”John, The Gospel of Belief” by Edwin Jones Part10

November 11 2020 - Wednesday PM Bible Class 

JOHN, THE GOSPEL OF BELIEF

CHAPTER SEVEN VERSE ONE thru CHAPTER EIGHT VERSE FIFTY-NINE

(The Feast of Booths, The Woman Taken in Adultery, Major Conflict with the Religious Establishment over Jesus Identity)

 

CHAPTER SEVEN VERSES ONE thru FIFTY- TWO

(The Feast of Booths)

 

• Jesus’ Brothers Taunt Him (Jn. 7:2-9)

• The Feast of Booths would have been October 29, AD 29, five days after the Day of Atonement, “Yom Kippur.”  Jesus is about six months from His death.
• Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him until after the Resurrection (cf. Mk. 3:21).
• The challenge to Jesus is to make a public spectacle of Himself, this He would not do. Although Jesus did go to the feast, He did not go in the manner His brothers requested. His words in John 7:8 are to be taken in that context (cf. Jn. 7:10).
• Jesus’ brothers had nothing to fear from the world, they were of its spirit. Jesus, on the other hand, needed to exercise caution.

 

• Total Commitment Expected

• The lesson is direct, simple, and piercing—Jesus must come first. He and His cause represent the things of truest value. Other pursuits, however noble or important they might otherwise be, are merely temporal.
• Neither comfort nor family are to come between a person and their loyalty to Jesus (cf. Matt. 10:34-39).

 

• Responses to Jesus are Divided (Jn. 7:10-31)

• There is no middle ground to take in deciding about Jesus. He is either God’s Son, or He is a lying imposter.
• Remember, John uses the word “Jews” to indicate the religious establishment (cf. v. 11). Suppression of speech often evidences an inability to deal with what might be said.
• Education comes in many forms, not always through the conventions of the establishment.
• A willing attitude is a must.
• The Jews, like people today, did not always come to proper conclusions about Bible teachings, as seen here in matters relating to the Messiah’s birth (cf. v. 27, 41-42).
• The evidence offered by Jesus’ life allowed for only one conclusion.

 

• The Jews Fail to Arrest Jesus (Jn. 7:32-52)

• Messianic talk about Jesus disturbed the authorities greatly. They tried to put a stop to the troubling rabbi.
• Again, Jesus’ words about His departing are misunderstood. They didn’t have a clue about the one thing they most needed to understand.
• The “living water” flowing from without believers speaks powerfully of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian. Christians are to be sources of life to a dying world. They are to refresh those who have come to despair.
• More Messianic talk is generated; the division of opinion over Jesus widens.
• The guards sent to arrest Jesus come back empty handed. Their reason speaks volumes about the uniqueness of the Christ, “Never did a man speak the way this man speaks.”
• Nicodemus, who had been evasive and even somewhat dismissive with Jesus in John three, has had time to reflect further on Jesus. He has come to realize that his first appraisal of Jesus was correct (cf. Jn. 3:2b).
• When logic and truth do not go where people want them to go, they delight in “shooting the messenger.”

 

CHAPTER SEVEN VERSE FIFTY-THREE thru CHAPTER EIGHT VERSE ELEVEN

(The Woman Taken in Adultery)

• While this account is located in various places in manuscripts of John, and occasionally even in manuscripts of Luke, the early insistence that it have a place in the Gospels attests to its worthiness to be included.
• Old Covenant law prescribed stoning for one taken in adultery (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22).
• Mercy, however, was part of God’s Old Testament revelation.
• Here, duplicity is clearly part of the “set up”—where was the man?
• Jewish law required that tainted witnesses receive the punishment they sought for others (Ex. 20:16; 23:1; Deut. 19:16-21).
• Perhaps Jesus wrote these verses in the dirt.
• At any rate, Jesus’ remarks addressed to “those without sin,” surely would have struck home to those schooled in Old Testament law.
• No witnesses were left (cf. Deut. 17:6-7), Jesus dismissed the case.
• He did not, however, dismiss the seriousness of sin. The woman was clearly repentant, but she must also understand the need to get out of the sinning business.

 

CHAPTER EIGHT VERSE TWELVE thru VERSE FIFTY-NINE

(Major Conflict with the Religious Establishment over Jesus’ Identity)

 

• Jesus Declares that He is the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12-20)

• Jesus and the Father were the witnesses to Jesus being the light of the world.
• The Pharisees could not accept that Jesus was God’s Son.
• Jesus was also of His Father in that He did the things of His Father. The Pharisees, who also claimed God as Father, actually followed another father—Satan (cf. Jn. 8:44).

 

• Jesus Insists on Belief in Him (Jn. 8:21-30)

• Yet again, Jesus words about going back to the Father are misunderstood—still no clue!
• Belief in Jesus as the Christ is absolutely necessary, there is no other way (Acts 4:12).
• The crucifixion would bring home the point, to anyone who would accept it (cf. Acts 2:36-38). This is God’s drawing power in the Gospel—a Savior who died that we might live. Not gimmicks, but a cross (cf. Gal. 5:24; 6:14; I Cor. 2:2).
• Only the truth can truly convict.

 

• Jesus and Abraham (Jn. 8:31-59)

• Jewish believers had to stay with the project if they were to truly be free. They were offended at this. In their offence, they revealed their hearts and their loyalties—they served the Devil.
• Jesus is as direct in these verses as He is anywhere in Scripture.
• The misplaced, distorted, trust in their bloodline had caused them to miss the central point about Abraham—he followed God in faith.
• They followed pride and tradition.
• Jesus shocked the Jews by telling them that Abraham had rejoiced to see His day.
• And even more shocking, Jesus took on the very “I Am”-ness of God Himself (cf. Ex. 3:13-14; 6:1-3).
• Such an opportunity, yet stoning, such an incredible miscalculation, seemed to the Jews to be the appropriate response!

 

 

Edwin

 

 

Duration 36:58