The People, I

John 7:^17-18 “Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honour the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.”

Over the next few days, we will be studying John 7:25-53 [please read]. Studying the Book of John has been amazing. I want you to read the following passages on your own: John 6:16-21, John 6:22-59, John 6:60-70, and John 7:1-25. Devote a day to each section or more and really get into God’s Word. You would be amazed at what God Himself will show you. Just reading the Bible is life and we are totally grateful. I want you to go a step further and form a discussion group around this. Remember Collaborative Bible Study [C.B.S.]? As you read each section, take it into the discussion group and share your light. God has said in His Word that when we talk about His Word, He opens a Book of Remembrance for us. As you commit to this, I pray that God will indeed open a Book of Remembrance for you in Jesus Name. God’s Word is loaded!

In John 7:1-27 [please read], we see seven categories of people. The first category is The Clueless. The people who said, “The crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?” [John 7:20]. The people who say, ‘How can you say you have enemies?’ ‘How can you say there is spiritual warfare?’ ‘How can you say there is a supernatural world?’ They are clueless. These are the people that say, ‘Your own is too much! You are always following God, always praying, always reading your Bible, always going to church – always! Too much!’ They are clueless and it is just best to ignore them. The second category is, The Puzzled. They are the ones that said, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?” [John 7:25]. ‘How come nobody is arresting Him?’ They are confused, puzzled; if He is indeed the one that the whole of Jerusalem, Judea has been looking for. He is here now, why can’t somebody arrest Him?

Remember that Jesus was hiding in Galilee in the Northern part of the country and this was going on in the Southern part. Jesus was avoiding the south because they were looking to kill Him. Then His brothers told Him to go and show Himself, but Jesus said He was not going and eventually went. These people were puzzled, ‘Could He actually be the Messiah? Is that why our leaders are not laying hold on Him?’ They are not clueless, they are abreast of the issues. They know what the current affair is, but they cannot connect the dots. They do not know how to link what they can see. There are a lot of people in the world today who are clueless. They are seeing events happening, but they are puzzled. What could all these things mean? A whole lot of people are in the category of the puzzled. This is all happening at once, what does it mean?

The third category is The Rulers. These are the people that have an anti-Christ agenda. Even in our time, we have people that deliberately push agendas that are against Christ and against His Church all around us. Have you been able to identify these three in John 7:1-27?

Prayer: Father, fill me afresh with Your Spirit and wisdom so that I will not be clueless, or puzzled, or take a position against Christ. Help me see as I ought to see, in Jesus Name. Amen!