With Dale Ratzlaff
John 7:25-36
So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 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? However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 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. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 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?” The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 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? What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come?’”
In this section there are three different people groups. First, there are “the people of Jerusalem”. These are the dwellers in Jerusalem, those who have either witnessed or heard about some of Jesus’ miracles. He had “cleansed the Temple” (Jn. 2) and also healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda (Jn. 5). They are aware of the hatred of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus. Now they see Jesus teaching openly in the temple. They begin to conclude that perhaps the Jewish rulers have changed their mind about who Jesus is.
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? (Jn. 7:26).
The way this is written in Greek implies a negative answer. “No they don’t”. The reason the people of Jerusalem reject the claims of Jesus is that they knew His early history in Nazareth and current home in Capernaum.
However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from (Jn. 7:27).
This idea of not knowing were the Messiah would come from was not universally held. For example, when the magi asked where the new King of the Jews would be born, the Jewish leaders knew.
Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL’” (Mt. 2:4-6).
Others, based upon some ancient rabbinic teaching said,
…the Messiah would be born of flesh and blood yet would be wholly unknown until he appeared to effect Israel’s redemption (D. A. Carson, The Gospel of John, p. 317.)
Jesus answered these statements, especially the part that no one would know where Messiah came from, in the strongest way, full of emotion.
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. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” (Jn. 7:28-29).
In these few words Jesus presents a major truth needed for faith and for salvation. While they may know His earthly history, they know nothing about His pre-existence. He makes several profound claims. 1) He did not come (to this earth) “of Himself”. 2) The One who sent Jesus is true, (real). He is not some imaginary being. 3) Christ’s listeners do not know this person.
Then Jesus repeats the important parts, “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” This knowledge of Jesus is resident in who He is. It is because His eternity was with God and all the while He was God (Jn. 1:1). This knowledge was carried over into the incarnation. He can speak with a measure of knowledge unknown to others. And, as often is the case, hearing truth ignites a fire-storm of opposition in the second group who were listening—The Jewish leaders.
So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
Here again we see that Christ was on His father’s time table. Not only did Christ order his life according to His Father’s will, but His Father saw that Christ was protected on His divine journey toward the cross. And herein is a truth for those who are doing the Father’s will. God can and will protect us until our mission is complete.
John now introduces us to the third group in the crowd—those who had come to Jerusalem for the feast who had elsewhere seen Jesus’ signs. Perhaps they had been at the wedding in Cana when Jesus turned water into wine (Jn. 2:9). Maybe they had seen or heard of the healing of the nobleman’s son (Jn. 4:46–54). These people were on the verge of true faith.
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?” (Jn. 7:31).
For these people, their faith was based upon signs they had seen or heard about. These convinced them that Jesus met the expected criterion. However, they had not yet accepted the fact of His pre-existence and divine nature.
Apparently, the Pharisees heard the crowd discussing these things. Afraid that these people might become Jesus’ followers, immediately they, with members from the Sanhedrin, called for the officers to arrest Him. We are not told why they did not seize Jesus.
Christ’s answer was a prediction of the coming doom to the Jewish leaders.
Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” (Jn. 7:33-34).
Instead of asking where Jesus was going, they, in a ridiculing manner, suggested that He would go away into the Dispersion—where the Jews had migrated into foreign countries (see Acts 2:7–11 for examples of these countries). But concluding that the Jews even there would not listen to Him, they suggested that even in these far away places, the only people who would accept Him would be the pagan Greeks.
The “little while” was about six months before the cross. They had this time to either accept or reject the claims of who Jesus was and is. Soon, after the resurrection, Jesus would return to His Father. Then these resisting leaders would “seek” Christ but they would not find him. They could not go to where He would be. He leaves them with the fearful word, “You cannot come”. It is no little thing to turn down the truth of Christ: Who He is and what He did. The truth expressed in Proverbs should cause those who are unwilling to make a commitment to the Lord “today” to take pause and consider tomorrow when it may be too late.
Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; And you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD. They would not accept my counsel. They spurned all my reproof. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil (Pro. 1:24-33).
We find the same call to repentance and faith in Hebrews 4.
Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it [true rest of soul], and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS” (Heb. 4:6-7).
Application
- The people who heard Christ thought they knew Him. However, their knowledge was incomplete. In the same way we must be careful not to draw conclusions about God or Christ with a cursory reading of the Bible. We are to study to show ourselves approved by honest and thorough study of Scripture.
- The people claimed they did not know where Messiah could come from. However, those who studied the Scriptures knew He would come from Bethlehem. Instead of going to the Bible, they based their conclusions on some ancient rabbi’s writings. In the same way, some of our readers may be in danger of taking what some person of authority, some so-called modern-day prophet, instead of going to the Bible for truth.
- Some people in this section of John apparently were very hesitant to stand for truth themselves. They were content to discuss the issues of the day and look to their leaders for guidance. While the New Testament letters make it clear that we are to obey church leaders, it does not mean to blindly follow them, as these same documents also declare that false teachers will arise and bring in all kinds of heresy.
- Probably the most important application from this section is that when the truth of the gospel is revealed to us and we either reject it or put it off to a convenient time we may be sealing our own doom. Today if we hear His voice we are not to harden our hearts as did ancient Israel and the Jewish leaders at the time of Christ.
Prayer,
Father, thank you for the clarity of the gospel. Thank you that you have revealed to me that Christ was with you and was continually God. Thank you that you sent your Son into this sinful world to suffer rejection and death so that you could save me from my sin and I can be where Christ is now! I believe, help my unbelief! †
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