Invitation into the Identity Inquiry
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Geeking Out
Geeking Out
Do you geek out?
Spending time investigating/learning about stuff?
Animals - types, bedding, care, and good hunting grounds
Architecture
Art
Cars
Cooking
Crypto currency
Financial news
Knitting or sewing techniques/patterns
News Events
Musical skills
Science
Sports teams
Technology
Theology
And so much more.
There are so many ways that we can Geek out these days. There are still things like print media - like books, magazines and newspapers. There are also still the normal news outlets and a plethora of alternative media and cable channels. But now there are also Youtubers, blogs, podcasts, and so much more. We can gain as much information as we would like to Geek out on almost any subject.
Today - we’re going to Geek out a little bit on the Bible. There are a variety of ways to do that. We could get into the original languages, cultural contexts, and theological nuances - but all of those require extra tools and knowledge. Today, we are going to Geek out with a resource that is right in front of you - your English Bible. Whether it’s KJV, ESV, NIV, or NASB - you should be able to do what we’re about to do on your own with what you have.
Now, we are not Geeking out just to be nerdy - we’re Geeking out to understand why certain patterns exist and the outcomes to which they are pointing.
So, today is going to be a little different than usual. I hope it’s interesting and engaging and instructive for all of us.
So, if you have your copy of Scripture, open it to John 7:14. If you don’t have a Bible, you’ll find a copy in the pew in front of you. BTW - this is one of the times when having a paper Bible (rather than electronic) is helpful.
If you remember, a few weeks ago, Pastor Armal started us off with Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths). I followed up with a look at the woman caught in adultery and then a look at Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world and last week we considered Jesus’ call to abide in his teaching.
Today, we’re going to look back briefly at the structure and themes of chapters 7-8 in order to discern what patterns are there and why.
Now, if you get the midweek email, you know I gave you a bit of homework - to read over this section a few times in order to examine the patterns that are there. In this first section of the sermon may be a bit of a review if you did your homework.
We’ve mentioned this before, but one of the tools that Biblical authors used in assembling Scripture is something called...
The Chiastic Structure
The Chiastic Structure
or Chiasm.
The Lexham Glossary of Theology defines a chiasm as:
A literary structure where parallel elements correspond in an inverted order (i.e., A-B-C-Cʹ-Bʹ-Aʹ).
Part of the point of a chiasm is to use patterns to focus on a central theme. It seems like they can also be used as a mnemonic device - or something to help us remember.
When we were doing our overview of the book of Lamentations, we noted that the whole book is one big chiasm that points to this high point in the middle of the book.
Here, as we study John 7:14-8:59, we are also going to see a chiastic structure. The question is - why? What is John trying to get us to understand and learn by including the structure here?
So, first of all, how would we discern that there is something there, something for us to observe? How would we know there is a chiasm and does it matter?
Here are a couple of steps that might be helpful.
Observe - look for words or phrases or themes that are repeated - circle them or write them out. Now, they might not be close together. In fact the section we’re looking at is a big section - so if we’re not careful and observant, then we would miss it. Would that be ok? Most likely - yes.
Bookend - look for things that might book end a section.
Match - see if there is a correlation among the phrases.
Consider the middle
Let’s look at this passage and what pattern emerges. You’ll notice I put something in your outline that I hope is helpful. The first step in this process is simply to...
1. Observe
1. Observe
Whether it’s this passage or another, it’s important that we pay attention to patterns, repeated phrases. I believe the things that are written in the Word of God are written for a reason. In our observation process, it’s simply important to notice what is being said and what is repeated.
As you study this passage, you’ll notice several themes that get repeated. Here are a few things that I’ve observed.
kill - Jesus brings up the idea that people are trying to kill him and others have questioned if Jesus would kill himself.
Jesus gets accused of having a demon
Discussion around judgment
Seeking - people will seek Jesus but not be able to find or follow
Bold, but different statements -
Time - not yet there
proximity to the temple - in and out
Once we’ve made some observations, we can consider the beginning and the end or the bookends
2. Bookend
2. Bookend
In a chiasm, there should be something on both sides or both ends that give us an indication of the boundaries of the chiasm.
Now, normally, when I am studying and looking to see whether a chiasm exists in a passage, I will either write letters in the margin of my bible or will write letters and corresponding phrases or passages in such a way that they form a sideways V or a greater than sign. For the purpose of our discussion today, I’m formatting this chiasm in a similar way to how Nasser al’Qahtani did in his analysis of this passage - in the shape of a U.
In the first verse of this section, Jesus enters the temple.
A Jesus enters the temple (7:14)
John 7:14 “About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.”
Where does Jesus leave the temple? Well, there is a brief section in the middle that has been inserted, but the primary exodus after the feast is in 8:59...
A’ Jesus exits the temple (8:59)
John 8:59 “So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”
Now that we have established the beginning and the end, we can begin to match them up to see if there is a pattern.
3. Match
3. Match
Let’s look at some other themes. By the way - we’ll likely go through this section rather quickly. You’ll notice in your outlines that the matching sections are across from each other. I’ll likely read a few of the verses as well. This is where having your Bible’s might be helpful.
B Jesus says they seek to kill him (7:19)
John 7:19 “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?””
B’ Jesus says they seek to kill him (8:37-40)
John 8:37-40 “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.”
C Accusers - “Demon” (7:20)
John 7:20 “The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?””
C’ Accusers - “Demon” - (8:48)
John 8:48 “The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?””
D Warning about Judging (7:24)
John 7:24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.””
D’ Discussion about Judging (8:15-20)
John 8:15-18 “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.””
E Warning about seeking (7:32-36)
John 7:33-34 “Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.””
E’ They will seek, but will die (8:21-24)
John 8:21 “So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.””
F Jesus cries - “Living Water” (7:37-39)
John 7:37-38 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ””
F’ Jesus cries - “I am the light of the world” (8:12)
John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””
Now, one thing you’ll notice is that not all of these themes cover the same number of verses. Some are short mentions and others are a bit longer.
You might also notice that in this passage, all of the themes correspond, but they don’t necessarily do so in the same order. There is a slight discrepancy in that. But the individual topics are there nonetheless.
The point of a chiasm is the draw our attention to the center or in this case, the bottom of the U - which brings us to our final points...
4. Consider the middle
4. Consider the middle
This is essentially the main argument. We might call this...
The Identity Inquiry (John 7:40-52)
The Identity Inquiry (John 7:40-52)
Ultimately, in this section, there are people don’t know what to do with Jesus. They don’t know how to categorize him. This central section is sort of divided into two:
Debate among the people (7:40-44)
Debate among the leaders (7:45-52)
Debate among the people (7:40-44)
Debate among the people (7:40-44)
They are not thinking clearly. They are amazed but, again, they don’t quite know how to think about Jesus. They have heard all of his teaching and comments. they’ve considered how he’s responded to criticism and they are at a loss.
Some call him “the prophet” - this goes back to Deuteronomy 18:15-18 - where Moses said there would be a prophet like him in the future.
Others call Jesus “the Christ” or the Messiah - which was the person who had long been prophesied about in years past.
Incidentally - they seemed to be thinking that the prophet and the Messiah would be two different people.
They question his origin - Jesus is called a Galilean. These people rightly confirm that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and would be a descendent of David. What is interesting is that they never really ask Jesus where he was born. They never really get to the question of where he was from. They simply assume. He was raised in Nazareth - which is in Galilee. He likely had a Galilean accent. But, if they would have asked, or maybe even done their homework - they would learn that he is of line of David and was born in Bethlehem - as we learn in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Once the people come to their divisive conclusions, it’s time for the...
Debate among the leaders (7:45-52)
Debate among the leaders (7:45-52)
This is essentially prompted by the fact that they had sent some temple officers to go and arrest Jesus - but they come back empty handed - because they are amazed at the way that Jesus taught - essentially saying: John 7:46 “The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!””
Instead of seeking more information - the religious leaders claim that the officers had been deceived and then essentially call the commoners “accursed” because some are beginning to believe in Him.
Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night in John 3, speaks up and says that they should at last give Jesus a hearing - to understand what he is saying.
To which the other Pharisees reply - John 7:52 “They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.””
The problem is that some of Israel’s most prominent prophets came from the region of Galilee - before it was known as Galilee (ESVSB):
Jonah (2 Kings 14:25)
Elijah (probably) (1 Kings 17:1)
Nahum (Nah. 1:1)
Maybe they have a natural bias against Galileans. It’s possible they are threatened by Jesus’ popularity and influence - which might cause them to avoid further examination.
We have to keep in mind that John’ original audience was likely a group of Jewish background believers in and around Ephesus. Some of them had been turning from their belief in Jesus - back to a traditional Jewish way of thinking, believing, and acting. I think this is one of the reasons why the theme of belief comes up so frequently and why these debates among the religious leaders are so prominent - John is trying to urge his original audience to wrestle with Who Jesus Is and why he came.
So as we think about the central part of this chiasm - we have to ask - why did John organize this in this way? Why is this the central part of the debate?
Why would these verses (along with the pericope of the woman caught in adultery) be the central element of this chiasm?
Maybe John has organized all of this together as a means of...
Inviting us into the debate
Inviting us into the debate
He is urging us to consider the evidence. He is challenging us wrestle with the identity of Jesus. He is inviting us into the debate and calling the question - who is Jesus?
Is he the prophet?
Is he the messiah?
Is he the one in whom we should believe?
As we saw a couple weeks ago, Jesus himself said:
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
and
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Is Jesus who He says He is? If so, what am I going to do about it? What are you going to do about it?
closing thoughts
closing thoughts
Beloved, brother and sister in Christ, I pray that through this little exercise you have an extra tool in your Bible study arsenal to examine scripture more fully. I also pray that you have confidence in Jesus - he is more than a good teacher, he is more than a religious leader - he is the anointed one of God, the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.
Friend, if you’re not yet a follower of Christ, John is inviting you into the debate. He’s inviting you to come to a decision. He’s inviting you to believe...
but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Will you believe?
He is the source of living water.
He is the illuminating light of the world.
He is the catalyst for change in the world.
He is the only means of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
He is the way to be reconciled with God.
Let’s pray.
As you know, normally at this point, we would read a scripture, sing a song, and then I’d share a benediction. Instead, let’s close our time in a simple song.
Sources:
Beeke, Joel R. and Paul M. Smiley. Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 2: Man and Christ. Wheaton, IL. Crossway, 2020.
Burge, Gary M. The NIV Application Commentary: John. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.
Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991.
Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.
Gangel, Kenneth O. John. Vol. 4. Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.
Mangum, Douglas. The Lexham Glossary of Theology. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
Milne, Bruce. The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today). Downers Grove, IL. Inter-Varsity Press, 1993
Neusner, Jacob. The Mishnah : A New Translation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988.
Tenney, Merrill C., John: The Gospel of Belief, Grand Rapids, MI. Eerdmans, 1976.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Feast-of-Tabernacles.html
Nasser al’Qahtani - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFOle9ebkSA&list=PLvQAzqyf7lfXfOWhsi6e7tjSIn-OeWS9a&index=15