(Read John 7)
A few years back, my son’s church took an entire year to study the Book of Romans. When they got to the pivotal eighth chapter, the Pastor suggested memorizing it. Yep. The entire chapter.
I managed about eight or nine verses before the task started demanding more time than I was willing to invest. That’s my laziness for you. A little while later, a friend from their church tried to lead me through the whole chapter — I failed. I still remember the opening verses, I’m just not one of those people who can retrieve them off the top of my head.
Knowing Scripture is a crucial aspect of being a Christian. God gave us the Bible so that we would know His word, feel His love, and touch His heart. But knowing the Bible doesn’t mean we’re living it. Knowing the Bible means we can recite passages and pull out talking points for encounters with people. Living the Bible gives us armor to fight the evil that bombards us and the reassurance of God by our side through our darkest times. Living the Bible means that we understand our complete and undeserved forgiveness from the only One who could pay that price.
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:13-14
Imagine you see a burning bush while walking around in the desert. Think you would take a deeper look? Moses did. He not only saw God but began a relationship with Him. When Moses asked God for his name, he was probably expecting a name that would be familiar to him, such as the name “Elohim” or “Yahweh.” However, God gave him a name that was completely new and unexpected. This name was meant to teach Moses and the Israelites that God is not like any other god. “I AM WHO I AM” is a play on the Hebrew words “ehyeh asher ehyeh,” which can be translated as “I will be who I will be” or “I am who I am.” The first translation emphasizes God’s eternal nature, and the second part emphasizes his power to be whatever he needs to be.
“I AM WHO I AM” showed Moses that God is not limited by our human understanding. He cannot be bound by time, space, or any other constraints. He is simply “I AM,” the all-powerful and all-knowing God, and as Jesus said, “Not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. (Luke 20:38)”
Moses’ experience with God through the burning bush was an epic start for the people of Israel. In some ways, he was asking God, “Who am I” to go to these people with this information. Getting even bolder, he posed another question to God, “Who are you?” God couldn’t have been more direct in His reply, “I AM WHO I AM.”
After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.
John 7:1-3
The Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) is a joyous and festive occasion commemorating the Israelites’ forty years of wandering in the wilderness after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. During this time, they lived in temporary shelters made of branches and leaves. The festival is a time of thanksgiving for God’s provision and protection during the wilderness journey, and it also looks forward to the messianic age, when God will dwell with his people once again.
This celebration looks forward to the messianic age when God will dwell with his people once again. The prophet Zechariah described the age as a time when “the booths of David will be rebuilt. (Zechariah 14:16)” During the third most sacred celebration for Jewish people, the Pharisees only cared about one thing — killing Jesus. Some sources suggest over 50 Old Testament prophecies pointed towards Jesus as the Messiah, and the prophet Isaiah was even more specific. No one knew the content of the Old Testament better than the Pharisees, but they weren’t buying this poor man from a northern part of Israel as the Son of God.
Jesus never taught anything that contradicted the law. He never sinned. The only threat Jesus posed to anyone in first-century Judea was the threat the Pharisees perceived as an affront to their religious status. While reading John 7 this week, I couldn’t believe how intent they were on putting an end to Jesus during a high holy period where they were supposed to be thanking God for delivering them. Instead of relishing in Jesus’ presence in their lives, they looked for ways of extinguishing it. The Pharisees weren’t looking upward, they were looking sideways.
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
John 7:50-52
Showing their true colors, the Pharisees reacted out of ignorance rather than faith. The Pharisees believed that no prophet could come from Galilee, proving their point that Jesus was not a prophet and could definitely not be the Messiah. They were wrong on many accounts. Jesus’ birthplace fulfilled prophecy because He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, and he grew up in Nazareth in lower Galilee. These self-proclaimed experts also missed other facts, that the prophets Jonah, Nahum, Hosea, Elijah, and Elisha all came from Galilee.
Jesus, as God, came from a divine origin, but the leaders were only interested in His earthly location. They were interested in getting rid of Jesus, not in finding the truth. Despite everything the Pharisees should have learned from Scripture and from what they had seen and heard, they were still blind to Jesus’ true identity.
What gets me is how wrong these mature, seasoned elders could be. Do we see the same irrational judgments and expectations in our churches? With other believers? Sadly, yes.
I’ve been part of emotional discussions with close Christian friends about many topics, including the proper age and type of Baptism, how often churches should offer Communion, who can partake in the Eucharist, and should crosses be required in churches. All of these questions, while important, are the smaller things that can cause rifts amongst fellow believers and church communities. We get caught up in these distractions, forgetting that we are all heirs in His kingdom. We use Jesus like we use statistics to support our beliefs. That’s not knowing Him.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.
Romans 8:1-3
The Pharisees were so focused on refuting Jesus that they missed the fact that God was standing right in front of them. They were so caught up in their own religious traditions and rituals that they failed to see the heart and spirit of God. We can miss Him, too, if we are not careful. We need to look to Him first for our source of answers, wisdom, guidance, and compassion. Do we really know God or know about Him?
Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.
Colossians 3:2
Key Applications:
- Know God and seek Him. Allow your life to show this most important knowledge.
- Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Allow the peace of Christ to be the dominant force in your life.
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.