Gospel of John, 7:25-53
John 7:25-53 · Courtney Hemenway · Apr 20, 2008
Gospel of John (2008), No. 16
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492605932365

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Well, I believe, by process of elimination and asking a couple of questions, I think we're in lesson 12 and we were midway through question 8. Why did Jesus go up to Judea in secret and then teach publicly? What was the response by the people before and after Jesus taught in the temple? And I think we're to the point where what was the response of the people before and after I think is about where we were. Remember that Jesus didn't go up immediately as his brothers wanted.

They wanted to show off, you know, here's my brother who does all these great things. You need to show these things off. You know, either that or we want to see if there's more lunch tickets filled. They wanted the showy things. They didn't want to glorify him. They were more interested in the personal aspects of it.

So he lets him go up. And then afterwards, he comes up secretly. And again, as we were talking to Jack before this, this is the a festival or feast, a booth or tabernacles. He's going up to and we'll run into that in the next lesson in 13 when we get to it. It's kind of an interesting thing and what that means and the last day of that. We'll get into that in the next lesson. So Jesus goes up. So what was the response from the crowd? From the time before the teaching, the crowds, what were they expecting, Jesus, before he went up and was teaching? They just wanted showy stuff. And actually, they also wondered why he wasn't there.

Because remember, what was the requirement of this feast or festival? It was one of three. It was a requirement of three festivals, or three feasts. Passover, Pentecost, and this one. What was the requirement? We learned it last week. that all males had to be there. For these three specific ones, Passover, Pentecost, and the tabernacle or booths, all males had to go to Jerusalem. So besides, you know, that they're wondering where he was and show off all these gifts, they're wondering he was supposed to be in Jerusalem. So that was what the wonders were before. We can see that in John 7, verses 12 and 13. There is much grumbling among the crowds concerning him. And some were saying, he's a good man. Others were saying, no, on the contrary, he leads the people astray.

Yet no one was speaking openly of him for fear of the Jews. So, that was before his teaching. Remember now, Jesus comes up secretly. Which, you know, he comes up secretly. But then, what does he do? He openly goes to the synagogue and teaches. I think about this with his brothers too. It wasn't for fear because he immediately goes right to the temple and starts teaching. So he was just trying to mitigate their earthly view of him by not coming into the town and showing off. Here's my brother, look what he can do. So he mitigated that, but it wasn't out of fear, because when he says, it isn't my time. So after his teaching, we see in verse 14, but when it was now the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were then astonished, saying, how has this man become learned, having never been educated?

So, kind of a switch there. Where is this guy? Oh, he's leading us astray. No, he's just kind of a circus guy. Now he gets into the temple, and what's he doing? He's teaching. And we'll see about their disparaging remarks about him, too, when we get into the next lesson. We'll see what they think of him. But so it's kind of just the before and after. They think some think he's a great guy. Some think he's leading us astray. But then after, when the teaching, they're going, wow. This guy is uneducated, but listen to him teach. So they know something's different about him.

Even if they didn't get all the messages, the 100 messages that he already said, that I'm the son of God, I've come down from heaven, all these messages that tell him, now he's in the temple. And the people who maybe have gotten those messages, maybe hadn't heard those messages, are going, there is something different about this guy. So kind of a difference between before and after.

OK, question nine. We're in lesson 12. George, you need 12? Yeah. I'll give you 12 and 13. Howdy. Okay, question 9, lesson 12, in verse 18, what does seeking to do one's own will accomplish and what does it prevent us from doing? I'll read 18. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who is seeking the glory of the One who sent him, he is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him." That's chapter 7, verse 18.

So, seeking to do one's own will will accomplish what? Eternally. Let's say, what will it accomplish eternally? Nada. You know, that is a good thing for us. I think as we get the identification truths and we get those about the old nature and the new man, it's kind of the self and the new creature in Christ, those are the eternal things. The things we do in the flesh, nothing. Nothing. It's going to accomplish nothing. Somebody want to look up Proverbs 2527? Proverbs 2527. If somebody gets that, go ahead and blurt it out.

Don't be shy. It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor. OK? Excuse me. And I have it. It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glory to search out one's own glory. OK? Solomon uses this analogy frequently. What is honey like? Sweet. Sweet. So what's he saying here? Honey is something pleasant, sweet, agreeable. So what would that be the equivalent of? I mean, he's not saying just eating honey. But what is he inferring by that? What would Honey be like?

Jack, you are the best. You know? Jack, you study more than anybody. You know more verses. Oh, Jack, you are like none other. You are the best person I've ever known, the most humble man. Except he can't mouth. God ruined him, okay? Honey, you know, oh, thank you. To me, I think of the Nebuchadnezzar syndrome. I was a kid about this when I was in business. I always think of this great contract, something great happens. Oh, yes, I did so good to get that contract. Oh, I'm so good.

And all I think is, Lord puts back Nebuchadnezzar. Remember that? When he goes out and he goes, oh, look at all of my kingdom and what I have done. Wham! I'm eating with the beast of the field. And what was it? Until he looked up and realized. So I think of that. When you look at all the things that you think you do, and the great things, and what you draw to yourself, what does that accomplish eternally? Zip, zero, nada.

So if we're seeking our own glory, what does that prevent us from doing? Seeking Israel. seeking his will, the eternal things. So if we're seeking our own, we are not understanding or glorifying Christ and the Father. So desiring to do God's will is the condition by which we obtain spiritual understanding. So if we're all absorbed in ourself, can we do anything for God's glory? If we're focused on ourselves? No. Okay?

So that's what he's getting at here. So what he's saying is, also in this verse, who's his glory from, or who is his focus on? The Father. Because this is Christ speaking in verse 18. So he's saying, who speaks of himself speaks of his own glory. But he who is seeking the glory of the one who sent him, he is true. So he's saying he's just doing the will of the Father. That's what his will is. That's his focus. That's what he is here for, to do the will of the Father.

Alright, question 10, from verse 20, did the people understand that the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus dead? And then what was the result of their understanding? So from verses 19 and 20, Jesus speaking at first, did not Moses give you the law and yet none of you carries out the law?

Why do you seek to kill me? The crowd answered, what? You have a demon, who seeks to kill you? Question. Did the people understand that the Jewish leaders wanted Jesus dead? No. They're saying, what do you mean? Who's seeking you out? They didn't know. So they have no clue what Jesus was bringing out in the Jewish leaders. They wanted him dead. Why? or they were starting the process of trying to hunt him down. Why was it? I think they're too different.

Because he claimed to be God. Claimed to be God. Number one, I think that, here's this guy saying, I'm from the Father, I'm out of heaven, I can go back, remember, ascending to heaven, all these things, the whole messages in the last of these chapters we're going over has been equating himself, son of God, son of man, the man returning to heaven, doing the will of the Father, all these things equating him. So with that number one, that he was saying he was God. What was the second reason? I think there are two reasons. He was drawing bigger crowds. Exactly! Hey! Hey! Come here! You know, all the crowds over here, checking him out. And here are the rulers, who have been the top dogs, you know, that everybody humbles themselves to. Now, Jesus is drawing them away. And He's drawing them away from their authority.

You know, remember, what did He do? He did what on the Sabbath? Heal the man. You don't do that. You don't do that on the Sabbath. That goes against their law. So he was, quote, violating their laws. He was drawing crowds away. And he was saying he was God. So they were starting to stack the deck to kill him.

But this wasn't a general, they didn't know from the crowd's response, they didn't know what was going on with the Jewish leaders because for them, They couldn't even figure out. They're sitting there going, man, look at this. They're still trying to figure out who Christ was, saying he's God. But they were still kind of seeking. Where here's this guy, man, he's doing miracles. The feeding of the 5,000. He's done the healing. He's doing all this stuff. He just was in the temple teaching like none other.

So they're going, wow. They haven't made this prejudgment of him and trying to get rid of him. But the leaders had. You know, they had decided because of these two reasons, claiming to be God and drawing him away. So the crowd didn't know this. So they were thinking that Jesus was crazy. Why would they want to kill you? Look at all the good things you're doing. So they didn't know.

All right. Then in question 11, what is ironic when comparing verses 19 with verses 23 and 24. Somebody read 19. How about Mike, you do that. And who have we got? Craig, can you do 23 and 24? Chapter 7, verse 19, and then 23 and 24. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me? And then 23 and 24, you got that, Craig? Are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. Okay, what is strange between those two sets of verses, 19 and then 23 and 24?

It's okay for them to do circumcision on the Sabbath because it had to be on the eighth day regardless of when the child was born. So you're dealing with one member of a person. So why isn't it okay to heal the whole person on the Sabbath? That number one is pointing out the strange part of that one. Let's see, you can do circumcision because it has to be on the eighth day, but you can't make somebody completely well. So that's one strange thing. But I'm looking a little deeper than that even.

From verse 19. What does it say? He said none of them kept the law. Good. Number one. So what are they doing in 23 and 24? Condemning him because of the law. Because he didn't keep it. So in 19, he's saying, none of you carry out the law. But then in 23 and 24, they're trying to kill him and condemn him because he's not adhering to the law.

So I just thought that was kind of bizarre that after they just condemned him about none of you carry out the law, but what they're trying to do, they're trying to condemn him with the law. And the ironic part is they're condemning him on the law on the Sabbath, which they violate, or they have the subclause 3C subcategory I chapter B that says it's OK of the Sabbath you can circumcise. Because it falls on Sabbath, OK. clause 59-2 you know you can do it but you can't heal anybody oh boy that's going overboard you can't do that so strange things here it's real ironic you know they don't carry out the law but they're condemning and by the law so all right any questions on lesson 12 we good Alright, let's go on to Lesson 13.

Lesson 13 will go Chapter 7, verses 25 through 53. As I like to do, just so we get the whole context, I like to read it all the way through, and then we'll go back and dissect it. So, follow along. I'll go ahead and read it, and then follow along on Chapter 7, verses 25 through 53.

So beginning in verse 25, so some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, is this not the man whom they were seeking to kill? Look, he is speaking publicly and they are saying to him, saying nothing to him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? However, we know where this man is from, but whenever the Christ may come, 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, and 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, he will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will he? The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent out officers to seize him. Therefore, Jesus said, for a little while longer I am with you.

Then I go to him who sent me. You will seek me and will not find me, and where I am you cannot come. The Jews then said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? He is not intending to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? What is this statement that he has said? You will seek me and will not find me. And where I am, you cannot come.

Now 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. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Make note of that. One of the questions on the great day of the feast. Interesting part of that.

But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Some of the people, therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, this certainly is the prophet. Others were saying, this is the Christ. Still others were saying, surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is he? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.

The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to him, Why did you not bring him? The officers answered, Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. The Pharisees then answered him, You have not also been led astray, have you? No one of the rulers or Pharisees have believed in him, has he? 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, Our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it? They answered him, you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.

And then everyone went to his home. This has a lot in it, and a lot of ironic stuff in it too, which is pretty interesting. I love with the officers and when he gets back to the Pharisees and their meeting there. So again, remember that this is when Jesus came up, he's taught in the temple, and this is the feast of tabernacles or booze. But then he then came secretly up and has been teaching in this synagogue. So this is everything that happens after that. So question one, after all that Jesus has done, miracles, teaching, etc., in verse 27, did the crowds truly understand who Christ was? Yes, no? No! Some of the people in Jerusalem were saying, is not this man whom they're seeking to kill? Look, he's speaking publicly and they're saying nothing to him.

The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? However, we know that this man is, where this man is from, but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where he is from. So from their actions, they still don't have a clue. Some were hoping that this was the Christ, the Messiah, but many were still hedging their bets. They kind of are looking at the rulers to confirm their suspicions that Christ might be the Messiah. So they're kind of, you know, give us an answer, figure this thing out. Is he the Christ? Is he not? Is he a heretic? Let us know.

So, what do they mean when they say, we know where this man is from? Remember all the teaching he's taught, all this stuff about he's come from heaven, he's down, he's up, man ascending and all this? What do they mean when he says, we know where this man is from? What are they saying?

We know he's from Galilee, Nazareth. Yeah, yeah. They still think this is Mary and Joseph's little boy. You know, after all the teaching, remember all the teaching we've gone through? That he's from God, he's come out of heaven, he tells them about he's going to return to heaven, all this stuff, and where he is from, and they still think he was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth.

So they have no clue. They still think that he is from Nazareth. In fact, I don't think a lot of them knew when you get into the things, you know, that he was born in Bethlehem. They think he's from Nazareth, because when they later challenge him that we know that Christ has come from the descendant of David, a town in Bethlehem, I don't think they even knew he was born in Bethlehem.

From Ryrie I got this, a popular idea associated with the coming of the Messiah was that he would be a man of mystery, coming out of nowhere. Jesus was known to have come from Nazareth, so this did not fulfill their requirement. So I didn't really find anything that said specifically about this mystery that no one knows where he comes from. I think that from Ryrie's note on it was that It was a popular idea. I didn't find anything in scripture that said that, so I think that's from either secular writings or history that that's this mystery that nobody knows where it's coming from. Anybody know a verse on that one where the mystery of the Messiah? I didn't find it and Ryrie confirmed that.

Jesus in verses 28 and 29 rebukes them by 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. Ouch! Ouch! He just said, I come from the Father, whom you do not know. And I think he's drilling down into their knowledge and trying to point them in the right direction, but he slaps them along the way, whom you do not know. I know him because I am from him and he sent me. So he's telling them they don't know God the Father, which I think is a hard statement in the midst of this.

That's a pretty tough thing to swallow right there. Okay, question two. In verse 30, why were they seeking to arrest Jesus? Why were they seeking to arrest him? We know the answer. Come on. Chickens? Somebody in the back rows, come on. The front row has been answering. Come on. Somebody back there.

Yes, basically they were seeking him because he said that he was from heaven and that God was his father. Jesus was saying that he was God. It's interesting that the Jewish leaders were seeking him, but many in the crowd listening believe that Jesus was the anointed one. So here are all the leaders trying to seek him.

He goes, oh, you blasphemous da-da-da-da-da. You know, we want you. Come here. We're going to, you know, send these officers to go pick you up, which, that's good. You know, so they do all this, but the people are going, hey, come here. Look, this guy's doing amazing things. Listen to him teach in the synagogue. You know, the people were starting to pick this up, like, hey, is this the anointed one? Where the Jewish leaders had completely the opposite reaction. They wanted him brought in and taken out. So, little differences between the crowds and the Jewish leaders.

Okay, question three. What did Jesus mean in verse 34 when he says, you will seek me and will not find me? Come on, it's not that hard. First, I think Jesus is stating that his hour has not yet come, saying that they were not able to seize him yet, until that time. This also shows that Jesus was not subject to man's power, which I think is interesting. They're trying to lay hold of him, and they didn't. So he's not subject to man's power, which I think is an interesting thing in here.

He will go voluntarily of his own will when it's his time. The Jewish nation or Jewish people are still looking for him and he's already coming on and so they're still seeking him, right? Well, yeah, they're waiting for the Messiah. Yeah, they're still, you know, if they don't believe on him, they're still waiting for their Messiah to rule and reign and yeah, so they still are. So no, it's still waiting, still later that day.

Secondly, I think he's saying, George, what you're saying, that he would be crucified, buried, resurrected, and ascended to be with the Father. Therefore, he would not be with them on Earth where they could find him. So kind of two different things. But that's the primary answer, is that he's going back to be with the Father.

And you can't find me there. You who don't believe, you're not going to be able to find me. Again, they're trying to figure this out. They think, you know, you're crossing over the, you know, the Sea of Galilee again, where are you going to hide from us? They have no clue what's going on again. What did Jesus, in question four, what did Jesus mean when he says, where I, that's the one I just did, right, yeah. Yeah, oh, the second part of that I have, sorry.

And this was interesting, because Gene sent me a video clip. And I don't know if some of you got that. It was an interesting thing. And as soon as this goes over the internet and all these different things, it was an Oprah video. And it was really eye-opening, actually. And a lot of the internet stuff, I always blow off, or I do Snopes, or check it and try those things. But this was an actual video. several of them in their own voice and stuff.

So my question is, how does this square with there are many ways to get to heaven or if I just live a good life I'll end up in heaven? You laugh. You know this was one in this video that showed and it was like It was just funny, because I got it yesterday when I was studying it. Oprah was saying, no, there are many ways. How can you be so closed-minded as one way to get to God? There are many ways, and if you live a good life, how could you not get into heaven?

All the money is going to get her there. All the money is going to do it. It will be great. The U-Haul will be on the back of the hearse. Take it with her. It is interesting in that this is the Fairness Doctrine again. It's just not fair. What do you mean, you closed-minded Christians? One way? Only way? And it was eye-opening. And a lot of people, I've been challenged that way. I'm sure many of you have. Only one way to God? Boy, diversity, come on. Everybody's got to have a chance at this. And what about those people in deepest, darkest Africa who haven't heard this? What about them? What about them? Well, what about them?

You know, my personal is that, you know, he will bring the gospel to all the corners of the world. And if he'll bring, if there's a seeking heart, he will bring the gospel to them. You know, I thought about that. One of those, actually in that video, somebody brought that up, now that I think about it. I thought, think of what you're doing. Deepest, darkest effort.

It's not fair, they didn't hear the gospel. Okay, what did you just say? God is not capable of giving the Gospel to that person. He created everything. He created you. He gives you breath. He gives you heartbeats. He gives you everything. He holds the whole world together. Colossians. From the micro to the macro. But He can't give the Gospel to somebody. And your conscience. Yeah. Conscience. And we see that.

This great God can't bring the Gospel to that person who is seeking God. Wow, I didn't know he was limited that way. So anyway, just kind of a tangent. Basically what he's saying here, unless people believe in Christ here on earth, they won't be able to reach him in eternity. Where I go, you cannot come. If you don't believe here on earth, you will not come. You will not find me.

Did they understand this? No. Their response, the Jews said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? He's not intending to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? Horrible. Horrible. And what is the dispersion? You know what the dispersion is? It's the Jews that were dispersed into the Gentile world. Yeah. All over. Wherever the Jews were. They aren't going to go out of Jerusalem and teach to those dispersed out amongst those heathen, are they? They had no clue what he meant.

Now, this is the cool part. This is pretty neat. And I hadn't seen this until I studied this. What did the last day of the feast represent in verse 37? This is cool when you put it in context what Christ said. Does anybody know what the last day of the feast, what transpired?

Nobody did their research. They did something with water. What? I know of a saying, the priest went down to the pool of Siloam and filled jars and went back to the temple and poured it out in front of the people. It represented and brought to mind God's provision for them in the wilderness. Yep.

And he's announcing that the Holy Spirit is going to be with us. So, remember what he's saying about flowing from your innermost being, rivers never thirsty, That's cool! On the last day of Feast, he's coming up teaching this. Remember, I think I said it the other way, he cries out. I think he says, where he says he cries out. It was right after that, I think. Oh yeah, now in the last day, in verse 37, now in the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, so this is the last day of the feast, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. So, you know, and I'll read this one from Ironside, this explains it, like what Mike said.

It had been customary on the last day to have a special service called the pouring out of the water. On that day, a company of white-robed priests went down to the pool of Siloam. They filled their jars with water from the pool, and they walked back to the temple and poured out the water in the presence of the people. This was to call to their minds the marvelous provision that God had made for Israel during the days of their wandering in the wilderness.

That was where Moses had Horeb striking the rock and the water came out of the rock in Exodus 17 6. So this was cool. You can get the visual that here is Christ in the temple and here the white robed priest coming up and pouring out water. What does Christ do?

Christ is going, if you're thirsty, if you're thirsty, right here, I will give you rivers of water. Life. I will give you life. I'll give you the spirit. Pouring out of the water in the temple. Remembers, but does that give you eternal life? Is that life? Is that the spirit? So, when you see him crying out, it says he cried out. I can see that. Here are these guys, pomp and circumstance, walking in with their white robes and their pots of water and pouring it out. Jesus cried out, living water.

We have another, I believe it was from Darby, I don't remember, but he said it signifies the first day of the millennium when he will show himself to the world in his glory. I did see in one of the commentaries that, yeah, the first day of the millennium. So again, pointing to what? Christ, the millennial king, as the king of the Jews here on earth. So yeah, I didn't know that.

And why at this point he cries out about flowing with, you know, waters out of your innermost being will flow living water. Well, he's probably watching this ceremony take place in the temple. And they're all in pomp and circumstance, but he's going, right here. He's pointing to where eternal life comes from.

Okay, question six. What is the consistent message of Christ in John's Gospel that we see in verse 37? Now in the Latin, verse 37, chapter 7, Now 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. I've been pounding this in. See if you get that consistent message which I've been talking about.

And what is it? I've now got you all scared. You will not answer for anything now because you're afraid of giving the wrong answer. What? He will show himself to the world. He will show himself to the world, but what has he been walking? He started with Nicodemus. That gives you a hint. If anyone will, let him come. If anybody, anyone, remember? Nicodemus. What did he start with Nicodemus? Anyone.

I'm a Jew. Wait a minute. This is for the Jews, right? Or it'll come through the Jews. Anyone. Again, if anyone, if anyone is thirsty. So there are no prerequisites, no qualifications. Anyone. Jew, Gentile, gender. race, religion, not religion, race. Actually, any religion can come. I shouldn't say that. Anybody who is, can come. There is no prerequisite. And again, the consistent message. You know, and again, for the Jews, I keep thinking, I keep thinking of what they're going through. I mean, we pound on them and we do, or I do, you know, I keep saying, how could they not see this?

But to them, their whole world is being just shaken up. They're seeing this guy and they're thinking this millennial kingdom's about to start. They're thinking, wow, if this is the Christ, Yahtzee. We're going to get the Romans out of here and Christ is going to rule and reign. We're going to be top dogs. We're the chosen.

But things aren't kind of adding up. They're going, remember, eat my flesh, drink my blood, I'm the bread of life. Wow, what? And life and death, it keeps pointing to the fact that he's going to die. Well, that wasn't part of the equation on the Millennial Kingdom. So they're just being twisted left and right. And I don't think we appreciate all their customs, their laws, how they've been raised, the rulers. And they're going, huh?

We see this guy. He's doing amazing things. He's claiming to be God. He's doing miracles. And then the Jewish leaders are trying to kill him. So their world is being turned upside down, left and right. But again, he says, if anyone. So he didn't, even though he's in Jerusalem with the Jews, if anyone is thirsty. So again, it's the open message, no qualifications, no prerequisites. Alright, question 7. In verse 38, Jesus says, he who believes in me, What does it mean to believe in him in this context? In verse 38, he who believes in me, as the scripture says, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. What does it mean to believe? You guys are all chicken today. Have I heard that?

He's the Messiah? The Messiah? And what does the Messiah represent? Messiah is the Millennial King, and that is an earthly kingdom. But to believe here, what does that mean? I think it means to believe what he said. That he is the son of God, he is deity, he is my God man. Who he was and what he came to do. Exactly. The short version, right there. Yeah, it means to believe who Jesus was and what he came to do.

He has spent many messages telling the people that he is the son of God and they must eat his flesh, the bread of life, i.e. believe in him and drink his blood. He must die so we might have life. so that we might have living water continually flow from us, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But he hasn't really said that he's going to die yet? Yeah, and when he talks about the blood, remember, when he talks about the blood, you must drink my blood, what does that mean? He's got to give up his blood, which would indicate that he would have to die. In that message about the blood, because the life is in the blood, we look back on some of that, so he's saying you must take my blood, which meant he would have to die. So that was the inference where he was saying he would have to die.

But we keep saying that they didn't understand any of this stuff. So how could they believe in him if they didn't understand any of this stuff? Well, I think he keeps, you know, as I say, as I see this and as I've been going through it, he keeps drilling down. You know, he started up here and it just keeps, you know, and he knows their hearts. I mean, that's why he, as we just said, on the festival of booze and tabernacles, It's this great ceremony of the water, pouring of the water. What does he do? No, here is living water.

So he's systematically, I think, who was the half of him, peeling back the onion to see where every layer of skin back to get him to realize who he was. They don't understand and he keeps trying to point them to the understanding. I might say that they did understand. but they didn't believe him. When he says, Ego Eni, they know what he means. That he and the Father are the same. That he is God. Now, you don't have to be a scientist to understand if somebody stands up in front of you and says, I'm God, or I'm the son of God. The issue is, do you believe that or not?

And I think it goes back to what Marilyn was saying. Oh, this is the Messiah. They're saying the Messiah. not Christ, you know, as the Son of God being the one who has eternal life. They, I think, take theirs and go, this is the Millennial King. The other thing that's interesting, I think a lot of what he says, the Jews should understand because what he's talking about is the fulfillment of prophecy that they should know. Yeah. And in the Feast of Tabernacles in the end, there's a lot of verses in Isaiah that talk about the living water and water and the Messiah would be the one who came giving water.

And he's claiming through the witness of scripture to be the Messiah. So I'm not sure that they were all that ignorant. Well, like I said, I think there's a confusion between Millennial King and Eternal King. But that's what they were looking for was a Messiah, not for someone to die.

Right, and I think that's why he's pointing him to this fact. That's why he's trying to change their view. That's why, you know, this everyone. That's why I think when you see the progression of the message that he gives from Nicodemus, it keeps going this everyone. And that's kind of disassembling the Jewish Millennial Kingdom view, because it was for the Jews. And he methodically kind of goes through this more and more, that it's to everyone, and then it's no qualifications, then I'm the bread of life, and to believe in me, to eat, which was symbolic of believing, in me, so believe in me. So like I said, he systematically walks them through, kind of trying to change their point of view. I agree, this is all they've known.

The Messiah, the Millennial Kingdom. They're under the Roman rule. They're looking for the Millennial King to get the Romans out of here. Because once the Messiah comes, the Anointed, then they're the top cats. So there's a lot of reasons for it. I beat them up, but I always pull back to myself.

Get in their shoes and what they've learned and where they're at. But I think that's why Jesus is going through all this stuff, just methodically attacking or bringing forth different aspects to point them away from that, about being the anointed or the Messiah. In question 8, verse 39, what were the conditions necessary for the Spirit to come? Verse 39, but this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So what were the conditions? Easy. What? Oh, well, yeah. What? Glorified. I'm getting close though. Yeah, it must be glorified.

The conditions were that Jesus would have to die on the cross for us, be buried, resurrected by the Father, and He'd need to ascend to the Father and be glorified. So He needed to be glorified before the Holy Spirit would come and indwell the believer. So it says at the last part of that, because Jesus was not yet glorified. And when is He glorified? The other condition was their faith. Yeah, and that was the belief part. The condition for the Spirit to come was the glorification. Individually, then, it had to be believing.

I don't know if I can get into this about who believed in the word to receive. It's again a thing about how it's saying it wasn't at this time, it wasn't until... He was resurrected and actually at Pentecost before the Holy Spirit would come for indwelling. So if you look in the Greek and how it was, were to receive, so it wasn't speaking right now, it was to come. So it's basically saying that the Spirit would come after he was glorified and at Pentecost.

We'll move on and get on to, in verse 40, what did they mean when some called Jesus the prophet? In verse 40, some of the people, therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, this certainly is the prophet. Others were saying, this is the Christ. Does anybody know what the prophet was?

The one that Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 15? Yeah, I have Deuteronomy 18. I beg your pardon, 18. 1815, yeah. Yeah, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you and from your countrymen. You shall listen to him. And from 18 verses 17 and 18, the Lord said to me, they have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I'll put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

And also you see it in Acts 3.22, Peter reiterates these words. Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. To him you shall give heed to everything he says. So that's the prophet that they think that he is. That this is the one that Moses spoke of. Yeah, and 614 mentions that. 614, yeah. That calls that prophet. That, yeah, that prophet.

Okay, in verse 40 and question 10, in verse 41, what did he mean when some people called Jesus the Christ? The anointed one. Christos is anointed, or the Messiah. So the anointed one, or for the Jews, the Messiah. This stems from the Jews' knowledge of the Old Testament, of Psalms. You see in Psalms 2, 1 and 2, why are the nations in an uproar, and the people devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth shall take the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. And later in Psalms 2 6, but as for me I've installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. And then Ryrie notes it means to be installed into an office as King Jerusalem where the Messiah will reign during the millennium.

So they're talking about Actually, they're talking about where is the Christ from? Basically, in verse 41, others are saying this is the Christ. Still others are saying, surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is he? I love that. I always wonder when we're on internet and tape, this would be like me saying, Christ came from Commerce City? you know what is that you know what name your town you know rocker but he came from Oakland who you know whatever you know you can name name your town that you think well you know and for those in tape I don't have any problems with Commerce City or Oakland I'm just whatever but they're basically saying you know how could he come out of Galilee you know anything good come out of Galilee and and so You know, they were wondering, you know, if this is the Christ, you know, the anointed one, he came out of Galilee?

Are you kidding me? You know, so they did not know that Jesus did fulfill the Old Testament prophecy of being born in Bethlehem. So they didn't know from the other responses, they didn't know that he was from Bethlehem. They were born in Bethlehem and fulfilling the scriptures. They thought he was from Nazareth or Galilee. Are we one away? Two away. I'll be out next week. So Mike will finish up the last two questions of this. But anyway, let's close.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time again. We just thank you for the consistent message that we see, that there are no prerequisites, qualifications. The only thing that we are to do is to believe, to understand who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Your Son, the one who came and who went to the cross, died paying the price for our sins, and was resurrected, glorifying, And we thank you for the finished work on the cross. Father, we thank you again just for, through that and our believing in that, Father, that we have this intimacy with you, that we can come before you at any time, any place, anywhere, just knowing that you are in control and there's nothing that escapes you about us. And we just thank you again. for your mercy and above all, your grace. And now, Father, we just commit this day to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.