Who Do You Say Jesus Is? - J..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. John chapter 7 from verse 14 through 31. About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

The Jews therefore marveled, saying, How is it that this man has learning when he has never studied? So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine. but he is who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me? The crowd answered, You have a demon? Who is seeking to kill you?

Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision, not that it's from Moses, but from the fathers, and you circumcised a man on the Sabbath. But on the Sabbath, a man receives circumcision so that the law of Moses may not be broken. Are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.

Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? Do we know where this man comes from? and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.

So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, you know me and you know where I come from, but I have not come on my own accord. He who sent me is true and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me. So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him.

They said, when the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fall. But the word of the Lord, it remains forever. Brothers and sisters, we were back in in John chapter seven.

Obviously, we've been working our way through this chapter for many, many weeks now. And if you can remember from previous weeks, looking at a high view of this chapter, there's there's a question that may be in the mind of these people. Now, the context we know is that nothing has changed from last week. We're still in Jerusalem. We're still in the Feast of Booths.

That's what's happening in Jerusalem. Jesus is still teaching in the temple precinct to multitudes and multitudes of people, probably in the thousands. But as I said earlier, there's one thing that's running through the minds of these people as they listen to Jesus teach. And if you remember, last week and a few weeks ago, I said this, and that is the question of who this Jesus is. Who is He?

He stands before us, and He's teaching, and we hear Him. But who is He really? Who is this Jesus? The Apostle John has already given us some information about what the crowd are thinking. Now, we know what the Jews are thinking because throughout this chapter and the next and until the crucifixion of our Lord, we know that the Jews want him dead.

They think he's a blasphemer, a fraud. They want Jesus out of the equation. They want him dead. It's pretty clear in the portion of the chapter that we read here this evening. But then you have the lay people, those who are there at the feast to enjoy the festivals, the Feast of Booths, as our brother explained for us earlier this afternoon.

What is their opinion? And John gives us two already. You may remember them a little bit earlier in verse 12. One, there's one side of people who are saying, he's a good man. He's done nothing wrong.

It seems like they're sympathetic to him. Jesus is fine. He's a good man. And then you have on the other side, you have some in the crowd saying, no, Jesus is not a good man. He's a deceiver.

He's leading the people astray. So on the one hand, you have some saying he's a good man, and on the other, he's leading people astray. If you remember when we preached on that section, both are wrong, because both are very incomplete. One is blasphemous, but the other is very incomplete about who Jesus is and what he claims to be. But before the end of this chapter, in fact, towards the end of chapter 8 and towards the end of chapter 8, even most of the people that are before us in this chapter, in this section, are going to change their mind.

Those who are sympathetic to Christ are probably going to turn and they're going to take the side of the hostile towards Christ, the antagonistic towards Christ. Why would they change their mind, you might ask? Why? Well, it's because of what Jesus said in verse 24. Jesus was appealing to these people and he said don't judge with appearance but judge with righteous judgment.

You see, these people have already, at least the ones in verse 12, have already just judged by what they can see with their eyes, maybe what they heard people talk about in the crowd. So they've been judging with appearance. And I'm afraid to say that the section of Scripture that we're going to be meditating upon together is going to reveal fairly quickly that the people, even now, are going to continue to judge Jesus according to appearance. They're going to judge Him. superficially they're going to be answering that question of who jesus is based on their own understanding based on what they think they know but based on what they think they know and that's and that's very very dangerous because brothers and sisters They're making the most important decision that one can make in their human existence.

And they're making it based on superficial understanding, on shallow knowledge, on what they think they know. And we're going to look into the scripture, and we're going to look into this passage and see how they've developed these thoughts and this thinking. But at the bottom line is that they're basing it on what they think they know. And what they think they know is not tested by Scripture. So if you don't test what you think you know by the Word of God, you're going to stand on shaky ground.

They have the infallible, proven, sure Word of God, the infallible Scripture. They have that. divine source of truth apart from themselves, because our hearts are deceitful. Are they not? But as we see, as we work our way through, is that they neglected the Scripture, and they based their decision-making, their thinking, their judgments, based on something that's very superficial.

Their own thoughts, what they heard others say, possibly. Therefore, beloved, if you do that, you cannot do what Jesus has urged these people to do in verse 24. You cannot in and of yourself make right or righteous judgment unless you appeal to the ultimate source of truth, which is Scripture. That's the error. I'm just bringing that up from the forefront so you know and you keep that in the back of your mind.

Because, beloved, as I said earlier, to discern apart from Scripture and to understand the plan of God of redemption, that it finds its climax, its complete fulfillment in His Son, you cannot know that apart from appealing to God's Word and trusting God's Word, something outside of you, because we are completely corrupt. We are completely corrupt. And we have to And we have to think about that big question that I put before you early on. Who is this Jesus? And we have to get that right.

Now we're going to see how these people, how they thought through that question. We're going to see how they deliberated amongst themselves and what criteria they put in place to see whether this Jesus is indeed the Messiah or if he is not the Messiah. But beloved, the answer to that question Who is Jesus is of utmost importance. I've said it before and I'm happy to say it every single week that I'm here. This is something that you have to make sure you know from the depth of your heart.

Do you know who Christ is? Do you know who this Jesus is? Who is this Jesus? You must know because you can afford to be foggy or uncertain or a little bit vague in many things in this life. And for the most part, you might get away reasonably unscathed.

But on this matter of who Jesus is and who Jesus claims to be and what you deem of who Jesus is. And beloved, if you're not crystal clear, On that matter, you'll pay the highest price. Because you can't get away with, I think, or maybe, or it's just possible that Jesus is, and then fill in the blanks. That won't do. Everything in your life and mine, everything in your eternity and mine, hinges upon this Jesus Christ.

You get this wrong. and you get everything wrong. Everything with no exceptions. It all comes down to what you believe personally about this Jesus. Now don't hear me wrong.

The answer that you come up with is The answer is not relative. The answer is not subjective. I'm not saying as though your opinion or my opinion is the conclusive factor. No, that's not it at all because it's not. We believe in an objective truth revealed by God.

Truth is truth whether you believe it or I believe it or these people in first century Palestine believe it or not. Truth remains truth. It's objective. It's truth because it's found in God. And our Lord's testimony, as we've seen over and over again, and by God's grace, we'll look at this afternoon, is crystal clear on the matter of who Jesus is.

But beloved, what my point was is unless you embrace that truth, unless you apprehend Christ by faith, then that truth will not save you. Unless you apprehend who Jesus is and all He claims to be, and you believe from the bottom of your heart in who this Jesus is, that He is the Messiah, that He is the Son of God, that He is the only Redeemer, that He's the only one who's able to forgive your sins and reconcile you to God. Unless you believe and apprehend that truth, then that truth will only serve to condemn you on the final day. You can't afford to get this one wrong. Because this truth, beloved, will set you free.

Now jog your memory from last week, I started there to describe for you that there are actually three groups of people in our passage here this evening. Three groups. We know the first. They're the Jews. They're called the Jews.

They're the religious leaders. We know that. And the second group are the people or the crowd that John calls in verse 20 and in verse 40. And these people are the lay people who've come from surrounding regions of Judea and beyond. They're from the Diaspora.

Some of them are from the Diaspora. They've come and pilgrimed into Jerusalem. to partake in this eight-day feast of booths and celebrate this feast with their countrymen. And then you have the third group, of course, and this is the focus of the passage that is before us, is on the third group. And these are people that John calls the people of Jerusalem from 25 through 31.

That's verse 25 through 31. Now, they're not the religious leaders, but they are the lay residents of Jerusalem or the vicinity around Jerusalem. These people have their finger on the religious pulse and what goes on in Jerusalem, this holy city. They have deep insights of the practices of the first century Judaism in Jerusalem, the functional workings of this religion. And it's also, of course, Jerusalem is the home of the sacred temple, so they're right there.

They're right there to see the sacrifices and the rituals. They're right in the thick of things. They're locals. And as locals, they know the plan of their religious leaders. And that's why the others were surprised when Jesus said, why do you seek to kill me?

But these weren't. Actually, in verse 25, they tell us that they know already. They're aware of what their religious leaders, what their leanings are towards Christ and their hearts of hostility towards this man called Jesus. But it was a cause of confusion for them also. I don't want to spend too much time here because we did address this last week.

But they saw a very deep inconsistency in their leaders, did they not? Their leaders seemed disingenuous at least, maybe even dishonest because of their inaction. If they were so concerned for truth, so concerned for religious purity, so concerned to rid the city of any blasphemy and sacrilegion, then surely they would have jumped on the opportunity to get rid of Jesus at the first moment they saw him. Yet, here he is. standing in the temple precinct in the most populated place in the city, in the most populated time of Jerusalem, which is the Feast of Booths.

And here he is, he's speaking and proclaiming freely to thousands of people what they deem to be toxic. Because they didn't believe the teachings of Christ. Inconsistencies. Now, admittedly, last week I said that it should be the boldness and the fearless confidence of Christ in face of his fierce enemies that should have confounded these men, not so much the inaction of their religious leaders. But nonetheless, the experience they'd become aware of had produced some serious holes in their thinking about their leaders, discrepancies in what they saw their authorities would say on the one hand and their actual actions on the other.

And this led them to believe, or at least to question, whether their authorities, their spiritual leaders, had had an about-face, a change of heart. And this is why they say in verse 26, can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? It's likely that this was a rhetorical question. The grammar suggests that they're assuming an of course no answer. No, that's not the case.

But the door was still open, right? The door was still open to the possibility that to weigh things up, then it's actually quite possible that the inactivity, the fact that their religious leaders did nothing, Up until now, they're thinking maybe their hearts have changed. But either way, as we'll see in the passage that we'll be looking at this evening from verse 27 through 31, the lay people of Jerusalem have made up their mind. Now, whether their religious leaders have changed their mind or not, it doesn't matter. They've made up their mind no matter what their authorities land on with the topic of who this Jesus is.

They've made up their mind and at this point they're probably happy to break away from whatever the religious leaders are thinking because they've made a decision about Jesus. As far as they're concerned, this Jesus is a fraud. Verse 27, that we know Start from verse 26. 26b, can it be that the authorities really know that this Jesus is the Christ? Verse 27, but we know where this man comes from and when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.

Sounds like they know what they're talking about. The words are forceful and they speak with boldness and confidence. Perhaps thinking even if our leaders are swayed to believing this man is Messiah, perhaps they're thinking We can't be swayed by that. We know. We know he can't be the one.

We know very important facts about the coming of Messiah, and according to those facts that we know, this Jesus is definitely not the one. Now the argument for this view goes like this. When the true Christ is sent by God, He'll remain in obscurity for a while. But then he'll suddenly, and without warning, he'll appear onto the scene and reveal himself as the Savior of Israel. No one will know where he came from.

And when he does come onto center stage, that's Jerusalem, he'll immediately, and this is the view, he'll immediately begin his campaign to restore Israel to its former theocratic glory. And then rule on David's throne. And when the surprised people see this figure coming out of absolutely nowhere, just jump on the scene, they're going to be asking question, where did he come from? And the overwhelming answer should be, according to this view, we don't know. We don't know where he came from.

This must be the Messiah. That's their claim. And now they look at this Jesus and they're thinking, we know this fella. We know him. We know exactly who he is and where he's from.

We know his family. We know he's from Nazareth in Galilee. We know him. He makes the journey to Jerusalem. We've seen him on multiple occasions down with his father, that carpenter, Joseph, and his mother, Mary.

We know his brothers and we know his sisters. We've seen them. Yes, Jesus did have sisters, if you're asking. Matthew 13, 55 and 56. Therefore, if we know this Jesus, then he can't be the Messiah.

And if he claims to be the Messiah, if he claims to be the one that is set by God to redeem people, to save people, then we can only conclude one thing. He's a fraud. He's a fraud. And so that would be agreeing with those in verse 12, not the ones who said he's a good man, but those who said he's leading the people astray, he's a deceiver, and they'd be taking that side at this point in time. Brothers and sisters, it's a pretty convincing argument, except for one thing.

There's no shred of evidence in sacred scripture to support that argument. There's no biblical evidence to what they say. So how could they be so dogmatic about something that is not clearly taught in scripture about the coming Messiah? No one will know where this Messiah comes from. Where did they get that from?

Micah 5, 2? Bethlehem? We know that much, don't we? You see, What we have here before us is fiction. What we have here before us is man-made teachings, human fabrications, a type that could damn a soul.

Mark 7, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and the scribes for something similar to this, where they elevate the traditions of man above the commandments of God, above the Word of God. Now, believe me, there's been lots and lots of speculation about the origin of this erroneous view, faulty interpretations, extra biblical religious writings, conjecture. But I'm not going to entertain any of those theories. Because it would suffice to say that this belief is not at all found in the clear teachings of Scripture. And that's all that needs to be said.

It's not Scripture. Perhaps at one point this error had developed. Perhaps at one point it had been adopted and it had been passed down somehow, and it's become a tradition that has circulated among some. And these people who were before the Lord here in this time, at the Feast of Booths in John chapter 7, perhaps they've adopted this and they've heard this tradition, and then they've settled what they've heard and made it a fact without testing it first. I made it a fact.

And beloved, if it's not found in scripture, if this is not what the only true God has revealed about his coming Messiah, then that fact will damn them to hell. Now, John is not suggesting that all Jesus' audience believe these things. Let's not get that wrong. Because from verse 40 and onwards, and we'll get there in a few weeks by God's grace, it would suggest otherwise. Some believed otherwise, but there were some who did believe this, and this is why John is writing it for us.

It is enough that believed this that their voice was made known. There's enough that believed this view that John would write it for us and bring it out to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. These people flat out rejected the true Messiah, and they didn't give him a second thought because they made an assessment based on their own opinions an assessment made on their own assumptions, and those assumptions were built upon sinful men's thoughts. Jesus Christ, the only Savior, the only hope to be forgiven of your sins, the only hope to be reconciled to God, the true Messiah is standing before you, and now you abandon Him and reject Him because you've believed a lie. Can you see the seriousness of this?

They have Scripture. They could have tested this belief against the inerrant Word of God, but they didn't. Instead, they made what? Superficial judgment. They did what Jesus was warning them not to do.

Do not judge with appearance. What have they done? They've judged with appearance. And they've allowed a myth to take residence in their hearts. A myth.

A fable. relabeled as truth and they've said it deep into their hearts and now they're dogmatic about it. Now look at the consequences of not judging righteously. Jesus is rejected. Brothers and sisters, I hope you can see the absolute foolishness of one building their theology upon the teachings of men or tradition and not solely and exclusively on the word of God.

The word of God is infallible, it's inerrant, it's God-breathed, and it is the eternal word of truth. Never, never divert from this book. Never divert, beloved, because if you do, you'll end up paying the price. Examine what you believe. Examine even now what you believe.

Examine what you set as truth in your heart even now. What are the truths that you have rooted in your heart and in your minds? What are the truths that you hold for, hold to even now? What is your process beloved? Examine what is your process of testing that idea?

That thought, those doctrines, those systems of theology, what is your way of testing these things? Do you test them? And if so, how do you test them? The doctrines that you hold to that are sacred and pure, is it because you hold to them because you believe by the power of the Spirit of God who resides in you as a result of saving faith? has revealed by his word and in through his word that he has made those truths implanted into your heart and in your soul or are you holding those doctrines because you've read them somewhere because you've been taught them by men you see the people in jerusalem have more excuse than us i think although there are no excuses Because not everyone owned a copy of Scripture.

It was more difficult for them to access the Word of God. Beloved brothers and sisters, what's our excuse? What's our excuse? But I heard this. Or I was told that.

That won't cut it. Beloved brothers and sisters, you need to hear this. This is your heart we're talking about. the things you believe, the things you allow to enter into here. This is your heart you're talking about.

And everything you allow to come into your heart will have consequences. If it's truth, it's unto holiness. If it's not, beloved, the consequences are dire and the cost is greater than you would be prepared to pay. Protect your heart. Protect your heart.

Make righteous judgment. Take the words of our Lord seriously and examine everything, everything. Ask the question, why do I believe what I believe? Get in the habit of asking, where is it written if someone tells you something? Take the Apostle's instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5.

21 when he says, test, what, some things? Everything. Test everything. And don't believe anything pertaining to God or faith or life or godliness unless it is written in this book. The book is the revealed word of God.

Beloved, it comes from the very heart of the one who is true. The sum of your word is truth, the psalmist says in Psalm 119, 160. And our Lord himself, you would remember when speaking to the Father in the great high priestly prayer. Remember what he said? Sanctify them in truth.

And what do you say after that? Your word is truth. John 17, 17. Oh, how foolish it is for someone to turn their back on the word of God and to adopt myths and legends and fables that have been created by men. Beloved, let's not go there.

Let's not go there. Because those doctrines will lead you astray. Now, of course, there's a deeper spiritual reality going on in our passage here, a deeper deception because of the unbelieving heart. The unbelieving heart is a slave to the enemy. It's a slave to sin.

So what we have here is a spiritual warfare. We must not deny that. But beloved, I'm saying principally to divert from the word will necessarily and inevitably lead you to error. It's just a one-to-one correlation. There's no two ways about it.

Divert from the Word of God, and you will lead to error. But can I chance it? No. Because in and of yourself, in and of myself, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from the Spirit of God, apart from the Word of God, whatever we touch is corrupt. This is pure.

This is holy. This is holy. We ought to be thinking about the biblical truths about this. We ought to be thinking that if I was to divert from the Word of God, it's not a matter if you take some doctrines outside and try, there might be some holes in your theology, there might be some holes in your thinking, and we don't like that. Let's admit it, okay?

There are many things that we think about through the Scripture and the teachings of God's Word, and we're not comfortable because we just don't fully understand them. I'm going to bring a word up, eschatology, end times, that's a tough one for all of us. We just don't know. We think we know some and there's gaps and I want to fill those gaps. How do I fill those gaps?

What do we do? I can tell you if you fill those gaps through the writings of men and you don't test them by scripture, you're corrupting your heart. You're corrupting your mind. You're corrupting your soul. Because to divert from this word won't take you on a tangent.

To divert from this word takes you on a 180 degree about face. These people before the Lord are not saying, well, this is what we've heard. This is what we believe. When the Messiah comes, he'll come out of nowhere. But we know this.

So therefore he's possibly Messiah. They've just turned their back on Jesus and said he can't be. You can't be the Messiah. Because what we've learnt, which is not consistent with the word of God, tells us that you cannot be the Messiah and therefore we're going to turn our back on you. Beloved, if these people would hear the instruction of the psalmist, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

How beautiful are those words. The question is, do you believe them? Do I believe them? Does his word light our path? Or is there another candle that we sometimes use?

See, if these people had heard that instruction, they would know to look to the inerrant Word of God, and they would see in the 39 books that they have, that the prophecies, the countless prophecies that are found in the Old Testament, are perfectly fulfilled in this Jesus Christ, that He stands before Him. And He stands right before them, and they would see that the prophecies are indeed being fulfilled. Beloved, just like our Lord rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 15 for elevating tradition above the Word of God, they would have refused that thought and said, no, we ought to return and revert back to what is standard for us, and that is to appeal to the Word of God and nothing else. Now beloved, there is no doubt in my mind, and I'm sure in yours also, that these people didn't to some degree at least hold too many of the precepts in scripture. Of course they did.

They were religious. Why were they there now? Why were they in the temple at this point? Aren't they not observing what one of the laws that our brother Nelson explained to us earlier on? They're there because of the Feast of Booths.

And if you remember, you would know that the three main feasts were requirements if someone had means to come down to Jerusalem and celebrate. These people are there because they're religious. They're there because they have heard Scripture. They're holding to Scripture to some degree or another. But did they consider Scripture sufficient?

That's the question. Was it sufficient? Was it all they required for life and godliness? Or is it just the majority? You see, they were found to be adding to sacred writ.

And we all know what Paul's instruction or warning to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians, you remember it, do not go beyond what is written. These people in Jerusalem didn't have the letter of Corinthians, don't get me wrong, and the Apostle Paul was still unconverted. In fact, he was one of them. He was a Pharisee at this point in time. But they did have the Word of God.

They did have the 39 books. I want you to hear this. The Lord has always been a gracious God that gave his people exactly what they require in abundance in every epoch of history. That means that, yes, they don't have the last 27 books of Holy Writ in the New Testament. No, not yet.

But the 39 that they do have were sufficient. That's all they required for life and godliness. That's all they required. God gave them all that they were required. He always has in every epoch of history.

And so what did they have? Now turn with me. Turn with me to Proverbs. Turn with me to Proverbs 30. We know that's a book they had.

So the principle the Apostle Paul tells the church not to go beyond what is written, I believe, is so clearly spelt out in the in the Old Testament also. If you have Proverbs chapter 30 before you, I would love to read the first section there, but I'm not going to for the sake of time. But we'll read at least verse 5 and 6. And these are really good verses to memorize if you have a good memory. Verse 5.

Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add. To his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found what? A liar.

You can't chance it, can you? You toss that dice or that coin and you're always going to come off second best. If you add to God's word, you will come out a liar. And the people that are standing before our Lord, who have held on to doctrines that are not found in the word of God, have made themselves out to be liars. because they've believed something that's not true.

They've called Jesus a fraud. In their minds they claim to him to be a deceiver, yet he is the true Messiah sent by God and their only hope for salvation. Turn their back on him and so they prove themselves to be judging with appearance and by appearances and not by right or righteous judgments and the consequences are severe. I can go on on this point, but I'm not going to. I'm going to leave it there because there's more that I want to say.

But I want to leave you with a warning, brothers and sisters, and this warning is for you as much as it is for me. Anytime you or I divert from the clear teaching of God's Word, anytime you or I add or subtract to God's Word, anytime you and I decide to fill in the gaps with our own understanding or the understanding of men around us without testing at first, Beloved, it will always cost you dearly. Just remember that. Always. Now Jesus won't keep these people.

He won't keep them in their delusion. They may be confident in their own faulty understandings of things. They may be deceived and duped from what we can see at least. But our Lord is gracious enough to bring out the deeper heart issue. The real cause for rejecting Him.

This is the real cause for rejecting the Messiah. Verse 28. So Jesus proclaimed, by the way, that word proclaimed is used four times in the book, in the gospel according to John. And it really does connote a crying out, a shouting out. In other words, Jesus seems to be raising His voice now, so that people who are listening to Him in the temple precinct would catch their attention.

And it's almost like Him saying, now listen to what I have to say, because what I'm about to say is of utmost importance. So Jesus proclaimed as he taught in the temple, and he said, you know me and you know where I come from, but I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true and him you do not know. Now at first glance, verse 28 can be a little bit confusing because it sounds like Jesus is affirming that these people have a true knowledge of him. It sounds like he's saying you do have an accurate knowledge of me.

He says you know me and you and you know where I come from. But brothers and sisters, let's not go down that. It's not true. It's not true. They don't even have a superficial understanding of who this Jesus is.

You see a little later in this chapter from verse 40, as I said earlier, even the religious leaders show their ignorance. They know a little bit better than this crowd, but they do show their ignorance towards Christ and even in his human origin. It's clear there that they were uninformed even of the birthplace of Christ. likely thinking because he grew up in Galilee that that might be where he was born. Now nothing suggests in this chapter that this generation knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem as foretold in Micah chapter 5.

However, we know that there 30 years odd ago, we know that there the leaders in Jerusalem did know some three generations ago. But it doesn't seem like these people know. But they could have easily found that out, could they not? The birth records in the temple are known to have been meticulously kept, really, really well kept, at least until the destruction of Jerusalem temple in AD 70. They were kept well, and they had access to that information.

If they wanted to get it, they would have been, but they chose to remain ignorant of this. They knew of Jesus. Remember, we said last time he came around was 18 months ago, and they wanted him dead then. They had plenty of time to check it out, but it doesn't seem like they had. They continue to have a superficial understanding of this Jesus that stands before them, both in the physical sense and definitely in the spiritual sense also, because the spiritual sense is really what's being emphasised here and moving forward in these few verses.

It's almost like Jesus is saying here, so you think you know me, do you? You think you know where I come from? It's almost like he's using a little bit of irony with these people. Because he'll go on to say in the very next chapter, that's not the case. Actually, open your Bibles too.

Let's flick over one page and go to John chapter 8. Go to John chapter 8 with me. Let's read from verse 17. In your law, it is written that the testimony of two people is true. This is Jesus speaking, I am the one who bears witness about myself and the father who sent me bears witness about me.

They said to him, or they said to him, therefore, where is your father? Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, but no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come, similar to what we will see in verse 30 here in this passage. But I want you to get verse 19.

What does Jesus say? You know neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. You see back in chapter 7 verse 28, Jesus is not contradicting what he'll say in a few days time in chapter 8, but he's suggesting that they actually don't know him at all. They may know some superficial things about him.

They may know his father and his earthly father and earthly mother. They may know where he's from. But Jesus is saying, you really don't know me. Remember the whole chapter here. is about, and it's centred upon, the three groups that are before us in the temple, really asking the question at the top of their mind, who is this Jesus?

Because they don't know him as he ought to be known. They're shallow in their understanding. Very superficial, even when we go to verse 40 onwards and we'll see what they say there, they know more about Christ than this crowd, but it's still quite superficial. So I do really think what Jesus is saying here in verse 28 is, you think you know me? but you have no idea who I really am.

My purpose of coming or where I come from is really foreign to you. That's why that could so quickly, without a second thought, reject him. That's why that can so quickly, without a second thought, reject his claims, reject his teaching, reject his authority. And he's saying, you think you can discern who I am? But I think Jesus is actually saying, no, you can't.

You know why, beloved? Because of what he says next. I have not come on my own accord, but he who sent me is true, and you do not know him. The Father, the only true God sent me. And the reason you do not know me or my identity is because you do not know God.

For if you did, you would have recognized me to be the one sent by him. He would know my words, my teaching, my power, my authority, my work is all the Father's. He's already said this back in John chapter 5. But you cannot see this because you do not know him. You don't see the resemblance between me and my Father.

You see, Church, Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father, is he not? And if one doesn't recognize the son, it's because they do not recognize the father. It's actually a package deal. Remember something of that nature back in the prologue of John? Do you remember back?

I know it's been over a couple of years since we were there. But if you think of John chapter 1 verse 18, this is what it says. No one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side, he has exegeted him or made him known. Now, who is it that's made God known?

Well, we're told four verses earlier in verse 14, the eternal Logos who became flesh and tabernacle among us. It is the eternal Logos, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who makes the Father known. Verse 28, But I have not come on my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. Church, this is the plainest and clearest teaching, really, in Scripture.

Jesus is able to state definitively that these people do not know Him. They don't know Him. He's able, my apologies, to claim that they do not know the Father. And the reason why they don't know the Father is because they don't recognize the Son. If you've rejected me as the Messiah, the one who the Father has sent, then you don't know the Father.

You don't know the Father. You cannot know the Father apart from the Son. You see, now that Christ has come in the incarnation before these people, of course, before that, they didn't know the Son. But when the Son has come, then if you have true faith in God, If you were a true child of God, you would have recognised the Son of God. I didn't recognise Him.

You know why? Because the Father is indeed unknowable apart from the Son. We can peer into His creation, His beautiful creation, and we can know what is plain to us, His eternal power and His divine nature. But to know Him intimately, to have a personal relationship with Him, that's impossible apart from the Son of God. Remember what Jesus said to His disciples in John 14?

Verse 6 and 7, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one You know, I looked up that word, no one. It's actually a fascinating word. Oides in the Greek. Do you know what it means in the original?

No one. It actually just means no one. I think I've killed it. Is that going to be okay? It actually means no one.

No exceptions. No one can come to the Father except through the Son. No one. And then Jesus goes on to say, if you had known me, you would have known my Father also. Then he tells his disciples who have believed in him, at least the eleven, not including Judas, he speaks to them and he says these words, from now on you know him, and have seen him.

How can you say that? It's because you know me and you have seen me, Jesus is saying, so you know the Father. One path to the Father, and it's through the Son. One path, and it's through the Son. And it's exclusively through the Son.

The fault of these people here in Jerusalem It wasn't that they needed more evidence to believe in Christ. It wasn't that they needed more persuasion, more miracles, more teaching, more witnesses. You remember the witnesses. John the Baptist, the miracles of Christ, Scripture itself. The Father has witnessed through these things of the Son.

It's not that they needed more persuasion. They don't know the Father and they don't believe in the Son because they don't have faith. because they haven't had a divine work upon their hearts, and that's what is required to believe. The finger of God needs to circumcise the heart. That's what's required.

Is that disturbing you guys? Is that making a bit of noise? Should I? Okay. I haven't turned anything off or anything, have I?

No. Because beloved, the only mediator between God and man is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And the reconciliation of wretched, wicked sinners to a holy God is exclusively through the person and the work of this Jesus Christ, the Son of God in flesh. Beloved, any other means to come to the Father, any other means to be reconciled to God, any other means to claim that now you know the God of the universe is counterfeit, it's fraud, it's a lie. You can only know him through the Son.

Any other means is demonic. Any teaching that espouses reconciliation to God, any other religion, is false if it doesn't speak of coming to God through His Son, Jesus Christ. And are we dogmatic on this? Absolutely. Absolutely.

Because we take our cue from our Lord. He spoke those words. And beloved, the argument is watertight. This is a hill that we as Christians ought to die on. that there is only one way to be saved, one way to be reconciled to the Father through Jesus Christ.

Only one means of salvation and reconciliation. Apart from him, God is unknowable. When you think about that, isn't that incredibly gracious? Think about God's grace in only those words. Think about what was required for wicked, rebellious sinners to be redeemed, to be reconciled to God.

Think about what it required. It required the eternal Son of God, the one who has no beginning and does have no end. John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, to leave His eternal abode with the Father. Verse 29, I know him for I come from him he sent me and to become man just like you and I with a genuine body and a genuine soul to suffer and die as a willing substitute for undeserving rebellious sinners in order for us to become reconciled with a loving Father.

This is how God demonstrates His love and His mercy upon helpless sinners, whilst He also satisfies His perfect justice by pouring out His righteous indignation that is worthy and worthy of the sin of His people. He pours that out upon His Son who is willing to drink that cup. Because there is no other way to be saved. There is no other way to be saved. Without the mediating priestly work of the Son of God, there is no salvation.

Beloved, without the Son, you cannot know the Father. He is the door. Jesus is the door. And if you don't enter through Christ, that unique, exclusive door, then you're going somewhere else. There's no two ways about it.

This truth is expressed so clearly in Matthew 11, 27, where it's written, all things, all things have been handed over to me, Jesus speaking, by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father except the son, and anyone whom the son chooses to reveal him. You want to know God? You come through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Based on these simple but profound truths, Jesus is able with complete and total confidence to declare that these people who stand before Him have no genuine relationship with the Father. They have no genuine relationship with the One who sent Him, no relationship with God.

They claim they do, but Jesus is saying in a word that your religion is empty. their worship, their rituals, their sacrifices in the temple, their prayers, their profession of faith. Everything is empty if they're not able to recognize that this is the Son of God, the Messiah, who has come to redeem them from their sins. Why? Because Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, as I said earlier.

And these people have rejected the only, the only path to God. and therefore have revealed God is yet unknown to them. For if they knew him, they would also know and recognize his son." What a heavy rebuke. Think about it.

What a heavy rebuke upon the people who prided themselves to be known and to know Yahweh. They really thought they did though. Being the covenant people of God, privileged among the nations of the world. Their sons bore in their bodies the sign of the covenant. They prided themselves as having the oracles of God, and they did.

They prided themselves in having the law of God, and they did. But they claimed to have preserved it and taught it accurately and even kept it. They were a people still residing in the land flowing with milk and honey promised to Abraham, the father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were still there. They were under the Roman oppression.

But that's OK, because when the Messiah comes, he will free us from that occupation. Because we are sons and daughters of Abraham. Jesus, what do you mean we do not know God? Can you imagine their fury? Can you imagine their anger?

But they don't see the depth of their own deception. They can't see how treacherous their own hearts actually are. And beloved, how treacherous every one of our hearts are apart from Christ. Systematically, our Lord reveals a delusion of this massive, massive delusion and deception with a big blow that comes in the next chapter. And if you remember what he says there, because these people who prided themselves to be sons and daughters of Abraham, Jesus looks them square in the eye and he says, no, you're not.

Your father's the devil. How can he say that? It's because they didn't know the Son. It didn't matter that they bear the sign of the covenant in their bodies, because it's not the physical circumcision that ultimately God was looking for, but the circumcision of the heart. That's what characterizes true Israel, the circumcision of the heart.

And all their efforts, apart from a heart that is given over, predisposed to love God and love His people, to walk according to His way, apart from a heart that is predisposed to God in that way, a soft, gentle-hearted love for God, apart from that, then everything they can do is cold, ritualistic religion and religion that God despises. to circumcise heart that he requires. Their hearts need to recognize their brokenness, their fallenness, their desperate need for God and his anointed one, the Messiah, who they just can't see stands before them. Because if they knew God, they would also know that the radiance of the glory of God in the exact image of his nature, or exact imprint, my apology, of his nature stands before them. They would have bent their knee to Christ.

But instead, they now want Him arrested and out of their sight. They don't believe in Him. You might say at this point, but wait, don't some actually believe? Verse 31. Yet many of the people believed in Him.

They said, when Christ appears, will He do more signs than this man has done? Now it's possible, it is actually quite possible that some of these people have come to a saving or will come to a saving knowledge of Christ. But beloved in this gospel you have to be very, very attentive when you come across the word believe when John uses it because sometimes it is a temporal belief. Sometimes it's the same word that he uses for a genuine saving faith and for a superficial faith that believes in some elements of Christ but is not true faith that is given by God. I'll give you some examples.

You can turn there if you like. John chapter 2 verse 23. You would probably know this passage well because I've referred there a number of times. John 2, 23. Jesus is also in Jerusalem.

This is just before, it's setting up just before he speaks to Nicodemus, the great, the teacher of Israel. And this is what John writes for us. He says, From verse 23, now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name and when they saw the signs that he was doing, but Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them. Because he knew all people, 25, and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. But they believed.

But Jesus did not entrust himself to them. Why? Because he knew it was a superficial faith. Christ's eyes peer into the soul and he knows what's there. And he saw what was there was a superficial faith.

They might follow him today and tomorrow and next week and next month, but they will end up turning their back and walking away. I'll give you another example. Turn over to John chapter 12, verse 42. John 12, 42. This is the chapter that comes before the Upper Room Discourse.

almost a summary of Jesus's earthly ministry. John chapter 12, verse 42. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him. Now if you stop at this point, you would be rejoicing, because we know the authorities were against Christ. They were refusing him.

They were angry at him. They were hostile to him. Now the authorities have come to believe, and they have a strong influence and power over the people. This sounds like good news, but then we continue to read. It says, but for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it.

Okay, so at this point we're a little bit suspect, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. Does that sound like saving faith? You see, there is a faith that doesn't save. It's man-made. It's not a gift from God.

Now closer to our passage in the chapter 8, a little bit further on from that, you don't have to turn there, in the text that we read earlier, if we keep on reading, Jesus is addressing some people and John writes for us, so Jesus said to the Jews, this is chapter 8, verse 31, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him. That's interesting because if you know that chapter, you begin to read and it's very quickly that the people who seemingly believe become a little bit agitated at Christ. Frustrated. That frustration turns into anger. That anger turns into probably fury.

And by the end of the chapter, what are they doing? They are not bending their knees. They are descending, but not to bow the knee. They're descending to pick up rocks to stone you. There is a faith that doesn't save.

There is a faith that doesn't save. And so too in chapter 7 verse 31, and we're almost done, because here the Apostle John gives us a clue in the text. He writes here, many of the people believed in him. They said, when the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? Will he do?

They believed. And they were saying, well, will the Christ do more signs and wonders than this man has done? See, at that point, alarm bells should be ringing in our minds at least. And John, I think, wants us to see it that way. Because why do they believe, beloved?

It seems that they believe because of the signs. They're enamored with the miracles and the miracle-working power, the exhibition of power of this Jesus. They marvel at His wonders. But so were the Galileans in chapter 6. You remember how they crossed over from the western side of the Sea of Galilee to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee.

You know why they did that in the beginning of that chapter? We're told because of the signs. But Beloved, what happened at the end of the next day in chapter 6? Most turned their back on Christ and they deserted him. They rejected him.

They followed because they were enamored with the signs. But in the end of the day, end of the next day, my apology, they turned their back because Jesus' teaching became too difficult. What is this? You must eat of my flesh and drink of my blood again. No spiritual eyes to see what Jesus was saying.

Signs and wonders do have a place in the gospel according to John. In fact, if you remember, and I always go back to the purpose statement in John, and it's in John chapter 20, verse 30 and 31, you remember that statement. And there, the purpose of the signs, we're told, is not simply to be captivated by them or to follow the one who performs them, being hungry for more. But rather, listen to what John says there. He says about the signs and wonders that he records the seven of them that he records in his book.

He says, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. You see, the goal of the signs is to believe something, but believe what? You believe, you believe everything that Jesus claims to be. You believe his words, you believe his testimony, and you come to acknowledge his claims, apprehend them by faith. And Don tells us that these things are essentially that he is the Christ, that you believe, he says, they believe that Jesus is the Christ.

The Son of God, in other words, that He is sent by God, one of the main reasons why the Jews were actually ropable at Christ, because He said that He came from the Father, and in believing you'll have everlasting life or life. In other words, life can be found in Him and in Him alone. In other words, true faith in Christ According to what we've seen so far in the gospel, according to John, true faith in Christ is to recognize that life is found nowhere else. You're turning your back on what? Death.

And you're embracing life. Turn your back on death. and you're embracing the source and the substance of life, the very fountain of life. Our brother mentioned it today and by God's grace, next time we're in John, we're gonna read it as well in the section that comes after this one, that Jesus is indeed the fountain of life. True faith, true faith is to give up the world and everything in the world.

It's to recognize that what you're giving up is small change. in comparison to the eternal treasure that is bound in Jesus Christ. In comparison to being reconciled to God by faith, by grace, through faith. It's not a work of your own. It's not something that you have done.

It's not something you can take credit for. You give that up. You see, you've given eyes to see. And when God gives you eyes to see, He quickens you unto life. Then you see that you'll be living in death.

And the only life is Christ. So you embrace him and you recognize that he is all that you need. All that you need. That he is the all satisfying bread of life. It's to look to him and him alone.

It's to be satisfied in nothing else. It's to find that your hunger and your thirst is completely satisfied in Him. And we know that is a divine work of God. He takes the initiative. He's the one who brings life into death.

And it's only at that point we're able to open our eyes to see that indeed, that life eternal is found in Jesus Christ. And the glorious privilege of knowing God, the triune God, through the Son, becomes ours and beloved. He can never, never be taken away. Let's pray.