John 7 - Introduction

CHAPTER SEVEN

Between Chapter s six and seven of John's Gospel an interval of approximately six months occurs. During this interval of six months Jesus carries on a relatively private ministry in Galilee. In order to give His disciples some much needed personal instruction, He retires into semi-privacy and travels to the north of Galilee. John makes only a brief note of this extended ministry in the first verse of chapter seven. Here are some of the outstanding incidents of this Later Galilean Ministry (see Map #4, volume 1, John 6:1-71 chapter comments).

1.

Syro-Phoenician woman's demonized daughter is healed.

2.

Many are healed in Decapolis and four thousand are miraculously fed.

3.

The Pharisees demand a sign from Jesus at Magadan.

4.

Peter's great confession and Jesus-' first plain prediction of His crucifixion at Caesarea Philippi.

5.

The Transfiguration on a high mountain.

6.

Peter and the question of the temple tax.

7.

The disciples arguing as to who shall be the greatest.

8.

The unknown miracle worker is discussed.

9.

Jesus discusses stumbling blocks, etc.

Chapter seven opens with Jesus and the Twelve still in Galilee. The Lord's skeptical brothers are chiding Him. Their advice is that He stop hiding in the hills of Galilee, quit beating around the bush about His kingdom and go to Jerusalem and make His Messianic claims public.
In Chapter six we see the attitudes of the people of Galilee toward Jesus. Now John sets out to show, in Chapter s seven through ten, the attitudes of the Judean people toward Jesus and His claims.
We now take up our outline of the Fourth Gospel where it was discontinued in Volume I of our commentary, Gospel of John.

II

The Word Manifested to the Jews and their rejection of Him,

D.

Public Ministry, Third Year

2.

Later Judean Ministry, John 7:1, John 10:21, The Feast of Tabernacles

a.

Jesus-' unbelieving brethren advise Him, John 7:1-9

b.

The Multitudes in Jerusalem have varying ideas about Him, John 7:10-13

c.

The old Sabbath controversy renewed, John 7:14-24

d.

Mixed emotions concerning Jesus at the feast, John 7:25-36

e.

Discourse on the Living Water, John 7:37-52

EXPOSITORY SERMON NO. SEVEN
SYMPTOMS OF UNBELIEF

John 7:1-53

Introduction

I.

FEAST OF TABERNACLES

A.

Describe the Feast: its meaning, its ceremonies, the rejoicing, the spectacle of it all (cf. comments Chap. 7, pgs. 15, 16, 17).

II.

OMINOUS SHADOWS OF UNBELIEF CAST UPON THE FEAST

A.

In spite of all the joy, ritual and splendor of the feast, its significance was ruined by the manifestations of unbelief. Ugly infidelity cast a pall over the whole joyous occasion and obscured the real lesson behind the feast. This festival was to remind the Jews of ancestral trust in God. it was to teach them of the Fatherly care of Jehovah in the wilderness journeys of their forefathers.

B.

But when Jesus faced the people here with His claims it becomes evident that Judaism is rotten to the core with unbelief.

Discussion

I.

UNBELIEF OF JESUS-' BROTHERS, John 7:1-9

Notice that they admitted His supernatural character. They admitted that He performed miracles. But it says of them that they did not believe on him. How can men admit the supernatural nature of Jesus and disbelieve in Him? Is such a contradiction possible? Remember the rulers of the Jews in Acts 4:15-16 who admitted the miracles of the apostles and could not deny them, but they refused to accept the message of the apostles. His brothers would not accept Him as a spiritual King over their wills and hearts. THERE IS THE CRUCIAL POINT. One may get many people today to say they believe in Christ and God and the Biblebut they do not want God's Word to rule over their minds, hearts and actions. This attitude is very prevalent among people today. You may see such people any Lord's Day, washing their cars, raking leaves, going to the lake or some other mockery of God. You may see them at the football games sitting on hard seats in bitter cold, screaming their lungs out, while twenty-two boys run back and forth over a field with a piece of pigskin. But these people can-'t get up on Sunday morning and come to church and sing and worship the Lord who willingly hung on Calvary's cross for their sins. Oh, God, have mercy upon their souls! His brothers betrayed their weakness. Jesus told them that the world did not hate them as it did Him. The Lord is plainly indicating that their godly witness was weakthey were friends of the world, but enemies of God (James 4:4-5). They had the worldly outlook. They mockingly betrayed their skepticism by chiding Jesus for staying in Galilee when He could be in Jerusalem doing His miracles and getting a worldly following toward His mission as Messiah. Remember the thousands of Jews as they walked the wilderness and beheld all the miracles of God, but murmured to return to the leeks and garlic of Egypt.

II.

MISTAKING ERUDITION FOR HOLINESS, John 7:15-16; John 7:47-49

Jesus had never attended the Jerusalem schools of the Pharisees. Immediately they crossed Him off their list as an unlearned ignoramus from the hills of Galilee. At once they threw up a barricade of self-willed prejudice against anything Jesus had to say. In John 7:47-49 the Pharisees show that they believe scholarliness and law-keeping is the way to piety. There are many self-named scholars today who show the same symptoms of unbelief by attacking the Bible and Jesus as unphilosophical, unscientific and irrational. They demythologize the Scripturesthey attack fundamentalist preachers and small preacher training schools (loyal Bible Colleges). These scholars claim the real wisdom is to be found in their universities where the Bible is studied, not as the only supernatural revelation from God, but as a work of man-conceived literature contemporary with Buddhism, Mohammedanism and other Oriental religions. Paul faced the same situation in Corinth. Christians there were elevating the wisdom of men above a growth in knowledge of God's word. The Corinthians were placing value on eloquence, reason and rhetoric rather than the foolishness of the cross. Great numbers of preachers today are too scientific and too reasonable to try to change men's hearts and convert them through preaching the gospel of atonement by the blood of Jesus Christ. To such the Gospel is outmoded. Scholarship and the evolutionary attainment of man now demands the preaching of a social gospelraising the standards of living, one world government, etc. On the other hand, there are orthodox believers who maintain that study leads to salvation. They know the Book from kivver to kivver and have read it all the way through so many times. The Pharisees studiedmemorized the Scriptures frontward and backward. They counted the words, letters and paragraphs and knew every jot and tittle. But although they knew the Scriptures as no other men have known them since, they could not recognize the Messiah when He came (cf. John 5:39-47).

III.

UNWILLINGNESS TO DO GOD'S WILL, John 7:17

When the Jews rejected Jesus because they supposed Him to be unlearned and uneducated, He posed a statement that contains all the wisdom and supernatural insight of One who is able to read their very deepest meditations: If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself (John 7:17). They were unwilling to do God's willthey had not the love of God in them (cf. John 5:42). Knowledge, as such, never produces love. No matter how much we know about Christ, our knowledge alone will never produce obedience. A certain amount of understanding and knowing God comes only from obedience or the desire to obey His will (cf. 1 John 2:3-5). See also John 8:47. This same stubborn unwillingness to do God's will led the Pharisees to reject the counsel of God, refusing to be baptized of John the Baptist (Luke 7:29-30). If we are not willing to do God's will, we shall desire to do Satan's will! There is no middle ground, no neutrality (cf. John 8:44). There must be that surrenderthat giving upof one's will to where one desires to do God's will. The man who wills to do God's will is the man Luke calls the man of an honest and good heart. The fundamental equation is, then, (1) knowledge, (2) love, (3) obedience. Yet each of these three principles complement one another and interact. Knowledge of Jesus leads to love and obedience, while on the other hand, obedience leads to a full-grown knowledge of Christ and a more perfect love of Him (cf. Ephesians 4:11-16). We never quite grasp the full significance and import of some of the more profound passages of Scripture until we have obeyed them or experienced them (like Job and David). A lifetime of studying the Bible is to no avail if a man's will and desire is out of harmony with God's will. Paul said the same thing in 1 Corinthians 2:6, John 3:9. The rebellious, carnal-minded man cannot discern the things of the Spirit, because the worldly-minded man has no desire to do God's will. AND THIS IS JUST THE REASON SO MANY PEOPLE IN OUR DAY SAY THEY CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE. THEY HAVE NO DESIRE TO OBEY ITNO DESIRE TO LIVE LIKE THE BIBLE DEMANDS THEY LIVE. They cannot understand the New Testament concept of stewardship because they do not want to give like the Bible demands, They cannot understand the Bible concept of worship and personal witnessing because they willeth not to do God's will!

IV.

PREJUDICED AND SUPERFICIAL JUDGMENT, John 7:18-24

These Jews judged all teaching by how men heaped plaudits upon the teacher. They judged a man's teaching as to whether he sought honor and prestige and applause of others or not. Jesus did not seek His own glory, but the glory of the Father only. They also judged a man's teachings by the standards they themselves had set up. They had judged Jesus as a blasphemer and one possessed of demons because He had cured a man on the Sabbath and had broken their traditions. Jesus shows them just how superficial their judgment was. They circumcised babies on the Sabbath in order that the Law of Moses be not broken (in spite of their traditions). Now if they permitted this work of circumcision to be done, how could they be so shallow and unrighteous and unmerciful as to prohibit the healing of a man's body and bringing him to faith on the Sabbath? You see, making laws where God never made them is also evidence of unbelief! Judging others by man-made standards and by superficial, shallow prejudices is a symptom of unbelief.

Conclusion

I.

HAVE YOU ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS OF UNBELIEF?

A.

Believing His supernatural character but not allowing Him to rule your heart?

B.

Mistaking knowledge or personal merit for holiness?

C.

Unwillingness to do God's will?

D.

Prejudiced and superficial judgment?

II.

IF YOU DO, YOU ARE HARBORING SOMETHING MORE DEADLY THAN CANCER!

A.

Flee to the Great Physician. partake of the Balm of Christ.

B.

By His stripes you may be healed. ONLY TRUST HIM.

III.

IF YOU HAVE NOT OBEYED THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION, WHY NOT NOW?

A.

A father once had a boy who liked to have his own way. He said to him one day, Son, you ought not to want your own wayyou ought to want God's way. After thinking a while, the son said, Father, if I choose the will of the Lord and go His way because I want to, don-'t I still have my own way?

IF WE LEARN THAT SECRET, WE HAVE LEARNED THE WHOLE SECRET OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. LET HIM HAVE HIS WAY WITH THEE. NOW!

SPECIAL STUDY NO. ONE

In our Introduction to the Gospel of John, Volume I, page 13, we made brief mention of the papyrus, Bodmer II (P 66). This special study is a digest of some of the recent reviews of this codex as to its importance in exegesis of the fourth Gospel.

The first portion of the codex was published in 1956 by Victor Martin, Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Geneva, The codex now resides in the Bodmer Library in Geneva, Switzerland.

Significance of the Codex

One reviewer says it is of the greatest importance. It is classified by others as even more significant to Biblical philology (language study), though less publicized, than the Qumran (Dead Sea Scroll) discoveries.
The Chester Beatty papyri, comprising some of our most ancient manuscript fragments of the New Testament text, offer only a very few fragments from John's Gospel. Conservative scholars were, until Papyrus Bodmer II, able to call to witness for the antiquity of John only the small fragment called Rylands Papyrus 457 (P52) which contained not even one complete verse. Now conservative scholars have the Gospel of John complete through chapter fourteen, verse twenty-six, except for the loss of one sheet in the sixth chapter plus portions of each of the remaining Chapter s (15 through 21) in a codex which dates from about 200 A.D. This means that the Bodmer manuscript (P66) dates from within only about one hundred years of the original manuscript written by John the Apostle himself!
As a witness to the text of the Fourth Gospel this codex is second only to the Vaticanus (B). Most reviewers are amazed at its legibility. The writing is so clear that there has been no question, so far, as to the identity of any Greek letter.

The Type of Text in P66

The textual scholars say the most important testimony of this codex is its amazing confirmation of the Neutral or Alexandrian text (the type of text which conservative scholars regard as the most accurate textthe text most likely to represent the original MSS.). In eighty-seven percent of the cases where the important manuscripts disagree (such as Aleph, B, C, D, etc.), Bodmer II has the Neutral reading. We are more assured than ever before that we have in the Neutral text the type of text actually used by the early church. All of this technical jargon simply means that this manuscript brings forth another very reliable testimony that the New Testament as we have it today is the same New Testament that the apostles wrote, except for some minute errors made by copyists in centuries of copying by hand.
One review says, we seem to have (in P66) what might be called a people's copy of a portion of the New Testament. there is no ornamentation of any kind. legibility seems the one aim. This is very significant for it shows that in the second or third century A.D., the common believers, not just the scholars, had the Neutral text in their hands.

In John 7:8 the Bodmer II has hupo rather than ouk which gives the context the better reading, I go not yet up to the feast, rather than the present ambiguity, I go not up unto this feast.

In John 7:52, P66 adds the definite article before prophetes causing it to read, Search, and see that out of Galilee ariseth not the Prophet. The belief that no prophet at all arises out of Galilee conflicts with the Old Testament in 2 Kings 14:25; Jonah 1:1.

In John 9:27 the Bodmer II omits ouk before ekousate causing it to read I told you already and you heard, which eliminates another ambiguity and makes the phrase more agreeable with the context.

The most significant of all variants, however, is the fact that it omits all of the story of the adulteress, John 7:53 through John 8:12, without a break in the continuity of the manuscript and without the slightest hint that it was ever included in John's Gospel.

Conclusion

It is easy to see that this has been one of the most significant discoveries in Biblical philology since Tischendorf's discovery of the great manuscript Siniaticus in 1834. The Bodmer II papyrus dates from about 200 A.D. and verifies again that we have uncorrupted, except for a few minor scribal errors, the text of God's Word as it was delivered by the Holy Spirit unto the apostle John.

Postscript

Very recently a Coptic (Egyptian) version of the Gospel of John was found and also placed in the Bodmer Library. This manuscript has been dated somewhere between 300 and 400 A.D. It is of interest that passages in John which textual scholars have previously recognized as critically suspect (John 5:3 b - John 5:4; John 7:53, John 8:11) are not present in this manuscript.

Some Variant Readings

The Bodmer II papyrus omits the explanatory glosses in John 2:3; John 3:13; John 6:56 as they are now found in the King James Version, In John 1:18 it has the better attested reading God only-begotten rather than only begotten Son.

It omits the reference to the angel troubling the waters of the pool of Bethesda, John 5:3 b - John 5:4.