John 7:32-36

John 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 go 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’?”

John powerfully packs so much gospel into his account of Christ's presence at the Feast of Tabernacles in chapter seven. This would make amazing theater or an intriguing movie. Christ's brothers say, "You should go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do, because no one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret." Their human solution to Christ's ministry: Show yourself to the World. Jesus says, "You go on ahead. The right time for me has not yet come." Then when least expected, Jesus shows up anyway and begins teaching God's truth in the temple court. Some of his listeners are amazed: How did this man get such learning without having studied? Humbly Jesus replies: My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. And suddenly, in the eyes of some of his listeners, He moves from one who speaks truth to one who must be demon-possessed.

The high and lows continue as the Holy Spirit allows Christ to speak life to the people with his life in constant danger. The crowd questions whether this is the man the authorities seek to capture or whether he might be the Christ or the person they know as Jesus. Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from." Like a seesaw, the dance of the Spirit and the flesh continues. At one point when they try to seize Jesus, no one can lay a hand on him because his time had not yet come. Amazingly in the midst of so much chaos and undoubtedly a considerable amount of noise, the Word keeps going forth through the lips of the living Son of God by the power of the Spirit. The Pharisees now hear whispers from the crowd and their hearts are stirred with fear and anger. They again set out to capture this man, this impostor, by sending the temple guards to arrest him. Jesus declares the obvious, what He has known from the beginning: I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come. Again, people lack understanding. Blind eyes cannot see; deaf ears cannot hear. Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? You have to have new eyes to see Jesus, new ears to hear his voice.

Jesus was saying they must seek him while He could be found, touch him while He is present, but the time was close at hand when He would no longer teach them in person. Of course we know the rest of the story: He would offer himself on a cruel cross that all might know him, that all might find him, that the Comforter might come with power from on high. The death and resurrection of Christ brought the year of the Lord's favor: his grace and mercy upon all people. The living Word now dwells within every believer. God writes his Word on our hearts and puts it in our minds. But in that temple court, Jesus wanted the people to listen and to hear. He wanted to finish the work assigned by the Father, to preach glad tidings of great joy that Messiah had come in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. (Luke 14:18) Today, Christ remains outside the door to many a heart, waiting to be ushered inside, waiting for an invitation, waiting for full access, waiting for his children to surrender fully to his Lordship, waiting for deaf ears to open and for blind eyes to see. He says, "Come unto me and I will give you rest. Come, and I will heal your broken heart and lavish liberty over those bruises you did not deserve. I will cover you, hover over you." (Mom sitting in for Dad today who is out ministering to a very brokenhearted daughter of the king.)