Our passage for today’s reading depicts the crowds and the religious leadership in Jerusalem struggling with a couple of questions about Jesus: Exactly who is this person, and where has he come from?

I am going to use a risky modern illustration here – not to render any sort of opinion or make any current affairs point, but to rather pull to the surface the feelings, questions, and debates centering around Jesus in this passage.

There is and has been, as everyone knows from the daily news, a debate about President Obama relative to his background and his intentions. Where is he from? Well, we know he is from Illinois, yet we also know he had an extensive background in Hawaii in his early life. And then there is the question of the Africa connection of his father.  Where was he born? Well, it appears to have been affirmed it was in Hawaii, though that assertion and evidence has not fully satisfied quite a number of people.

Beyond that, what are his intentions and true vision for America? He said at the beginning that he was going to “fundamentally change America.”  Is he a good and honest man who loves the country and simply has a sense of an electoral mandate to push through a very different agenda than has historically been true? Or is he, as his most critical opponents assert, a radical/socialist who wants anarchy to prevail in order to establish a more powerful central government than could ever be imagined in America?

My point by use of this illustration is not to speak at all to substance of this debate, but rather to draw forward the vehement nature of it that we witness and hear every day. There is a great divide in America; there are two largely irreconcilable visions and philosophies. Passions and arguments run deep. Tempers and emotions flare on talk radio and in the broadcast and print media.

Likewise, in Jerusalem as Jesus attended the Feast of Tabernacles, the crowds were passionately divided. Where was Jesus from? Well, clearly they all knew he was immediately from Galilee – that was obvious. To hear Jesus speak however, the perceptive listener might almost conclude that he was speaking about being from heaven! How silly! And we see some ask the question in verse 42 … Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”  But those asking it do not seem to know that Christ was indeed born there.

And then the second question: Exactly who is this guy? He sure could talk and teach! Wow, it was impressive. On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”  And thinking as well about the deeds he performed … “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

The crowds were initially surprised that the authorities did not seize him – did that mean they were believing he was the Messiah? Some of the crowd desired to lay hands on him, but Jesus was divinely protected, in that his time had not yet come. And at last, when the Pharisees sent out the Temple Guard to arrest him, they were rather “arrested” by his teaching and came back empty-handed. And when I write my book on the all-time most humorous passages of Scripture, I’m going to include this story! The leaders essentially say, “So where is he?”  And the guards answer in what I picture as a stammering response of “Ah … well … hey … umm … we sorta got caught up listening to him and forgot our assignment … like … wow … you’ve never heard anybody talk like this guy!”

The Pharisees at this point surely threw their hands into the air in frustration, asking the guards if anyone smart (like only themselves of course) has believed in him? No! Only the stupid people in the cursed crowd would be that ignorant!

And then Nicodemus raises a probing question about the technicality of their laws. And we can imagine every Pharisaic head turning incredulously in his direction as they asked him, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

The two questions raised today are timeless, and the answers provide the essence of the great divide of humanity on the issues of faith and salvation. Where Jesus has come from and who he is form the basis of … well … everything. If he is God in the flesh who has come from the Father to save lost mankind, he must be believed upon and obeyed for the work he has accomplished. If he is just another of a series of great men and teachers over the centuries and millennia, he can be appreciated as just another of multiple fountains of good advice.

The evidence demands the verdict that Jesus is God Up Close!

Division Over Who Jesus Is

²⁵ At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? ²⁶ Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? ²⁷ But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, ²⁹ but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.³¹ Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³ Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me.³⁴ You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. ³⁹ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁴⁰ On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴² Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”⁴³ Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

⁴⁵ Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶ “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

⁴⁷ “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. ⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ⁵¹ “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

Some people seem to really enjoy conflict and a good fight or argument. Like most folks, I generally hate it and avoid it as much as possible. But it is inevitable that times will come when a stand must be taken relative to a belief or action.

Conflict will particularly happen when one is identified with Christ. Sooner or later there will be the need to take a stand against something that is wrong; or perhaps the conflict will arise out of an action taken to promote something that is right – though against the accepted flow of culture or society.

While our faith in Christ and the gospel unites us with him and with the Father, it will lead to some measure of division with the people of this world and of the kingdom of this world. That divide hurts particularly when it involves people we love – friends, and often even family.

At the end of the previous chapter six of John’s Gospel, you will recall that even in Galilee where miracles had been seen by so many, it is recorded that many chose to no longer follow Christ – because his teaching called for serious life change and commitment. His Twitter account and blog page were losing followers at a precipitous rate.

As we open chapter seven, it is now six months later …

7:1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 

The events of chapter six were preceding the April feast of Passover. Jesus continued in Galilee for the following six month, as the events to now be highlighted occur just prior to and during the October season and feast of Tabernacles. Because of his words and works, Jesus was a polarizing lightning rod in Jerusalem where the religious establishment hung their robes and egos. He had to choose wisely when to be there and for how long. It was safer, until the right time, to stay in Galilee … even around the disbelieving multitude that included his own brothers …

² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

What a sad note! There are no coattails of faith. If even the brothers of Jesus were not given an “automatic waiver,” then there is truly no hope for any today who trust in the faith of parents or spouses to have a redemptive spillage upon them. And along with verse 18 in today’s passage, neither is a big crowd and apparent human success a necessary mark of truth and God’s presence and pleasure.

But honestly, the observations of the brothers were correct, and that was the problem! Yes, in Jerusalem is where the Messiah would be revealed in power and majesty (ultimately upon a cross). But Jesus must await the right time, and it was not now. The feast of Tabernacles was a joyous seven-day commemoration of remembrance for God’s provision through the dessert wanderings, as well as a celebration of the harvest. Jesus is going to pull a fast one on his brothers …

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go to the festival. I am notgoing up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

RED ALERT:  Liar, liar, pants on fire – Jesus just told a deceptive fib!

No, not translated properly … at that moment when the brothers departed, he was not YET going to the week-long event. Seven days in public would overheat the situation, so Jesus delays just a bit before also going to Jerusalem. Since the brothers were essentially functioning and living on “Team This World,” it did not matter when or where they went – the world was not going to hate them.

¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” ¹³ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

One can almost picture here a dramatic film – where the camera brings the viewer up into the whispering faces of individuals in the crowd. The tension in the air was palpable. The Jewish leaders were not simply annoyed after Jesus pops in again with his populist, yet incendiary rhetoric. No, they were actively looking for him in a manner that bespeaks espionage and intrigue … in the shadows and behind the pillars and around corners of buildings.

And like any teacher/preacher even today, there is a mixed report based upon the heart and condition of the hearers – some saying he was a good man, others that he was a deceiver. But clearly neither group wanted to be involved and get into the middle of this spat. But, again, the conflict is ultimately inevitable …

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰ “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

The people, including the religious authorities, were amazed at the depth and penetrating quality of Jesus’ speaking. The authority and high caliber excellence of it did not square at all with any normal expectations. He was from Galilee. He was not a graduate of any rabbinical education. Where did it come from?

Jesus’ answer is that it came from his Father – from God … a truth that would be verified if they would follow God’s Word.  God had given them the Law through Moses; but Jesus points out to them that they did not keep the law, no matter how much they told themselves that they did.

As an example of their messed-up thinking, he points out a fact about the issue of circumcision … a law they got from Moses (though as John also points out in parentheses that circumcision actually predated Moses several hundred years to the time of the Patriarchs – to Jacob, etc.). This was done on the 8^th day after birth, meaning that generally 14.3% (one-seventh) of all boys had it done on the Sabbath. Jesus had healed the paralytic on the Sabbath, and for this they wanted to kill him! So, if one act was allowed – a simple act in the flesh – why not the whole act of affecting a man’s entire body and life? Their thinking – their judgment – was wrong.

Of course, the underlying issue was not one of truth or messianic expectation. Those in power did not want this rabble-rousing preacher dude to upset the status-quo that had them in a “PPPP” = a pretty place of power and position.

It is inevitable that we too, when we stand with Jesus and God’s eternal truth, are going to face times where our values offend others in this world – maybe even family, maybe even brothers. It will be sad; it will be difficult. But we must stand, and we must proclaim the truth with love, compassion … and yes, Christ’s authority.

This issue and this application will return over and over in the Gospel of John.

Some folks say it is difficult to grow up and go back to your home town… Been there; done that! I love this second verse in our reading today (4:44), which John adds as a parenthetical thought – (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)

My first full-time ministry after seminary was in my home town (though not in my home church). I built a house about one-half mile from where I grew up and just a stone’s throw from my childhood elementary school. It was immediately across the street from the home where I attended cub scouts, and we even played on the property I would ultimately buy almost 20 years later.

In reflecting on those 11 years in New Jersey, I often make the wry statement that I had more success in my home town of Harmony Township, NJ than Jesus had in his home town of Nazareth, Galilee!  But, he was a prophet; and I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet, and I’ve spent my life serving in non-profit agencies (that is uproariously funny – admit it!).

In today’s passage, we see Jesus returning to Galilee where he is welcomed by the locals. Many of the people had made the journey to Jerusalem for the Passover and had seem him roll heads and tables while cleansing the temple, and they also witnessed some other miracles (2:23).

He was indeed a local boy who was making a splash in the big-time world of Jerusalem and Judea. This sounds good, right? So why the downer tone in the statement of Jesus, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe”?

What did the people believe? Well, they believed he was a miracle worker and healer, perhaps a prophet or specially-empowered great teacher. But did many see him as the Messiah, the fulfillment of Scripture? And very few were tuned in at all to the idea of spiritual life and a savior from sin.

One who really did believe, along with his household, was the man whose son was healed from a desperate, certain death situation. This is written at the conclusion of today’s passage as the second sign performed by Jesus – signs that were in accord with prophesies of the Promised One.

As will become more evident in later chapters, the Jews loved Jesus so long as he was providing for their immediate needs. They loved the bread and miracles, and some dreamed of the political overturn possibilities from such a worker. Yet the larger message of healing from sin and the gift of eternal life seemed shallow as compared to the immediate needs of daily life.

The Jews loved Jesus when he worked for them. And the fact is that many Christians only love Jesus when he is working pragmatically for them as well. There is the expectation that being aligned to Christ through relationship with him should result in ideal life circumstances and freedom from pain and sadness. And yes, there is a new resource in the midst of the inevitable sorrows of life in a sinful world; but Christ’s larger message and greater gift is the forgiveness of sin and the eternal life offered and secured through faith.

Insufficient views of Jesus abound in our generation. The lost of this world do not truly understand him to be the son of God and savior of the world. They fall short by seeing him merely as a great spiritual teacher and moral resource, but they do not understand anything of the issues of the debt of sin being paid by the redemptive work of the Lamb of God. And then Christians too are insufficient in understanding the work of Christ in their lives – that it is not about candy and popcorn and freedom from the pain and sorrows experienced by others. We are not promised a deliverance from all things, but rather that we have one who walks with us through all things and redeems our mortal flesh at the end for a life eternal with him.

Let’s not fall prey to a Galilean sort of “So … Jesus … what’ve ya done for me lately? Eh?” kind of rabbit’s foot faith.

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son (John 4:43-54)

⁴³ After the two days he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) ⁴⁵ When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

⁴⁶ Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁸ “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

⁴⁹ The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰ “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹ While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵² When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

⁵³ Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.

⁵⁴ This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.