I will be found by you

John 7:31-53 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. ³³ Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. ³⁴ You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? ³⁶ What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

⁴⁰ Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵ The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? ⁴⁸ No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹ But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ⁵² They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” ⁵³ Everyone went to his home.

Today’s text begins saying:  But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”    Jesus did and does indeed perform many signs and wonders. But we are at risk if we look only at the signs to verify who Jesus is. In Matthew 24:20-24 Jesus says:  “There will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”    Those who seek only the signs and miraculous power are easily deceived.  In Luke 4:40-44 it says:  All those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ. When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”  So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.   Jesus says that He was sent for the purpose of preaching the message of the kingdom. The miracles and the signs and wonders were not the reason He came, they were the result of His coming. Miracles followed where Jesus went because He brought the kingdom of God with Him. In Mark 16:15-20 says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.    We should not follow the signs and seek the power. We should preach the gospel, we should share the message of the kingdom of God, we should follow Jesus, seeking Him and the power will follow us to confirm His word.

In today’s text it says:  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”    These were mistaken because they relied on the limits of their human knowledge to prove or disprove who Jesus was. They knew only where Jesus was from most recently. They didn’t know the history of His birth or the places He had been. Many people today are also mistaken or led astray because they seek to understand and know who Jesus is only by what they understand from scripture. Scripture is vital to our knowing and understanding Christ. It is vital to our following Him. We also though can easily be deceived if we only know scripture in part. 2 Timothy 3:16 says:  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.    In the same way it is all scripture, the sum of it, not just individual verses, which bear witness of and reveal Christ to us. From Genesis to Revelation, the word of God reveals who Christ is and what His purpose is in the Father’s will for us. If we take scripture apart from its entirety, we can be mislead by partial truths which can easily be turned into lies.    

In today’s text Jesus says:  “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”  The text continues:   The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”   Again we cannot seek and find Jesus only by our natural understanding or in natural physical places. Jeremiah 29:13-14 says:  You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.    We will not find Jesus, seeking Him only with our natural minds or in physical places. We will find Him when we seek Him with all of our heart. The text continues:   Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.    Jesus says:  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  The abundant life that Jesus came to give is found; it is given through the Spirit. We can be easily deceived, we can have the kingdom of God stolen from us, we can be destroyed if we choose to know and understand who Jesus is by our own understanding. The word, the power and the Spirit Himself work with us and in us to confirm who Jesus is and to confirm to others, through us who He is.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for the revelation of who You are; what You have done and what Your will is. May I know You by Your word, by Your power and by my heart, through the Spirit. May I share the message of the kingdom of God, taking it with me where I go. May You Jesus, work with me, in me and through me, to confirm Your word through the Holy Spirit, with signs, wonders and revelation.   Amen.