“Why don’t you want what you need?”: a sermon for the SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (20 JULY 2025)

 

     Free to choose.  You’ve probably heard the old expression: “You can lead a horse to water…but you can’t make him drink”.  Ultimately, it’s up to the horse – does it desire to drink?  At the beginning of the Gospel of John, Jesus asks a simple but very profound question:

“…John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples…followed Jesus.  When Jesus turned and saw them, he said “What are you looking for?” (John 1.35-38)

What do you want?  This question becomes a theme for the whole Gospel.  As Jesus encounters different individuals, their response to him reveals what they truly desire.  Jesus is the light – the light that attracts those who desire truth, life and God, while repelling those who desire power, status and human approval. 

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him…he gave power to become children of God…” (John 1.9-12).

     What we need.  As we saw last time, in John’s Gospel, Jesus is offering people true life, the life of the Spirit of God.  John offers a series of images to describe the work of the Spirit – wine (ch. 2), wind (ch. 3) and water (ch. 4).  In chapter 5, Jesus performs a scandalous healing – he restores a lame man on the Sabbath.  From this point on, the Jewish religious leaders desire to kill Jesus, “because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God” (John 5.18).  Jesus claims to be the fulfillment of Scripture, the very standard that the religious leaders are using to judge him as being worthy of death:

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life…How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” (Jn. 5.39-46).

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds a large crowd with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, and then delivers the “bread of life” discourse, a difficult teaching which causes many people to stop following him (Jn. 6.60, 66).  During this teaching, Jesus says:

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn. 6.35).

Jesus offers himself as that which alone can satisfy and provide life.  When Jesus asks the apostles if they will also stop following him, Peter replies:

“Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn. 6.68-69).

     Resistance to true life.  As chapter 7 begins, we see that Jesus is facing opposition from 3 groups of people:

1.     “…the Jewish leaders were looking for an opportunity to kill him…

2.     Jesus’ brothers said to him, “…go to Judea…for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret…For not even his brothers believed in him…

3.     And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds…”

(John 7.1, 3-5, 12, 20)

The context of chapter 7 is the Feast of Tabernacles, which commemorated the 40 years the Israelites spent travelling through the wilderness as migrants (and living in tents) on the way to the Promised Land, which would be their home.  It was a time to remember that God had rescued his people from slavery in Egypt in order to give them a new life characterized by freedom, joy and the promise that God would live among his people in the Tabernacle (and eventually, the Temple in Jerusalem).  This festival was known as the most joyful of the three annual feasts in which all Jewish men were expected to participate.  And yet, this year, as Jesus sneaks into the feast, the air is charged with controversy about both his identity and his actions.  The responses of each of the three groups that either oppose or misunderstand Jesus are instructive for us who desire to remove any and all obstacles that may lie between ourselves and the abundant life that Jesus longs to give us.  As we will see, these three groups have a common problem, and Jesus embodies the solution.

     First of all, there are the religious leaders.  What do they want?  They desire control and they fear losing their status.  Jesus often points out their obsession with getting “glory” from both their peers and the people they are supposed to be serving.  Jesus’ power is a threat to them and their interests, so they seek to eliminate him.  They are trapped in a vicious cycle which begins with controlling the religious life of the people, which provides them with status, which led to them becoming full of pride and self-importance, which then left them terrified of ever losing their control… and around and around, and so on and so forth.  The religious leaders are professional “clergy”; they know everything about religion, about who’s in and who’s out, about how everything is supposed to work.  However, they are woefully unprepared to encounter the reality of their God in the person of Jesus.  They cannot control Jesus, they cannot contain either his power to heal or his conviction to proclaim the truth of the Father. 

Their pride prevents them from recognizing in Jesus the fulfillment of their hopes for both themselves and their nation.  Life is being offered to them, but they would rather “die” than humble themselves.  As Satan says in Milton’s Paradise Lost, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven”.  The leaders don’t trust Jesus; for them, he is simply a rival who must be outmaneuvered…or worse.

     Secondly, we have Jesus’ (half-)brothers.  What do they want?  They desire to feel good about themselves.  Can you imagine being a sibling of Jesus (cf. Mk. 6.3)?  Talk about a blow to one’s self esteem!  How could you measure up to someone like Jesus?  How could you stand being around him every day?  Interestingly, we are told that Jesus’ brothers don’t “believe in him”.  Curiously, we are told in chapter 2 that his brothers were with Jesus at the wedding of Cana, where Jesus’ disciples believed in him once they witnessed the “sign” of the water being turned into wine (Jn. 2.11-12).  However, it seems like Jesus’ brothers found it impossible to believe that Jesus was anything more than…their brother.  You’ve heard the expression: “Familiarity breeds contempt”.  We will see this attitude among the crowds soon.  Many people, perhaps including Jesus’ brothers, believed that the long-awaited Messiah would be someone whose origins would be clouded in mystery, someone who wouldn’t be “from anywhere”, or at least, from anyplace they were familiar with.  We will soon see that the question of Jesus’ origins caused great consternation among the crowds of pilgrims.  So, perhaps Jesus’ brothers knew him a little too well.  They perhaps don’t believe that he is the Messiah, but they seem to be acutely aware that their brother has become somewhat of a celebrity.  Next to him, they fear being seen as inadequate and insignificant.  They are jealous and resentful; they encourage Jesus to attend the Feast in Jerusalem, perhaps hoping that their popular brother will overstep and make a fool of himself.

Their pride and insecurity prevent them from being grateful for their privileged access to God’s own Son.  Eternal life is being extended to them, but their insecurity and embarrassment prevent them from believing that their brother has anything to offer.  They resent their brother’s celebrity and don’t believe he deserves it.

     Thirdly, we have the crowds of pilgrims at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  What do they want?  The crowds are abuzz with rumours about Jesus of Nazareth…did you hear what he did?  Were you there when he did such and such?  Who do you think he is?  The crowds desire to be right; they want to have the best and most up-to-date gossip.  It seems like many in the crowds would rather argue than believe.  Indeed, debating and speculating are good ways to avoid the risk of committing oneself to Jesus.  The crowds get bogged down in “academic” questions…where is the Messiah from?  Will we even know where he is from once he appears?  The debate about the Messiah’s (and Jesus’) origins gets so intense that contradictions begin to appear in the argument.  Here is an excerpt from the back-and-forth among the pilgrims:

“…the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill?  And here he is, speaking openly… Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from…some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah…comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” (John 7.25-27, 41-42).

Interesting – some say that no one will know where the Messiah is from; others claim that the Scriptures clearly indicate that the Messiah will be from Bethlehem.  And since we know that Jesus is from Galilee, he can’t possibly be the Messiah, right?  Ah, Jesus actually was born in Bethlehem; but he doesn’t insist on this point.  Rather, Jesus insists upon his ultimate origins – he has come “from the Father”.

The pilgrims’ preoccupation with holding to the correct theory about the Messiah prevents them from recognizing the identity of the person in their midst, the One who has been sent from heaven (i.e. God).  Eternal life is on offer, but they would rather talk about it than experience it.  They don’t trust Jesus’ origins or his messianic credentials.

     Can Jesus be trusted?  Indeed he can, because of the fact that:

“Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.  Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.” (John 7.17-18).

Jesus can be trusted because he does not seek his own glory; he seeks rather to glorify his Father – no matter the cost (cf. Jn. 12.27-33).  Jesus has nothing to gain.  Indeed, as he told the disciples back in chapter 4:

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” (John 4.34).

Jesus has one objective, one goal, one purpose, one raison d’être – to do the will of his Father.  To do the Father’s will – to complete his work (cf. Jn. 5.17; 19.30) – this is more important to Jesus than food; indeed, it is precisely this that nourishes him.  Jesus came to give (his) life away:

“On the last day of the festival of tabernacles, while Jesus was standing in the Temple, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.” (John 7.37-38).

After all the controversy and squabbling with the leaders, his brothers and the crowds, Jesus utters a cry – almost in desperation – to anyone who is thirsty.  That is to say, Jesus invites all who desire authentic, genuine, eternal life to come to him and to drink deeply from the well of salvation.  Jesus promised to give the Holy Spirit to all those who believed in him.  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life, He is the Creator Spirit (cf. Ps. 104.30).  Jesus has come to give the Spirit, to give life to the world (cf. Jn. 6.33, 51).

     So, what are you looking for?  What do you want?  Are you perhaps trapped in seeking status, approval, validation, recognition…are you seeking your worth in other people’s opinions?  Your Creator loves you so much that “he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn. 3.16).  What you need is the abundant life that only Jesus can give you (cf. Jn. 10.10).  If you want to truly live, Jesus will give you his Holy Spirit “without limit” (Jn. 3.34)!  Jesus died to give you life.  Embrace his love, receive his Spirit, and start living today!  Amen.