John Lesson 12

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John - Lesson 12 - John Chapter 7:1-26

Contact: David Parham 940-322-4343

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Memory verse for this week: Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Introduction:

In the last part of John Chapter 6 , we found that Jesus made one thing perfectly clear. Salvation is wholly of the Lord. This week, we begin Chapter 7 where Jesus departs from Galilee that He might partake of the Feast of Tabernacles.

I. Jesus is Urged to Attend the Feast of Tabernacles.

John 7:1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.

John 7:2 Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.

John 7:3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.

It says that Jesus walked in Galilee in verse one and he no longer walked in Jewry because they sought to kill him. The religious leaders hated Jesus because He came to fulfill the law, and they were not ready for any kind of change. During the last year of his ministry, Jesus confined His activities to Galilee. He followed the divine schedule that God had laid out for Him. We are now entering the last six months of His life. There is a storm gathering about Jesus at this time, and it would ultimately break in all fury upon Him on the Cross. The Feast of Tabernacles was the first occurrence in these last six months of Jesus’ ministry. We need to remember that Jesus kept all the Law. There were three feasts the every male Jew had to attend in Jerusalem. There was the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of the Tabernacles, and the Feast of Pentecost. The feast of Tabernacles was a feast of great joy as they celebrated Israel’s deliverance out of the land of Egypt. And all through the times of wandering, they lived in tents. You remember how that God guided the people with a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire by night. These were both pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ. J. Vernon McGee said that all the feasts of Jehovah have been fulfilled except the Feast of Tabernacles. And this will be fulfilled when our Lord returns to the earth. There will be great joy we know when Jesus comes to take us out of this old sinful world. The feast of Tabernacles was a time the Jews commemorated their forefathers wilderness wanderings. For eight consecutive days, the Jews dwelt in tents. (These represented the "Tabernacles" or "Boothes".)

Lev 23:33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Lev 23:34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.

Lev 23:35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

Lev 23:36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

Lev 23:37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:

Lev 23:38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.

Lev 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

Lev 23:40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.

Lev 23:41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

Lev 23:42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:

Lev 23:43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Lev 23:44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.

Also see Nehemiah 8:14-18. We see the disciples ask Christ to go down to this feast where he could reveal himself to the people. Christ’s disciples thought this would be a good time for Him to present Himself to the people as the true Messiah. Many times we desire to direct God in when and how He should do things in our life. But our timing and God’s timing are normally not in synch. God does things perfectly and in order, and each thing has a perfect time. At the appointed time, the world and man were created. At the perfect time, Jesus was born. And each thing that was accomplished in His life came according to God’s Will. We know many times they sought to kill the Lord, but He walked right past them because "His time was not yet. "

John 7:30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

John 7:4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world.

John 7:5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.

John 7:6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.

John 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

John 7:8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.

John 7:9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.

We see Jesus replies that this is not yet the time for Him to be revealed as the Messiah of the world. I thought upon reading verse 5 that this verse spoke that even his own disciples did not yet believe on Him. But this refers to Jesus’ own brethren, his half-brothers which included James, Joses, Simon and Judas. We see in verse five that even as yet, His own brethren did not have the faith to believe that He truly was the Son of God. They had perhaps seen some of the miracles, yet their faith was still not perfected. Sometimes those closest to us are the ones hardest to deal with about the Lord. But that should not deter us from witnessing to them. Matthew Henry said that the Jesus would not go with His brethren up because they were carnal and hypocritical in it. I don’t know if that is correct, but I do know that God desires us to worship Him in purity and in honesty and truth. And if we go up for any religious activity, and Jesus and the Spirit go not before us, we are worshipping in vain.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth

II. Jesus Departs From Galilee

John 7:10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

John 7:11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

We see that Jesus would not go with His brethren where they would make a spectacle of Him, but rather he comes in a quiet and dignified manner. Much goes on in churches today that fails to follow the command "Do things decently and in order." Jesus never made a mockery of religion, and we need more men guiding churches today that would have the "mind of Christ." Ways of the world may bring in the numbers of people, but is God honored and glorified. Unless Christ is being glorified, we are not doing our job properly.

Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

We see the common people longed to see Jesus. His presence was desired. The people had seen the miracles He performed, and they wanted to be near the Lord. I know my desire is to be where Jesus is. When our hearts are close to the Lord, when our will is following the Will of God for our lives, we will recognize like Abraham, that we are just pilgrims passing through this land down here below. Our true home is in Heaven with the Father if we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We see in verse 12 that not all the people desired for Jesus to be there.

John 7:12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

John 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.

How sad that so many doubted that Jesus was the Messiah. Some of the people wanted Jesus to be with them, others thought he was of Satan and should not be among the religious groups. We know the religious leaders hated Jesus, and wanted Him destroyed. The people were so scared of the religious leaders, that they did not speak of Jesus openly. After this past week, it may come to the point where we will be condemned for being Christians. How horrible was the death of that young gay man in Wyoming. (I believe that is where it happened.) But rather than rallying around getting justice for His death, we have seen the media put blame on religious groups for preaching against homosexuality. The blame for evil is Satan. God is good, and wants the best for all of His children. Satan is a great deceiver, and he has blinded many eyes in this world today. On Larry King live Friday night, I listened to a debate about whether homosexuality was a choice or an uncontrolled physical response. They had two columnists debating the President of the Southern Baptist Convention and Jerry Falwell, president of Liberty University and pastor of a large Baptist Church. I thought the two pastors were compassionate and did their best to present the truth about what the Bible says about sin. But those columnists wanted to only dwell on their negative viewpoints on homosexuality, and the fact that God is a God of love. Of course God is a God of love, but God hates sin. As Brother Falwell pointed out, any sex outside of marriage is a sin, whether it be fornication, adultery, or homosexuality. And if we have been transformed and saved by the blood of Jesus, our desires will be to do those things that God has instructed in the Bible. Can a homosexual be saved? Of course they can, but the critical parts of salvation include being drawn by the Holy Spirit, repenting of our sins, and turning in faith to Jesus for salvation. While many do not want to acknowledge homosexuality as a sin, it is a sin. Anyone who does wrong should be punished, and if those two who were arrested are guilty of that young man’s death, I hope they receive the maximum sentence for their actions. But we need to recognize how Satan can take something horrible like this and use it to blind more people to the truth. God is truth.

III. Jesus Teaches in the Temple

John 7:14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

John 7:15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

John 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

John 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

We see that Jesus goes up to the temple and teaches. And what did he teach? We do not have a record of the teachings, but I believe with all my heart that Jesus presented the Gospel at every opportunity. The Gospel is not difficult nor confusing, but praise the Lord it is simple and anyone who will listen, believe with Faith that Jesus died for their sins, they can be saved. This past Tuesday night, Brother Dan Halog and I were honored to visit together in the home of Sandra Bonnot whom many of you know. Brother Dan and I marvelled at how Satan did everything imaginable to prevent Sandra from being saved. We were faced with approximately 20 interruptions ranging from visits from relatives, eight phone calls, and interruptions by Sandra’s son who seemed to need so many things and played so loud. But we did not give up, and with determination, we presented the Gospel and answered Sandra’s many questions over a 2 hour period. And praise the Lord, Jesus saved Sandra around 9:30 PM Tuesday night when she turned to Jesus for salvation. Brother Dan and I rejoiced that we were able to be used to present the Gospel. I thank the Lord that Bobby Garcia urged us to set goals two weeks ago, and I made a promise to the Lord to try and reach 12 souls for his honor in the next 12 months. Can we attain such a goal? Sounds impossible, but Jesus has seen fit to allow us to see the first in just two weeks. Pray that the Lord will direct our path to those that see their need and that we will be able to reach even more than 12 in this upcoming year.

Back in verse 14, the Jews question how Jesus could teach with such knowledge and power. He had no training by the Scribes. No Ph.D. from any seminary. But as Jesus said, his knowledge came from the Father Himself. My doctrine is not my own, but from the Father who sent Jesus. Remember what Nicodemus said Jesus in Chapter 3.

John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, and even he knew that Jesus was no ordinary man. To have been taught by the Lord would be the ultimate of all teaching. We have many great preachers and teachers in our time. Billy Graham has perhaps been the greatest in presenting the Gospel with simplicity and effectiveness for years in my lifetime. Who communicates a lesson more effectively than Chuck Swindoll, current President of Dallas Theological Seminary? I mean he can take a topic and really expound it, and make you understand it and apply it to today’s life. But as great as these men may be, they could not hold a light to Jesus. After Jesus had died and risen to be with the Father, those who He left behind were just then using those things that Jesus taught them.

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

Jesus told them that if any man would do the will of the Father, they would know that His doctrine was true. Jesus had the knowledge of God, and He will give that to us as we study the Bible and seek God’s Will for our lives.

John 7:18 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.

John 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

John 7:20 The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

Jesus tells them that anyone who seeks after their own glory was not worthy, but the one who was speaking to them was not seeking glory for himself. He wanted God to be glorified, and there truly was no unrighteousness in Him. Jesus was the perfect, sinless, begotten Son of God.

Jesus tells them that the law was give to them by Moses, but it was insufficient to restrain sin. Man is a weak vessel, and needed more than the law to come unto God. Matthew Henry in his study on John said "Moses gave you the law, but you do not keep it, nor are kept by it from the greatest wickedness; there is therefore need of a clearer light and better law to be brought in; why then do you aim to kill me for introducing it?"

The people then question who is it that sought to kill Him? They accuse and say no one is seeking to kill him, but He had a devil. This was not uncommon. Many accused Jesus of performing His miracles by using the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils.

Mat 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Mat 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Mat 12:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

John 7:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.

John 7:22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

John 7:23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

John 7:25 Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?

John 7:26 But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?

Jesus tries to reason with these people. He talks of how they see him do one work and then marvel, then turn around and accuse Him for doing good on the Sabbath. He uses the example of following the law to circumcise on the Sabbath day, but yet find fault when Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Verse 24 is so true… we need to not judge by appearance, but judge righteous judgment. I’m afraid that there will never be true righteous judgment in this world until the true Righteous Judge comes back to take the Throne one David. In verse 25, we see some recognize Jesus for who He was, the one that the religious leaders sought to kill. And they ask a good question… "Do these rulers know that this is the very Christ?" The answer was no. They overlooked the suffering servant that was come that was prophesied all through the Old Testament.

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Prov 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

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