Luke 10
1 After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others,
 - Some Greek manuscripts say 70 others say 72
 - NAS, HCSB & The Message say 70
 - CSB, ESV, NLT & NIV say 72
 - Genesis 10 – Hebrew text has 70 names of nations – Greek text has 72 names.
 - Doesn’t really matter.
and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.
 - Who does the harvesting?
3 Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t carry a money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals; don’t greet anyone along the road.
 - This principle changed after the cross.
 - Luke 22: 35 He also said to them, “When I sent you out without money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Not a thing,” they said.
36 Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a money-bag should take it, and also a traveling bag. And whoever doesn’t have a sword should sell his robe and buy one.[1]
 
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ 6 If a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Don’t move from house to house. 8 When you enter any town, and they welcome you, eat the things set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.’ 10 When you enter any town, and they don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We are wiping off even the dust of your town that clings to our feet as a witness against you. Know this for certain: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

UNREPENTANT TOWNS
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
 - Both cities around Capernaum (where Jesus did most of His miracles)
 - They were Jews influenced by the religion of the Pharisees.
For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

• 2 pagan Gentile cities on the coast of the Mediterranean that were NW of Galilee.

they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
 - Mourning and repentance would have occurred.
14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

• Judgment? – Great White Throne judgment.
• Revelation 20:11-15 - 11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.[2]

15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades. 16 Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

THE RETURN OF THE SEVENTY-TWO
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
 - They were “joyful” because of the ministry they had accomplished.
18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

• Implies that Satan is in heaven.
• Revelation 12:10 - 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah
have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers
has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night. [3]

• Rev 20:10 10 The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.[4]

19 Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you. 20 However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

• The source of your joy doesn’t come from what has been accomplished in ministry… but from the joy of your salvation.
• Don’t lose focus!

 
THE SON REVEALS THE FATHER
21 At that time he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.

• Wise in their own eyes have no wisdom.

Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure. 22 All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him.”

• Mystery form of the kingdom.
• We can know because of the Spirit.

23 Then turning to his disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings (David, etc.) wanted to see the things you see but didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.”

• Ephesians 3:3-6 - 3 The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. 4 By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. 5 This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6 The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.[5]

 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
25 Then an expert in the law (Pharisee) stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do (action) to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;” and “your neighbor as yourself.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)
28 “You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do (present tense - continually) this and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan (half breed Jew) on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii (denarii = days wage), gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
 - Jesus wanted to prove to this lawyer that he was so far away in his thinking.
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
37 “The one who showed mercy to him (couldn’t even say the word ‘Samaritan’),” he said.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
 
MARTHA AND MARY
38 While they were traveling, he entered a village (Bethany – one of the 35/36 homes), and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”
41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.” [6]

• Martha – Jesus came and we are to serve Him
• Mary – Jesus came and we are to enjoy Him
• Martha condemned Mary for not serving

Mary stayed focused on enjoying Jesus

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 22:35–36). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Re 20:11–15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Re 12:10). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Re 20:10). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Eph 3:3–6). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 10:1–42). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

John 9 – the blind Jewish man has been excommunicated by the Pharisees and Jesus went to find Him. Jesus was revealed to the seeing man and believed… by faith… receiving salvation.

• Just last night I received a text from someone showing me their friends letter of excommunication in the next month from a local church.
  
  

John 10:1-21
1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.

• Shepherd – Any kind of leader (Political or Spiritual)
• Jesus is now speaking about the Pharisees who excommunicated the healed Jewish man.
• They are the thieves.
• They are communicating a false message.
• Picture of Russian Jesus
• The difference is this… The Pharisees believe the entrance to the pen was through the oral law.
• Jesus lived under the written Law.
• The Pharisees added so much to the Gospel that it became “religious”

2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

• Shepherd’s pen was typically a stall area that was attached to a dwelling (home).
• Sometimes the pens were shared and between two homes.
• But there was only ONE door.

3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

• He calls each by name… and they knew their shepherd.
• The Shepherd leads them in and out of the pen.
• Jesus… my Shepherd leads me out of error.

4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice.

• How many voices do you have in your head?
• Where do your thoughts come from?
• 1. 5 Senses – Past experiences stored in your brain.
• 2. Power of Sin that dwells in our flesh (Romans 5:17 - 17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me.[1])
• 3. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

• Illustration of a blindfolded teen listening for her father.

6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
 - Parable

• Someone please tell me why Jesus is speaking in parables.

7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

• This is the 3rd time Jesus referred to Himself as “I AM”

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

• “THE” good shepherd – Jesus
• “A” shepherd – of Leavener
• You are not my flock
• Look higher than me
• Saved from hell… saved from condemnation… saved from these earthly bodies… saved from sin…

10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

• Who is this thief? – The Pharisees… but ultimately it is satan
• John 8:44 - because he is a liar and the father of lies.[2]
• Anyone that adds to the Gospel.
• I did Officer Ron Shephard’s graveside last Saturday and everyone was standing around the plot.
• I had the ear of the Mayor and the Fishers leadership.
• I had no time to teach an “explained” Gospel.
• I simply stated that Ron believed in God/Jesus and that was all that mattered.
• Immediately, POS kicked in and started reminding me of all the other saints there and did I explain the Gospel “well enough”.
• It can’t get any simpler than “believe in Jesus”.
• You don’t need all the religion.
• But watch this… I am crazy enough to believe Jesus’ next statement.

I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

•  Once believed that Jesus promised me a “good life”
• I would be void of suffering.
• But I have come to understand
• Colossians 3:4 - 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.[3]
• Galatians 2:20-21 - 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. [4]
• It’s not about my circumstances… it is about Christ living in me.
• Jesus came to give me His life.
• How much of Christ’s life do I have? An abundance. A full life… 100%
• Romans 5:10 - 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled (past tense) to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be (present/future) saved by his life.[5]
• What does that look like for you?

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.

• The Gentiles and the Jews as one.

17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”[6]

• Interview with Michelle Hernandez

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 7:17). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 8:44). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Col 3:4). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 2:20–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 5:10). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 10:1–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

John 9
1 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.

• In the final analysis, all physical problems are the result of our fall in Adam, for his disobedience brought sin and death into the world (Rom. 5:12ff).
• But afterward, to blame a specific disability on a specific sin committed by specific persons is certainly beyond any man’s ability or authority.
• Only God knows why babies are born with handicaps, and only God can turn those handicaps into something that will bring good to the people and glory to His name.[1]

4 We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” 9 Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.”
He kept saying, “I’m the one.”
10 So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”
12 “Where is he?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he said.
 
THE HEALED MAN’S TESTIMONY
13 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. 14 The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight.
“He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.
17 Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?”
“He’s a prophet,” he said.
18 The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.
19 They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. 21 “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah, he would be banned from the synagogue. 23 This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

• Fear has set in with his parents
• How do we even respond?
• Isaiah 51:12 - I—I am the one who comforts you. Who are you that you should fear humans who die, or a son of man who is given up like grass?[2]

24 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
28 They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where he’s from.”

• Psalm 27: - 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom should I be afraid?
• When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.
• Though an army deploys against me, my heart is not afraid; though a war breaks out against me, still I am confident.
• I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple.
• For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock.
• Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord.
• Lord, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me.
• My heart says this about You, “You are to seek My face.” Lord, I will seek Your face.
• Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation.
• Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord cares for me.
• Because of my adversaries, show me Your way, Lord, and lead me on a level path.
• Do not give me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing violence.
• I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
• Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous.

Wait for the Lord. [3]
 
30 “This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him. 32 Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
34 “You were born entirely in sin,” they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.

•  The religious leaders officially excommunicated this man from the local synagogue.
• This meant that the man was cut off from friends and family and looked on by the Jews as a “publican and sinner.”
• But Jesus came for the “outcasts” and never let them down.[4]

 
SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

• Religious people despise revelation.
• It upsets their apple cart.
• It crashes their routine.

36 “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked.
37 Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”
41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.[5]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 324). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Is 51:12). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ps 27:1–14). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 327). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 9:1–41). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

John 8
12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

• When I am looking for something in the dark… I grab my phone…
• It helps me see when I cannot on my own.
• The lampstand in the temple was a symbol of the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness.
• Wherever light shines… it reveals wickedness
• For every one act of evil there are multiple acts of grace.

13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”
14 “Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You judge by human standards. I judge no one. 16 And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”

• Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15 & Numbers 35:30 – You must have two witnesses to prove a crime.

19 Then they asked him, “Where is your Father?”
“You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” 20 He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

21 Then he said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.”
22 So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’?”
23 “You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you?” they questioned.

• They are wasting opportunities by arguing with Jesus rather than trusting Him.

“Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. 26 “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him—these things I tell the world.”
27 They did not know he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things. 29 The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”
30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
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31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

• A disciple is a person who abides in God’s Word.
• Don’t place the listener to this passage under the Law.
• You don’t have to read your Bible.
• You get to read your Bible.
• Paint the picture of who Jesus really is so others will have the desire to learn the Word.
• Many believers will develop their understanding of Jesus at an early age… hear all the stories.
• They may even come to a point of hearing and understanding their identity in Jesus.
• But few will ever become real students of the Word and further their understanding of Jesus and the Father.
• Eventually this passage of “freedom” comes attached to their behavior rather than their identity.
• “I am free to do whatever I want to do.” That is absolutely true my friends.
• But just don’t forget the first part of this verse… If you continue in My Word…
• I am free in Christ… which leads me to be free in my behavior because it is Him doing it in me.

33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

• Total denial – Jews have always been enslaved. They were currently ruled over by the Romans.

34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

• Now we can really understand what this freedom is that Jesus is talking about.
• How many of you have or are dealing with an addiction or a sin issue?
• How many of you tried to overcome this issue in your own strength? How’d that work for you?
• This is what we call legalism.
• God’s Word says do this… so make sure you live accordingly.
• The freedom Jesus is referring to is conjunction of being enslaved to sin.
• Trust Jesus… it is the only way you are going to be free.
• How do you get free of this? The Son sets you free… Who does this? The Son

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37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. 38 I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”

• Jesus is referring to “their father” as Satan.

39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does.”
“We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

• Most of my “spiritual” posts on FB are posted inside the Leavener Group.

48 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?”
49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges. 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.[1]
[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 8:12–59). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

• Last week – we ended talking about surface issues vs dealing with heart issues.
• Get counsel from a wise person that will take you deeper than “he said… she said”.
• Think about it… you might fight over issues… but deep down there is a bigger issue. If you can’t see that… you need to seek wisdom.
  
  

John 7:25-52
THE IDENTITY OF THE MESSIAH
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet, look, he’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authorities know he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.”

• Where do they say Jesus is from… “Nazareth”
• But the truth is… Jesus is from Bethlehem which is according to prophecy (Micah 5:2).

28 As he was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don’t know him; 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”

• This was a serious accusation to make against an orthodox Jew, for the Jews prided themselves in knowing the true God, the God of Israel.[1]

30 Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.
 - Houdini… poof… just gone… not His time.
 - He was to die at Passover.
31 However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t perform more signs than this man has done, will he?”
 - At this point, Jesus had performed 2 of the 3 Messianic miracles… He will heal a blind man soon.
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to arrest him.
33 Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time. Then I’m 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.”

• This is a parable because they cannot understand.

35 Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does he intend to go so we won’t find him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Jewish people dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? 36 What is this remark he made: ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

• Where is He going? Right hand of the Father.
• Only those who believe He is the Messiah will go there.

THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, (the 21st day of the 7th month) Jesus stood up and cried out,
- The last day of the feast would be the seventh day, a very special day on which the priests would march seven times around the altar, chanting Psalm 118:25 (25 Lord, save us! Lord, please grant us success!) [2].
- It would be the last time they would draw the water and pour it out.
- No doubt just as they were pouring out the water, symbolic of the water Moses drew from the rock, Jesus stood and shouted His great invitation to thirsty sinners.[3]
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”
 - Haggai 2 1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: … this is the Lord’s declaration. “Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Work! For I am with you” —the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. 5 “This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and My Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.”
6 For the Lord of Hosts says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of Hosts. 8 “The silver and gold belong to Me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. 9 “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the Lord of Hosts. “I will provide peace in this place” —this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. [4]

39 He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

• One of the ceremonies was pouring out the water from the pool of Siloam over the altar to represent the pouring out of the Spirit.
• This was representative of (Exodus 17) the Jews leaving Egypt and they were thirsty and Moses struck a rock and water poured out of it.
• When did this actually occur? Acts 2
• When Peter preached, 3,000 souls were redeemed.

 
THE PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED OVER JESUS
40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived?” 43 So the crowd was divided because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.
 - When doubt enters in… it paralyzes you.

• Have you ever experienced jumping off the high dive? How long did you stand there?
• Lord… help me with my unbelief.

DEBATE OVER JESUS’S CLAIMS
45 Then the servants came to the chief priests (Sadducees) and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”
46 The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!”
47 Then the Pharisees responded to them: “Are you fooled too? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.”
 - The Pharisees just proclaimed they are more intellectual than the people.
 - I have been accused of not fully understanding the Word of God and confused in my teaching.

• That’s OK… I’ll take what I have and walk in the freedom I have been blessed with.

50 Nicodemus—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”
 - Is it at this point… (2nd of 3) that Nicodemus begins to believe that Jesus is the Messiah?
52 “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”[5]
 - They never answered Nicodemus because they knew he was right… they just ridiculed him.
 - This is an ancient debate trick: when you cannot answer the argument, attack the speaker.[6]
 - Jesus didn’t come from Galilee… He went to Galilee.
 - Not even true… Jonah did.
 - Jesus even said, “You will see the miracle of Jonah.”
53 Then each one went to his house.

Question Concerning the Woman Caught in Adultery
John 8
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them.
 - The Festival of Booths had ended and Jesus was teaching in the Women’s Court at the Temple.
3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center.
- The Law required that both guilty parties be stoned (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22 - 22 If a man is discovered having sexual relations with another man’s wife, both the man who had sex with the woman and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.[7]) and not just the woman.
- It does seem suspicious that the man went free.
- The scribes and Pharisees handled the matter in a brutal fashion, even in the way they interrupted the Lord’s teaching and pushed the woman into the midst of the crowd.[8]
4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.

• If Jesus said, “Yes”, it would go against his message of forgiveness for sinners.
• If Jesus said, “No, it would go against the Law of Moses.
• Ha… They finally got Him!!! Wrong…

Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger.
- The 10 Commandments were written by the finger of God. Was Jesus indicating He is God? Or…
- Jeremiah 17:13 - 13 Lord, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away from Me will be written in the dirt, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.[9]

7 When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”
- He knew He was the only one without any sin.
- The Law required the accuser to be the first person to cast a stone as long as they were not guilty of the same sin.
- He was referring to the particular sin of the woman, a sin that can be committed in the heart as well as with the body (Matt. 5:27–30)[10]
- The Law was given to reveal sin (Rom. 3:20), and we must be condemned by the Law before we can be cleansed by God’s grace.
- Law and grace do not compete with each other; they complement each other. [11]
8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. 10 When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, Lord,” she answered.
“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”[12]
- Was Jesus light on sin?
- Transformation had to occur.

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 317). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ps 118:25). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 317). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Hag 2:1–9). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 7:11–52). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 318). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Dt 22:22). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 319). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[9] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Je 17:13). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 319). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[11] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 320). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 7:53–8:11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.