Straight to the Source
Journey Through The Gospels • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Divisions Over Jesus
Divisions Over Jesus
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?
42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
43 So there was a division among the people over him.
Some were confused. Verse 40: some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
Moses was prophesying that there would be a perpetual line, a spiritual heritage of prophets to speak God’s Word to His people. But there is in this prophecy a greater fulfillment to be found.
Rabbis in Jesus day understood that there was a great prophet to come, one like Moses. Moses was actually like Jesus.
He was a deliverer who brought God’s people out of Egypt and established them as God’s own people under a new covenant bringing forth the Word of God to live and serve God by. But the understanding of the prophet was very limited. If it was just a spokesperson for God and a political deliverer, then they were missing the full revelation of the Messiah, deliverer from sin and death!
Many considered Elijah to be the great prophet and that he would return and as a prophet introduce and pave the way for the Christ! This was truly fulfilled in John the Baptist.
11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,
14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
The people that were holding onto that promise of a prophet, did not heed the words of the prophets that came. If they had, they would have recognized the prophet and would have recognized the Chirst!
Others were correct! Jesus is the CHRIST! The word means anointed one. It is equivalent to the Hebrew word, Messiah.
Again though, if their belief and expectations about Messiah, or Christ, were misplaced in physical and political freedoms and authority, they missed the full revelation of the TRUE MESSIAH, deliverer from sin and death, restorer of relationships, healer of humanity from the inside out! The Holy One of God!
Yet, others were conceited!
Even in the midst of exclaiming “the Christ,” there were experts who judged the validity of the claim from their faultless expert knowledge...
But it was misapplied.
Here they were (here we are), the Christ is before them - one who could possibly be it - the one they are waiting for… but not the one they are expecting and certainly not in the way that they’re expecting...
He heals the blind and the lame, the deaf and the leper. He teaching as from the mouth of God. He is irrefutable in argument, yet humble in heart.
Instead of inquiring - they judge quickly from what they think they know.
Everyone talked among themselves, but nobody asked Him.
They were not honest students of the truth, they asked each other, but not Jesus.
They were correct in their interpretation of scripture, but wrong in their application of scripture. They didn’t get their facts straight. Jesus already told them in
24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Those who were willing to openly experience Him with hearts thirsty for truth and hands prepared to obey; those who would put everything on hold - cast everything OFF- to follow wholeheartedly the one true savior of mankind and obey the voice, leading, and teaching of God; these are the ones who truly experienced and were transformed by the truth.
They allowed the truth to correct their perceptions rather than attempt to conform the truth to their conceptions!
I sincerely wonder if they even heard, or listened to each other, or if they were simply trying to convince one another.
44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”
46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
The chief priests and Pharisees were conniving!
It is possible this is the return of the officers (Temple Guard) from when they were sent out earlier...
1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”
30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
These officers, the Temple Guard, went and they came back different.
They encountered the living God enshrouded in a cloak of humanity who spoke from the Holy Spirit bringing forth wisdom and truth greater than all the riches of all the wealth of all the wisdom of all the ages. Wisdom Himself spoke truth and they could not help but be changed. When the time was right, hardened hearts would be used to take Jesus into custody and Jesus stayed silent that they may do what must be done to Him that He might save humanity!
Notice a common human practice/trait at work here: People send other people to do their dirty work.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to kill animals, but I like to eat them. I’ll pay a butcher (aka the supermarket) to do my dirty work.
I think maybe that’s how the manager/associate system came into being: The manager’s job is to tell the associate to tell the customer no. It’s easier for the associate because their job is to say no. They don’t have the authority to say no. That’s why when someone speaks to the manager they often ‘get their way.’ The system puts a buffer between the authority (manager) and the customer that saves the manager and company time and money. Instead of most customers getting ‘a break,’ ow only a few will. The manager can also appeal to ‘the company’ or ‘the policy.’ “I’m not saying no, the company is saying no.”
This was true when I worked at the Maine State Prison. A Sergeant or Captain would tell an officer to say no, but if they themselves stood in front of the prisoner, many times they would say yes.
Why are we like that? We want to save face. We want people to think well of us. t’s uncomfortable to say no. It’s awkward to take care of situations. It boils down to, you can’t do the dirty work without getting dirty.
Even the hearts of the men sent to arrest Jesus were convicted!
You can’t expose yourself to truth without becoming vulnerable to conviction.
It’s easy to judge and condemn when there’s no real connection.
This is why Facebook is rampant with people sharing unfiltered opinions.
They’re not filtered by facts, fear of repercussion, empathy, compassion, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control
48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,
51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
53 They went each to his own house,
When questioned in these encounters earlier in chapter 7 here, Jesus explained that His authority came from the Father who sent Him and the truth of what He said can be tested by the willingness to obey God.
The Pharisees and chief Priests appeal to their own education and authority. The appeal to traditional thoughts and views and the forsake the truth!
If the crowd does not know the law, who is to blame? The teachers of the law!
Even though the officers said, “we heard His testimony”
Even when Nicodemus said, “Let’s ask Him!”
They refused to listen, they refused to ask Jesus. The refused to go to the source because they were convinced they were right!
They hearts were hard and their course was fixed.
How/why did the truth come up short?
Because they weren’t seeking the truth - misinformation was driven by wrong motivation and brought forth corrupt indignation.
We must seek truth.
When something troubles us or doesn’t make sense or challenges our understanding of the Bible, of God, and even one another - we need to go straight to the source!
Acknowledge confusion and address it.
Receive correction with joy - it leads to life!
Assume nothing more than the fact that you may be wrong.
Conceit and Conniving have no room in the Kingdom of God!
Don’t force your thoughts on truth but let the truth convict and transform you and recreate you into who you were created to be.