Jesus, The Divider
John 7:40-53
Last Sunday night, we studied a very important text
In regards to the theology of Jesus.
It was the last day of the feast, and the people would soon be departing, and therefore Jesus stood and cried out the sermon that He came to preach.
John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”
With the Feast of Booths as a backdrop, Jesus says:
If you want God’s Spirit, if you are looking for God’s Messiah.
LOOK NO FURTHER
“Come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rives of living water.’”
What we see this morning is the aftermath of Jesus teaching.
And while in our text this morning we find no words of Jesus,
We do learn a great deal about Him, and the results that followed Him.
This morning I am going to show you three results
That occurred because of Jesus.
#1 DIVISION
John 7:40-43
It is interesting what takes place.
Right off the bat we see that some people wanted to ACKNOWLEDGE Jesus.
“This certainly is the Prophet.”
In other words, they heard His teaching on God’s Spirit,
His teaching obviously pierced their hearts,
They were willingly ready to proclaim that Jesus was indeed from God, and speaking the words of God.
Still a second group wanted to ANNOINT Jesus.
“Others were saying, “This is the Christ.”
There was a second group that saw far more than just a prophet.
They saw Him as the One the prophets spoke of.
Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
It was evident that He was the One on whom God had put His Spirit.
He was the One who would “bring forth justice to the nations.”
But there was still a third group who only wanted to ANALYZE Jesus.
“Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and form Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
Just a couple of days earlier, they were claiming that no one knew where the Messiah was to come from, but here they are quite certain.
This time their theology is correct, but their research is not.
As Jesus preaches His message,
Several different responses are occurring.
The problem isn’t the seed, it is the soil.
Some hearts take the seed of the word of God differently.
BUT THE MAIN POINT
VS. 43, “So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.”
The thing John wanted you to know is that
When Jesus went to Jerusalem and claimed to be the Messiah,
It did not result in a unanimous following of rejoicing Jews.
The news of Jesus was accepted with mixed results.
He did not unite everyone that was divided.
He divided everyone that was united.
Many times in our lives we can’t fathom anything
That divides people as being from God.
All of these people where here for a common purpose.
They were here to celebrate the FEAST OF BOOTHS,
And to focus on all the things God had done for them.
They were united together with one purpose.
But as soon as Jesus gets through with His sermon,
They are all divided against each other.
The reason of course is because Jesus brings division.
Matthew 10:34-36 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.”
Luke 12:51-53 “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
Many today only want a Jesus that brings peace to the crowds,
But He never brought peace to the crowd.
He had a peaceful crowd in His hometown, until He preached about a prophet being without honor in His hometown, and this crowd tried to throw Him off a cliff.
He had a peaceful crowd after feeding the 5,000, until He started claiming to be the bread from heaven, and this peaceful crowd left angry.
He had a peaceful crowd in Jerusalem, until He started turning over tables, and made a whip and drove people out of the temple, and this peaceful crowed began to conspire against Him.
He had a peaceful crowd at a Pharisees house, until He started calling them a brood of vipers, and they began to look for ways to kill Him.
He had a peaceful crowd during His triumphal entry, until this peaceful crowd began to yell “Crucify”.
Jesus never brought peace to a crowd.
He didn’t give peace as the world gives peace.
JESUS CAME TO BRING DIVISION.
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;”
Jesus came to separate the darkness from the light.
John 12:46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”
Jesus came to separate the sheep from the goats.
Matthew 25:32-33 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”
Jesus came to separate wheat from tares.
Matthew 13:40-43 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Jesus came to separate bad fish from good ones.
Matthew 13:47-50 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The point is that Jesus did not come to bring unity in the world, He came to bring division.
This crowd was divided over Him.
We can begin to see the tares and the wheat immerge.
The result of Jesus is division.
And I’m sure many of you have seen it in your life.
He draws His sword and He separates, even if it means separating, “father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
And He will bring division in your life.
Many times God’s word is wrongly condemned for being too divisive.
God’s word, is often downplayed or sugar-coated because of it’s divisive nature,
But the simple truth is, if the truth is not dividing the righteous from the wicked,
Then it is not the truth.
When the truth of Jesus is preached, before it every unifies, it divides.
The result of Jesus is division, and we see it in this crowd.
#2 DERISION
John 7:44-49
There were some who wanted to seize Jesus. We know who they are.
John 7:32 “The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.”
The Pharisees had sent the temple officers to arrest Jesus,
But their plan was not carried out.
So the Pharisees said, “Why did you not bring Him?” “The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”
The officers came back confused. They went out to arrest Jesus, but when they got close to Him, even they knew they were dealing with no ordinary man, and so they decided against following the order.
So here we see that some wanted to ARREST Jesus,
But others had grown to ADMIRE Him.
And then we see the response of the Pharisees.
Vs. 47, “The Pharisees answered them, “You have not also been led astray have you? No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”
The Pharisees make fun of them.
They don’t question their ability to arrest a person,
They question their intelligence.
They deride them for being simple minded, naïve, and ignorant.
They readily point out that NONE OF THE educated, super spiritual, wise, or discerning people have followed Jesus.
In short, anyone who is following Jesus
Is obviously too stupid to know better.
The point is Jesus brings derision.
Derision is the natural step after division.
Once you are divided from someone because of Jesus,
That division always brings with it a scorn
From the one you were divided from.
1 Peter 4:3-4 “For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;”
When you are divided from the wickedness of this world,
They will malign you for it.
Certainly this is no shock to a follower of Jesus.
After all, Jesus said they would.
Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”
John 15:18-21 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘ A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”
We know that following Jesus brings derision.
Darkness hates light
Wickedness hates Righteousness
And when we read the Scriptures, we know why.
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
THE NAME OF JESUS
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
THE GOSPEL
2 Timothy 2:8-9 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.”
JESUS BRINGS DERISION
He was lied about, convicted, beaten, spit upon, mocked,
crucified, betrayed, and denied.
We must remember that in our lives of comfort and ease.
We think if we ever do anything that makes someone else not like us, then we must not be acting like Jesus.
If everyone loves you, then you had better rethink your lifestyle, Because everyone sure didn’t love Jesus.
Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”
Jesus brought Division, Jesus brought Division.
#3 DILAPIDATION
John 7:50-53
Dis = “apart”
Lapidare = “throw stones at”
Literally – “To crush with stones, to break apart”
This is exactly what Jesus does.
Luke 20:17-18 “But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone’? “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
When we follow Jesus it brings division and derision,
But I don’t want you to think that is the end result.
Jesus also promises to break down, all of those who oppose us.
You can see that taking place here.
After the Pharisees call this crowd accursed,
Nicodemus steps up to the defense of Jesus.
“Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”
Of course the rest of the group answer in disgust.
“You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”
You can see their disgust, and even their error.
They blatantly lie, for Jonah was from Galilee. (2 Kings 14:25)
But what is really interesting is what takes place next.
Vs. 53, “Everyone went to his home.”
They had gathered with a conspiracy to kill Jesus.
They had agreed to arrest him, they were in this thing together.
But at the last minute, Jesus breaks their allegiance.
Everything they wanted to do fell through. Their plans had dilapidated.
Jesus broke it apart.
This is illustrated in the passage we will study tonight.
John 8:1-11 tells the story of the scheme to stone a woman caught in adultery, but of course Jesus broke that plan apart as well.
Our life starts with division and derision,
But it ends in great victory.
John 16:20-22 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”
THERE WILL BE NO MORE DERISION FOR JESUS
Revelation 19:11-16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
The first time He entered through a manger,
Next time, “heaven opened”
The first time He was followed by 12 fisherman,
Next time, “armies which are in heaven”
The first time He walked the shore of Galilee,
Next time, “He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God.”
The first time He rode a donkey to Jerusalem,
Next time, “a white horse”
The first time He had compassion in His eyes,
Next time, “His eyes are a flame of fire”
The first time He spoke compassionate words,
Next time, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword”
The first time He wore a crown of thorns,
Next time, “many diadems”
The first time He submitted to murderers,
Next time, “He will rule them with a rod of iron”
The first time His name was Jesus,
Next time, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”
And the result of Jesus will be
The destruction of all those who oppose Him.
Revelation 19:17-21 “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 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. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
Jesus life doesn’t end in division and derision, it ends in victory.
I want you to know it is the same for the followers of Jesus.
We may experience difficulty here, but it is only temporary.
TURN TO REVELATION 21:22 – 22:7
I love how John first describes heaven.
Instead of telling us about all the wonderful things that are there,
He starts by telling us what isn’t.
I want you to know if you give your life to Jesus,
It will cause division for you, it will cause derision for you.
This was always the response to Jesus.
BUT SO WHAT!
Some day Jesus will break apart all those who oppose Him.
I’m reminded of a man who had recently been saved.
He had only been a Christian for a couple of days. He was speaking with a theologian at a seminary and the topic of the Revelation came up.
The theologian said, “The book is so full of signs and symbols, and cryptic language. Coupled with the various views of eschatology. In short very few people understand the book of the Revelation, Indeed, I can’t say that I understand it.”
The new Christian looked at this theologian and said, “I understand it.” Then he held his finger in the air and said, “We win!”
Pray
