John
7:25-31 “When Men Think They Know Something and They Don’t”
Introduction:
We learn much about Jesus from this text.
We learn that He is:
The man
the Jews were trying to kill.
The man who speaks boldly.
The man
the rulers are afraid to confront.
The man
whose background everyone knows.
The man
sent from God.
The man
plotted against.
The man who knows God the Father.
The man who is from God the Father.
The man who was sent by the God the Father.
The man no
one could trap.
The man
believed on by many.
The man who preformed the most miracles.
When men
think they know something and they do not mistakes are
made.
Men think
that life began with a big bang and they send probes into space to collect dust
that they might find the answer to where we come from. They think they know. They should be putting their efforts into
confirming what God has said about the origin of the universe. Men who proceed under false ideas will come
to false conclusions. We shall learn
from this text what men thought they knew and what they should have know.
(John
7:25) Then said some of them of
The people described here are the
citizens of
(John
7:26) But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and
they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very
Christ?
The Jewish leaders have, by their
silence made a grave error. Their
actions are perceived as condoning Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah. Jesus spoke boldly and accused them all of
breaking the Law of Moses. The Jews did
not utter a word of condemnation nor of agreement. The people of
(John
7:27) Howbeit we know this man whence he
is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.
They reason in themselves that this
can not be the Christ for we know him and by this they mean that they know
where He is from. They know that He is
from
People often do not have the time to
study God’s word with the intensity which is needed to properly interpret and
understand its meaning. Most of the
things commanded by God in His word are simple and plain. Most scriptures have been well translated and
are easily understood. When the Bible
says thou shalt not commit adultery it means exactly that. When it says thou shalt not bear false
witness it is plain to most everyone that they are not to tell a lie. Much of the Bible is plainly written and
easily understood. There are however
many places were the meaning is not readily apparent. One must do much research and study to find
its meaning. This process is called
Hermeneutics and involves proper analysis.
hermeneutics
n. (used with a sing. v.) 1. the art or science of
interpretation, esp. of the Scriptures. 2. the branch
of theology that deals with the principles of Biblical exegesis.
exegesis
n., pl. ses (sz). critical explanation or
interpretation, esp. of Scripture. exegetic
exegetical, adj. exegetically, adv.
Analysis is the breaking down into
separate components the elements which make up a thing. When studying a text to understand its
meaning one must ask the following questions.
Who is speaking? To whom is he
speaking? About what is he speaking? When is he speaking? Where is he speaking?
Why is he speaking? What language was he speaking? Is my translation correct? What is he talking
about? What is the context of this text? These are all questions asked in the process
of Bible analysis. Extra Biblical
sources are sometimes needed to aid in this process. The meaning of words may be cleared up by
consulting other uses of the word by writers of that same time period. Historical accounts of what life was like
during the period of time in question and explanation of customs are needed to
understand terms that have been used in the text.
Because this process takes much time
people often rely upon men who have dedicated their lives to studying God’s
Word for explanation and interpretation of scriptures. The Ethiopian eunuch well stated the problem
when asked “do you understand what you are reading?” by saying “how can I except
some man should guide me?” The people of
(John
7:28) Then cried Jesus in the temple as
he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come
of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
Jesus cries out to the people their
in the
Jesus here drops a bomb shell on
them. He announces that they do not know
God. They think they know Him but they
do not. They do not keep His Law and
they don’t even know who He is. How sad
for a people so religious and who seem to be so righteous yet they do not know
the God the claim to worship.
Until one
knows Jesus as their savior they will never know God.
(John
7:29) But I know him: for I am from him,
and he hath sent me.
Jesus knows God the Father better
than anyone else. He and His Father are
one. The Father sent His Son into the
world because He loved the all the people of the world. The Father does not want anyone to perish in
the fires of Hell. So He sent His Son to
die for the sins of mankind to redeem men from the bondage of sin and death.
These people should have and could
have known this had they read the scriptures.
Isaiah 53 would have told them all about the suffering Messiah and why
He had to suffer and die.
(John
7:30) Then they sought to take him: but
no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.
The Jewish leaders were keeping
silent and were doing nothing to stop Jesus so the people sought to take him
but for some reason which they did not understand they could not seize
Him. They could not because God the
Father prevented them. The time was not
yet come for Jesus to die. Until the
time was right God the Father would not let men kill His only begotten Son.
(John
7:31) And many of the people believed on
him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which
this [man] hath done?
Many who heard the teachings of
Jesus and saw the miracles which He did and saw the silence of the Jewish
leaders rightly concluded that Jesus was indeed the very Christ of God. They believed on Him. They believed that He was their savior and
somehow also their Lord and King. They
well concluded that if this is not the Christ will Christ do more miracles that
these. Will He do greater miracles than
these? The works which Jesus did
confirmed who He was. All that is left
for men to do after hearing the words of the Prophets and seeing the works of
Jesus is to believe in Him as the promised Savior. What will you do with Jesus? If you do not believe that you are a sinner
you are misinformed and are believing a lie. If you think that you have no need of a
Savior you are wrong. Stop and consider
the possibility that you do not know the truth.
Look again into God’s Holy Word and seek the truth. All have sinned and come short of the Glory
of God. He that believeth not is
condemned already. Except you repent of
your sin you will perish. All who will
come to God seeking His forgiveness and mercy will be saved. This is what the Bible teaches and if you
will believe the message you can be saved.