Welcome to Day 2149 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Gospel of John – 17 – Jesus in the Lion's Den – Daily Wisdom

The Gospel of John – Part 3 Authentication of the Word – Jesus in the Lion’s Den

Today we continue our Good News series according to John the Apostle.  Last we learned that many in the multitude fed bread and fish turned away from Jesus and His teaching because it was too hard for them. The multitude were more interested in physical food than spiritual food. Today, our scripture is John 7:1-52. We see that the religious leaders in Jerusalem have had enough of Jesus, and as He is teaching in the temple, we see Jesus in the Lion’s Den. I will read the scripture throughout the message. One of my favorite Bible stories as a child was Daniel in the Lions’ Den. You may have heard this familiar story. An eighty-some-year-old prophet, a faithful man of integrity, had won the friendship of King Darius. But some other men grew jealous of the old man’s trusted status and schemed to kill him. A better title would be “The Lions in Daniel’s Den.” Life is the Lord’s to give or take, and there is no lion in all creation that He cannot tame. Daniel’s enemies may have thought they were in charge, but they were gravely mistaken and were a meal for the lions the next day. The lions of Jesus’ day did not prowl about on four feet. They stood tall and proud, dressed in the stunning robes of man-made righteousness, empowered by a hypocritical religion. The temple authorities in Jerusalem desired the assassination of Jesus because He continually exposed their jealousy and greed. He healed, fulfilled prophecy, forgave sins, and gave glory to the Father while keeping none for Himself. He was unlike any rabbi or any political leader anyone had ever seen. He threatened their power, and they wanted Him dead. Jesus was about to “enter the lions’ den.” 7:1–2 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, The events in Capernaum, such as the feeding of the multitude, took place shortly before Passover (John 6:4) in March or April, and the Feast of Tabernacles (September/October) was approaching. Jesus had been ministering in Galilee for six months or more, where His “hard” teaching in the synagogue had squelched any talk of making Him king. Even after that winnowing, though, multitudes continued to follow in Galilee. Meanwhile, word of Jesus’s miracles and healings kept Jerusalem on edge. In fulfillment of God’s commandment found in Leviticus 23:34–44, Jewish families continued to celebrate a weeklong autumn harvest festival in temporary houses constructed for the occasion. These “tabernacles” or “tents” reminded God’s covenant people of His protection in the wilderness as they celebrated His continued provision through the harvest of produce from the Promised Land. Today Jews continue observing this festival in celebration of Sukkot. 7:3–5 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. Jesus’ brothers taunted Him, suggesting He go to Jerusalem and perform magic tricks to rally the world behind Him. They had undoubtedly seen His miraculous “signs” and probably wanted to make Him king for selfish reasons. Being the brothers of the king would give them a position of power. Their taunt suggested that He wouldn’t mind meeting their challenge if He were the genuine messiah. 7:6–9 Therefore, Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you, any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. Throughout John’s narrative, Jesus speaks of His “hour” or “time,” which refers to when His glory would be revealed to the world. The means of His glory would be suffering, which most followers did not understand, even on the eve of His arrest and crucifixion. In every instance except this one, He used hōra, “hour.” However, the Greek term translated as “time” is kairos, “season.” Secular Greek literature and the Greek translation of the Old Testament use this term to indicate a decisive moment in which one era gives way to another, like changing the seasons. As in 6:26–71 and the parables, Jesus spoke in such a way as to be understood on two levels. A person’s interpretation naturally follows their chosen understanding of who Jesus is, and He allowed each person to be carried away by their willful misconception. On the surface, Jesus appeared to answer His brothers at face value. They taunted Him, suggesting that He should publicize His identity as the conquering Messiah-king Israel longed to see. He spoke truthfully, saying in effect, “The deciding moment for me to announce myself has not yet come, but the present is always the right time for you to do so.” He then stated why His brothers’ testimony would be welcomed by a world dedicated to evil: they were part of it! Of course, the deeper meaning of Jesus’ words referred to His mission. The Feast of Tabernacles was a harvest celebration, to be enjoyed when the harvest was complete. Jesus had more “harvest work” in Galilee before going to Jerusalem (4:35–38). Many manuscripts and translations include the word “yet” in Jesus’ declaration, “I am not (yet) going up to this festival…because my time has not yet fully come.” However, the original most likely omit this particular “yet.” Some have suggested that Jesus lied to His brothers but didn’t. His statement doesn’t preclude His going later, which was His intention. He didn’t want to accompany His arrogant brothers, who would have used His attendance to advance their agenda. Instead, Jesus would journey more discreetly with His disciples and then address the Judeans in the time and manner of His choosing. 7:10–13 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 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. It is noteworthy that Jesus recognized the mortal danger presented by the temple officials. He was in constant threat of assassination in Judea. While the Messiah had come to sacrifice His life, He would not leave the timing and circumstances of His death in the hands of His enemies. Instead, he would dictate the terms of His execution to accomplish His mission. As long as He remained hidden where no enemy could find Him or appeared in front of a crowd where the religious authorities dared not touch Him, Jesus could minister in Jerusalem. So, He entered the city without attracting attention, perhaps even blending in with the crowds. Meanwhile, hushed anticipation stirred debate among the common people in Jerusalem. Some favored Jesus; others condemned Him. Few affirmed His true identity as the Christ and the Son of God. 7:14–19 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 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. 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.  Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” The Feast of Tabernacles is a weeklong celebration (Deuteronomy 16:13–15). On the third or fourth day of the festival, Jesus stood in the temple to teach, which was not unusual for a rabbi. However, the teacher’s credibility depended heavily upon his educational pedigree. They could not understand how He could have been so knowledgeable without attending the temple law schools. Jesus responded with a stinging rebuke based on elementary logic. He then offered another standard by which to judge the qualifications of a teacher: his obedience to previously revealed truth, the Law. 7:20–24 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”  Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 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. 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? Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” In response to Jesus’ rebuke of the religious officials, the multitude, generally split despite their spiritual ignorance, rebuked the Lord as a demon-possessed man. To say someone “has a demon” could be taken literally or figuratively. In this case, it was the ancient equivalent of someone saying, “You’re a raving, paranoid lunatic!” They didn’t know of the religious leaders’ desire to have Him killed. After all, the temple authorities were God’s official representatives, custodians of the Almighty’s house. Jesus ignored the insult and continued His indictment, referring to the healing of the invalid by the pool of Bethesda on a previous trip to Jerusalem (John 5:18). The phrase “you are all amazed” is unclear. The content of His rebuke appears to have been directed against the religious officials rather than the “crowd.” However, throughout the rest of the dialog, He freely directs His rebukes to either or both, thus placing the crowd and the officials in the same category. To continue His earlier argument (7:16–19), Jesus appealed to the specific precedent of Moses (the human author of divine Law), circumcision (their most treasured rite), and the Sabbath (the institution perverted by man-made tradition). Circumcision was to occur on the eighth day of life for every male born to Hebrew parents, regardless of the day. This meant that some parts of the manufactured Sabbath traditions would be broken. If the rite of circumcision could override the Sabbath rules, why wouldn’t the miraculous, God-orchestrated healing of a desperately infirmed man? The “appearance” to which Jesus referred was the symbolic show of righteousness that was undoubtedly impressive in the temple. Jesus called for Jews to ignore fancy robes and giant headdresses to discern who was telling the truth by comparing their deeds to the commands of Scripture. Jesus' deeds reflected God's grace and did not violate the Sabbath. The religious officials condemned this act of mercy because it violated their manufactured rules, which they violated each time they circumcised a newborn on the Sabbath. 7:25–31 At that point, some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 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,  but I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.” At this, 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?” The religious leaders could not do anything to squelch Jesus or eliminate Him. To seize Him publicly would divide the crowd or perhaps incite them to riot. And they certainly couldn’t defeat His reasoning. This paralysis left the ordinary Jews wondering if the leaders were undecided about Jesus, or if perhaps their silence was tacit approval of Jesus as the Messiah. 7:32–36 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 for only 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, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” Jesus again spoke in multiple layers. He predicted His ascension to the Father’s side and declared that the religious leaders would not even see heaven. Their eternal fate vastly differed from the disciples (13:36; 14:4). But as John had illustrated with the multitude in Galilee (6:26–54), the spiritual blindness of the nonbelievers limited them to a strictly literal understanding. They wondered if He might leave Israel altogether to win converts among Jews dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. 7:37–39 On 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.  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. Each day of the Feast of Tabernacles, one ritual involved a solemn procession in which a priest carried a goblet of water from the Pool of Siloam (Goblet of Water) (which was fed by the Gihon Spring) through the water gate, and into the inner temple court. Then, As the congregation sang a hymn based on Isaiah 12:3, the priest poured the water on the altar, commemorating the Lord’s provision of water in the wilderness (Num. 20:8–11). The Feast of Tabernacles built toward a climactic convocation (Lev. 23:36), during which Jesus stood to address the crowds of people in the temple. Perhaps just before or even during the priest’s procession from the pool of Siloam, Jesus called all people to receive “living water” from Him, unlike his offer to the Samaritan woman (4:13–14). John’s editorial comment, written decades later, clarifies that the “living water” is indeed the Holy Spirit, which would not be given to believers until after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. 7:40–44 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 that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Thus, the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. The crowd remained divided. Note their distinction between “the Prophet” and “the Messiah,” whom first-century theologians thought to be two distinct individuals. They are, in fact, one person, and He was addressing them in the temple. Nevertheless, many were confused by Jesus’ apparent origins in the Galilee region, when prophecy proclaimed the Messiah would come from Judah (Mic. 5:2). As often occurred with Jesus, the audience split in two based on their reaction to the truth. Some believed, while others sought His destruction. However, no one dared touch Him in public while opinions remained divided. 7:45–52 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. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” Here, the "officers" are the same men commissioned by the Pharisees to seize Jesus by force and charge Him with a crime (7:32). Jesus was unlike other men who challenged the religious leaders’ authority. No one could refute the truth Jesus was preaching in the temple. The Pharisees didn’t judge the truth based on Scripture or godly standards. To defend their assertion that Jesus was a heretic, they offered evidence that they were unanimous against Him (7:48) and their self-proclaimed expertise in the Law (7:49). They determined right from wrong in terms of power, not based on divine truth. When they were challenged, they pointed to their diplomas rather than pointing to the Scriptures. One Pharisee, however, was not so confident. Nicodemus had not openly believed, yet he could not easily dismiss Jesus or ignore His teaching. Therefore, he offered a reasonable defense for Jesus without exposing his true leanings. Unfortunately, the rebuke by his fellow Pharisees included a patently untrue statement: “a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” Elijah, Jonah, and perhaps Nahum were from the region known in the first century as Galilee (1 Kgs. 17:1; 2 Kgs. 14:25). Jerusalem was a lions’ den for Jesus. He entered willingly; then, He deftly moved between the security of seclusion and the safety of the public arena while relying upon His Father to close the