Bible Text: John 7:37-52 | Preacher: Steve Wakeford | Series: Making The Father Known | Where is your dimmer switch?
There arenât many situations in life where weâre completely in the dark. Even in the middle of the night weâre not completely in the dark: thereâs a street light on outside; or a bit of light pollution from the city; or maybe you leave a bathroom light on so you can see where youâre going if you get up in the night. Complete darkness is elusive. Where can you go to get away from light?
A few years back a mate and I took our kids driving through the Simpson Desert. In the middle of the night there is absolutely no man-made light. On the horizon in every direction thereâs no sign of civilization. But if thereâs no cloud cover, the moon and the stars are so bright itâs hard to get to sleep! So even in the middle of the desert thereâs still light.
I can only think of two places Iâve been where thereâs no light. Once was when I was chasing a young bloke up those big drain pipes in Lethbridge Park just off Luxford Rd. I was running flat out, bent over heaps. I wasnât far behind him at the start, but he was doing his best impersonation of Usain Bolt, and after about 50 metres Iâd lost him. Everything was completely black and I couldnât see a thing. Thereâs only so far you want to run flat out in the dark. At some point you realize itâs pretty stupid, so I turned around and walked back along the pipe. It was OK though, because I knew where he lived, so I went and woke him up the next morning at 10 past 7 and arrested him!
Then there are caves. Iâve been caving a bunch of times, abseiling through a hole in the ground, and crawling along through rock squeezes, and all that sort of thing. Itâs probably quite dangerousâas we saw in Thailand last year when all those kids got stuck in that caveâbut itâs also really cool.
But the best thing about caving is stopping to have a rest where thereâs a bit of space and everyone turning their head torches off. Itâs incredible. There is absolutely no light once you get past about 10 metres into a cave. If we turn off the lights here, it would be dark, but we could still see each other a bit. When youâre in a cave 100 metres underground, you literally cannot see your hand if you hold it against your nose. Itâs completely disorientatingâbut at the same time, itâs amazing. Then one by one, you turn your head torches back on, and little by little light creeps in, and the darkness creeps back.
If you go up to Jenolan Caves you can experience this quite safely in some of the big caves, and I reckon itâs worth doing because for nearly all of us. Thereâs always some light we can see by, even in the middle of the night.
All the way through his Gospel, John uses light and darkness to help us understand what Jesus is doing through his ministry. In chapter 1, John talks about Jesus as the light that came into the dark world: the light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. In chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to visit Jesus at night. Johnâs not just telling us what time it was: heâs telling us that Nicodemus was spiritually in the dark. In chapter 9, Jesus says that heâs the light of the world, and then he gives sight to a man who was born blind, turning his darkness into light. Light and dark are big themes in Johnâs Gospel.
Weâre in the back half of John chapter 7. I reckon a good way for us to think about this passage is to think of it as a dimmer switch that most of us have on our lights at home. You turn it one way and the light reduces, and you turn it the other way and light increases. In the back half of John 7, we meet four sets of peopleâthe crowds, the temple guards, the religious leaders, and Nicodemusâ and we see the responses they make to what Jesus says and does.
Like everything John does through his Gospel, heâs providing us with enough information to make the right response to Jesus. John wants us to look at the evidence and come to the conclusion that Jesus really is the Son of God, to believe in him, and to have life in his name. So letâs have a look at these four groups of people and the responses they make to Jesus. Weâll figure out where the dimmer switch is for them. I donât know where all of you guys stand with Jesus, but I reckon weâll see a reflection of ourselves here, so weâll also see where the dimmer switch is for us.
John 7 takes place at the feast of tabernacles. This festival was about being refreshed by God, physically and spiritually. It was autumn, so there hadnât been much rain. As the seasons changed, the land needed new rain to water the crops, plus it was a reminder to the people of Israel of their time in the desert after they escaped from slavery in Egypt. They needed God to provide water from the rock, and they needed spiritual refreshment as well. In the desert they lived in tentsâanother word for âtentâ is âtabernacleââso itâs the feast of tabernacles.
The priests would lead a procession from the temple in Jerusalem to the pool of Siloam. Theyâd fill a big water jar and carry it back to the temple, and then pour the water over the altar. Theyâd do this once a day for six days, then on the last and greatest day of the festival, theyâd do it seven times. All the while, the people would be singing psalms and rejoicing. Jerusalem is full of Israelites whoâve come from all over the place to worship God. And in the middle of all thatâs going on, Jesus says, verses 37-38:
Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. (NIV)
Heâs claiming to be the one through whom God would spiritually refresh his people! John confirms this in verse 38, by telling us that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. In just a couple of years, Jesus would be crucified. Heâd die then three days later be raised to new life, and then and only then would he give the Holy Spirit to all who believed in him for the forgiveness of their sin. Itâs a massive claim from Jesus, so letâs look at how these groups of people respond.
The crowd are first. Whereâs their dimmer switch? Verse 40: "On hearing his words, some of the people said, âSurely this man is the Prophet.â Dimmer switch turned to the right just a fraction. Yes, they are right. Jesus is a prophet. But heâs much more than that. Itâs a bit like saying that Tiger Woods is a golfer. Itâs true, but heâs more than just a golfer. Iâm a golfer, but Iâm not Tiger Woods! Itâs like saying that weâre mammals. Thatâs true as well, but itâs nowhere near the full story. So, dimmer switch is on, but thereâs not much light happening.
We all know people like this. I have plenty of friends who think Jesus was a great moral teacher. I met a Seikh fella at the gym last week. We started talking and after a bit, I asked him what he thought of Jesus. He said Jesus was a great prophet, like Mohammad and the Buddha. See, Sikhs believe thereâs only one God and that all religions lead us to God, that theyâre all the same and theyâre all valid. Thatâs not too different to the way some of the crowd respond to Jesus: he is a prophet but nothing more.
Others go a bit further, in verse 41: âOthers said, âHe is the Messiah.â The dimmer switch is turned to the right a bit more here. Jesus is the Messiah. Heâs the saviour that the Old Testament had been talking about for roughly 1,500 years! Thing is that for many people in the crowd, their definition of the Messiah is different to Godâs. And thatâs a big problem.
We all know people who think something like this as well. There are plenty of folks in Australia who would say that Jesus was the Son of God. Theyâd tick the box marked âChristianâ in the census every five years. Theyâd come to church at Easter and Christmas. But their definition of âMessiahâ and Godâs definition of âMessiahâ are different, and Jesus doesnât really make much of an impact on their lives. So, yes, the dimmer switch is turned to the right a bit more, but itâs still pretty dark.
There are others in the crowd who are far from convinced, verses 41-44:
Still others asked, âHow can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from Davidâs descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?â Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. (NIV)
Their dimmer switch is turned to the left a fair bit. You know how people say that a little bit of knowledge is dangerous? Do you remember when you started drivingâand I reckon this is particularly true for the men among usâbut when you get your âPsâ, you are convinced that you have the same ability to drive as Craig Lowndes (or for us it was Peter Brock back then, the âking of the mountainâ). Maybe it was just the blokes I grew up with in the mountains, but when we got our licences, we all through we were completely indestructible. So we drove like lunatics. We only had a small amount of knowledge as far as car control went, but we thought we were amazing. The first day I drove by myself, I crashed into a mateâs car while I was trying to park my car! What a muppet! A small amount of knowledge tricks you into thinking youâre better than you are.
Most of the crowd is like this. They know from their Scripturesâwhat we call the Old Testamentâthat the Messiah is going to be related to king David. This is why those genealogies in Matthew and Luke are so important. At first glance theyâre just a long list of unpronounceable names, but theyâre vital! Jewish people have OCD when it comes to family recordsâthey did back then and they still do now. Jesusâ family tree proves that Jesus is related to King David, but the crowd donât know that. They just think heâs Maryâs son, his dad was Joseph, and there was something a bit dodgy about his birth.
They also know that the Messiah is going to be born in Bethlehem, but they all think Jesus is from Nazareth. Thatâs what he was known as, wasnât he? He was Jesus of where? Nazareth. Only he wasnât. He was born in some sort of stable outside a pub in Bethlehem, where the Messiah was meant to be born. Only the crowds donât know that. Can you see how a little bit of knowledge is dangerous?
These folks are all around us today. We all know people like this. I spoke at a flash girlâs school a couple of years ago, and one of the teachers asked me to stay for a while and lead her year 10 scripture class. I love doing that sort of thing so we had heaps of fun. It was an Anglican school, and most of the girls in the class thought they were Christians. So I started talking about Godâs intention for human sexuality. Game on! I could say stuff the teacher just couldnât, and it was brilliant!
The most outspoken girl was Claire. She was really confident and articulate. So I asked her if she was a Christian. She said, âYes.â I asked her what she thought of the Bibleâs take on human sexuality. She said it was rubbish, out-dated, and offensive. I said, âCool. Now, the thing is, Claire, if youâre a Christian, at some point you need to agree with God, because although youâre obviously intelligent, neither you or I are wiser than God. So I reckon what youâve done is this: thereâs heaps of stuff about Jesus that you really love, but there are things in the Bible that you hate. So youâve taken the stuff you love and mixed it with your own thoughts on other issues, and youâve created a whole new religionâletâs call it âClair-ianityââand youâre the archbishop of your new religion.â
It wasnât an offensive convo. Neither of us was angry and she started smiling. âYeahâ, she said. âThatâs right. Iâm the first female archbishop!â Everyone fell about laughing. It was excellent. The first step in becoming a Christian is often realizing you arenât one. A little bit of knowledge can often be really dangerousâit was for Claire in that school a couple of years ago and it was for some of the folks in the crowd in John 7 a couple of thousand years ago.
What about the Temple Guards. Have a look at verses 45-46:
Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, âWhy didnât you bring him in?â âNo one ever spoke the way this man does,â the guards replied. (NIV)
Thereâs a bit more light here, isnât there? The dimmer switch turns up a bit more. Iâve said this often, but Christianity is a simple thing made difficult by religious people. You probably all know the KISS theory: Keep It SIMPLE, STUPID! The temple guards know the KISS Theory. They donât understand Jesus fully just yet, but they know heâs worth listening to. These guys are like copsâand we have a few hereâand you guys know I was one. After a while, cops get quite good at making fast and usually accurate assessments of people. And you have to, because if you get it wrong you usually get a smack in the head or much worse. Like our police officers and prison wardens, these temple guards have seen their fair share of trouble makers and blokes who should be locked up. They know for sure that Jesus is neither of those. Listen to what they said: âNo one ever spoke the way this man does.â
Up until this time in history, no one had ever claimed to be the one through whom God would pour out spiritual refreshment on his people. Itâs a ridiculous thing to say, unless itâs true. These temple guards have met plenty of liars and lunatics, but theyâd never met the Lord before. They know Jesus isnât a liar. Theyâre positive heâs not a lunatic. Now, they donât come out and say it, but you get the feeling that these guys sense that Jesus might just be the Lord.
Maybe this is you. Youâve never heard anyone say the stuff Jesus says. Youâve never heard of anyone doing the things Jesus did. So youâve come to church to find out whatâs going on, because you know thereâs much more to this Jesus than meets the eye. Youâre in the right place. If you havenât come to âExplaining Christianityâ yet, weâre starting another one just after Easter in a month or so, so come along!
And what about the Pharisees. Oh, man, you can always leave it to the religious people to stuff things up, and get it all the wrong way âround! With breath-taking arrogance they dismiss the cops by saying, verse 47: âYou mean he has deceived you also?â The Pharisees retorted in verses 48 and 49: âHave any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the lawâthere is a curse on them.â
The dimmer switch just went down again. They are so arrogant. We donât believe in Jesus, therefore neither should anyone else. In fact, you lot must be as dumb as a box of hammers. You know nothing about the law, and we know it inside out. Therefore, you lot are cursed by God! Have a look at how they finish up in verse 52:
They replied, âAre you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.â (NIV)
Again with the Galilee thing! You know, for a bunch of blokes who claim to know the law so well, they seem to have forgotten that both Jonah and Nahum came from Galilee, and last I checked, both those blokes were prophets!
Now, donât miss this: in the New Testament, the harshest things Jesus says are always directed at the religious leaders, and this is exactly why. See, these religious leaders claim to speak for God, but nothing could be further from the truth. Not only do they prevent people from trusting Jesus; they persecute people who follow Jesus; and with their oppressive rules, they make it incredibly hard for anyone else to even hear about Jesus.
And donât for a second think that people like this were only around in the first century. No way! Church hierarchies are chock-a-block full of their descendants. It doesnât matter what denomination you care to think about: they all have one thing in common, they all claim to be Godâs mouthpiece. And at one time or another, theyâve all got it desperately wrong. Theyâve all led their people into awful sin, and theyâve all hidden Jesus behind so many layers of religion that make it so hard to see the real Jesus.
I reckon this is why all of us need to really watch our hearts and ask ourselves tough questions often. âAm I becoming religious? Do I think Christianity is about rules I need to keep?â Christianity isnât a religion, itâs the relationship we have with God by the power of the Holy Spirit because of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The biggest errors and the most horrible of sins Christians have gotten themselves into over the past 2,000 years have nearly always happened when weâve turned the whole thing into a religion.
Before we get miserable and think thereâs no hope, one man speaks up. Itâs Nicodemus. Have a look at verses 50-51:
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, âDoes our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?â (NIV)
I canât wait to meet this bloke. If we had Nicodemus here and we interviewed him at church, his testimony would be that saying âYesâ to Jesus took a few years. Come back to John 3 for a minute. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, he doesnât want any of his religious mates to know heâs talking to Jesus, and heâs in the dark spiritually speaking. But he has that fantastic convo with Jesus about having to be born again if you want to see Godâs Kingdom. And that convo made a massive impact on him. Here in chapter 7, you can see that Jesus has turned up Nicoâs dimmer switch just a bit. While all his religious mates are so quick to condemn Jesus, Nicodemus reminds them that God tells his people that before anyone is condemned, they must have a fair hearing.
Nicodemus knows thereâs something massive about Jesus. Heâs not sure what it is just yet, but he knows enough to be certain that he wants to give Jesus a chance to speak. He wants to hear more of Jesus!
By the time we get to the end of Johnâs Gospel, the dimmer switch has been fully lit up for Nicodemus. Heâs one of two men who get Jesusâ body and cover Him with spices to prepare Him for a proper burial. It was a public declaration from Nicodemus that he sides with Jesus. Remember this guy was one of, if not the leading, Pharisee of his day, so that first Good Friday when Nicodemus went with his mate Joseph to take Jesusâ body down, that was the end of his life as a respected Pharisee. But it was also the beginning of his walk with Jesus, which is better by so far itâs almost indescribable. Any of us who are Christians will meet Nicodemus in heaven, and thatâll be cool!
What response have you made to Jesus? Whereâs your dimmer switch? Is Jesus just a prophet to you? Your dimmer switch is turned just a tiny bit to the right. Do you realize, like the temple guards, that no one has ever spoken like Jesus? Your dimmer switch is turned to the right a bit more, but itâs still pretty dark. Do you reject Jesus like the religious leaders? The dimmer switch is turned all the way to the left, the light switch is turned off and the bulb has been taken out!
Or are you someone who takes Jesus at his word? Do you realize that like me youâre a sinner who needs a saviour? Do you know that Jesusâ death and resurrection takes away our sin and brings us back to God, that itâs only through Jesus that all our spiritual needs can be met?
Where is your dimmer switch? Jesus said in verses 37-38: âLet anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.â (NIV)
Letâs pray.