25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” John 7:25-29
The opposition and threats of the Jews toward the Lord Jesus is now on a rapid rise, and the people are taking note of the desire of the religious community to kill Him. Yet in the midst of all this the Lord Jesus openly preaches in the courts of the temple.
According to Malachi 3:1, it was long expected that the Messiah would suddenly appear in his temple in Jerusalem. The Rabbis took that to mean that no one would know his background. So these people are saying, "Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from."
In the minds of the gathered Jews, Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah because He was from Nazareth. They didn’t realize that He was born in Bethlehem fulfilling the prophesy in Micah 5:2. Little did they know that, by saying those words about Jesus in v.27, they were fulfilling prophesy. The prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 53:3 writes, “He was despised and forsaken of men . . . He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” The Lord Jesus was not surprised by the response of these people.
The rest of v.27 tells us what caused the people to change their minds in such a hurry. They reverted back to what they had been taught by the religious leaders. The Rabbis taught that the Messiah would make Himself known suddenly and without warning. They held the popular belief that the ancestry of the Messiah would not be known.
In spite of all the prophecies of Scripture that the Lord Jesus has already fulfilled by His birth, His life, His words, and His miracles, these Jews of Jerusalem believed in sayings and speculations that aren’t even found in the Scriptures. This was yet another reason they did not recognize the Lord Jesus as the Messiah.
In v.28, the Lord Jesus ignores these mistaken conclusions and identifies the heart of their problem. “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him." In essence, the Lord Jesus underscores, once again, the reason they did not recognize Him as the promised Messiah: they didn't have a personal relationship with God.
Rather than argue with them about His human origin, the Lord Jesus reminds these gathered in the Temple of His mission. There’s more to the story than just human geography. Before He was born, He was sent. That makes Him greater than the prophets, who were called by God at a specific time in their lives and sent out to proclaim His message, whereas Jesus was sent before He was born.
Once again, the Lord Jesus adjusts the focus of our attention, moving it away from Himself and placing it upon the Father. He describes His Heavenly Father with these words: “He who sent Me is true.” The word “true” means “real”, “authentic”, “genuine”. To know Him personally and intimately is the reason the Lord Jesus came to the earth. There are many today who discourage this kind of a relationship with God, citing arrogance as the motivation for someone speaking as if they have this intimate and personal relationship with God. Yet, this is why the Lord Jesus came.
This revelation about God is followed by a rebuke, as the Lord Jesus reveals what’s true concerning His listeners. After describing the Father who sent Him, the Lord Jesus looks around at them and says “you do not know Him.” He has said this many times before and He’ll be saying it again. They did not know God because they did not know the Lord Jesus. We can’t know one without the other. They are inseparable.
In v.29, the Lord Jesus gives the basis for this kind of a relationship with God. He says, “I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” Notice that everything begins with the Father and is carried out by the Son. This is the posture of the one who believes. This disposition of the believer is discovered in the bowing of our will to the Father.
I close this study with the words of J.I. Packer, “Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord.”
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