Blinded to The Truth
January 5, 2021
Commentary
Many Jews falsely believed that the Messiah’ origins would be unknown. The crowds believed that Jesus was only a Galilean carpenter from Nazareth. Since they “knew” His origins, they reasoned He could not be the Messiah. Jesus, however, was more than a Galilean; He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem. Yet He was relatively unknown until after his death and resurrection. The people knew of a plot to kill Him (vv. 25-26), yet the leaders were not doing anything. Why? Had they changed their minds? The people were confused by the lack of leadership. Any plot to kill Jesus at that time would have been unsuccessful. “His hour had not yet come” (v.30).
Jesus said that the Father had sent Him. If they knew the Father, they would know the Son (vv. 28-29). His enemies did not know Jesus or God (Matt. 11:27), Jesus knows the Father because of His origin (John 1:1, 14, 18) and mission in life. The people could not see the truth blinded as they were by the false narrative they had created about Jesus. Jesus explains that His departure would be soon. The “little while” He spoke of lasted about six months (v. 33). The Jews were ignorant of spiritual truth and thought He was talking about going to the Jews scattered among the nations. It is important to seek the Lord “while He may be found” (Isa. 55:6). Many who reject Christ today will seek Him tomorrow, but He will be gone from them (Prov. 1:24–28).
During the feast, a priest would fill a pitcher with water from the pool of Siloam and carry it to the temple altar where he would pour it out. This was symbolic of the water Moses drew from the rock. Possibly it was after this ceremony that Jesus invited those who thirsted to come to Him and drink (vv. 37-38). Water is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Just as water satisfies thirst and produces fruitfulness, so does the Spirit of God satisfy a thirsty soul and enable him to bear fruit. The Spirit had not yet been given to indwell believers permanently (v. 39). That did not happen until the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).
Application
I must accept Jesus fully or reject Him absolutely. There is no sitting on the fence. Jesus says that He and the Father are one (10:30).
John 7:25– 39 (NET)
25 Then some of the residents of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet here he is, speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to him. Do the ruling authorities really know that this man is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man comes from. Whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You both know me and know where I come from! And I have not come on my own initiative, but the one who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him, because I have come from him and he sent me.”
30 So then they tried to seize Jesus, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the crowd believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about Jesus, so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jewish leaders said to one another, “Where is he going to go that we cannot find him? He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? 36 What did he mean by saying, ‘You will look for me but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 38 let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Illustration: Sovereignty Four Forms of Government
The various forms of government we have on this earth are:
Autocratic – Headed by a strong man or dictator.Monarchic – Headed by a king with more or less absolute power.Democratic – Where the people rule.Theocratic – No man-appointed or self-appointed ruler but directed by God.(Source Unknown).