The Words of The Word

Transcript

Good morning, family. Before we begin this morning, as Jan alluded in the pastoral prayer, our brother Andrew Pack, who served here as a pastor and has since planted a church in Washington, is in the process or attempting to purchase a building. It’s a beautiful building. He sent me some pictures of it. And so my encouragement to you is be praying for Andrew and for their church, that God would be gracious to give them a building. It is very difficult to get a building in this current culture. So be praying for him, that the Lord would be kind and in his perfect wisdom provide for their needs. Well, if you would be so kind as to turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, chapter 7.

The Plot Unfolds

We’ll be looking this morning at verses 32 through 52. If you’re visiting here, welcome. My name is Thomas. And I have the privilege of serving as one of the members of this church as well as one of the pastors. And so it is my joy to get to know you. And so please come and find me after the service. I’m usually hanging out in the back. I’d love to get to know you. We have a pretty long portion of Scripture this morning. So I’ll let you remain seated.

If you don’t have a Bible, there are some Bibles in the front seat in front of you in that basket there. You’re welcome to use that this morning. John chapter 7, verse 32.

The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him. And the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer. And then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me, and you will not find me. Where I am, you cannot come. The Jews said to one another, what does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, you will seek me, and you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come?

— John 7

(ESV)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For as yet, the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, this really is the prophet. Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was? So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

— John 7

(ESV)

The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, why did you not bring him? The officers answered, no one ever spoke like this man. The Pharisees answered them, have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, who was one of them, said to them, does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? They replied, are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.

— John 7

(ESV)

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray. Oh, Father, we do pray that this morning, you would open our eyes to your word. We pray, Lord, that we would just not be hearers of your word, but we would be responsive and obedient to it.

We pray that your word would challenge us this morning, convict us where we need to be challenged, and would you use your word to conform us more into the image of Jesus? We ask for the Spirit’s help, because on our own, we cannot do it. And so, Spirit of the living God, would you fall afresh on us? Would you open up our eyes to the truth? We pray these things in Christ’s name, amen.

Whoever coined the phrase, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, was either delusional, dishonest, or definitely had a hearing problem. Because we all know that words do hurt. They’re powerful. Words can be devastating. With just a few words, you could start a fight. Depending on the type of position you have, with a few words, you could start a war. Your words can crush a child, wound your wife, humiliate your husband, fracture a friendship. Words can do damage. Words cause division. All of us, at some point, have felt the sting of words. And if we’re honest, all of us have used our words to hurt other people. We’ve gossiped. We’ve accused. We’ve flattered. We’ve condemned. Sometimes in our pride, we divide with speech. Sometimes we hurt out of fear. Sometimes we exclude people with our words, not even meaning to, just trying to protect ourselves

or to keep control or manage the situation. And even when we mean well, we often get it wrong with our words. Take, for example, our sarcasm. Though meant to be funny and playful, they can land like condescending mockery. Or take into consideration our bluntness. Though we’re meant to be clear and kind, sometimes that could come off as cold and cruel. You use words to say something honest and out loud, just to get it off your chest, and you can split a room. That’s what words do. They damage. They divide. And the reason why they damage and divide is because our words are soaked in sin. And when our speech lacks love and humility, even the truth can harden and hurt rather than help people. But family, this is not the case with Jesus. Jesus, who is the word, uses words to speak. And his words do something entirely different than ours.

Yes, his words divide, but it’s a righteous divide. His words wound, but with the purpose to heal. His words expose sin, but not with the aim to shame. His voice carries no pride, no insecurity, only perfect purity, power, authority, and clarity. And every time he speaks, people respond. Some are drawn to him, and others walk away. But at the words of Jesus, no one leaves neutral. And this is exactly what we’ll see in John 7. This chapter isn’t packed with miracles or signs like all the other chapters. This chapter is packed with words. Jesus teaches with words. He confronts with words, and he invites with words. And what happens? Division. Righteous division. And that division is clearly seen in our passage this morning. Jesus divides not to damage or destroy, but to declare an open invitation to freedom and salvation. And to help us see this division of words,

Five Scenes of Division

I’ve broken up our text into five scenes. The plot, the invitation, the division, the arrest, and the hypocrisy. And so let’s begin with the plot in verse 32. The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Now, just by way of context, Jesus has created tension with these religious leaders. But it’s not the first time he’s done this in his ministry. He’s already provoked them by healing on the Sabbath. He’s claimed equality with the Father. And he’s challenged their superficial use of the law. But now there’s a new tension happening. The crowds are starting to wonder if Jesus might actually be the long-anticipated Messiah. So they murmur among themselves, which simply means they’re verbally speculating. Some are starting to put the pieces together. Others are still unconvinced. And as the people start to speak,

the Pharisees begin to hear the words from the crowd full of speculation and wonder. And so the Pharisees move from listening to these words to action. They start to develop a plan. The text says they sent officers to arrest Jesus. And so this dispatch here really marks the beginning of the end concerning their plot to kill Jesus. And I want you to notice something here. It’s not just the Pharisees. It’s also the chief priests or the Sadducees. I’m not sure if you know the difference between the two, but these two groups were very different. And these two groups didn’t get along. You see, Pharisees were obsessed with legal tradition and spiritual purity. The Sadducees, well, they were more politically driven and theologically skeptical. So essentially, you have one group of religious leaders, but within this group, two entirely different sects of religious leaders, one conservative and one liberal.

But in this case, these two groups that wouldn’t usually get along or be diametrically opposed to each other find common ground because of their common enemy. They both marked Jesus as an enemy because of his powerful words and how his words have unsettled both parties. And so these enemies find unity, but only in their plot to get rid of Jesus. And this is often what happens with religious power. It doesn’t mind making strange allegiances or compromises if it means keeping control. The Pharisees and the Sadducees didn’t care about truth at this point. They simply cared about preserving their power. They didn’t want to lose their influence or their religious grip on the crowd. And you see, the problem wasn’t that Jesus was theologically wrong with his teaching. No, Jesus was perfectly precise. It was that Jesus was unmanageable. And so they sent the temple police, not

the Roman soldiers, the Levites. These were the men who were familiar with the law, trained to maintain order in the temple courts. So you could think of them as like religious soldiers. So they knew how to follow orders, but they also knew how to listen to religious teaching. And that’s an important detail that we’ll unpack in a little bit. But before these dispatched soldiers even lay hands on Jesus, Jesus speaks. Look at verse 33. Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. So it’s clear that in the divine wisdom of God, he already knows what they’re plotting, and he’s not panicked. He doesn’t run or hide. He says, I’ll be here a little longer. That’s it. And that little longer is roughly six months. And we know this because Jesus is currently

at the Feast of Tabernacles, which would be September, October. And the cross or the passion comes at the Passover, which is like March or April. So when Jesus says a little while, he means it literally. But he also means something far more than just a literal time stamp concerning his departure. He’s saying to these men, you’re not in charge of the situation. I am. Just because you can command the temple officers doesn’t mean you can arrest me according to your schedule. You don’t get to take me on your timeline. I’m on a mission from the Father, and I will return to him in the fullness of time, meaning when the Father has ordained it. So yes, the plot is set in motion, but it will only unfold according to God’s divine design. Family, God is sovereign, and he exercises complete control over all the affairs of this world, which

means nothing can happen outside of his divine control. And this includes their plot against him, their plans to kill him. So though they plot evil against him, he will use their evil for good and will divinely control the timeline so that it fits according to God’s purposes. And so Jesus here not only flips the power dynamics, but he also adds a warning, and we see that in verse 34. He says, you will seek me, and you will not find me. Where I am, you cannot come. And just to be clear, that’s not just an issue of geolocation. It’s a judgment. You will seek me, meaning you will look for me not because you believe in me, but because you will want to be delivered from the coming judgment, and it will be too late for you. These are powerful words from Jesus here. And these words here echo Amos 8,

where God says he will send a famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. People will run from sea to sea searching for the word, and they will not find it. In other words, Jesus is telling them, I’m here now, but I won’t always be. And with this whole plot that you have against me, you’re rejecting the very one who could save you from the coming judgment of your sin. There is coming a day when their thirst for safety will be real, but the well will be closed. And this is true for every human that ever lived who has not embraced Jesus as the rescue from his coming judgment for sin, which means, friends, there is an expiration date of his divine grace. It expires at death or at his return. And I know that’s hard to hear, especially

in a culture like ours where Jesus is paraded as this kind of all-inclusive Jesus whose grace never runs out, who would never judge anyone for their sin. But friends, that’s not the Jesus of the Bible. Yes, he is loving. He is gracious. He is compassionate. He is long-suffering, but his love has a limit. And clearly, his grace has a timeline. And the truth of his timeline is actually mercy, if you think about it. Giving a timeline is functionally to prolong what humans rightfully deserve right now for rebelling against the God who created us. And so our merciful Jesus doesn’t just expose sin. He warns of sin’s consequences and its countdown. And his mercy calls sinners now while there’s still time to come to him. But like so many other warnings in scripture, these religious people don’t take him seriously. Look at verses 35 and 36.

The Jews said to one another, where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, you will seek me, and you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come? Now, to be clear, this is not confusion from these religious leaders. I hope you see what’s happening here. These men are being sarcastic. They’re mocking Jesus. Oh, you’re planning a little missions trip, Jesus? Maybe going to go preach to the Greeks now because we’re not responding to your preaching the way you want us to? You think those irreligious people have any idea what you’re talking about? But here’s the irony in what they’re saying. It’s actually exactly what’s going to happen. The gospel will go to the dispersion. In fact, it will go to all the nations.

Come and Drink

Jesus will be lifted up. The Spirit will be poured out. And from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth, living water will flow from both Jews and Greeks. So what’s crazy is that their sarcasm actually becomes a kind of prophecy. They speak better than they know. And here’s the contrast that I hope we feel. The religious leaders are plotting in pride, and Jesus is walking in perfect peace. They think that they’re in control with their power and with their religious insight and all of their sarcasm. But Jesus knows where he’s going. He knows who sent him, and he knows what time it is. And as the plot is thickening, the mission of God is unfolding through his words. Jesus, unshaken, undivided, and undetoured is speaking words with clarity and calm to a self-righteous world that refuses to respond properly. And this brings us to the invitation in verse 37.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Now, let’s just pause here for a second. I think in order to feel the full weight of this moment, you have to understand the setting, what’s going on here. This is the final day of the Feast of Booths, which was a week-long celebration, remembering when God brought his people out of Egypt when they lived in tents or booths in the desert, when they were completely dependent on his provision. During this feast, the people would build these shelters out of branches in remembrance of their ancestors, of their temporary tents that they had to make when they needed to dwell in the wilderness. And each morning during this festival, a priest would draw water from the Pool of Siloam and pour it at the base of the altar.

That water-pouring ritual symbolized God’s provision, particularly when water came from the rock in the wilderness. So it was kind of like a prayer for rain and future hope of God’s blessings. And so with all of that in mind, now picture the scene here. The temple courts are packed with people celebrating this Feast of Booths. The water ceremony had probably just finished. The people are quiet in their reflection and in their remembrance of what God did with their ancestors. And right in the middle of this ancient celebration, Jesus stands up and he cries out with a loud, urgent shout and says, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Which would have been startling and a bit dramatic in this moment. But the shouting wasn’t an attempt to add drama to the festival. It was an invitation to receive what the festival was meant to point to.

Essentially, Jesus was saying, everything you’ve been remembering and rehearsing here, it all points to me. You’re going through the drama of collecting branches and building tents for a dwelling place. If you come to me, I will make my tent in you. Not a temporary dwelling place, but an eternal one. And you’re remembering water that came from the rock. I am the rock. You’re asking God for rain and provision. Well, I’m the fountain of living water. You’re longing for joy, life, and satisfaction. Come to me because I’m the only one who can give it. If you’re thirsty, come drink of me. And don’t miss how wide open the door is when Jesus says this. He says, if anyone thirsts. This is not an exclusive offer for the elite or the clean or the religious. This is a universal, open invitation to the broken, the empty, and the spiritually dry.

Now listen, we are a church that is reformed in our view of salvation. Meaning, we preach a Calvinistic understanding of salvation, and we do that unashamedly. But where I think a lot of reformed folks and Calvinists get it wrong is in minimizing this open invitation. Yes, election is true, but so is Jesus’ open call. If anyone thirsts, come. So don’t get caught up on the topic of election so much that you minimize this open call. Let election be God’s deal to sort out, not yours. We as God’s elect are called to declare this open invitation to the world to come and receive him. Jesus doesn’t say, if the elect are thirsty, come. He says, if anyone is thirsty, come. And notice, the only requirement is need, thirst, desire, emptiness, and the only command, come. Meaning, don’t go back to your rituals. Don’t wait for better circumstances.

Don’t try to fix yourself or purify yourself. Come and drink. You see, Jesus doesn’t offer a formula. He offers himself freely and fully. He’s beckoning, come to me. Look at verse 38. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. It’s a beautiful text there. What’s interesting about this text is it’s not just about satisfying the heart, what’s interesting about this text is it’s not just about satisfying your own thirst. Jesus says, when you believe in me, you don’t just receive life, you receive the spirit and become a source of life for others. Not a drip, not a cup, but rivers of living water. And you see, he’s reworking all of the wilderness imagery here. Water doesn’t just flow from a rock, it flows from believers. As the spirit takes up his residence in you,

as he makes his tent in you, it flows from you. This living water flows through the church and into the wilderness of the world. Now, Jesus isn’t saying you become the source of life. He is the source of life. But you become a vessel. You become a conduit or a spring when you drink deeply of Christ and live in the spirit others can drink from your life. This is how the gospel is advanced. This is how the church spreads. This is how ministry happens. Thirsty people meet Jesus. The spirit makes his tent in you and you become a river offering the only one who can quench the thirst of people. And just to make it clear about what he’s talking about, John gives a kind of divine footnote in verse 39. Listen, he says, now this he said about the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive,

for as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. And here’s the point of the footnote. This river Jesus promises is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity that will indwell every believer after Christ is glorified. So in just a few words here, Jesus unfolds the whole sequence of salvation in this invitation. The son offers life to anyone, the spirit applies that life and the father ordains the whole thing. This is Trinitarian grace, one God, three persons saving thirsty sinners. And remember, the only qualification is need. The sufficiency is in Christ. The indwelling comes through the spirit and the overflow. The rivers don’t come from you, they come out of you from the source. Can I ask you this morning, are you thirsty for this living water? Are you filled to the brim with the spirit so much so that it’s just pouring out of you?

Hearts Divided

Or are you trying to quench your soul with tradition or success or relationships or distraction? Are you stagnant in your walk with Jesus? Are you spiritually dehydrated, running on drops? Then you need to come to Christ and drink deeply. Meditate on his word, let his word fill you. Are you praying for the spirit of the living God to fill you up and to help you feel his presence? Come to him and when you do, you won’t just find refreshment, you’ll overflow. You’ll become a river. Scene three, the division. Verse 40, when they heard these words, some of the people said, this really is the prophet. Now let’s just stop here for a second. Verse 40 is interesting in that it’s kind of a slight reference to Deuteronomy 18 where Moses said God would raise up a prophet like him, one who would speak on behalf of God.

And some in the crowd are beginning to recognize the weight of Jesus’s words, probably hanging on to Moses’s words. They feel the gravity of Jesus’s prophetic voice, but they don’t go far enough. They think that the prophet and the Messiah are two different people. So they’re close, but not clear. Other people take it a step further. And in verse 41, they say, this is the Christ, which is no small confession. They’re saying, this is him, the anointed one, the redeemer, the one we’ve been waiting for, the one promised in scripture. And maybe some of those confessions were genuine, though they likely don’t understand all the details of what the Messiah actually means. But notice that when some of these people make this confession, there are still some objections. Some say, is the Christ to come from Galilee? And here’s what’s happening here. There are some people that are rejecting Jesus

not because of his words, but because of where they think he’s from. Verse 42 shows us their train of thought. Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was? And technically, they’re right. The Messiah was to come from David’s line and was to be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5.2 tells us that, 2 Samuel 7 shows us that. So their knowledge of the Old Testament was solid, but their conclusion was wrong. And the reason why is because they never thought to ask Jesus where he was born. They assume he’s from Galilee, so they miss him and they dismiss him. They get the Bible part right, but they botch the biography. They know the text, but they miss the testimony, so they miss the Messiah standing right in front of them. And this is why knowledge of the Bible

can never replace spiritual humility. You can memorize scripture all day long and still be blind if you never ask honest questions about Jesus. They could have said, let’s ask where he was born and gotten this whole thing sorted out. But instead they said, he’s from the wrong place, so he must be the wrong person. Verse 43 sums it up. So there was a division among the people over him. So the people were divided. That word for division here is deep. It’s the word schisma, it’s where we get the word schism, which means to tear into two or to split into two. And so this is not just a disagreement between the people of who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s a severing of the people. So Jesus doesn’t just stir up opinions, his words cut through hearts and cut through Christ. Some are drawn in, others are driven away.

The thirsty are invited, the proud are offended, and this still happens today. Jesus is still in the business of dividing. He separates the self-sufficient from the desperate, the religious from the repentant, the curious from the convicted, the humble from the hostile. And we see a bit of that hostility in verse 44. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. And there it is again, this opposition without opportunity. Their anger was growing, but no one could touch him. And the reason why is because Jesus said in John 10, 18, and we’ll look at this in greater detail in a few months, no one takes my life from me, but I lay it down at my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to lay it down. I have the authority to lay it down,

and I have the authority to take it up again, this charge I have received from my father. In this moment where we see the untouchable Jesus, it again reminds us the timeline belongs to God. These leaders seek to arrest him, and they will eventually kill him, but only when the hour that God ordains it to come to pass, which brings us to scene four, the arrest. Verse 45, the officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, why did you not bring him? These temple officers, after being dispatched by the highest Jewish authority to arrest Jesus had one job, grab him and bring him to us. But instead they return empty handed, and the religious leaders are confused, probably a bit embarrassed, and very angry. And verse 46 tells us why these temple police didn’t bring him back. Verse 46, the officers answered,

no one ever spoke like this man. That’s it. That’s all they say, that’s why they didn’t bring him back. Not the crowd stopped us, not he slipped away from us, or we feared a riot would break out, just we heard him and we couldn’t move. And to be clear, these aren’t like gullible teenagers working a part-time job in the temple to make a little bit of extra cash with no power or no education. These were trained men, religious temple police, Levites, familiar with the scripture, steeped in tradition, hardened by formal religion. They had heard countless sermons before in the synagogue as they sought to secure the synagogue. But this Jesus was entirely different. There was something altogether amazing about his words. They weren’t manipulative or sentimental. They weren’t overly academic or performative. His words carried a divine weight. His words had a kind of arresting authority.

William Hendrickson in his commentary on this verse says, they might not have known who Jesus fully was, but they knew he wasn’t like anyone else. R.C. Sproul said, these men were not converted, but they were arrested spiritually by the power of Jesus’s words. And just think about the irony in the scene for a second. They went to arrest Jesus because of his words, but Jesus’s words arrested them. It’s crazy.

Can I ask you this morning, when was the last time you were arrested by God’s word? Not just moved emotionally or felt, you know, a slight hint of conviction, but a dead stop in your tracks. When was the last time the word of God stopped you from running headlong into sin? From sending that bitter text to make you feel justified or vindicated? From clicking or scrolling when you thought no one else was looking? From opening your mouth to complain about your spouse or to blow up on your kids? When was the last time God’s word restrained you from that? When was the last time God’s word stopped you from gossiping about another brother or sister in the church? From chastising someone with sarcasm masked with humor? Or from diving into self-pity instead of turning to prayer? When was the last time you opened up the scriptures

not just to complete a Bible reading plan, but to encounter a holy and living God so that you might be arrested by him and his words? Because he still does that today. He still speaks. He still confronts. He still cuts deep, not to destroy us, but to stop us in our tracks. And listen, if you are in Christ, he doesn’t arrest you to condemn you. He arrests you to redirect you, to restore you and to draw you back to the waters of life. So if you find yourself constantly wrestling with that particular sin, you should be asking God to give you ears to hear his word as it beckons you to turn away as the spirit recalls them to your mind and to your heart, that he might arrest you in the process. That’s what’s happening in this moment. Jesus doesn’t perform a miracle. He doesn’t defend himself.

He doesn’t manipulate anyone. He doesn’t justify himself. He just spoke and it was enough to stop them in their tracks and prevent them from doing evil. That’s what his words do. And this is the kind of savior that we follow. A savior who whispers to us, don’t do that again. You remember what happened the last time you did that. It’s not gonna satisfy you. You’re gonna hate the way you feel. The moment you do that, it’s gonna separate you from me. It’s gonna make us pulled apart. My son, my daughter, turn away. Turn to me. We serve a savior whose words bend the world into submission whose voice still speaks by his word and by his spirit to bend us into obedience because he loves us and he wants what’s best for us. And this scene, these officers undone by Jesus’s voice isn’t just a side note.

Arrested by Words

It’s a warning to the proud and it’s a comfort to the thirsty. To the proud, it says, be careful. You could be respected, equipped, sent with authority but when Jesus speaks, you’re not in charge anymore. And to the thirsty, when Jesus speaks, it says, listen, his voice calls and if you truly hear him and listen to him, you’ll never be the same. Scene five, the hypocrisy. So here we come to the final scene, not just in our story but in chapter seven. The temple guards return undone, not by force but by the voice of Jesus, unable to carry out their assignment and the religious leaders already seething are now humiliated and what happens when proud men are exposed? What usually comes next is mockery, sarcasm, arrogance and dismissal and that’s exactly what we see in verse 47. The Pharisees answered them, have you also been deceived?

In other words, you too? Are you just as gullible as the rest of this crowd? And what’s crazy is that there is no pause for reflection, no curiosity, no humility, just immediate disgust and disregard. This is the classic tone of spiritual elitism. Instead of asking, what did Jesus say that moved you or arrested you? They assume you’re an idiot, you must be naive. In verse 48, they say, have any of the authorities or Pharisees believed in him?

And this is religious elitism cloaked in orthodoxy. We don’t believe him and we’re the gatekeepers. We’re the trained ones. You’re just the muscle. We’re the theological experts. If Jesus were truly the Messiah, don’t you think we would know? And it’s tragic really. These are the shepherds of Israel, the ones meant to prepare the people for the coming Messiah but there they are, using their spiritual power and persuasion to reject Jesus. Then in verse 49, they double down and they say, but this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. And just let that sink in for a minute.

They don’t just reject Jesus, they curse the very people who are being drawn to Jesus. This is the epitome of spiritual blindness. They are unmoved by Jesus’s words and they are moved with anger that anyone else would be. Instead of guiding the sheep, they mock them for being sheep. They knew the law, they quoted it, they were experts in it apparently. They debated it, but standing before the lawgiver himself, they don’t recognize him. And in their blindness, they condemn those who do recognize him. This is what spiritual hypocrisy looks like. Outward devotion, inward darkness. But notice into that pride-filled courtroom steps one surprising voice of reason. Look at verse 50.

Nicodemus, who had gone to him before and who was one of them, said to them. Just pause here for a second. You remember Nicodemus, right? Back in John 3, he came to Jesus at night, privately asking questions about the things that Jesus had said with his words. And Jesus gave him words that likely shook him to his core. In John 3, 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Verse five, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now, Nicodemus didn’t walk away that night with all the answers, but Jesus’ words did lodge themselves in his heart. And notice the shift. He moves from approaching Jesus in the private covering of night so that no one else can hear him ask Jesus questions.

And now he speaks publicly and boldly. Verse 51, does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? Now, to be clear, this isn’t a bold confession of faith, but it is a plea for justice. He’s appealing to the very law the Pharisees boast about. So he’s not defending Jesus outright, but he’s defending due process. Essentially, he’s saying, if we are people who care so much about the law, shouldn’t we follow it? This is the exact opposite of hypocrisy. He’s seeking to correct it. And how do they respond? Exactly how pride usually responds. Not with logic, but with insult. Verse 52, are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee. And just so you know, this isn’t an argument. This is them attempting to put Nicodemus in his place. So you’re gonna side with those

unintelligent, backwood people from Galilee? So you kind of see their elitism here? For context, they’re leaning hard on assumption here. You see, they assume Jesus was born in Galilee, but he wasn’t. He was born in Bethlehem. They say no prophet ever came from Galilee, but again, they’re wrong. They don’t know their Bibles as well as they think they do. Jonah was from Galilee, right, Jan? Jan knows. I’m pretty convinced, but what about Nahum? Was he also from Galilee? Maybe, it’s possible. This is what happens when pride takes over. Facts don’t matter anymore. Only saving face. Only maintaining control. And that’s how the chapter ends. The religious elite reject the very scriptures they claim to uphold. They mock those being drawn to the Messiah. They silence voices of reason, and in so doing, they show us what hardened hypocrisy really looks like.

How Will You Respond?

But buried in this bitter courtroom exchange, there is one flicker of hope. Nicodemus doesn’t just confess with his words, or he doesn’t yet confess with his words that Jesus is Lord, but his actions speak. And his very words point to at least a softening heart. Later in John’s gospel, Nicodemus will show up again bringing burial spices to honor Jesus in death. This act, which would have been a slow burning reverence for Jesus, started with a conversation in the dark.

Now we don’t know exactly where Nicodemus landed. Whether he ultimately confessed Jesus as Lord, we don’t know, we don’t get those details, and maybe that’s by design. His unfinished story speaks to us that God’s word doesn’t always work instantly. Sometimes it lingers, it haunts, or softens, and that’s an encouragement for us. You may never see the immediate fruit of your faithful gospel words, the words you speak to your children, the words you speak to your neighbors, or to your coworkers, or to your unbelieving friends. God often draws slowly, and sometimes the reason why God does that is to remind us that it’s not in the strength of your words. It’s not in your eloquence, or in your persuasive wisdom. It’s the spirit of God applying the word of God in the timing of God. Whoever the father elects, the spirit will draw and Jesus will save.

So speak boldly and confidently the word of God. Let his words flow out of you like rivers of water, and let God by his spirit do the work, trusting that his work is sufficient to save. Jesus’ words still divide today, not because they’re cruel, not because they’re confusing, but because they’re true. They expose the proud, they invite the thirsty, they dismantle the comfortable, and they raise the dead to life. So the question isn’t, will you hear God’s words? The question is, how will you respond to God’s words? Will you scoff like the Pharisees, stay silent like the crowd, or will you come like the thirsty? Because no one ever spoke like this man, and no one ever will. And friend, if you’re here this morning and you don’t consider yourself to be a Christian, our prayer for you this morning is that you would hear

and that you would respond to his word, that you would receive his open invitation. Because when Jesus speaks, you can’t remain neutral. You’re either drawn to him or you’ll reject him. You’ll be driven from him in pride. So where do you land this morning? Do you find yourself like the crowds, curious but still debating? Are you like the Pharisees, confident in your knowledge but blind to your need? Are you like the guards, stunned by his voice but still unsure of what to do with it? Or are you among the thirsty, ready to come and drink? Jesus saw our need and he came for us. He died the death that we deserve because of our sin and he came again to save us from our sin. And all he asks is that you turn from your sin and come to him. That’s what he meant when he said if anyone thirsts

to come to me and drink. And you could do that this morning. Come to him with empty hands and a needy heart and he will receive you gladly. And if you have questions about that, talk to any Christian in this room. We would love to point you to Jesus and help you learn what it means to follow this Jesus. And family, as you step back into our noisy, divided and thirsty world, remember you carry the voice of Christ. Not your cleverness, not your performance, but his words. So speak it boldly, live it with humility and keep coming back to the fountain because only when you come to the river of living waters will you be able to help others experience the living water. You need to come to Jesus and drink deeply for yourself so that when you are full, it will flow out of you

so that the world might see that Jesus still speaks, that he still satisfies and that he still saves. Amen? Amen. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for your word. We’re thankful for it. If we did not have your word, we would be lost and without hope. But because you speak, we have life, we have an illuminated path, we have help. And so we pray, oh Lord and God, that you would make us people who live off of every word that you speak to us. Help us to be lovers of your word, seekers of your word, minors of your word. To be so full of your word that it flows out of us so that we might be able to point people to the word, to Jesus Christ, the word made flesh. We pray these things in his name, amen.