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The search for Jesus

Text: John 7 : 11-43

THE SEARCH FOR JESUS

The Jews had become increasingly hostile. They must have noticed that Jesus made it a point to go to Jerusalem during special Feast days. Thus when the Feast of the Tabernacles was celebrated, His enemies searched for Him. John noted,

“Then The Jews sought Him at the Feast, and said,
‘Where is He?'”
John 7:11

They were ready to deal with Jesus this time round, or so they thought. They had their men searching for Jesus. Perhaps they interrogated His brothers, but they did not know His movements and would thus not be able to furnish The Jews with any important information. The Feast drew many thousands into Jerusalem. The streets would be more crowded than usual. It would be difficult to locate Jesus unless He wanted to be found.

COMPLAINTS AGAINST JESUS

It seemed strange that Jesus should have any complaints lodged against Him. What were some of these complaints? John noted these grumbles,

“And there was much complaining among the people
concerning Him. Some said, ‘He is good’;
others said, ‘No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.’
However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of The Jews.”
John 7:12-13

The Jewish people had a long history of being complainers. From the time of Moses till the days of Jesus, Israel had never ceased to complain. Soon after their release from bondage to Egypt, despite the fact that they had seen the mighty power of God unleashed against their enemies ten times over, nevertheless they complained.

“And the people complained against Moses, saying,
‘What shall we drink?'”
Exodus 15:24 (Exodus 17:3)

God graciously met their needs, and gave them sweet water to drink (Exodus 15:25). But before too long, the children of Israel grumbled again. This time the complaint was about food.

“Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel
complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.”
Exodus 16:2

All throughout their forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel kept complaining against Moses and Aaron. When Jesus came onto the scene, they complained against Him too.

We can easily understand why people argued that Jesus was “good”. But on what basis did some of the people conclude that Jesus was one who “deceived people”?

The nature of the deadly sin of complaining is that it is all too often baseless! It is the wicked and sinful human heart at work in the worst possible way. People complain needlessly. The complaints were often lacking in substance and yet the grumbles never ceased. The words of Moses need to be remembered.

“…Your complaints are not against us but
against the LORD.”
Exodus 16:8

However, these complaints were spoken under their breaths. No one dared to speak too loudly for fear of The Jews. The masses never knew how The Jews could interpret their words. Prudence taught them not to say things too loudly.

THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF JESUS

The Jews had failed to locate Jesus when the Feast of Tabernacles commenced. This Feast was kept for seven days. To the surprise of The Jews, Jesus suddenly turned up and began to teach at the Temple – once again!

“Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up
into the Temple and taught.”
John 7:14

All their efforts to locate Jesus were in vain. The Jews were right to anticipate that Jesus would turn up in Jerusalem during the Feasts of the LORD. But they could not predict just when and where He might turn up.

As The Jews watched Jesus teaching in the Temple, they admired His knowledge, albeit grudgingly.

“And The Jews marveled, saying,
‘How does this Man know letters, having never studied?'”
John 7:15

The Jews had a very limited concept of what it meant to be highly educated. To them it meant going to their Rabbinic schools. It meant that the person must go through their theological schools and from their teachers learn the knowledge and skill of being a teacher of the Scriptures.

However, Jesus never went to any of the local Rabbinic schools. Nevertheless, He showed an astonishing amount of knowledge. How could He have acquired so much knowledge in such a short time? They had not given serious thought to what Jesus had said earlier about how His Father led Him.

“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge;
and My judgment is righteous…”
John 5:30

The Jews had little or no regard for the references made by Jesus concerning God as Father. Having dismissed this essential truth, they could not understand Jesus!