June 4, 2017

John 7:1-24: Motive Is Everything

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: The Gospel of John: That You May Believe Scripture: John 7:1–24

John 7:1-24: Motive Is Everything

Please take your Bible and open it to John 7. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 740. For those of you who are visiting, we’ve been systematically working our way through the Gospel of John passage by passage. And as we’ve been going along, we’ve seen the tensions gradually escalating between Jesus and his Jewish audience, and things will continue to escalate as we read in our text this morning. John 7:1-24: “After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee. 10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. 14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” 

When Becky and I first moved into our house, it was in fairly good condition, but there were several things we wanted to modify. One of those was some stairs that went down the side of the house to the back yard. We wanted to take out those stairs and replace them with grass. Now, these stairs consisted of paving bricks with four by four wooden beams around them. And at first, I thought I’d be able to get the project done in a single day. Just take out the paving bricks, dig out the beams, and we’re good to go. Little did I know that those beams went 4-5 beams deep into the ground, and they were held together by these huge pins about this big. I mean, whoever built those stairs must have really like building things, because they went a little overboard. So I had to dig all the way around and underneath all of those beams, then pry them apart, and then use the reciprocating saw to cut those pins. And after working on the project fourteen hours a day for a couple days, I quickly realized that I had bitten off more than I could chew. So you know what I did? I took the easy way out. Since that part of our property isn’t really very visible, I just heaped a long pile of dirt over the wooden beams, scattered some grass seed, and called it a day. And I’ll be honest: it doesn’t really look that great, but it gets the job done, and it saves me from the backbreaking work of digging out any more of those beams. So I’ll admit: I took the easy way out.

But in our text, Jesus doesn’t do that. In fact, he does something so difficult and so daring that a lot of people probably wouldn’t attempt it. Even though his own brothers openly mock him and even though he faces significant danger from the Jews in Jerusalem, Jesus moves forward with his ministry and makes the bold decision to go right up to the temple courts and begin to teach. And it’s not until later on in the passage what we find out why. But first, let’s examine those two things I mentioned that make it so notable that Jesus continued his public ministry. 

Jesus Moved Forward in Spite of Discouragement

The first reason it’s so notable that Jesus did that is the discouragement he must have felt from the way his brothers treated him. Jesus moved forward in spite of discouragement. Look at verses 1-5: “After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him.

Think about how painful it is when a close friend betrays you. Many of you have probably experienced that. You discover that a close friend has been saying unkind things about you behind your back, or maybe they do something that’s very hurtful to you. That’s painful. So you can imagine how much it must have hurt Jesus when his own brothers, the very people we might expect would be the most loyal to Jesus, end up openly mocking him instead. Even though they knew full well that the Jews of Jerusalem were seeking to kill Jesus, they mockingly urge him to go up to Jerusalem so everyone can see what big-shot he is. Reading these verses, you can just feel how deeply they despise him. 

And really, his own brothers are just part of a much larger group that openly ridiculed and opposed Jesus’ ministry. John 1:11 states that Jesus “came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Jesus faced rejection a lot, even from his own people, the Jewish people. And I imagine it must have been so tempting for him to take the easy way out and determine that it wasn’t really worth it and just give up. Thankfully, though, he didn’t do that. In spite of such discouragement from others, including his own brothers, Jesus continues to move forward in his ministry.

Jesus Moved Forward in Spite of Danger

Also, not only did Jesus move forward in spite of discouragement, he also moved forward in spite of danger. His life was legitimately in danger from the Jews of Jerusalem. Verse 1 records that he travels up to Galilee in order to get away from Jerusalem and Judea because, as it says, the Jews there “were seeking to kill him.” In fact, it seems as though the entire city was on edge as they waited to see what would happen to him. Verses 12-13 record that “there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, ‘He is a good man,’ others said, ‘No, he is leading the people astray.’ Yet for fear of the Jews [that is, the Jewish leaders] no one spoke openly of him.” That’s how intense this situation was. That’s how much of a target Jesus had on his back. Most of the people in Jerusalem didn’t even want to publically talk about him for fear of arousing the anger of the Jewish leaders. 

But when the annual Feast of Booths comes around in Jerusalem, Jesus decides to do something very dangerous. Even though he’s been hiding out in Galilee, he returns to Jerusalem. Now, he does this in private in order to be as secure as possible for as long as possible. But after a few days, Jesus goes right up to the temple courts in Jerusalem, and begins to teach. So understand that Jesus was risking his life just by entering the city. But not only does he enter the city, in verse 14 he even goes to what was probably the most public platform in the city and begins to teach. 

That takes guts—because what’s our natural instinct? Our natural instinct is to do everything we can to avoid danger, right? It’s called self-preservation. That’s why Secret Service agents, according to one documentary I watched, have to receive extensive training on overcoming that natural instinct to avoid danger. When somebody’s shooting at a target that’s very close to you, your first response—understandably—is to duck down and get out of there. Or maybe find something to hide behind. But obviously, in order to protect the President, a Secret Service agent can’t do that. They have to overcome their instinct for self-preservation and use their own body to shield the President if need be, and if they’re able to, keep their head up and look for the shooter. And responding in that way is so contrary to the way we’re naturally wired to respond that they have to receive extensive training to do that. But here in our text, Jesus puts himself out there and goes right up to the temple courts and starts teaching.

So why do you think Jesus would do what we see him doing in John 7? Why do you think he would continue to move forward despite the discouragement he must have felt from his own brothers rejecting him? Why do you think he would preach at the temple courts in spite of the extreme danger he faced in doing so? Well, his own words in verse 18 actually tell us why: the glory of God. 

Jesus’ Motive: The Glory of God

Look what it says, “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” So Jesus identifies himself as one who’s seeking the glory of God. That’s his passion, that’s his purpose, that’s the grand ambition he has for his life—quietly tucked away right there in verse 18. Jesus was consumed with a passion to see God glorified. So here’s the main point this morning, the main principle I believe we need to see from this text: Being burdened for God’s glory motivates us to serve him even when it’s difficult. Being burdened for God’s glory motivates us to serve him even when it’s difficult.

Now just so you know, when we say the “glory” of God and when Jesus says he seeks the “glory” of God in verse 18, that means fame of God—God’s renown, his honor, his prestige. That’s what the word “glory” means in the original language and in this context—God being exalted. And that’s what motivated Jesus and what should motivate us to serve him even when it’s difficult.

Certainly, the Bible talks about other motives for serving God that are legitimate. One of those motives is heavenly reward. For example, in Matthew 6:20, Jesus tells us not to lay up treasures on earth but to lay up treasures in heaven. So he presents heavenly reward as a legitimate motive for serving him. That’s very biblical—to lay up treasures in heaven. Also, another legitimate motive for serving God is love for others, which in Matthew 22:39 Jesus identifies as the second greatest commandment. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” he says. So those two things are very legitimate motives for serving God. And yet, there’s a higher motive. And this higher motive is related not to the second greatest commandment but to the first greatest commandment: loving God. We’re supposed to love God all our heart, soul, and mind. And so, the highest motive for serving God is a holy passion to see God glorified.

That’s why, as you can see right there on the front page of your bulletin, our church’s mission statement states that “we want to glorify God” by doing all the things we do—“by helping people know Christ personally, grow to spiritual maturity, and become disciple-makers themselves.”

What that Would Look Like for Us

So I would like stir you up this morning and call you to live your life for the glory of God. And I’m not just talking about doing that when it’s convenient or easy or comfortable. I’m talking about being all in and seeking God’s glory even when it requires doing difficult things, just like Jesus does here in John 7. Because the Bible never gives us the impression that we can expect the Christian life to be easy. In fact, in Romans 12:1, Paul says that we’re supposed to present our bodies as what he calls “a living sacrifice.” And listen to what Jesus says in Luke 14:27-33: “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” So let me ask you: is that what your Christianity looks like? That’s biblical Christianity. Is that what your Christianity looks like—that level of devotion? And that’s what true passion for the glory of God looks like as well. It looks like being so passionate about his fame that you’re ready to renounce everything, as Jesus says—including your very life, if necessary—in an effort to see God exalted. 

Last week, we celebrated Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a day for us to remember the thousands of soldiers who’ve laid down their lives for our country. They made the ultimate sacrifice, and as an American, I think it’s very appropriate for us to remember and honor that sacrifice. And their motive in giving their lives was something bigger than themselves. They gave their lives for our country, our freedoms, our well-being. That’s a high motive. But of course, as Christians, we understand our motive doing for the things we do to be even higher than that, right? We want to glorify God. So if our motive is as high and if our cause is as great as we say it is, should we not be willing to lay down our lives just like all of our braves soldiers have laid down their lives? If our motive is higher, shouldn’t our devotion and our willingness to sacrifice be higher as well? I think of Nathan Hale, a spy for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The British discovered his loyalties, arrested him, and determined execute him. And as he was about to be hanged, these were his last words: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” That’s powerful, but as Christians, should we not have an even greater willingness than that to sacrifice since we’re pursuing the glory of God? 

So I challenge you to ask yourself two questions. This is where the rubber meets the road, these two questions. Number one, “What’s God calling me to pursue that I’m not pursuing?” Maybe there’s a calling for your life God wants you to embrace or even just a particular task or goal or project he wants you to pursue for a season. So ask yourself, “What’s God calling me to pursue that I’m not pursuing?” And then question number two, “What’s God calling me to do that I’m not doing?” Maybe the Holy Spirit’s been convicting you that there’s something very specific you need to do as soon as possible. Maybe it’s a sin you need to forsake or a conversation you need to have or a commitment you need to make or something else. Ask yourself, “What’s God calling me to do that I’m not doing?”

Thinking about that first question about a calling for your life, I’ll use an example from my own life. I sensed from an early age that God wanted me to be a pastor. Now that doesn’t mean that he wants everyone to be a pastor—that’s not at all what question number one is meant to imply—but that was the case for me. And that was a really hard decision, because without going into all the details, my dad was a pastor and has some really bad experiences. Unfortunately, sometimes there are people who attend church and call themselves Christians but behave in very unchristian ways, and that was the case with several people my dad encountered as a pastor. He went to one church where there was a board of directors that had forced the resignation of seven pastors in seven years, and as you might expect, he became number eight. And that was almost fifteen years ago, and to this day he still hasn’t recovered enough to be a pastor again. So seeing all of that, I naturally wasn’t very eager to follow in my dad’s footsteps. I originally planned on going to MIT and becoming an architect. But God had a different plan. And he began to make it increasingly clear to me that he wanted me to be a pastor. So I had a choice to make: My comfort or God’s glory? My chance at having a six-figure salary or God’s glory? My ambitions for my own prominence or God’s glory? And by the way, looking back, the decision to pursue pastoral ministry is one of the best and most satisfying decisions I’ve ever made. Looking back, I can’t even imagine doing anything else. That’s how enjoyable it is.

So if you agree that God’s glory is worth it and you want to spend your life glorifying God, I challenge you to ask yourself those two questions. “What’s God calling me to pursue that I’m not pursuing?” And, “What’s God calling me to do that I’m not doing?” And God may lead you to do some difficult things, like with Jesus in our main text. He may lead you to do some dangerous things, as we see Jesus doing. But here’s the thing: I’m convinced that living for the glory of God is the most satisfying way anyone can ever live. It brings you more joy, more fullness, more happiness than any other approach to life.

Now if you’re not a Christian yet, let me just say that there’s no way you’re going to understand that until you experience true conversion—what the Bible calls being born again. But for those of you who have experienced that and have been made into a new person, listen to me. The more you become captivated by God’s beauty and God’s supremacy and God’s love, the more joy you’ll experience as you live for his glory. Let me say that again. The more you become captivated by God’s beauty, supremacy, and love, the more joy you’ll experience as you live for his glory. Think about a marriage that’s everything God has designed it to be. When one spouse’s birthday rolls around, the other spouse takes joy in helping them feel special on that day. They delight in doing various things to serve them on their birthday and celebrate their life and let them know how loved and appreciated they are. It’s not like doing all those things is drudgery or a chore they’d rather not do. If you love your spouse, it’s your joy to serve them on their birthday and hopefully throughout the rest of the year as well. 

And in the same way, when you’re consumed with love for God and gratitude toward God for everything he’s done for you, living for his glory brings you incredible joy. After all, this is the God who saw your sinful, wretched condition and had mercy on you. This is the God who sent his own Son Jesus to become a human being and die on the cross to take the penalty for your sins. He bore the judgment you and I deserved to bear as he bled and died. This is the God who reached out to you, even when you had no regard for him, and changed your heart so that you were able to receive the gospel and repent of your sins and trust in Christ. This is the God who continues to love you in spite of all your failures and shortcomings as a Christian and continues to sanctify you so that you become more and more like him. And this is the God who has promised one day to let you behold his heavenly splendor—and not just for a moment, but for all eternity. If you really grasp the depth of God’s love and the magnitude of his grace as we see it in the gospel, you’ll wish, just like Nathan Hale, you’ll wish that you had more than one life to give in service to such a great God.

other sermons in this series