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Do we know Him?
Reference: SHM-S09-029-Mw-R00-P2
(Originally spoken on 6 January 2013, edited on 7 January 2013)
Web site: http://www.ajourneyinlife.org and http://www.ajourneyinlife.com
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Let us turn to John 7: 25-30
John 7: 25-30
- So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, "Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill?
- "Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?
- "However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from."
- Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, "You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.
- "I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me."
- So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
As we seek to appreciate the Lord Jesus, who He is, what He has done for us and how we should respond to Him, it is good for us to pause and to consider: Do we know Him? Do we really know Him, who the Lord Jesus is?
This short passage refers a number of times to this issue of knowledge. "Who is this person?" They saw the Lord Jesus and various ones were asking questions: "Who is He?" and "Why is He doing the things that He did?"
Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, "Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill?" Earlier on in verse 20, we have read that the crowd said, "You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?" On the one hand, there are some Jews who accused the Lord Jesus, that He was breaking the Sabbath and when the Lord Jesus referred to them wanting to kill Him, they said, "Who seeks to kill You?" but here, we see that the people recognized and they said, "Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill?"
So one of the issues that we know is that in life, we need to be careful in terms of what we say and also in terms of how we receive what people say. Many people can say things that are convenient, that are suitable, advantageous to them and the Lord Jesus tells us that every careless and irresponsible word that we speak, we will have to give an account in the Day of Judgment. We cannot be careless or irresponsible. We need to consider carefully: The things that we say, are they true, are they really so?
Likewise when we listen to others, we also need to consider: What the person says - Is it true, or are they saying out of convenience, or are they seeking to project something that they may desire to communicate but which may not in reality be true?
They said, "Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?" They wondered: "Why is it the rulers allowed Him to speak publicly? Who is He? Do they know that this is the Christ and so they allowed Him to speak? Is it not so that they wanted to kill Him? Why is He speaking freely?"
Then they said, "However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from."
This statement is made very confidently: "...we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from."
If we take it as such and if we believe that this statement is true, then obviously, He cannot be the Christ. "When the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from. But we know where this man is from. Therefore, He cannot be the Christ."
So where did they get this knowledge ("...no one knows where He is from")? That must have been either their own idea or their interpretation of some passages of Scripture, where to them it means that when the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from. But that is not true because the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, they saw Him grow up as a carpenter; He spoke, He lived amongst them. They knew who He was.
So they were wrong, but they were very confident.
This is also something for us to reflect upon. If we want to know who the Lord Jesus really is, we need to start with a proper spirit, that there is so much that we may not know. And gradually as we learn, we need to constantly come before God and ask Him to teach us. There are many things that are beyond us at this point of time, which we may not quite understand how God works and who the Lord Jesus really is. But if our attitude is right and we really want to know God, and we want to know His ways, we want to obey Him, we want to follow Him then we need to be very careful to listen to what He has to say to us.
Verse 28: "Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, "You both know Me and know where I am from..."
So the Lord Jesus seems to be saying, "Yes, you do know Me and you know where I am from." So the first part that they said ("...we know where this man is from") is correct.
What about the second part ("...whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from")? That part was not right, as far as the context of this statement is concerned.
The Lord Jesus said: "You both know Me and know where I am from". That referred only to the physical situation. It was a reference to the Lord Jesus being born in Bethlehem; He grew up amongst them as a carpenter. They knew that. So that part was correct. But they did not really know Him.
The Lord Jesus said, "...and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know". So this is very interesting because the Jews were very confident that they knew who God was, but they were not very sure about who the Lord Jesus was. But the reality was they knew who the Lord Jesus was, but they did not know who God was. They knew the Lord Jesus as the carpenter. Up to that point, they were right but beyond that, they did not really know who the Lord Jesus was because they did not know who God was.
Because their relationship with God was not right, they did not truly know God. So, they could not properly know who the Lord Jesus was because: "I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know."
Because they did not know God, therefore they did not know Him whom He has sent. If we go down two chapters in Chapter 9, we read the story of the Lord Jesus healing the blind man and here in this context, the Jews kept asking the blind man: "Who is the one who healed you?" And the answer that the blind man gave, they were not satisfied. And in John 9: 29, the Jews said this: "We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where He is from."
So although in Chapter 7, they say, "we know where this man is from", but in Chapter 9, the direction of their sentiment, which likely represents many of the Jews, is: "...we do not know where He is from". Here, the meaning is different. What they knew of the Lord Jesus was purely physical. They knew Him, where He was from - born in that context - but they did not really know who He was.
God sent the Lord Jesus into the world. God spoke through the Lord Jesus, but they did not know that. They say, "We know that God has spoken to Moses". So the meaning here is: God has spoken to Moses but as for this man, we do not know where He is from - that is, we have no confidence that God is speaking through Him or God has spoken to Him.
And yet, we know that the Lord Jesus is the revelation of God Himself: God with us, Immanuel; God dwelling in their midst; God revealing His holiness, His character, His life, His purpose in their midst, but they did not know who He was.
The Lord Jesus said, "He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me." So verse 30 says: So they were seeking to seize Him...
They did not accept what the Lord Jesus said, they did not believe Him, they could not recognize Him and so they were seeking to destroy Him. They regarded Him as an imposter, they regarded Him as blaspheming, and they thought they were obeying God; but in reality, they were not.
So it is important for us, if we want to truly know God and walk in His ways, we must come before Him humbly to be taught by Him. And the only way by which we can be taught by God is in the first place, if we truly want to do His will.
That is why the Lord Jesus said, "If any man is willing to do the will of God, then he will know... the teaching, whether I speak from Myself, or whether the Father has sent Me."
So that is the heart of the problem. In their heart, although they said that God is good, God is great, they worship Him, they were not genuinely and truly wanting to live by the will of God. And that is why they did not recognize the Lord Jesus.
So, do we know Him? As Christians, we all say we do: "He is our Saviour, He is our Lord, and so we know Him." However, there are different depths of knowledge, there are different degrees of love, and we need to continue to grow and develop.
The apostle Paul said he gave up everything. Why? "...that I may know Him". And that was not something that he completed when he first gave his life to the Lord. "...that I may know Him" was his lifetime desire and ambition and direction of life. It is a continuous development and growth in understanding.
The more we learn to love the Lord, the more we are prepared to walk in His ways, the more we genuinely give ourselves to walk with Him; the more we will know Him, the more we will understand what is in His heart, the more we will understand why God has given us the laws that He has given. We will be able to appreciate them, identify with Him and walk in them.
But if not, we can end up like the Jews who had the laws of God, they thought they knew God, they thought they were carrying out His commandments, but they were basically superficial, outward.
And the Lord Jesus spoke of the Pharisees: that they worshipped God, they praised God with their lips, but their heart was far away from Him.
That reality can be true of anyone if we do not take care in terms of developing the right spirit.
Ultimately, the question is: What is it that we are living for?
Is it what we want for ourselves in a self-centred direction - the things of this world or even in eternity?
What we are looking for: Is it truly something good, something that we can appreciate and know in our hearts that it is something good and meaningful, and God will be delighted to give to us?
God wants to give us the very best, the most meaningful path, but He cannot just give it to us unless we are prepared to live by that.
So that is something that we need to ponder over, consider.
Each time we come before the Lord to express our appreciation of Him, let us ask Him to help us to know Him better, to know what is in His heart, what is the meaning of all that He has said and revealed, how can we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, how can we be true to what He has commanded us.
God expects us to obey Him, He expects us to pay heed to all that He has said, but we must first receive well what is it that is important to Him.
And are we then living according to what He has commanded us?
Let us then come before the Lord and ask Him to help us to ponder over our lives, so that as we grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, it will not be merely more understanding of things, but a growing knowledge of Him in a personal way in terms of His character, in terms of what is in His heart, what He wants to do, and in terms of how He wants us to relate with Him and how we can be a true disciple of the Lord Jesus.
Let us thank Him for all that He has done for us, that there be within our hearts a deep gratitude to Him, and this gratitude will be expressed in the way we live our lives each day. And as we do that, others will see, will recognize, and they can then respond to the God that we love.