

I want to go back to Deuteronomy 18:19, a verse that I referenced earlier.  God told Moses that He would raise up a Prophet, and that the people should listen to Him, for He would speak the very words of God.  "Whoever will not hear My words," God said, "which He speaks in My Name, I will require it of him."  It means God will hold them accountable who do not listen to the words of Jesus and follow them.  At the final judgement, God will ask each of us, "Did you believe the words of Jesus, and did you follow them?"  Jesus will vouch for His own.  Like a Good Shepherd, Jesus knows His sheep.

Unbelievers and scoffers will be cast off, doomed to everlasting damnation, because they did not follow Jesus.  If you find that hard to believe, then you don't know the nature of God, that He will always keep His word.  "Whoever will not hear My words which He speaks in My Name, I will require it of him."  The message of Jesus will only be rejected at a great penalty.  

Do not be distracted by false teachers.  At the same time, do not disparage those who hold true to the word of God simply because they appear uneducated, or because you knew them (and their misdeeds) growing up.  Do not be driven by distraction away from the truth.  

Breaking a traffic law could get you a ticket, or maybe even a prison sentence.  Disregarding the law of God brings a much stiffer sentence.  "Depart from Me, for I never knew you."