Conflict in the Temple

John chapter 7. Jesus is in a phase of his ministry toward the end. It's six months away from the cross and this three month period of ministry is a time that is often called conflict and instruction and what we're seeing is the very first event of this time time in those three months of his life and ministry. Jesus has left to secretly travel to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and he does not show up at the temple and begin teaching until midway through the feast. And immediately he is thrust into intense conflict with the religious leaders, with the Jews, with the Pharisees and religious leaders of the land. We saw last week that part of the conflict was over the teaching of Christ. As he began teaching people were saying where did he get this? He didn't go to our rabbinical schools and Jesus makes the point that his teaching came from the Father, it came from God, came from above. And then there was conflict over his work. He asked the question why are you trying to kill me? He said I know why you're trying to kill me. It's because of the miracle. I did one miracle in Jerusalem and you're trying to kill me and that was several months ago when he had been at another feast and had healed a man at the pool of Bethesda in chapter 5. And for that one miracle they were trying to kill him because it was done on the Sabbath day. And so Jesus raises a question about that and basically says to them if it's possible and legal and okay for you to circumsize a child on the Sabbath day, if that just happens to fall, the eighth day falls on the Sabbath, you do that and spine, is it not okay to heal a person? And so there's conflict about his work, about his miracle. The third conflict is conflict over his origin and that's where we begin tonight in verse 25. Let's just pick up the story there and begin reading Jesus is still in the temple. At that point some of the people in Jerusalem began to ask, isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is speaking publicly and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? This is an interesting question that they raised. The normal person, the average person in the audience, can't understand why the religious authorities have an arrest of Jesus. I mean he's there. They know that the religious authorities are trying to kill Jesus. They want him and they don't understand why they are not arresting him now. And so they ask the question, have they really concluded that he is the Christ? Now we're going to see later when the Pharisees hear that. That in ranges them. That that question would even be asked. But the people ask the question, have they concluded that Jesus is the Christ? Now notice their conclusion in verse 27. This is the average person in the temple. But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, the Messiah, the Christ means the Messiah, the anointed one. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. Now the reason they said that is because there was a legend, kind of a tradition in that day, that the Messiah would just appear out of nowhere and just show up and nobody would be able to trace where he was from, his lineage, his family, anything. And what they're saying basically, we know where he's from. He's from the Azra. We know his mother. We know his brothers. He obviously can't be the Messiah. And Jesus response to them indicates that they have totally misunderstood where he's from. Look at verse 28. Then Jesus still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, yes, you know me and you know where I am from. That statement basically is sarcastically said. It's a statement of irony. Oh yeah, you know me. You know where I'm from. But notice what he says next. 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. In other words, Jesus is saying, yeah, you say you know me and you know where I'm from. You really don't know where I'm from. The one who sent me talking about God, the Father. That's where I came from. And so you think you know where I came from. You don't know where I came from. And so there's controversy over his origin and notice the response of the people. Verse 30. At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his time had not yet come. What do you think happened there? What do you think happened? That God was thinking there was a time. It wasn't time. So whatever happened is certainly a God thing, isn't it? Yes, God providence to organize that they could not take him even though they tried. You know, I'd still like to know what that looked like. You know earlier in his ministry in Nazareth, you remember in Luke 4 when he was speaking in his hometown in the synagogue. The very beginning of his ministry and the people got enraged because he claimed to be the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61. And so they took him out side the town to a cliff to throw him over the cliff and remember the Bible says he passed through their midst and nothing happened. I wonder if something like that happened here. I wonder if Jesus just kind of walked away. You know, whatever happened and we don't know exactly what it looked like, whatever happened, they could not put a hand on him because there's not yet time, not yet in the Father's timetable. Verse 31, still many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said when the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man? So you see there's controversy over who he is, what he is done, where he's from, and some people are saying he can't be the Messiah because the Messiah is going to appear out of nowhere but we know where he's from. And others say, wait a second, when the Messiah comes, is he going to do any more miracles than this man has done? And so there's debate about the person of Jesus in the temple. Okay, there's one other conflict there and it's a conflict over a statement that Christ makes in verses 32 to 36. The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priest in the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. Okay, the Pharisees hear what they're saying in verse 31, he's got to be the Messiah, nobody can do more miracles than he's done and added to that what they had said back in verse 26 or somewhere they're about, so have they really concluded that he's the Christ? Questioning first of all their intelligence, questioning their spiritual leadership, questioning if the Pharisees really know what they're talking about and that's enough for the Pharisees, man, they've had enough of that and so they send some temple guards into arrest him. They're going to make sure this is it, this is the end. Now we're going to see later what happens when they try to arrest him. It's pretty interesting but they've had enough. Verse 33, Jesus continues teaching, he doesn't run, he continues teaching, he said, verse 33, I'm with you for only a short time and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me but you will not find me and where I am, you cannot come. What's Jesus talking about there? Is death? Okay. Anything else? Anything more? Can't come because you're not a believer, yes. Where is he going to go after his death? Back to heaven, right? He's been talking about the fact that he came from the Father. They're saying he came from Nazareth and he said, no, no, the one who sent me. I came from heaven and that's where I'm going to go. I'm going to be with you only for a short time. I'm not going to be here much longer and then I go to the one who sent me. He's talking about the Father. I'm going to go back to heaven and you will look for me but will not find me where I am, you cannot come. That's the statement of judgment right there where I am, you can't come because of their lack of faith in Christ where he's going. They can't come. They can't join him in heaven because they have rejected him and so that's what he's getting at. But notice, again, there's debate, there's conflict, there's misunderstanding of the statement verse 35, the Jews said to one another, where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said you will look for me but you will not find me and where I am you cannot come. Again, complete misunderstanding of what Jesus is saying and so there is conflict about his statement of where he's going. Okay, this is his first event. This is the first thing that has happened since he's been in Jerusalem. He's in the temple teaching and all this conflict arises over everything he says. There's this debate going back and forth and you see the Pharisees desiring once again to put an end to him. Okay, any questions about this episode in the temple? I think what they're saying is he's got to be, we believe he's the Messiah, he's got to be because what are we going to wait for if he's not the one? Is somebody else going to come that's going to do more miracles in him? I don't think so. I don't think anybody can come and do more than he did to show you the Messiah so they're putting their faith in him. Now again, it's a little difficult to know exactly what that means. They put their faith in him because that statement has been made before in John's Gospel in John chapter 2. Many believed in him in John chapter 2 but Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew their hearts. So there is a level of belief in Jesus that just says, you know, I think he's the Messiah. I think we ought to make him our king and it's that popular belief that Jesus will overthrow the Romans and whether or not that's the kind of belief these people have or whether it's deeper, more genuine. They're actually trusting him as the Son of God like the 11 disciples did. It's difficult to know because really not much more said about them here. What goes in number four, blank? When is not on the board? I understand. You don't see it? Over the statement of Christ. Over the statement of Christ. Yeah. Okay. Any other comment or question about this conflict in the temple? Okay. This is not the end of the feast yet. There's a little bit more that's going to happen at the feast of Tabernacles and it's going to happen in the temple and that's where we come next in verse 37 with this amazing claim of Jesus in verses 37 to 39. I want to read it and then we'll back up and get the full picture here. Okay. On the last verse 37 now on the last and greatest day of the feast. Okay. This is kind of the peak of the feast. There are some things that happen on the last day of the feast that kind of bring everything to a grand conclusion. Okay. The last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 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 then John adds this commentary, this explanation of verse 39, by this he meant the spirit whom those who believe in him were later to receive up to that time the spirit had not been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Okay. What what is going on and what does Jesus do here? If if if somehow I can paint a picture for you of what's taking place, this is an absolutely startling event, stunning event. On the last day of the feast of Tabernacles there were several special observances. That's why it's called the greatest day of the feast. The whole thing kind of climaxes at this point and there are some ceremonies that take place that are just amazing in their scope. On the last day of the feast before the morning sacrifice, people would come out of their huts, their lean twos that they'd put up for the week, you know, for the feast of Tabernacles and make their way to the temple courts. And part of the first ceremony that would take place would be the priest. The high priest or whatever priest was presiding on that day would take a golden vessel and leave the temple courts, lead a procession of leaders and priests down to the pool of Psyloam. And I wish we did have the screen because maybe show them to you next week anyway just to get a visual. The the pool of Psyloam is way down below the temple. The temple is on a high spot in Jerusalem and the Old Testament was called Mount Mariah. So it's really on the top of mountain. Everything to the south falls off and the city of David, the Old Testament city of David is down below that where the temple was. And so they would walk down these and I've walked up them. The excavated ruins of these steps that go down the hillside to the pool of Psyloam. The pool of Psyloam was a pool that was in Old Testament times just inside the city walls and it was a reservoir for water that was channeled into the city by Hezekiah. When the city was under attack the only good spring was outside the city walls. And so they dug a tunnel from that spring under the city walls into a place where they could let water gather. It's called even today Hezekiah's tunnel. And if you go to Jerusalem I don't know if you can do it on most tours but you can still walk through that tunnel today. I walked through that. It's just a channel with water. Sometimes up to your ankles, sometimes up to your knees. And sometimes the tunnel gets low enough where you have to crouch. Sometimes you can stand up and walk through it. And it's about a quarter of a mile to a half a mile long. And then it empties up into this reservoir of water which is 20 or 30 feet long about six feet wide, something like that. That is the pool of Psyloam. And the priest would go down from the temple and leading this procession with this golden vessel and gather water in that vessel from the pool of Psyloam. And then they would proceed back up to the temple in this grand procession. And they would come into the temple courts again. And this vessel filled with water would then be emptied into another vessel in a very elaborate ceremony. And that was to picture something from the wilderness wanderings of Israel. Remember this whole feast of Tabernacles was to praise God for the deliverance of people from Egypt and their wilderness wanderings. What do you think that would represent? What event in the wilderness would that represent? The water coming from the rock. And so that miracle is what's being represented here by the pouring out of this water from the pool of Psyloam. Right there in the temple courts they're representing and celebrating and praising God for the water that came from the rock in the wilderness to give the people sustenance. They were thirsty. They were some of them ready to die at first and God miraculously provides this water. And then after that ceremony they would sing Psalm 113 through Psalm 118 called the hallelujah Psalms, hallelujah Psalms. They were Psalms that were sung at the feast of Tabernacles in this particular ceremony and they end in Psalm 118 with a prophecy of the Messiah. This is incredible that Psalm 118 that everybody is singing ends with a prophecy of Messiah and this is what it is. Psalm 118 verse 19, open the gates of righteousness. I will enter and get thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks for your answer to me. You've become my salvation. The stone, the builders rejected has become the capstone. Now if you know anything about your Old Testament that's familiar. That's a familiar statement. In the New Testament that's referred specifically to Jesus. The Lord has done this. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made that us rejoice and be glad in it and they go on down through the end of the chapter praising God. Verse 27, the Lord is God and He has made His light shine upon us with bows in hand. Join in the Festil procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God. I will give you thanks. You are my God and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord for His good, His love and dearest forever and that's how this praise would end. By the way, these statements are made when Jesus rides into the city at the triumph of procession. Remember the palm branches and all the bows and the festil, the bows of a tree in a festil procession from Psalm 118. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. All that's being said is Jesus rides into the city on the palm Sunday. But now in the temple all of this is taking place. This elaborate ceremony of the pouring out of the water and the singing of Psalm 113 to 118. And then following that there would be a time of silence and a little bit of a break, a pause in the ceremony for the sacrifices to be prepared. And I am convinced it is at that moment when there is a pause after the water has been poured out, after the hellel has been sung, announcing the coming of Messiah in procession, Festil procession with the branches of trees being cast down. And this is the day the Lord has made for the Messiah to come after that has been sung. Everything gets quiet. And it was then, I am convinced that Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice so that everybody in the temple grounds could hear. If anybody is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. After what they have just seen, do you know what Jesus is claiming? Everybody in that place, how many thousands of there were there in the temple grounds. And they hear him saying, I am the fulfillment of everything you've just seen. I am the water from the rock. I am the one who will quench your parched and thirsty souls. I am the one that is the Messiah, that you are singing the hellel about, that you're talking about this is the day that the Lord has made. We'll rejoice and be glad in it because it's the day Messiah comes. Here I am. That's what Jesus is saying. It is an absolutely stunning moment. And he cries out loud at this quiet pause in the ceremonies. Whoever believes in me is the scripture that said, streams of living water will flow from within him. What an incredible moment that must have been. I think if I had been Peter or James or John or one of the disciples besides Jesus, I would have been shocked. I'm sure the hair would have been standing on the back of my neck. What is he doing? He's inviting the wrath of the Pharisees and we'll see that's what happens. But it is a very impressive moment of the ceremony in the temple and it is a very impressive moment for our Savior as he claims loudly in the temple with thousands and thousands and thousands of people there to hearing. I'm the fulfillment of all of these ceremonies. Come to me. I'm the water. Whoa. Well, Jesus the Bible says it gives this invitation. By the way, it's a great invitation in verse 37. Then you want us thirsty. Let him come to me and drink. There's a great salvation invitation. You got to be thirsty first and that means conviction. You've got to recognize that you have a need, that your soul is dry and that everything you've been trying to fill it with is empty and it doesn't satisfy. You know, you got to start out thirsty in order to get saved. Jesus says, if anyone is thirsty, let him come. Come. I invite you. Come to me. Jesus is the only one that will satisfy. Let him come to me and drink. It's not just coming to Jesus and recognizing who he is. It's coming and drinking. In other words, partaking of him, receiving him as your Savior. That's the invitation. I notice the invitation is broad. Anyone, if anyone is thirsty, there's no limitation here. If anyone is thirsty, let him come and drink. What a great invitation to salvation that is. And then Jesus talks about after you believe in him, there will be a stream of living water flowing out from within you. In other words, a constant source of this refreshment spiritually that will come out from you, not only to nourish, satisfy your needs, but also to be spread out to others. And John says, he was talking about the Holy Spirit then, the indwelling Holy Spirit, that when we come to know Jesus the Savior comes to indwell us and becomes a spring of water from within that should overflow to other people and satisfies all of our needs. So this amazing claim of Christ is more amazing when you see it in the background of where it took place and when it took place. You know, it's not just Jesus standing up, okay, I'm going to resume teaching you. Anybody want to listen? No, it's not that. He commands their attention at this poignant moment in the temple ceremonies. Absolutely amazing. Any any comment or question about the amazing claim of Christ? Okay, there is divided opinion about him then in the rest of the chapter. And let's just look at this quickly, verses 40 and 41. Some were impressed with him. Some were impressed with him. On hearing his words, some of the people said, surely this man is the prophet. Others said he is the Christ. By saying he is the prophet, they're referring back to to Deuteronomy 18 where the first national prophet, Moses, made the statement that there will come a prophet like me someday and it was one of the clear Old Testament prophecies of Messiah. And so some people are ready to say he is the prophet, the one that was promised by Moses. Others are ready to say he is the Christ. He is the Messiah. There are some who are coming to that conclusion. And by the way, there will be a groundswell of people receiving Christ in the last few months of his ministry because of some of the things he does, some of his teaching, his presence in Jerusalem and also particularly a little bit later on the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And the Bible says a lot of people will trust him because of that. But some people are impressed and convinced. And then the second response, some were prejudiced against him. Some were prejudiced against him. Verse 41, middle of the verse there. Still others asked, how can this, 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? Thus the people were divided because of Jesus, someone had to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Now what's the problem here with their interpretation of where he came from? The Old Testament did say that the Messiah had to come from the city of David, Micah 5 too, clear prophecy, but now Bethlehem of Ephraim, though that will be little among the thousands of Jews, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel. Exactly. Yeah, they're confused evidently they don't remember or may not even know, probably don't know that he was born in Bethlehem. Of course within the first two years of his life, before he was two years old, he was off to Egypt and then they went back to Nazareth. So he grew up in Nazareth, but he was born in Bethlehem. So misinformation, right? Misinformation on the part of the crowd. The Messiah can't come from Galilee. The Old Testament says, yes, come from Bethlehem. So some were prejudiced against him because they misunderstood where he came from. Some were moved by him, verses 45 and 46. I told you a little bit earlier we would see what happened to those guards that were sent to arrest him. I think this is cool. Verse 45, finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who asked them, why didn't you bring him in? No one ever spoke the way this man does. The guards declared. They were moved so moved by him. They did not dare arrest him. And you can imagine what they would face at the hands of the Pharisees for not bringing him in. That was their order. They were ordered to bring him in and they didn't do it. But they were so moved by hearing him teach they couldn't. They couldn't. That's amazing. You know, I would love to know what happened to some of those. I don't know. I don't know what would have happened. But I wonder if just wonder if some of them later became believers, some of them may have joined the company of believers in the book of Acts if they did indeed live. Who knows. And then verses 47 to 52, some were enraged against him. Enraged against him. Verse 47, and you mean he has deceived you also. The Pharisees were tormented. Has any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him? No, but this mob that knows nothing of the law. There is a curse on them. And you just hear the anger there. The things they're saying. I mean, this mob, this unscoulded ignorant, uneducated mob of people. They're the only ones that would believe in him. But they're not right about that. Look at verse 50, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, and who was one of their own number, meaning he was one of the Pharisees, asked, does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to see what he is doing? A voice of reason in the midst of out of control anger. Do you get the impression that Nicodemus, if he has not already come to faith in Christ, is moving that direction? We'll see Nicodemus later. Nicodemus is an interesting case study. You see him later helping Joseph of Arimathea bury the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. So Nicodemus just raises this point of order. We cannot condemn him without first hearing him, giving him a hearing. Notice the response of his fellow Pharisees, verse 52, they replied, are you from Galilee too? Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee. By the way, they were wrong about that. Jonah came out of Galilee. Jonah was from Gathaeffer in Galilee, and there may have been other prophets from Galilee, but these guys are just so enraged, they're just venting is what they're doing. And they actually turn on Nicodemus, think he's taking up for Jesus. Interesting conflict and Jesus has just gotten started in Jerusalem. It's this first day in the temple or first few days in the temple, three or four days. Okay, comments or questions about this divided opinion about Christ. The other question where he's from is that, is that you show them their ignorance or is they feel that all the prophets have made a film more than they have in the past? I mean, you know where he from? Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, you're exactly right, Lindsey. They probably, some of those at least who said that, who raised that question, were legitimately saying, wait a second, the Old Testament says he has to come from Bethlehem, and we're checking his credentials and they don't match. Now, obviously, as you said, they didn't understand. He was born in Bethlehem. They didn't have birth records that were easily available, and people didn't know where he was born. They just knew he came from Nazareth. But yeah, I think you're right. I think some of them were very genuine in trying to check his credentials. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there were lots of people, and this is something else that we don't always remember. There were lots of people in the first century and before and after that claim to be the Messiah. Yes, till today, that happens. But there were lots of revolutionaries. You remember in the book of Acts, chapter four, where Gamelio says, when the council is threatening Peter James, or James and Peter, John and Peter, sorry. And saying, wait a second, let's calm off a little bit. Let's pull back. Remember this guy from Egypt that claimed to be the Messiah, short time ago, and then they've listed one or two others. I mean, there were lots of this going on. And so people were within their rights to check and make sure, okay, does he fit? Does he have the right credentials? So yeah, I think Lindsay, if you hit on something there, I think that question is probably genuinely motivated. Sadly, misinformed, but genuinely motivated. Okay, good, anything else? Okay, we're not going to get into the story of the woman caught in adultery. We'll save that for the next time, but you'll see once again, the Pharisees trying to trap Jesus and conflict arising. But Jesus again does some very interesting things in that encounter. We'll get to that next time. Let's pray.