Or, Jesus' Return to Sender
Scripture: John 7:25-36
Date: August 12, 2012
Speaker: Sean Higgins
How do you know that you know what you need to know or that what you know is true? Jesus just finished exhorting the crowd in Jerusalem to judge rightly and not based on appearances (John 7:24). They couldn’t have provided a more perfect example of superficiality.
In verses 25-36 people want Jesus arrested. The citizens wanted Him arrested (verses 25-30) and the Sanhedrin council wanted Him arrested (verses 31-36). According to them, it was time for Jesus to be done. According to Jesus, He wasn’t done just yet.
Before the Feast of Booths, Jesus’ brothers offered Him campaign counsel that He refused (7:1-13). Then halfway through the Feast, Jesus went up to the Temple and started teaching (7:14-24). Next week we’ll see what happens on the last day of the Feast (7:37-52).
In this section we still Jesus in Jerusalem teaching at the Temple. However small His initial crowd, His teaching attracted attention, and trouble, and criticism. He pointed out to them that He was sent on His mission by God. They tried to discredit Him any way they could. For all their legal justifications for hating Jesus, they didn’t even know the point of the law, which was Jesus Himself. Jesus teaches more about His mission in the midst of their confusion.
In some sense, this terminology requires a bit of clarification which I’ll try to give near the end of the message.
Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” (John 7:25–27, ESV)
John identifies a subset of the “crowd” (in verse 20), some of the people of Jerusalem, or, the “Jerusalemites.” These are the people with a shipping address in the capital city, not out-of-town pilgrims visiting for the feast. These guys knew that the authorities were angry with Jesus, so angry that they wanted to kill Him (unlike the crowd who ignorantly mocked Jesus for His comment that people wanted to kill Him, verse 20). Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? The Jerusalemites knew that Jesus was the guy.
They are surprised, if not a bit contemptuous toward the authorities, since no one was doing anything about Jesus. And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! The brothers told Jesus to do His works openly. Jesus wasn’t afraid to be known, but He would reveal Himself on His own terms. He was teaching unhindered up to this point.
The Jerusalemites ask, Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? The silence of the authorities seemed to be approval.
There are a couple different ways to take the question. But if the authorities really knew, wouldn’t they come out and say so? Maybe not as a whole. Regardless, as soon as the Jerusalemites ask the question they answer it. These Jews know that Jesus isn’t the Christ; it’s out of the question for them. But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.
The idea that the Messiah would just appear has no Old Testament basis. In fact, the Old Testament does say where the Messiah would come from, as the religious leaders mention later in the chapter (see verse 52 where the rulers contrast Jesus from Galilee with the Messiah who will be born in Bethlehem in Judea). The myth gained traction among some of the people. They wanted someone mysterious, someone mystical, someone magical, not a carpenter’s son from Galilee. They didn’t want a Messiah, they wanted a Messiah in a movie. (Think Sleepless in Seattle). What they thought they knew kept them from grasping just how out of this world Jesus is.
By the way, do you really suppose that these Jews would have received Jesus if He had just shown up one day with no pedigree, no background? Do you really think that they crowd would have said, “We have absolutely no idea where this guy came from, he must be the Messiah!” Of course not. They didn’t want a Messiah out of nowhere, they wanted a way to justify disbelieving Jesus, a convenient excuse to discredit Him. People do the same today. They don’t want to be saved, they don’t want to believe in Jesus like this. It’s not how they pictured it in their unbelieving imagination.
So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” (John 7:28-29, ESV)
Jesus proclaimed, He “cried out” with a loud voice so that everyone around could hear. The verb proclaimed typically refers to public pronouncement. If His first comment, You know me, was simply affirmation, it doesn’t explain why He yelled. Instead, we could put a question-exclamation mark-point at the end of this sentence. “You think you know Me?!” On one hand, they did know something, but they couldn’t see past the surface.
I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true. As He has done repeatedly, Jesus states that He is on mission. His life, His works, His teaching were under service to the Sender, His Father.
What really got their goat was when Jesus said, And him you do not know. The Jerusalemites claimed the opposite. They claimed to judge Jesus’ merits in light of their theology. They had the wrong theo in their -ology. They were the most well-taught, God-privileged people on the planet but they didn’t know God.
Jesus knows Him though. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me. He says again that He is acting under the authority of another. They assumed that they knew where Jesus came from, from Nazareth. They didn’t truly know about His origin or His mission.
So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 7:30, ESV)
Jesus can fire up a crowd; He’s a true motivational speaker. They were seeking to arrest him, to shut Him down. This is an informal, spontaneous arrest want, a citizen’s arrest.
John doesn’t say that Jesus slipped through the crowd. Jesus didn’t go anywhere this time. Instead, God kept the crowd from touching Him because it wasn’t His time yet. God has all sorts of utensils in His silverware drawer. Sometimes Jesus walks away, sometimes people are paralyzed, sometimes men get a hold of Him. But they can’t do anything outside of God’s story. Neither can we, or others against us.
The second mention of seeking His arrest is attached to the religious authorities. The reason why, or what provoked them, is the response found in verse 31, so I think that the paragraphs break better between verses 30 and 31. The people were talking about Jesus and the authorities couldn’t stand it.
Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” (John 7:31, ESV)
This response is probably not as positive as George Barna would like it to be, though at least it isn’t killing Jesus. They base their bet on His signs, which is no better than the “believers” in John 2:23-25. Actually, they base their belief on the statistical unlikelihood that someone would come along later and do more miracles. “Ah, we’ll take our chances with this guy.” A Messiah in hand is worth two miracle-working Messiah’s in the bush. They also thought they knew what they needed to know about Jesus based on superficial appearances.
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. (John 7:32, ESV)
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering (from γογγύζω, again) and that’s what the leaders couldn’t stand. Together with the chief priests means that the Pharisees reported to the Sanhedrin, the ruling council with jurisdiction over the nation’s worship especially concerning the Temple. Perhaps they called an emergency session, or it was a sub-committee, but they sent officers to arrest him. There was an official warrant out for Jesus now, the first one for Jesus mentioned in John’s Gospel.
By the way, the officers were the original temple guard. The Greek word is from ὑπηρέτης, “one who functions as a helper, a subordinate, an assistant” (BDAG). In Classical Greek, it referred to an understudy of the gods (TDNT, 8.530-544), like a myrmidon (a soldier or subordinate civil officer who executes orders of a superior without protest or pity). Perhaps you’ve heard a preacher talk about this sort of “servant” as an “under-rower.” The problem is, that’s not what it means, and they didn’t make those types of boats in the 1st century.
It’s interesting that we don’t see anything else about the guards until verses 45 and following. John leaves us in suspense about if they took Him into custody or not.
Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” (John 7:33-34, ESV)
When they wanted Jesus gone, they couldn’t get Him to leave. When they would eventually want Him, He wouldn’t be available.
Then (Jesus) said, meaning that He kept talking when He knew they were coming for Him. He said it would be a little longer, we know from reading the rest of the Gospel, was only about six months. The Feast of Booths was September/October and Jesus would be crucified the following spring. After that, He was going to him who sent me. He’s on schedule. Nothing can change His program.
Verse 34 sounds ominous: you will seek and you will not find me…you cannot come. That doesn’t mean that they’ll seek to kill Him (again) after they’ve (already) killed Him and He’s gone to heaven. That also doesn’t mean that they will repent and seek His salvation, since He promises to save all who believe. They will seek Him in despair. It may be similar to Amos:
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the LORD.
They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD,
but they shall not find it.
(Amos 8:11–12 ESV)
It would be too late then. They cannot go where He goes, even when they die.
The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?” (John 7:35–36, ESV)
They missed the whole point about Jesus returning to him who sent Him, to heaven, to His Father. First, their questions are stuck on the surface again. They can’t hear anything other that what they think they understand.
Second, their questions are not genuine, their questions are again intended to sneer at Jesus and throw others off His track. They said to one another. They don’t want answers, they want to make Jesus look like a fool. “Is Jesus going to go teach Gentiles? What, He can’t hack it pretending to be the Messiah among the Jews. Maybe He can convince pagans to follow Him.” They even repeat the questions in verse 36 to emphasize the idiocy, as far as they’re concerned, of Jesus’ claims.
Three arresting applications:
First, what you say about gravity says more about you than it does about gravity. Gravity is true, fixed, and either you give attention to it, which is the lowest common denominator of wisdom, or you ignore or reject it, which is ridiculous psychosis - contact with reality is lost. So with Jesus. Jesus is true, fixed. They thought they knew. They tried to make Him look crazy. They dug their own grave with sneering shovels.
Second, there is a time when it is too late. In the movies, everything turns out okay at the last minute, at just the right time. While Jesus offers Himself as the living bread, and will offer Himself again as the living water in the very next paragraph (John 7:37-39), there comes a point when He will not be available. It is sort of similar to wisdom’s response:
Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
(Proverbs 1:24–28, ESV)
That is arresting. So, “As the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion’” (Hebrews 3:7-8).
Third, Why did Jesus come and go? Why not stay in heaven? Because His Father sent Him on a mission. Why not stay on earth? Because He had too much glory for the planet to handle in its current condition. What is the connection? What makes time between the incarnation to ascension so valuable? His coming brings Him more glory through death.
My two main points were phrased a bit inaccurately for the paragraphs. Jesus wasn’t actually arrested yet, either by the people or by the officers. I said it the way I did because the point is that He did come on purpose to be mistreated, mocked, eventually arrested and executed by the Father’s timetable. He would not return to the Father until His sacrificial work was finished.
Isn’t that arresting? What God would get glory like that? What God loves like that? What God would give Himself like that? Our God, known through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is not Lord in a make-believe story, He is Lord in a story making believers.