Jesus, Divider of Men (Jn 7) Intro "The Christian religion does not begin in comfort; it begins in dismay. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth-only soft soap & wishful thinking to begin with &, in the end, despair" (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 39).
Where can peace be found? From a surgeon who first cuts in order to heal.
Exposition 1. Reason for the Great Division (v1-8, esp. v6) V6, He testifies that its works are evil.
2. Their Assessment of Jesus (v9-13,20) V12,20, Great confusion: A good man? A deceiver? Possessed by a demon?
"You must make your choice. Either this man was, & is the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse [but not] a great moral teacher. He hasn't left that open to us" (Mere Christianity).
3. Jesus' Assessment of Them (v14-36) Jesus accuses them of being breakers of the Law, haters of Christ who want him dead, great over-estimators of their own goodness, & hypocritical judges (see Rom 12:3). But who will take the offer of forgiveness of sins?
4. Invitation to the Great Salvation (v37-39) This is an offer to all. But there's another sense in which, sadly, the great scope of this offer is realistically narrowed down. "If anyone thirsts" - as much as admitting that there may not be many.
An offer to all. But one which inevitably brings division.
Conclusion Spurgeon compared these "rivers of living water" to the great tides on the Thames River that lifted the great river barges. When the tide was out, nothing could move those barges as they lay in the mud. But when the tide turned, even a child could move them with his hand.
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