Is Jesus the Christ?
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. 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.”
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
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.
My Understanding: Jesus purposefully stayed away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to kill him. It was near the time for the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles to begin. Jesus’ brothers encouraged him to go to the Feast so that his disciples could see his miracles. They said to him, “No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”
The scripture says that his brothers did not believe in him, so it appears they were, perhaps, mocking him in some way. Certainly, if they did not believe in him, their intentions were not pure in motive. Yet, I also get another picture here… one of Satan using the brothers to try to tempt Jesus to publicly prove to the world who he was/is, just like Satan tried to do with Jesus during Jesus’ time of temptation of Satan in the desert, and when Satan used Peter as a mouthpiece to try to tell Jesus that he did not have to die on the cross. Yet, Jesus was not subject to man’s opinions, timetables, or ways of doing things. He was subject to God the Father and to doing the Father’s will, the Father’s way.
God has called each and every one of us who are his children to specific areas of ministry for which he has prepared us throughout our lives. Satan will come along and will try to tempt us to work for human recognition, as Satan was trying to do with Jesus, yet we must remain true to whatever calling we have received, and we must follow the Lord’s lead in our lives in doing what he has called us to do in the way he has called us to do it, even if it does not meet man’s approval, and even if man does not comprehend what we are doing or why we are doing it the way we are doing it. They don’t have to understand or approve. Jesus was the most misunderstood individual on the earth, and he certainly did not gain much public approval. Yet, he was on a mission, and the mission was to secure salvation for us.
Jesus responded to his brothers by telling them that the right time for him had not come, because he was following the Father and was not operating on his own accord. So, when Jesus said that any time was right for his brothers, he must have been implying that they were operating on their own and were making their own decisions, so any time was right for them. He also told them that the world could not hate them, yet the world hated Jesus because he testified that what the world did was evil. Again, he was implying that his brothers were not hated because they did not confront the world with its evil.
Submission to God’s Will
Throughout the New Testament we are taught that, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are to submit our lives to God on the altar as living sacrifices, we are to surrender our wills to God, we are to humble ourselves and become obedient to the cross, we are to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus, we are to find out what the Lord’s will is and to do it, and we are to be his witnesses, to share the gospel, to make disciples of all nations, to teach others to obey all of God’s commands, to confront evil, and we are to expose the “fruitless deeds of darkness” (see Eph. 5:11). So, our calling is not all that different than that of Jesus Christ, as we are called to carry on his work that he began on the earth as he lives out his life and ministry through us, his willing vessels. And we, too, will be hated if we do this.
Jesus did go to the Feast, but not according to his brother’s wishes, timing or manner in which they thought he should go. The Feast was halfway over when Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to preach. The Jews were amazed at Jesus’ knowledge and wisdom since he had not had any formal training. Jesus responded by telling them that his teaching was not his own, but that it came from the Father, i.e. from the one who sent him. Then, he stated that those who choose to do God’s will are given a spirit of discernment to recognize whether Jesus spoke on his own or whether his teaching came from God the Father. Then Jesus made a very profound and significant statement. He said that he who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of God is a person of truth. He was speaking of himself, yet this applies to our lives, too!
Jesus set the example for us here. We should not do anything in ministry according to man’s timing, desires, or ways, but we should always submit everything we do to the will of God and to seek his ways, his methods, his timing and his work that he has for us to do. When we teach the word of God and we do it in our own flesh, we may gain man’s approval, but we will not have fulfilled the will of God. So, whatever we do or whatever we teach must be in accord with sound doctrine, yet must be of God and must be led by the Spirit of God if the teaching is to have a spiritual impact in people’s hearts and lives. If what we do is of the Spirit of God, it won’t matter whether or not we have been to Bible College, because it will be the Lord speaking through us. The Holy Spirit of God is the best Bible teacher there is!
Do We Really Know Him?
Some of the people in the crowd listening to Jesus speaking began to question whether or not this was the man the Jews were trying to kill, since he was speaking publicly and no one was trying to stop him. They wondered if, perhaps, those who had wanted him dead had changed their minds because they were now convinced that he was indeed the Messiah. But, then they began to rationalize in their own minds that no one will know where Christ is from, even though the scriptures in the OT clearly stated where he would be from (see Micah 5; and Isaiah 9). Since they knew where Jesus was from, then they determined that certainly he could not be the Christ. Yet, they were thinking with human reasoning.
Then, Jesus addressed their concerns and thinking when he agreed with them that they knew him and they knew where he was from, though their knowledge of him was severely limited by human intellect and reasoning, and they did not truly know who he was. We can read all about Jesus in the Bible and history books and think we know him, too, but never truly come to a personal relationship with him to where we really know and understand who he is, why he came, and what it means for us to honestly know him intimately.
Jesus, knowing that they did not really “know him,” continued by telling them that he was not there on his own, i.e. he was not just a man and a carpenter’s son and a good teacher and miracle worker. He was of God and was sent by God the Father. Then, he told them something that must have really irked them. He told them they didn’t know the one who sent him. In other words, he was telling them - who thought they had such great knowledge of God and the scriptures – that they did not really and truly know God the Father. Ouch! And, to add insult to injury, he then told them, “But I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” Double ouch!! How they must have hated him so for that. They did, and they tried to seize him, yet it was not yet his time to die, so they were not able to touch him. And, no one can touch us, either, unless God allows it and it is his timing for us, as well.
Yet, there were those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. This incited the Pharisees, so they and the chief priests sent temple guards to arrest him, because they were jealous of him. Yet, Jesus was not concerned in the least about their intentions, because he knew the Father was in control of all things. So, he continued to speak and to let them know that he would not be with them much longer but that soon he would go to the Father. He told them that they would look for him, they would not find him, and in fact, where he was going they could not come, because they did believe in God the Father nor in the one he sent to be their salvation. Of course, the religious leaders did not understand Jesus’ words because they were thinking with human understanding and they did not have the mind of God. And, there will be those in our lives, too, who won’t like us for what we do and what we stand for, and they won’t see that what we are doing is of God, because they do not intimately know God. They may persecute and reject us, too, yet God is in control.
Streams of Living Water
On the last day of the Feast, Jesus spoke again and told them basically the same thing he had told the woman at the well, that he had told Nicodemus, and that he had told to all of his followers (disciples), and that was that if anyone was thirsty, he (or she) should come to him and drink. Again, he was speaking metaphorically, as he was speaking of spiritual thirst and hunger. As well, he was saying that he was the supplier of this living water that would be given to all those who truly put their faith and trust in him as their Lord and Savior. When he spoke of these streams of living water flowing from within individual lives, he was speaking of the Holy Spirit who would be given to his followers after his time of death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. So, now when we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit of God comes within us and is a continual source within us of life, love, hope, peace, joy, salvation, and eternal life with God in heaven.
Jesus Christ came to earth, became a man, suffered as we suffer, was sinless, died on the cross for our sins, was raised from the dead in triumphing over our sin so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternity in hell), free from the power and control of sin over our lives, and so we could be free to love, honor and obey God daily.
So, when we come into true faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, we are entering into that death with him to our sins, and we are raised with him to newness of life, so that we are no longer slaves to sin to fulfill its lusts and desires, but we are slaves of righteousness to live holy lives pleasing unto God. We are then to be his witnesses, when the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon us in salvation. We are to love others, and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness, confronting sin in sinful man, and calling for repentance and obedience to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we preach the gospel in its fullness and we confront and expose evil, and we call for repentance, we will be hated, persecuted, rejected, accused falsely, misunderstood, and perhaps even killed for our faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, no one can touch a finger against us unless God allows it and it is our time.
And Can It Be That I Should Gain / Charles Wesley / Thomas Campbell
And can it be, that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shoulds't die for me?
He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace,
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me!
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Link to song
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