Unbelief in the One Whom God Has Sent

Transcript

Well, good morning, Saints. We haven’t met yet, rather, if I haven’t had the privilege of meeting you yet. My name is Andre. I would love to meet you. I’m a member here at Trinity Church of Portland, and I have the immense privilege of serving here as one of the staff pastors. Friends, we turn our attention back to the Gospel of John, which is where we’ve spent the last couple of months, and where we’ll probably spend at least the next eight or ten months more, as we continue our study of this wonderful Gospel, which details the life and ministry of Jesus, and most importantly, His death, burial, and resurrection, which offers the salvation of sinners as a free gift to those sinners who would put their trust in Him. If you have a Bible, I want to invite you to open your Bible to John chapter 7, and

if you don’t have a Bible with you, there should be one in the seat in front of you, and if you don’t have a Bible at home, we want to give you that one as a gift. You have to promise you’re going to read it, though, or at least you’re going to think about reading it. Think hard, think long, but please open your Bibles to John chapter 7, and because this is a longer text that we’re reading today, I won’t have you stand, but we will read John 7, beginning from verse 1.

After this, Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the Jews’ feast of booths was at hand, so His brothers said to Him, Leave here and go to Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works You are doing.

— John 7

(ESV)

For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. For not even His brothers believed in Him. Jesus said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify about it, and its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I’m not going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come. After saying this, He remained in Galilee. But after His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He also went up, not publicly, but in private. The Jews were looking for Him at the feast and saying, Where is He? And there was much muttering about Him among the people. While some said, He is a good man, others said, No, He is leading the people astray.

— John 7

(ESV)

Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of Him. About the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, How is it that this man has learning when he has never studied? So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on My own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of Him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill Me? The crowds answered, You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill you?

— John 7

(ESV)

Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision, not that it was from Moses, but from the fathers, and you circumcised a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from. So Jesus proclaimed as He taught in the temple, You know Me, and you know where I come from,

but I have not come of My own accord. He who sent Me is true, and in Him you do not know. I know Him, for I come from Him, and He sent Me. So they were seeking to arrest Him, but no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in Him. They said, When the Christ appears, will He do more signs than this man has done? This, saints, is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Would you pray with me? Father, would you soften our hearts this morning? Would you weed out the unbelief that lingers, the preconceived notions, the expectations that we have of Jesus? And instead, Lord, would you help us to see Him as He is, that we might honor Him and glorify Him? It’s in His name that we pray, amen.

The Problem of Unbelief

Those of us that believe in Jesus, friend, I want to ask you, why do you believe in Him? Christian, why do you trust Jesus? What is it about Him that draws you to Him and keeps you close? Do you ever stop to consider why it is that you believe what you believe? Why Jesus is attractive to you? Why He’s trustworthy? Why His words ring true? Why His presence brings peace? And those of you that are here today who don’t believe in Jesus, why not? I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so glad that you’re hearing this. I’m so glad that you have come to hear the Word of God preached and to be with the people of God. And my prayer is that God will use His Word to open your eyes and that His Spirit would move in your heart and give you faith in Jesus.

But what has kept you from trusting in Jesus until now? Is your hang-up intellectual? Is your hang-up emotional, perhaps? Or maybe believing in Jesus is just too big a leap of faith. Our text shows us this morning a picture of unbelief. And most importantly, it’s not just a picture of unbelief, but we also see how Jesus responds to that unbelief. You see, Jesus was a divisive figure. He was a misunderstood person. But this had been told of Him his whole life. We read in Luke chapter 2 when Simeon, holding the baby Jesus and looking at his mother, said the following, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed. And looking at Mary, he said, And a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

It seems that the New Testament repeatedly tells us that Christianity, true, saving faith, is not merely about saying the right things about Jesus. It’s not merely about vaguely believing in Him, doing the right things, showing up at the right place at the right time. Knowing what you ought to know, it seems the picture we’re being given is that a Christian is someone who completely surrenders their life to Jesus. Completely surrenders their ambition, their pursuit, everything else that’s going for them. For what? For Him. In pursuit of Him. It’s someone who desperately clings to Jesus. And when offered something else, when offered someone else, responds like Peter, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Beloved, my prayer for all of us today, and really over the course of this study, is that

all of us here at Trinity Church would grow in love of Jesus. Would truly be on fire for Him. I know that this is one of those, like, Christianese things that we say pretty often, like, be on fire for Jesus, get excited, love Him more, follow Him more closely. But a life that’s wholly given over to Jesus, a life that is defined not only by knowing Him but by being known by Him and what that does for us, is a radically different life than the regular, run-of-the-mill, dare I say, lukewarm Christian. And my prayer is that there would not be a single lukewarm Christian in our congregation. I pray that when we encounter Him week after week, when we hear from Him, when we see in the Word how He serves and how He loves and how He prays and how He preaches, that He

Sources of Spiritual Blindness

would become so precious to each of us that everything else in our lives, our professional ambitions, our relational ambitions, our personal pursuits, our goals, would pale in comparison. As we consider the unbelief of Jesus’ brothers, as we consider the unbelief of these Jewish crowds at the Feast of Booths, I want us to look at this text in two parts. First we’ll look at the source of unbelief and spiritual blindness, and then in the latter portion of the text, when the crowds put His teaching and His knowledge under the microscope to see if these things are really so, we’ll see the source of Jesus’ wisdom and His true identity. Let’s take a look first at the source of unbelief and spiritual blindness. In his commentary on this text, R.C. Sproul says that this portion of Scripture is one of the most troubling texts that he finds in the whole of the New Testament, and that

has to do with the fact that there’s a shocking phrase here. Verse 5 tells us not even his brothers believed in him. After all those disciples left him, after his bread-of-life discourse, think of it, I mean it was at least 4,988 people. At least that many left. Maybe more, considering women, children, and some stragglers who didn’t get fed. But at least around 5,000 people walk away. And now we see that despite all that he has said, all that he has done, all the ways that he has proven himself to be true, all the ways that he’s verified his witness of being the one sent from God, even his brothers don’t believe in him. Think of that. The miracles, the wisdom, watching him grow as a perfect human being who never sinned. Never sinning. And they’re still like, I don’t know about big bro.

I don’t know about this guy. Unbelief is terrifying. Do you see how pervasive and how ugly and just how devastating it is? Jesus’ brothers, the Jewish crowds, the disciples in the previous chapter, know that this is already well into his ministry. This isn’t like day one where he just says something and they’re being forced to reckon with it. What do we do with just a statement being made? This is into the ministry where he’s had a chance to show himself to be true. Note also that one of these brothers is actually a New Testament author, James, the author of that New Testament epistle. He will eventually come to believe, thanks be to God, but not until he sees his brother resurrected. It takes a while. Proximity to Jesus, dear friend, does not exempt one from unbelief. If we think that being in the midst of the people of God, if we think that being born

into a Christian family, if we think that being around a church, being associated with the right people, with the right denomination, with the right whatever, is enough. These were his brothers, same roof, and they still didn’t believe in him. His brothers in essence are saying to Jesus, all right Jesus, you’re doing a bunch of stuff, but if you want your ministry to really grow, if you want your ministry to really flourish, don’t hang around here. Let’s go on to where the religious people are. Let’s do some miracles for the people that are really going to make a difference, that are really going to advance your cause, that are really going to help make you known. Even though they want him to perform miracles, even though they want him to wow the crowds, to make a splash, they’re not even believers. They’re only following him because he has bread to feed them and they hope that he’ll be

the one to free them from Roman bondage. They hope that he’ll be the one to change their life enough to make it a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more bearable. Their trust in him is not for salvation. Their trust in him is for what he could offer them, who he could be for them. What do you got, Jesus? And how much of it? What’s the context and the significance of his brothers saying this and telling him to go away from Galilee? What is this Feast of Booths? Feast of Booths is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, and this would have been one of the three required feasts for Jews to return to Jerusalem for. This is a celebration. This is a festival. People camped out. They set up tents. They ate outdoors. They interacted with other Jews. This was a big deal for the religious Jew, and they did this not just to have a camping

trip but to remember Israel’s time in the wilderness, to remember those wilderness years, and more importantly, to remember God’s provision during those years, his protection, his leading, his feeding them miraculously, his providing them water to drink in the desert without which they would die. And Jesus is actually going to point to this water, this living water, later on in the chapter, and it makes perfect sense that his brothers want him there, right in the middle of all the activity, right in the middle of all the people, a perfect place to grow your ministry and influence. Hanging in Galilee is not the way, Jesus. This is not how you expand a ministry. Where we expand is where we go to the crowds. But remember, Jesus could see why they wanted him there. For he himself knew what was in man, as we read in John 2, 25.

And what was in man, what was in their hearts, what was behind their desire for him to go there, wasn’t in accordance with his timing. What’s going on here with his brothers wanting Jesus to go to Judea, and then him not going, and then they go, and he goes in private, what’s all this about? They wanted something of him in his ministry. They wanted things to go their way, but he wasn’t about to do that. He has his plan, his timing, his purposes. He’s heading to the cross. He’s heading to give himself up for his people, and they’re just trying to make their own thing happen. And Jesus then points out this interesting thing about the life of the brothers, about the life of these guys that really should know better. He says, the world doesn’t yet hate you. Why? Because you’re just like them.

You’re just like the people around you. You’re just like the fair weather friends. You’re just like the crowds that want something from me, that worship me on their own terms, that receive the gifts, but don’t give glory to the gift giver. Their agenda, their religion, their ambition. They’re in proximity to Jesus. They’re along for the ride, but still of the world. And saints, here, I think it’s worth considering, how do we deal when our family or our friends walk away from the faith? When we plead with loved ones? When we share the gospel with friends? When we plead with who we thought was a brother or a sister in the church to not leave, to not deconstruct? How do we deal with them walking away? How do we process those close to us misunderstanding our faith? Maybe even becoming hostile towards us? Well, here I just want to say, Jesus can empathize with you.

Jesus knows what that’s like. His own brothers didn’t even believe in him. His own brothers had their own agenda when it came to him and his ministry. He knows what it’s like, and Jesus cares for you. But remember, it’s his timing in each of our lives that draws us in, just like it was his timing in the lives of his brothers. Now, could it be that the brothers struggle with unbelief, is that they were trying to build their own little kingdom, a nice little life for themselves alongside their brother, the gifted teacher, the miracle worker? Could it be that the unbelief of the Jews at the Feast of Booths was because they wanted their own religion? They wanted their own way of life? Just consider the warning that Jesus offered in chapter 5, verses 41 through 44, given to religious Jews. I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not have the love of God

within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? At the heart of this unbelief is the fact that his plan doesn’t give either group any glory. It doesn’t give either group any say in how their life advances and how their religion forms. It doesn’t elevate them. Friends, the sin of unbelief, and we don’t often think of unbelief as a sin. We think about it as a function of, you know, this is just how I perceive reality. The sin of unbelief is pervasive. It can impact all of us in one way or another, even those of us who call ourselves Christians. A Christianity that may have been built on this understanding of who Jesus is and what

he offers me and what my religion is like and how I worship and how I do things. That starts to sound a lot like what was going on in our text, and this is a Christianity of our own making. We need to guard our hearts. Here we see that one kind of unbelief wants more miracles, while the other wants the miracles to stop. More of what I want, less of what you want, Jesus. More of my timing, less of your timing. More of my plan, less of your plan. I know what’s best. Can you just do it my way, Jesus? I’ve been praying about this for a while. Let’s do the thing that I’m asking for. Sound familiar? Beloved, do we approach Jesus with our own ideas of who he is and what we want from him? Sure, our theology is good here at Trinity Church, right?

We don’t treat Jesus like that. Or deep down in the recesses of our hearts, do we pray to him and ask of him as if he were some sort of genie for us? The brother’s unbelief was due to the fact that the kind of Messiah that they wanted was not him. He didn’t fulfill their earthly ambitions and desires. The Jew’s unbelief is seen in the fact that they were already good, or so they thought. And when he started to question and undermine their religion, their way of life, and tell them what it is that God actually requires of you, they said, we don’t need any help. We’re good. We’ve had this figured out for a while. When we say we believe in Jesus, that we follow Jesus, which Jesus are we referring to? How do we determine who we believe in, who it is that we worship and follow?

Jesus’ True Authority

What expectations do we have of Jesus? Do we follow a crucified Savior who came as a servant? Or is our Jesus our answer to our political, societal, personal woes? I’ll tell you, friend, if it’s not the real Jesus, if it’s not the Jesus of the Bible, that’s not the one you follow. This isn’t subjective. This isn’t something that you figure out for yourself. Just like Paul said in Galatians 1 that any other gospel is no gospel at all, so we see here that any other Jesus is no Jesus at all. Our pride, our worldly ambition will keep us far from Jesus. Pride that leads us to try to earn our own standing before Him, and pride that will push us into our own religion. Well, the grace of God breaks our pride, and it gives us something so much better. The God of grace. This unbelief on the part of Jesus’ brothers, on the part of the Jews in the temple, on

the part of the disciples in the previous chapter, it all stems out of them wanting and expecting something of Jesus. This then leads to confusion, misunderstandings, frustration, unmet expectations. But Jesus here openly explains to these crowds of religious people who He actually is and what it is that He’s doing, which brings us to the source of Jesus’ wisdom and His true identity. When Jesus responds to the Jews in verse 16, His response is to them saying, how is it that this man has learning when he’s never studied? Wait, wait, wait, wait, where did Jesus go to seminary? Where did He receive His training? Who was His rabbi? Who did He study under? Where did He learn to talk like that? The religious and educated class of Jesus’ time heavily scrutinized Jesus’ credentials. Who does He think He is? Does He not know that we run things around here?

What gives Him the right to speak this way? The confusion about Him and hostility towards Him was and is very real. How are we to understand the authority with which Jesus spoke? How are we to understand why this was so confusing for these people? And how in understanding what we know now about the whole of the New Testament, how do we understand this relationship of Jesus’ humanity to His deity? Did He have limitations? Did Him being fully human mean that there was some aspect of His wisdom or His teaching that wasn’t complete? With Him being fully God, how should we think about texts like Matthew 24, 36? But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. How should we then understand the dual nature of Christ? Fully God, fully man. Truly God, truly man.

Jesus was one person with two natures, the divine nature having all of the attributes of deity, the human nature having all of humanity’s limitations. He hungered. He thirsted. And as we see in Matthew 24, there were even some limitations in how much was revealed to Him in His human nature. Distinct natures, but not separate. But His teaching, His presentation of the truth came from His deity. He was infallible in His teaching and His presentation of the truth of who God is, who man is, and how it is that sinful man is to be reconciled to God. Up on the mountain, during the Transfiguration, God spoke from the heavens in Matthew 17, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And what are the last words? Listen to Him. When God sent His Son to save His people from their sins, to pull them out of the slavery,

the bondage of their sin that would lead them to destruction, that would forever separate them from God, He came preaching the good news as to how man is reconciled to God, as to how sinners are saved. And God the Father, in looking down at His Son, says, Listen to Him. What He says is true. What man needs for salvation, he can receive from the very words of Jesus, the Son of God, the God-man. Note the connection here with an earlier section of John’s Gospel. In chapter 5, Jesus healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda, and the Jewish leaders were very upset with Him. They were very upset because He did this on the Sabbath. And He’s bringing that back up here. He’s reminding them that this upset them. And He’s bringing up circumcision. Now the law for circumcision for the Jews stated that a boy had to be circumcised on

the eighth day. If that eighth day should fall on the Sabbath, what were the Jews to do? The Jews who, on the Sabbath, could not work. They were required to circumcise the boy. And so Jesus is saying, You would obey the law and do this work on the Sabbath, and yet you’re upset with me because I heal someone and make them whole on the Sabbath. You see, despite these people’s knowledge, they’re foolish in terms of the things of God. And worse, they’re hard-hearted. And they’re convinced of their own rightness, of their own way of following God’s law and worshiping Him. This is unbelief to the nth degree. And who was it that was most antagonistic toward Jesus in His time? The intellectuals, the academics, the trained religious leaders. Who is it today that often presents the framework that would lead people astray? That would present a false Jesus?

That would cause people to question the trustworthiness of Scripture? It’s the very same people. Do you realize that when Jesus says to these people in verse 28, He who sent Me is true and you do not know Him, this is shocking. These are the most religious people. These are the most devout people alive at that time. They have the Word specifically given to them. They have the history, the tradition. And Jesus looks at them and says, You don’t know God. You have no idea who He is. Friends, over the course of our study of the Gospel of John, the other pastors and I have been pointing out the theological significance of John’s Gospel, the various doctrines being presented here, the fact that textual critical scholars combed through this Gospel carefully and the whole field of Johannine scholarship exists to piece together who wrote this Gospel,

why they wrote it, how it fits into the rest of the New Testament. And do you know where the whole world of biblical scholarship often lands with John’s presentation of Jesus and His life and ministry? Often theological liberals and skeptics of the Bible’s claims and its trustworthiness will use this very Gospel to undermine the veracity of Scripture. The irony? John shows throughout the life and ministry of Jesus that’s exactly what the people of his time were doing. The elite, the educated, the religious, the academics, every single thing he said, every single thing he did. And it continues today, which shows us what? Hard-hearted unbelief is not novel to our time. It wasn’t novel to theirs. It’s a human condition. And so as we look at our own walk, is what we put our hope in dependent on eloquence? Theological savvy, doctrinal alignment, academic training?

Or do we put our hope in Jesus? Do we regularly say in my mind, if not Him, I have nowhere to go? It’s Him. Friend, do you know about Him? Or do you know Him? He was clear about who He was. He was clear about why He came. My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me, verse 16. Consider also the various I am statements that we’ve studied in the Gospel. Consider the fact that He has repeatedly said that no one can be saved apart from Him. And consider the fact that He has said and will say numerous times that all who are in Him are secure. They may not like what He says, but He is being clear. Just look at the magnitude of what Jesus says here in verses 28 and 29. You know me. You know where I come from. I’m not hiding.

You know my story. You know my heritage. You know this. You know all this about me. You know me. And you know where I come from, but I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and Him you do not know. I know Him, for I come from Him, and He has sent me. Once again, we get to see more of Jesus here. I know the Father. I know the truth. Who is this teacher? Who is this miracle worker? Who is this kind, gracious leader that surrounds Himself with the ne’er-do-wells of society, those that have been cast aside and no one else wants to deal with? This is the very one whom God sent, His beloved Son. If you won’t consider what He says, if you won’t listen to Him, who will you listen to? When you hear His words, how do you respond?

Our Response Today

Christian, are you still in awe of Him? Does your heart still burn when you hear your Savior speak? Or is it just kind of cruise control at this point? It’s been long enough. The honeymoon period has worn off. This is God. And if you’re not a Christian, how do you hear His words? Do you just think to yourself, oh, that’s nice. I like that part where He fed the hungry people. That was cool. Do you also like the part where He said, I am the bread of life? There’s a lot of confusion about Jesus, but He did say one thing. It’s Him, and it’s only Him. What do we do with this Jesus who seems to be so divisive, so categorical, who doesn’t leave a whole lot up for interpretation? How do we as Christians present this Jesus to the world around us? In our text, Jesus’ time to give Himself as a sacrifice for sinners to be murdered

had not yet come, and so He’s still calling sinners to Himself. He’s still revealing Himself to them. As we can see, there’s always been hostility against Jesus, His exclusivity claims, His life that’s so different from the world around Him. Yes, Jesus was loving, kind, gracious, but He also presented a goodness and a purity and a holiness that challenged the way of the world and the way of religion. And friends, we should be winsome, and we should be kind, and we should be generous and loving and patient. Yes, definitely. But the reality is that the message that we bring is of a Messiah who came and died in the place of His people. Why did He do that? Why did He have to die? Because our sin is so horrible and it is so massive in the eyes of a holy God that the only way to cleanse us and to make us right is for a perfect, spotless sacrifice to go

and be slaughtered in my place. That is a hard pill to swallow. That’s a hard message to communicate. At a certain point, mere winsomeness isn’t enough. People will struggle with the heart of that message. This doesn’t mean that we need to be harsh or mean, but we need to understand that Jesus lived a perfect life and was gracious to the point of fault. He was perfect in His grace and in His kindness and in His patience, and yet they killed Him because what He said challenged the very core of who they are and how they wanted to live their lives. People lied about Him and accused Him of all sorts of things, and unbelievers are still doing that today. The thing is, we can’t always tell when these questions from our unbelieving friends and family are coming out of just confusion or maybe from a place of genuine seeking or wrestling

with who He is. As Peter said in 1 Peter 3.15, the way that we approach people is always being prepared to make a defense for the hope that is in you and yet doing so with gentleness and respect. This means we need to know who He is and why we believe in Him, and this means that He needs to be our everything, our joy, and our treasure so that we can clearly and honestly communicate that to others. Jesus already stated in the previous chapter when He said that He was the bread of life, and He’ll say it at the end of this chapter when He says that He alone offers living water, but what’s He inviting people into? Is it more miracles to see? Is it more rules to follow? No, He’s saying it’s Him. He Himself is life. It’s not just what He does, but it’s Him that we’re being invited into.

At the Feast of Tabernacles while Israel was gathering together to remember and celebrate God’s presence and His provision in the wilderness, Jesus showed up, and He showed up as the true tabernacle. As we see in John 1.14, God’s very presence there before them, and they rejected Him. But thanks be to God, undeterred He faithfully continued to the cross so that He could redeem His people and bring them out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Amen. Amen. Would you pray with me?

Jesus, You are gracious, merciful, kind, patient, loving. No amount of words can truly give You the praise and glory that You are due. And so we ask, Lord, stir up our hearts to live wholly and completely for You, because You’re worth the whole of who we are. Thank You for loving us, Jesus. Thank You for saving us. And thank You for being the sacrifice that we ourselves could never offer. Amen.