From the Pulpit

Commentary

¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Salvation
1. “It has sometimes been said that preachers frequently select very unpractical themes. No such objection can be raised to-day, for nothing can be more practical than this; nothing more needful than to urge you to see to “your own salvation.” -Spurgeon, Sermon 1003, “Your Own Salvation”
2. Salvation is the most important thing for every human on Earth, regardless of age, race, title, continent, or any other division.
3. “If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilization, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or a civilization, compared with his, is only a moment. -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Bk. 3, Ch. 1
4. There are many today that consider talk about salvation a selfish abstraction about one’s own feelings, rather than anything that could be a real benefit to the world.
  1. On the charge of selfishness
    1. Would a person be selfish for brushing their teeth? Or eating healthy? Of course not. Caring for what you’ve been given is healthy.
    2. We are more than just bodies; we’re souls. There’s a spark of self that we know that’s boundless in its ability to ponder and grow. Once we recognize that, we’re obligated to care for it.
    3. The only source to cleanse and strengthen our soul is the God that made it. That’s what salvation is all about: caring for our souls.
  2. On the charge of pointlessness
    1. You don’t stop a problem with more problems.
      1. If a building is on fire, you don’t add more fire. You add water.
      2. If a classroom is crazy, you don’t send in a hyper kid. You send in a teacher.
      3. If there’s a problem, you don’t add more problems. You add the solution.
    2. Sin is the problem in this world, but we’re a part of that problem.
      1. We’re selfish.
      2. We do wrong things.
      3. We are sinful and can’t change that on our own.
    3. God is the solution. He can purify us, and then we can allow him to work in us so that we can help be a part of the solution, rather than a part of the problem.
“…work out your salvation…”
1. Christians often think about salvation purely as the moment of justification, or the moment when we first put our faith in Christ and ask to be forgiven of our sins, but God’s salvation goes beyond that.
2. Salvation isn’t just a one-and-done affair. It’s not fire insurance you buy just in case.
3. After justification, God draws us towards him through sanctification. Through the Holy Spirit, God makes us holier and recovers his image and likeness (Gen 1:26) in us. That is what Paul is referring to here.
  1. We don’t work FOR our salvation. We work OUT our salvation.
  2. Working FOR our salvation implies we’re capable of forming ourselves through our own actions in ways that redeem us, which Paul will explicitly deny in Phil. 3:9.
  3. Working OUT your salvation is exercising the Holy Spirit’s power in your life, living what you believe.
  4. Our heart is like a field. God wants to plant a garden there to grow the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, but if we don’t allow the soil to be plowed and weeded for God’s work, nothing will grow. Stay receptive.
4. “[H]is influences are not to supersede, but to encourage, our own efforts. Work out your own salvation – Here is our duty. For it is God that worketh in you – Here is our encouragement. And O, what a glorious encouragement, to have the arm of Omnipotence stretched out for our support and our succour!” -John Wesley, Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament
“…fear and trembling…”

1. Paul is writing this having found joy in prison. He doesn’t want severe anxiety and terror in us.
2. Paul wants us to take God seriously. It isn’t light work. We won’t stumble into holiness.
3. Consider the magnitude of the claim. God is at work in us during every mundane day. The Alpha and the Omega is actively shaping us. Are we allowing Him to do so? Do we even remember that in the average day?

¹⁴Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

“.Do everything without grumbling or arguing…”
1. After talking about something as large as salvation, Paul follows up by talking about one of the smallest pieces of our lives: words.
2. We work out the grandeur of our salvation in the tiniest moments of taming of our tongue.
3. “First, he points out two ways to act, namely, without murmurings and hesitations. For virtuous works are very difficult and offer a fertile field for grumbling:” -Aquinas, Commentary on Philippians, C2, L4 79.
God’s words are powerful:
1. Genesis 1: God speaks creation into being.
2. John 1: Jesus is the Word.
3. Genesis 1:26 We are made in the image and likeness of God. Our words are powerful too.
4. We can speak things into being too. Disunity. Anger. Fear. Frustration. We can create a world we ourselves don’t want to inhabit.
Speak life, not death; hold firmly to the word of life to shine like stars.
1. “And the reason for this is given there, ‘among whom you shine as lights in the world,’, for however the world may change, their lights in the sky remain bright.” -Aquinas, Commentary on Philippians, C2, L4 79.

¹⁷But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering…”
1. Paul models the taming of the tongue in hard circumstances. He is imprisoned, wondering if he will be executed, but he writes with joy and hope.
2. If you were in prison, what would your communications look like?

¹⁹I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. ²⁰I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. ²¹For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²²But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. ²³I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. ²⁴And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

“I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare….”
1. Paul shows Timothy’s leadership credentials by focusing on two things:
  1. How he loves Jesus.
  2. How he loves others.
2. Notice that it wasn’t his intelligence, his speaking ability, his leadership capacity, or any other thing that got presented as the reason to get excited. Timothy loves Jesus and others. A lot of people don’t do that very well. He WILL be a blessing.
3. The old Sunday School acrostic serves us all well if we remember it: Live a life of JOY
  1. J- Jesus comes first.
  2. O- Others come second.
  3. Y- Always put Yourself last.
4. Timothy led a joyful life.
5. “Oh, what longing had he toward Macedonia! …[H]ere he says, “I hope to send Timothy that I may know your state,” which is a proof of excessive care: for when he could not himself be with them, he sent his disciples, as he could not endure to remain, even for a little time, in ignorance of their state.” -Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Philippians.

“…it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier…”
1. Epaphroditus is a member of the church at Philippi. He came to help Paul and offer the financial support gathered by the congregation.
2. This was a long journey: from modern Greece to Rome! And Rome was hostile to Christians under Nero. This was a dangerous journey for Epaphroditus. And to top it off, he nearly died from an illness that he contracted during this journey.
3. Notice that Paul calls him “soldier.” He is ready to respond to God, even to give his life if the Gospel cause should require it.
4. “Here too he gives another reason for sending so late to them, not from any remissness, but he kept Timothy because he had no one else, (for, as he had written, he had no one likeminded,) and Epaphroditus because of his sickness. He then shows that this was a long sickness, and had consumed much time, by adding, for he was sick near unto death. You see how anxious Paul is to cut off from his disciples all occasion of slighting or contempt, and every suspicion that his not coming was because he despised them. For nothing will have such power to draw a disciple toward one, as the persuasion that his superior cares for him.” -Chrysostom, Homily 9 on Philippians

Full Transcript

So today we are talking about the most important thing we could possibly talk about. We are talking about something that is important regardless of your socioeconomic status, regardless of what you do for a living, regardless of your age. It’s just as important if you’re five or if you’re 55 or if you’re 105. Talking about salvation, your salvation.

Now I know there are those out there who would doubt whether that’s all that’s important to talk about. It’s about your salvation. You want to make a difference in the world. Stop being so selfish. Focus on someone else for a change. Don’t worry about your sense of spirituality. That doesn’t matter. That’s not going to fix anything. Go out and do some good for someone else. And I want to take that concern seriously. Because I think if you don’t have a Christian background, if you don’t understand what salvation is, it can be hard to understand the value in it. And while I imagine a lot of us in this room have a Christian background and understand the need for salvation, there are people in your life that don’t. Whether it be someone who doesn’t believe in God at all, or someone who, the last time they thought about their salvation, they were in eighth grade going through confirmation class, and they haven’t looked back since.

So let’s talk about it. Why is thinking about your salvation worth your time? Well, it’s certainly not selfish or pointless. To the contrary, it’s healthy, and it’s critical if you want to make a difference in the world. As to the first part, is it selfish? Let me just ask you: If you saw someone brushing their teeth in the morning, would you say, “Yikes! They could have been using that time to go help someone else, and instead they’re focusing on themselves. Shame on them!” Like, of course not, right? No, it’s good to brush your teeth. You should do that. You don’t want to get cavities, so you take care of your teeth. It’s a good thing. Or if you saw someone eating healthy, maybe they’re eating a nice salad. You look at them. Would you really think that is the most self-obsessed person I’ve ever seen in my life?

No, they’re taking care of their body. That’s a good thing. You want to stay healthy. You want to be able to live long without getting any problems with your body because you didn’t eat right. When you recognize that humans are more than just skin and bones, that there’s something underneath all of that, this spark that is who we are, this sense of self, this ability to think and make decisions, a self that can think on the deep things of life—that’s our soul. And if we have a soul, taking care of it, well, that’s incredibly important. How do we take care of our soul? How do we make sure there’s no rot in our soul? How do we make sure it doesn’t atrophy?

Can’t do it on our own, but we can go to God. God can cleanse our soul. God can make our souls strong. Talking about salvation, thinking about our salvation—it is certainly not selfish. It is just taking care of what you’ve been given by going to the God who made us and loves us, and asking Him to help take care of the most critical part of our being.

Now, as for whether or not it’s going to help anybody, is salvation helpful to others, or is it pointless? It’s more than just a sense of spirituality. It’s more than just warm fuzzies. It’s like I was talking to the kids earlier. If you are someone that wants to make a difference in the world, you don’t solve a problem with more problems. You don’t try to put out a fire with more fire.

You don’t try to calm a rowdy classroom with another rowdy kid. If you want to make a difference in those situations, you get a teacher for the rowdy classroom, and you get water for the fire. When we see ugly things in this world, and I know that you do, because you can watch the news or you can just live in this world and know that there’s death and sin and cruelty and poverty. There’s so many things in this world that are problems. Unfortunately for us, on our own, we’re a part of those problems. If we want to make a difference, we go to the one who can solve the problem—God. We ask Him to start with us, and with His Holy Spirit inside of us, working on us, transforming us. We can slowly, not only cease being part of the problem, but go out and help others, and help reclaim this world and redeem it.

Now, a lot of times when we think about salvation, we tend to think of a very certain part of it. The fancy church word for it is justification. It’s that moment when you first ask Jesus for forgiveness and put your trust in Him. That’s a good moment. It’s important.

But there’s more to it than that, because going to God, it’s not like fire insurance—just something you get and you keep around just in case something goes wrong. God wants more than that. God wants to work in us to make us holy, to recover His image and likeness within us. That process is called—the fancy church term is sanctification. God slowly making us what we’re supposed to be, and that’s what Paul’s talking about when he says we need to work out our salvation. The way it’s phrased is a little strange. I mean, I don’t know about you, but when I hear “work out,” I think about someone lifting weights at the gym, right? And it’s not entirely different from that. What Paul’s getting at, he’s saying you need to exercise the Holy Spirit’s power in your life. You need to live out what you believe. You need to allow God’s power and God’s mercy to work within you, so that you can start to be what God’s calling you to be. You can start to become holy.

Working out your salvation is not at all the same thing as working for your salvation. We can never be good enough on our own. We are not capable of being so good that this disease of sin suddenly just vanishes from us. God has to come in and do His work, and that’s the great news. Salvation is not a work we do alone. God is at work in us, and that’s one of those things you hear in church constantly. You’ve probably heard it many times through your life, so sometimes it can sneak right by you. What a big deal that is! So I’m going to say it again: God is at work in you. Think about that. The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, is at work in you. Think about what you were doing yesterday.

What were you up to? Did you recognize that God was at work in you? Were you allowing God to shape you and mold you? They were. Look at that. They were ready for it. You got to be conscious of it, though. You don’t stumble into holiness by accident. If you want to work with God, you have to be receptive to what God is doing.

Imagine your heart like a patch of soil. God wants to take that heart and plant the seeds in it that are going to grow into magnificent trees that produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, all that good stuff, all the virtues. That’s what God wants. But we have to till the soil. We got to pull the weeds. We have to make sure that we are receptive to what God is trying to grow in us. That is why Paul says we do it with fear and trembling. And Paul does not mean that we should be terrified 24/7 and super anxious. I mean, you can see this is a letter written by a guy who was imprisoned by Romans. It is remarkably delighted. Most people would not be nearly this comfortable and happy.

Paul is not someone who’s this anxious, freaking-out kind of guy. Paul’s just trying to say, take it seriously. Don’t just assume you’re going to stumble into holiness because God’s at work in you and you can just forget about the whole thing. Be receptive to it. Be mindful of it. Allow yourself to continuously be aware of what God wants you to become, and work with God to become what He’s pulling you towards—to be holy.

Now that’s a big idea. When I think about big ideas like salvation, I tend to think of those big mountaintop moments, right? Think about salvation, and I imagine someone talking about, you know, at one time I was at church camp, and I felt led to go to the altar, and I went up there, and I could feel the presence of God, and I gave my whole life over to Him, and started weeping.

Which is kind of weird that I think that way, because I didn’t have any experience like that. But it feels proper. It feels like a big moment that a big idea like salvation is worthy of. But Paul follows up with the most mundane, tiny thing you can possibly imagine. Paul follows up by talking about words, the little words that we speak every day. How many of those do we say in an average day? How many of those do we really think about before we say them? Paul follows up, saying, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Yeah, things are bad in this world, but we’re meant to shine.

But we’re never going to shine like we’re supposed to. For grumbling, for picking fights, our words matter. They’re powerful. Just think about all the way back in Genesis, right? In the beginning, God does what to create everything? Someone can get it. He speaks. God speaks in the beginning. He spoke things into being. Jesus is even known as the Word. God’s words are powerful. We are made in God’s image and God’s likeness. Our words are powerful. We can speak things into being. If we speak and we argue and we use our words like that, we can create hostility, frustration, and ugliness.

If we speak by grumbling, we can take a world where God is at work doing good things all around us, and make the people around us feel that it’s just hopeless, and there’s nothing good happening, and nothing’s good enough. And here’s one that Paul does not mention, but I think is very much in the same spirit about gossip. That’s an easy one. We can use our words to divide people from each other and to obscure the truth.

I know, just listening to. So the other day, the conference superintendent, one of the bigwigs in the denomination, was here. His name’s Dan Guildner. Felt like he was a really good guy. Excited to work with him. He was talking a little bit about his hopes for the church, and he said, “We started this denomination because we thought that people weren’t really taking the Bible seriously. We wanted to take the Bible seriously, and we’re really good at that, at some parts.”

Really bad at other parts. How many of our churches have grumbling or gossip, despite many passages in the Bible about that? If we want to see God’s power at work in our communities, we have to listen to the whole Bible. We have to speak life and not death. That’s what Paul wants. He wants to see people using words beautifully to create the goodness in the world that we want to see so much. He continues on saying, “Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky, as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”

So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. We immediately get to see Paul working out his salvation by paying attention to his words, because it would be very easy if you’re talking about don’t grumble, don’t argue, to make it sound like a scolding. But the way he puts it, it’s just beautiful. He just wants you to shine like stars in a dark world.

And he talks about his imprisonment, not in a way that’s fearful or distrusting, but in a way that has total faith in what God is doing. In a way that expects good things to come from even the darkest moments. Ask yourself this: If you were in prison, no phones, no emails, and you wrote a letter to people on the outside, how much of that letter would be griping? Let me just tell you, I assure you, a fair bit of mine would be. That’s something I could stand to work on. That’s precisely why Paul’s letter is so beautiful. Why it’s so impressive to see how he’s working out his salvation? Because even in these dark moments, you see someone filled with joy and excitement. He moves on and he talks about two other people here.

Timothy and Epaphroditus. These are two men that embody that very thing that he’s talking about. He begins by talking about Timothy. Now, this is the same Timothy that First and Second Timothy in the Bible are written to. So he says to this church, he says, “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one like him who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself because, as a son with his father, he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me, and I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.”

Saying, “Look, I can’t be there right now, but I’m really hoping I can send Timothy, because here is a Christian leader that is smart as a whip. He is brilliant. He’s going to blow your minds with his teachings.” No, he didn’t say that, right? And he doesn’t say, “Oh, here’s Timothy. He speaks so well. He’s so eloquent. You’re just going to be hanging on every word he says.” He doesn’t say that. He says, “I’m going to send you guys Timothy, and I know he’s going to be good for your community because he’s going to care about you.” And he puts Jesus first. That is the qualification that he touts more than anything else for this strong Christian leader—for all of us.

Especially those in leadership. How often do we think about that? How often do we put Jesus and others first as the most important thing? Reminds me of a lesson that I had back when I was in school. When I was a kid, there was a church about five minutes down the road, a little Christian school, and I went there for school from grades one to seven, and I’m not gonna lie. I don’t remember a lot of what they taught me in religion class, partially because it was just a really long time ago, and also partially because I don’t know how receptive I was every day of the week. I definitely remember being the only kid that got caught cheating on their Bible memorization tests.

Which, thank God, Jesus washes our sins away. Because if I died as a pastor that cheated on his Bible memorization, I think there’s like a special hell for that, right? No, I don’t remember a lot, but I do remember one lesson. And maybe you had it in Sunday school. It’s not especially hard or especially deep, but in other ways, it is very hard and very deep. They just talked about living your life with joy, and they made a cross stick out of the word joy. J-O-Y. Jesus, others, yourself. That’s the order. Put Jesus first in everything. Put others second, and put yourself last. That’s the kind of guy Timothy is. He puts Jesus first even when nobody else does. He puts others second, so you can trust that he’s going to be great in any community he is in, because he wants to help people and love them. He doesn’t worry about himself.

Not only do we get to see Timothy, but we get to see Epaphroditus. Verse 25. “But I think it’s necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs, for he longs for all of you in his distress, because you heard he was ill. Indeed, he was ill and almost died, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but also on me to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore, I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again, you may be glad, and I may have less anxiety. So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him.”

“Because he almost died for the work of Christ, he risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.” Epaphroditus is a member of the church at Philippi. They sent him with the money that they were giving Paul so that he could sustain himself while he was in prison. And that’s a long journey, right? Not only did he travel from modern Greece all the way to Italy. And they did not have planes or cars, right? Not only is that a long journey, but Paul is literally imprisoned because of his faith. Rome is not a safe place for Christians. But even so, Epaphroditus went. He went and even got sick on the journey, very sick.

His church back home heard about it. They were worrying. But notice how Paul calls him a soldier. This is someone who answered the call readily. This is someone who acted immediately. This is someone who is ready to fight against the evils of this world with the goodness and mercy of God. He is certainly not worried about himself.

Paul is happy to send him back, knowing that this is a good guy that will be wonderful for them to have again. And so, for us this week, as we think about working out our own salvation, think about people like Timothy, people who put Jesus first, others second, themselves last. Think about Epaphroditus, someone who is a soldier for Christ. And think about the Holy Spirit at work in you, because God wants to make you holy. If we’re receptive, we can see how He’s molding us and shaping us to recover the image of Jesus that we were made in. Amen.

John 8:12-30 The Light of the World

September 21, 2026September 21, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

¹²When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

“I am the light of the world….”

1. “As they had brought Galilee as an objection against Him, and doubted His being one of the Prophets, as if that was all He claimed to be, He wished to shew that He was not one of the Prophets, but the Lord of the whole earth: Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: not of Galilee, or of Palestine, or of Judæa.” -Chrysostom, Hom. lii. 2.
2. The Significance of Light
  1. Light is Self-Evident: Light in a room isn’t subtle; it’s obvious. In that same way, the existence of God is self-evident (Romans 1:19-20). The reason many people don’t “see” Him is not because He is hidden, but because sin has blinded humanity. Jesus’s miracles of restoring sight are a physical picture of our spiritual reality: he heals our spiritual blindness so we can see God.
  2. Light Illuminates Everything Else: In a dark room, you can’t really do much. Light allows you to see the world, make sense of your surroundings, and act reasonably. Similarly, through the light of God, we can understand the world and act well within it.
  3. Light Reveals Us: You can’t see your own hand in a pitch-black room. The light of God is what allows us to truly understand ourselves. Without knowing our origin, destination, and purpose (which are only knowable through God) we can’t fully know who we are.
“Whoever follows me… will have the light of life…”

1. The world is full of darkness, but darkness is just the absence of light.
2. When we follow Jesus, we receive the “light of life.” We don’t have to fear the darkness; we carry the light with us and illuminate the dark places we enter.

¹³The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

“These wasps were always stinging him; when he drove them away once, they quickly returned to attack him again: ‘The Pharisees’” -Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of John
They invoke the legal principle requiring two witnesses to validate a claim (Deuteronomy 19:15). They argue Jesus has insufficient evidence for His grand claims.
There’s some real irony in their response. Jesus says he is the light, and their response is, “I don’t see it.” They’re like a person with their eyes closed on a sunny day demanding evidence of the sun. Their spiritual blindness is self-imposed.

¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. ¹⁶But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. ¹⁷In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ¹⁸I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

“Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid…”

1. Unique Knowledge: Jesus says his testimony is valid because he is the only one with complete authority to speak on these topics. He was present at creation. He has seen both Heaven and Hell. Nobody else could verify these things, but he can speak with complete understanding.
2. “I know whence I came. By these words he declares that his origin is not from the world, but that he proceeded from God, and therefore that it would be unjust and unreasonable that his doctrine, which is Divine, should be subjected to the laws of men. But as he was at that time clothed with the form of a servant, in consequence of which they despised him on account of the mean condition of the flesh, he sends them away to the future glory of his resurrection, from which his Divinity, formerly hidden and unknown, received a clear demonstration.” -Calvin, Commentary on John
“You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one…”
1. Different Standards of Judgment: The Pharisees judged with worldly standards (education, prestige, outward acts) and hearts of stone. Jesus did not come to bring more judgment. The world was already under condemnation for sin. He came as an instrument of mercy and salvation.
“…I am not alone. I stand with the Father…”
1. The Father as the Second Witness: Jesus affirms the two-witness rule from Scripture and says he’ll play by it. He testifies for Himself, and His other witness is “the Father who sent me.” He’s not appealing to a vague, abstract, warm-and-fuzzy feeling. The Father’s testimony is objectively available in the Scriptures (the Old Testament), which are filled with prophecies about Jesus (Isa. 7:14, Mic. 5:2, Gen. 12:3, etc). He is telling them to “look it up” and check His claims in the Word of God.

¹⁹Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

“Where is your father?”

1. Jesus used the word “father,” giving the Pharisees an opening. They’re not asking a sincere question; they are invoking the scandalous rumors surrounding Jesus’s birth (that He was born out of wedlock to a Roman soldier or another man). It’s a deeply personal and humiliating taunt: “Do you even know who your own dad is?”
Jesus’s Response
1. Jesus refuses to engage with rumors that are both false and distract from the truth he’s trying to share. He stays on message: “You do not know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
2. He immediately connects their ignorance to its eternal consequence: “I am going away… and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
3. “Oh, what a terrible sentence is that! I pray that the Lord may never say that to any of us, “Whither I go, ye cannot come.” That would be the death-knell of all our hopes and would make our life one long banishment. Blessed be his name, we who have sought him, and have found him, know that; we shall not die in our sins; and whither he has gone, we shall go also.” -Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of John

²²This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

²³But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

“Will he kill himself?”

1. In first-century Judaism, suicide was considered an unforgivable sin that led directly to Hell. By suggesting this, the Pharisees are making a radically insulting suggestion that Jesus is going to Hell, which is why they cannot follow Him.
2. While different theologians, especially in the past, have wondered if suicide is unforgivable, note that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin in the Bible (Mark 3:29, Lk. 12:10), broadly interpreted as the unwillingness to recognize the urging of the Spirit to recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord.
3. We are saved by our faith, not our works. If dying while having done ANY sin was a guaranteed trip to Hell, we would almost inevitably all end up in Hell. There’s no amount of confessing on a deathbed that could stop even a stray errant thought at the last minute! Trust Christ, not your acts.
“ …if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins…”
1. Jesus’s language is intense here, but it’s important to note that he’s trying to snap the Pharisees out of their stupor. There are real consequences to disbelief, and he doesn’t want them to suffer those consequences.
2. “What an awful thing it will be to die in your sins! What cerements for your eternal burial! What a robe of fire in which to lie down for your long sleep, and then to find no sleep because of it! “Ye shall die in your sins.” I should like this short, stern sentence to ring in the ears of every unbeliever. This is not my word, but Christ’s own word, — the word of the most loving and tender Saviour: ‘If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.’” -Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of John
“…I am he…”
1. “He says, that I am he, to show his eternity. For in all things that begin, there is a certain mutability, and a potency to nonexistence; thus we can discern in them a past and a future, and so they do not have true existence of themselves.”-Aquinas, Commentary on John, C8, L 3, 1179.

²⁵“Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶“I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

²⁷They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. ²⁹The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” ³⁰Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

“Who are you?”

1. How sad to end on this question. Jesus has been answering this exact question from the very beginning, but their questions were never intended to gain knowledge, only to embarrass.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning…”
1. Church fathers often translated this verse differently. The translation seems inaccurate, but still paints a vivid picture of how people imagined Christ’s revelations in this conversation that especially resonates with Christ’s claim in Revelation, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,” (Rev. 1:8).
2. “In some [biblical manuscripts] we find, “Who also speak to you;” but it is more consistent to read “for” (quia), not, “who” (qui): in which case the meaning is: Believe Me to be the beginning, for for your sakes have I condescended to these words.” -The Venerable Bede as found in Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea
3. “Who are you, that we may believe? He answered The Beginning. Here is the existence that [always] is. The beginning cannot be changed: the beginning is self-abiding and all-originating.” -Augustine, Tractate on John 38, 11.
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he…”
1. “Lifting up the Son of Man” refers to his crucifixion. The cross is what brings ultimate clarity to everything.
2. When we face pointed, accusatory questions, from others or from our own minds, the answer to all of them is found at the cross.
  1. Who is Jesus? Look at the cross. It is the clearest evidence of God’s love, mercy, and care.
  2. What is the logic of the world? Look at the cross. It explains everything you need to know about the human condition and God’s plan.
  3. Who are you? Look at the cross. You may be a sinner, but you are a sinner redeemed by the blood of Christ, bought back by the grace of God. The cross is the definitive answer to every question.
“Even as he spoke, many believed in him.”
1. The Pharisees’ goal was to humiliate Jesus and make the crowd lose faith. The opposite happened over the course of the conversation.

Full Transcript

All right, so we continue on. Last week we saw after the Festival of Tabernacles, Jesus came back to the temple where he kept teaching, and some people from throughout the Roman Empire didn’t leave at the end of the festival; they came back to learn from him. And the Pharisees decided to lay a trap for Jesus, a legal trap that would get him in trouble. They found a woman who had been caught in adultery, and they brought her to him. And they said, “Okay, well, according to the law, she should be stoned, right? So, do you want us to do that?”

Now, this was a problem because on one hand, Jesus could obey Mosaic law and break Roman law, because only a Roman judge could call for the death penalty. So that was one option. The other option was, of course, to deny Mosaic law and to obey Roman law and to say, “Hey, I don’t know if it’s that big a deal. I wouldn’t worry about it.” And of course, if he did that, the whole crowd would see that this law that he claims to take so seriously, he doesn’t actually take it all that seriously after all.

You see, this is a problem not only legally, but it’s a problem for his legacy. Jesus built himself up as this man who is both merciful and just. He keeps the law better than the Pharisees do, and he cares about the people. Well, the Pharisees threatened to split that. Which are you really? Do you want this woman saved? In which case, everyone will know you’re a lawbreaker just like anybody else. Or do you want to condemn this woman? In which case, everyone will know you take the law seriously, but you are not their friend. If they step out of line, you’ll get them just as much as anyone else would. And of course, Jesus, in classic Jesus fashion, gets two options and he creates a third and takes that instead: “Whoever is without sin may throw the first stone.” And everybody leaves one at a time. And eventually, Jesus encourages her to go and not sin anymore.

So now here we are. Jesus is back at the temple. He’s teaching on a different day. And now the Pharisees are back at it, and they have a different tactic. If they can’t shut Jesus up with legal threats, with taking advantage of the court system, they are going to do things differently. They’re going to show up and heckle him. They are going to ask pointed, rude questions in an effort to just make him look bad in front of all of the people there. And so that’s what you’re going to see them do. They’re going to show up, they’re going to ask these pointed questions, and Jesus is going to respond with total confidence. He is not shaken by any of this.

And I think in the process we’re going to see how to handle these pointed, humiliating questions. Because we hear those sometimes, right? Whether it’s from a person that does not share our faith—I know before I was a Christian, I asked those kind of questions. I had a whole book of questions, questions that were pointed and intended to show religious people just how silly they were. Were they sincere? Not really. What do you do when you get those kind of questions? And sometimes it’s not even questions that we get from another person. Sometimes it’s those questions that just sneak into your ear in the dark hours of the night, right? Those questions that enter in—just little things like, “Do you really believe that? You know you’re wasting your life, right? You know that can’0t possibly be true.” It’s those whispers from the devil, and this is how we can respond boldly. We’re going to see that modeled by Jesus.

Let’s begin at verse 12. When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So he’s teaching, and you can see he’s teaching about himself, about who he is. Jesus did not just teach morality. Sometimes people imagine that Jesus was just this wise teacher of how to act well, but Jesus’s teachings were not only about morality in a physical sense; they were also about identity. Who is He? What is the world? What’s the nature of everything? Jesus spoke at length on that, and notice as He speaks about His identity, about who He is, He’s going to say one thing again and again and again. He begins with it, and this is going to be the drumbeat in this conversation: “I am.” You’re going to see that time and time again.

And you know—what was it? Help me out. When Moses asked God for His name at the burning bush, what did God respond with? “I am.” The name that God responded with was “I am.” So you’re going to see that time and time again, Jesus is invoking that name as he speaks. “I am, I am, I am.” All the while, he’s saying who he is, he’s invoking that divine name.

Jesus begins, “I am the light of the world.” And that comparison of God to light is one that you can find throughout the Bible, and it is especially poignant, I think, because, well, first off, light is self-evident, isn’t it? If you walk into a room and there’s a light on, you’re going to see it. That’s just how it works. In that same way, God is self-evident. God is obvious.

You may disagree with that. You may think to yourself, “Well, hold on. If God was so obvious, why are there so many people that don’t believe in Him?” Well, the Bible tells us that. The Bible says the problem is the blindness that has been brought on all of humanity by sin. It’s not that God is hidden somewhere. It’s not that He’s trying to confuse us. God is obvious. His presence in the world is everywhere, but we can’t see it. We’ve been blinded, or some of us just have our eyes closed, right? That’s one of the reasons that those miracles, where Jesus comes to restore people’s sight, are especially important—because Jesus heals our sight so we can see again. We are no longer blinded by sin. Jesus is the light. He is that self-evident light that everyone should be able to see. And as you look around the world, you can see all the evidence of God. You can see the mountains and the hills, you can see the fields that are His handiwork, you can see God at work among people.

The light is self-evident, and it also helps not only us to see itself; it helps us to see everything else. If you’re in a room that’s dark, you’re not going to be able to do very much. You can’t walk. You don’t know what’s in the way. You’re going to bang up your shins. You can’t interact with things. You can’t see anything if the room’s dark. But if a light is on, suddenly you can start to make sense of things. You can act in reasonable ways. You can interact with the things around you. Not only does the world around you make sense if you’ve got light, but you can even start to see yourself, can’t you? If the room’s dark enough, you can’t see your own hand in front of your face. When the light is on, you can see your hands. You can see yourself.

That’s true about God too. If we know God, we know ourselves. Sometimes we imagine that we are the masters of our own self-understanding, that we know ourselves better than anyone. Not always true. If you don’t know where you’re from, if you don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know what you were made to do—all of which is only knowable through God—you’re missing a great deal of information. You can only really understand yourself by the light of God. Jesus says He is the light. Through Him, you can see His self-evident glory. You can understand God. You can understand the world. You can understand yourself.

And He continues, saying, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” And isn’t there enough darkness in the world? I mean, you can’t get through a week without seeing darkness of one kind or another. Especially in election season, you see plenty of darkness. It’s on your screens all the time. There is plenty of darkness in this world, but darkness is not an equal opposite to the light. Darkness is just an absence of light. If we follow Jesus, He gives us the light. We can walk into the darkness without fear, because we carry that light with us. It can’t withstand us. If anything, us walking into that darkness is going to light it up.

The Pharisees—they have been listening. They are here and they are ready to ridicule Jesus. They begin with their first challenge: “Here you are, appearing as your own witness. Your testimony is not valid.” In other words, yeah, you can say all this about yourself. Well, that’s easy enough. A person can say anything about themselves. But in the law, you’re supposed to have two witnesses to something. If you don’t have a witness, how can anybody trust you? You’ve given us insufficient evidence.

And that two-witness rule makes a good deal of sense, right? If I told you, believe it or not, I am one of the best basketball players you will ever see. I am amazing. You should see me on that court. I do magic out there. Would you believe it? Probably not. I hope you wouldn’t; I wouldn’t believe myself if I said that. But if I said that and then Jim followed up by saying, “No, seriously, I’ve seen him. It is weird how good at basketball he is,” suddenly it seems a little more credible, right? Someone else is affirming that, so the rule makes sense. Generally, if you’re looking to see if something is true, if two people are both able to confirm it, it’s a little more credible. That is exactly what they’re saying about Jesus: you’ve not given us credible evidence. You have these ridiculous claims that don’t meet the minimum standard of something that is reasonable.

I do find the objection just a little bit ironic, isn’t it? Jesus says, “I am the light,” and they say, “I don’t see it. Give me more evidence.” Which, I mean, can you imagine going outside on a bright sunny day, and there’s someone there with their eyes closed, and you say, “Man, it’s bright out,” and they say, “I don’t see it. I refuse to acknowledge that; you’ve not given me sufficient evidence.” Well, open your eyes and look! It’s bright. “I’m not going to do that, please give me evidence.” We’re seeing the blindness of the Pharisees here. They don’t see the light.

Now Jesus responds to them questioning His evidence. He says, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I’m going.” In other words, it makes sense to have two people—pretty reasonable most of the time. However, I am the only one who can testify about these kinds of things. I’m the only one who knows. None of you know where you’re from or where you’re going. You don’t know things like that. You’ve not seen heaven or hell. You theorize it; you hear about it. I’ve seen it. I was there in the beginning when the heavens and the earth were created. I was there when the plants were formed. I was there when humans were still just the dust of the earth before the breath of God. I have seen all of this. I am the only one who can speak with authority because I know genuinely where I’m from and where I am going. How could any of you verify that? You are all ignorant on that front. I’m the only one that can say these kinds of things with confidence because I’m the only one that knows it.

He continues, “You judge by human standards. I pass judgment on no one.” And we’ve seen the Pharisees repeatedly judge, right? That’s what they do. They show up and they judge people, and their standards are often based on more earthly things, right? The Pharisees are proud of their education. They’re proud of their jobs. They’re proud of the prestige that they have. They’re proud that they get to work in the temple. They’re proud that they publicly keep different acts of the law. They’re proud because they’re impressive people. But as impressive as they are, we can repeatedly see that they don’t really keep a fair understanding of the law. They keep a worldly understanding of the law. They want to look good, they want to be impressive, but we see that their hearts aren’t in the right place. They’re often cruel. They often look down on people that are trying very hard. Their hearts are stone. The Pharisees have a very earthly understanding of what it means to be good.

On the other hand, Jesus—He’s come not to judge people based on earthly standards. The earth already was judged at the very beginning. There was no shortage of condemnation for humanity when sin entered into the world. There was no shortage of wrath on God’s behalf. Jesus didn’t come because the world needed more judgment; that was taken care of. Jesus came to save us. He’s not an instrument of judgment; He’s an instrument of mercy. He’s the opposite of the Pharisees.

“But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father who sent me.” And this, I think, sometimes it can sound a little abstract—Jesus saying, “Yeah, there are two witnesses. There’s me, and then there’s my Father.” At different points, I imagine, well, how are they supposed to hear from His Father? Jesus uses that word to talk about His heavenly Father, to talk about God, and how on earth are they supposed to know? Are they supposed to go into a prayer room and just be real quiet, and then they will feel the affirmation that Jesus is indeed the Son of God? It’s a little simpler than that, and it’s a little more objective. Remember, they had the Old Testament; the Word of God was available. When Jesus says, “There’s another witness, it’s my Father,” they can go and verify using the Word of God, which is full of prophecies about Jesus. The Old Testament is all about Him. He said that in no uncertain terms. So when Jesus says, “I have a second witness, it’s the Father,” this is a reference to the Scriptures. Go and verify. You don’t just have to take my word for it—look it up.

So Jesus has clearly shown them, “You don’t think my evidence is sufficient? I have sufficient evidence.” But they respond because He’s used a word that they are delighted to hear. Keep in mind, they’ve heard Jesus on a few occasions now, so they know some of the things He tends to bring up, and they’ve got these questions that are perfectly designed to try to humiliate Him. Jesus used the word “Father,” right? Father. Well, isn’t there a scandal about Jesus’s birth? Now today we believe, of course, rightly, that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. That’s something that Scripture clearly teaches. It’s something that the Church has taught from its earliest days. The apostles themselves taught it. But in those days, you got to remember, no one believed Jesus was the Son of God—or at least very, very few, right? The Pharisees didn’t believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, and there were all kinds of rumors about His birth: rumors that it was a Roman soldier or some other guy that Mary had on the side—all kinds of theories about who’s Jesus’s real dad, many of which continue to this day. That’s what they’re invoking. They’re invoking the rumor mill here. “Oh, Jesus, you want to talk about your Father? Where is your Father, huh? We’ve heard some stories about him. Do you even know who your own dad is? You who were born out of wedlock—we know the dates don’t line up. We know it doesn’t make sense. We know something’s amiss here, Jesus, and you know it too.”

He responds, “You do not know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

He continues, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush engaging with their attempts to create scandalous rumors. He stays right on message. You don’t know my Father because you don’t know me. You don’t know God. That is a problem, because you’re not listening. And He immediately shows the relevance of that too: “I am going to go, and where I go, you cannot follow. You are going to die in your sin.” Crystal clear as to why this matters. He’s not going to play into these rumors. He’s not going to spend time arguing things on their terms. He’s just going to clearly and concisely represent the truth and remind them why it matters.

Now, again, He said something that the Pharisees are ready for—something that He said in the past: “Where I go, you cannot follow.” They’ve got something for that too. They respond, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?” Now, in this time frame, in the first century, the commonly held belief in Judaism was that if you kill yourself, that is a one-way ticket to hell, because you have denied the greatest gift that God gave you: life itself. You kill yourself—boom, hell, done. It was considered an unforgivable sin. That’s not what the Bible says. The Bible has one unforgivable sin listed, and that is denying the lordship of Jesus Christ. That’s the unforgivable sin. Despite the witness that He lived, despite the witness of the Holy Spirit, denying Him—well, that’s the greatest unforgivable sin because accepting Him will forgive all other sins.

Now, the logic of it—because it’s not only first-century Judaism, but at different points in church history, people have held that belief that suicide is an unforgivable sin. And here’s the logic of it a little bit, just so you understand why people have held that at different points. The logic goes something like this: Okay, so if you do something wrong, you should ask God for forgiveness, right? Yeah, that makes sense. You should ask God for forgiveness. Okay, great. And is suicide a sin? Yeah, suicide is a sin. It’s wrong, it’s bad. Makes sense. Okay, so if your last act is a sin, how are you going to ask for forgiveness for it? You can’t. You’re dying in unrepented sin. How on earth can you possibly get to heaven like that?

But this logic is a little flawed, and someone else pointed it out to me once. They said, “Okay, so dying in unrepented sin—that’s horrible, you can’t recover from that, right? Okay, sure. So let’s say you are on your deathbed, and you pray for forgiveness, and then you live ten more minutes. Any chance you’re going to sin during those ten minutes? Sure. I mean, sin is not just what you do; it’s thought, word, and deed. It’s what you do, and it’s what you don’t do. It’s not so hard to sin. Most of us are experts at it. Is there any chance you can sin in ten minutes? Sure, definitely. Okay, well, what about five minutes? Yeah, I could pull that off. What about one minute? Is it possible to sin in just one minute? Yeah. Okay, so then the only way to die, if you have to ask forgiveness for all the things—and you don’t even know when you’re going to die, right?—so you would have to perpetually be asking forgiveness every second of every day, just in case something went wrong. Otherwise, you might die in unrepentant sin.”

Does that make sense? Is that the witness of the people we see in Scripture? Well, no, it’s not. The reason God forgives us is because we’ve been redeemed by the blood of Christ. That’s the grace of God. God doesn’t forgive us because we are particularly good askers of forgiveness; He forgives us because of His grace, because of what He did on the cross. Now, does He ask us to ask forgiveness when we sin? Yeah, definitely, because we love God. We love our Father, and when we mess up, we ask for forgiveness. At the same time, the way that works—it’s not this legalistic weapon to be wielded. Our salvation is through grace, not because we are perpetually asking for more forgiveness. That’s my take on the matter.

But you got to keep in mind, the Pharisees did not think that way. That would not have been normative for the time. The norm for them would have been—why are they saying everything they’re saying? Well, they’re implying Jesus is going to go right to hell. That’s why they’re saying, “Oh, where you go, no one can follow, because you’re going to kill yourself. You’re going straight to hell. That’s what you’re doing, Jesus.”

And Jesus responds, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am He, you will indeed die in your sins.” Again, you can see they keep trying to get Him off track, and Jesus just stays right on track. He keeps affirming who He is and why it matters. And here, it’s almost like He’s pleading with them: “If you do not believe, you will indeed die in your sins.” He wishes they would see. Why can’t you see? Open your eyes and see, you Pharisees! Look!

And they respond, “Who are you?” Who do you think you are, Mr. Hotshot, Mr. Big Deal, Mr. Guy who can forgive every sin? Who do you think you are? Who are you? Who are you? A deeply ironic question to end on, because that’s exactly what Jesus has been saying from the beginning. Every single time He has opened His mouth here, He is saying who He is. That drumbeat of “I am, I am, I am”—every answer to every question is about who He is. That has been Jesus’s teaching from the beginning. It is all about who He is and why it makes a difference. And they have asked question after question, but the questions weren’t designed to know anything more; they were designed to embarrass. After all those questions, they still don’t know.

Jesus responds, “Just as I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say in judgment of you. But He who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from Him I tell the world.” They did not understand that He was telling them about His Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” Even as He spoke, many believed in Him.

So here we’ve had this whole exchange, and what was the goal of it the whole time? To humiliate Jesus, to embarrass Him, to heckle Him so much that the crowd loses their faith in Him. And what happened? Just the opposite. People have come to faith because of the incident.

And what Jesus said at the end there: “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know I am He.” This is all going to make sense when you have lifted up the Son of Man. He’s referring to the cross, to His own crucifixion. That brings clarity to every question. It’s good to remember that when we get those questions, right? When we get those pointed questions—whether they come from someone who doesn’t know God like we do, someone who has really pointed, rude questions to ask about how we can possibly believe any of this; whether it’s those questions in the odd hours of the night that sneak into our minds about Jesus: “You know it can’t possibly be real, don’t you? You don’t actually believe that stuff.” Whether it’s about the world: “You know things do not work the way the Bible presents. You know that’s ridiculous, right?” Or whether it’s even about yourself: “You’re going to keep praying? You know how absurd that is. Do you know how many times you’ve sinned? It’s insane. You’re going to ask Him for forgiveness for the same things over again? Don’t you think He’s tired of you? Don’t you know how fruitless this is? You know you don’t even believe this. Give it up.”

All of those accusatory questions that come up? Everything makes sense when you look at the cross. It explains every question crystal clear. You want to know who Jesus really is? You look at the cross. There is no clearer evidence of God’s love, of His mercy, of His caring than Jesus on that cross. You want to know the underpinning logic of the world? Look at the cross. That explains everything you need to know about the world. You want to know who you are? Look at the cross. You might be a sinner, you might have sinned a million times, but you are a sinner redeemed by the blood of Christ, bought back by the grace of God. You want the answer to every question? It’ll all be clear. Look at the cross. Amen.

Philippians 2:1-11 He Made Himself Nothing

September 19, 2026September 25, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

“…make my joy complete…”
1. Even while imprisoned, Paul asks that that they put his mind at ease by caring for one another. He’s more concerned about their well being than his own.
2. “Here again we may see how little anxiety he had as to himself, provided only it went well with the Church of Christ. He was kept shut up in prison, and bound with chains; he was reckoned worthy of capital punishment — before his view were tortures — near at hand was the executioner; yet all these things do not prevent his experiencing unmingled joy, provided he sees that the Churches are in a good condition.” -John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentary
“If you have…”
1. Paul asks about all these things rhetorically. He knows that the church has every one of of these things, because they’re gifts that all Christians share.
2. While the language of these gifts might sound emotional, don’t reduce these gifts to feelings or sentimentality.
  1. There are some Christian traditions that associate happiness and excitement with God’s presence and loneliness or sadness as evidence that God is far away, but emotions are a poor center for a Christian life.
  2. Feelings are fickle. Sometimes, we are in poor moods, even when things are going very well. Sometimes, we’re in good moods even when things are miserable.
  3. Emotions are like the weather; we can predict them sometimes, but the only thing you can be absolutely sure of is that they’ll change over time. The gifts that God gives us? They’re not reliant on a good mood. They’re more than that. They’re realities to be grasped.
“If any encouragement… comfort… sharing in the Spirit… tenderness…”
1. Encouragement in union with Christ: We should be encouraged regardless of mood, knowing their sins are removed “as far as the east is from the west,” (Ps 103:12). Our worst moments moments don’t define us. Jesus does. And our story ends with union with God in a world where everything is made right.
2. Comfort from Christ’s love: Jesus loves us for who we are, not for our performance, appearance, or particular gifts. The thing about ourselves that we’re proudest of? Even if that vanished in an instant, Jesus would still love us. He loves us better than we love ourselves.
3. Common sharing in the Spirit: The Holy Spirit is poured out on all who confess Christ, binding believers across nations, languages, and interests, giving them unity beyond anything else we can know.
4. Tenderness and compassion: Even if we haven’t acted particularly tender or compassionate lately the Spirit of God is in us. This is the same God who made the earth and everything in it and takes care of them. His tenderness and compassion are in us.
“…by being like-minded, having the same love…”
1. Notice that he follows this with “being one in spirit and of one mind,” a second paring of the same characteristics. This is likely an instance of poetic parallelism from Hebrew culture. Saying the same thing twice in slightly different ways emphasizes them and was considered aesthetically pleasing.
2. Like-minded- There are some things in the church that are so crucial that if we don’t share a collective witness, we’ll fall apart.
  1. Biblical doctrine
  2. Leadership structures
  3. Collective outreach
  4. What is the Church for?
  5. How do we solve disagreements?
  6. How can we serve God?
3. The same love– The Church isn’t just about thinking the same; it’s also about loving one another rightly.
  1. Spending time together
  2. Listening when times are hard
  3. Lifting one another up before the Lord
  4. Caring for the marginalized

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

“…selfish ambition or vain conceit…”

1. Selfish ambition is taking opportunities to promote ourselves, our ideas, and our image.
2. Vain conceit is doing things because we think we’re particularly important.
3. Dignitas
  1. In Roman society, people wanted to gain dignitas (social standing/clout) during their lives by interacting with upper social classes, winning victories in battle, or making big public achievements. You could lose your dignitas by acting cowardly or beneath your station.
  2. Julius Caesar’s death was avenged at Philippi only 100 years before this letter was written to the church there. He was assassinated precisely because he was so good at acquiring dignitas that a whole nation was in his grasp. People that wanted to ensure that Rome would not become ruled by one man killed him, but his impact was so legendary that people would live in his image for generation upon generation.
  3. Roman society was built by the exact kind of selfish ambition and vain conceit that Paul is standing against.
4. Today, our world isn’t so different. Just look at a list of famous politicians or the richest people on earth and ask, “Are these humble servants of the people? Or are they people pursuing wealth, status, and power?”
5. “[L]ove waxes cold, when we love the praise of men, when we are slaves to the honor which is paid by the many, for it is not possible for a man to be the slave of praise, and also a true servant of God.” -Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Philippians.

“…value others above yourselves…”
1. Imagine a church where everyone fully looks out for the needs of others before themselves. It would be beautiful indeed.
2. Some people are concerned that if you don’t look out for yourself, you will be taken advantage of. In rare cases, that’s true, but most of us tend to excel at looking out for ourselves and are exceedingly poor at tending to our neighbors in comparison.
3. “How long shall we be puffed up thus ridiculously? For as we laugh, when we see children drawing themselves up, and looking haughty, or when we see them picking up stones and throwing them, thus too the haughtiness of men belongs to a puerile intellect, and an unformed mind.” -Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Philippians.

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

Structure and Purpose
1. Some theorize that, given the style and poetic nature of Paul’s writing here, especially in opposition to the surrounding material, this is a type of ancient hymn that people in the church knew that Paul is referencing to make a point.
2. This is certainly possible, though there’s no archaeological evidence for it, and it’s not a necessary assumption.
3. Paul is more than capable of waxing poetic when he chooses to (1 Corinthians 13:4-8), so his literary skill is more than enough to have written this to prove a point about important truths beautifully.
Kenosis
1. The greek word kenosis appears in this passage in verse 7, translated in the NIV as “made himself nothing,” and often more accurately translated as “emptied himself,” given that the greek word means “to empty.”
2. Historic Christian orthodoxy holds that this is a reference to Christ emptying himself of glory by becoming human.
  1. Jesus, due all glory and honor, did not seek to accumulate earthly praise; like a king laying aside crown and scepter, He embraced humble peasant life, born in a manger as an Israelite of low status.
3. In the 19th century, liberal scholars proposed that it meant that God gave up his divine attributes (all-knowing, all-powerful) in the incarnation.
  1. If God ceases to have his attributes, he ceases to be God. God can’t stop being all-powerful and remain God. He can’t cease to know everything.
  2. Scripture clearly reflects Christ’s power and knowledge. As a child, Christ taught in the temple courts (Luke 2:41-52) and throughout his ministry he prophesied what would come to pass. Jesus also consistently did miracles specifically to prove that he was God (Mark 8:31, Mark 14:66-72).
“Who, being in very nature God,”
1. Jesus was God. He didn’t begin existing in a manger in Jerusalem in the first century. He was around in his divinity from all of eternity. He was incarnated
  as a human in first century Jerusalem.
  1. John 1:1 talks about “the Word” being around in the beginning and being incarnate for us.
  2. Genesis 1:26 repeatedly uses “us” to discuss creation, demonstrating that God is more than just a me. The presence of Father, Son, and Spirit are all right there in the beginning.
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage…”
1. “So the Son of God is God the Father’s equal by nature, by condition his inferior. In the form of a servant which he took he is the Father’s inferior; in the form of God in which he existed even before he took this other he is the Father’s equal. In the form of God, the Word through whom all things were made (Jn 1:3); in the form of a servant, one made of woman, made under the law, to redeem those who were under the law (Gal 4:4). Accordingly, in the form of God he made man, in the form of a servant he was made man. For if the Father only without the Son had made man, it would not have been written Let us make man to our image and likeness (Gn 1:26).” -Augustine, De Trinitate, 7.14.
“…by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
1. Christ possessed every divine attribute. When he came to be with us, he wasn’t at our mercy at any point. He could have struck down every soldier! He could have leveled Jerusalem! He could have walked off the cross! He chose not to because he loves us. He allowed himself to be killed for us.

⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

“…the name that is above every name…”
1. Jesus’s name being wonderful isn’t because of the specific combination of syllables. That would be absurd!
  1. His name in Hebrew was Yeshua
  2. His name in Greek was Iēsous
  3. His name in Latin was Iesus
  4. His name in Spanish is Jesus (hay-SOOS)
2. It’s not about the accent or the transliterations. It’s about the being that we trust, know and love. His glory is immense, and we know it in what he did for us.
3. Greatness in God’s kingdom is measured by service and self-giving love, not by worldly dominance. Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (Jn. 1-17) is another perfect example of this.

Full Transcript

Here is your cleaned transcript. I have removed the timestamps, speaker tags, stutters, false starts, filler words, and transcription artifacts, while carefully preserving the speaker’s original wording, cadence, and sentence structure.

All righty. So we’re in the book of Philippians. Last week we looked at the second half of chapter 1, and we saw how Paul wrote to this church at Philippi while he was imprisoned by the Romans, and said, “Hey, here’s the thing. Maybe you are worried about me. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. You know what? I am in chains for Christ, and ultimately, I am reaching people in ways that I never even expected to.”

All the Christians that see me suffering for Jesus are so inspired that they are willing to evangelize even more. And all of the non-Christians that see me, well, they scratch their heads and wonder why I’m doing all this. And so they take a second look, and that’s great too. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. This is a win-win scenario. Either the Romans decide they want to execute me, in which case I get to go be with Jesus. There’s nothing better than that. Or they decide not to execute me, and I go do more work for Jesus, and that’s good too. This world, the forces of this world, have nothing compared to the God that’s on our side. So stick together, stand with each other, and behave in a way that’s worthy of the gospel, because you’re going to suffer. But how you act in your suffering—that’s going to make all the difference. So he’s continuing forward with this idea, and he says:

“Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and one in mind.”

Paul is in prison, and he says to them, “If you want to make things a little easier for me, you know what you could do? Take care of each other. That would just be great.” He is so other-focused; he doesn’t need them to do anything for him. He wants to make sure that they’re all right. And these things that he lists when he says, “Okay, if you’ve got this, if you’ve got this,” he knows they have this. This is normative stuff for a Christian to have. So I’m going to go through them one at a time. Just remember, these belong to all of us. In so far as you are a Christian, every one of these things is yours. And I also want to challenge you as we go through them, because a lot of them, I think people can sometimes read these lists a little too sentimentally, with a little too much concern for feelings. Now these are feelings, right? You can feel encouraged. You can feel comforted.

There’s no way around that, but there are some traditions within Christianity that really put feelings all the way up here. And I think if you feel really, really good, that’s proof that God is here and He’s doing stuff. But if you don’t feel very good, maybe God’s kind of far away, and maybe you need to worry about that. Feelings are way too frail to be our primary relationship with God. You can’t rely on feelings. If that is what we’re pinning our relationship with God on, it’s just not enough. And I know you know that because I would wager every person in here, you have had a day where the sun is shining and the birds are singing, and everyone that you care about is being so, so kind to you, and you just about bite their head off sometimes because you woke up in a mood. Why? Who knows? That’s just how it is.

And I’m sure you’ve had days too where there is nothing going right in your life, and you know what? You are surprisingly resilient about the whole thing, and having a pretty okay time, circumstances considered. That’s another thing. See, our feelings—it’s kind of like weather. You can’t always predict them; they’re unpredictable. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can’t. Sometimes you’re happy when there’s not really a reason to be, and sometimes you’re torn up when really you should be overjoyed. Feelings are fleeting; they come and they go. What we see Paul describe here is more than that. These are things you can rely on.

So, here we go. Chapter 2, verse 1: “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ…” Regardless of what mood you’re in today, are you encouraged because you’ve been united to Christ? And you should be. You should be encouraged because no matter what you’ve done in your life, if you have any moments where you’ve failed or fallen short, any moments where you’ve done things that you know are wrong and you’re embarrassed about them—any kind of moments like that, those things that keep you up late at night, on the nights where you can’t get to sleep because your mind keeps going back and you just think about how you wish you wouldn’t have done that—if your trust is in Jesus and you’ve asked for His forgiveness, you’re not going to be judged by your worst moments. Your sins are as far away from you as the east is from the west. You can trust that you know the end of the story. No matter what’s going on in your life right now, things end well. You get to be with Jesus in a world where everything is right again.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if you have any comfort from His love—and again, you should have comfort in Christ’s love because Jesus doesn’t love you because of what you do. Jesus doesn’t love you because of the way you look. Jesus loves you for who you are. Sometimes we even love ourselves because of what we’re really proud of, don’t we? Maybe you’re someone that’s a great chef. You’re so proud of the way that you can cook for people, but then maybe you take something to a party and everybody tastes it and they make a face and say, “Oh, interesting,” and you go home beating yourself up because you think, “Oh no, that was my thing. If my cooking’s gone, what am I? What’s the point of me?” Jesus doesn’t love you because you’re a good cook. Jesus loves you better than you love yourself sometimes.

Or maybe you’re a great runner and you lose a race, or maybe you’re someone who gives great advice and you’re really proud of that, and then you give some advice that was terrible in hindsight. It doesn’t matter what you pride yourself on. Jesus doesn’t love you because you’ve got a particular gift. Jesus loves you because of who you are underneath all of that. That should be encouraging. It should be comforting.

“If any common sharing in the Spirit…” Every single person that confesses Christ has the Holy Spirit poured out on them, and that Holy Spirit binds us together. When we meet other Christians, it doesn’t matter what country they’re from, doesn’t matter what language they speak, doesn’t matter what hobbies they have. Even if we have nothing else in common, we have the most important thing in common: we have the Spirit of God inside of us. There is no unity more powerful than that.

And then the last one: “If any tenderness and compassion…” Have you been tender and compassionate lately? Maybe not. But the Spirit of God is in you. That tenderness and that compassion, it exists in you. That’s the same God that created everything, sustains everything, loves everything. His Spirit is in you. You have the same tenderness and compassion as the God that created everything, right inside of you. All of these things, the comfort, the encouragement, all of this is yours as Christians for the taking. Even if you don’t recognize it every day that you wake up, it’s yours.

Paul knows that, and so when he writes to them, “If you have these things…” he knows they do. Then what does he want from them? He wants them to be of one mind, one heart. That’s what he wants. There are a lot of different things that go on in a church that require the mind. First off, sound doctrine. You want to believe what’s true. You want to understand the Bible well. You want to be on the same page. And not only that, but there are a million other things: decisions that must be made, decisions about leadership, decisions about how the church can best reach out and care for those around it. All of these kinds of things, Paul wants the church to be of one mind, trusting that, yeah, we’re not all going to be 100% on the same page for every little detail. But we trust that as we work together, as people filled with the Holy Spirit and discern what God would have of us, we have so much more to gain by working together than by doing our own thing and insisting that we’re right.

And similarly, He wants us to be of one heart, because it’s not just what’s up here that matters; it’s what’s in here that matters. He wants us to take care of each other. Just to remember each other, he wants to pray for each other. And if you haven’t done that in a minute, I encourage you: look around this room right now and think about two people. Maybe you don’t even know their names. Ask for it before you leave today. But just pray for them this week. Pray for the other people in your church so that you can take care of them. You can lift up their needs before your own. There’s power in that.

Paul wants the church to be of one mind, one spirit, because the alternative that he warns them about, verse 3: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” I know we don’t talk about vain conceit very often—not exactly everyday language, but it means excessive care for yourself because you think you’re a really big deal. So, in essence, what he’s saying is, I don’t want you doing things because you want to differentiate yourself and try to come out on top, and I don’t want you doing things because you just think you’re such a big shot that you’re entitled to it.

That’s the opposite of how things worked in the Roman world. The Romans had a special word for one of the most important things in their society. That word was dignitas. Dignitas was the Latin word for something like your social standing, your clout, how much people owed you and should listen to you and do what you say, how much honor you deserved—all of that kind of stuff rolled up into one word, and that’s why people did things. People wanted to get more dignitas. You could gain more. Now, obviously, being born into the right family would give you some right off the bat, but beyond that, there were all kinds of things you could do if you behaved in a way that was impressive. If you served in the military, if you won often—all of these things would gain you dignitas. Meanwhile, you could lose it by making mistakes, by acting cowardly, all that kind of stuff.

That was a big driving force for Roman culture. A couple of weeks back, we talked about how the city of Philippi, a hundred years before this letter was written, was the site where a Roman civil war ended. Julius Caesar had gained so much power that there were some people that decided he had to be assassinated because they were worried he was going to take over their whole empire. And so the assassins and the avengers of Julius Caesar had a final showdown right there in the city of Philippi, and his avengers won. All this happened because Julius Caesar was so powerful. He did not get to be that powerful because he was just the humblest, kindest guy you would ever meet. Julius Caesar was someone who gained dignitas by winning battles, by being impressive, by asserting his power, by showing people if you trusted him, he got things done for you. That’s why he got ahead—specifically because he was highly ambitious and he wanted to show what a big deal he was.

What Paul’s describing for the church is the opposite, and you know it’s not so far from the opposite for our world today either, is it? Go ahead and look at a list of politicians and highly wealthy people in this world, and I want you to honestly ask yourself the question: Are these people humble servants to other people, or do they think they’re big shots? Right? That’s the world we live in. It is the reality that people try to get ahead in the eyes of the world by trying to assert themselves, not serve others.

But Paul encourages them again: “In humility, value others above yourself. Not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others.” That’s what the church is supposed to look like—people putting the interests of each other above themselves. Can you imagine if we really lived into that completely? A whole group of people whose number one concern was making sure each other were taken care of and not worrying so much about themselves. That makes some people wary. They say, “Well, hold on now. You got to take care of yourself first and foremost, because if you’re not taking care of yourself, you might be taken advantage of.” From what I’ve seen in this world, people are really good at taking care of themselves. I don’t think many of us need a lot of extra practice on that. But taking care of others—that’s something most of us could use practice on.

And Paul ties all of this—his continual hope that they are humble and servants to one another—in the life of Jesus, and He’s going to teach us a little bit about Jesus right now. Not only is He going to teach us some of the most intense theological truths about who Jesus was, but He’s doing so so that we remember who we are. Jesus was the perfect person. The more we act like Jesus, the more we act the way that we are supposed to act.

So this next section, you’ll notice in your Bibles, it’s printed in a very specific way, almost like song lyrics or a poem. It’s a very poetic section. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that maybe Paul is referencing a hymn here that the people at Philippi already knew, that had sound doctrine that he wanted them to think about. Now, there’s no evidence that this is some kind of ancient hymn from beyond the pen of Paul. It’s just a theory some people have. I personally find it hard to believe, if only because I get that it looks really nice and uses really beautiful language, especially compared to the parts around it. But if you’ve read enough of the epistles, you know Paul can be something of a wordsmith. He can write some really beautiful stuff when he wants to. I mean, think about that famous passage: “Love is patient, love is kind.” You’ve heard it at every wedding, right? It’s good, and that’s Paul too. But if you do think that’s the case, that’s all right. It’s just something to be aware of. That’s how some people think about this section.

Either way, another major theme to think through as we go through this is kenosis. That’s the Greek word for emptying yourself, and you’ll see it here in the NIV that I use for preaching. It says he made himself nothing. That’s that Greek word kenosis. We’re going to talk about the specifics of it as we continue to go. So let’s go through it:

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

So, “who, being in very nature God…” Jesus was God, and God did not start existing in a manger in Bethlehem when Mary gave birth to the fullness of God. No, that’s not how it worked. In the incarnation, Jesus was born, and yet at the same time, Jesus already existed from eternity. You can read about it in the beginning of the book of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and He became incarnate for us. And similarly, in the book of Genesis, we read that God uses plural language to talk in the very beginning: “Let us make humanity in our own image, in our own likeness.” Jesus has always existed even before the incarnation because He’s eternal. He’s God.

Now, being God, “He did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage. Rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. Being made in human likeness…” Jesus was God. How much glory is due to God? All of it. How impressive is God? The most impressive thing you’ve ever seen. How much applause does God deserve? How much praise? How much honor? All of it. He’s God. He’s the best. But Jesus wasn’t worried about accumulating glory. He was God. All of it was due to Him anyway. He didn’t need people to acknowledge His greatness because He was great simply by being what He was. He didn’t need continual praises poured out on Him for all of eternity because He’s already worthy of those. He’s not worried. He’s God.

In the same way that we’re all humans in this room, right? And if you’re not, man, come talk to me because that’s wild. But we’re all people. We’re all humans, right? We don’t need to establish that to anybody. There’s no way to say, “Well, I’m going to act more normal to prove how human I am.” No, that’s weird. You are what you are. Don’t think about it so much. God is what He is. Jesus is God. He doesn’t need to prove that He’s more God. He doesn’t need more praise to establish that He’s more God. He’s God. That’s what He is. And in light of that, He laid aside all of that honor and glory that He had in the hallowed halls of heaven to come and live among us. It’s like a king taking off their crown, leaving their scepter aside, and putting on peasant’s clothes, and just going and wandering around the town to be with the people. That’s kind of what it was like. The King of Creation did that. He came and He lived with us. And Jesus wasn’t even born as a human that was particularly impressive. He wasn’t born as a noble or a king. He was an Israelite peasant born in a manger. But God did that for us because He wasn’t concerned about acting like a big shot, about being given even more honor and glory that was already due to Him. He was willing to be humiliated and brought low for our sake because He loved us. And not just to be born, but to die.

It continues: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

Jesus didn’t just come and be among us. He died in the most humiliating way that you could. The Romans crucified people and essentially tortured them to death for everyone to see. The goal was to establish: this is someone who was not just wrong, but weak. Don’t be like this person. Watch them gasping out their last breaths as the people around them jeer at them. This is pathetic. You know, whenever we see Jesus crucified, they give him this nice little loincloth too. That’s not how it was in the Roman days. Being humiliated was a part of it. They wanted the whole world to see how pathetic you were as you died. Jesus went through that for us. He not only came and lived among us as God, but He died in the eyes of the world below everyone else in a shameful way. That’s what this is all about: this kenosis, this laying aside His glory to come and suffer and die.

Now there is another way sometimes people suggest this passage ought to be read, and I think you should be aware of it because it’s incorrect. I thought it was incredibly deep for a little while until I realized, “Oh man, this isn’t biblical at all.” It’s something you need to be wary of. The idea began in the 19th century, and it was this idea that some people had that, you know, if Jesus emptied Himself and became a human, maybe He not only gave up His honor and glory as God, but maybe He also gave up His divine attributes. God is all-knowing. Was Jesus all-knowing? Maybe not. Maybe He emptied Himself of His all-knowingness. God is all-powerful. Was Jesus in His incarnation all-powerful? Maybe not. Maybe He emptied Himself of that.

The problem with this is that, well, first off, God has certain attributes that make Him God. The whole thing about God is He’s good, He’s all-knowing, He’s all-powerful. If He stops being those things, He stops being God and just becomes a really powerful being. God can’t do that. That’s not how it works. To cease being what He is—that doesn’t even really make sense. Not only that, but you can look first off in the Scripture itself. It says He takes on the nature of a servant. It doesn’t say He exchanged His divine nature for a human nature. And even more than that, let me look at the other parts in Scripture that talk about this. You can read about places, especially in the Gospel of John, where Jesus does miracles, and He does miracles precisely to establish that He is God. How many miracles have you done lately? Not a lot, right? I haven’t pulled many off. Jesus did that because He was God. He had power. That was the whole thing.

Similarly, Jesus showed moments where He knew things that no one else could know. Think about when Jesus went to the temple as just a little kid and started teaching the priests. Do you think He was able to do that because He had just, even as a kid, read a lot and was really knowledgeable about things? No, Jesus knew things that nobody else could know because He knew everything. Jesus did not stop being God when He came; He wasn’t any less God. Jesus was 100% God, 100% man. He took on humanity and blessed it with the fullness of the divine presence. That’s a big deal. He did not die on the cross because He emptied Himself out of all of His power and knowledge and said, “Well, shoot, now I’m kind of at their mercy.” No, He could have stepped off that cross any time He wanted to. He wasn’t at our mercy. He allowed Himself to suffer for us because He loved us.

Verse 9: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The humiliation that Jesus underwent in the eyes of heaven is infinitely more glorious than anything else, because when you’re willing to suffer and put others first, that is what makes you truly, genuinely special—not because you have to act like a big shot, but because you care about the people around you and are willing to set yourself aside to serve them. It’s the same principle that we saw in the passage we read earlier from John. We read about how Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. That was something that only the lowest of the low in a household would do. Feet were gross. Sure, a servant’s going to wash the feet, but there were even rules that the rabbis had about how you couldn’t ask one of your disciples, if you were a teacher, to wash anyone’s feet because it was too gross, too embarrassing. Jesus did all of that kind of stuff for His disciples because, in the kingdom of heaven, being willing to serve—that’s impressive. You don’t need to come across like a big shot by asserting yourself and being ambitious and being cruel and none of that kind of stuff. That’s weakness. The real strength is being able to put others first, and that’s why the name of Jesus is so important.

Sometimes people get hung up on that detail. By the way, every so often someone figures out that Jesus’s name in Hebrew is not Jesus; it is Yeshua, and they have a little crisis because they say, “Oh my gosh, if I had the guy’s name wrong the whole time, that’s so embarrassing.” It’s like, “Calm down, okay.” You get to “Jesus” because you translate Yeshua, His Hebrew name, through Greek, then Latin, then English. It’s just the way things have worked out as it’s been passed to us. But Jesus’ name isn’t so special because of the syllables that are involved. If that were the case, you could just look between different nations. I mean, we know Mexicans say “Jesús,” right? That’s the way you say it in Spanish, and that does not make His name any less glorious if you’re speaking Spanish. It’s not about the details of the name. The name is special because of the Being that it points to, the specificity of who we’re calling on, what He’s done, and the name of Jesus. The person that He is, the way we can invoke Him—that is the most beautiful thing there is. Because this Person, who is willing to put everyone else before Him, ultimately everything is given over to Him. He’s at the right hand of God the Father, and every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord in the end.

For all of us today, as we read this, if we want to be like Jesus, and somewhere up in heaven make the apostles’ joy even more complete, we need to set aside any sense that we’re a big shot, any sense that we are more important than others, any ambition, and enter into worship. Our church community, trying to help each other, trying to put one another first, trying to be of one mind and one heart, serving one another—in that is more glory than you can imagine. It is the glory of Jesus. Amen.

John 7:53-8:1-11 Jesus and The Adulteress

September 10, 2026September 21, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

Background of John 7:53–8:11

The Controversy
1. This story of the woman caught in adultery is absent in some of the oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.
2. In other ancient manuscripts, it appears elsewhere, such as in Luke or later in John (chapter 21).
3. Some churches feel concerned that addressing these “academic” issues with biblical manuscripts are a waste of time. People should focus on applying the Scripture to their lives! But in the era of social media, stumbling onto misinformation about passages like this is a key possibility, and it touches on major questions about the Bible: is the Bible untrustworthy? Is this something that disproves the faith?
4. It’s important to understand why this Scripture is here so that we can have full faith in the Scriptures before us.
Understanding Textual Variances
1. The original handwritten New Testament documents no longer exist; they were penned on perishable materials about 2,000 years ago and did not survive due to climate, frequent handling, and suppression by non-Christian authorities.
2. The Bible is among the most copied works in history, with thousands of ancient manuscripts available.
3. Scholars compare manuscripts to reconstruct the most likely original text.
4. Textual variants arose during manual copying before printing.
5. Over 99% of variants are minor, like typos or substituting “he” for “Jesus.”
6. Fewer than 1% are significant textual variants; the beginning of John 8 is one of these.
Historical and Scholarly Resolution
1. The issue with this stretch of text isn’t new; it is ancient; Christian leaders discussed it as early as the fourth century, when reliable records increased after Christianity’s legalization in the Roman Empire.
2. Early church leaders and most orthodox, traditional biblical scholars today affirm the passage’s place in Scripture, commonly in its current location in John 8.
3. Two criteria especially guided the inclusion of this passage:
  1. Apostolicity: This appears to be written by someone who knew Jesus and carried the first-generation authority of an apostle.
  2. Inspiration: Christians throughout the generations have acknowledged the Holy Spirit’s original inspiration and continuing power present in the passage.
Dominant Theories on Omission and Inclusion
1. Theory 1 (Written by John, later omitted): John wrote the story, but some scribes in certain regions excluded it as too scandalous due to its portrayal of forgiveness for an adulterous woman; it was retained elsewhere, producing variations.
2. Theory 2 (Apostolic tradition, later added): A true apostolic-era account not in John’s original draft was added later by an authorized figure. Individuals like Simeon or Jude, the second and third bishops of Jerusalem, who lived long and knew Jesus, could have placed it where it fit best.
Main Takeaway on the Textual Variances
1. There is no translator conspiracy; questions about the text need not cause suspicion or fear.
2. Faithful compilers did extensive research to ensure Scripture is trustworthy and inspired.
3. Faith should remain steady; scholars have rigorously examined these issues for centuries.

⁵³Then they all went home,

¹but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

²At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

“…Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.”
1. “[U]nto the fruitful mount, unto the mount of ointment, unto the mount of chrism. For where, indeed, but on mount Olivet did it become the Christ to teach? For the name of Christ is from chrism; χρισμα in the Greek, is called in Latin unctio, an anointing. And He has anointed us for this reason, because He has made us wrestlers against the devil.” -Augustine, Tractate 33, 3.
“…he sat down to teach them.”
1. “His sitting down is the humility of the Incarnation, through which he shows mercy and teaches.” -Glossa Ordinaria, John 8.
“They made her stand before the group…”
1. “When the Evangelist says that the scribes brought to him a woman, he means that it was done by an agreement among them, in order to lay traps for Christ.” -Calvin, Calvin’s Commentary on John, 8.3.
2. The woman evokes both pity and guilt: she is mistreated and humiliated, drawing our compassion.
3. It’s more than understandable to identify with her. Just like her, we wandered away from the one who loved us. We fell short of our obligations and need mercy.
4. It’s also worth noting that she definitively sinned. She was caught in the act of adultery. There was a family that was devastated by what she did. Sympathizing is good, but remembering that her sin was serious (just like ours is) is important too.

⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

“They were using this question as a trap…”
1. They asked, “In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
2. The trap set conflicting legal demands at odds with each other:
  1. The Mosaic law clearly orders that someone that is caught in adultery be stoned (Lev. 20:10, Deut. 22:22-24). If Jesus ignores this, he is a hypocrite the ignores the law he claims to teach.
  2. Roman law demands that the death penalty only be issued by a Roman judge, and Roman law usually handled the matter with divorce, exile or property loss. Enacting Mosaic law meant ignoring Roman law.
3. The trap also threatened his popularity and legacy, forcing a choice between being just (and harsh) or merciful (and someone who ignored the Scriptures). Either way, the people could turn on him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground…”
1. Scripture doesn’t reveal what he wrote; the act itself is what matters.
  1. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground instead of answering immediately, resisting their pressure and heightening tension.
  2. He stooped again to write after he spoke, refusing to intimidate them into doing what he wanted, leaving the decision to their consciences.
2. This response affirms the law yet introduces a higher standard: justice must be administered by the just.
3. This particular act has been interpreted in a variety of ways since the dawn of Christianity. For more information on interpretive history, check out this article where I give a broad view of how interpreters have pondered why it tells us Jesus wrote without telling us what he wrote.
“At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time…”
1. One by one, they left, starting with the older first—perhaps recognizing their own sin more quickly through age and experience.
2. Their departure was a silent confession, leaving Jesus alone with the woman.’
3. “I suppose that woman was the more terrified when she had heard it said by the Lord, He that is without sin of you, let him first cast a stone at her. But they, turning their thought to themselves, and by that very withdrawal having confessed concerning themselves, had left the woman with her great sin to Him who was without sin. And because she had heard this, He that is without sin let him first cast a stone at her, she expected to be punished by Him in whom sin could not be found.” -Augustine, Tractate 33, 6.
“Go now and leave your life of sin.”
1. Jesus forgives her for her sin, literally forgiving something worthy of death according to the Scriptures. He also warns her that she needs to change. This isn’t cheap grace. There is abundant grace, but it asks everything.
2. Christ’s character is like that wonderful meeting of truth and love in Ps 85:10: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (KJV)
3. Jesus did not judge her that day, but not because he’s unwilling to judge. Scripture teaches he will return to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1). He is merciful and patient, awaiting repentance, yet a day of final judgment will come.
4. Ultimately, each of us will stand before Jesus alone to hear the final verdict. Jesus is merciful, but he’s just. He asks all of us to go and leave our life of sin.

Full Transcript

So we’re in John chapter 8 now. We just wrapped up John chapter 7. We have that one little passage, John chapter 7 verse 53, and well this particular passage there’s some controversy around it. And I was wondering months in advance, should I talk about this? Is this something that should be in Sunday morning worship? Because basically the thing of it is, here is a passage that’s got a bit of a history. It doesn’t appear in some of the oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament that we have, and in other ancient manuscripts it’s in a different place. Sometimes it’s in the book of Luke, sometimes it’s later on in John. What’s the deal? And this really is a matter of biblical scholarship, so I wondered for a while, do I even really need to bring it up on a Sunday morning? Or is this something we just get to the story as it is, and we don’t worry about that kind of thing?

I had actually resolved to just ignore it and move on until one of you, just a few weeks ago, asked me a question about textual variation in the New Testament. Now let me just tell you this: I have been in ministry for 10 years now, and in that 10 years, that is the first time someone has asked me a question like that, which to me is a very clear nudge from God. “Hey, you should talk about that. People need to know.” And I think it is important to talk about things like this together, because if we don’t talk about it in church, it doesn’t mean the knowledge isn’t out there. It just means the context that you might hear about it in might be a little more jarring than expected. I’ve met people that find out about textual variation and it shakes their faith because they say, “Well, I trust the Bible. There’s variation in it. What’s that about? Sounds like it’s not very trustworthy after all.”

Or sometimes people think that there’s some kind of conspiracy on the part of Bible translators to take out certain pieces that they don’t like or put in certain pieces that they do like. Now let me tell you, there are reputable Bible translators and translators that aren’t so reputable. I mean, this is a bit of a tricky area. There are some people that are good translators that sincerely want to get the word of God into your hands. But if we don’t know what they’re doing, we can’t really say for sure. So it does look like it could be a problem. But again, if we just follow the rules here, then we need to make sure that the translation is correct.

So then you know that John chapter 8, the earliest manuscripts don’t have that story. It was added later by the church. They didn’t tell you about that. I wonder why they want you to believe it, but don’t explain it to you. So you can see there’s good reasons to talk about this together.

So let’s talk about it. This story right here, this is a textual variance. And to explain that, you got to remember, we do not have the original gospel written by John with his own hands. We don’t have it. We don’t have any of the original New Testament documents. We don’t have any of Paul’s letters. We don’t have any of Peter’s writings. We just don’t have them—and not for any big wild crazy reason, it’s just they were written on paper. And things that are written on paper 2,000 years ago tend not to last 2,000 years. Trust me. I have a toddler in my house. There are some papers that don’t make it to the end of the week if I put them in the wrong place. Papers, and especially if you’re in a region that’s sometimes humid, if you’re dealing with documentation that is being handled often, or if you’re a part of a religious group that the authorities in the region are actively trying to suppress, your documents have a much lower chance of surviving all that long. So we don’t have them.

But the Bible is one of the most copied documents in all of history. And that’s true not only in the modern era but in the ancient era. We have thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament. What we do is we take those manuscripts that we have, and we compare them to one another to try to see what the original probably said. You have to keep in mind, they didn’t have printers back then. You couldn’t just print out a copy of the New Testament for someone. Let’s say I wanted to get a copy in the ancient world of the New Testament. Imagine copying the whole New Testament by hand. How often do you think, even if you’re being very, very careful—and we should assume that they were, right? This was Scripture. They took their job seriously. But how often during that process might you accidentally write something that’s a little different than what the original said? Nothing wild, but I don’t know. Have you ever made a typo? That’s what we’re talking about. That would count. Have you ever, maybe the original said Jesus did this and you just wrote he did this? That’s a textual variant. Any time someone did something a little different when they were copying it, that is a textual variant.

Now over 99% of textual variants we have from those ancient New Testament manuscripts aren’t really that big a deal. They’re not significant. For example, stuff like typos. Stuff like they said “he” instead of “Jesus.” The kind of thing that you can tell, we kind of get the story, someone made a mistake. Got it. Now less than 1% though are significant textual variance, and this is one of those. This story, like I said earlier, it doesn’t appear in the oldest Greek manuscripts that we have of the New Testament. And for that matter, in some of the other ones it appears in other places. Sometimes it appears in John chapter 21. Sometimes it appears in the book of Luke later on, sometimes it’s just in other places. Now where we have it in our Bibles today, this is the most common place for it to appear and by a pretty wide margin. But we do have these outliers, right? So what’s the deal? Was this a part of what John originally wrote or was it added later? Should we even consider this as part of the Bible?

And this is not a new question, by the way. Sometimes people think that we are so smart and so advanced today, we have found new things that no one knew about before. Not so. This is a question people have been asking since the fourth century. And you may wonder, well if they were talking about it in the fourth century, why not the first, second and third? The fourth century is when Christianity got legalized in the Roman Empire. It’s hard to get reliable records from before that point, because at any point, you might get killed and your papers burned. The fourth century is about the earliest you can reliably get really high quality Christian records. And sure enough, we can see a lot of people that were in the process of compiling scripture asking, “Where does this belong? Why do some of you have this in your Bibles and some of you don’t? And why is it in different places in some places? What’s the deal?”

And they ultimately decided that this did belong right where it’s at as a part of Scripture. And to this day, I would say the ultra majority, practically all of the Bible scholars that are orthodox, that are traditional, that are biblical agree with that. And here’s some of the reasons why they feel it’s that way. And the logic hasn’t changed wildly. Two of the things they really concern themselves with when it was the question, “Does this belong?” is first off, is it apostolic? And that just means did the person who wrote this actually know Jesus? Did this happen? Because there are a lot of people that wrote good Christian things. That doesn’t mean they’re scripture. Was this someone who was actually a part of that first generation of Christians that could write with the authority necessary to be in Scripture? And then, is it inspired by the Holy Spirit? And ultimately they determined that it was.

And here were some of the explanations they gave for why this belongs. I’ll give you two. These are different, but they both are, I think, sound explanations. So one popular theory is that this was written by John the apostle. This was written by his hand. The reason that certain very old documents don’t have it, especially Greek ones, is because in that region where it was being translated or copied, it was so scandalous that they didn’t want it written down! We get it. Jesus forgives sins. You don’t need to tell adulterous wives that they can get forgiven like that. We don’t need to write that one down. Let’s just leave that out and people will get the picture. That is one theory, that in certain regions, certain disloyal scribes and certain concerned powerful people got this one to not get copied in some of the documents we have. But ultimately it was copied in other regions, which is why eventually people noticed and ended up with a different version.

And added during the process of editing to the Gospel of John as they went through and were getting things ready. That’s why some of the earliest drafts of John may not have contained it, but that it was added later. There are people who would have had the authority necessary to do that without it being wildly controversial. For example, Simeon was the second bishop of Jerusalem. And Jude was the third bishop of Jerusalem. Both of them from the apostolic era, some of the longest living people from that era, who would have known Jesus and had that authority to say, “Hey, there’s a story that fits here.”

If you just want to know the story and you don’t need the story behind the story, you could have left this out. If that’s you, make this your takeaway: The Bible was written by people that were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible was compiled by people who were incredibly faithful and asked the hard questions and did a lot of research to make sure that what they got into your hands is indeed good, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Scripture that can help you grow. If you ever hear about something getting snuck in and you don’t know how it got there, you don’t need to be afraid of asking questions, and you don’t need to be suspicious. People have asked all of these questions before. There is no grand conspiracy. There is no hope that people stay ignorant. To the contrary, there are many books written by people that if you wanted to know more, they would be delighted if you picked up and read. You don’t need to be afraid. Have faith. You never know when you run into these little instances what you might learn along the way.

But let me get to the story proper, right? And this is a story that is well loved. This is one that people really tend to know by heart. I think part of that being because it showcases Jesus’s mercy and his justice so well. Jesus is just and Jesus is merciful, and that’s kind of tough for us to wrap our minds around. We like things to fit entirely in one box or in another. We like things to be good or bad. We like things to be yes or a no. It’s really hard to hold two things that have some tension together. But Jesus was merciful and he was just, and this story is all about the Pharisees trying to get Jesus to pick: which are you really? Are you just or are you merciful? You can’t be both. And Jesus shows just how he is both.

And just as another minor note, I think it’s even interesting that the person that this is all about—the woman in question—even she evokes kind of this mix of is she in need of mercy or justice? Because ultimately we see someone who is very clearly being mistreated, that is in a situation that would be deeply humiliating, very publicly, that was nearly stoned. Our heart goes out to her and a lot of people read this as her being a stand-in for themselves, and I think that’s a good reading. We should do that because here’s the thing: that’s exactly what we are. We are indeed people who have not lived up to the covenant that we should have with God. We are people who have fallen short. We are every bit the same as this woman and every bit as in need of mercy. But I think it’s also important to remember this: she’s not innocent. They got her dead to rights. As much as she is worthy of mercy in these circumstances, remember, she tore her family apart. There is a spouse that she didn’t care about. There are kids that she wasn’t thinking about, and they have to deal with her mess. She may be worthy of mercy, but she’s also not innocent, much like us. We are guilty. Even if we hope that God will be merciful, we’re not perfect. We are worthy of punishment in many ways.

Let me dive in. So verse 53 of chapter 7, then they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn, he appeared again in the temple courts where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing him.

Festival of Tabernacles is over. Jesus doesn’t go home; he instead goes just a little ways. He goes to the Mount of Olives. And the next day he comes back to Jerusalem, to the temple courts, where some of the people—not everyone left after the end of the festival—some people had been listening to what he was teaching. They liked it and they showed up again, because they were hoping he’d come and teach more. And sure enough, that’s exactly what Jesus did. He came back and he kept teaching those that wanted to be taught. And as he was teaching, he gets interrupted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. And they have this woman with them. They are dragging her with them. You got to imagine, this is the last place she wants to be. She doesn’t want to be there. She is being dragged in front of a crowd, being accused of adultery. There are some people that imagine that because it says she was caught in adultery, they propose, “Well how recently? Maybe she’s even disheveled looking. Maybe she’s even visually in a place that is humiliating.” The Bible doesn’t tell us whether that’s true or false. It’s possible, you’re welcome to think in terms of that if it helps you to kind of visualize it. But whether it’s true or false, who can say? All we really know is what the text gives us.

With the law of Moses, he could say, “You’re right. She should be stoned.” If he says that, he is guilty of breaking Roman law. Remember, Israel is under Roman occupation, and according to Roman law, no one can administer the death penalty except for Roman judges. That’s a big deal because it means that if Jesus were to say, “She’s guilty,” he would be guilty of violating Roman law and they could get him. But on the other hand, he has repeatedly publicly said that he is not violating the Law of the Land. So if they can get him to say that the law shouldn’t be kept, well, everyone can see this guy that says he’s so great, that says he keeps the law—you know what? He doesn’t actually do it. Not when it’s tough and not when it’s inconvenient. He only does it when he wants to. And now you can all see that he is a hypocrite. They’ve got him between two codes of law. Which one will he actually have loyalty for?

And this is more than just a legal problem. This is also about his legacy. Jesus is someone that so many people in the crowds have been able to relate to, someone that gets them. This is their guy! They trust him! This is a guy that is just and fair, every bit as just as you could hope. He keeps the law better than the Pharisees, but he also cares about them. He’s merciful, unlike them. He is right there with the people. Depending on how he answers this, now he has to choose: Are you just or are you merciful, Jesus? Are you going to show this crowd that you keep the law? Are you going to have this woman stoned? If so, they are going to remember forever that you had someone executed. You’re not so different from us. You’re just as harsh. You are just as rigorous. We don’t even do this, and we will do it because you told us to. You will be just, but you will be terrifying. Or, you can just shrug it off. You can say that we don’t need to do it. And everyone will see you are every bit the hypocrite that every other leader is, because being a leader is hard and sometimes you have to make tough decisions. And sometimes Jesus, when things get hard, makes bad decisions. Sometimes he’s not any better than the rest of us. He is merciful, sure. He’s got a big heart, but he’s not someone you can really trust to do what’s right when the time comes.

This is a legal problem and a problem for his legacy. And in true Jesus fashion, when he is given two choices and told, “You gotta pick one,” he picks a third option and takes that instead. It says, “Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” Can you imagine that? You are there. You are with a crowd. You have got people coming in, the Pharisees and the people that keep the law. They are demanding Jesus give an answer. You’ve got this woman who looks scared to death. Maybe she’s going to die today. She’s being held there. You’ve got a crowd sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for Jesus to answer. He is interrupted in the middle of his teachings and he sits there, he looks up at them, and he just starts writing on the ground.

And people have wondered since the very beginning, what did he write? And I have heard every theory under the sun. And I am here to tell you the actual correct answer: We don’t know! The Bible doesn’t say that! It’s not in there! We can’t tell what he wrote. A lot of fanciful theories, but none of them are actually grounded in the Bible. The Bible only says that he was writing, not what he wrote. And that tells us something, right? It’s not what he wrote that mattered; it was the fact that he was writing. That’s the takeaway. What is Jesus showing by writing in the dirt at a moment like this? Certainly not a lot of respect for the Pharisees. “Jesus, we’re going to interrupt your teaching. You have to make a decision. Tell us what you want done.” He just goes off, kind of does his own thing, doesn’t look up. He does not answer to the Pharisees. They are not his boss!

And they get irritated by that, right? They don’t know what to do with him. They don’t let it go. Verse 7, “When they kept questioning…” They badger him. They came in here to make a power play, and now they’re the ones that look silly because they got to wait on him. “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'”

Justice should be administered, you’re right. But wouldn’t it be unjust to have someone that is not just administering justice? That would be ridiculous. We need to make sure that whoever executes this punishment is someone that doesn’t themselves need punished. So whoever it is that you’re absolutely confident that after this is done, we’re not going to have another thing where you yourself get in trouble, if that’s you, go for it. Administer justice.

And look, even after that, again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Such an interesting detail because it kind of shows us Jesus is not eyeing down the crowd, right? This is not intimidation. He’s not up there saying, “He who is without sin throw the first stone.” That’s not what he’s doing. This is not a show of intimidation. He is going back to what he was doing. How the crowd responds is based entirely on them. What are they going to do?

One by one, they walk away. And it tells us that it is the older ones first. It’s just an interesting detail because not always, but often, older people have more experience in life and work. Sometimes the younger generation has new ideas and approaches—they know what’s supposed to be there, and they are often dissatisfied with the way things currently are. But sometimes in that pursuit of the ideal, they have not taken enough time to know the way the world is and why it got that way, and the details in all of it. There’s wisdom in knowing that, and that is why some of the older people, I would guess, are the first to recognize, “I’m sinful.” And they walk away. And one by one, people see their example and they also walk away. Their footsteps are their confession. Even the Pharisees walk away until it is just Jesus and this woman.

You got to wonder what she’s thinking, especially if she has heard what’s going on in Jerusalem lately, what happened just a few days before at the festival. In John chapter 7 verse 18, Jesus said, “Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who speaks for the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth. There is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet, not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” He said in no uncertain terms before a crowd that could accuse him if he was wrong, “I am beyond reproach. You don’t keep the law; I do. There is no falsehood in me.” He said let he who is without sin throw the first stone. This is the man who claims to be without sin, and she is in front of him. Other people may not want to throw that stone, but if he wants to, he could. He reserves that right as the person who has not sinned. What’s he going to do?

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir.”

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared.

There’s that mercy. There’s the mercy that we all crave to see from Jesus. Here is a woman—they’ve got her dead to rights. She has obliterated her family life. She has been trotted in front of leaders and the populace. We don’t know what kind of social outcast she is going to spend the future of her life as. She is someone who is so clearly guilty of something where the punishment in the law is death, and people seemed eager to administer it just moments ago, and Jesus has mercy on her. There is no sin that is so big that Jesus is done with us. We cannot sin so many times that it’s just a lost cause because at this point—come on, you said you were done 50 times ago, you come forward again, God’s not going to waste his time on you anymore. No.

The classic image of mercy: Jesus is the father in the parable of the prodigal son. God is waiting for us to return, even after we make mistake after mistake. God doesn’t give up on us. He waits. He waits for us to come home. God is merciful. He does not condemn her.

Yet he ends on a note of justice: “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Jesus doesn’t say it’s not that big a deal, people get bent out of shape about this kind of thing. He doesn’t say, “I get it, take your time to get to a comfortable place, I’m sure you’re going to figure this out as things go on.” Jesus says, “Go and sin no more.” It matters. It makes a big difference, what we do and the way we live our lives. God is merciful, but God is also just. He’s not just going to ignore the things that are uncomfortable. And ultimately, he may not have judged today, but even right there in the Scriptures, Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 1—this is what we say every week when we say the Apostles Creed, right?—Jesus will come back and judge the living and the dead. He will judge. He didn’t that day, but he will ultimately.

In our lives as we live them, there are so many people that want to give their two cents. They want to say what they think you should be doing. They want to say where you’re right and where you’re wrong. And sometimes they might be right and sometimes they might be wrong. Everybody’s got an opinion; there’s always a crowd. But in the end that crowd will diminish. And in the end, all of us will stand in front of Jesus awaiting the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” or “Depart from me, I never knew you.” Jesus will judge. He did not judge this woman yet. He is merciful, he is longsuffering, he will wait day after day, year after year, sin after sin in the hopes that we will repent and return to him. But there does come a day where there are no more days left. There does come a time where there will be judgment.

I’ve done enough funerals lately that it seems especially obvious, the seriousness of life, the fact that we don’t have infinite chances. As much as we might sometimes like to see God as purely merciful, as purely delightful, as purely this big comfy guy that just says, “Don’t worry about it, you can wait till next week, it’s fine”—someday there’s not going to be a next week. Jesus is merciful, but he’s just. Go and leave your life of sin.

Amen.

Philippians 1:12-30 In Chains for Christ

September 9, 2026September 19, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

¹²Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. ¹³As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Note the pastoral care Paul is offering here. At a time when this church is probably worried about him, he reminds them that by being in prison, he is doing incredible work for God. There is no need to be concerned.
“I am in chains for Christ.”
1. Many Christians have suffered for Christ. The apostles, Stephen, Perpetua and Felicity, Polycarp, the 21 martyrs in Libya, and more than could reasonably be shared in a single list.
  1. Paphnutius has an especially beautiful story, as he was someone who got to see some of the changes that his witness inspired.
    
    He was a 4th century Egyptian bishop during the Diocletian persecution.
    
    When he refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, his legs were crippled, his right eye was torn out, and they exiled him to the mines for life.
    
    He outlasted Diocletian’s reign and when Constantine, the first Christian emperor, took the throne, he invited Paphnutius to the imperial palace to work on the Nicene Creed with the other bishops. The man who was tortured for Christ was publicly honored by the machinery that tried to destroy him.
  2. Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor that suffered enormous persecution in communist Romania, opened the organization The Voice of the Martyrs specifically to tell people the stories of persecuted Christians sharing the Gospel. These stories inspire people around the world to do more, seeing how their brothers and sisters endure for Jesus in the most challenging circumstances.
2. Christians don’t just suffer from the work of non-Christians. People that call themselves Christians often hurt others as well, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and John of the Cross.
  1. Athanasius, another 4th century Egyptian bishop, was exiled multiple times, had other bishops appointed to replace him, and had to hide from troops that were sent to arrest him because he affirmed that Jesus is God in an era where watering down the claims of Christ for “peace” within the church was seen as more important. Even so, he endured and helped the Church remember what it was.
3. It doesn’t matter where our suffering comes from. We might suffer because of people who call themselves Christians or non-Christians or just bad circumstances. Enduring hardships for Christ is a powerful witness.

¹⁵It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

“Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry…”

1. Note that this is not about false teachers. It is about people who are sharing the good news for bad reasons.
2. “The shepherd who teaches for the sake of the truth should be loved; the hireling who teaches for gain should be tolerated; but the one who teaches what is false must be expelled”- Augustine as Cited by Aquinas in Commentary on Philippians, Lecture 3, 24.
3. “Now, it sometimes happens that joy arises from a good cause, and in that case it does so directly and in itself. At other times, joy arises from an evil cause, and then it does so indirectly and accidentally. When joy comes from a good cause, we should rejoice both in the effect and in the cause, as with an act of almsgiving done for the sake of God. But when it comes from an evil cause, we should rejoice in the effect, but not in the cause.” -Aquinas, Commentary on Philippians, Lecture 3, 24.
4. It is all too common for different ministry roles to become an end to themselves, rather than a means to the end of glorifying God. Many people find personal glory in being a women’s minister or a band member or a pastor, rather than offering these things up for God’s glory. Praise God he can still use insufficient workers for His plans.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. ²⁰I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

“To live is Christ and to die is gain.”
1. “How ominously these words follow each other in the text “live,” “die.” There is but a comma between them, and surely as it is in the words so is it in reality. How brief the distance between life and death! In fact there is none. Life is but death’s vestibule, and our pilgrimage on earth is but a journey to the grave. The pulse that preserves our being beats our death march, and the blood which circulates our life is floating it onward to the deeps of death. To-day we see our friends in health, to-morrow we hear of their decease. We clasped the hand of the strong man but yesterday, and to-day we close his eyes. We rode in the chariot of comfort but an hour ago, and in a few more hours the last black chariot must convey us to the home of all living. Oh, how closely allied is death to life! …. But blessed be God, there is one place where death is not life’s brother, where life reigns alone; “to live,” is not the first syllable which is to be followed by the next, “to die.” There is a land where deathknells are never tolled, where winding-sheets are never woven, where graves are never digged. Blest land beyond the skies! To reach it we must die. But if after death we obtain a glorious immortality, our text is indeed true: “To die is gain.” -Spurgeon, Sermon 146.
2. Paul’s deliverance is assured, whether that means freedom from prison or execution; either way, God’s salvation is at work.
Living for Christ vs. Worldly Pursuits
1. A lot of people live for comfort, money, conflict, or pleasure. All of those things are based on what we know can’t last forever.
  1. The easy life that brings us comfort won’t exist someday.
  2. We can’t take our money and possessions with us when we die.
  3. There will come a day when conflict results in no material gains– it only leads to wailing and gnashing of teeth.
  4. Pleasure based on quick thrills will dry up when the things that bring the pleasure are no longer accessible
2. Only Jesus is eternal. A hard life followed by eternal bliss is better than an easy life followed by eternal misery.
3. “Call no man happy until he is dead; because the life that is to come, if that be miserable, shall far outweigh the highest life of happiness that hath been enjoyed on earth. To estimate a man’s condition we must take it in all its length. We must not measure that one thread which reacheth from the cradle to the coffin. We must go further; we must go from the coffin to the resurrection, and from the resurrection on throughout eternity.” -Spurgeon, Sermon 146.
4. When you live for Christ, death becomes “gain” because it brings eternal life with Him.

²²If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

“I am torn between the two…”

1. Paul sees a “win-win”: if he dies, he is with Christ—“better by far.” If he lives, he continues “fruitful labor” for God’s glory.
2. “[I]f I am to live is the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour – This is the fruit of my living longer, that I can labour more. Glorious labour! desirable fruit!” -John Wesley, Notes on the New Testament.

²⁷Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel ²⁸without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. ²⁹For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, ³⁰since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

“Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel…”
1. “There is only one thing, Olympia, to fear, only one real temptation, and that is sin. This is the refrain I keep chanting to you ceaselessly. Fore everything else is ultimately a fable–whether you speak of plots, or enmities, or deceptions, or slanders or abuses, or accusations, or confiscations, or banishments, or sharpened swords, or high seas, or wars engulfing the entire world. Whichever of these you point to, they are transitory and perishable, and they only affect mortal bodies; they cannot in any way injure the watchful soul.” -John Chrysostom, Letter to Olympia 7, 1,C.
“…without being frightened in any way…”
1. With God on their side, believers need not fear what the world can do—pain or death are fleeting.
2. Nothing frightens people so much as seeing that their ultimate display of force doesn’t affect their opponent in the slightest. What does their foe know that they do not? Let them ponder the Gospel in these circumstances.
“…but also to suffer for him…”
1. The central question is not if you will suffer, but how you will act in that time of suffering. The only true fear worth having is the fear of sin, which separates from Jesus.

Full Transcript

Last week, we began our series on the book of Philippians. We covered the fact that this is a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi. At the time, he was in prison in Rome. They allowed him to rent a place to stay, but he could not leave, he was in chains, and he was being watched by a Roman guard at all times. He could still write letters and receive guests, but he was accruing expenses. He had to pay for the space he was in and the food he was eating. All the while, they were figuring out what they were going to do with him, and he did not know how it was going to turn out. The church at Philippi heard that Paul was in prison, and they sent some money to help him. So, Paul wrote this letter to thank them, encourage them, and teach them.

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Paul has done something wonderfully pastoral here by comforting them. Can you imagine how you might feel if the person who helped found your church suddenly ended up in prison? You would potentially be freaked out. Paul knows that, so he encourages the church at Philippi by telling them that what is happening is actually advancing the gospel, which is a good thing. People who know Jesus are encouraged because they see what Paul is able and willing to endure for Jesus, inspiring them to do even more. Meanwhile, the people who do not know Jesus, like the guards, watch him and scratch their heads, wondering what he knows that they do not and why he is going through all of this.

Suffering for Jesus creates some of the greatest heroes in Christian history—people whose stories we look at time and time again and cannot help but feel inspired by. For example, one of my favorite people who suffered for Christ has one of the best stories. His name is Paphnutius, which sounds like a silly name, though I imagine if he heard the name Vincent, he would think my name sounded kind of silly too, so we will call it even. Paphnutius was a bishop from the fourth century who lived during the Diocletian persecution. Emperor Diocletian decided he was going to fix the Roman Empire by enforcing one culture, one law, one way of being, and one faith, so he started cracking down on Christians. He demanded they make sacrifices to the Roman gods. The Christians responded that while they were happy to pray for the emperor and the prosperity of the empire, they could not sacrifice to a god that was not real. The Roman Empire decided to see how that would go for them, and a lot of people were tortured and killed.

When Paphnutius was brought in, the Romans told him to make a sacrifice to their gods. He refused, saying there is only one God, Jesus Christ, and he could not sacrifice to gods that were not real. So, they crippled him so he would never walk without trouble again. They asked him again, acknowledging his private obligations and offering that he could do whatever he wanted in private as long as he made the public sacrifice required of a Roman. He refused, stating he would not betray his God. They then gouged out his right eye and asked again if he was ready to make the sacrifices. When he maintained that he would never make those sacrifices, he was banished to the mines for hard labor for the rest of his life, never to see the sun again.

That is how it was supposed to be. A lot of people who suffer for Christ never get to see the fruits of their work, but Paphnutius did. Diocletian came and went, and eventually, a Christian emperor came to power. Under him, Christianity was no longer illegal, and he invited all the bishops to the imperial palace to make a statement about the essentials of Christianity: the Nicene Creed. Paphnutius—a man who once had the entire Roman machine against him—walked into the imperial palace, unable to walk without great struggle, his hands tired and worn from labor, with only one eye, and was honored by the emperor himself. He made a difference, and he got to see it.

While we are often comfortable talking about stories where non-Christians persecuted Christians, we miss another category that is unfortunately a source of a great deal of suffering for sincere Christians: people who claim to be Christians causing trouble for real Christians. At that same gathering in the imperial palace, a deacon named Athanasius was present, serving as the secretary and assistant to the bishop of Alexandria. He witnessed firsthand how they worked tirelessly to draft the Nicene Creed to explain the core pieces of Christianity. Part of the language put in that creed was that Jesus is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made, of the same essence of the Father. In multiple ways, they made it exceedingly clear: Jesus is God.

Everyone loved it when it was made, but as time went on, a vocal minority became upset. They questioned if Jesus was really God, arguing that a son cannot be the same as the father and that there must have been a time before Jesus existed. They argued Jesus was just a powerful figure, not truly God. This caused controversy, and some people suggested stepping back to make adjustments for the sake of peace and reconciliation. By this time, the bishop of Alexandria had passed away, and Athanasius had become the bishop. When others urged him to revisit the document and soften their stance, he refused, stating that Jesus is God and that without that truth, there was no point in doing anything.

Because he refused to compromise, the institutional church made his life very difficult. They appointed another bishop, deposed him, and had multiple emperors send him into exile. Every so often, they would bring him back to see if he had changed his mind. When he maintained his stance, they would re-exile him, sometimes even sending the army after him because he was causing too much trouble in their eyes. Athanasius did not get discouraged; whether in hiding or in exile, he continued to write to people, reminding them that Jesus is God. Eventually, the institutional church realized that the peace they had been pursuing at the cost of truth was not worth it, recognizing that he was right and that they needed to stand on that truth without compromise.

Whether suffering comes from non-Christians, people who claim to be Christians, or simple circumstances, it serves as a powerful witness. It makes non-believers stop and take notice, and it encourages believers to do even more as they see how others withstand hardship to proclaim Christ.

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Some important clarifications should be made here. These individuals are not preaching false doctrines; they are telling the truth, but for the wrong reasons. Augustine of Hippo, one of the foremost Christian thinkers, wrote on this topic: a teacher who teaches for the sake of truth should be loved; a hireling who teaches for gain should be tolerated; but one who teaches what is false must be expelled. Here, Paul is dealing with people doing the right things for the wrong reasons, such as out of pride or a desire for control.

I saw a similar dynamic at a previous church I served, where conflict arose in a women’s ministry because several individuals wanted to be in charge rather than simply serve. They wanted to approve programs and have everyone bow down to them, forgetting that we are there to bow down to Jesus. Paul notes that even when people act out of selfish motives, good can still come from it if Christ is preached. When a good thing comes from a good place, we can be thankful for both the source and the effect. When a good thing comes from a bad place, we do not have to be thankful for the bad source, but we can still rejoice in the positive effect that more people are learning about Jesus.

For I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Paul does not know if he will be released from prison, nor does he assure people that he will be. When he says it will turn out for his deliverance or salvation, he means he knows God is working through the situation for his best and for the best of the world, even if it is not what he personally expects or wants. God’s glory can still be seen even when unexpected things happen.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Life and death are separated by only a few words in that passage, and in our world, they are not separated by much more than that. From the day we are born, we move toward death, which is inevitable. The strongest person flexing their muscles one day could gently close their eyes for the last time the next day. Animals, empires, and ideas all eventually end. In this world, everything that lives dies. Jesus assures us that this state of affairs is not how it was supposed to be, pointing toward a reality defined by life rather than death.

To experience that life, living must be centered on Christ as the primary purpose of everything we do. Many people live for other pursuits, such as comfort, money, conflict, or pleasure. However, each of those things is temporary. The things that bring comfort will eventually be gone, wealth will become inaccessible, conflict will turn to distress, and fleeting pleasures will fade. Only Jesus is eternal. When you live for Christ, death becomes gain because it leads to eternal life.

If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

Paul views his situation as a win-win. If he dies, he goes to be with Jesus; if he lives, he continues fruitful work that brings glory to God.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Paul urges them not to be afraid of worldly forces, as earthly suffering and inconvenience are fleeting compared to eternal life. Facing opposition without fear demonstrates confidence in God. Suffering is inevitable in this life; the question is how we behave during it and whether we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. As people with faith in Jesus Christ, the only thing to fear is sin, which separates us from Him. Regardless of the circumstances, if you keep your faith in Christ and live for Him, to die is gain.

Philippians 1:1-11 Background and Introduction

September 2, 2026September 19, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

Overview

This book of the Bible is an epistle, which is the Church’s word for letters in the Biblical canon.
1. Just because it’s a letter, it would be wrong to assume that it’s just a casual piece of communication to a particular group long ago.
2. This is a letter inspired by the Holy Spirit by an apostle and beneficial for the whole church.
Philippians is from the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi.
Understanding the city, the church, and why the letter was sent helps make the context of this book clearer.

The City of Philippi

Located in Macedonia
(modern-day Greece), Philippi was a Roman colony, meaning most of the citizens living there were Roman citizens, the culture was Roman, and the institutions were especially Roman, even though it was in a region that was culturally Greek.
1. It’s important to remember that just because an area was conquered by Romans, that didn’t make the citizens Roman citizens. Citizenship had to be earned with service to the Empire, such as military service or large donations.
2. Only people born to citizens were citizens from birth.
Philippi was especially proud of their Roman identity.
1. Philippi was the site of the decisive battle ending one of Rome’s civil wars, the Liberators’ Civil War, roughly 100 years before this letter was written.
  1. Julius Caesar was assassinated by senators who feared his growing power.
  2. The Imperial forces led by Octavian (later Caesar Augustus) and Julius’s right-hand man, Mark Antony, defeated the republican forces led by the assassins Brutus and Cassius and the at Philippi.
2. The cultural memory of that battle shaped the identity of the city. Imagine something like Gettysburg Pennsylvania; stars and stripes everywhere.
3. A lot of the citizens were descended from soldiers that retired after that war and settled in the region, so that military identity would also be really strong in this area.

The Founding of the Church at Phillippi

The book of Acts chapter 16 gives us an account of the founding of the Church at Philippi by the Apostle Paul during his second missionary journey.
Paul hadn’t originally planned to go to Europe. He planned on going to Asia, but the Holy Spirit stopped him and sent him a vision of a man from Macedonia calling for help. Paul consequently went to Macedonia and started the first Church on the continent of Europe.
Paul proclaims Christ to three noteworthy people in Philippi. These people are likely still living in the community as prominent members of the church that Paul is writing to.
1. Lydia: A wealthy merchant of purple fabric
  1. Purple dye was extraordinarily valuable. To produce a single ounce of purple dye, thousands of sea snails would be gathered by hand, workers would break their shells and extract fluid from their mucus-producing hypobranchial gland, and boiled for ten days with other liquids such as urine.
  2. Roman clothing had certain visual symbols based on how much imperial purple was in a garment to tell a person’s rank and social standing. Only the emperor could wear a purely imperial purple garment.
  3. Given her trade, Lydia would have been well-connected and likely very wealthy.
  4. She and her entire household heard the Gospel and were baptized.
2. A Slave Girl: Possessed by a “spirit of divination” Python” (associated with the god Apollo in Greek culture)
  1. The Greek text calls it, quite literally, a “spirit of python.” Pythons were associated with the Greek god Apollo, who was especially honored in the city of Phillipi. It’s likely that locals saw her abilities as a divine blessing, though Paul and Silas knew that it wasn’t of God.
  2. Her owners profited from her fortune-telling ability.
  3. She followed Paul and Silas declaring: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
    
    Given Paul’s annoyance, one must assume this was said in a disrespectful, mocking tone.
  4. Paul cast out the demon; her owners, having lost their income, dragged Paul and Silas before magistrates where they were beaten and imprisoned.
3. The Philippian Jailer
  1. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned in the deepest cell.
  2. That night, in the darkness of their cell, they prayed and sang hymns, reflecting a faith that is truly unshakable and joyful even in the worst of conditions.
  3. A miracle occurred! An earthquake opened all the doors and broke every chain.
  4. Paul and Silas chose to stay rather than escape. Not only did they stay, but they convinced all the other prisoners to stay too.
  5. The jailer, about to take his own life in Roman fashion (the only way to reclaim honor after such failure), was stopped by Paul.
  6. He immediately asked: “How can I be saved?” — received the gospel and was baptized.
These people are the foundation of the church. Each was hungry for the news of the gospel and responded quickly alongside their families. Imagining all three does involve a little speculation. While the slave girl is not said to have joined the church, one has to imagine that someone freed from spiritual exploitation would remember the name by which she was saved and investigate it more as time went on.

Why did Paul write this letter?

Paul was writing from Roman imprisonment under Emperor Nero.
He was not in a dungeon but was under house arrest — in chains, guarded 24/7, while authorities decided his fate.
He was accruing expenses: rent, food, daily needs.
The church at Philippi sent a courier from the congregation named Epaphroditus to give Paul financial support upon hearing of his need.
Paul writes to:
1. Thank them for their generosity
2. Encourage and teach them

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

From…
1. In a modern letter or email, the person who wrote the letter is listed at the end of the letter. In this time and place, the sender was the first item in the letter, which makes a good deal more sense.
2. Paul is with his ministry partner Timothy. This is the same Timothy that he would later write 1 and 2 Timothy to.
3. “Paul is accustomed, in the inscription of his epistles, to employ titles of distinction, with the view of procuring credit for himself and his ministry, there was no need of lengthened commendations in writing to the Philippians, who had known him by experience as a true Apostle of Christ.” -Calvin, Commentary On Philippians.
To…
1. “All God’s holy people at Philippi”
  1. This is fairly standard language from Paul’s letter when addressing a congregation in a particular city.
  2. Notice the weight of the title: we are God’s holy people in whatever city where we live. That’s not just a compliment, so much as a calling that we have to strive to live into.
  3. Could we call ourselves one of God’s holy people in good conscience? If not, maybe we have some work to do.
“Overseers and deacons”
1. Paul addresses both the congregation and the church leadership.
2. Depending on the translation, this passage may read “Bishops and deacons,” rather than “overseers and deacons.”
  1. Bishop, presbyter, and deacon are all traditional church roles and come from Greek words that mean overseer, elder, and servant.
  2. While exact roles differ from tradition, the basic pattern across Christian history is a bishop oversees churches in a region, a presbyter is a person that leads a local congregation, and a deacon is someone that serves a local church in a more limited capacity.
  3. In the biblical era, the exact division between a deacon and a presbyter had not been defined. Paul often uses the two words interchangeably, such as here. If they had existed as they do today, having multiple deacons in a single city and no referenced presbyters would pose significant challenges. As it is, he appears to be addressing those in leadership roles and those in service roles.
  4. “He mentions the higher-ranking figures—saying “with the bishops,” and so forth. The question arises: why does he place the lesser before the greater? Because the people come before the prelate. Ezekiel 34:2: “Do not the shepherds feed the flocks?” For flocks are to be fed by shepherds, not the other way around.” -Aquinas, Commentary on Philippians, 1.1.6.
“Grace and peace”
1. Paul uses this exact language in every one of his letters except the book of Hebrews. Sometimes it’s more flowery, sometimes it’s simpler, but it’s usually there. This particular example is on the shorter side.
2. Rather than just wishing that the letter finds them well, Paul wishes that they know the grace and peace of God.
  1. Grace is God’s unearned favor resting on us through Christ.
  2. True peace that comes from knowing the one unchanging thing (God) in a constantly changing world is available through Christ as well.
3. “Then he mentions the good things he desires for them when he says, grace be unto you and peace. These two goods include everything: first, there is God’s grace remitting sins: for by grace you have been saved through faith (Eph 2:8); lastly, there is man’s peace: he makes peace in your borders (Ps 147:14).” -Aquinas, Commentary on Philippians, 1.1.7.

³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

“I thank my God every time I remember you…”
1. Paul doesn’t say this about every church. There are some he worries about, others that have conflicts, and some that are actively disloyal to the Gospel, but this church is a genuine source of joy to him.
2. Notice that he thanks God, not just them. He thanks the giver, rather than take joy merely in the gift of the church.
“Partners in the gospel”
1. They are not just recipients of the Gospel, but active partners with Paul in spreading it.
2. We are all called to be partners with one another, even across different callings. Some are pastors. Some are teachers. Some are evangelists. Some can give more time or money than others. Every one of us can do incredible ministry, but we need people to partner with us and encourage us to be the best God is calling us to be.
3. We have to support one another if we want to make a difference in a world where the enemy is active and would love to isolate and destroy us.
4. “And this Paul means by fellowship. They give a share to us, he means, in carnal things, and we give a share to them in spiritual things. For if God for little and worthless things grants the kingdom, His servants too, for little and material things, give a share in spiritual things.” -Chrysostom, Homily 1 on Philippians.
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”
1. Just as God taught the great prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 18:1-12, God molds and shapes his people through the Holy Spirit every day.
2. That work continues until the Day of Christ Jesus, or the second coming of Jesus, when all will be made perfect: no sorrow, no pain, no disease.
3. Paul’s confidence is rooted in the grace that he sees in the Philippians and the trust that he has in God. He will finish what he’s obviously started.
4. “The chief thing, indeed, to be understood here is — until the termination of the conflict. Now the conflict is terminated by death. As, however, the Spirit is accustomed to speak in this manner in reference to the last coming of Christ, it were better to extend the advancement of the grace of Christ to the resurrection of the flesh.” -Calvin, Commentary on Philippians

⁷It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

The Philippians did not abandon Paul when he was imprisoned. This wasn’t his first imprisonment, but they remained faithful supporters in both good and difficult times
His love for them isn’t built on their material gifts or their delightful personalities, but on the affection of Christ that flows through him.
“He calls not God to witness as though he should be doubted, but does this from his great affection, and his exceeding persuasion and confidence; for after saying that they had fellowship with him, he adds this also, in the tender mercies of Christ, lest they should think that his longing for them was for this cause, and not simply for their own sake. “ -Chrysostom, Homily 1 on Philippians
We are called to love with more than our own limited human love: we’re built to allow God’s love to flow through us
1. Though he was not a Christian, the quote from the medieval Islamic poet Havez puts it beautifully: “I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through—listen to this music.” -Hafiz, as translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

“…that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best…”
1. Paul does not simply pray that they love more — he prays that their love grows in knowledge and depth of insight.
2. The issue is not whether we love. Everyone loves something. The question is: what do we love, and how do we love it?
Our affections are disordered in this fallen world.
1. We can love the talents that God gave us so much that we imagine that they’re products of our excellence, rather than his generosity.
2. We can love money so much that we find joy in hoarding it, rather than in using it to further God’s kingdom.
3. We can love food so much that we eat it just to taste it, rather than appreciating that it is God’s provision for us.
Augustine wrote on the need for Christians to learn to rightly order their affections, especially having experienced his own chaotic younger days before he knew God.
1. “I loved you far too late, beauty so old and so new—far too late. You were in me, but I was outside myself looking for you in the world. In my ugliness, I plunged into those beautiful created things which you made. You were with me, but I was not with you. Those beautiful things kept me far from you, even though they wouldn’t have existed at all if they didn’t exist in you. You called out to me and overwhelmed my deafness. Your radiance pierced my blindness. I drew in your fragrance and now pant after you. I tasted you, and now I only hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I am on fire to have your peace.”-Augustine, Confessions, X. 38.
2. “For he loves you too little who loves anything together with you which he does not love for your sake.” -Augustine, Confessions, X. 40.
Paul’s prays that that the obvious love in the church at Philippi continues to be rightly ordered so that they can see the giver’s glory shining through every good gift and love him all the more for it.
Someday, we’ll stand in front of Christ and look at him eye to eye. We long to hear him say “Well done, good and faithful servant,” (Matt. 25:21). Paul prays that they hear exactly that, as they live a life that loves well and is pure and righteous in Christ’s sight.

Full Transcript

Today, we begin a fresh undertaking as we go through the book of Philippians chapter by chapter and verse by verse. In many ways, it is not a particularly large undertaking—it is a short book of the Bible, only four chapters, so it will probably take around eight weeks to get through it all. But just because it is short does not mean there is not tremendous depth to it. Philippians is a book I recommend to new Christians all the time, as well as to people who just feel beat up, because it is like a warm hug on a cold day. It is encouraging and delightful. Even the way Paul teaches doctrine in this letter is particularly beautiful.

This book is an epistle, which is just the fancy church word for a letter. This letter was written from the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi, which means there are some factors that might help us understand it well. For example, what was the deal with Philippi? What was the church there like, and why did Paul write them a letter? Before we dive into the content directly, let’s do a little background work so we can understand it well, as it will pay off in the long run.

Philippi was a Roman colony in the region of Macedonia. A Roman colony was a city set up by citizens for citizens, making it very Roman in its people, culture, and legal system. Outside of Italy, local cultures across the Roman Empire could vary significantly—for instance, the area surrounding Philippi in modern-day Greece might feel quite Greek—but within the colony itself, the atmosphere was distinctly and patriotically Roman.

About a hundred years before this letter was written, Philippi was the site of a civil war that ultimately ended the Roman Republic. Back when the Romans were a republic, they had safeguards against any one person getting too much power. When Julius Caesar politically maneuvered to gain more power, concerned members of the Senate assassinated him. In response, Caesar’s son Octavian and his right-hand man Mark Antony raised armies to fight the most influential assassins, Brutus and Cassius. This major war ended with the pro-imperial faction victorious and the pro-senate faction defeated. Octavian later became Caesar Augustus. Some of the residents in Philippi were descendants of soldiers from that battle, making them proud of their heritage. Much like Gettysburg today, where everything is star-spangled and deeply patriotic, Philippi was a city proud of its Roman roots.

As for the church itself, the Book of Acts records the conversions that led to its foundation, and those individuals were likely still part of the congregation since it had not been that long. In Acts chapter 16, Paul originally intended to go to Asia, but the Holy Spirit redirected him through a vision of a man from Macedonia asking for help. Paul went to Macedonia in Europe instead, founding the first European church in Philippi.

Acts highlights three conversions in particular. The first was Lydia, a purple fabric merchant. Purple dye was incredibly precious—worth more than gold—because making it required harvesting sea snails near the city of Tyre. It was so valuable that laws regulated who could wear it, reserving pure purple garments for the emperor and restricting others based on status. As a dealer in purple fabric, Lydia was likely wealthy and well-connected. After she and her household heard about Jesus and were baptized, the church gained its first converts.

Later, as Paul and his companions walked through Philippi, they were followed by a slave girl possessed by a demon—literally a “spirit of Pythonus,” an animal associated in Greek culture with Apollo. Local residents believed her fortune-telling abilities came from Apollo, and her owners made a great deal of money off her. She followed Paul’s group, shouting that they were servants of the Most High God declaring the way to be saved. Although the statement was true, Paul eventually cast the demon out of her.

This created trouble when her owners, realizing their source of income was gone, dragged Paul and Silas to court. They were beaten and thrown into the darkest, dankest cell of the prison. That night, despite their suffering, they were praying and singing hymns. Suddenly, an earthquake shook the prison, opening the doors and loosening everyone’s chains. Instead of fleeing, the prisoners stayed put. When the jailer saw the open doors, he drew his sword to commit suicide—a customary act for a Roman officer facing utter disgrace. Paul stopped him, assuring him that everyone was accounted for. Seeing this, the jailer asked how to be saved, received the gospel, and was baptized alongside his family.

Thus, the core of the Philippian church included a wealthy purple merchant, a Roman jailer, and presumably the former slave girl. This became a healthy congregation that Paul frequently cited as a positive example. They supported him regularly, which brings us to the reason for this letter.

Paul wrote this letter from a Roman prison. He was not in a dungeon; he was under room arrest in a rented space, chained and guarded around the clock while awaiting a decision from Emperor Nero. Because he could not leave, he needed financial support to pay rent and buy food. Hearing of his need, the church at Philippi sent him financial aid. Paul wrote back to thank them, encourage them, and teach them.

The opening two verses follow the standard pattern of ancient letters:

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In that culture, letters began by identifying the sender, which made it immediately clear who was speaking. Paul included Timothy, his co-worker in the gospel to whom he would later write First and Second Timothy. He addressed the letter to all God’s holy people in Philippi, alongside the overseers (or bishops) and deacons. In the early church, terms like overseer and elder were often used interchangeably for leadership roles, while deacons managed specific ministries. Paul addressed the whole body—congregation and leaders alike. His greeting of “grace and peace” wished them both the unearned favor of God through Christ and the deep spiritual security that comes from resting in Him.

In verse three, Paul transitions into thanksgiving:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Paul expressed pure joy over this church, referring to them as his partners in the gospel. Though Paul was an apostle, he viewed the believers as fellow workers. In the same way, Christians are called to partner with and support one another in their distinct roles, whether as pastors, teachers, or supporters. Paul was confident that God, who began this work in them like a potter shaping clay, would continue refining them until the day of Christ’s return.

He continued in verse seven:

“It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; and whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Jesus Christ.”

The Philippians stood by Paul through good times and bad, supporting him even when he was imprisoned. Because of their faithfulness, Paul loved them not merely out of personal preference, but with the genuine affection of Christ.

Finally, in verse nine, Paul offered a specific prayer for their growth:

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

Paul prayed that their love would be guided by knowledge and spiritual discernment. It is easy to misplace our affections on material blessings, wealth, or earthly comforts rather than on God Himself. Paul wanted them to love wisely and rightly so that, on the day they stand face to face with Jesus, they might hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

John 7:37-52: The Last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles

August 25, 2026September 21, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

³⁷On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

The First Seven Days: Daily Water Libation Ritual
1. During the Feast of Tabernacles, a water libation ritual was performed for the first seven days.
2. A priest would carry a golden pitcher from the temple to the Pool of Siloam to fill it with water. He would then go back to the temple, leading a celebratory procession on the way, and pour out the water on the temple’s altar alongside a little wine.
3. The water symbolized gratitude for God’s provision in the past (especially how he provided for Israel during their time in the wilderness) and how he had provided the crops that they just harvested that year.
4. The wine was a reminder that God had not just provided sustenance, but joy.
The Last (Eighth) Day of the Feast
1. On the eighth and final day, there is no water libation ritual. Instead people pray for water for the coming year to nourish their crops.
2. Jesus is standing up on a day that everyone is praying for water and using the metaphor of water to speak to people in a way that addresses exactly what they’re praying for.
3. This is also the last day of the feast, so Jesus won’t have another opportunity to address this particular crowd of people.
4. It’s easy to imagine how passionate his teaching would be on this particular date. He’s like a pastor that’s giving one last heartfelt sermon to his congregation before he moves on. “If there’s one thing to learn, here it is! Please listen!”
5. “On the last day. The first thing that ought to be observed here is, that no plots or intrigues of enemies terrified Christ, so as to cause him to desist from his duty; but, on the contrary, his courage rose with dangers, so that he persevered with greater firmness. This is proved by the circumstance of the time, the crowded assembly, and the freedom he used in exclaiming, while he knew that hands were stretched out on all sides to seize him; for it is probable that the officers were at that time ready to execute their commission.” -John Calvin, Commentary on John 7
The Invitation: “Come to Me and Drink”
1. “O blessed invitation, how sweet it should be to every thirsty soul! ‘If any man’ — prince or pauper, ‘any man’ — moral or utterly debauched, ‘if any man thirst, let him come unto me,’ — not to ordinances, nor to human priests, ‘let him come unto me, and drink,’ as much as he will “without money, and without price.” -Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible, John 7.
2. The invitation is broad and open to anyone. It doesn’t matter how wealthy you are, or where you’re from, or what your heritage is. There are a few prerequisites to answer the call, but it’s not about any of that.
3. Prerequisite 1: Being Thirsty
  1. “The first prerequisite for a person to co me and drink is that they have to be thirsty. In Scripture, thirst is commonly associated with a deep yearning for closeness with God: Ps 42:1-2, Psalm 63:1, Isaiah 55:1, Isa 65:13 etc.
  2. Sin has disrupted our relationship with God. We aren’t in a good place with him naturally. That’s why we yearn for the closeness that was lost at the dawn of humanity in Eden.
  3. Some people have been thirsty so long that they don’t even recognize it anymore. They assume that deep emptiness is just normal, or they push it down by pursuing other things that will never fill the yearning in their heart, but might distract them and numb them for a time.
  4. There are many who call themselves Christians that still aren’t really thirsty for God. They assume that a bit of church in their life or a spare prayer is enough God for them. Jesus needs thirsty people to come and drink, not people who have had enough of him for now.
4. Prerequisite 2: Taking Action
  1. If a person wants to come to Christ and drink, they have to actually act on that interest. Even the thirstiest person stays thirsty if they sit by an oasis and refuse to drink.
  2. There is no amount of theorizing that can end in salvation. Thinking can prime the pump, but until it is accompanied by action, it’s insufficient.
  3. Sometimes, we excuse delays in coming to Jesus. Our life is too busy! Too chaotic! This just isn’t the right season for devotion. We’ll get right with the Lord tomorrow. There are a million excuses to delay action.

³⁸Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” ³⁹By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

1. When John Wesley was banned from Anglican pulpits because of his “religious enthusiasm,”, he began field preaching and used this very verse to invite people to accept the gospel in his day. His journal entry for April 8, 1739 reads: “About five thousand were in the afternoon at Rose Green (on the other side of Kingswood); among whom I stood and cried in the name of the Lord, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
“…rivers of living water…”
1. Those who “drink” of God’s grace become life-giving sources for others, helping quench spiritual thirst.
2. Believers should ask how often they nourish others. A true Christian doesn’t just take; they give to everyone freely.
“By this he meant the Spirit…”
1. “Yet we read of John the Baptist, He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:15) And Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied. Mary was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied of our Lord. And so were Simeon and Anna, that they might acknowledge the greatness of the infant Christ. We are to understand then that the giving of the Holy Spirit was to be certain, after Christ’s exaltation, in a way in which it never was before. It was to have a peculiarity at His coming, which it had not before. For we no where read of men under the influence of the Holy Spirit, speaking with tongues which they had never known, as then took place, when it was necessary to evidence His coming by sensible miracles.” (Augustine, De Trinitiate, iv. c. xx)

⁴⁰On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

⁴¹Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴²Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” ⁴³Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. ⁴⁴Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

“the people were divided because of Jesus.”
1. Division appeared at every level: Jesus’ family (His brothers), the crowd, between leadership and the people, and within leadership itself (Nicodemus vs. other Pharisees).
2. Jesus made it abundantly clear that he would not be a unifying force for the world. To the contrary, he would divide it (Matthew 10:34-37).
3. Unity within a group of people is no substitute for the real power of Christ being offered to us by him. It can be complicated to determine when we need to come together, and when something demands that we act divisively to cling to Christ, but we’re called to that work.
4. A very large church going through the United/Global Methodist split once said that regardless of what the denomination’s official stance on Scripture or same sex marriage was, they would not leave the denomination because, “Division is not a kingdom reality.” One can only wish that they were around to correct Jesus’s divisiveness, much less Paul’s constant concern about churches following false doctrine that draws them away from Christ (Acts 20:29-30, 2 Corinthians 11:4).
“How can the Messiah come from Galilee?”
1. Some people object that he can’t be the messiah because he’s not from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and not a descendant of David (Isaiah 11:1). Jesus is both of these things, but they don’t bother to ask him to clarify.
2. They use their concerns to keep a distance between themselves and Jesus, rather than recognizing them as an opportunity to seek the truth.
3. “And how could they forget that Jesus was born [in Bethlehem]? Had not Herod given them terrible reason to remember it?” (John Wesley, Notes on the NT, John 7)

⁴⁵Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

“No one ever spoke the way this man does.”
1. Temple guards, specifically loyal to the Sanhedrin, were sent earlier (Jn 7:32). One must imagine that this was not the first man they’d ever arrested on the Sanhedrin’s orders! But in spite of their loyalty, they can’t bring themselves to arrest Jesus.
2. They were captivated by His words, which rang true. They could not seize Him. God was at work in their hearts.
3. “The Pharisees and Scribes profited nothing by seeing the miracles, and reading the Scriptures; but their officers, who had done neither, were captivated with once hearing Him; and they who went to take hold of Him, were themselves taken hold of by the miracle. Nor did they say, We could not because of the multitude: but made themselves proclaimers of Christ’s wisdom: The officers answered, Never man spake like this Man.” -John Chrysostom, Hom. lii. 1

⁴⁷“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. ⁴⁸“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

The Pharisees’ Reaction
1. The Pharisees answer with classism, calling the people a “stupid mob,” ignorant of the law and deceived.
2. They argue none of the rulers or Pharisees believe in Jesus, which is is quickly proven false as Nicodemus is just about to speak in his favor.
3. They dismissed the guards’ experience, telling them to stop thinking and simply obey.

⁵⁰Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ⁵¹“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵²They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
1. Nicodemus’s, who previously spoke with Jesus in John 3, speaks up to defend him.
2. Nicodemos’s defense isn’t even particularly intense. He asks only that others investigate Jesus before condemning him, as is required by law.
3. The Pharisees mock him: “Are you from Galilee too?” implying he’s a country bumpkin like the others that favor Jesus and certainly not one of them.
4. “Nicodemus indeed knew, or rather believed, that if only they were willing to give Him a patient hearing, they would perhaps become like those who were sent to take Him, but preferred to believe. They answered from the prejudice of their heart.” -Augustine, Tractate 33, 2.
They claim, “a prophet does not come out of Galilee,” despite the fact that Jonah was a historical prophet that was indeed from Galilee. Their bias prevents them from seeing obvious truths in front of them.

Full Transcript

We are on the last third of chapter seven. We saw in the beginning, that first third, there’s this festival coming, the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus’ brothers taunt him. They say, “Look Mr. Big Shot! You think you’re such a big deal? Go down to Jerusalem with us and show everyone what you can do! Show them your miracles! I’m sure they’ll be real impressed!” And Jesus told them, “I don’t work on your timeline. I work on my Father’s timeline. I’m not doing it.”

So they leave, they go to the festival. Jesus does go to the Feast of Tabernacles, not to do miracles, but as someone devoutly seeking to keep the law. And that second third, we saw that Jesus about halfway through the festival can’t hold back from teaching. He’s heard so much bad teaching that he just can’t help himself. He starts teaching people the truth, and he is compelling. The crowds can’t help but be enraptured by the things that he’s saying. Jesus is incredible. He is eloquent, he is thoughtful, he is saying things that they have always known to be true, and now they’re hearing it, and they’re amazed.

But not everyone. There are some people that throw up barriers, that bring up these strange questions that don’t really make a lot of sense when you think about them. They find reasons not to listen to Jesus; barriers to make. That’s when we also see the rulers getting frustrated. They sent some soldiers to go and seize him, but they couldn’t.

Now as we get ready to go into this final third of chapter 7, there are a few things here. We see it’s the last day of the festival. The festival’s eight days long; Feast of Tabernacles lasts for eight days. Remember, this is a festival that has a dual nature to it. On one hand, you’re being thankful for the distant past. You’re thankful for the forty years in the wilderness where God provided manna and provided dew and kept the Israelites safe during that forty years of wandering. You are giving thanks for God’s provision in the past. For the recent past, this is also a harvest festival, and so you think back on the crops from the past year, what God gave you in food and water recently, and you are giving Him thanks for that. That is the essence of this particular feast.

For seven days, they have a little ritual that they do every morning to show that. The priest would go from the Temple Mount down to the Pool of Siloam, which is a few hundred feet away. He would take a golden pitcher and he would kneel down and get some water. Remember, this is a feast, a festival, exciting—there are people celebrating, like a little parade. They take that pitcher full of water to the altar, and then they pour it with a little bit of wine on the altar to symbolize giving thanks to God for the water, both from those forty years and from the past year that helped nourish the crops. You are giving thanks for what you drank and for what the crops had. The wine symbolizes joy, because God hasn’t just given you enough to sustain you; He has also brought joy.

For seven of the eight days they start the day with that, but on the last day, on the eighth day, there is something a little different. On the eighth day, they don’t do that. There’s no libation ritual. Instead, everyone just thinks about water. They don’t actually work with it ritually; they just pray to God: “God, please for the coming year continue to provide water for your people. Continue to provide the water that’s going to nourish our crops and keep us here.” So this last day, everyone is thinking about water, and Jesus is going to talk to them about water.

Keep in mind, this being the last day, not only is there that significance of knowing that everyone’s praying for water, but this is also the last time Jesus is going to get to speak to these particular people. This is the last time he’s going to see this particular crowd, and we can see he’s especially passionate. It tells us he spoke loudly when he was teaching this day. It doesn’t always tell us that. There’s a certain kind of passion that comes out when someone knows this is their last opportunity to be heard.

I’m sure you’ve seen it. You’ve seen different pastors have their last sermon, and the last one usually is a little extra passionate because they’re trying to say that one thing: “If you didn’t get anything out of me, this is the thing I hope you remember.” That is exactly what Jesus did. He’s a little extra passionate. He knows this is his last opportunity to reach these people, and so here he goes. He is speaking with passion, speaking to them with his heart. He goes to them and he uses that theme of water. Everyone’s praying for water, and he says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”

That’s a pretty broad invitation, right? “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” Anyone can go to Jesus. You don’t need to be of a certain economic status, you don’t need to be from a certain continent, you don’t need to be a certain race. Anyone, any singular person on this earth is capable of going to Jesus. But this broad invitation does show that not necessarily everybody will.

There are a few things that you need to do. First, you got to be thirsty. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” We are made for God. Just look at Genesis—from the very beginning, there was this closeness between humans and God that was disrupted by sin. We long for that closeness; we long to be close to God. That’s normal, that thirst is natural. It’s just us wanting to be what we’re supposed to be.

Now, some people have been so thirsty for so long, they don’t even feel it anymore. They don’t even recognize that yearning; they just think it’s how you’re supposed to feel: “Oh yeah, that deep-seated sense of emptiness? That’s normal. Don’t worry about that. Just push it down with a fun Friday night and try not to think about it too much.” It’s not normal. We have to pray for people that don’t feel that thirst. They feel it, but they’re used to it; they feel like it’s natural. It’s not! We pray that they sense it.

It’s not just non-Christians. Sometimes there are people who think of themselves as Christians who think, “Oh, I go to church enough. I pray enough, I do enough of the Jesus thing.” If you have had enough to drink, you are not thirsty, and that is a prerequisite. Jesus says, “You have to be thirsty. You have to want it.”

It’s not just about wanting it; there’s a second part to this: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” You got to do something. It’s not just about that internal yearning, acknowledging that it exists and following it. You got to do something. The most thirsty person in the entire world, if they were right next to an oasis, would continue to be thirsty if they did not take a drink.

Sometimes you’ll occasionally meet people that say, “Oh man, I really wish I was one of those spiritual people that had a relationship with God. I wish I was, but I’m just really busy right now. This schedule… I’m busy, I can’t do it right now, but someday I’ll get to it. I know that it’s important to do the God thing, but right now it’s just not a good time. My life is chaos. I’m going to get to it!” Even if you feel that thirst, if you’re not doing it, it doesn’t make a difference. You have to do something. You have to make the choice to turn to Jesus, and it’s an active choice. Jesus tells us not only to recognize our thirst, but to go to him.

Then there’s a third thing too: what’s the third thing? Well, he tells us, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

If you feel that thirst and if you drink, you should have rivers of living water in you. You should become the kind of person that can help others find and drink of that grace of God. You should be a fount of it yourself through the Holy Spirit. Every one of us should be that. I think that’s one of those things you have to think about every so often. You have to ask: Do I have that in me? Am I someone that takes and takes and takes, or am I the kind of person where, wherever I go, people find life? Am I nourishing others? Do I see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit where I’m going? Because if we have drunk of the grace of God through Jesus, that is what is supposed to happen. That’s the next step. If it’s not happening, we have to take a step back and ask, am I really drinking of that grace? You got to want it, you got to drink, and you should see that bubbling up of the Spirit in your life. Others should find their thirst quenched through the grace of God in you.

Now people hear this and it makes an impact. On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”

We’ve got two groups that recognize that Jesus is doing something important, and then this third and final group. Isn’t it interesting? Earlier the crowd said, “Well, Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah because we’re not supposed to know where the Messiah comes from.” That doesn’t make any sense. Now, a few days later, they’re like, “Well, the Messiah’s supposed to come from Bethlehem and he’s not from Bethlehem. He’s from Galilee.” Their excuses are changing depending on the circumstances just to find ways to create distance.

Jesus is from Bethlehem, and they could know that. All they have to do is one thing: go to him and ask. He’s right there. He’s not far. But they don’t. They don’t go to him and ask. Instead of using that question as an opportunity to go to Jesus, they use it as a way to create distance, as an excuse to not have to take him seriously anymore.

There’s this great quote from theologian James Boyce. He writes, “Are you the one who has been rejecting Jesus Christ on a quibble? Do you refuse to come because you cannot understand where Cain got his wife, or how God can punish sinners, or why we are to believe in a virgin birth or a resurrection? Is there some little question that you’re using to create distance between you and God?”

If you have those questions, you can use them to go to Jesus, to ask and to learn, but you got to go to him. You can’t just sit with them and use them as an excuse. See how these people—their question had an answer. All they had to do was ask, and they didn’t, so they missed out. Don’t let a quibble hold you back. Don’t sit with that one question, saying, “I’m not going to buy in until X, Y, Z,” without looking into it or asking Jesus, just going about your life using it to create distance. Don’t hold back. If you’ve got those quibbles, ask, seek an answer. Go to Jesus. He will answer.

Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come.

Finally, the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

They sent these guards days ago to get Jesus and bring him in, and the guards just started listening to Jesus. They heard him speaking, and something about his words rang true. They were beautiful; they were right. They had to hear just a little bit more every day, and in the end, they couldn’t bring themselves to seize Jesus.

We saw earlier it said it was not time; God had a plan for Jesus, so they couldn’t do it. This explains the logic of it. Why did it happen? It’s not like Jesus had a magical force field that activated from God. God was at work in their hearts; they could not lift a hand against Jesus.

The Pharisees respond, “You mean he’s deceived you also? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! This mob knows nothing of the law. There is a curse on them.”

The Pharisees respond with pure classism: “You stupid guards! We don’t pay you to think. Do you see any of the leaders believing it? Do you see any of the Pharisees believing this? No!” By the way, they’re wrong on both counts. When Jesus was born, there happened to be three kings that were very interested in seeing him, and Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, had been to see Jesus. There are repeated instances already where they’re wrong, but they don’t even care about the details. To them, they are the elites, and if someone is really one of them, they would never believe this Jesus guy. “You stupid guards wouldn’t get it. Stop thinking and just do what we tell you to do.”

Nicodemus, the Pharisee who went to Jesus—you remember him all the way back from John chapter 3? Under the cover of night, Nicodemus went to Jesus, curious but also a little hesitant. He told Jesus, “You told us we’re supposed to be born again. Doesn’t make a lot of sense, Jesus. I hear you’re a great teacher, but what am I supposed to do? Crawl back inside my mother’s womb?” There’s a reluctance to him, but also a curiosity.

Now we see, as he sees the Pharisees coming against Jesus and his fellow members of the elite lining up, he recognizes that this is not right. They are not living up to their own standards. They haven’t even heard this Jesus guy, they don’t even know what he’s about, and they’re sure he’s wrong. He warns them, saying, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he’s been doing?”

“You guys don’t even know what Jesus is about! Let’s talk to him! You should hear what he has to say.” Nicodemus has heard it, and clearly it made an impact on him. They should hear it too.

Their response to Nicodemus is just, “Are you from Galilee too?” Remember, Galilee is that rural region Jesus is coming from. “Look, are you some kind of hick? You one of them? You can’t be one of us if you’re not willing to attack Jesus. Are you from Galilee too? Look into it. You will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

Which is wrong on multiple counts, because first off, prophets historically had come from Galilee. There was no region of Israel that was permanently barred from having people that were faithful to God. As a matter of fact, one of the more prominent prophets, Jonah, is from Galilee, and there are others as well. There were prophets that had come from Galilee. But maybe they meant the prophet of prophets, the King of kings, the Messiah will not come out of Galilee. They would be right if that’s the case, but they would also be asking the wrong questions, because Jesus is not from Galilee. Jesus is from Bethlehem.

As we come to the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, one major theme to think about—there’s a particular scripture that comes to my mind from the book of Matthew that really cuts to the heart of John chapter 7. Matthew 10:34–36: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Jesus has come to save, but that’s difficult work. It would have been easier to just leave us as we were, but the earth as it is does not always want to be saved. There are battle lines being drawn. You see how Jesus causes separation: there’s a division within his own family as his brothers don’t believe in him, the crowd is separated from one another because some believe and some don’t, the leadership is separated from the people as they rely on prejudice to say anyone who’s not one of them is stupid, and leadership is divided from other leadership.

Divisions continue as people have to ask the question: Whose side are you on? The side of Jesus or the side of the world? That is a division where you can’t be neutral. You either know the King and are obedient to him, or you’re not. You can’t be neutral towards the King and be one of his servants.

That’s a good thing for all of us to ask ourselves: If the battle lines have been drawn, have we chosen to be on the side of Jesus? Are we there? Are we experiencing it? If we’re not, the invitation’s always there. Jesus gave it 2,000 years ago, and it still stands: “Anyone who is thirsty, come to me and drink.” If you do, you will be filled with a river of running water through the Holy Spirit.

John 7:14-36 Teaching at the Festival of Tabernacles

June 4, 2026September 2, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

“Not until halfway through the festival…”
1. Jesus came to the Festival of Tabernacles as a devout Jew following God’s commands, not as a public figure intending to do teachings or miracles, but he could not tolerate hearing falsehoods being taught.
2. One can imagine all of the different sects of Judaism there that might have frustrated Jesus to the point that he had to speak up:
  1. The Sadducees and their denial of the afterlife.
  2. The Pharisees and their hyper-fixation on the law.
  3. The Essenes and their ritualistic apocalypticism.
  4. The Zealots and their anti-Roman fervor.
  5. Some would-be political messiah trying to drum up support.
3. Truth was so important to Jesus that he had to speak, even when the world longed for him to be silent.
“How did this man get such learning…”
1. Jesus’s teachings were profound to the crowd. Given their location, there’s no doubt that they had heard other highly-educated rabbis speak, but Jesus’s teachings seem to have made all others look like little children in comparison.
2. Unlike other rabbis in his era like Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai, Jesus did not cite others at length. He taught with authority because he was God, the ultimate source of truth. Who could he have possibly quoted that would add even an ounce of authority to the divine “I am?”
3. Some did seem concerned that Jesus did not possess a traditional rabbinic education. Typically, there was a lengthy apprenticeship (up to ten years) under an established rabbi.
4. There can be no doubt that education is valuable, but the purpose of any education is to find truth, which is more important than any formal credentials or accolades. Jesus himself was the truth. Nothing could add to what he already embodied.

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

Jesus proves that his knowledge is legitimate in three different ways

Scripture: “My teaching is not my own…”
1. The Israelites had the word of God with them in the Old Testament Scriptures. To verify Jesus’s teachings, they could literally check to see if Christ’s words were his own, or if they aligned with the word of God.
2. Early Christians constantly pointed to the Old Testament for evidence of God’s coming work in Christ.
  1. In his famous Dialogue with Trypho, Justin Martyr (a Christian) debates a Jew named Trypho and uses the Old Testament extensively to persuade him of Christ’s divinity.
  2. “If I undertook to prove this by doctrines or arguments of man, you should not bear with me. But if I quote frequently Scriptures, and so many of them, referring to this point, and ask you to comprehend them, you are hard-hearted in the recognition of the mind and will of God.” -Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. 68.

1. 1. The ultimate authority for teaching is Scripture, not any degree or certification
    1. “In the Bible we have a perfect library, and he who studies it thoroughly will be a better scholar than if he had devoured the Alexandrian Library entire”. -Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to my Students, Lecture XIII.
Action: “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God.”
1. He tied knowledge to lived experience, asserting real knowledge changes one’s life. In embodying his teachings, you could feel the power of God.
2. Many people carry strange pet conspiracy theories about the world, but these theories go unacted on. They aren’t real enough to affect a life, and so they are not really real at all.”
3. Choosing to pray, to read Scripture, and to ask God for help are often significant moments where someone who is only theorizing about being a Chrisitan sees the power of God. Living like a Chrisitan shows the power of God in your life.
4. Wesley famously emphasized the value of living the will of God to understand it better. In his commentary, he notes on this verse: “This is a universal rule, with regard to all persons and doctrines. He that is thoroughly willing to do it, shall certainly know what the will of God is.”
Personal Witness- “He who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth. There is nothing false about him.”
1. Jesus’s motivations are selfless. He’s putting himself at risk to teach, rather than others who taught for personal glory.
2. Christ’s life was so blameless and obviously beyond reproach. He’s so confident in this fact that he asks the crowd why they dare to attack him when they all break the law.

20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

“You are demon-possessed…Who is trying to kill you?”

1. In this particular instance of Scripture, “are you demon possessed,” might translate to something like, “Are you crazy?” They’re saying that Jesus is wildly inconsistent with reality.
2. In verse 13, they deliberately stayed quiet about Jesus because they were afraid of the leaders that wanted to kill him. They know.
3. The crowd would rather be comfortable than brave. Openly admitting that the leaders are corrupt would be life-shattering, so they claim Jesus is crazy rather than affirming what their hearts know is true.
“…you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath.”

1. Circumcision is a ritual that does a small amount of damage to someone to keep the law of God. This was allowable on a Sunday.
2. Jesus healed someone on a Sunday and got in trouble. If a small amount of pain is tolerable for God’s sake on the Sabbath, why is a miraculous healing inappropriate? The logic is inconsistent.
3. “By this example he defends his action, although he does not merely argue from what is similar, but draws a comparison between the greater and the less. There was this similarity between circumcision and the cure of the paralytic, that both were works of God; but Christ maintains that the latter is more excellent, because the benefit of it extends to the whole man. Now if he had merely cured the man of bodily disease, the comparison would not have been applicable; for circumcision would have greater excellence as to the cure of the soul. Christ, therefore, connects the spiritual advantage of the miracle with the outward benefit granted to the body; and on this account he justly prefers to circumcision the entire cure of a man.” -John Calvin, Commentary on John, Ch. 7, 188.

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

“Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?”
1. Some in Jerusalem wondered if the authorities believed Jesus was the Messiah since he spoke publicly unhindered.
2. They dismissed this based on a folk belief that the Messiah’s origin would be unknown, while they knew Jesus was born in Bethlehem, failing to search the Scriptures, which do prophesy his birthplace (Micah 5:2 )
“Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from…”
1. “Therefore Christ asks in a tone of sarcasm: “‘You know where I come from? How well you know it! For because you do not know him who sent me, how could you know me and know where I come from? To be sure, you know that I was to come from Nazareth, from Galilee and Judea, and that is true; but that is not enough to know about my origin.’” -Martin Luther, The Fifth Sermon on John 7, (1531).
“no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”
1. When the crowd finally grasped beyond a doubt that Jesus was climbing to be the Son of God from Heaven, they dashed to seize him! Their logic had failed at every turn, and so they resorted to force. There was no room for convenient ignorance about his claimed title and purpose.
“Still, many in the crowd believed in him.”
1. “There was a certain crowd of people which quickly saw its own sickness, and without delay recognized His remedy.” -Augustine of Hippo, Tractate 31, 7.

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

“Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks…”
1. The leaders ensure that willful ignorance returns to the crowd. Despite Jesus talking about divine realms, they immediately pivot the conversation back to the earthly and interpret a meaning that isn’t at all rational in the conversation.
2. “The Lord was indeed about to go to the Gentiles, not by His bodily presence, but still with His feet. What were His feet? Those which Saul desired to trample upon by persecution, when the Head cried out to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ (Acts 9:4).” -Augustine of Hippo, Tractate 31, 7.

Full Transcript

Last week, we saw Jesus getting ready to go to the Festival of Tabernacles. He was going down to Jerusalem, and this week he is there. He is not going in public ministry; that is not his goal. He is not going there to officially try to teach, show off, or do miracles. He is just going to be an observant Jew. God said to go to the Festival of Tabernacles at Jerusalem, and so that is exactly what he did. Now, we are picking up here, and he is going to teach because he just can’t help himself.

As we go through, really pay attention to knowledge in this passage. I think a lot of people don’t necessarily associate knowledge with faith. They kind of think of them as different, separate things. People don’t often recognize that Jesus was brilliant. It is easy to imagine Jesus as a moral teacher—someone who came to teach people to be kind and to change the way they act. That is true. Sometimes people think he was just a peasant, a carpenter, a guy who was really folksy, and that is not necessarily untrue either. But this is also the one through whom everything was made; the whole world was made by him. He was brilliant. He knew it all because he made it all. There is no greater authority than him. Pay attention to the way he addresses knowledge throughout this passage, and the way he weaves it in with faith in a constructive way that I think can help a lot of us.

Verse 14 says, “Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.” I think this is kind of a funny little passage, just the way it is worded. It is almost like saying he didn’t go there to teach, but would you believe it? He made it halfway through the festival before he got up there. They are surprised it took him that long. Jesus may not have come here to teach, but he could not stand by and listen as some of the nonsense being told at the temple went on.

This festival was on the temple mount. There would have been thousands of people from all over the place. Anyone who was a devout Jew would go to Jerusalem for this festival. While they were there, they would have encountered some of the religious sects of this timeframe who served as priests at this location, like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the like. We see Jesus argue with the Pharisees all the time, so we will look at the Sadducees this time just as a thought exercise.

Let’s say there was a Sadducee priest there—and there certainly would have been. Imagine Jesus overhearing a conversation where someone goes up to this priest and says, “Excuse me, I just want to know how I can get to heaven.” The Sadducees didn’t believe in life after death, so they probably would have said something like, “Oh, you sweet summer child. There is no heaven. You’ve been taught incorrectly. Let me help explain how things really are. We’re just trying to live well in this life. Don’t worry about heaven.” Imagine Jesus standing over there, his eye twitching because he knows there is a heaven, he has seen it, and he is from there. Hearing incorrect teaching being taught to the people he came to help was more than he could bear. He makes it halfway through before he gets up and starts teaching, essentially saying, “All right, I’m going to have to set some of you straight because there are some things being said that are not so.”

Verse 15 says the Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” Notice first off that Jesus was a good teacher. The things he was saying were profound. The priests at the temple were no slouches; these were some of the foremost intellectuals of the entire society. They were spiritual leaders, but they were also responsible for the collective wisdom of their culture. The Greeks had their philosophers. Today, we have college professors as our foremost intellectuals. In Israel, they had the priests. If you had a question, the priests in Jerusalem were some of the most highly educated people you could possibly ask.

Jesus starts teaching at the temple and people listen to him, and he makes the leaders look like little children. Imagine if you were at a college lecture and one of the students stood up and said, “Professor, I think you’ve got a few details wrong. Let me just walk you through this.” Then they start writing formulas on the board, and sure enough, they know infinitely more than the professor does. That is what it was like. Jesus is brilliant. His teachings are profound in a way that others’ are not, and the way he teaches is different, too.

In this timeframe, the way rabbis taught was by pointing to all of the people who came in that tradition before them. If you were listening to a rabbi, they would say, “Well, on this matter Rabbi Hillel says this, but you also need to keep in mind Rabbi Shammai, who has a disagreeing opinion and would say this.” They were showing that they knew everyone who came before them and understood the conversation as it had gone thus far in their culture. That is not a bad way to teach. I do that. This morning I have a quote from Martin Luther for you. Why? Because he knows more than I do. I am not the authority. There are smarter, wiser people than me whom I lean on to try to make sure I am going in the right direction, and I try to show you when I am doing that.

Jesus didn’t need to do that. Jesus didn’t need to name-drop all of these other people he had learned from because he was God. He could teach with authority. He didn’t need to say, “Well, on this matter Rabbi Shammai says this, and Rabbi Hillel says this.” He could just say, “This is the way it is. Source: me. I’m telling you, that’s the way it is.” He taught with authority, and the things he said immediately rang true to people.

You see their response. They are amazed, but they also ask, “How did this man get such learning without being taught? Where are his credentials?” There was a formal education process to become a rabbi. You would need to apprentice under a pre-existing rabbi, a process that could take up to 10 years. If you really wanted to become a rabbi, you found a good one, asked to become their apprentice, and served under them until they felt you were ready. It could take a long time. Jesus did not do that. He had no formal education.

I am not one to deride education; there is no glory in ignorance. But at the same time, education is intended for a purpose. You need it to know what is true. That is the goal. If someone has 18 diplomas on their wall but they think one plus one is three, it doesn’t matter what their accolades are or how many years they spent studying. You are not looking for someone who has good credentials; you are looking for someone who can teach you what is true. Jesus didn’t have a formal education, but he knew what was true, which is infinitely more important.

Jesus shows the crowd that his knowledge and teaching are legitimate with three moves in this coming paragraph. He starts, “My teaching is not my own; it comes from the one who sent me.” They are wondering where he is getting this stuff, who he learned from, and how they can trust him. Jesus clarifies, “I am not teaching you things that are just my random opinion. I am teaching you what God says on this. That’s what I’m interested in. Here’s what God says. You don’t believe me? Go look at the scriptures. Go pore through what has been recorded by the prophets, look at what I’m saying, and match it up to see if it makes sense.”

He immediately invites them to do that, and that is the way many early Christians would evangelize. You have to keep in mind that the New Testament took some time to put together. After Jesus ascended into heaven, it is not like everything was right there. The last book, Revelation, was written sometime just before the year 100. There was a period of years where the documents were not even completed, much less canonized. What did Christians do before those were available? They would use the Old Testament. They would say, “Let’s open this up, and I’m going to show you how this is all about Jesus. Here’s this passage in Isaiah; Jesus fulfilled that. Here’s a passage in Jeremiah; this is about Jesus. Here’s a passage in Malachi; this is about Jesus.” They showed that Jesus was not some random new thing. He was doing exactly what was in line with what God had foretold. His whole ministry was not his own thing; it was what God had promised from the beginning, and you could check the scriptures to be sure of that. Jesus didn’t just want to teach his own opinions; he was teaching what God had proclaimed, and he invited people to verify that.

That makes me think a little bit about those of you who have been in my office before. I have my diploma hanging up behind my desk from Duke University. It feels wrong to mention the Blue Devil during a sermon in church, so I won’t, but it was a good experience. I hesitated before I hung that on the wall, though. Ultimately, I did it because when you pay that much for a piece of paper, you want to put it somewhere. It is expensive paper.

At the end of the day, that is not the cornerstone of my ministry. I don’t want people to listen to me just because I have a fancy paper on my wall. There are a lot of other people who have fancy papers on their walls; some of what they teach is good, and some of what they teach is not good. Ultimately, sound doctrine and good knowledge do not come from a random person’s teaching just because they have a diploma. It comes from scripture. Insofar as knowledge is rooted in scripture, it is good. That is the source of real authority when you are teaching, not a diploma. Good though it may be, and though it may indicate that you have studied, the truth of legitimacy is rooted here. That makes all the difference: knowing that teaching is not just coming from some random person, but is rooted in what God said.

I think that is true for all disciplines, too. It is not just a pastor thing. Every discipline imaginable comes from God. What is math but the logic that underpins God’s creation? What is biology but an expression of the way he created everything? What is agriculture but the continuing work that was laid out in Genesis when God gave Adam the Garden of Eden to take care of? All of these pieces of knowledge are not just random pieces of trivia that don’t matter. All of them are things that were set forth by God when he made all of this, and all of them point to him. The end of every piece of knowledge points back to God. Insofar as it does that, it is good knowledge. Insofar as it doesn’t, it is trivia and nothing more.

Jesus says, “You want to see if my teachings are legitimate? Check them against God. See if they’re in line. See if my teachings align with the Scriptures.”

Then he moves on to a second point: “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” Notice the way he is moving here. The second way he invites verification is by looking at your actions. He knows that knowledge is not just random theory floating out there in the ether. Real knowledge is something that is lived, something that makes a difference in our lives. That is real knowledge.

Sometimes people divorce those things entirely. They have these wild theories, but then you look at their lives and they live the same as anybody else. I know some people who have wildly conspiratorial ideas. They have crazy theories, but they live just like everyone else. They get you one-on-one and say, “Did you know that the pigeons are government drones sent to do surveillance on us?” and you just say, “Okay.” Then you get back in public, and they live just like anybody else. They have these weird pet theories, but they don’t live any differently. If they really believed that pigeons were government drones, wouldn’t they try to smack one out of the sky? Then they would see, “Oh, shoot. This isn’t a robot. I was wrong; I just killed a random pigeon.” They could verify this if they tried to live it, but they don’t. To them, it is just a theory, a fun experiment to think about in their spare time.

If you really believe something, it changes the way you live because you can test it. You can see: Is this true? Does this work? Is it honest? Is it real? Jesus says it is the same thing with his doctrine. He says if you want to understand it, if you want to get it, live it. Try to please God and see if what I am teaching is true.

I can personally verify that. I know when I was still a sort of “proto-Christian,” I started to think about Christianity but thought the Bible had a lot wrong with it. I thought Jesus was a nice guy, but wrong about a fair amount—though still pretty admirable in the grand scheme of things. I thought there was a bunch of stuff that made no sense. Prayer? Nonsense. It doesn’t work. Scripture? Full of errors. It couldn’t possibly be worth too much of my time. What changed me was trying it. Jesus said I should do this, so I thought maybe I should try it and see what happens. I started studying scripture more, and it wasn’t what I thought it was; there was more to it than I understood. I tried praying. It didn’t make any sense to me, and I thought it was crazy. How would closing my eyes, folding my hands, and saying some things make a difference? But I tried it. It was not what I thought it was; there was more to this than I realized. The more I tried to live what I found in the scriptures, the more I found them to be true. By trying to live something, you can see if it makes sense.

Jesus invites people to live in a God-honoring way, and you will understand his doctrine more than ever. It will blossom right in front of you. If you have some part of the Bible, some book, or some doctrine that you think is crazy—where you like the rest of it, but not that one because it is just out there—maybe a way to start making some headway is to look at your life. Look at your life and ask, “Am I trying to honor God? Where are the places that I’m not willing to trust God yet? And what would it look like to start living in a way that honors God?” If you address that sin, sometimes when you come back to those things that made no sense before, it is like a veil has been lifted. You will understand them in ways that you didn’t think were possible previously.

Jesus began by saying, “Look at what God said. See if what I’m saying lines up.” Then he moves on and says, “Try to live a righteous life. You will see that my teachings are true.” Now he moves to his third and final validation that his knowledge is legitimate. He says in verse 18, “Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth.” There is nothing false about him.

Jesus says, “Look at my personal witness. Look at my life. See if my life is worthy of your time.” He says it pretty boldly. He points out that there are a lot of people out there who are just trying to sell you something. There are a lot of people who want to get famous and build their own careers, so they are trying to convince you of something for their own sake. Jesus, on the other hand, says, “I have no reason to be doing this unless I cared about you. I am at risk talking to you here. The leaders hate me. They’re waiting for something like this, but I need to tell you this. I am teaching you selflessly. Look at my life! There is nothing false about me!”

Can you imagine saying that in front of a group of people? If you are full of it and just making things up, someone is going to say something, right? Can you imagine if I stood up and said, “You can trust me because I’ve never done a thing wrong in my life”? If my wife were here, she would be able to tell you a few things. I do not have a perfect track record. Jesus says he does: “Look at my life.”

Then he compares and contrasts that with the people who are in charge. He says in verse 19, “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law.” You are listening to these people who teach you that the law is good enough, and that if you can keep the law well enough, that is going to be good for you. How is it working? Are you keeping it? Are they keeping it? No. They are living lives that fall short, but you are listening to them, while I am living a life beyond repute. What are you doing? Why are you listening to them and not me? Why are you trying to kill me?

The crowd responds in verse 20, which can be a little confusing for some people. They say, “You are demon-possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?” In context here, it clearly means, “You’re crazy! What are you talking about? No one’s trying to kill you.” Part of what is confusing is that if we look back at verse 13, just a little way ahead, we know that the crowd was quiet about Jesus because they knew that the leaders were trying to kill him. They didn’t want to talk about him because they didn’t want to get in trouble.

How do we resolve this? There are a couple of different ways. The most popular view, which is not what I agree with but is what a lot of commentators accept, is that the Feast of Tabernacles drew Jews from all over the world. They were all over the Roman Empire—people from the furthest reaches of Latin-speaking areas and Greek-speaking areas. Not all of them had heard of Jesus. A lot of them had never heard of him before because they weren’t from there. When they see this guy saying, “They’re trying to kill me,” they are just confused. It is legitimate ignorance: “No one’s trying to kill you! You’re up there talking, and no one’s doing anything!”

That is possible. However, I think a better way to resolve it is to acknowledge that the crowd is simply being inconsistent. Rather than attributing it to them being from out of town, why don’t we just acknowledge they are being hypocritical? They were afraid to talk about Jesus earlier because they knew people were trying to kill him. When Jesus points out that the system is rotten, that he is teaching truth, and that the leaders are teaching falsehoods, he asks, “Why are you okay with this?” What do they do? They go back to what is comfortable: “Who’s trying to kill you? Our leaders are trustworthy. You’re crazy. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Is that true? No.

How much would it totally shatter the lives they were living if they acknowledged, “Yeah, the leaders are corrupt. They are on a campaign of censorship. The things they’re teaching are wrong, and this random rabbi they’re persecuting is right”? That would change everything. That would be a deeply uncomfortable, life-shattering truth to accept. So some of them say what is comfortable: “Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s okay. Pretty sure it’s fine. They’re fine. You’re crazy, Jesus. It couldn’t possibly be true.” They know it is true; they just don’t want to confront it.

In verse 21, Jesus says to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry at me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances. Instead, judge correctly.”

You are comfortable with the status quo. You are comfortable with the way things have always been, and that is all you want. Think it through. Think logically about what is happening here. Look at this: your leaders will circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. According to the book of Leviticus, a boy should be circumcised on the eighth day after he is born. If that fell on the Sabbath, that was the eighth day, so they would do it. Does the process of circumcision hurt? Sure, it is certainly not a pleasant one. They hurt someone on a small scale. Jesus is not saying the ritual is unhelpful or illegitimate; he is just pointing out that it hurts. He says, “You’re willing to hurt someone on that day, but when I healed someone’s whole body on the Sabbath…”

He is talking about when he healed the man by the pool at Bethesda, which was the last time he was in Jerusalem. That act made the authorities very angry at him. He says, “The last time I did this, everyone was angry at me. So it’s okay to hurt someone on the Sabbath, but not to heal them? Does that make sense? Is that logical?” No. Stop judging by what is comfortable, by what is easy, and by what you are used to. Instead, judge correctly.

He turns it back over to the people, and they are almost on the cusp of something here. At that point, the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they’re trying to kill? Here he is speaking publicly, and they’re not saying a word to him. Have the authorities concluded that he’s the Messiah? But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, there will be no one who will know where he’s from.”

This was a common folk teaching in that timeframe. There were a lot of people who believed this, and there are small scriptural passages that hint at it. There are verses in the book of Malachi and the book of Isaiah that say things like suddenly the Messiah appeared and went about his business. They took those passages to mean that you can’t know where the real Messiah is from because he just drops out of heaven at the temple, does his thing, and that is it. They believed that was how it really worked. If they had sincerely searched the Scriptures, they would know that is not the case because the prophecies about Jesus being born are right there. If they had really looked, they would know that everything laid out in Scripture—the whole of Jesus’s incarnation and life—is also there in a way that resolves that tension. But they didn’t look. They were comfortable with what was normal, with the standard, and with what other people told them the Bible said. They didn’t feel the need to look for themselves: “I hear the Scriptures say this. That’s fine. That’s close enough. I think that’s probably right.”

Jesus responds, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I am not here on my own authority. He who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

Martin Luther, the father of Protestantism, gave some really good insight on this. He says there is sarcasm in Christ’s voice as he asks, “You know me and you know where I am from, do you? You don’t know the one who sent me, so how could you really know me and where I am from?” Jesus is telling them, “You don’t know nearly as much as you think you know. I am from heaven. My Father is God. That’s where I am really from.”

At this point, people know what he is saying. This is not lost on them. The claims he is making—the claim to not only be the Messiah but the Son of God from heaven—cause the alarm bells in their heads to go off. Verse 30 says, “At this they tried to seize him.” They tried to reason with him, and they repeatedly found different ways to remain comfortable, but Jesus has not let them stay comfortable. Now that their logic has failed, they resort to force. They tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” There are some people who look at Jesus, listen to him, reason through his teachings, and realize they cannot imagine someone better than this. They can’t imagine a Messiah coming who somehow does all of this even better. This is the best it could possibly be; he must be right, in spite of the fact that most of the crowd is furious.

Now the leaders get involved. From here on out, we see the leaders step in. Verse 32 says, “The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.”

Jesus said, “I am with you only for a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me and you will not find me; and where I am you cannot come’?”

This immediately follows his clear claim: “I’m from God. I am from heaven,” which people literally tried to attack him for because they found it blasphemous. Following this up, he tells the leaders that he is only here for a short time, that he is going back to where he came from, and they won’t be able to follow. The leaders are even more ignorant than the people. The people were uncomfortable and frustrated by what he said, but they knew what it meant. The leaders seem unable to even make sense of it. They ask, “What is he talking about? Do you think he’s going on vacation to Greece? Is that what he means?” No, that obviously isn’t what he was talking about. Most of us in this room can see pretty plainly what he is saying, and most of the people in the crowd could see it, too. But the leaders are so attached to the way they think things ought to be that they are not willing to reexamine them or sincerely listen.

Looking at the way different people reacted takes us back to what we were discussing a couple of weeks ago regarding Augustine and Faustus. Why wasn’t Faustus able to see the truth clearly? Because he did not come sincerely to Jesus. If you want to understand Jesus, a level of sincerity is necessary. In this passage, we have a crowd where some people just wanted what was easy and comfortable. They wanted the same old routine. Jesus is teaching this profound, incredible truth, but they don’t want it; they just want what they know. We have to avoid that mindset, because if you just go with what is easy and familiar, you will miss the Messiah.

Then there are the leaders—people who are so attached to their pet theories on how things work that even when they are taught basic truths directly and clearly, they can’t make heads or tails of it. When you get too attached to your own ideas and your own teachings, you miss what the Messiah is bringing.

There is only a small group of people in the crowd who listen to Jesus and think it through. They ask: Is what he is teaching compatible with scripture? Is it a pure expression of what God has said? Yes. As I live a righteous life, does it make sense with what this guy says? Yes. As I continue to try to work through this, does this make sense? How could there be someone better than this? They look at his behavior, and it is beyond reproach. Here is someone who embodies what God is doing. How could there be a Messiah more loving than this? How could there be one who works greater miracles than this? How could there be a Messiah better than this? They sincerely listen to Jesus, and they find the Messiah.

As we continue to look at the questions we bring, the things that confuse us, the knowledge we have, and the knowledge we hope to gain, bring it sincerely before Jesus. Listen to him, and you will find the truth of his teachings. Amen.

John 7:1-13 Preparing for The Festival of Tabernacles

June 3, 2026September 2, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

7 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. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee…”

1. Jerusalem was an urban, high-population density area, but Galilee was a rural region. The tendrils of the Jewish leaders were much less likely to strike at Jesus while he was in this peripheral area.
2. Jesus didn’t go to this region out of cowardice. To the contrary, he knew he was headed towards the cross, but it wasn’t time for that yet. Jesus knew that God’s appointed timing (referred to as kairos in Greek) didn’t always follow the first given opportunity in linear, human time (chronos in Greek). This is a strategic and obedient waiting, not a fearful retreat.
3. “He withdrew too now to Galilee, because the hour of His passion was not yet come; and He thought it useless to stay in the midst of His enemies, when the effect would only have been to irritate them the more.” -Theophylact, Explanation on the Gospel of John, Ch. 7.
“…the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near…”
1. The Festival of Tabernacles, known in Hebrew as Sukkot
  , was one of the three great festivals where Jewish men were commanded to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There are several important aspects to this festival:
  1. Harvest Celebration– It was a joyous harvest festival, occurring after the crops had been gathered. This timing meant people had the resources and the time to make the pilgrimage.
  2. Historical Commemoration– The festival commemorated the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. During this time, they were sustained directly by God’s provision, such as manna from heaven.
  3. Ritual Practices– To remember that time of wandering and reliance on God, participants would build and dwell in temporary booths (sukkot) for the duration of the festival. This act of “camping” was a tangible reminder of God’s faithfulness despite their disloyalty.
  4. These themes all give a symbolic backdrop as Jesus, the ultimate fulfillment of God’s presence and provision, has come.
2. “At the present time… we acknowledge that we are journeying in the wilderness… What is it to be in the wilderness? In the desert waste. Why in the desert waste? Because in this world, we thirst in a way that no water could quench. But yet, let us still thirst that we may be filled. For, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled,” (Matthew 5:6). And our thirst is quenched from the rock in the wilderness: for the Rock was Christ, and it was smitten with a rod that the water might flow.” -Augustine, Tractate 28, 9.
Jesus’s Family and Siblings
1. John 7:3-5 shows Jesus had brothers who did not believe in him during his ministry. His most prominent brother was James, later author of the Epistle of James in the Bible.
2. Protestants and Catholics read this section very differently. Protestants say that Jesus had brothers, whereas Catholics say that they were only Jesus’s cousins.
  1. The Catholic Interpretation
    1. Doctrinally, Catholics believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary.
    2. This doctrine was formed in the late-second to early-third century, partially to defend the virgin birth from people who insisted that Mary probably had relations with Joseph or other men to have Jesus.
    3. Some early Christian myths dating from the same timeframe assert that Joseph married Mary at God’s request specifically to defend her and take care of her. He was much older than her and never actually consummated their marriage.
    4. Note that this interpretation evolved to counter the claims of non-Christians against the Bible, but it goes beyond the Bible’s claims to defend the Bible.
  2. Protestant Interpretation
    
    The Greek word used in this instance is adelphoi (ἀδελφοί ), literally “brothers.” Etymologically, the word comes from a (together with) and delphys (womb) to create a word that would literally be something like, “from the same womb.”
    
    While adelphoi can be metaphorical (Paul uses it in this sense throughout his epistles), the context here doesn’t fit a metaphor; these “brothers” taunt and doubt Jesus. They certainly aren’t acting like comrades in any sense of the word.
    
    Another Greek word, anepsios (ἀνεψιός), specifically means “cousin.” It isn’t an uncommon word. It appears in Colossians 4:10 (“Mark, the cousin of Barnabas”), in the Septuagint (Numbers 36:11), and in Josephus’s histories. If these men were Jesus’s cousins, John would have used that word to describe them.
  3. Theological Significance
    
    It matters whether Jesus had siblings because it shapes our understanding of holiness and Jesus’s life. Mary’s holiness is shown in being a normal wife and mother whom God used, ordinary people can be holy. You don’t need to go to a monastery and take a vow of celibacy to be holy.
    
    Jesus having unbelieving siblings who frustrated him means he experienced family conflict and can relate to those torn down by family rather than built up.
  4. [E]ven his brethren did not believe in him. Hence we infer how small is the value of carnal relationship…So much the more ridiculous is the superstition of Papists, who, disregarding everything else in the Virgin Mary, extol her only on the ground of relationship, bestowing on her the title of the Mother of God, as if Christ himself had not reproved the woman who exclaimed from the midst of the crowd, “‘Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that suckled thee;’ for Christ replied, ‘Nay, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God,’” (Luke 11:27-28)” -John Calvin, Commentary on John, John 7, 5.

6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

“My time is not here yet…”
1. Despite his brother’s taunting, Jesus prioritizes God’s timing over public or relational pressure.
2. “[H]alf the power of: a Christian life depends upon its being timely. The bringing forth of fruit in due season is one of the marks of the tree planted by the rivers of water; and one of the signs of the Son of man, who delighted in the law of the Lord, was that he said, “My time is not yet full come.” When it did come, then he went.” -Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions on the Bible, John 7.
3. Jesus’s response is unambiguous about the world’s evil and even implies that his brothers are complicit in it. Why is he so fierce? Because the conversation concerned his identity and work, which are critically important.
  1. Jesus models being both a “lamb” (gentle) and a “lion” (fierce and combative when necessary).
  2. Most of us naturally favor one role; we should learn from Jesus’s example to embody both.

10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

“…he went also, not publicly, but in secret…”

1. Jesus chose to go to the festival secretly, but not because he was afraid. He wanted to fulfill God’s command for devout Jews to go to Jerusalem, but he also wanted to honor God’s timing first and foremost. Making a public statement to his brothers or to Jewish leadership would have pushed the timetable in an unhelpful way.
2. By contrast, the crowds in Jerusalem are very afraid. They whisper about Jesus, but they don’t dare to do it publicly because they’re worried about what the leaders might do.
3. Do not let fear keep you from doing what God has commanded, but also don’t rush in recklessly. If you feel unprepared, it may be a sign to wait for God’s timing.
4. Pray, prepare, and gather the things that you need while you discern the right time to act. Jesus didn’t ignore his mission while he waited on the Father’s timing. He walked closely with the Father and understood when the time was right.
“But who were those that did not speak of Him for fear of the Jews? Undoubtedly those who said, ‘He is a good man,’ not those who said, ‘He deceives the people.’ As for those who said ‘He deceives the people,’ their whispers were heard like the noise of dry leaves. ‘He deceives the people,’ they sounded more and more loudly. ‘He is a good man,’ was whispered more and more quietly. But now, brothers, in spite of the fact that glory of Christ which will give us immortality has not yet come, but now I say, His Church so increases, He has clearly decided to spread his Gospel abroad throughout the whole world, so that it is now ‘He deceives the people,’ is only whispered, and and more and more loudly it sounds forth, ‘He is a good man.’” -Augustine, Tractate 28, 11.

Full Transcript

Fall has begun. The kids are going off to school, and we’re back in the book of John. I think this has a timely word for us. August, when school starts, that is one of two times in a calendar year that people tend to really sit down and think about what they want to accomplish in the coming 12 months. In a calendar year, you have January and the New Year, where everybody makes their resolutions and thinks about the next 12 months. Then you also have the fall when school starts—a time that is built into our schedule from our earliest days as the time to get things underway. So, we think about what we want to accomplish.

That also means you have to wonder: what does God want you to accomplish in the coming 12 months? Not just what are your plans, but what are His plans for you? What has He put on your heart? You don’t want to waste time getting through a year where you’re not doing what God would have you do. Thinking about how to incorporate that into your life well and how to plan on it—that is what so much of the beginning of chapter seven has.

Let’s dig in. We are at chapter 7, verse 1: “After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders were there looking for a way to kill him.” Galilee was a more rural region, and it is where Jesus spent most of his time. Judea was the more urban area; it had the capital, it had Jerusalem, and it was where a lot of stuff happened. It is the difference between Hardin County and Franklin County. Jesus spent his time in the rural area because he knew that the people in Judea were waiting there to kill him. He knew he was up against deep resistance in his life. There were priests and kings that stood against him. Jesus was someone who had some powerful enemies.

Yet, he didn’t just rush in and confront them. It’s kind of weird to think about because we know how the story ends. Jesus does eventually go to Jerusalem. He does face all of the men who want to kill him, and they do kill him. He dies on a cross and conquers death. We know that time is coming, but it’s not yet. Why isn’t Jesus going to Judea? He’s not afraid to go up against powerful people, but he knows that not every opportunity requires you to run in and start a fight. He’s waiting for the right time. He’s not just doing things on his timeline; he’s doing things on God’s timeline.

Verse 2 tells us, “When the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near…” That’s kind of a strange reference for us because we don’t celebrate it. The Festival of Tabernacles was one of the big ones as far as Jewish festivals go. You would go into Jerusalem, the capital, for what was in many ways a harvest festival. This was after you had harvested all of your crops, so you had a little extra time on your hands to go into Jerusalem to celebrate. Not only was it a harvest festival, but it was also a time to remember the forty years that the Israelites walked through the wilderness and were sustained by manna from God. It was a time to remember that they lived in tents and ate whatever God gave them. They were sustained by Him even though they were disloyal; God stayed with them even in the wilderness. To remember what their ancestors had done and the situations they were in, people would go to Jerusalem, bring a tent, and spend some time camping. That’s what the Festival of Tabernacles was.

As the festival approached, verse 3 says, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

There is a lot to talk about right here. First off, Jesus had brothers. I don’t know how often you think about that, but it’s a little strange to consider. They don’t appear in a ton of stories in the Bible, which makes sense since we don’t have a lot of details about Jesus’ childhood. He’s already older at this point in time, but he had siblings. The most prominent of them was James, the writer of the epistle of James, but there were others. None of them believed in him during his lifetime, though they came to faith after.

Now, if you have a Roman Catholic background, or maybe you’ve talked about this with a Catholic friend, you might think something sounds off here. You may have heard from a priest at some point that Jesus did not have siblings. Catholics believe in a doctrine called the perpetual virginity of Mary. In other words, she was not just a virgin before Jesus, but she remained a virgin her whole life long. Consequently, they believe this passage would be better translated as “cousins.”

Why do Protestants and Catholics believe something different here? To put it succinctly, we believe Jesus had siblings because that’s what the Bible says. The word used here for brothers in the original Greek is adelphoi, and adelphoi does not mean cousins; it means brothers. The etymology of the word shows this, as it is made up of a prefix meaning “connected” and delphus, which means “womb”—connected by the womb.

In English, when we use the word “brother,” we can use it literally or metaphorically. For example, if I came in this morning, saw Jim, and said, “Jim, brother, how’s it going?” you guys wouldn’t sit around and think, “Oh, they’re related! I didn’t know they were brothers.” You would know it just means they are close, on the same page, or comrades in arms. The same was true in Greek. The word adelphoi can be used literally or figuratively. The apostle Paul uses it many times in the epistles metaphorically, such as when he writes, “Brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant of this.” Anytime he uses that term, he is using adelphoi.

In this instance, we have to look at the context. Were these individuals on the same page as Jesus? Were they comrades in arms? Would it make sense for this to be a metaphorical use of the word? No. They are making fun of Jesus and doubting him. This would not be a good use of the term metaphorically; it would make no sense. So, we have to assume it’s literal: brothers of the same womb.

They had a completely different word for cousin in Greek—anepsio. It’s not like they didn’t have a word for it. Paul actually uses the word anepsio in the book of Colossians, chapter 4 verse 10, when he talks about Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. Right there, we can see Paul certainly knew the word for cousin. Furthermore, the people who translated the Old Testament into Greek around the time Jesus was alive used anepsio as well. Because not every person throughout the Roman Empire spoke perfect Hebrew, they translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, and you can see instances of the word cousin there—such as in the book of Numbers, chapter 36 verse 11. Secular sources, like the histories of Josephus (the premier historian of that era), also commonly used this word to mean cousin. So, why didn’t the Gospel writer use the word cousin if these were Jesus’s cousins? Because they weren’t his cousins; they were his brothers.

That brings up a different question: why would Catholics believe that Jesus did not have brothers if the text uses that word? For that, you have to dig into the history of doctrine. Very early in the Christian Church, all the way back in the late second and early third centuries, there were people who did not believe that Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin. People have been making arguments against Christianity for hundreds of years; we haven’t invented new ones. Back then, critics said, “Hold on, Mary, a virgin, had a child? That doesn’t make sense. You have to have a guy in the mix.” They insisted that Jesus must have been born from an earthly father and that Mary wasn’t a virgin after all.

In response, some of the early Christians argued against those critics by taking it a step further. They said, “You don’t think Mary was a virgin? Let me tell you, she was the ultimate virgin. She never knew a man before she had Jesus, and she never knew one after, her whole life long.” From a Protestant perspective, we appreciate the spirit of what they were trying to do in defending the fact that Jesus had a heavenly Father. However, the argument itself is flawed. You shouldn’t have to claim something beyond the Bible to prove the Bible. Scripture is sufficient in and of itself.

We disagree with that doctrine because the biblical evidence doesn’t suggest Mary was a nun; it suggests she was a person like us. Why does this matter? Why spend so much time on this piece of history? You should care because it makes a difference in the way you think about what a holy person looks like, and it changes how you view the life of Jesus. What made Mary so special is that she participated in the most miraculous thing that God did in all of history. But was she holy because she lived like a nun, had a husband but was never intimate with him, and spent all her time in prayer? Or was she holy because God chose to work through a regular person? Mary was not so different from a lot of us.

It also highlights the reality of Jesus’s everyday experience. He had brothers and sisters, and they were at odds with him. I bet some of you have older siblings who were a bit of a goody-two-shoes in your eyes, and it can be frustrating to follow after them. Imagine if your older sibling was literally Jesus Christ. You can see why they might get frustrated. You would go to school, and on the first day, the teacher would say, “Oh, you’re Jesus’ sibling. He was great. I’m glad you’re in this class.” You would get home, and you’d constantly be compared to him. We compare ourselves to Jesus and know we don’t meet his perfect standard, but to live with that every day in your own home must have been incredibly hard.

You can also imagine it from Jesus’s perspective. Here is a man who is perfect, and he’s not living a perfect life just to show someone up—he’s living it for them. He is living a perfect life for his siblings, for his parents, and for the world. Yet, they didn’t understand or appreciate it. They thought he was a little full of himself. When he started talking about being the Messiah, they essentially said, “All right buddy, whatever.” Jesus faced resistance not only from kings and priests, but within his own home.

I am very blessed. When I have a hard day and everything feels like it’s against me, I get to go home to a wife who is so supportive, children who are cute as a button, parents I can call, and a sister I can talk with. I have an incredible support network in my family. That’s one of the reasons churches should strive to support families. You want to help families live well because that’s what God wants. God wants the family to be a blessing. He wants husbands to help disciple their wives, wives to help disciple their children, and families to hold each other together. That is a massive blessing, but not everyone enjoys that luxury.If you ever feel that way—if you say, “Sometimes my family tears me apart more than they build me up”—Jesus knows. Jesus endured that too. You are not alone.

Look at what his brothers say specifically in verse 3: “Leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” In other words, they are saying, “You think you’re a hot shot? Mr. Big Fish in a small pond out here in Galilee? Go into Judea and show everyone your miracles. They’re going to love it.”

How does Jesus respond? My temptation when someone is spouting off like that would be to avoid getting into it—just give one of those fake laughs, try to move on, and not make things awkward. But Jesus makes it a little bit awkward. He goes right there, leaving some tension in the room when they are done. He tells them to go on to the festival, but adds, “I am not going up to this festival because my time has not yet fully come. Of course, you’re comfortable with the world; they’ll love you. The world is evil, and I am against the world.”

Why is Jesus having this conversation? Why doesn’t he just laugh it off and move on? Jesus was gentle, but he was also fierce. He could be a lamb, and he could be a lion, depending on the circumstances. Here, he is talking about something of the utmost importance: who he is and what his work is. He is not going to make light of that. He is not going to be gentle when something that vital is on the line, and that is a lesson we could all learn from.

Naturally, very few people, if any, are born being equally comfortable as both the lion and the lamb. We are rarely naturally adept at being combative when the time calls for it and gentle when the situation demands it; usually, we are comfortable with one or the other. Some people are deeply comfortable in conflict, but when the time comes to relax afterward and build one another up, they feel awkward and don’t know what to do because they are just waiting for the next fight. Other people are naturally gentle, but when the time comes to stand up and confront a situation, they get clumsy and hesitant. Jesus is perfectly both lion and lamb. He is gentle and he is fierce, and we need to learn from him. It is not easy, but it is important.

This is where the narrative can get a little confusing if you aren’t looking closely. In verse 8, Jesus says he is not going to the festival, but then verse 10 says, “However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.” Why is Jesus going if he just said he wasn’t going to?

Jesus was simply refusing to go in the way his brothers demanded. He was not going to use the festival as a public PR opportunity to aggressively declare who he was. However, devout Jews were commanded by God to attend the Festival of Tabernacles. God didn’t say, “Hey, if you’ve got some spare time, it would be real great if you could roll into Jerusalem.” If you were a follower of God, this is what you did. Jesus wasn’t about to take the year off from obedience. If the Father commanded it, he was going to do it. So, sure enough, he went—not to prove a point to his siblings, but privately, to be a keeper of the law and to fulfill what God required.

Verse 11 continues: “Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, ‘Where is he?’ Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, he deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.”

Contrast the crowd’s silence with what we have seen from Jesus. Jesus was avoiding a public confrontation with the leaders because it wasn’t the right time; he was listening and waiting for God’s perfect timing. But the crowds in Jerusalem who wanted to talk weren’t staying quiet out of a structured sense of divine timing—they were just afraid. They didn’t want to get into a conflict with the leaders.

As you look ahead at these next 12 months and think about what you want to accomplish, I would bet God has put something specific on your heart. There is likely something you feel called to do for Him in this coming calendar year. And maybe you are a little afraid of it. Maybe you think to yourself that there is a personal cost associated with it that you don’t want to pay. Maybe your schedule is already packed, you don’t have time for one more thing, and you’re wondering if God can just wait another year. Maybe you don’t want to come off as weird to the people around you, and you aren’t interested in looking strange or paying that price.

Whatever the reason, if you are afraid, don’t be. If God is with you, who can stand against you? Why would you know what God wants for you and choose not to do it? What a tragic way to waste a year of your life. Do you think God put you on this earth and said, “Well, they have a set number of years, but this upcoming one doesn’t really matter. They can just fritter that one away with whatever they feel like because I don’t have any work for them this year”? You are a servant of God, and He has work for you.

Do not be afraid. That doesn’t mean you should leave today feeling like you have to run blindly right into the fire. Maybe it isn’t the exact time yet. Pray about it. If you feel unprepared, maybe you are. There is a proper season for the work He has for you. Pray to Him, think deeply about it, and discern the right timing. What do you need to gather? What is the right moment to step out into what He is asking?

When Jesus came to this earth, he didn’t say, “Well, I’m not sure when the Father wants me to die on that cross, so I’m just not even going to worry about it.” No, Jesus lived in an intimate, constant relationship with the Father, waiting and preparing. He didn’t wait because he was kicking the can down the road; he waited because he knew there was an exact right time for everything.

Pray to God about what He has put on your heart for this coming year. Prepare yourself, and trust that He is entirely sufficient for the work He has laid out for you. Amen.

John 6:41-71: Who Can Accept It?

May 28, 2026September 2, 2026 ~ Vincent

Video Teaching
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Full Transcript

From the Pulpit

Commentary

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

The crowd doubted the evidence first, insisting that Jesus owed them a better miracle since their ancestors ate bread from Moses. Now, they move from attacking the evidence to attacking his identity.
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?

1. They grumble at Jesus’s claim to be the bread from heaven, questioning his origins: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph… How can he now say, I came down from heaven?”
2. “These Jews were far off from the bread of heaven, and knew not how to hunger after it. They had the jaws of their heart languid; with open ears they were deaf, they saw and stood blind.” -Augustine, Tractate 26, 1.

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Christ’s Response
1. Jesus answers their attack on his identity by explaining their doubt. Why can’t they come to him? Because the Father has not drawn them. All of this is in the Father’s plan.
2. Jesus is the only one able to see God. He has knowledge in a way nobody else has. Even Moses could only see God by hiding in a rock and seeing his back (Exodus 33:21-22). Jesus is God and can see God in His fullness.
3. He reiterates his promise: those who believe have eternal life. Previous bread only delayed death. Christ’s flesh will end it.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,”
1. “[H]ave I not myself heard you say in your heart, ‘Jesus, Jesus, my whole trust Is in thee: I know that no righteousness of my own can save me, but only thou, O Christ, sink or swim, I cast myself on thee?’ Oh, my brother, thou art drawn by the Father, for thou couldst not have come unless he had drawn thee. Sweet thought! And if he has drawn thee, dost thou know what is the delightful inference? Let me repeat one text, and may that comfort thee: ‘The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.’ Yes, my poor weeping brother, inasmuch as thou art now coming to Christ, God has drawn thee; and inasmuch as he has drawn thee, it is a proof that he has loved thee from before the foundation of the world. Let thy heart leap within thee, thou art one of his.” -Charles Spurgeon, “Human Inability,” Mar. 7, 1858.

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

First, they doubted the evidence, telling Jesus that their ancestors got bread from Moses and they deserved a better miracle. Second, they doubted his identity, insisting that he was just the son of Joseph, not anyone from heaven. Now, they doubt his message, claiming that he’s not even coherent.
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
1. The crowd fixates on a highly literal objection: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” even though Jesus speaks in a metaphor that points towards a profound spiritual reality.
  1. This rejection is very similar to when Nicodemos objected to Jesus’s language about being “born again” in John 3:4.
Jesus doesn’t back down; he doubles down: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you… my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” He has no interest in slowly chipping away at his message to accommodate people who have no real interest in it.
1. “Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man – Spiritually: unless ye draw continual virtue from him by faith. Eating his flesh is only another expression for believing.” -John Wesley, John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes of the NT, Jn 6.
2. “It should be noted that this can refer either to spiritual eating or to sacramental eating. If it refers to spiritual eating, there is no doubt about the application… However, if it is applied to sacramental eating, a problem arises… since in the one receiving the Eucharist actual reverence and devotion are required, which those who do not have the full use of reason, such as children and the mentally ill, do not have, and therefore it is in no way to be given to them.” -Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John, Lecture 7, 969.

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

“This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
1. Often, so called “hard teachings” are less about comprehension and more about acceptance.
  1. One of the top defenses against countercultural commands is “I don’t understand this part.” Verses like Mark 10:2-12 (Jesus on Divorce) and 1 Timothy 1:10 (Paul on sexuality) are more than clear as they’re worded, but many still claim that they can’t understand what the Bible says on these topics.
  2. Often “I’m confused” masks unwillingness to accept teachings that challenge personal preferences. The Christian life asks, “Do we trust that God knows more than we do and that his ways are good?”
2. Jesus asks, “Does this offend you?” and warns that if they stumble here, they will be further confounded by future events like his ascension.
3. Jesus does not water down his teaching or chase those leaving; he invites trust beyond comfortable words, preparing disciples for wild things to come.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them… no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
1. Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray him.
“Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”
1. Jesus’s words are “full of Spirit and life;” understanding and embracing them relies on divine action, not just human effort.
Augustine famously wrote about this struggle to know God and approach him by drawing on Romans 10:14 in Confessions.
1. “Lord, what comes first: asking for your help or praising you? Do we start a life with you by asking for your help? Or do we need to know who you are before we can do that? How could we ask for your help if we don’t know who you are? We might start talking to you like you were some totally different being! Or do we start out by asking for your help so that we can know you? But how could we ask for help from a god that we don’t believe in? And how could we believe in that god if nobody brought the Gospel to us? In the end, people who seek the Lord always end up praising him, because anyone who seeks will find, and anyone who finds will praise. I’m seeking you, Lord, by asking for your help. I’m calling on your name while believing completely in you because the Gospel was brought to me. You gave me faith, and now that faith is crying out to you.” -Augustine, Confessions, Ch. 1.
2. If you can’t see God, pray to Him. “Knock and the door will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7)

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

“You do not want to leave too, do you?
1. As people leave due to his “hard teaching, Jesus asks the Twelve if they also wish to leave. It had to have been an emotionally-charged moment as thousands left and he turned to his closest friends.
2. Peter’s confession: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” isn’t just a buddy cheering up a sad friend. Peter sincerely believes in everything that Jesus is said. He’s seen the evidence, he acknowledges Jesus’s identity, and he believes in the message.
“Yet one of you is a devil!”
1. Jesus repeatedly forewarns about Judas’s betrayal, which does not change Judas’s course. What God has destined will not be changed by human will, even if Judas has every opportunity to do otherwise.
2. The disciples were tested through all of this. The crowd left, but they stayed despite how unpopular it was. This wasn’t the end of the testing. Their faith would continue to be tested throughout their lives, and not everyone would pass in the end.
3. “Mark the wisdom of Christ: He neither, by exposing him, makes him shameless and contentious; nor again emboldens him, by allowing him to think himself concealed.” -Chrysostom, Hom. xlvii. 4.

Full Transcript

For weeks we have talked about this question: If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t he give us everything we want? We have looked at wrong answer after wrong answer, haven’t we? We’ve looked at the prosperity gospel—this claim that God wants to give you everything you could possibly imagine, and the only thing holding him back is you! You don’t have the faith. If you did, you’d have that new car. That doesn’t align with scripture. The apostles were not promised health or wealth, and they did not get it.

We looked at the claims that God deals with spiritual stuff, that he doesn’t deal with earthly stuff because that’s beneath him. Don’t go to him for stuff like food or money; it’s beneath him. He deals with spiritual things. Also, not true. Throughout this chapter, we saw God dealing with very physical things. He multiplied bread and fish; He helped His apostles get across a sea. These are all very physical, worldly things going on, and he deals with each of them without being disgusted. God made the world; he certainly doesn’t hate it. It’s not beneath him.

Then last week, we even looked at the classic atheist response: if God’s all-powerful, why doesn’t he give us everything we want? They would say, because he can’t, because he’s not real. We see bad things happen every day. If there was an all-powerful, good God, wouldn’t he stop those bad things from happening? Of course he would, but he doesn’t—because he can’t, because he’s not real. The atheists would have us dead to rights if that’s the God the Bible described. If the Bible said there is an all-powerful God, and he’s good, and no bad things will ever happen to you, what would we say in response?

That’s not what the Bible says. The Bible never says that you’re not going to suffer. As a matter of fact, many people in the Bible do suffer despite following God. The true biblical answer to this that we finally get to dwell on now is this: God won’t always give us what we want, but He’ll give us what we need. God’s miracles are not at our beck and call. There it is, and he has told us what his will is. He’s told us in no uncertain terms what he wants to do. He said, “I want you to live eternally. I want to destroy sin and death.” Part of the problem is we are still addicted in many ways to sin and death.

Giving us what we want would actually go against what he wants in many cases. God has to find a way to rehabilitate us, to help us seek what is good in an eternal sense, not just in a temporary sense. Sometimes that won’t be easy. The question is, can we trust him? Knowing what he said he’s going to do, knowing what his goals are, and knowing that they don’t always align with ours, do we trust him?

We’re going to look at that even more today as we continue on from where we left off. Let’s briefly refresh our memories. We began chapter six four weeks ago. All the way back then, where did we start? Jesus was teaching and he was healing by the Sea of Galilee, and there were all these people—five thousand or more. They didn’t have anything to eat. Jesus turns to Philip, “Hey, we need to feed these people.” Philip says, “Impossible! Can’t be done!” Meanwhile, a boy offers Jesus some bread and some fish, and Jesus starts handing it out. He just keeps going and going. There is not only enough; there is more than enough. At this point, the crowd gets to thinking and they say, “Hey, if he can do that with bread, what else can he do? I want this guy working for me. Let’s make him our king whether he wants to be king or not. He’s going to solve our problems.” Jesus goes up a mountain to pray, and he tells his disciples to go across the sea.

That night there is a horrible storm, and they are paddling and paddling, trying to get across the sea. All night they only get halfway. Muscles aching, blisters on their hands, not getting where they want to go, but Jesus comes to them over the water. The second they trust him and let him onto their boat, they’re right where they want to be. They have learned a lesson, but the crowd has not. The next day they wake up and say, “Hey, where’d Jesus go? I can’t find him anywhere.” So after searching, they get on some boats. They go across the Sea of Galilee, and they start searching on the other side. Finally, they go into Capernaum. They find Jesus teaching there in a synagogue, and they start asking him questions. They say, “Jesus, where have you been?” He says, “You’re here because you want bread and fish. You want something that’s going to be good for a day. I want to give you something that’s good for eternity. Believe in me. Believe in me and you will have eternal life.”

They immediately start to doubt him. The first doubt they throw out there is they doubt whether he’s given them sufficient evidence to believe in him. They say, “Okay, so you gave us some bread once. Not a big deal. Moses did that. He did the bread thing. You’re going to have to do better than bread if you want us to believe in you.” Which is pretty ironic. They came all this way because of the bread. Obviously, they were impressed, but the second Jesus says, “Trust in me, not in yourselves,” then they start to bristle. Then they start to take a step back. Hold on! I don’t know if I am ready to trust you. I liked the bread trick, but that’s not enough. They’re going to continue to take steps back. They’re going to doubt Jesus three times throughout the course of this, moving from doubting whether he’s given them enough evidence, to doubting who he is next, and then finally they are going to doubt whether his message even makes sense at all.

That is where we pick up after the first doubt, and Jesus has reaffirmed that he does indeed offer eternal life. He gets a little wordier this time, a little fuller. Pay attention to that. We pick up at verse forty-one. At this, the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” This guy’s not so special. I know his dad. That’s Joe’s kid. This is not a big deal. Now he’s acting like he’s all special. “I’m from heaven. You’re not.” I know where you’re from. I know your parents. Again, strange, isn’t it?

Just yesterday, they called him the prophet in the line of Moses and wanted to force him to be their king. They obviously knew there was something special about this guy, but the second Jesus tries to acknowledge that and explain it to them, they take another step back. Jesus responds to their second doubt saying, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and has learned comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Notice again—he’s gotten even more complicated. Jesus doesn’t water it down when people object. If anything, He seems to get a little more intense. He’ll explain why. But notice also here he’s gotten more complex, but he hasn’t gotten insanely, unfollowably complex. The core of his message that he said all the way back in verse twenty-nine is still there, and we know how he got there. He said, “You are here for bread. You were impressed by loaves and fishes. You wanted bread for a day. I want to give you bread that will last for eternity. Believe in me.” He’s gotten a little more complex, but that’s still there, and they’ve seen the argument kind of develop. I don’t think it’s unfollowable. I don’t think at this point there is any rational reason to believe that Jesus is saying, “Hey, come up here and take a bite out of my arm. It’s going to do something for you.” No, obviously he’s not.

The crowd goes in that direction anyway. They argue sharply among themselves and say, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Suddenly, Jesus doesn’t make sense to them anymore. We saw this all the way back in John chapter 3 with Nicodemus. Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” And what did Nicodemus say? “Jesus, come on. That’s ridiculous. What, you want me to crawl back inside my mother’s womb? You don’t make any sense.” Jesus did not invent metaphor. It was around; it was well-established since the beginning of time. Nicodemus knew that Jesus was not proposing what he said, in the same way that this crowd understands that Jesus does not literally want them to go up and tear him to pieces with their teeth. They know what he’s asking for. They just don’t want to do it. The confusion with the crowd is not up here. It’s not that they don’t understand; it’s that they’re not willing to accept it, and that’s a different thing.

I’ve seen this many times in the church. I remember, for example, there was one church where they would read two scriptures every Sunday, and it was from the lectionary, so they were all pre-chosen for the entire year. The first scripture would always be read by a member of the congregation. The second scripture would always be read by the pastor, and the pastor would preach from the second passage. One day, the congregation member gets up to read their first one. She stands up there and she reads the Mark passage—Mark chapter ten, verses two through twelve:

Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” “What did Moses command you?” he replied. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” And when they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Sure enough, they read this. Then they followed it up with this in front of the whole church. They said, “And as a divorced person, I’m confused. I’m so confused by this. I hope the pastor’s about to tell us what this means because I don’t understand it. I sure hope they have some answers.” It was uncomfortable. The pastor got up there and disarmed the situation. They said, “I’m actually going to preach on the second passage. But if anyone’s confused and would like to talk about the first passage you heard, come to my office hours. Delighted to talk about that or anything else you’re confused about.” I think the uncomfortable thing wasn’t necessarily the combativeness; it wasn’t that as much as the fact that the passage isn’t really that unclear. She knew what it said; she just didn’t like it. She wasn’t willing to accept it, and again, that can happen in so many places.

I remember with the split of the United Methodist Church, I can remember a colleague coming to me and saying, “I am wrestling with this because one of the things people seem to disagree on is same-sex marriage. And I just don’t understand. I read this morning in First Timothy, chapter one, verse ten. It says, ‘Those who practice homosexuality will not enter the kingdom of God.’ That’s what it says, but I don’t know what that means. That doesn’t make any sense because we don’t know what Paul was dealing with. That could mean any number of things. I mean, maybe he’s talking about prostitution. Maybe he’s talking about pedophilia. We just can’t know what Paul meant. We can’t know. I’m too confused. I don’t understand what he was trying to say. If only he would have left a second letter explaining his first letter, maybe we could have known what he meant, but we just can’t. It’s so confusing.”

I responded and said, “Well, what if he meant what he said? What if the two thousand years of Christians who all believed that he meant what he said were right, and it’s exactly what it looks like? I think your concerns are because the ethics that are often practiced today suggest that if you have any restrictions on sexuality, you must hate someone. Jesus never tells us to hate anyone—by no means. We’re supposed to love people, but there are certain ways that God tells us to shepherd our sexuality. That’s what the church has traditionally held. That’s what makes sense in the passage. What if Paul meant what he said?” He just responded, “That’s ridiculous. You’re being ridiculous. You can’t know what he meant. You can’t know. It’s impossible to know.” He knew what it said. He just wasn’t willing to accept it.

I don’t say this as someone who always is willing to accept what the Bible says immediately. We’ve all had those instances, haven’t we, where we read something—something that touches a nerve, something that calls us out, something that makes us say, “Jesus is going too far here. That’s not… I’m confused. I don’t understand what this means.” Often the confusion is not up here; it’s here. God has shared something that isn’t the way we would have done it. Do we trust him? Do we trust that he knows more than we do, and that his ways are good?

The crowd doesn’t. The crowd thinks he’s too baffling. They’re not ready to trust him. In verse fifty-three, Jesus responds again and again. Notice he will not make it even a little bit easier; he will get more intense again. He says, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”

“This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Really intense. He’s just gone right out there. They’ve said, “I object on this premise,” and he says, “Let’s talk about that premise. I’m going to go with it. I’m going to run with it.” Why is he doing this? He’s about to explain. Verse 60: On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Notice what they say there. They don’t say, “This is a hard teaching. Who can understand it?” They understand. This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?”

Here he’s explaining why he is getting more intense. If he was chasing people down saying, “No, don’t walk away. Hear me out. Let’s work through this together”—Jesus doesn’t do that, though, and that’s consistent throughout the scripture. Think about the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and said, “Jesus, I need you. I want to follow you. What do I need to do?” Jesus said, “Sell everything, give the money to the poor, and come follow me.” The man leaves sad because he’s not willing to do that. Jesus doesn’t chase him down; he lets him go. That seems to be the same spirit Jesus has here. He gets more intense. He doesn’t water it down. He says, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?”

If you can’t believe this, this is just a starting place. This is nothing. Just wait, things get crazier from here. If you can’t accept this, there are going to be things to come that will utterly confound you. You are going to see the miraculous and balk. You are going to see things like me ascending—I’m going to leave. What are you going to do? You’re going to panic! Why? Because right now you’re counting on me making it easy, coming to you, and constantly making things easier. I don’t want you to trust my pretty words. I want you to trust me. Do you trust me? Because if you do, you will be able to weather anything that comes—all the wild stuff. That’s good for us today, too. God isn’t done doing wild things. If we can’t trust him in the little stuff, how can we trust him with things that haven’t even happened yet?

“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

When we see Jesus getting more intense and not chasing people down, it can feel like he must hate them or that he doesn’t care about them. We think if he really cared, he would make it easier. Jesus says, no. Everything I have spoken is spirit and life. Those who are enabled by the Father will get it. What does that mean? Here, we’ve got a group of thousands of people that we know are genuinely interested in Jesus. They have followed him to both sides of a sea and hunted for him on either side. They care, but they’re looking by their own power, not by God’s power. When humanity sinned and fell away from God, we became incapable of doing good.

We were meant to function hand in hand with God. The Holy Spirit is supposed to be our fuel, keeping us going and drawing us closer to God. When we cut ourselves off from God, how are we supposed to do good without the Holy Spirit? We’re capable of no good without God, and that includes things like knowing God. Even just knowing God is a good thing, and without God, we’re not even capable of that.

So what’s the solution? We have to ask God for help in knowing God. That seems a little crazy, I know. It’s a bit of a mind-bender. Even in his seminal work, Confessions, Augustine of Hippo admits that this is incredibly confusing. How do I do that? How do I call on a God that I don’t know yet? I have to know Him to call on Him, don’t I? And yet, when a preacher brings that word, it provides enough information to help us call on Him. You are loyal, God. You listen, and you allow us to draw on you to know you better. The only real way to know God is through God. We need His help to even know Him.

That is applicable to us today as well. If you are in a place where you can’t see God—you are looking and you just can’t see Him in the world around you—ask him for help. Just pray a simple prayer: God, reveal yourself to me. Help me to see you in this world. Help me to know you better. Knock and the door will be opened.

Verse 66: From this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the twelve. We know Jesus knows the answer to this. That’s been one of the focuses throughout John chapter six. Every time there has been a question, the text tells us that Jesus already knew. It said just a few verses ago that Jesus already knew who was going to follow him and who wasn’t. He knows. But you have to imagine this is an emotionally charged question, because watching thousands of people turn away—thousands of people he loved, thousands of people he came here to save and to die for—watching them walk away must have broken his heart. He turns to the twelve: “You don’t want to leave me too, do you?” Simon Peter responds, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” What a beautiful response. Peter gets a lot of things wrong, but this is beautiful. Lord, to whom shall we go? Where else could we go? Jesus, this is home. We belong with you. We wouldn’t know where else to go. Of course, we’re going to be here.

Is Jesus your hope? Could you say that? Who else would we go to? There is nowhere else. I’ll be here no matter what; it’s where I belong. “You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” He doesn’t say, “We have come to believe that we believe in you,” or, “We’ve come to believe that it’s possible that you are the way.” He doesn’t say, “We have come to believe that we have faith that you are the one.” He says, “We believe and we know.” The witness of God opened his eyes. He doesn’t just theorize; he knows. The evidence is sufficient. He knows.

The Holy Spirit can do that. You can know who God is. Wouldn’t this be a perfect place to end? Honestly, for a while, I thought it ended there. Isn’t it a nice triumphal ending? Everyone leaves, but the disciples stay and they’re not going anywhere. It doesn’t end there, though; it goes on just a little more. Jesus replies, “Have I not chosen you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the twelve, was later to betray him.

This is not the only time Jesus says something like this. There are multiple instances in Scripture where Jesus, in front of Judas, foretells that Judas will betray him. It doesn’t seem to change Judas’s mind. Judas does not seem to be someone who is particularly open to meditating on the words of Jesus. We’ve all known that person who, whenever they hear criticism, looks at everyone else. I imagine Judas is like that. If Judas were around today and working in an office, and the boss came out and said, “All right guys, this quarter we’re going to have to work extra hard. I know some people have been slacking. I need you to buckle down,” Judas would be there saying, “Yeah! I know you guys have been slacking. Time to get serious.” Meanwhile, Judas is the one sleeping at his desk. He doesn’t even recognize it. He just looks at everyone else and says they’re the problem.

I imagine Judas is in just the same place here. Judas unapologetically is the one who is going to betray Jesus, and yet when Jesus says, “One of you is going to betray me,” I imagine Judas looking really severely at everyone else, maybe even looking at Peter. But it’s Judas. He’s a hypocrite. He doesn’t think these things through.

The passage ends on a note of telling them that it’s not done. They have faith here and they’ve learned, but it’s not over. There is more to come. There are new challenges that they will have to learn to trust God through. They’ve learned to trust Jesus even when the crowd turns away, but now there is a new circumstance: one of the twelve will turn away. There’s something new that they will go through, and they will need a new depth of trust in Jesus because even one of the ones that he chose will turn away.

The Christian life is always one of new challenges. There’s never a moment where you just say, “I have faith in Jesus,” and you’re done, you’re finished, and you never have to worry about it again because you trust Him and that’s good forever. You will still be concerned, you will still be afraid, and you will still be confused. The Christian life continually involves gaining a new, deeper faith. There are always new things that you will wrestle with and new challenges that life throws at you. Can you trust Jesus there? Can you trust him in what’s next? That development of faith doesn’t end after you just do it once. Continually, we are invited to know him better and to trust him even more.

Here at the end, let’s ask our question one last time: If God is all-powerful, why doesn’t he give me what I want? Why doesn’t he guarantee health and wealth? God’s miracles are not at our beck and call; they’re at His. We can ask him for help, and sometimes we’ll get it, and sometimes we won’t. Ultimately, a big part of this is trusting his will. He’s made his will known to us; he’s told us what he’s seeking. He is seeking the end of sin and death itself. He is seeking something wonderful, and he’s trying to help us. He’s told us that.

Can we trust him? Can we trust him when things are easy and when things are hard, when we get the miracle and when we don’t? God has not promised us anything in this life; he’s promised us everything in the next. Do we believe that? Can we trust him? The disciples learned to trust him. The crowd did not; they found every excuse in the book. Can we trust him? We have to learn to trust if we really want to be followers of God—to trust that in all circumstances he is seeking our good, our wellness, and that he loves us immensely.

Amen.