Session 12: August 27, 2022

Scripture Reading: John 6:59-71 & John 7:1-9 (a prior version of the blog said 7:1-36, but I want to slow down a bit this week)

59 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, said, “This is a difficult saying! Who can understand it?” 61 When Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had already known from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 So Jesus added, “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.”

66 After this many of his disciples quit following him and did not accompany him any longer. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!” 70 Jesus replied, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?” 71 (Now he said this about Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for Judas, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.)

7 After this Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He stayed out of Judea because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish Feast of Shelters was near. 3 So Jesus’ brothers advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. 4 For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his own brothers believed in him.)

6 So Jesus replied, “My time has not yet arrived, but you are ready at any opportunity! 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I am testifying about it that its deeds are evil. 8 You go up to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast because my time has not yet fully arrived.” 9 When he had said this, he remained in Galilee.

Main Themes

This Is a Difficult Saying!

So far (last session) we knew that Jesus was giving the discourse about the bread of life in Capernaum. In verse 59, John narrows down the setting. Jesus is at the synagogue. And this is certainly not his first time receiving a wide audience there. Recall Mark 2:1-12

1 Now after some days, when he returned to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 2 So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some people came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus. Then, after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the experts in the law were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: 7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Now immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 12 And immediately the man stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Synagogues were community centers, the use of which was not restricted to Saturdays. Also recall that in the Gospel of John the main opposition to Jesus has come from religious leaders, who would naturally control the synagogue.

In this religious and adversarial context—but also a context in which Jesus has proven himself—the audience responds, “This is a difficult saying! Who can understand it?” There is, ironically, a difficulty of translation here. The word “difficult” connotes harshness and difficulty in following rather than a comprehension barrier. The second question, regarding understanding, can also be translated as, “Who is able to hear?” That is, who is able to heed such words. This makes sense of Jesus reply. Jesus does not call them dummies; he accuses them of being offended. The audience understood but rejected the lesson. The word for offended can also be translated as “stumble.” This term is used in the Bible and outside of it to refer to apostasy or “falling away.” Put simply, Jesus is asking whether his followers will follow him or desert him.

Jesus ups the ante. “Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?” What if they see Jesus ascending into heaven? Would more proof that Jesus is speaking the truth change their mind or would it cause a greater rejection? Forgive my pop culture reference, but the following Joan Osborne song lyrics come to mind

If God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the Saints
And all the prophets?

Jesus offers hope though. How can you heed his words? Can you comply with such a hard teaching? You must have the Spirit! The teaching is not that harsh after all. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus is to partake in his eternal life by being filled with the Spirit. This, in fact, is not harsh at all. It is an offer of a free gift!

How can I get the Spirit then? Listen to Jesus’ words, the Spirit and life are found there (v. 63). “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one whom he sent.” This is the recurring theme of John’s gospel. How can we share in Jesus? How can we be saved? How can we have eternal life? How can we do what God requires of us? Believe. If Jesus is who he says he is, and he does what he says he will do, he has everything covered.

Many Depart but Peter Confesses

Many of those in the same crowd that was ready to force Jesus into kingship reject him. Jesus offers his disciples the chance to do the same. There is no coercion. To paraphrase, “If this is too difficult for you, you can leave too. In fact, one of you will.” Notice that Jesus is fully aware of his impending betrayal. Jesus is not surprised by the cross. He is steadily walking towards it, even by choosing his own betrayer.

Peter does not reject Jesus. He confesses instead, “you are the Holy One of God.” This is a title for God himself in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament it is often said a little differently, “the Holy One of Israel.” I could provide many, many examples, but here is just one from Psalms 71:22:

I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,

praising your faithfulness, O my God.

I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,

O Holy One of Israel.

The same term (Holy One of God) could function as a title for a servant of God. So, very much in John’s style, I think this is another beautiful double entendre. Jesus is both God and a servant of God. He is the Word and he does the will of the Father.

To Whom Would We Go—A Personal Note

Peter asks such a poignant question, “to whom would we go?” Anyone participating in this Bible study can hopefully see that I have endeavored to stay close to the text. Here, I would like to add a personal note. To the extent it is unhelpful, simply disregard it.

I was not raised in a Christian home or in a Christian culture. I was an outspoken atheist by the time I was in my late teens. I can clearly remember my atheistic worldview. Looking back I realize my worldview was “full of holes” and it was quite empty too. I will explain using a not-so-quick analogy.

The Analogy

Assume for just a brief moment that I were a good mechanic (I am not). You come to me with a problem. This morning, as you backed up your car to head to work, you noticed there was a puddle right under the car. The puddle is not very large. The liquid is greenish, but parts of it seem gold too. The pavement underneath is quite dark, so you have a hard time discerning how dark the liquid itself is.

I am a good mechanic, so I quickly come up with some options. It could be water, oil, coolant, and transmission fluid. I theorize that water would have evaporated by the morning and scratch it off the list. I also know that transmission fluid is dark red, so it’s probably not the right answer. Now the answer is narrowed down to two possibilities: oil or coolant. Coolant is generally green, but if spread thin on dark pavement it can look yellowish. Oil looks yellow, unless dirty. Then it looks black. Your car is old, you haven’t changed the oil in a few thousand miles, so the oil would probably look black. The best explanation for your mystery puddle is coolant.

Now further assume another mechanic is there too. He argues, almost as convincingly, that oil is the best explanation. A few thousand miles is not enough to turn oil black, he says, and the car, although old, is not burning any oil.

After we are done theorizing about the puddle, we move on to a different topic. You tell me that your car has been running hot. Oh dear, that leaves quite a few possibilities. The problem could lie in the radiator, belts, hoses, oil, cooling system, water pump, and bad thermostat. Now, you probably already want to pick one particular solution given the prior paragraphs. Please, for a moment, refrain. Assume that I, the brilliant mechanic, again engage in my Holmesian deductive process while also ignoring everything mentioned in the prior paragraphs. I review all the evidence carefully and conclude the problem is in the cooling system. But that wretched other mechanic is still available to second-guess my conclusion. He believes the best explanation for the car overheating is the thermostat—in fact, the car is not overheating at all. We both lay out our evidence and either conclusion seems likely.

Finally, you tell me another odd story. The car smells funny. “Funny,” I ask, “how?” Well, it’s not an unpleasant smell. A little sweet. Again, I know you (the reader) are dying to jump to a conclusion. Hold your horses for one more minute. While ignoring the prior paragraphs, I theorize about all the possible causes. Then I lay out a sound and thorough argument as to why the most probable explanation for that smell is a coolant leak. At this point the other mechanic scoffs at me. There are a thousand possible explanations for an odd, faintly sweet smell. From spilled soda to air freshener. Any firm conclusion is certainly unwarranted, he convincingly argues.

Now, let’s retell the story a different way. You come to me, the mechanic, with the following issues: there was a greenish, yellowish puddle under the car, the car is getting hot, and there is a faintly sweet smell in the car. The solution is obviously a coolant leak. To quote our former president, “I know it, you know it, everyone knows it.”

At this point let’s make two observations. When the symptoms are isolated, one can have reasonable debates as to the best explanation of each. When the symptoms are conjoined, the best explanation is inarguable.

The Application

Ok, so what does my little story have to do with anything? It seems to me that reality suffers from several “symptoms.” These are facts of the world that are almost undeniable while at the same time being puzzling. The universe seems to have a beginning. There are powerful scientific reasons to believe this—but frankly this is a fact wholly within our own common sense. If time is infinite in the past, how would we have reached this very moment? Why has energy not fully devolved into heat if the universe exists eternally in the past? The universe seems oddly fine-tuned for life. The more we learn about the universe, the more we realize that if the very fundamental rules of the universe (like the gravitational force) were any different, life could not exist. I am not talking about human life—no life could exist. But the symptoms get stranger. There seems to be good and evil. Not just good. Not just evil. The view that everything is how it should be can account for good but not evil. The view that matter is all that exists and life is meaningless can account for neither. There seems to be minds that have intentionality. If someone steals my wallet, I blame the criminal. I really do blame the criminal. I don’t blame some unguided chain of events that inevitably resulted in that outcome. There seems to be beauty. The view that beauty is in the eye of the beholder is sheer nonsense—we might not say it, but we all know this. Taste might be in the eye of the beholder. A person can have bad taste and like the ugly, but that doesn’t make the ugly into beautiful. Shockingly, mathematics—a completely abstract concept—seems to describe the physical reality. Math would exist even if no time, matter, or space existed. It is untethered from the universe, and yet it can elegantly summarize the universe’s workings. People seem to have inherent worth. And people seem to have a higher worth than animals, so the mere possession of brain function does not seem to entirely explain people’s worth. Life seems to have purpose. Take the Star Wars philosophy—the force always returns to balance. That view can account for good and evil, but it eliminates any sense of purpose. A life may seem to have a purpose but history as a whole has no arch. And because of that, neither does life if considered within the wider framework.

Forgive my stream of conscience above, but it accurately reflects the quandary. Sure, naturalism might be able to explain fine-tuning by positing a multiverse, but it can’t explain good and evil. Sure, some form of Taoism could account for good and evil, but it can’t account for purpose. Sure, new ageism exalting the divine nature of individuals can account for people’s inherent worth, but it struggles to explain the way people intentionally hurt one another, much less what should be done about it. And so allow me to repeat Peter’s question, “If not Christ, to whom will I go?”

Christ was not my default choice. I was not raised to believe in him. Nonetheless, the more I realize how he explains every “symptom” of the universe the more I realize I could not not believe. What else would I believe? And notice I have not mentioned the most personal “symptom” of all. It seems to me I am not perfect; I am not good. Who can speak to me the words of life?

The Feast of Tabernacles

Chapter 7 opens up with the Feast of Shelters, known by several other names but perhaps most popularly as the Feast of Tabernacles. I will present an edited version of the explanation given a Christian website:

The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths and Sukkot, is the seventh and last feast that the Lord commanded Israel to observe and one of the three feasts that Jews were to observe each year by going to “appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose” (Deuteronomy 16:16). . . . [I]t was at this time that Solomon’s Temple was dedicated to the Lord (1 Kings 8:2).

It was at the Feast of Tabernacles that the Israelites, who had returned to rebuild the temple, gathered to celebrate under the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel (Ezra 3). Later, the Jews heard Ezra read the Word of God to them during the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8). Ezra’s preaching resulted in a great revival as the Israelites confessed and repented of their sins. . . .

The feast begins five days after the Day of Atonement and at the time the fall harvest had just been completed. It was a time of joyous celebration as the Israelites celebrated God’s continued provision for them in the current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years in the wilderness.

As one of the three feasts that all “native born” male Jews were commanded to participate in . . . . As one of the pilgrim feasts (when Jewish males were commanded to go to Jerusalem), it was also the time when they brought their tithes and offerings to the Temple (Deuteronomy 16:16). . . . Thousands upon thousands of people coming together to remember and celebrate God’s deliverance and His provision, all living in temporary shelters or booths as part of the requirements of the feast. . . .

Lasting eight days, the Feast of Tabernacles begins and ends with a Sabbath day of rest. During the eight days of the feast, the Israelites would dwell in booths or tabernacles that were made from the branches of trees (Leviticus 23:40–42). . . .

Leviticus 23:43 tells us the purpose of the festival, “so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

Jesus and His Bothers

Judeans want to kill Jesus. Galileans are simply unwilling to follow. And Jesus’ brothers are no exception. Although they have travelled with Jesus and his mother Mary, they do not trust Jesus’ plan. This is disconcerting. Honoring kinship ties was extremely important in Jewish culture. For those closest to a teacher to disbelieve him could be seen as discrediting. At least one of Jesus’ brothers (James) would later become a leader in the church, and this disbelief could be used against him. Yet John doesn’t shy away from the disbelief of Jesus’ brothers.

What is the problem with Jesus going to Jerusalem and performing miracles in front of everyone? His time has not yet come. Notice, the time will come. There will come a moment when Jesus goes to Jerusalem, makes a public appearance, and allows his enemies to kill him. Not yet though. The point is reinforce: the cross is deliberate.

Then comes the main point of these verses (1-9). The world cannot hate the world, and the world will hate the spirit. The verses do not include the word spirit, but that is the dualism that John returns to time and time again. This is a major theme in the Gospel of John and in the New Testament as a whole. The world has turned from what is good. The world has turned from its intended purpose to worship God, who is good. Whenever God or one of his followers points that out to the world, the world hates it. Otherwise the world would be confronted with its own guilt.