Lesson #17

JOHN 7:1-36
Lesson #17
JESUS CHRIST, THE DIVIDER OF MEN

• Memory verse: John 7:29

• From this chapter to the end of the gospel, John presents Jesus as the rejected, suffering Messiah.
• He suffers the unbelief from His own people, in His own town, in His own family.
• He suffers the rejection and persecution from the religious leaders.
• The rejection and persecution simply prove to us that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God because prophecy predicted the rejection of the Messiah. (Psa 22:7)

• Read Joh 7:1-2
• The Feast of Tabernacles:
• An understanding of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles is very important to understanding this chapter and the statements Jesus made in this chapter.
• This feast occurred about 6 months after the Passover. God’s purpose for commanding the Jews to celebrate this feast was to commemorate God’s provision for the Jews while they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Therefore, it also celebrated the fall harvest.
• The provision in the wilderness was manna, the bread from Heaven, and water from the Rock.
• We have already observed how Jesus spoke to the woman at the well about a spiritual water that leads to eternal life.
• We have already observed how Jesus fed the multitude and said that He was the bread of life.
• The celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles:
• Read Lev 23:34-36
• For seven days people lived in temporary booths to represent their temporary trek through the wilderness.
• For seven days they carried water in a gold pitcher from the Pool of Siloam into the temple. He poured the water into a basin at the foot of the altar while trumpets sounded, people waved branches and recited Psa 113-118. From another pitcher priests poured wine into the basin with water.
• The Pool of Siloam came from springs beneath the altar of the temple. This act demonstrated when the Jews carried water from the rock in the wilderness.
• On the first day of the feast, the priest read Zec 14:8 and Isa 12:3.
• Read Zec 14:8 and Isa 12:3
• Each day the people carried a citron branch in one hand with a palm branch, 2 willow branches, and 3 myrtle branches in the other hand. These represented the 4 letters of God’s name (YHWH).
• The priest took the willow branches and struck the altar 3 times in an effort to shed all the leaves from the branch to represent the removing of sin.
• On the eighth day, they carried no water into the temple, but poured out a double portion from water brought in during the week. This last day of the feast was called, The Great Day, (Simchath torah). It was a day of rejoicing over the law. The people dismantled their temporary booths and struck the sides of the altar. This represented Moses striking the rock in the wilderness. (Exo 17) No water brought in on the last day represented the entrance into the promised land where they drank from fresh springs.
• Jesus is identified as the smitten rock from whom comes the water of eternal life.
• Read 1Cor 10:4
• The desire by the Jewish leaders to kill Jesus
• For the six months Jesus stayed in Galilee because of the opposition by the Jewish religious leaders.
• Jesus had no fear of the religious leaders. The problem was God’s timing. When God’s timing was perfect, He would go to Jerusalem and offer himself to die on the cross.

• Read Joh 7:3-13
• Jesus’ brothers and sisters:
• The children of Joseph and Mary did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah until after the resurrection.
• James = In 1Cor 15:7 Jesus appeared to his brother, James, after the resurrection. James became the pastor of the Jerusalem church.
• Joseph and Simon = Mat 13:55
• Judas = He wrote the book of Jude. Jesus’ half-sisters = Mat 13:56
• Jesus’ half-brothers told Jesus that if he was the Messiah, now was the time to publicly declare himself in Jerusalem.
• The perfect will and perfect timing of God:
• Continuing the theme of the sovereignty of God, in the gospel of John, the author constantly makes us aware of God’s sovereignty in everything that Jesus does. It is not the taunting words of Jesus’ own brothers, nor is it the crowds, nor the desires of the disciples that dictate Jesus’ decisions. He acts specifically on God’s instruction.
• God has a perfect will and timing in our lives as well as in the life of Jesus.

• “…My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.”

(6)

• The difference between our lives and Jesus is that He did nothing outside the direct and explicit time and will of God. We waste all sorts of time doing our own will. We live as though we have lots of time to squander. Jesus knew he had a short time.
• Read Eph 5:15-18
• Read Col 4:5-6
• Jesus fulfilled four of the Jewish Feast days. Jesus will fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles when He comes to earth to establish His kingdom.
• Just as Jesus appeared at the Feast of Tabernacles suddenly and unexpectedly, so He will come at the second coming. Then He will appear in the Temple. (Mal 3:1)
• Why does the world hate Jesus?
• The gospel of John has explained from the beginning that Jesus is the truth and the light. Truth and light expose ignorance and spiritual darkness.
• Read Joh 3:19-21
• The world hates Jesus because:
• People do not want the light and truth to expose their sins.
• People love spiritual darkness in which they can hide their sins.
• People do not want to be made to feel guilty so as to have to acknowledge their sins.
• People do not want to give up their sins and repent of them.
• “But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret..”

(11)

• Jesus’ brothers evidently wanted him to make a public stand in Jerusalem by doing all sorts of miracles to prove who He was.
• It is for that reason, Jesus went to Jerusalem privately after his brothers had left for Jerusalem.
• At the feast in Jerusalem, people asked His brothers about Jesus’ whereabouts.
• Jesus did not want to create a public riot and avoided public attention.
• However, he kept the Jewish feast of tabernacles by going to the temple.
• What are the two conflicting reputations of Jesus? (10-13)
• Many people thought Jesus was simply a good man who did good works.
• Many people thought Jesus was a deceiver who had an ulterior motive.

• Read Joh 7:14-36
• Jesus teaches in the outer courtyard of the temple.
• Notice that the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles is half over before Jesus makes an appearance. (14) Many people would have given up on the possibility of seeing Him there.
• The religious leaders are amazed at Jesus’ teaching.
• Jesus was not formally trained in scripture as a rabbi, yet He knew best how to interpret and apply scripture without this formal training. How do we explain this?
• His words come directly from God. (Joh 8:26)
• His ministry is anointed with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
• He is the Word and the author of it. (Joh 1)
• Jesus was a fantastic teacher, but it was not by His teaching that brought us salvation. It was by His death on the cross.
• Exactly what did Jesus teach in the temple courtyard that caused the leaders to marvel?
• Unfortunately the Bible does not tell us.
• What are the main points of Jesus’ teaching?

• “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

(17)

• Spiritual Truth #1

= You can know if something is of sound doctrine, if it conforms to the will of God and glorifies God.

• “He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.”

(18)

• Spiritual Truth #2

= You can know if someone is seeking his own glory, if he is always talking about himself instead of talking about God.

• Spiritual Truth #3

= Righteousness convicts of sin by its very nature and presence. (7)

• “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?”

(19)

• Spiritual Truth #4

= You can know spiritual truth if it changes the person internally.

• The Jewish leaders thought they kept the law, but the law said, thou shalt not commit murder (Exo 20:13), yet they wanted to kills Jesus.
• .”…and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.”

(22)

• Spiritual Truth #5

= Strict legalism causes conflicts within the law itself.

• The Jewish law required that a baby boy be circumcised on the eighth day. If the eighth day was the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders performed the circumcision even though in keeping the law of circumcision, it broke another Jewish law, the law of the Sabbath.
• Jesus said, “I have done one work.” (21)
• He probably refers to the miracle of the healing of the lame man that He performed on the Sabbath.
• “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

(24)

• Spiritual Truth #6

= Condemnation based on external values is to be avoided while spiritual discernment based on moral principles in the Word of God is commended.

• Read Mat 7:1
• Confusion over Jesus’ identity: (25-32)
• The contradictions:
• The Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus for blasphemy. However, they allow Him to speak freely in the temple area.
• Therefore, the people are totally confused over Jesus’ identity.
• The people wonder if the leaders have changed their minds and now accept Him as the Messiah.
• However, the people have doubts, as well.
• The people know Jesus is from Nazareth. They know His family.
• When the Messiah comes, no one will know from where He comes. (27)
• There was a popular belief at the time that the Messiah would suddenly appear our of nowhere.
• This mistaken belief and others came from Apocryphal books that are not included in the Canon of Holy Scripture. (1Enoch 48:6 4Ezra 13:1)
• From where did Jesus come, is the wrong question. The better question is, Who sent Him? (29)
• The “I Am’s”:
• Jesus makes more statements using the phrase, “I am” within the context of His teachings. Remember that “I am” is a statement of Deity.

• “…ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself…”

(28)

• “…where I am, thither ye cannot come.”

(34)

• “…and where I am, thither ye cannot come…”

(36)

• Some people believed He was the Messiah, but many did not.

• “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.”

(30)

• Those in the crowd who did not believe tried to restrain Jesus, but they could not. Why?
• God is protecting Him from being killed before the appointed time according to God’s pre-determined time and will. The appropriate hour was about 6 months away.
• Jesus, the divider of men:
• Mankind will be divided into two groups of people, those who believe in Jesus Christ and those who do not.
• Those who do not believe will not go to be in the presence of God.
• Those who do believe will spend eternity in God’s presence with Jesus.
• Allusions to the crucifixion:
• Jesus again makes comments that allude to the fact that He knew His time was short and He would leave this earth and return to heaven from where he came.

• “Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.”

(33)

• Read Joh 7:37-52
• On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles
• Again the mention of this feast is important in understanding the context of the environment in which Jesus spoke some very important words.

• “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

(37-39)

• On the eighth day of the Feast, no water was brought to the altar. This indicates that the people’s spiritual thirst was still not quenched even though water was brought to the altar for 7 days. It is in the context of this event that Jesus calls people with a spiritual thirst to come to Him. He would satisfy their spiritual thirst.
• Exactly what do verses 38 and 39 mean?
• Notice the exact word picture that Jesus uses in these verses.
• Water represents the Holy Spirit that would be given to believers after Jesus was crucified.
• Those who are spiritual thirsty could come to obtain a drink of spiritual water.
• This is the born-again experience where the new believer receives Jesus Christ into his heart, and at the same time is getting a drink of the Holy Spirit.
• When the believer has received his drink of the Holy Spirit, that water of life will flow out of his innermost being in the form of a river of spiritual water.
• This is the spirit-filled life of the believer in Jesus Christ. He must not be content with one drink of salvation, but he must allow that water to flow outwardly to touch other people. .
• What do we learn about the Holy Spirit from this passage?
• Act 7:38 is the fulfillment of the plan of God in the life of a believer. The believer takes a drink of the Holy Spirit and then becomes a spring of living water for others.
• The Holy Spirit is not content to be contained and selfishly enjoyed inside of the believer.
• The Holy Spirit has a broader purpose and ministry…one of outreach, of which many Christians deny or inhibit the flow of the Holy Spirit through their lives. As a result, they become stagnant pools.
• Living water is water that is bubbling up and moving in an outward direction. Some people only want to receive from God. However, receiving is inhibited when the container becomes full. The only way to continue to receive from God is to continue to give. (Luk 6:38)
• “Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet”.

(40)

• Deu 18:15 predicted a prophet greater than Moses would come. He would be the Messiah.
• Because no man ever spoke like Jesus, (46) some correctly thought he was the fulfillment of this prophecy about the Messiah.
• Old Testament prophets spoke of a spiritual light coming from Galilee. (Isa 9:1-7)
• Others said that no prophet came out of Galilee. (52)
• They were wrong because Jesus was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth.
• They were wrong because the following prophets came from Galilee:
• Jonah, Elijah, Hosea, Nahum, Amos, and Elisha.

HOMEWORK
John 8:1-30
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Joh 7:1-36
• Have you made a decision to receive Jesus Christ in your heart as your Lord and Savior?
• If you have not received Jesus and would like to do that, you need only pray the following prayer and by faith believe that Jesus Christ is now making you a part of His kingdom.
• “Jesus I recognize that I am a sinner in need of a savior. I ask you to please forgive me of all my sins and accept me into your kingdom. I believe that you died on the cross for my personal sins and raised from the dead to live forever. I ask that you come into my heart to be my Lord and change my life to make me what You want me to be. Thank you, Jesus, for your forgiveness and for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in service to you. Amen.”
• If you have just received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, read Rom 10:9-11. Then tell someone else of your decision.
• Preparation for Joh 8:1-30
• Read Joh 8:1-11
• What may the accusers have had in mind in verse 6?
• What does this passage tell you about:
• Law?
• Sin?
• Mercy and Grace?
• Condemnation?
• Forgiveness?
• Read Joh 8:12-30
• Find at least one Old Testament illustration of Jesus Christ as the light of the world.
• Memory verse: John 8:12