John 7:25-31--Can This Be the Christ?

John 7:25-31
English Standard Version

​Can This Be the Christ?
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

---

Remember, Jesus has appeared in the Temple teaching during the Feast of Booths (a pilgrimage feast, so that he's in full view of everyone that's Jewish) after going to the Feast separately from His family and staying out of the area of Jerusalem and Judea for quite a while.

The religious leaders have been looking for Him with the intent to kill Him, and the people have been trying to catch a glimpse of Him because He's expected to make an appearance and they desire to see the drama and tension between Jesus and the Pharisees.  The people were not disappointed because in about the middle of the Feast, Jesus does appear in the Temple and starts teaching

The Pharisees are astonished at the combination of Jesus' lack for formal education and His deep knowledge of the Scriptures--He knows them better than all of them who have been formally trained.  Jesus knows their thoughts and confronts them in front of the whole crowd (who doesn't know their plans to assassinate Jesus) about their plans to murder Him.  The people react by saying He must be demonized to think and say such crazy things.  The argument goes on from there, but this will lead us to today's passage.

The people now start to question if they were right about this Man being the Messiah...."Is this not the man whom they seek to kill?....Can it be that the authorities really know that He is the Christ?"  They asked these questions because Jesus was teaching openly and no one was trying to arrest Him.  They also asked these questions because they thought they understood the prophecies about no one knowing where the Christ came from, but they believed they did know where this man came from (though most of them did not know).

Jesus once again shows that He knows people's thoughts by answering their questions before they even ask them out loud.  Jesus assumes they do know Him and know where He came from, but says they don't understand the one who sent Him or the mission that He was sent on.  Jesus says that He was sent by the Father and that He knows the Father in a way that none of them do--that He came from the Father, was sent by the Father, and He will later say that He will return to the Father and to His position of authority at the right hand of the Father.

This infuriated the Jewish leaders and they sought to arrest Him, but none of the guards would lay a hand on Him to do so because they realized He was speaking truth and because they were afraid of the people   (See Matthew 21:46--a different time closer to the crucifixion of Jesus, but I think similar thoughts in the minds of the guards), but John reveals here that no one touched Him because "His hour had not yet come."  This is a phrase we've seen John use over and over again to keep us focused on the fact that Jesus was here for a specific purpose at a specific time, and nothing was going to interfere with His ability to complete His mission.

Many people believed Him, but once again the Jews ask for yet even more signs.  We're going to see that no amount of signs are going to be enough for them because they have hardened their hearts much like the Pharaoh of Egypt.  I'm sure he also would have been content to continue demanding Moses show him another sign and another sign and another sign so that he could continue to be disobedient to God's command to let His people go.  Jesus is here in a role greater than Moses to provide a greater Redemption and lead them out of a greater Slavery and through a greater Exodus to a greater Promised Land.  We will see that like Pharaoh, at some point God steps in and hardens their hearts for them so that they will never believe, but only after they have hardened their own hearts time and time and time again.  They have decided that there is only one path forward for them, and that is to find a way to kill Jesus.  To accomplish that though, they must find a way to arrest Him, and they prefer to do it in sight of everyone (at this point) because they want it to be a public embarrassment and the people to lose their hope and faith and for Jesus to be disqualified in the eyes of the people.  That's where we'll pick up next time.