John 7.19-36

John 7:19-36

19 “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel. 22 “For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 “Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27 “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” 30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? 36 “What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

There are many different reasons that people gave for rejecting Jesus and His teachings.  He tells the crowd that His life is at risk because of those who were seeking to kill Him.  The crowd begins to question the sanity of Jesus because of this claim, however He backs up the claim and the religious leaders, as if on que, seek to seize Jesus.  The passage reveals the reasons behind the crucifixion in the minds of the people, in the minds of the religious leaders as well as the real reason behind this agenda.

WHAT JESUS CLAIMS TO HAVE DONE: Jesus confronts the people with their failure to keep the law of Moses whom they say that they love and obey.  Jesus claims that they are breaking the Law by seeking to kill Him.  They think that He is crazy because they don’t see that His life is in any danger.  Jesus then reveals the true reason behind His persecutors attitude is their lack of consistency in judging activities described in the Law.  Jesus claims that He has healed a man on the sabbath and that this action is why His life was in danger.  However, He shows that this is an inconsistent position because the people themselves practiced circumcision on the Sabbath even though it was a form of work.  They demonstrate that they are willing to break one aspect of the Law in order to keep another aspect of it.  And yet when Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath they accuse Him of sin and rebellion and they want to do away with Him.  Jesus confronts their lack of consistency in judging and encourages them to judge righteously and not be persuaded by their own wrong motives.

WHERE JESUS CLAIMS TO BE FROM: There was another group of people who knew that Jesus was the target of the religious leaders and yet they marveled at the fact that He was openly teaching in the temple but nobody did anything.  This lack of action on the part of the leaders causes these wise observers to question if the religious leaders actually know that He is Messiah.  However, other men reject this possibility because they think they know where He is from.  They all consider that they know that He is from Galilee.  However, Jesus demonstrates that He is not who they think He is by reading their thoughts and then plainly stating that they do not know where He was from or Who had sent Him.  This was a clear claim on His part that He was Messiah and had been sent directly by the Father.  This causes a split reaction in the crowd.  Some of the people try to seize Him and kill Him but they are unsuccessful because it was not the time the Father had determined.  This is further proof to another group of people who believe in Jesus because of the things He taught and the miracles He performed.

WHERE JESUS CLAIMS HE WOULD GO: When the religious leaders see that there are people believing in Him, this is even more reason for them to try to seize Jesus.  They do not want any one believing in who Jesus truly is.  Jesus, once again, escapes this attempt on His life because it was not the time designated by the Father.  He then tells the people that His time in their midst is limited.  He tells them that He is going away and that no man can come to where He is going because He is going to the Father who had sent Him.  The doctrine of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus is what He is reefing to but the people are confused by this statement and think that He is going off to ministry amongst the Gentiles.  This angers the leaders even more as they seek to destroy Him by any means.  His claim to be returning to the Father was very serious to them as it was a form of blasphemy in their minds.  He claimed that they were trying to kill Him and the people said He had a demon, but in the moments that followed, His statement was proven to be true.

APPLICATION: Believe that Jesus is who He said He is.  Jesus proved His identity by the miracles He did but the majority of the people continued in unbelief.  Don’t allow our preconceived ideas about Jesus and His work to cause us to miss His will in our lives.  Jesus will do things and allow circumstances in our lives that may take us by surprise, these things must not cause us to doubt.  Just as Jesus is with the Father, we can rest in the hope that all of us who have trusted Him will have the same glorious experience of being welcomed in the presence of God.