JEWELS From the GOSPEL of JOHN: VERY CHRIST – JOHN 7:25-30

The following is a series of short exhortations, brief commentary, and writings to convey thoughtful meditation on God's Word. I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject. I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.

JOHN 7:25-30
25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26 "But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? 27 "However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from." 28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 "But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me." 30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

Christ Jesus always declared truth, until the unquestionable Messianic Miracles were rejected, and then He spoke in parables (which only truth-seekers would understand by the unction of the Holy Spirit; MATT 13:10-17).

The foretelling of the Messiah’s appearance was held in mystery by the people. This arose from the ancient rabbinical traditions – one that the LORD Himself corrected (MATT 24:23,26) – that is, that once the Messiah had come, He would spend a certain time cloistered in secrecy (“No one knows where He is from”). They were familiar with the prophecy that He was to be born in Bethlehem (MIC 5:2), but once He became of age, He would appear suddenly, without warning and with no indication of where He had been (that sounds more like the Second Advent!).

This was true of Moses, who said that another would appear “like unto me” (DEUT 18:15), and the Law Giver indeed appeared to the Hebrews but then was hidden away (in Midian). This was only true of Christ during His forty days in the wilderness.

So on the one hand, the people were ready to discount the LORD Jesus because they knew where He was from (born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth) – but they also puzzled over His boldness in challenging, even rebuking the religious leaders, even though they had threatened to kill Him on more than one occasion.

That caused them to suspect that Jesus was “very Christ”.

He concurred with the people when He said, “You know where I am from” and also that they knew Him (Who He was). He also declared that He came not by His own authority but by the authority of the One Who sent Him (that is, the Father; JOHN 5:43). Here the LORD declares that the people don’t know the Father like He knows the Father.

By claiming such intimate knowledge of GOD as His “Father” the Jews understood that He claimed Deity. For that reason they sought to arrest Him, but no one made a move. Why? Because “His hour had not yet come”.

This was according to the prophecy in DANIEL 9 that dealt with the Messiah:

DANIEL 9:26a
"And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself…”

And since that time was yet future, the LORD couldn’t possibly be taken – I see that behind the scenes, people were forbidden to move against Christ (by the Spirit of GOD? by His holy angels, dispatched?) until Passion week.

It’s rather remarkable when you consider that men made Messiah claims before Christ and afterwards and they were done away with routinely – not so with Jesus of Nazareth! In fact, once they decided to arrest Him, they emphatically stated, “Not on the Sabbath” and yet when the LORD exposed Judas’s conspiracy (JOHN 13:27), the son of perdition went to the authorities and basically said, “The gig is up! It’s now or never!”

And the LORD was quite aware of that coming "hour" (JOHN 16:32). All because of the fact that His hour had in fact come!

A fascinating read is Sir Robert Anderson’s The Coming Prince that goes into minute detail after careful research concerning the Messianic prophecy (and that of the false Messiah) as found in DANIEL 9.

The intimacy of knowledge that the Son possesses of the Father is a treasure and an honor we saints are blessed with:

JOHN 17:8
"For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

JOHN 16:27,30
27 "for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. 30 "Now we are sure that You know all things and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God." (JOHN 8:28; 12:49; 14:10; 17:25).

We understand, being born of GOD’s Spirit and having the full revelation of GOD provided for us in the Holy Scriptures that “the Christ, the Son of the Living GOD” (MATT 16:16) is actually GOD (the Son) manifested in the flesh (JOHN 1:1-3,14).

And it’s for this very reason we venerate JESUS not just as The Prophet of prophets, not only as the High Priest of His royal priesthood (us! 1 PET 2:9), not only as the Supreme, Ultimate and Final Sacrifice Who alone provides the propitiation for our sins, but as GOD clothed in humanity (the hypostatic union).

And as we read in REVELATION 5, and will witness one Blessed Day with our very own (glorified) eyes, He will be exalted and worshipped and adored as the Second Person of the Trinity – He Who is the VERY CHRIST!