Division Over Who Jesus Is/Unbelief of Jewish Leaders | John 7:37-52

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Good morning. Morning,

welcome. For those of you who are visiting, my name is Jackson's dad. That's a joke for all of those parents out here who once they have little ones become, that becomes their name. No. My name is John and I have the privilege and the pleasure of working with our student ministry.

Watch it, watch this guys.

So I really thought that was gonna work because we've been doing that a lot lately and you missed the cue, but that's okay. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Alright. Good morning. Today we are gonna be going through the Gospel of John continuing our journey through this incredible book.

And we're, today we're focusing our time and our energy on the last part of chapter seven. I'm gonna move this here real quick, but before we dive in, a quick reminder on the gospel of John. If we look at all of the stories that comprise this incredible gospel, we can come to one conclusion in that is that John really wanted us to believe.

To believe in Jesus, to believe in his ways and his heart, to know and come to believe that he is the son of God, that he is the Messiah. We see this over and over again, even in John's own words. He has this concluding summary statement towards the end of the book where he says, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

And that by believing you may have life in his name. John is a book of encounters. It's a book of different stories where Jesus would encounter an individual or a crowd. And as he, as John describes those encounters, he also gives us insights into how people responded to those different encounters with Jesus.

For some, there was immediate belief in understanding in who Jesus was, like the woman at the who got up and ran into town to share the good news, becoming essentially the first missionary to the Samaritans. For others like Nicodemus, it was met with questions. This encounter that he had with Jesus left him wanting more and we would see that he is gonna go on a journey over the course of this book.

And for others there was simple unbelief. They didn't believe in Jesus for a whole host of different reasons. Each of them, individual to themselves or their religion or whatever it was that they were holding on tight to. But we get to see the response of individuals to Jesus and his invitation. And so we're gonna look at that a little bit today.

And before we do I just wanna pray that we also here in this space right now, can encounter Jesus. So pray with me. Father God, I thank you for your presence in this space that you are always with us. Lord, I pray that you would meet each of us individually exactly where we are. Holy Spirit, you know us.

You know what we brought in to this room. You know what we are holding, what we are struggling with, what we are grieving, whatever it might be. I pray that you would meet us and that you would bring healing where healing is needed. That you would bring transformation where transformation is needed as we encounter you.

Jesus, we love you. Amen.

So it was incredible being up here just a moment ago with my son on this stage, watching him read the opening passage for us. And as a father, I have to admit, I spend an incredible amount of time. Praying for and reflecting on how I can point my boys to Jesus, how I can model Jesus to them, how I can allow them to encounter Jesus in our home, that they would know the flourishing of human life that comes with following him, that they would experience his kingdom and his heaven here on earth in this chaotic and dark and broken place.

I spend so much time in prayer. On my knees hoping that they would see and know and experience that in our home. But if I'm being honest with you, it's not always easy to be honest and transparent, especially when you're standing on this stage. I miss the mark a lot. We all miss the mark and it's a struggle at times, but I know that Jesus' grace transcends those moments when I miss the mark with my boys.

And all I can do is come to them and humbly say, I'm sorry. I apologize. This is what Jesus wants from us, not this or that I just did. And then I come to them and I say, this is exactly what I'm gonna do to try to get better in these areas, that I can model that to my boys, that I can model what being an apprentice is of Jesus, A broken one at that.

And so that is something that. I would contend most of us have experienced on our journeys. I don't think my boys are the only ones who have grown up in a household or been taught by individuals who have missed the mark. I bet every single one of you here today has a similar type of story. Maybe it's a story of family origin, the things that are handed to us around the dinner table by our parents.

The opinions that they hold very strongly and pass along to us that if we're honest, miss the mark, or maybe it's church hurt or trauma that you've experienced in a space like this, relationships that you thought you could count on, but went sideways for one reason or another, or a well-intentioned Sunday school teacher coming with good meaning, but delivering a poor interpretation.

Of the word that impacted you for an incredible amount of time. I have a story like this when I was a young boy. I was thinking about this recently, I don't know, from the ages of eight to 10 or 11. A good intention Sunday school teacher at some point in my life held James one up against.

My desire to follow Jesus and my salvation. And he said, if you have any doubt and you lack faith, you are nothing but a wave being blown around in the sea, like the wind, and that the Lord will do nothing for you. And I remember, and I'm not joking here, I spent every night for years wondering if I was saved.

But the thing that came with it was I would pray the prayer again. We all know the prayer that we are taught to pray at that young age. I would pray the prayer again, but in my mind I thought, oh, I've, I'm lacking faith. So did I just turn my salvation off? And then I would pray the prayer again the next evening and think to myself, maybe I just turned it back on.

Am I on an odd or an even, I don't know, this is some of the church hurt or trauma. That's a silly example. I'm glad that I was able to grow out of that, but for some of us here, we've experienced something so much more significant than that. I think about a conversation that I was having with a dear friend of mine just a couple of weeks ago, and she was telling me how she was wrestling with all these doubts and all of these questions, these pains that were coming from the body of Christ, from the church, from her family of origin, and unpacking them, trying to untangle the good from the bad.

And I could see the pain in her eyes as she described some of the embarrassment and the shame. Is this okay? She wanted to take the moldy, she described it as this bowl of spaghetti, and there was some moldy noodles that needed to be picked out of it, and some golden ones that were beautiful and true.

And I think a lot about that as it pertains to my own story, my own life. This concept of deconstruction that many of you might have heard and it can have this really negative connotation. And I think that there are times in places where that makes an awful lot of sense. But the way that I view it is just looking at some of those things and saying, what is good and beautiful and true that has been handed to me, and what are some bricks that have been laid that maybe just missed the mark that we need to chisel out and replace with something new.

And maybe that's not even a right term, this deconstruction. Maybe that's just growth and transformation on our journeys as we follow Jesus. Or perhaps it's the hypocrisy that you've experienced. As you walk this life with fellow Christians or family members or whatever it might be, Alex has brought this stat to us before.

84% of non-Christians say that they know a Christian personally, yet only 15% say that the lifestyles of those believers are noticeably different in any way. Oh, does that hit you in the gut? How many times have I been a part of the. 85%. Sorry, that was some quick math. How many times have I been a part of the 85% when someone would say, I know that Sean claims the name of God, but man, I don't see his grace, his mercy, or his love in his life or in that interaction,

but there's some encouraging things to it as well. Kevin Butcher just mentioned in his sermon a couple of weeks ago that there's this uprising, this excitement, this resurgent from the younger generations from Gen Z, that they're coming to church, that they are curious and that is incredible. I'm so excited for that.

But there is also the flip side of that coin of people my age that I have walked with through youth group and at a Christian university that I have seen completely walk away. From the church and from Jesus because of the, some of the things that I just mentioned, deconstruction in the truest sense of that negative connotation of the word, walking away from Jesus or calling themselves spiritual because they're embarrassed to claim that title of Christian in their communities.

And I, as a father and as someone who works with our students, I constantly wrestle with this question, why? Why the disillusion? Why is it. That we experience some of these things. And you might be thinking to yourself as you're shifting in your seats a little bit okay, Sean, where are you going with this?

How does this relate to that passage, this beautiful passage that your son just read, but stick with me. 'cause as we watch this moment of encounter with Jesus in chapter seven, I want to look closely at the responses coming from the crowd. And I wanna see how they respond to his proclamation and his beautiful invitation to that results in rivers of life flowing through us.

So first, we need to set the scene herein. Verse 37. It says, on the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said, and a loud voice. Now, this was the festival of the Tabernacles. It was a joyous, momentous festival held during the fall of the year, and everybody loved this time together. It was a seven day festival followed by an eighth day of sacred assembly, and it was celebrating God's present provision in that time, in that season, in that harvest, as well as his past faithfulness, coupled with a prayer for the sustaining reign that it would all come again and again.

Families would set up little shelters on the rooftops of their homes or outside of their homes to symbolize the, that they were pilgrims and the wilderness and that God was providing for 'em, that they were reliant on him. So they were doing that during this festival, and each morning was marked by this water pouring ceremony by the priest where he would go and he would draw water out of the well of Salam, and then he would march it.

It to the temple and pour it into the altar, coupled with wine, symbolizing God's provision and that rain, and also calling for the coming Messiah. And on this day, the last day, the great day of salvation, it was a little bit different. The energy was high. Everyone was marching around with the priest following them, and they circled the altar seven times, commemorating when the walls fell at Jericho in Joshua six.

They were singing and praising and praying fervently for rain and forgiveness, and for the Messiahs coming. It was a physical representation of their thanks for what Jesus was doing, and also asking for God's spiritual renewal and his salvation in their lives. And Jesus stands up in the middle of all of this and he says, let anyone who is thirsty come and drink.

This, all that we're doing right here, come and drink. This is me. Whoever believes in me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow within them.

Jesus was identifying himself as the true source of the water that this entire festival, all of these prayers were symbolizing he's saying. I am that I am the fulfillment of Isaiah 55. Come all who are thirsty, come to the waters. They would've known this passage. They would've studied this passage. They would've heard Jesus and seen him stand up interrupting the priest in this festival and said, what is this guy doing?

This is radical. This is crazy. Here is this individual saying that they are the true source of the water. Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment of that Messianic cope.

That that God's spirit would be poured out on them. He said, by this he meant the spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up until that time, the spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified. It's this mic drop moment from Jesus, this radical moment where he stops everything in ways that no one would've ever fathomed or imagined.

And he says, it's me. I am it. I am these living waters. I have come to fulfill those things. D Carson in, in his commentary of John says, the feast of the Taber Tabernacles look back to the wilderness and forward to the kingdom. And Jesus stood right there in the middle and he said, I am both the fulfillment and I am the future.

This beautiful, this radical moment. And so now to the responses from those who witnessed Jesus's profound. And radical moment. A moment that was so important at that time that rabbis taught. If you have not come to see this water pouring ceremony, then you have not even experienced true joy. And Jesus steps into that and says, here is where you can experience it.

So on hearing his word, some of the people said, surely this man is the prophet. Others said he is a messiah, I believe. I see what's going on here. Immediate belief. This is their response. Still. Others asks, how can the Messiah come from Galilee? These individuals are wrapped up in the details of the prophecy that this, that the Messiah, the true messiah, is gonna come from the town of Bethlehem, where David's descendants, where they're getting wrapped around the axle of these details, questioning him, needing more information.

And you could see that the people are divided because of Jesus. And the Pharisees earlier in the chapter, we see that the Temple guards sent the, that they sent the temple guards to arrest him. And we can see their intentions laid bare in the questions of the people who are whispering, wait a second, isn't this the man that they're trying to kill?

So we have the Pharisees trying to kill him. Some people saying that he is a prophet, some people understanding and believing that he is the Messiah. A wide variety of responses. That we can click quickly and clearly see that there is division amongst the crowd, division amongst these individuals who are experiencing Jesus.

And it makes sense because if we're honest with ourself, Jesus is and always has been an incredibly polarizing figure, and that polarization often causes division as his truth confronts our assumptions. The things that we hold dear to the things that we believe, maybe the things that were handed to us on our journeys of faith.

And we see this in the immediate aftermath across the crowd, and none more clearly than in the response from the Pharisees. So let's look at that. And first let's just ask ourselves, who are the Pharisees? This is something that I've been wrestling with in my study of the word more and more, who are the Pharisees?

If you ask an 8-year-old version of myself. I would've said the Pharisees are the bad guys in the Bible. How many of you guys can agree or understand that sentiment? These are the bad guys. We do not want to be like them. If you asked an 18-year-old version of me, I was very wise, I was very intelligent. I studied the word.

I would've said that the Pharisees were individuals who missed the forest for the treat. That they were wrapped up in the scripture and the law, which they took deadly serious, but they were more focused on their own appearance and alignment with the law. They were focused on their control. They were focused on their position.

I guess in short, they had put their faith in God rather than in the God of their faith. And if you asked a 40-year-old me, or to be more correct, a 39 and 11.25 12th. Version of me.

I think the way that I view the Pharisees now is more as a cautionary mirror, not a subset of religious leaders or individuals from a long time ago, but as a mirror that I can hold up as one that points out the ugliness in myself when I miss the mark. When I miss the forest for the trees or when I allow my assumptions or my frame of reference or my opinions or whatever it might be, my preference is to be above what Jesus is calling me to be.

And so that reframing, I think is something that it would be beneficial for all of us. And I would submit, and I, and please hear me when I say this, I don't mean to offend. Anyone as it comes from a place of love for this body of Christ. But I would say even today, people wrestle with what it looks like to live in the way of Jesus with the heart of Jesus.

We don't all have the exact same ideas of what that looks like. We're not all on the same. Point in our journeys of growth and transformation when God is doing the work in us to help point us in some of those ways. Some of us might have faulty bricks still in those walls that need to be addressed or removed and just look around in this current moment thinking that we all agree in who Jesus is and how to live in his ways and with his heart.

I think we can all admit that's just not the case. If we look at our social media feeds right now, if you open it up I bet you're gonna find a whole bunch of different opinions of what that looks like. Or Kevin Butcher a couple weeks ago gave us this brilliant illustration of the Barbie, Jesus, when we can dress Jesus up in different clothing or different things based on our own opinions, our own perspectives, our own desires, maybe our own political affiliations, we create Jesus to be this thing.

That fits the mold of what we want him to be in that moment. I've been wrestling with this for years, to be honest. Sorry, take a break. It's been something that has been on my mind and my heart for a long time. As I look around the world and I look locally, I look at my family. And I see all of these different opinions and I'm like, wait, we're all following this same Jesus who has made clear his teachings.

What is it that we're doing? Like, how can we struggle to get on the same page? How can we have so much hypocrisy? How can we have so many of these things in our lives? And I've just, I've looked at it and been questioned by individuals and loved ones and family members, and I'm like, this is the Jesus that I see in the word.

I think it's exemplified in a social media post that I just saw from someone recently that said that they wanted to fight and eradicate individuals that hold similar views and positions that I do, and I'm like, wait a second. Is that the loving mercy and grace of Jesus? Where in the scripture does it call us to that?

I don't see him talking about fighting and eradicating. I see him winning people over with love, meeting them where they are at with mercy and grace, and love bringing them along with patience.

It is comments like those that I saw where the division just becomes so clear on who Jesus is. And what he wants from us and what it looks like to live in his ways with his hearts. It's comments like that look a lot like this that we see from the Pharisees, you mean he has deceived you also the Pharisees retorted, you ha you have.

Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him? No, but this mob knows nothing of the law. There is a curse on them. Fight them. Go and win.

When we hold tight to our faith. In our faith rather in the God of our faith, we end up saying things like that. And so to shed more light on this and bring us all into this uncomfortable shifting in our seats, I would ask us the question, which teachings of Jesus most defends you? Because if we're honest, there are teachings that Jesus gives to us that we're all gonna wrestle with and say, ah, I agree with that over there, but I really.

Feel uncomfortable with that. I don't love that at all. Which teachings offends us the most? Is it to love our enemies, but Jesus, you know better than anyone what that individual has done to me, the pain that they have caused me, the brokenness that they have brought into my life. How could you ask me to love that individual?

Or maybe it's the Jesus who says to love your neighbor no matter who it is, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you, no matter how much they disagree with you on the things that you hold so close and so dear, go and love them. Step out of that comfort zone. Show them my mercy and my grace and my love and my care.

Or maybe it's the Jesus that brings along a religious zealot. Who holds positions and opinions that infuriate you, and you look to him and say, that's the bad guys of the Bible. And he sits with Nicodemus and he brings him along and he says, no, come with me. Continue to see, come and drink, and I will bring you all the way.

Is that Jesus offensive to you? When we pause and we sit with these questions, I pray that it would soften our stance and our hearts. Against the things that divide the body of Christ that it might reveal in us where he wants to bring healing in our lives, that it might reveal in us where he wants to bring growth and transformation in our lives.

It's not an easy thing to do, but it is something that I pray that we all sit with and wrestle with on this journey of following Jesus, of being his apprentice, of wanting His kingdom and his heaven in this world, not my version of it. Yeah, not the things that I want or prefer or desire. On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and he said in a loud voice, let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink For whoever believes in me.

As scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them

that we who are thirsty would come to him. What does this look like now if we're contemplating what it is to just put aside everything that we hold or the residue in our lives that might be pulling us away from Jesus, what does it look like for us to just come to him and drink? That whoever believes in them has rivers of living water.

It makes me think back to this beautiful passage in Ezekiel 47. This is what Jesus is calling back to and says, then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the ABA where it inserts the dead sea.

When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. And swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. This is what it looks like to come to Jesus and to drink, to put aside some of those other things that might be holding us back. That is where there is life and things are teeming.

On the, around the river, there will be large numbers of fish because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where the rivers flow, everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore from Eng Getti to Alam. There will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds.

We will be fishers of men. We will bring forth fresh living water that is teeming with life. There will be so many fish that are being fed by this incredible source, which is Jesus. The living waters he gives is the spirit who fills us and then overflows from our believers' heart. It is not us. It is not our opinions.

It is not the things that make us up. It is simply the spirit who fills and then overflows our hearts that brings that life. But when we miss the mark, we see here in Ezekiel 47, but the swamps in the marshes will not be become fresh. They will be left for salt. This brackish water, this water that isn't supporting the life around it, that isn't bearing fruit as compared to the fruit trees of all kinds, that will grow on both.

Banks of the river, the one that is flowing with life, their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food, and there are leaves for healing. We are now that temple that river flows from by way of the Holy Spirit.

Those living waters flow from us now that the people that are around us and in our communities. Would be teaming with life.

But when we missed the mark, as Dallas Willard said, the greatest issue facing the world today with all of its heartbreaking needs is whether those who profess allegiance to Jesus do in actual fact, whether they are his apprentices, learning from him how to love. So what does it look like to love? In the ways of Jesus, what does it look like to have that river of life flowing from him?

We see here in Galatians 5 22, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We all know this scripture. We have all seen it. This is the fruit of the spirit. These are the things that good. That come from him and his goodness. Since we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with that spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking or vying each other. In Acts two, we see they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles, by these rivers of life flowing through them.

In Matthew 22, we get this summary statement from Jesus when he is asked, what does it look like to be your follower? What is the output of it? What is the greatest commandment that we should be following if we are your apprentices? And he simply says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.

This is the great first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. Okay. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. I love that Jesus gave us this. The word is long and it is complicated, and we can wrestle with it and we can interpret it for our entire lifetime.

But when it comes down to understanding what is it all about, what is all the prophets, what is all the law, all of the scripture about? It's to love God and to love people. That is what rivers of life flowing from you, stemming from the spirit. Looks like in Micah six, eight, it says He has shown you or immortal what is good and what does the Lord require of you to act justly, to love, mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Another summary statement, what does the Lord require of you? To seek justice, to love others, to be humble on that pursuit as you continue to follow after Jesus. And all of this culminates and is in alignment with this new command that Jesus gave to his disciples to love one another as he has loved us.

He's madly in love with us. God is madly in love with you. It's what I want our students to hear every single day. What I would want you to know and understand and feel every single day, all of this is rooted in God's love for us. And as he has loved us, he commands us that we must love one another.

By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. When we drink deeply of Christ, his life flows through us. We love God through our worship and our surrender. We love people through our compassion and our grace and our ability to serve them. We seek justice. We love mercy.

We walk humbly. This is what Jesus's invitation is for each of us as he stands there and he says, come and drink. This is what will flow from you. We don't need division over this. This is what I'm calling us to. I know these passages well. They're so familiar to me. I love them. I teach them all the time.

We have sermon series on them. If you ask the students earlier today, they probably would've predicted that I would land on John 13 because it's so important to me, and as I reflect and I meditate on these verses, the strong invitation that I feel again and again is that God would reveal in me where the waters are flowing from something other than him.

How can I continue to grow and correct those things to live in his spirit, to heal where I need healing and transform where I need transformation. As we conclude today, I want to go back to this earlier point of division, that division that we sometimes sense with other people who follow Jesus and call themselves his apprentices.

I am not gonna have you raise your hands or nod your heads, but I would imagine that each of you have experienced this over the last couple years, whatever it might be. Maybe you haven't and you will when you look at someone who is claiming the name of Christ, but you don't see the grace or the love or the mercy, or maybe those moments when you look in the mirror.

That the Pharisees so graciously hold up to us and see the ugliness in yourself and say, I have missed the mark, and those moments and those fractured relationships that can come from it. I pray for healing and restoration in those relationships and in those families as we come together and are no longer divided as the crowd was.

And recently I came across this song that I wanted to bring to you all today. It's this beautiful message of healing and restoration amidst the division that can sometimes come from this polarizing Jesus, he calls all of us to come to him. He knows that we're all thirsty. He knows that we're all broken and need transformation, but this song is from this poet who's anonymous.

And I think he's recognizing in this moment too, that the division that comes from us is no longer needed, that he wants to bring healing and restoration through the love of Christ that holds all things together. So Aaron's gonna play this song for us, and I would just invite you to reflect on the words that will be on screen.