(041) The Gospel of John XIV: Biblical Arrogance and Ignorance
The Gospel of John XIV: Biblical Arrogance and Ignorance
John 7:1-52
August 17, 2008
Prep:
· Sermons: last week, HS sermon
· Grudem: Spirit’s role in interpretation
· Newbigin
Intro
Q Can reading the Bible ever lead you astray?
Can study of the Bible ever take you farther away from where God wants you? And if so, how can we guard against that.
· Think about that while we pray.
Prayer
· Our soldiers and Tommy going back to school
Six month later...
In the last passage, Jesus was rejected because he refused to be the king who would deliver them from earthly trials. This passage centers on two intertwined themes:
1) Israel’s rejection of Jesus, not because of Messianic hopes, but because of their doctrine.
2) The Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus as its fulfillment.
John 7:1-10 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life.
From the next passage, we know this covers about six months. We also know that he is about five months from his death.
2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.
· Everyone that mattered would be in Jerusalem, the Superbowl of Judaism, and they assumed the messiah wanted publicity.
4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
That last statement is interesting: They certainly believed in his miracles, but they did not believe in his true mission.
· A key theme in John is Jesus’ rejection by his own, as found in the “overture,” and his family is the prime example.
6 Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.
Simply put, it was safe for them to move about. When Jesus says “time has not yet come” he means time for him to be crucified. Jesus is always aware of his purpose to die.
8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” 9 Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 ¶ However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
He had to wait in order to go incognito.
· All of this sets the stage for the rest of the passage.
The Feast of Tabernacles
Chapter 6 centered on Passover and its nationalistic tones, this on the Feast of Tabernacles and its eschatological tones.
· Involved pilgrimage to Jerusalem (3-5 day walk).
· It was one of the three most important Jewish festivals and was held late Sept. – early Oct.
· It was also the most popular, which is not surprising since it was an 8 day party.
People would “camp” in little huts and celebrate the incoming harvest and remembered God’s provision in the desert.
It was basically a mix of Thanksgiving and OKTOBERFEST, but with wine (and lots of it) instead of beer, and instead of dancing on tables, they danced with torches.
· It was just a lot of fun, which (as a side note), makes it interesting that Josephus called it the most holy festival.
· Fun and holiness are not mutually exclusive.
Streams of living water
But it also had strong eschatological meaning. During the festival they would read from prophecies that spoke of linked Succoth to a future pouring out of the Holy Spirit and God’s presence, which was symbolized by water.
· Every day, a priest would draw water from the Pool of Siloam, and then pour it out on the base of the altar.
This ceremony was had two purposes: 1) a reminder of the future promise and 2) a prayer for rain in the upcoming year.
· Living in Washington in modern times, it is hard to appreciate the importance of water.
Jerusalem gets a decent amount of water, about 25” a year (halfway between LA’ 15” and our 36”), but other areas are much drier. Additionally, they lacked the technology to access water, so droughts could be devastating.
· Water was a constant concern to them, and thirst was a poignant shared experience.
John 7:37-39 37 ¶ On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
· This should sound very familiar, it is very much like what he said to the Samaritan woman in John 4.
As they are celebrating this festival, Jesus tells them that he is its fulfillment and that he would bring true, lasting water.
In the same way that rain comes and goes and must always be replenished, the Holy Spirit was came at times and places, but did not remain. In a world that faced frequent physical and spiritual drought, this was a powerful promise.
· Jesus offered the everlasting gift of the Spirit’s filling.
Later in John, we will learn a lot more about the Holy Spirit and his role in the believer’s life, but there is one crucial role that is very important in this passage:
John 14:26 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
The Spirit was specifically given to remind the believer of Jesus teaching.
Ä The lack of this Spirit-directed study of Scripture helped lead to the rejection of Jesus, which is the second theme.
Two types of blindness
The second theme is Jesus again being rejected by his own people, this time because he didn’t line up with their doctrine.
The people of Jerusalem, especially the religious leaders, had been mislead by the Bible. Of course I am speaking facetiously. It was not the Bible that mislead them but their interpretation.
Q How much danger are we of doing the same?
I am huge believer in Biblical studies, and rightly dividing the word of truth, so when I see these highly educated men so completely miss Jesus, I get a little worried, and look for lessons on how we can avoid their fate.
First thing I notice is that there are actually two groups here, with two different misunderstandings that highlight two different types of blindness.
First, you had the masses:
John 7:26-27 Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
Second, you have the Pharisees:
John 7:41-42 Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”
What gives? Some say that they can’t know where the Messiah is from, other say he is from Bethlehem. It’s “no-win.” There were two different theories.
Together, these two groups demonstrate the two blindness’s that I have seen regarding the Bible: The blindness of ignorance and the blindness of arrogance.
Blindness of arrogance
The Pharisees were right, the Messiah was supposed to come from Bethlehem and be from the line of David.
· Ironically, was born in Bethlehem, and grew up in Galilee.
They had all of their qualifications and requirements laid out for what the Messiah should look like and Jesus didn’t fit it. He was doing amazing miracles that could not be denied, but they disqualified him on a technicality before even listening:
John 7:50-52 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
Hear that arrogance? Galilee was Israel’s version of Concrete, the redneck area, and Jerusalem was Seattle. The thought of the Messiah coming from there was laughable.
· They were so entrenched in their interpretations that they didn’t even bother to give him a chance.
Understand that they were not ignorant of the Bible. The Pharisees were obsessive about obedience to the law, and insane in their study of it. They could outpace any of us.
· The sad irony is that it was specifically their great learning that stopped them from coming believing in Jesus.
And this is the blindness of arrogance: When your study of Scripture becomes a blindfold rather a light.
I find that thought scary. We are not any safer then they of this fate, so how can we avoid it?
1. We must study the Bible to find Jesus.
That is the ultimate goal to find a person, not facts and datum.
John 5:39-40 39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
2. We must study the Bible for life change.
The Pharisees’ study of the Bible was very theoretical, based on the minuet details of the law and interpretation.
· This is why the people said Jesus spoke with authority.
Modern Christians are very much in danger of this, which is why I wary of people who are argumentative of fine details.
3. Our study of the Bible must bring humility, not arrogance.
These men were very arrogant of their learning.
John 7:45-49 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” 46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared. 47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law-- there is a curse on them.”
And this is a great danger for me. I didn’t have sports, or looks, or money as a teen, so all I had was my knowledge, which has served as a crutch of arrogance for many years.
In contrast to that, James speaks of the meekness of wisdom:
ESV James 3:13-15 ¶ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
True study of the Bible leads to wisdom which leads to greater unity and community, not arrogance and divisions.
Similarly, humility in study leads to greater wisdom. It is blindingly arrogant to think that any one of us are capable of seeking the whole truth on our own.
· Currently reading a Catholic priest who is impacting me powerfully.
\ We avoid being blinded by arrogance and mislead by the Bible by studying the Bible to 1) Find Jesus, 2) For life change, and 3) Grow in humility.
Ä The Pharisees were mislead by the Bible because of their arrogance. But contrary to opinion, ignorance is no better.
Ignorance
As we saw, they rejected him because they thought you couldn’t know where the Messiah came from.
Q Do you know that verse that is from?
There isn’t any. This idea was solely folklore. The blindness of arrogance led the Pharisees astray, but ignorance is not bliss and led these common folk astray as well.
The blindness of ignorance comes when you and I are not personally grounded in the Bible, either relying on others or simply making it up as we go.
· Of course, this presupposes that the Bible is a reliable source of truth – we’ll look at the Bible itself next week.
Here are the dangers of ignorance:
1. False picture of Jesus.
Only a handful of people who actually knew Jesus wrote what he was like, and they are all here.
2. Being misled by whatever sounds good.
Like these crowds, there are many misleading ideas about that can cause us to miss Jesus.
3. Not being nourished by the Bible.
It is not just that we study the Bible to keep safe, it is nourishing to every area of our lives.
closing/Application:
Q Which are you more in danger of? Ignorance or Arrogance?
Q Which is a great danger in our culture?
The answer is to study the Word carefully and deeply, for therein lies God’s life-giving truth, but to do so in a community of believer, leaning on the Spirit and humbly seeking Jesus and his life-changing wisdom.