Challenging & Questioning the Christ | Sermon 04/30/2023

John 7:14-36

Jesus arrives back in Jerusalem and during the Feast of Tabernacles He starts teaching in the temple. All other rabbis establish their authority to teach by naming other men but Jesus speaks by God, for God, as God. They challenge Him but He reminds them of His healing of the lame man at the pools of Bethesda on the Sabbath. The Jews think they know the Law of Moses but Jesus articulates how the laws they are using to condemn Him actually shows He fulfills them. His desire is to bring us wholeness in eternity and lasting Sabbath rest. They judge by what they see because they have no faith. Judging with righteous judgment is possible only by belief in Him.

The people of Jerusalem believe they know where He is from and who He is but He cries out that they don’t know at all. He comes from realms they have never seen and the invisible God they have never truly known. But He knows the Father. In the midst of this, the Pharisees and high priests were concerned some of the people were starting to believe Jesus so they sent the temple police after Him. But every time they tried to seize Him the sovereign God would not let them. He will go to the cross neither early nor late. He will indeed leave one day after He successfully finishes His mission. Jesus is a seed going into the ground that they cannot pull out or stop His growing. The kingdom will expand and no matter what they do, persecution, false imprisonments, and murder of believers they will not be able to stomp it out.