Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES” Part 6
John 7.11-53
This will be our last look at the Feast of Tabernacles our Lord Jesus Christ attended in Jerusalem some six months before His crucifixion. We are at the end of a long passage, John 7.11-52, this morning reviewing that portion of the narrative found in John 7.40-52. Please make your way there.
To remind you what happened on that last day of the feast, that high holy day, there was a pause in the ritual the priests were observing, with some 50,000 onlookers. One priest poured water from a pitcher, the crowd on cue chanted, a number of psalms were quoted, and then Alfred Edersheim tells us the crowd would fall silent.[1]
However, unlike every other year in which this sequence of events unfolded, the silence on this occasion was pierced by the Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
37 ... If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
The thirteen verses we review this morning records the apprehensions of the worshipers who had gathered in the Temple courtyard on that occasion, no doubt expecting something quite different than what they experienced. If you are in John chapter 7, I invite you to stand and read with me from verse 40:
40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
43 So there was a division among the people because of him.
44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?
46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?
49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.
50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.
53 And every man went unto his own house.
Have you ever attended a Church service out of habit, without ever really expecting to meet with God? Of course, you have. It is when someone does not expect to meet with God that he will fail to show up and feel no regret for having missed. But that is what happens when there is little attachment to others as well as no expectation of meeting with God.
If you have no expectation of meeting with God, but there are profound cultural and familial ties with those expected to gather with you, then you will gather despite not expecting to meet with God. This is because you anticipate the excitement of your friends and family members who will also gather. That kind of thing happens at Church all the time, does it not? No expectation of meeting with God, but the expectation of meeting with family and friends. It is sad, but it is true if your social ties to the others in attendance is strong. Of course, if those who do not expect meeting with God begin to severe their ties with others in attendance, then it is only a matter of time before you stop attending altogether. With no expectation of meeting with God, and with no strong ties to others, what’s the point of coming any longer?
I dare say it had been centuries since the Jewish people had attended Passover, Pentecost, or the Feast of Tabernacles with any expectation of meeting with God. Centuries. Not since the days of Malachi and Ezra. But their family and friendship ties were so strong, and their identity as God’s chosen people, that all worked together to guarantee their attendance, even if none then alive had ever experienced anything like a meeting with God.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ showed up during the days of the Feast of Tabernacles, and especially when He confronted them loudly in verses 28-29 on one day and then loudly again on the last day in verses 37-38, they didn’t like it much. It was an interruption in their well-ordered lives. It was an intrusion into their comfortable thoughts. It was an affront to their sensibilities.
How did they react? They reacted in two ways:
First, Their division over Him
Look to verses 40-43:
40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
43 So there was a division among the people because of him.
It’s His fault!
Is it any great surprise that those at the Feast of Tabernacles who heard the Lord Jesus teach, who witnessed His public challenge of the Pharisees and chief priests, and on the last day who observed Him invite the multitudes to partake of Him Who was the fulfillment and object of all the sacrificial ceremonies and rites, were divided over Him? Opinions varied.
Let me remind you of something the Lord Jesus Christ said early on in His earthly ministry. In Matthew 10.34-35 He spoke these words:
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
So, we should become very suspicious of those who strive for unity, unity, always unity, especially when the call for unity comes from those who reject Christ. Christ came to divide, the right from the wrong, the saved from the lost, the heaven-bound from the Hell-bound. Let us not gloss that over at Thanksgiving and pretend that is not reality, because it is.
And in Luke 12.51-52 He said,
51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
I would ask for a show of hands, but you may have family members on both sides here today. So, you see, Jesus Christ is personally divisive, and right doctrine concerning Him is also divisive. The penchant, therefore, of Pentecostals and Charismatics and new evangelicals for unity with Rome, for unity in the local ministerial alliance, and even for unity with the Religious Science people who deny the very personality of God, is clearly at odds with how the Savior Himself saw His ministry. And this is not to overlook our Lord’s warning to His disciples about the pull of loyalty to family members over loyalty to Christ. Think about it. There is the tug of loyalty to family and the tug of loyalty to Christ. My mother tried that with me on one occasion. But after I tenderly reminded her that she did not die for me on the cross, she never challenged my loyalty to Christ again.
The fractured and fractionalized Christendom that we see, therefore, with different religious groups at odds with each other, and with supposedly Christian families calling for loyalty to family over loyalty to Christ, is the direct result of the Lord Jesus Christ and His ministry. Did He not indicate that He divides men, religious and otherwise? And as divisive as He was while on earth, and as divisive as is the rightly divided Word of truth during this age in which we live, it’s nothing compared to the greater divisions that will be introduced at the Rapture. At the Rapture, when the saved are divided from the lost and taken to heaven when families are divided for all eternity, then the importance of loyalty to Christ so the unsaved around us can be brought to Christ will be brought into sharp focus. It is not our responsibility to diminish the great spiritual divide, but to highlight it, and to reach back across the great divide to our unsaved friends and family members. And then, seven years later, the goats will be separated from the sheep and cast into Hell. This is why the temporary relationships of this lifetime must be used as the means for reaching our lost but loved family members so that they can enjoy Christ with us forever. Let us see temporary relationships become eternal as our loved ones come to Christ.
Unity is preferable to disunity, but real unity can only be based upon a right relationship with Jesus Christ and a right understanding of the truth. Unity, you see, is something the Holy Spirit of God brings about in the lives of those who know Christ and who are indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. But beyond that, we see from the tragedy of the Corinthian example, and from Paul’s words to the Philippians, in addition to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit there must also be a godly humility and like-mindedness that enables different people to dwell together in unity.
And how wonderful is unity among those who are true spiritual brethren? Psalm 133 describes it for us graphically:
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for ever more.
Back in our text we see that not only did the blessed unity Psalms 133 describes not exist, but we see what the three factions with an opinion about the Lord Jesus Christ said. One faction had a somewhat elevated view of the Lord Jesus:
“Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.”
They considered that He was that Prophet predicted by Moses in Deuteronomy 18.15, where we read:
“The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.”
It was this prophecy that was referred to early on in His earthly ministry, in conversation with John the Baptist, in John 1.21 & 25:
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
By the way, though the Lord Jesus is that Prophet predicted by Moses, believing Him to be the fulfillment of Moses’ prediction is no indication those with this opinion were genuinely saved. You can believe He was that prophet and still be lost.
“Others said, This is the Christ.”
There were others with an even higher opinion of the Lord Jesus, believing Him to be the Messiah (which is what the word Christ means), the anointed of God. But again, the conviction that Jesus is the Messiah is not conversion. The third group was the prophecy specialists:
“But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”
At least they thought of themselves as prophecy specialists. Had they known nearly as much as they thought they knew, and had they known as much as those who had investigated the Lord Jesus Christ’s past knew (the opposition research guys), then they would have known that though He was raised in Galilee He was born in Bethlehem, in fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy in Micah 5.2:
“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
But is this not typical? How many people are interested in prophecy, study prophecy, read books on prophecy, concern themselves in every way with prophecy, but do not know in a saving way the One Who is the ultimate subject of all Biblical prophecy?
It’s easy to see in light of Scripture why there was a division among the people because of Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is divisive. And His Word is divisive. It simply cannot be otherwise among sinful men.
Next, Their detention of Him (OR THEIR ATTEMPT TO DETAIN HIM)
We had already seen that during the uproar that had occurred when the Lord Jesus Christ challenged the rulers of the Jews for trying to assassinate him, John 7.19, an attempt was made to apprehend Him then, John 7.30. Unsuccessful in this attempt, Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him, John 7.32. In John 7.44-52 we find ourselves in another location, no longer in the Court of Gentiles, away from the prying eyes of the public in the Temple courtyard and environs. We are now in the rarefied atmosphere of the Jewish aristocracy, listening to the Pharisees and chief priests who were behind the attempts to detain the Lord Jesus Christ:
44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?
46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?
49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.
50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.
53 And every man went unto his own house.
Let’s look at each verse individually:
Verse 44:
“And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.”
Whether this is yet another attempt to apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ or a restatement of the previous effort made by the officers, I do not know. Either or. Sometimes it is overlooked how many times attempts were made to seize the Lord Jesus Christ or do Him physical harm. Read John 5.15-18, 7.1, 8.20, and 10.39-40 when you have the opportunity. It may surprise you how many times they sought to kill Him. Back to John 7.44, where I want you to take note of the word “would.” This translates the Greek word "theloo,” which means “to will.” Here we see that they desired to take the Lord Jesus Christ. It was their will to apprehend Him. Yet they did not have the ability, did they? Is it true that a man can do anything he wants to do, that his personal goals and aspirations are only a matter of willpower? That’s what Tony Robbins tells us. Listen to what Pontius Pilate would say to the Lord Jesus Christ some six months after this Feast of Tabernacles, John 19.10:
“Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?”
But what would the Savior’s response be? What did He say that tells us why all those previous times they attempted to apprehend Him they could not, and why on this specific occasion they could? John 19.11:
“Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”
So, the reason the Lord Jesus Christ was not apprehended in the courtyard of the Temple, or any other time before He was taken in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before Pilate spoke to Him, is because it had not yet been given to them from above. My friend, there is a world of difference between what you desire to do, what you will to do, and what God allows you to do, what God authorizes you to do, and what God brings about. There is a world of difference. Jeremiah 10.23:
“O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
No wonder the Pharisees and chief priests could not apprehend my Lord Jesus before the time. No wonder Pharaoh could not annihilate the Jews. No wonder Haman did not succeed in arranging a Jewish genocide in the Persian empire. You see, God is in control as Sovereign over all His creation. That comforts the saved and disturbs the lost.
Verse 45:
“Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?”
Though he was not in attendance at this meeting of the Jewish hierarchy, it’s the Apostle Paul who provides the answer to the question. Why did the officers of the guard not bring the Lord Jesus to the Pharisees and the chief priests? In Ephesians 1.11 Paul uses a very enlightening phrase:
“according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”
You see, things happen according to God’s will, to fulfill God’s purpose and God’s grand design. And although it is a hateful thought to God’s enemies, it is a comfort to God’s people that when He is ready to act no one can hinder Him, and until He is ready to act no one can speed Him.
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision,”
Psalm 2.4. God laughs at those who oppose Him, for their amazing stupidity. Listen to what actions of wicked men God laughs at, Psalm 2.2:
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed.”
They plan and purpose and conspire to oppose God and His anointed, and that is what causes Him to laugh in ridicule. His Anointed, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the word “anointed” translating the word for “messiah,” or “christ.” What do you think would have been the reaction of the Pharisees and the chief priests had they known that the God of Israel, Who they professed to serve, was at that moment laughing at them for their foolish and futile attempts to thwart Him? They couldn’t conceive of it.
Verse 46:
“The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.”
Let me get you into a mindset; the mindset of a cop, the mindset of a police officer, the mindset of a security officer, the mindset of a temple guard. When asked why they did not apprehend their suspect when challenged for dereliction of duty, when put on the spot for not fulfilling their assigned task, they offered no excuse, but only observation. They said,
“Never man spake like this man.”
Notice that they were not in awe of a miracle that they had seen, a paralytic healed or a blind man’s sight restored or a leper cleansed, for the Lord Jesus performed no miracles during that Feast of Tabernacles. Those officers of the guards, ranking security supervisors, senior peace officers if you will, men whose lives were spent ignoring what speakers said while looking the crowd over for potential threats to peace and safety, were shocked, stunned, and pierced through by His words. And no wonder. Of course, no man ever spoke like this man, for this man was man truly, but not man only. He was the God-man. He was the Word of God:
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,”
John 1.14. And what do you say of Christ? Has your heart burned with the realization that “Never man spake like this man?” Have His words penetrated you like no other’s words ever have? Have you been smitten by His words being to you like a hammer? Have His words brought life to your soul, joy to your heart, rest to your conscience, and peace to your mind? If you have heard the sound of His voice with the ears of faith, then you have heard Him compel you to come to Him:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,”
Matthew 11.28. Have you heard His voice call to you? Have you responded and heeded His call? If you have, then you know like those unbelievers in Jerusalem knew that day so long ago, that “Never man spake like this man.” Lost though they no doubt were, from His words they knew that Jesus Christ was different.
Verse 47:
“Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?”
Notice the sneering arrogance of the Pharisees. In this meeting were men of official rank in the Jewish religious hierarchy, the rulers, men who were scholarly, the scribes, and these men of pious self-satisfaction and legalistic formalism, the Pharisees. Speaking for the rest, the Pharisees voiced their hearts when they said, “Are ye also deceived?” You see, so confident were they that they were right, and others were wrong that they had convinced themselves that only they saw clearly, only they were discerning, only they were without deception. Understand, it is possible for one to be right and most others to be wrong . . . but not with such pride. Luther was right, and all Europe was wrong, but Luther was not proud and arrogant. Wycliffe and Tyndale were right, and an entire nation was wrong, but they were humble men. So with Carey and Spurgeon and Whitefield. One man can stand alone for God, but he must be a humble man and not a proud man, for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Would to God some preachers would read that verse! These men, on the other hand, had seen the multitudes surging toward the Lord Jesus Christ and had concluded themselves to be right and the masses to be wrong. But their evaluation was the conclusion drawn from pride and arrogance and self-sufficiency. It was their pride that led them to conclude others to be wrong and themselves to be right, not an evaluation of the facts, not an analysis of the truth, and not a consideration of the Scriptures. It’s a problem among people today.
Verse 48:
“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?”
There are two ways in which this statement is being used by the person who makes the statement: First, he is relying on consensus for correctness. He is validating his rejection of Jesus Christ by pointing out that there are no others of this group who have embraced Christ, to his knowledge. And since they are the self-anointed, he is delighted to take comfort in the consensus of his group. The group is wrong. But that’s not all he is using his statement for. He is also seeking to quash any rising opposition that might be present. If any of you are familiar with group dynamics, you can recognize that this speaker is not seeking uniformity of thought based upon what the Bible says. This guy is applying peer group pressure to maintain uniform opposition to Christ and the fact that no one has come out for Jesus Christ is being used by this guy to make sure that no one does come out for Jesus Christ. This would be a perfect time for a follower of Jesus Christ to speak up. Would it not? The Lord only knows what would happen when such a gathering as this takes place, and an antichristian leader makes a bold pronouncement that he expects everyone to support silently, and a Christian rises to make a brief but dignified statement. But no one makes such a statement here. How sad. Be ready to make such a statement. Of course, if you are not converted it’s best for you to remain silent. But if you are converted, prepare yourself to stand and defend the faith. And it doesn’t have to be articulate. When he was attending Cal State LA, a guy I used to know told me he was in a class when a professor said, “No one believes the Bible anymore.” In response, he raised his hand and was recognized by the professor, at which time he said, “I do.” Sometimes that’s all you need to say. After the class dozens told him how glad they were he said that. But why did they not say anything?
Verse 49:
“But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.”
Some scholars are of the opinion that the phrase “this people” is a term of derision, a phrase of contempt. It shows that they felt the common people of the day were nothing more than riff-raff. Nothing was more shocking to those Pharisees than the thought of harlots and publicans entering the kingdom while they are left out. After all, the reason why they performed their religious gymnastics, the reason they were so devoted and dedicated and different was in the hopes of receiving a reward from God for their zeal. The very thought of grace was disturbing to them, since it meant that their position, their prominence, and their performance, actually stood for nothing in the sight of God insofar as access to the kingdom was concerned. They were right in their estimation that those who did not know the law were cursed. But what they missed was the fact that they, too, were cursed. Paul pointed out, in Galatians 3.10,
“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
Then, verses 50-52:
50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.
So, Nicodemus is part of this group. And this is the same Nicodemus we read of in John chapter 3, who was lost and who was told by our Lord Jesus that he must be born again. Bible scholar though you are you must be born again. And please notice that the phrase “being one of them” does not mean Nicodemus was one of Jesus’ disciples. It means Nicodemus was a part of this group of rulers and highly placed Jews who were meeting to discuss this Jesus the Nazarene, and who had hoped to interrogate Him before they discovered the guards had not taken Him into custody. Would you argue that Nicodemus is defending the Lord Jesus here? I would argue that he is not. I would argue that he has already passed up on one opportunity to stand up for Christ, and what he is doing now is trying to be reasonable with unreasonable men. He is trying to hang on to his credibility at this point and is not willing to sacrifice his credibility with his peers to stand with the Lord and become a fool for Christ’s sake. If you doubt what I say, read again their response to Nicodemus:
“They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.”
His peers do not know he is a disciple of Jesus Christ, or they would not have answered him as they did. And, in fact, Nicodemus is not a disciple of Jesus Christ at this point. How do I know? A disciple is one who denies himself, takes up his cross daily, and follows Jesus.[2] More than words. But, faced with this golden opportunity to deny himself and stand up for Christ, Nicodemus exhibits the cold and clammy cowardice of so many who would like to think of themselves as Christians, but who will not stand in the evil moment, much less stand in the evil day.
Finally, verse 53:
“And every man went unto his own house.”
An opportunity passed. A stand not taken. The men go to their homes, the smug in their conceit, the coward in his misery. Someone once wrote that the coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man but one. And this is true. One teen told me at a camp several years ago that he despised himself because he was a complete coward. I agreed with him because he was a complete coward. And he wasn’t talking about physical courage. He had in mind the cowardice displayed by Nicodemus on this occasion. What would be the solution for Nicodemus’ cowardice? What’s the solution for any man’s spiritual cowardice? In a word? Conversion.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,”
Second Timothy 1.7, with the word “fear” referring to cowardice. You see, everyone is afraid, and battles fears and frights. But the coward does not conquer fears and frights. Rather he is conquered by his fears and frights, proving only that he does not fear God.
Twice our Lord Jesus challenged the Jewish leadership in a public forum, in the Courtyard of Gentiles. Twice the religious leaders, the scholars, reacted improperly. They were offended and angry and conspired once more to murder Him.
And what about the multitudes? Most of the multitudes do what multitudes of people do; they blindly and mindlessly follow. Such was the case here. The undeniable proof was set before them. Their leadership was challenged in their hearing. They did nothing.
What will you do with Christ? Will you, too, do what they did? Will you do nothing? Will you go home lost? Or will you trust this Satisfier of spiritual thirst? Will you take this Savior to be your very own?
__________
[1] Alfred Edersheim, The Temple - Its Ministry and Services: Updated Edition, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1994), pages 212-228.
[2] Mark 8.34
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Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church