Hostility, Scrutiny, and Salvation - John 7:25-31

There’s a country musician named Charley Crockett who has a song called, “Saturday Satan Sunday Saint” and here are some of the lyrics:

Saturday Satan Sunday Saint
Fooling your neighbors, that's what you think
Reading the good book, singing the hymns
Come monday morning its back to a life of sin

Charley Crockett touches on a common stereotype of the hypocritical church goer, and no doubt they exist but I’m starting to think that that stereotype is becoming less and less common. People used to try to appear to be friends with God, while maintaining a true and better friendship with the world. But now, why bother? Why not just be your true authentic Saturday Satan self all the time?

Perhaps there was a point in time in America when there was a social incentive to refer to yourself as a Christian. Perhaps it got you around the right people. Going to church could function as a great place to network, and the morals that were taught were generally thought of as positive.

With each passing moment, there are fewer and fewer social incentives to refer to yourself as a Christian.

Cultural commentator Aaron Renn wrote a very popular article in February of this year on the First Things website entitled, “The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism.” In his article he outlines how he perceives American society has engaged with Christianity in three stages. At one point it was a good thing to be a Christian in America, then it was neutral to be a Christian in America people were indifferent to your faith, and now he thinks it’s a negative to be a Christian in America. He writes:

“[American] Society has come to have a negative view of Christianity. Being known as a Christian is a social negative, particularly in the elite domains of ­society. Christian morality is expressly repudiated and seen as a threat to the public good and the new public moral order. Subscribing to Christian moral views or violating the secular moral order brings negative consequences.”

In Renn’s view, there’s now a general negative connotation to referring to your Christian faith in social settings that could potentially produce negative consequences.

I find Renn’s overall idea compelling, particularly when you consider some of the things happening in our country:

The rise and pervasive confusion over human sexuality, the recent exploitation of children by Balenciaga, and a general culture of death between abortion and assisted suicide.

I don’t bring these things up in order to be provocative. I only bring them up because we’re being told that each one of these things are good!

People need to be their authentic selves. The exploitation of children is artistic. Assisted suicide and abortion are bodily autonomy.

All of these things stand in direct opposition to the Christian worldview. And it would seem that the world is only getting more and more hostile. And there are fewer and fewer incentives for lukewarm or cultural Christianity.

Being cast to the fringes of society can be depressing if you spend too much time thinking about it and that’s why it’s important that we remember that in spite of everything going on the Lord is in control, moving His plan of redemption forward and people coming to Christ.

And that is exactly what we see in our passage.

Even in the face of open hostility and scrutiny toward Jesus Christ, people still get saved.

We see this primarily in two ways in our passage: First, threats do not stop the spread of the gospel (vv. 25-27). And second, harsh scrutiny does not stop the spread of the gospel (vv. 28-31).

Verses 25-31 are the continuation of Jesus’s debate with the Jewish religious leaders.

And it’s important to keep in mind that the crowd listening to Jesus isn’t just Jewish religious leaders like Pharisees and Sadducces. Jesus is in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths, and Jews had come from all over to Jerusalem in order to celebrate it as well.

So it’s important to keep in mind that it was a mixed crowd of people listening to Jesus teach. It was a combination of both Jewish religious leaders, Jewish Jerusalem city dwellers, and Jewish travelers or pilgrims.

If you remember from last week, in verse 19, Jesus openly accused the Jews of seeking to kill him. And when he accused them of seeking to kill him, they mocked and ridiculed him. In fact, they accused him of being demon possessed.

Threats Do Not Stop the Spread of the Gospel (vv. 25-26a)

But what’s really fascinating about the passage is that Jesus’ accusation appears to be an open secret. Although the religious leaders denied his accusation and mocked him as demon possessed everyone else there appears to have the same impression as Jesus.

The Jewish people there listening to Jesus said amongst themselves, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him!”

They almost immediately contradict the mockery of the Jewish religious leaders. Not only do the Jewish bystanders believe the Jewish religious leaders want Jesus dead, but they’re also shocked by their reluctance to do anything as Jesus sits in the temple and teaches.

There’s a full blown conspiracy to kill Jesus, everyone knows about the conspiracy, and the conspirators deny its existence.

And I think that’s what’s important for us to see: pretty much everyone knew the Jewish religious leaders wanted Jesus dead. It’s like the worst kept secret! But nevertheless, they try to keep it hidden.

Because sin and evil flourish in the secret of darkness. They want it kept from the light. We see it here, but most of us have experienced it in our own lives. Sin thrives in the dark. Jesus said, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

There are countless stories of people suffering and in pain as a result of hidden sin. I recently heard a story about a lawyer that was addicted to drugs and alcohol all the while thriving in his work. He appeared successful in the eyes of the world, but was quietly feeding his sinful desires.

For the Christian, honesty and transparency are crucial components to gaining victory over sin and growing in Godliness.

But in our passage, it’s a secret murderous plan that’s taken shape. Although people seem to know something about it, they deny it in order to keep it under wraps.

But what are the Jewish religious leaders really after? What’s their motive?

They want to silence Jesus and stop the spread of the gospel. It’s really that simple. They don’t want the gospel to gain traction, despite the fact, it already has! There was a magnetism to Jesus. Everyone was attracted to him. They wanted to hear his teaching and see what he would do. And everywhere along the way, people were getting saved!

We even saw previously in chapter 7, before Jesus even made his public appearance in Jerusalem, everyone was looking for him and talking about him!

So the Jewish leaders put out these quiet death threats. People knew about them, but at the same time they would deny them. Because threats and intimidation are easy ways to silence most people. But Jesus wasn’t most people!

He stared down the threats and intimidation. He spoke plainly to those that wanted to kill him.

And you would think that this would have a great impact on the spread of the gospel, but here’s the thing, it doesn’t. History indicates the exact opposite. Threats, intimidation and violence fuel church growth.

It’s ironic isn’t it?

A great example of this is in China. The Chinese government has a well documented history of hostility towards Christianity. The Chinese government uses both Uyghur Christians and Muslims as forced slave labor. Christians are being sent to internment camps. Christian pastors are being arrested.

But here’s the amazing thing: Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China.

What’s happening in China has always been true! The Lord often uses threats, intimidation, and violence to save his people and grow his church! Again, this is precisely what we see in our passage.

The Jewish leaders are plotting to kill Jesus, to stop him from speaking out, and what’s happening? People are coming to faith in Christ!

Intense Scrutiny Does Not Stop the Spread of the Gospel (vv. 26b-31)

Another often used tactic to stop the spread of the gospel is to invalidate the message. That is, to use arguments and reason to prove it wrong. If threats, hostility, and intimidation don't work, then you just need to prove Jesus wrong. The Jewish leaders and authorities thought if they can discredit Jesus, they can discredit his message. And if his message is discredited, then his Messianic claims are false.

But before we get to the meat of discrediting Jesus, a question arises among the people in the crowd: “Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?”

For the record, “Christ” wasn’t Jesus’ last name. “Christ” is a messianic title that simply means “anointed one.” It was the title that would be bestowed upon the one to come that would save His people from their sins.

But the Jewish people ask that question in the second part of verse 26 because the Jewish religious leaders are silent. They don’t really say anything, they just sit there and listen to Jesus.

And their silence baffles the crowd. If they disagree with Jesus so vehemently, then why aren’t they doing anything? Do they actually think that he is the Christ?

Well they get their answer real quick, and the answer is “no.” They make a theological case against Jesus.

Look at verse 27, “But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”

It was widely believed among the Jews that when the Messiah or Christ would arrive on the scene and no one would know anything about his background. They wouldn’t know his Mom or his Dad, or a whole lot about his origin. They thought the Messiah would be a pretty mysterious political, militaristic, leader and he would show up out of nowhere and save the Jewish people from their oppressors.

And Jesus doesn’t meet those requirements because they knew his origins. They knew where he was from. They knew his Mom and Dad. They knew his family and because of that knowledge, they thought Jesus could not be the Messiah.

Which helps us understand Jesus’ response in verses 28-29. “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.”

But what’s the real issue? The Jewish leaders thought they knew Jesus’ origins. And what’s interesting is that Jesus explains to them that they don’t know his origins. They don’t understand where he came from.

Because his origins are in eternity past in perfect fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. His origins aren’t really Nazareth and Galilee, or Joseph and Mary. His origins are holy and coeternal with God the Father and the Spirit. He is the preexistent Lord, who took on flesh, came to earth, to save His people from their sins.

You see, they were trying to disqualify Jesus based on theological grounds, and he corrects their theology. They’re looking for a Messiah with a background they won’t fully know and here’s Jesus saying, you don’t really know my background or origin, but I’m here because the Father sent me. They wanted to disprove the claims of Jesus which is something that continues to this day.

How many times has someone tried to debunk Jesus? Sam Harris and the New Atheists certainly have. There was a point in time where people acted there was historical validity to Dan Brown’s fictional work, “The DaVinci Code.” And of course, world religions attack Jesus from all sorts of angles. For a while, it seems like the History Channel has made it their personal mission to debunk Jesus.

I recently saw where one of Pastor John Piper’s sons has rejected the faith and made it his personal mission to attack Christianity on social media.

People love to attack the church, evangelicalism, which to be fair there is a lot to criticize there, but they attack the church not because they want to see it reformed, or to strengthen the peace and purity, but instead to discredit the gospel message.

This is nothing new! But it serves the same purpose as threats and intimidation doesn’t it? Because if you debunk Jesus you silence the gospel. You ruin Christianity. Without Jesus there is no Christianity.

The Jews weren’t seeking to better understand Jesus and what he was saying! They wanted to pull people away from him.

All they saw was a Galilean man from Nazareth who was unqualified due to his origins. They couldn’t get past their Messianic expectations.

The church has always faced threats and scrutiny and one thing is for sure, there is more to come. If Jesus faced it, we should expect to face it as well.

It’s easy to get high and mighty and shake our heads because the world is going to hell in a handbasket. It’s easy to want the enemies of Christ destroyed, rather than seeing them bow the knee to Christ right next to us.

But it’s hard to look at the enemies of Christ with compassion and humility. Far too often, we’re like Jonah praying for the Lord to rain down His wrath on His enemies.

But if you just stop and think about it, isn’t that exactly what the Jews wanted? They wanted a Savior from their enemies, not a Savior from their sin.

Because here’s the truth, the Savior that we want often isn’t the Savior that we need. We don’t need a political Savior, you need to be saved from your sins. You need to experience God’s grace and mercy through faith in Christ.

It’s wonderful news that the Lord doesn’t operate according to our will. Because where we might want to see justice served, God shows kindness, grace and mercy.

Isn’t that the case in our passage? It’s what we read in verse 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?”

Even those in the midst of a hostile crowd people come to Christ. What incredible hope! Yes, even those that have heard nothing but hostility, anger, and scrutiny are not too far from the Lord. God’s grace and mercy is clearly on display!

This is the beauty of the gospel! People aren’t converted by the tip of the sword or the barrel of a gun. People come to Christ through the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit. People’s hearts are changed!

There’s an amazing contrast on display. Hostility, anger, and scrutiny contrasted by the grace, mercy, and forgiveness that only comes through faith in Christ.

Their hearts are changed and it’s certainly not because there were great incentives to do it. In fact, there was every reason not to do it.

If they follow Jesus, their lives could be ruined! But not even a hostile environment can stop the work of the Holy Spirit.

Here’s what I hope you take away from this passage. People that live in our society that is hostile towards Christianity are not hopeless! The Spirit is still at work and therefore, we shouldn’t give up on them.

God is still drawing people to himself and it doesn’t matter if you were sexually confused, spent time in prison, or supported the destruction of life. God can still save you.

And how do I know that? Look around this room. We don’t come to worship the Lord because we believe we’re spiritually superior to those around us, rather, we simply recognize that we've received that which we did not earn or deserve, the favor of God through Christ.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Let’s pray.