Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19991013.htm

JOHN: TRIUMPHING IN LIFE'S MOST CRITICAL ISSUE
Part III: Presentation Of The Messenger Of Salvation
C. Christ's Credentials Revealed In Confrontations With Men
7. Christ's Identity Seen In Why He Was Alienated From People In The World
(John 7:1-36)
  1. Introduction
    1. I makes sense that a holy person would not be compatible with unholy associates. However, usually when one appears to be incompatible, his very incompatibility calls to question his very holiness! We need a measuring line against whi ch we can measure one's thoughts and actions to determine if his incompatibility with another is caused by sin on his part or by his comparative holiness.
    2. Christ was quite incompatible with various parties as presented in John 7:1-36, and yet we know that alienation of Jesus came from His great holiness. Examining that holiness in these events in Christ's life not only reveals His ident ity as the sinless Son of God, but acts to instruct us on right and wrong alienations.
  2. Christ's Identity Seen In Why He Was Alienated From People In The World, John 7:1-36.
    1. Jesus was alienated from Judaea's leaders because they wanted to kill Him for obviously unjust reasons:
      1. Had Jesus been truly guilty of sin, the leaders of Judaea would have been able to persuade leaders in Galilee to arrest and extradite Jesus for execution.
      2. However, Jesus' need to minimize His stay in Judaea by hiding in Galilee showed the rulers in Judaea were guilty of hatred in wanting to kill Jesus unjustly in violation of Exodus 20:13, John 7:1.
    2. Jesus' earthly brothers were alienated from Him due to their own unbelief and sinfulness, John 7:2-10:
      1. The brothers of Jesus urged Him to go to the autumn Feast of Tabernacles and there publicly show Himself by miraculous signs to be Israel's Messiah, John 7:2-4.
      2. Their lack of sensitivity to Jesus' need to follow the Father in going to the cross before ascending Israel's throne revealed their unbelief in Him, John 7:5.
      3. Besides, Jesus responded to show His brothers were comfortable in Judaea because they belonged to the godless system there were He was separate from it, John 7:6-8.
      4. Accordingly, Jesus alienated Himself from his brothers and went up to the feast under cover, 7:9-10.
    3. The gap in fellowship between Jesus and the errant Judaean leaders of Israel is revealed in the secret way the crowds spoke of Jesus out of fear of punishment from the Jerusalem rulers, John 7:11-13.
    4. Thus, Jesus' public teaching set Him at strict odds with the Jews of Judaea, John 7:14-36:
      1. The rulers of Judaea were at odds with the superiority of Jesus' teaching, 7:14-15. Jesus explained the difference between His quality of teaching and that of his opponents' was spiritually caused, Jn. 7:16-18.
      2. They were at odds with the content of His teaching as they sought to kill Him unjustly for it, 7:19.
      3. When the offended Jewish listeners objected to Jesus' evaluation of them, Jesus showed how errantly they practiced the harmful but necessary rule of circumcision even on the Sabbath while simultaneously critiquing Him for having healed a man on the Sabbath, John 7:20-24.
      4. When Jesus thus clarified His identity as God's Son by way of His works and teaching, His opponents in Judaea sought to kill Him as He had exposed their sin, John 7:30a.
      5. Yet, the Father's time for Christ's death had not arrived, so Christ's enemies could not arrest Him, 7:30b.
      6. Jesus continued to say He would depart from His enemies where they could not find Him, speaking of His ascension to heaven, Jn. 7:31-34. The opponents were so blind that they couldn't understand this claim, and tried to figure out wha t He had meant, John 7:35-36.
Lesson: By the (1) WAY Jesus RIGHTLY related, and the way His opponents UNJUSTLY related, and the (2) SUPERIOR TEACHING of Christ as compared to that of His opponents revealed that the INCOMPATIBILITY of the two parties arose from the leader's SIN and Jesus' RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Application: (1) We can tell Jesus was RIGHTEOUS in comparing the WAY He related and the caliber of His TEACHING in contrast to the ungodly relating and teaching of His opponents. (2) Similarly, righteous relating and superior teaching/beliefs mark who is right and wrong in differences of parties among people today.