Anchor My Faith

Is Jesus the Christ?

Scripture: John 7:25-29

We ended the previous lesson and section with Jesus telling those assembled before him that they are not to judge by appearances, but to judge with righteous judgments. We start this lesson and new section with ^{Jn 7:25} “Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”’

Jesus told the people, in the previous lesson, that they had the law of Moses, but they didn’t keep it and that they wanted to kill him. They responded that they did not seek to kill him and that he had a demon to think that. There were apparently others who lived in Jerusalem that had heard second hand about this and asked the question when they saw Jesus and said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?” If that is true, then why is he speaking so openly, and the authorities are saying nothing to him? The authorities spoken of here probably refers to the Sanhedrin.

Since the authorities are saying nothing to Jesus and he continues to speak openly, the people begin to think that possibly they had determined that Jesus was the Christ. Those thoughts were only temporary, because they had been taught by some of the rabbis and believed that when the Christ appears they would not know where he was from. In the case of Jesus, they knew where he was from and that his parents were Mary and Joseph. Others believed those rabbis were wrong. They said, ⁴² “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So there was a division among the people over him” (John 7:42 – 43 ESV). Some believed Jesus was from Galilee, not from Bethlehem, so he couldn’t be the Christ.

Amidst this confusion, Jesus continues to teach in the temple, proclaiming, ^{Jn 7:28} “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. ²⁹ I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”

From all that Jesus has taught and done, the people had enough evidence to know that he was the Christ, the Messiah. Again, and again he has told them that he was from heaven and that he was sent by his Father and that he is worthy to be believed. Having come from the Father, Jesus is also worthy to be believed. Because they don’t know Jesus they don’t know the Father. Jesus knows him because he came from him and was sent by him.

Surely, this claim to be from God and his reproof would not set well with the authorities or the people, and thus we can expect some negative response that we will cover in the next lesson.

Conclusion

Was Jesus the Christ, the Messiah? That is a question they had to answer, and it is a question we must answer today. How it is answered and responded to will determine whether we spend an eternity in heaven with God enjoying the kindness of his grace or an eternity apart from God in hell suffering divine judgment. Since each one of us is born spiritually dead, making no choice is a choice to stay on the road to eternal destruction.