Carol J German

Read John 7:25-36. Jesus continues to share who He is with people for He knows His time is short. He will be leaving Earth and He needs to prepare everyone for what is about to take place. In chapter seven, we have seen how people, even Jesus’ own family, is having a hard time understanding how He is the Messiah. Note, it still was the Festival of Shelters time.

People were waiting for the Promised One. The Old Testament’s theme is about the One who is going to save people from their sins. By studying the laws, the Holy Scriptures, they thought they knew what He would look like when He came. They had preconceived notions.

QUESTION: Do you have preconceived notions of what Jesus should look like in your life? What He should do for you? Do they keep you from following Him 100%?

People are intrigued by Jesus’ words and actions. And again we see His faithfulness and patience as He continues to share who He is.

QUESTION: From verses 25-27, what are the questions they are asking? If you were there, what would be your questions?

They knew where Jesus came from and that He learned His trade of being a carpenter from His father. They understood scripture yet being in His Presence and listening to Him wasn’t matching up with their own assumptions.

INSIGHT: God gave us minds to think and to make decisions. He gave us wills and the ability to choose for ourselves. This “freedom” can cause stumbling blocks to seeing who Jesus is. Our initial reaction will be based on our five senses and the world around us.

Jesus continues to share who He is so man can find His way by faith to believe in Him. Like I have mentioned other times, the ways of the Old Testament are going to be rendered obsolete. A new way of following God has come upon the Earth. It is through Jesus Christ. God desires to walk personally, by the hand, in a relationship with His people.

QUESTION: What do we learn from verses 28-29?

While people were pondering and questioning about this Man, Jesus was teaching in the Temple. Yet, He knew what they were thinking.

QUESTION: What does this say about Jesus? God? How can we know God?

The spiritual leaders didn’t like what He was saying. They wanted to end this Man who came to disrupt the way things were done. Please don’t check out by this next statement. It’s just an analogy, that’s all. Since Trump became president, there is a group of people who are wanting him removed! They are not liking his way of doing things. It is disrupting their own plans and they are willing to do whatever it takes to remove him. This same attitude is how the spiritual leaders saw Christ.

QUESTION: Based on verse 30, did the spiritual leaders follow through with what they wanted to do? Why? What does this tell you about God? How does this change your thinking while you wait for things to happen?

Many came to believe based on all the miraculous signs that Jesus performed. Remember, we only have certain recorded miracles to learn from. For whatever reason, God did not record all the miracles of Jesus. Can you imagine when we get to heaven and Jesus reveals everything to us, what else we are going to see? It is going to be epic!

Again, the spiritual leaders, those who should be leading people to believe in Jesus, can’t get over themselves. They could not wrap their minds around how people would want to believe that Jesus is the Messiah! They couldn’t get over their preconceived ideas and thinking.

QUESTION: From verse 32, what did they do?

Jesus explained to them how He won’t be around much longer. He will be returning to God His Father. People will continue to search for Him but they won’t find Him. Want a sneak peak of where He is going? Read John 19-20.

INSIGHT: Think about living on Earth when Jesus did. It would be much harder to believe and receive who He was. Today, we already know how the story plays out. We know where Jesus is, right now! He is the winner, the victor, the Messiah! They had to still wonder and question and ponder what was truth and was blasphemy. We already know.

QUESTION: So, why do people, today, act like they don’t know what is truth? We have the Bible. It has a proven tract record of having no error. Every home has a Bible or two or three. We can carry God’s Word on our phones. Truth is accessible to most people. Yet, we question, doubt and look elsewhere. Why?

We end this study with the spiritual leaders puzzled and scratching their heads at Jesus’ words. I would have the same questions, wouldn’t you? But hallelujah, we know the whole story! The question is, are we going to believe, really believe?

I wish to say it is easy but when we have to live in these sinful bodies, we have to wrestle. We have to battle for Christ to have presence in our life, daily. We are born in a broken, dirty world. It’s only natural for us to react to our surroundings and trust our senses. But because of sin, we are scarred and separated from God. Yet, God did not leave us to our demise. He sent Jesus, beautiful Jesus.

I am going to leave you with a question. It is so easy to keep parameters around Jesus. You know, box Him in to suit your tastes. I did that 30 years ago and God has taught me truth. It’s time to stop treating His Son as an accessory to your life. It’s time to stop treating His truth as a fictional movie, to watch only. Jesus is our Messiah and He is very real. His love for us is very real and He wants us to partake in His plan.

QUESTION: How real is Jesus to you? If you lived in Jesus’ time, who would you be: a spiritual leader, a questioning bystander or one of His disciples?