The Messiah Will Come From David’s Descendants And From Bethlehem

John 7:40-42 – 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?”

Micah 5:2 – “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

2 Samuel 7:14-16 – I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”

Application:

• ·         “Ephrathah” was the region in which Bethlehem was located.
• ·         In Jesus Christ God promised to maintain a special relationship.
• ·         “My love” was God’s special and unfailing favor.
• ·         The promise of an everlasting kingdom for the house of David became the focal point for many later prophecies and powerfully influenced the development of the Messianic hope in Israel.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Spirit

John 7:39 – 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.

Joel 2:28 – “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Acts 2:17 – “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

John 20:22 – And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Application:

• ·         The Gentiles will not be excluded from the Spirit’s outpouring or deliverance.
• ·         The age of Messianic fulfillment has arrived.
• ·         The disciples needed God’s help (the Holy Spirit) to carry out the commission they had just been given.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Last...Day Of The Festival

John 7:34-38 – 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’?” 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.”

Isaiah 55:1 – “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Deuteronomy 16:15 – For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Isaiah 58:11 – The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

John 4:10 – Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Application:

• ·         Christ invited people to drink the Water of life.
• ·         “Your joy will be complete” as a result of God’s blessing.
• ·         Jesus gave life and gave it freely.
• ·         “Living water” was not stagnant cistern water but fresh, flowing water, as of a spring or mountain stream, that revives and refreshes life.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Chief Priests

John 7:28-33 – 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 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.

John 2:11 – What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Mark 8:31 – He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

John 16:8-11 – When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Application:

• ·         Signs revealed Jesus’ glory and likely also pointed to the fullness of the salvation He came to effect.
• ·         The Son of Man is pictured as a heavenly figure who in the end times is entrusted by God with authority, glory and sovereign power.
• ·         “Because I am going to the Father” was the ascension, which as part of Christ’s exaltation placed God’s seal of approval on Christ’s redemptive act.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

You Know Me

John 7:23-29 – 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.” 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.”

1 Samuel 16:7 – But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

John 1:24-25 – Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

John 8:19 – Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

John 4:34 – “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Application:

• ·         The Lord is concerned with a person’s inner disposition and character.
• ·         In Old Testament times anointing signified being set apart for service, particularly as king or priest.
• ·         Jesus stresses that the Father is known through the Son and that to know the one is to know the other.
• ·         John often mentions that Jesus depended on the Father and did the work the Father sent Him to do.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Law

John 7:19-22 – Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” “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.

Romans 2:29 – No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

Matthew 12:30 – “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Exodus 12:48 – “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it.

Application:

• ·         The true sign of belonging to God is not an outward mark on the physical body but the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit within—what Paul meant by “circumcision of the heart”.
• ·         There can be no double-mindedness in our relationship to Jesus.
• ·         The command to circumcise showed not only that work might sometimes be done on the Sabbath but that it must be done then.
• ·         Only those consecrated to the Lord in covenant commitment could partake of Passover; only for them could it have its full meaning.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Choose To Do The Will Of God

John 7:17-18 – 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.

John 6:29 – Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

John 3:33 – Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.

Application:

• ·         A person sincerely set on doing God’s will welcomes Jesus’ teaching and believes in Him.
• ·         Believing in Jesus Christ is the indispensable “work” God calls for—the one that leads to eternal life.
• ·         When people accept Christ’s testimony, they accept the truth that Jesus came from heaven and that God was acting in Him for the world’s salvation. They thereby testify that God is truthful.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Not My Own

John 7:6-16 – 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. 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. 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.

John 4:34 – “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Application:

• ·         Jesus moved in accordance with the will of God.
• ·         John often mentions that Jesus depended on the Father and did the work the Father sent Him to do.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Festival Of Tabernacles

John 7:2-6 – But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 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. Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.

Deuteronomy 16:15 – For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Zechariah 14:16 – Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

Application:

• ·         “Your joy will be complete” as a result of God’s blessing.
• ·         The Festival of Tabernacles seems to speak of the final, joyful regathering and restoration of Israel, as well as of the ingathering the nations.
• ·         Jesus moved in accordance with the will of God.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Have I Not Chosen You

John 6:70-7:1 – Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.) 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.

John 15:16 – You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

John 17:12 – While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

John 8:59 – At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Application:

• ·         Jesus chose the Twelve, and for a purpose—the bearing of fruit.
• ·         “The one doomed to destruction” was, literally “the son of destruction, i.e., one belonging to the sphere of damnation and destined for destruction.
• ·         When Jesus declares “I am”, there are only two possible responses: to reach for a rock or to fall at His feet.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Holy One Of God

John 6:66-69 – From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Luke 9:20 – “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Acts 2:26-27 – Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay.

Application:

• ·         Jesus had already made clear what discipleship meant, and many were not ready to receive life in the way He taught.
• ·         The predicted Deliverer had been desired for centuries.
• ·         God would not allow the Messiah’s physical body to decompose.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Unless The Father Has Enabled Them

John 6:37,39,44,63-65 – All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away… And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day… “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day…The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

2 Corinthians 3:6 – He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Application:

• ·         The Spirit who “gives life” writes the law inwardly “on tablets of human hearts”.
• ·         God’s action, not ours, is primary in salvation, and Christ’s mercy is unfailing.
• ·         People do not come to Christ strictly on their own initiative; the Father draws them.
• ·         True believers will persevere because of Christ’s firm hold on them.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Son Of Man

John 6:61-62 – Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!

Mark 8:31 – He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

John 8:58 – “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Application:

• ·         The Son of Man is pictured as a heavenly figure who in the end times is entrusted by God with authority, glory and sovereign power.
• ·         “Son of Man” was a Messianic title.
• ·         Jesus did not say “I was” but “I am”, expressing the eternity of His being and His oneness with the Father.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Forever

John 6:57-60,66 – Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”… From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

John 3:36 – Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

John 5:24 – “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Application:

• ·         Eternal life is a present possession, not something the believer will only obtain later.
• ·         “Has crossed” means the decisive action has taken place, and the believer belongs no longer to the realm where death reigns supreme but to the realm of life.
• ·         Jesus had already made clear what discipleship meant, and many were not ready to receive life in the way He taught.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Last Day

John 6:39,53-56 – And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day…Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

John 15:4-5,7 – Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Application:

• ·         Jesus probably refers to the day of resurrection followed by judgment when he mentions “the last day”.
• ·         The believer has no fruitfulness apart from union and fellowship with Christ.
• ·         A living union with Christ is absolutely necessary; without it there is nothing.
• ·         It is impossible to pray correctly apart from knowing and believing the teachings of Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

World

John 6:35,51-52 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

John 4:42 – They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

John 9:16 – Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

Application:

• ·         “The bread of life” may mean “the bread that is living” and/or “the bread that gives life”.
• ·         The Savior of the world points to the facts (1) that Jesus not only teaches but also saves and (2) that His salvation extends to the world.
• ·         Some Pharisees started from their entrenched position and ruled out the possibility of Jesus being from God. Others started from the fact of the “signs” and ruled out the possibility of His being a sinner.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Eat And Not Die

John 6:35,46-50 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Application:

• ·         Since no human being can see God as He really is, those who saw God saw Him in a form He took upon Himself temporarily for the occasion.
• ·         Now Christ has made God known.
• ·         Death cannot destroy the life Christ gives.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Taught By God

John 6:45 – It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 – “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

1 Thessalonians 4:9 – Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

1 John 2:27 – As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Application:

• ·         “Write it (the law) on their hearts” so that it effectively governs their lives, in contrast to the ineffectiveness of merely presenting it in writing, though inscribed on durable stone.
• ·         When the Lord has done His new work, there will no longer be among His people those who are ignorant of Him and His will for human lives. True knowledge of the Lord will be shared by all—young and old, the peasant and the powerful.
• ·         In the New Testament “love for one another” always means love of fellow believers in Christ, all of whom have the same heavenly Father.
• ·         The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit is the development of the capacity to appreciate and appropriate God’s truth already revealed—making the Bible meaningful in thought and daily living.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Draws Them

John 6:41-44 – At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Jeremiah 31:3 – The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

John 12:32 – And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Application:

• ·         People do not come to Christ strictly on their own initiative; the Father draws them.
• ·         The Lord has drawn us with unfailing kindness.
• ·         Christ will draw people to Himself, without regard for nationality, ethnic affiliation or status.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Raise Them Up At The Last Day

John 6:40 – For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Application:

• ·         Death cannot destroy the life that Christ gives.
• ·         Jesus not only is life, but He also conveys life to believers so that death will never triumph over them.
• ·         Believers may die physically but, as those who have eternal life, their physical death is not their ultimate end.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

I Shall Lose None

John 6:38-40,44 – For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”… “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

John 10:28-29 – I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

John 17:12 – While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Philippians 1:4-6 – In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 3:6,14 – But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory…We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

John 5:25,28-29 – Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live…“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

Application:

• ·         True believers will persevere because of Christ’s firm hold on them.
• ·         The sheep’s security is in the power of the shepherd, who will let no one take them from Him.
• ·         Christ’s power is adequate for every need.
• ·         Death cannot destroy the life that Christ gives.
• ·         People do not come to Christ strictly on their own initiative; the Father draws them.
• ·         The Father’s power is greater than that of any enemy, making the sheep completely secure.
• ·         It is God who initiates salvation, who continues it and who will one day bring it to its consummation.
• ·         Failure to persevere reveals that a person is actually not a child of God, whereas perseverance is the hallmark of His children.
• ·         “To share in Christ” means to belong to Him and participate in the blessings He gives.
• ·         The spiritually dead who hear Him receive life from Him.
• ·         Salvation, of course, is a gift from God in response to faith, but true faith in Christ results in changed lives, lived in obedience to Christ as Lord.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV