MPC 27th November 2005.November 27 - John 7 - "The Water of Life"
Garnet Swann MPC 27th November 2005.
I don't know if you ever read one of those books titled, The Stupidest Criminals in the World but it makes for funny reading.
They're a collection of stories of various people whose criminal mind is, let's just say - 'slightly less than genius'.
There's the story of Klaus Schmidt who burst into a bank - waving a pistol and screaming, "Hand over the money!" When a staff member asked if he wanted a bag, and he replied, "You bet ya it's a real gun!", they realized he was deaf, so the manager set off the alarm. The alarm was ear-piercingly loud but poor Klaus didn't hear a thing and after 5 minutes the police arrived and took him away.
Or there's the story of the two Californian men who tried to pull the front off an ATM by running a chain from the machine to their vehicle. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine though, they pulled the bumper off their car. Scared, they sped away and drove home. But they left the chain still attached to the ATM. With their bumper still attached to the chain. With their license plate still attached to the bumper.
Now when you read accounts like that you can't help but cringe and laugh. When you read those stories it sort of creates a distance between us the reader, and those stupid people. Our reaction is to say something like, 'How could they do such a thing?' 'How dumb!', 'I can't believe they did that!'
Now as we work our way through chapter 7 of John this week, we're going to look at all sorts of people who react negatively to Jesus.
This chapter serves to work like the book, Stupidest Criminals in the World. As we see how people are so against Jesus, so opposed to Jesus and we realise why they're opposed - our reaction will probably be something like - 'How could they do such a thing?' 'I can't believe they did that!' And as we react in this way, we'll be forced to ask where do we stand with Jesus ourselves.
So let's get into it together. We're going to start by looking at 6 different responses to Jesus - they're there in your outline - but don't get too worried - we'll speed through most of them.
But firstly, unbelief. We see this at the very start of the chapter.
We read that Jesus is in Galilee to the north. And the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles is about to get underway in Jerusalem in the Judean South. Jesus' brothers say to him, 'You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.' In other words - Jerusalem during the Feast of the Tabernacles is 'religion central'. Pilgrims come from all over to be at this harvest thanksgiving celebration. The brothers attitude is like, "If you consider yourself a religious great, Jesus - that's where it is - you better go!" But we see in v5 that they urge Jesus not out of faith, out of a desire that Jesus' message spreads, but out of unbelief.
They're not sincere, they're cynical. Sort of like, "Sure little bro - you think you're so special. Better go off to Jerusalem and show everyone then."
You know, this whole chapter is full of unbelief towards Jesus. But there's something particularly biting when it comes from your own family. I'm sure people here have gone through times when their own family doubts them, questions their integrity. There's nothing more isolating than when your own family doesn't believe in you.
What sarcasm by Jesus' brothers. Here's Jesus - but his own family won't believe in him.
Well, let's move onto the next response. As we keep reading, we see that Jesus says to his brothers that he won't go to Jerusalem on their terms. He has his own timing - he's not going to be pushed and pressured to go. So Jesus goes go up to Jerusalem for the festival later on and v14 - we're told that in the middle of the festival Jesus goes to the temple to teach. And here we get to the next response. That is the Jews are totally amazed by his teaching, they question how Jesus can teach in the way that he does. See, Jesus hasn't gone to the religious schools. He doesn't possess the right qualifications and yet here he is - speaking with authority, speaking in a way that shows he knows God. In the chapter 6 we looked at last week - and we didn't really look at it - but Jesus has a way of saying and he keeps saying, "I tell you the truth". For Jesus, there's no need to say "Rabbi Joseph says this" and "In the tradition of Rabbi Caiaphas, we need to remember... this" That's how the teachers normally spoke. Jesus just says, "I tell you the truth!" And they're so surprised that Jesus speaks in the way that he does and they question - how's this possible!?
You know, they may be amazed by Jesus' teaching and question how it's possible, but Jesus' tells them that he's not resting on his own authority but on the one who sent him - v16. My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. And then Jesus gives the test - If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. If the Jews would actually be focused on God - if their interest was truly about pleasing God - then they'd know that Jesus speaks with all the authority of God. But at that moment all they can do is question him.
So we've got unbelief, we've got questioning, now for number 3 - hypocrisy. You know, Jesus has just mentioned - if only they would have their focus upon God, and be truly about pleasing God - but he now shows how far they have turned from God in pointing our their hypocrisy.
See, in v21 - Jesus refers back to the miracle he performed in chapter 5 that we looked at 2 weeks ago - healing the man at the pool on the Sabbath. What was their reaction to his act of compassion? - do you remember - poisonous hate - that Jesus would dare do it on the religious day of rest. But what does Jesus say - v22:
because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
Jesus' point here is that they're willing to circumcise a male Jewish baby on the Sabbath - they're happy for the outward rituals - but when it comes to truly helping a person - healing them - you get upset at me. What hypocrisy.
I think whenever we look around society it's so unappealing to see people more worried about show and outward ritual, than actually caring for people. What hypocrisy.
So there's unbelief, there's doubtful questioning, there's hypocrisy.
It doesn't get any better. There's also presumption. What I mean by presumption is thinking that you know when actually you don't have a clue.
We see it in v25-27 where there's discussion about if Jesus really is the Christ - the one sent from God. In v27, the people of Jerusalem say, "But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes no one will know where he is from." But Jesus replies in a sort of sarcastic way "Yeah - You know me and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me." They think they know Jesus - son of Mary, bloke from Galilee. But they only think they do. Jesus has been sent from God.
Or go to v40-42. There's lots of discussion again about whether Jesus is the Christ. But then they say - end of v41 - "How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" But there's such irony here. The other gospels tell us Jesus was born in Bethlehem - he did come from where the Jewish Scriptures say the Christ is supposed to. But John the writer of this gospel doesn't bother pointing it out. We're just left knowing the irony - they think they know but they don't know at all - what presumption.
Jesus sums up the whole attitude toward him in v24, when he says, "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." It reminds me of a friend we had. His name is Ken and he's a well off, well respected doctor who works in Canberra. But one day he was wearing just a singlet and thongs and he had to duck into David Jones to buy a gift for someone. Now the thing about Ken is that he's of Japanese descent and so he looks a lot younger than what he really is. And he went up to the counter at David Jones with the thing he had picked out and handed over his credit card.
But when the woman saw 'Dr' in front of his name, and she saw this scruffy young bloke, she said to him, "I don't think this is your card. I think you stole it." But by looking only at his appearance, how far off the mark was she. He showed her some ID and proved who he was. How embarrassed was she!
"Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." Jesus has done so much to show that he's been sent by God. So much evidence points to the fact. But they're only willing to look at appearances.
Unbelief, questioning, hypocrisy, presumption. There's also pride.
We see it with the Jewish leaders in v46-47. See, they've sent off some temple guards to arrest Jesus. But they return saying - they just couldn't arrest him. "No one ever spoke the way this man does" they say. And the leaders reply in v47 - "You mean he has deceived you also? Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law - there is a curse on them".
See, what pride. The leaders think they hold some monopoly on what's true. "We don't believe in Jesus, so obviously no one else should either". But what arrogance.
There's a great warning for all us here I think. Don't ever think that what leaders believe is true simply because they're the ones who believe it. When it comes to myself and Phil - don't take our position on something just because we think so. Go to the bible yourself - see what it says and be convinced in your own mind.
How foolish - to think that anyone who takes a position that's different to leaders is stupid - what pride.
Now there may be hints of faith in Jesus is this chapter, but overall this is how we see people responding to Jesus - unbelief, questioning, hypocrisy, presumption and pride.
Do you get the sense they're looking at the evidence of Jesus openly and calmly?
Do you get the sense they're examining Jesus and coming to an objective conclusion about him? No. We get to our last response.
What's coming through in all of this is that when it comes down to it, it's just plain ol' blind, prejudiced, narrow minded hate.
Jesus says as much to his brothers in v7, The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. And this hatred comes through again and again in this chapter. The Jews are waiting in Jerusalem so that they can arrest him, so that they can kill him.
Those opening words of the gospel are coming true. In the introduction that John provides he says, "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."
I don't know if you ever saw the very sentimental movie, The Majestic.
But it's about a guy named Peter - at the end of WW2 who finds himself in a small American town with total amnesia - can't remember who he is or how he got there. But given the close resemblance, and really out of wishful thinking, the town take him for their favourite son - a war hero who they thought was dead.
Eventually Peter and the town find out their mistake - he's not one of them - he's not their favourite son. But in the end the bond they've formed is so tight - it doesn't matter anymore. He's now one of them.
But here - as Jesus comes to the town of Jerusalem to be with the Jews for the Festival of the Tabernacles - it couldn't be more different. Jesus isn't a stranger at all. There's no mistake. He is one of them. But they will not receive him. They detest him. They want Jesus dead. You know, we can read the book Stupidest Criminals in the World. We think, "how can they do that?" because of their bumbling stupidity. But here of the Jews we think - "how can they do that?" - because of their hateful rejection of Jesus.
Now I don't know if you've ever made a bad decision. You know, made a decision that costs you. Had two ways to go - you went that way. Perhaps at work - had to make a decision where to commit money. As it turned out - wasn't the best option.
But here we see - that as the Jews so vehemently, so hatefully reject Jesus - they're actually setting themselves on a course of action, they're making a decision to cost them the thing that they most desire. And that is, in rejecting Jesus they're rejecting the life and blessing that their scriptures have for so many centuries looked forward to.
We realise this as we see what Jesus says in v37-38.
He says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." And John the writer goes on to say, "By this he meant the Spirit whom whose who believed in him were later to receive."
Now as Jesus said this, we need to realise - that he was playing off the imagery of what is going on in the temple. On this last day of this week long harvest celebration - the High Priest would walk into the temple with a golden jug filled with water. He walked in with the people singing psalms and with blasts from the temple trumpets. And he walked into the temple and poured this water over the morning sacrifice. We're told this pouring out of water symbolized their desire for God to provide rain for the next harvest. But this pouring out of water also symbolized their desire for national blessing and abundance. It symbolized their desire that God would bring in the new age - of goodness and prosperity.
Have a look at these words from Isaiah 58:11, "You will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."
We know the value of a well-watered garden at the moment don't we?
Or how about this from Isaiah 44v3:
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendents.
There - the physical blessing of water is used to explain the spiritual blessing of God giving his Spirit.
Or lastly Ezekiel 47:1-11 - where Ezekiel has a vision of water coming from the temple:
The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep.
He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in a river that no one could cross.
As they saw this water poured out in the temple, it reminded them that one day God would pour out his goodness and blessing upon the nation. It reminded them God would one day pour true life as the Spirit of God is given. It reminded them that God would one day pour out his goodness and blessing. And the temple in Jerusalem would be at the very centre of this new life that God brings in.
And here's Jesus standing in the temple - but he says - "If anyone comes to me and drinks, If anyone believes in me, as the Scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
The Jews are waiting for the great day of God to arrive. And the one they're rejecting is the one who can give it to them. Come to Jesus to quench your thirst for life. Believe in him and he will give you the Spirit of God - to live in you. But these people have rejected him.
There is a great paradox going on in this chapter and really right through John's gospel. As the rejection of Jesus hots up - and it gets pretty hot in this chapter - it only takes Jesus closer to where Jesus eventually wants to go. And that is to give his life on the cross.
When Jesus speaks to his brothers about how the world hates him, he says, 'The right time for me has not yet come'. Or the people try to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, 'because his time had not yet come' we're told. Jesus also says, "I am only with you for only a short time and then I go to the one who sent me." Jesus is the rejected one - but it will take him to the place where he knows he needs to go - the time is coming when he will be arrested - put before the Jewish Court, put before a Roman Court - found innocent - but still be put to death on a cross. A death he will die in the place of others.
Why do we have this chapter in John's gospel? What do we make of it?
Well, I take it, it comes to us as a sort of a warning. Don't replicate their wrongful rejection of Jesus. Here are the Jews - and their response to Jesus has been - unbelief, questioning, hypocrisy, presumption, pride, ultimately hatred. But it's blinded them to the one who Jesus really is. Jesus is the Christ, the one sent from the Heavenly Father who speaks with all the authority of God. And He's the who quenches our thirst for life - gives us the Holy Spirit.
But they have rejected him.
You know, a long time ago - I was given my grandfather's old camera. It was just an old camera. Didn't look much at all and I didn't take any notice of it, never used it. But years later I was flipping through a camera magazine with a friend and it came to an ad - and I casually mentioned - 'I've got one of those somewhere lying around'. And he reacted in a way I didn't expect. He said - "You've got one of those? A Hasselblad Camera?"
And I said "Yeah - why? - it's somewhere around". And he told me that it was the best type of camera you could buy - hand made in Germany - even the old ones can be worth thousands of dollars. I was pretty happy to receive this information. And I went looking for it - rummaging from box to box - first in the cupboard, then under the bed, then up in the attic. And then this sinking feeling came over me - in all the moves from house to house. It must have been in a box I threw away.
As you can imagine - I felt pretty low that day.
There is something tragic about throwing away something precious.
This chapter shows the greatest tragedy of all - throwing away, rejecting, Jesus the Christ.
Don't make their mistake. Don't replicate their rejection. Put your trust in Jesus. Come to him and believe in him. He's so worthy of putting our complete trust in. And as we do this - he gives us the long awaited promise - our thirst quenched by the true life giving water. He gives us the Spirit of God to live in us.