Jesus, The One You Will Respond To
John 7:25-36
JESUS FINALLY WENT TO JERUSALEM AND THE CROWDS WERE AMAZED, SINCE HE WAS NOT EDUCATED.
He had been educated, just not by men.
He was taught by God, and He spoke the things of God.
John 7:16 “So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.”
And so Jesus continued explaining why He was indeed true.
His Inspiration, His congregation, His motivation.
THEN JESUS MOVED HIS FOCUS TO THE CROWD
AND WHY THEY WOULDN’T BELIEVE
Their standard of measure was off.
Their selective memory saw no flaws in themselves.
Their superficial ministry puffed them up.
And so Jesus told them.
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
AND SO THUS FAR WE HAVE SEEN THE TWO MAIN REASONS WHY PEOPLE REJECT JESUS
They either don’t see Him as someone worthy of Lordship,
They don’t see themselves as someone deserving of submission
Two condemning beliefs are still reigning supreme with our crowd.
We will work our way through the text,
But our main sermon is found in verses 33-34.
Verses 25-26, “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?”
1) You can see His boldness, preaching to those who want to kill Him.
2) You can see His wisdom, completely confounding the religious elite.
3) You can see His appeal, as the main attraction even to the disbelieving.
But mostly in these two verses, I like to see the power of Jesus.
THEY SCHEMED AGAINST HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T STOP HIM
You never read of Him being outsmarted…
You never read of Him being overpowered…
You never read of Him being defeated…
He always had the last word.
He always got the last laugh.
He always accomplished His purpose.
He was never even delayed in doing it.
Verse 27, “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”
They say, “we know where this man is from”.
NO THEY DIDN’T.
Have we not just seen the argument.
John 6:41-42 “Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘ I have come down out of heaven’?”
“but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”
Now I don’t know where they got that,
But it most certainly was not from the Bible.
Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
But that isn’t all.
Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
It is foolish, so Jesus calls them on it.
Verse 28-29, “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.”
You see the main point of the Messiah is not where He is from, but who He is from.
THEY SCRUTINIZED HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T SILENCE HIM
Despite attacking His credibility, Jesus still go the message across.
“I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.”
Verse 30, “So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”
They were going to “seize” Him.
Translates – PIAZO
It means to lay hold of and to bind.
It is the word used of the disciples inability to catch fish.
John 21:3 “Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.”
It is also the word used of what Jesus will do
To the beast and the false prophet.
Revelation 19:20 “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.”
But of course you see the text.
“and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”
THEY SOUGHT HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T SEIZE HIM
After Jesus offended His hometown
Luke 4:28-30 “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.”
Jesus was completely beyond their control.
They didn’t like His message so they schemed against Him, but they couldn’t stop Him.
They didn’t like His message so they scrutinized Him, but they couldn’t silence Him.
They didn’t like His message so they sought Him, but they couldn’t seize Him.
Verses 31-36, “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’?”
Now the good news here is that at least some of the crowd finally did have the light come on.
“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?”
Don’t get too excited, because in just about 6 months they will all be shouting “Crucify”.
But the focus of this text is not on them,
For their enlightenment only causes the hostility to heighten.
Look at verse 32, “The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.”
But Jesus makes a response.
“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.”
First what I want you to see is the response of the religious leaders.
Verses 35-36, “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’?”
Can you see the tragedy of these people. They didn’t get it at all. They thought He meant He was going to teach “the Dispersion”
“What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”
They schemed against Him, but they couldn’t stop Him.
They scrutinized Him, but they couldn’t silence Him.
They sought Him, but they couldn’t seize Him.
THEY SAW HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T SEE HIM
And this is perhaps the most dangerous of all.
The reason is because they were steeped in unbelief.
Sometimes people can’t see because they won’t see.
Some today desire to live in greed and refuse to see the poverty around them.
Some today live in pity and refuse to see the beauty around them.
Some today live in laziness and refuse to see the needs around them.
But the real tragedy is when people live in sin
And refuse to see the destruction that awaits.
And this is the point of tonight’s sermon.
Tonight you have seen reason after reason
Why people rejected Jesus.
Add to your list as to why people reject Him.
But in Jesus brief sermon of response,
What we see is the danger of rejecting.
Look back at His response to a group of religious rulers who desired to seize Him.
Verses 33-34, “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.”
This crowd had every opportunity to respond to Him and wouldn’t do it.
For some reason they continued to white knuckle the pews.
For some reason they just wouldn’t let go and follow Jesus.
SO JESUS PREACHES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF RESPONDING
There are three different times that you have an opportunity to respond.
And I want you to know you will respond to Jesus at one of these 3 times.
Will you respond to Jesus,
#1 WHEN IT IS FAVORABLE
John 7:33a
“Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you”
You see this crowd had done an awful lot of mocking. They had done an awful lot of suppressing, but what they needed to understand was that their time would not always be opportune.
John 12:35-36 “So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.”
And perhaps Paul put it best.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain — for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
So many people fail to realize this, but the salvation of God comes on His timing, not ours.
We always think there will be another service,
Another invitation, Another opportunity.
They treat salvation like it is always opportune.
The only time we get the opportunity is when God calls us.
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
We may think we have forever to flirt with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but we do not. We only have “today”.
Hebrews 3:7-13 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'” Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
If Jesus is calling your heart now, now is the favorable time to respond.
The question is will I respond to Jesus when it is favorable?
There are some who will respond to Jesus when it is favorable.
But there is another time to respond to Jesus
#2 WHEN IT IS FINAL
John 7:33b “then I go to Him who sent Me.”
There is coming an end to this invitation.
I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a final invitation for every lost soul of man.
It may be because you will die before you ever get invited again.
It may be because God will quit knocking on your heart.
It may be because your heart will get too hard to even recognize the call.
Remember the parable of the soils.
Matthew 13:19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.”
There are those who have so hardened their heart that it is comparable to a dirt road and the seed no longer penetrates. They no longer even recognize the invitation.
Some have just received their last chance.
Hebrews 6:4-8 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”
Jesus flat out told some when they had.
In Matthew 11 He pronounced judgment on Chorazin, Bethsaid, and Capernaum.
Matthew 11:16-20 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘ He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.”
Then He went on to say how Tyre and Sidon and Sodom and Gomorrah would have it better in the judgment than those cities.
Jerusalem, along with the rulers had received and missed their final invitation, and look at what Jesus said to them.
Matthew 23:29-39 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”
There is a final time when the invitation is offered,
If you miss it, it will never be offered again.
The question I always want to ask people is when will your final time be?
Jerusalem missed hers,
The thief on the cross seized his,
What about you?
There is a favorable time to respond and there is a final time to respond.
#3 WHEN IT IS FUTILE
John 7:34
Here is the real tragedy that those in Jerusalem faced.
Jesus actually said there would be a time
When they would want Him, but would not be able to find Him.
COULD THERE ACTUALLY BE A TIME WHEN WE WOULD SEEK JESUS, BUT NOT BE ABLE TO FIND HIM?
Apparently so,
BUT YOU SAY, “WHEN WILL THIS TIME COME?”
During the judgment.
I believe there will be scores and scores of people who will cry out to Jesus in the judgment and it will be too late.
Think about the judgment during Jeremiah’s time, do you not think there were some who sought forgiveness?
Of course there were.
My son repents during every spanking, but by the time the spanking comes around, it is too late.
I want you to know there is a time to respond to Jesus
When it is futile.
Listen to these argue with Jesus at the judgment.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Listen to these.
Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Listen to these.
Matthew 25:10-13 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘ Lord, lord, open up for us.’ “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
Luke 13:22-30 “And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘ Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. “And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”
Can you see that at that point it is futile to respond to Jesus.
How many wait too late to respond?
There is a favorable time
There is a final time
There is a futile time
I would just ask you again, about your response to Jesus.
We know what eventually happened to this crowd.
They would respond when it was too late.
They now sit in the fires of hell and cry out
That Abraham would send Lazarus to their brothers
To warn them not to come to this dreadful place.
But what about you.
Just don’t wait until the time is futile.
2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
