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Dividing to Unite (John 7:40-52)

IMG_0017On June 7, 2015, Pastor Joe Troutman preached “Dividing to Unite” (John 7:40-52).

In granting saving faith, God sets his people apart from those who oppose him even as we continue living among those who are lost.

1. A Near Miss—Jesus’s teaching divides the listening crowds—then as now. Union with Christ shifts the believer’s allegiance: God becomes his priority .

2. True Deception—When the temple guards (Levitical priests) are sent by the Pharisees to arrest Jesus, their scripturally trained ears hear something compelling in his teaching, and return without doing as they were asked. The Pharisees imply the guards have been deceived along with the people—but who is it who has truly been deceived?

3. Trial By Error— The elitist Pharisees pre-judge Jesus’s followers and the temple guards of being condemned as ignorant of God’s Law. Nicodemus appeals to laws the Pharisees claim to know and obey to press for a fair trial before such judgment is passed. Their response that The Prophet doesn’t come from Galilee (which he didn’t) betrays that they are the one’s truly deceived.

Listen to “Dividing to Unite (John 7:40-52)“ at mcopc.org

Posted on June 17, 2015 at 6:51 pm in Commentary, Gospel of John, Podcast, Sermon, Troutman, Joe   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL

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