Never Has a Man Spoken in This Way

In one paragraph

This message came from John 7, Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles. Pastor Ray walked through the crowd's divided opinions about Jesus, the rising conflict with the religious leadership, and Jesus' climactic public declaration that He is the source of living water. The sermon kept returning to a simple question: who do you say Jesus is, and what is your heart's posture toward finding out? The...

Read together

1. Philippians 4:7 quoted in the Gideon testimony about Perry Schlegel finding peace after reading a hotel Bible
2. John 7:10 Jesus going up to the feast not publicly but as though in secret
3. John 7:14-15 Jesus teaching in the temple mid-feast, crowds astonished he was learned without formal education
4. John 7:16-18 Jesus saying his teaching is not his own but from the one who sent him
5. John 7:19-20 Jesus asking why they seek to kill him, crowd responding that he has a demon
6. John 7:21-24 Jesus defending healing a man on the Sabbath, telling them to judge with righteous judgment
7. John 7:25-29 Jerusalem crowd debating whether rulers know he is the Christ and Jesus crying out about who sent him
8. John 7:30-31 officers sent to arrest Jesus but no one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come, many believed
9. John 7:32-36 Pharisees and chief priests sending officers to arrest Jesus, Jesus saying he would go where they cannot come
10. John 7:37-39 on the last great day of the feast Jesus cried out inviting the thirsty to come drink, John's note about the Holy Spirit
11. John 7:40-44 crowd divided saying he is the prophet or the Christ, others doubting because he is from Galilee
12. John 7:45-53 officers returning without Jesus, Pharisees rebuking them, Nicodemus defending due process, all going to their homes
13. John 3:16 noted as originally spoken to Nicodemus during his nighttime conversation with Jesus
14. John 3:7-8 Jesus telling Nicodemus the Spirit blows where it will, used to contrast pride with humility before God
15. John 5 healing of the man at the Pool of Siloam on the Sabbath, referenced as the one deed Jesus mentions in John 7
16. John 6 feeding of the five thousand, crowd declaring this is the prophet, Jesus slipping away when they tried to make him king
17. Isaiah 12:3 read at the culmination of the Feast of Tabernacles, you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation
18. Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses foretelling a prophet who would rise from among the people whom they should listen to
19. Micah 5:2 scripture stating the Christ comes from Bethlehem, village of David, cited by the crowd debating Jesus's origins
20. Matthew 11:28 used in the benediction, come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray pointed out that the crowd was split between 'he's a good man' and 'he's misleading the people,' and asked whether that kind of polarized reaction to Jesus still happens today. Where have you seen that, and how do you respond when you encounter it?
2. Jesus said that anyone willing to do God's will would know whether his teaching came from God or from himself. What does it look like in practice to approach Scripture or a message with that kind of willingness, and what gets in the way of it?
3. The Pharisees dismissed the crowd by saying they were accursed because they didn't know the law the way the Pharisees did. Pastor Ray connected that to the idea that 'if they knew the Bible like we know the Bible, they would agree with us.' Have you ever caught yourself thinking that way, and what does it cost us when we do?
4. Nicodemus defended Jesus on a legal technicality rather than personally. He had already had an intimate conversation with Jesus in John 3, yet he stopped short of standing up for him openly. What holds people back from moving from private belief to public identification with Jesus?
5. On the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and said he was the living water Isaiah had pointed to, the fulfillment of what they had been celebrating for centuries. Pastor Ray closed by connecting that to the invitation in Matthew to bring our burdens to Jesus. What burden are you carrying right now that you could bring to him this week?