Engage The Scripture Podcast
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Engage The Scripture Podcast
Ep. 35 John 7:25-36 “You Do Not Know Him: Confrontational Moment at the Feast of Booths
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In this episode, we walk through John 7:25–36, where Jesus raises His voice in the temple and tells the Jerusalem crowd, “Him you do not know.” The people are divided, the leaders are plotting, and the officers sent to arrest Him freeze in confusion. Jeff unpacks the crowd’s misunderstandings, the failed arrest attempt, and the urgency behind Jesus’ warning that His time with them is almost over. They also offer two biblical self‑checks for anyone wondering how to know they truly know God.
I'm grateful for your faithfulness and I hope you're I promise to keep compiled academic control if possible teaching. Committed to doing everything I can to handle scripture faithfully, carefully, and without putting an agenda.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I can doubt for that. Week after week to stay faithful to the text, not to trends or opinions. You're not trying to sell anything. You're just trying to make the scriptures clear. Folks, appreciate that.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you for saying that, Brent. And speaking of staying with the text, let's get our bearings before we step into this next section. In John 7, 1 through 24, we saw Jesus arrive quietly at the Feast of Booths, begin teaching in the temple, and confront the crowd's confusion about his identity and his authority. The leaders were already plotting against him, the people were divided, and Jesus exposed our shallow judgments by calling them to judge with righteous judgment. That brings us to the next movement in the chapter: a new crowd, new questions, and a new attempt to arrest him. So, Brent, with all of that being said, let's go ahead and start reading.
SPEAKER_02All right, let's pick it up in verse 25. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 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?
SPEAKER_01Now, this is a different group. These are not the pilgrims who came to town for the feast that we spoke about last week. These are the Jerusalem locals. They know what's been going on behind the scenes. They've heard the leader's plans. So when they see Jesus teaching openly, they say, this is the man they wanted dead. So why aren't they stopping him? Dr. Carson calls this a real moment of realization for them. Their question is honest. If he's a deceiver, why do the leaders not arrest him? And if he's the Messiah, then maybe the rulers know something we don't.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because if the Sanhedrin accepted him, that would have been huge.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. But notice they talk themselves right out of it in verse 27.
SPEAKER_02Verse 27, but we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.
SPEAKER_01They say, we know this guy. We know his hometown, his family, his background. The Messiah isn't supposed to be someone we already know. This idea wasn't straight from the Old Testament. It was a popular belief that some Jews held during Jesus' time, that when the Messiah finally came, he would suddenly appear and no one would know where he was from. Some people tried to connect that to verses like Malachi 3.1, but the Old Testament actually points the other way. It clearly says the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. The crowd who grabs the unknown origin idea and runs with it, they think Jesus' background is too ordinary and too easy to trace from Nazareth, a regular family, so he can't be the Messiah. They've gone too far and rejected him based on a misunderstanding.
SPEAKER_02So they rejected him based on a total misunderstanding, and they don't even realize it.
SPEAKER_01Yes, but we need to see what John wants his readers to see here. This Jerusalem crowd is so sure of themselves. They think they know exactly who Jesus is, but they don't. They only know the surface level stuff, like he's from Nazareth and that he's the carpenter's son, but they have no clue about his true identity. So when they say we know where he's from, they totally miss the fact that he came from heaven from the Father from eternity.
SPEAKER_02They think knowing his hometown and his family automatically disqualifies him from being the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01That's right, that's what they think. And that sets the stage for what Jesus says next. He doesn't argue about how he really came from Bethlehem. He doesn't debate their tradition. He goes straight to the heart of the issue, their relationship with God.
SPEAKER_02Verse 28 and 29. So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, 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. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.
SPEAKER_01The ESV says Jesus proclaimed, but the Greek word, the verb underneath, is ekroxen, which means he raised his voice. It's a strong emotional word. And John only uses it for major public declarations. So Jesus isn't whispering this, he's speaking with urgency. It's not anger, it's urgency. It's the kind of deep emotional cry used for childbirth or intense distress.
SPEAKER_02So Jesus raises his voice because what he's about to say is absolutely essential.
SPEAKER_01That's right. And he's not arguing with them about where he grew up. He goes straight to the real issue. You know me, and you know where I come from. And the reason they knew Jesus is because his miracles in Jerusalem had been so public and so impossible to deny. Everyone had seen them. The leaders couldn't get around that fact. And John wants us to feel that tension. But then Jesus immediately adds, I have not come on my own. In other words, I'm not here on my own initiative. I was sent. Remember what we talked about last week with the rabbi-disciple relationship. In the ancient world, a messenger carried the full authority of the one who sent him. So Jesus is saying, I come with the full authority of the Father who sent me. They should have known this because no other man could do what Jesus was doing.
SPEAKER_02Then he adds the part that hits like a hammer.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and Kirstenberger says this is why the crowds react so strongly. Jesus is looking right at the religious people of Jerusalem, the ones who should know God best, and he tells them straight, you don't know God.
SPEAKER_02Imagine if someone told you that. That's a massive accusation. These are Torah-keeping, temple-worshipping Jews.
SPEAKER_01Right, and this is where I want to point out what I heard from Dr. Ron Johnson. Jesus isn't saying you're slipping or you're a little disobedient. He's saying you are not actually in covenant with Yahweh. That's what knowing God means in the Old Testament. Covenant loyalty, not just religious activity. Our scholars, they all emphasize this. Knowing God is relational faithfulness, not information. And Jesus is not inventing this idea. The prophets said the same thing. In Exodus 32, they call the golden calf Yahweh. Isaiah 1, God rejects their sacrifices because their hearts belong to other gods. And the list goes on. But you can see that many times Israel claimed Yahweh while giving their loyalty elsewhere.
SPEAKER_02Man, that would be a hard line to swallow. Jesus is saying, you think you're the faithful ones, but you're outside the covenant looking in. So it's actually possible to think you know God and be completely wrong.
SPEAKER_01I think so, and I'm not alone on this. The scholars and professors we follow overwhelmingly agree that it is absolutely possible to be deeply religious, fully convinced you know God, and still be self-deceived. They don't say that as a scare tactic. They say it because the Bible says it, and because second typical Judaism shows it, and because Jesus himself confronts it. You can convince yourself you're loyal to God, you can be around the things of God, you can even be doing religious activity and still not be in covenant with him. Think about this. If you had asked a Pharisee, do you belong to Yahweh? They would have said yes, of course. But Jesus is saying, no, you don't know him.
SPEAKER_02They could be deceived, and these were the religious leaders of their day. Then what does that mean for the rest of us? I mean, if they missed it, how do we know we're not missing it too?
SPEAKER_01Yes, and that's a real question. The good news is the Bible doesn't leave you hanging. It actually gives you two ways to check yourself. Number one, look at your response to Jesus. Number two, the Holy Spirit living in you. Yeah, that's good, but I think you need to explain those with a little more detail. Okay. First, if you want to know whether you really know God, look at your response to Jesus. That's the test. Dr. Carson says your reaction to Jesus reveals your spiritual condition. Do you receive his words or do you resist them? Dr. N. T. Wright says the people who truly know God are the ones who let Jesus correct them. Humility, repentance, and willingness to be reshaped. Do you let Jesus correct you? Dr. Heiser says your covenant loyalty shows itself in obedience to Jesus. So the question is, does your loyalty line up with Jesus? Then we have Dr. Witherington who says, knowing God shows up in a changed life. So if your behavior doesn't look like Jesus, something's off. The question would be, does your behavior look like Jesus? Then one more from our scholars, Dr. Tim Mackey says, knowing God isn't just information, it's relationship. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Okay, and then we have this second way. The Bible says that you can test if you really know God, and that's the Holy Spirit living in you. If you belong to Jesus, then the Spirit Himself is the witness. Romans 8.16 says the Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God. So the Holy Spirit reassures you. So John says the way you know you're in Christ is because the Spirit is in you. Let me go ahead and read a few more of these. Galatians 4 and 6 says, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So the Spirit creates a real relationship, not just religion. Then 1 Corinthians 12 and 3, no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit, which means no one can genuinely say from the heart, Jesus is Lord, unless the Holy Spirit has opened their eyes and changed their hearts. Now, anyone can mouth the words, but real faith, real submission, and real worship of Jesus as Lord is the work of the Holy Spirit in a person.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. And honestly, this feels like a good moment in our series to pause and just talk straight to anyone who might be wondering about this or feeling unsure. Because the Bible really does give you ways to test yourself to see if you truly know God.
SPEAKER_01At the end of the day, we're not trying to scare anyone. We're just trying our best to point you toward what's real. Jesus doesn't play games with people. He tells you the truth so you can actually know where you stand with God. No guest. He wants you to know and have clarity, not confusion.
SPEAKER_02Amen. Then we see that after Jesus says, you don't know him, he ends with, I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.
SPEAKER_01Some of you may remember we have already spoke about this in other episodes. Jesus' knowledge of the Father is unique. It comes from shared origin, shared nature, and shared mission. Jesus raises his voice because this is the dividing line. Rejecting him means rejecting the Father, and that's the crisis unfolding right in the middle of this festival.
SPEAKER_02Okay, verse 30 and 31. So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?
SPEAKER_01So they were seeking to arrest him, and based on the flow of this passage, this refers to the people of Jerusalem in verse 25, not the Pharisees yet. So did the people in the crowd actually have the power to arrest Jesus? Not legally. Only the temple police or the Romans could do that. But crowds in that culture absolutely could try to seize someone. Mob action was common.
SPEAKER_02That makes sense. Verse 32 says, The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priest and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
SPEAKER_01Here's the point, and John keeps showing us this over and over again. When Jesus clearly reveals who he is, it's hard to stay neutral. You either embrace him or you push him away. Nobody gets to stand in the middle. Yeah, I see that. You got to figure out what side you're on. Let me add a little personal story here. My older brother, who has passed on now, was a wonderful pastor. And after sharing the gospel in many of his sermons, he would say, if you walk away unchanged and say, I'll come to Christ later, you've already made your choice. You've chosen to reject him for now.
SPEAKER_02Then we have this line, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.
SPEAKER_01There are four major places in John where this exact ideal appears. It becomes one of John's major theological signals. Also, John uses the phrase, his hour had not yet come, or the hour has come, seven times. The point is that Jesus is untouchable until the Father's appointed hour. Kirstenberger calls Jesus the elusive Christ because he moves on the Father's timetable. Yes, no power, human or spiritual, can act until God permits. So when we read the Gospels, we need to read with that understanding. Jesus is not trapped, he's not overpowered, he's not a victim, he is moving on the Father's schedule. Until the Father says, Now, nobody can lay a hand on him.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Then in verses 33 to 36, Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and will not find me. Where I am you cannot come. The Jews said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, You will seek me and you will not find me, and where I am you cannot come?
SPEAKER_01We probably need to pause right here for a minute and look at this. I am with you. For us today, when we hear that Jesus is with us, we think of it in a spiritual sense, his presence, his spirit, his comfort. But for them, this was literal. They could see him, they could touch him, they could hear his voice echoing through the temple courts. God in the flesh was standing right in front of them. And then he tells them he's about to leave. Now for us, knowing who he is, that hits hard. But for them, they don't feel the weight of it because they don't realize who he truly is. Then Jesus says, I'll be with you only a little while longer. His public ministry is almost over. The cross is only months away. The window to respond to him is closing. And here's the tragedy. The people hearing him don't grasp the urgency. They don't understand the privilege of having Jesus physically present. They don't realize that this moment, this opportunity, will not come again. And then he says, I am going to the one who sent me. That's a claim of deity. He's not talking about running away or hiding. He's talking about returning to the Father, the one who sent him. Dr. Carson says this language points straight to his imminent departure, his return to the glory he had with the Father before the world began.
SPEAKER_02This signals that the hour he has been talking about is drawing close. You will look for me, but you will not find me, and where I am, you cannot come.
SPEAKER_01This is a warning. Israel's time to decide is running out. Dr. Bloom says that this is a prophecy that the nations will long for her Messiah, but too late. Kirstenberger notes that six months after this moment, Jesus is crucified. And this echoes the Old Testament, Proverbs 1. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. And Amos 8, a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Dr. Michael says this is part of John's dualism. Those who reject Jesus will later seek him, but they won't find him because they're seeking for the wrong reason. They want to arrest him, not follow him.
SPEAKER_02So Jesus is basically saying, Your opportunity is right now. You won't always have me standing in front of you.
SPEAKER_01Ramp, you've got this group whispering among themselves, where is this man going that we can't find him? Is he going to teach the Greeks? And this is classic John. They misunderstand him again. Michael points out that these are probably the officers who were sent to arrest him back in verse 32. And the narrative flow really supports that. Why? First, they were just sent to arrest Jesus in verse 32. Second, now they're standing there listening to him teach, and they don't lay a hand on him. Third, they misunderstand him just like the crowd. Fourth, they're the ones who show back up in verse 45 to report to the leaders. And fifth, the leaders themselves don't appear again until the officers return. Put all of that together, and the most natural reading is these officers are present. They're listening, they're confused, and whispering among themselves. And their question shows that they are thinking in purely earthly categories. Is he running away? Is he hiding? Is he going to the Jews, scattered among the Greeks? Is he going to teach the Gentiles? Bloys they're thinking on a purely earthly level. Isaiah 55 and 8 says, My thoughts are not your thoughts. And culturally, their question makes sense. Dr. Craig Keeter notes that up to 80% of the Jews lived outside the Holy Land, scattered among the Greek cities like Alexandria and Antioch. So when they say, is he going to the Greeks, they mean the Hellenistic Jews, the half Jews, the Gentiles, the nations. A Judean Jew saw himself as a different brand of Jew, more pure, more connected to the temple. So the way Jesus has been confronting their traditions makes them wonder if he's going to the Jews scattered among the Greeks, or even to the Gentiles themselves. So they're confused, but they're also accidentally prophetic. Exactly. And all the scholars point this out. Carson, Michaels, Kirstenberger, Bloom, these guys are wrong. And yet they're actually right because after Jesus' death and resurrection, the gospel will go to these people. It will go to the Greeks. It will go to the nations. They don't understand him, but they end up predicting the mission of the early church. And then they repeat Jesus' words back to themselves. What does he mean by saying, You will look for me and not find me? Dr. Michael says this repetition is intentional. It highlights the importance of Jesus' statement. Jesus will repeat this same line two more times in the gospel. And here's the point Jesus will not be present indefinitely. This was a good episode.
SPEAKER_02Next week we'll see how all this plays out. Jesus is about to stand up on the last day of that great feast and make a bold claim. You don't want to miss this.
SPEAKER_01And until that Hour arrives, nobody can lay a hand on him. That will do it for today's episode. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. We're praying for you. Keep engaging the scripture. God will bless you for it. Grace and peace, everyone. Have a good week. Until next week, shalom, friends.
SPEAKER_00You've been listening to Engage the Scripture Podcast, where context reveals the meaning. The Spirit reveals truth, and together they illuminate God's Word. If you have questions or want to dive deeper into today's topic, visit Engagethescripture.com. Click on the link, podcast notes. This podcast is for educational and devotional purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not constitute professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to study scripture and seek guidance from trusted spiritual leaders.