All right, there will come others
before us but John 7 and 32 through verse 44. Watch for that in our
reading today. The Pharisees heard that the
people murmured such things concerning him, and the Pharisees and the
chief priests sent officers to take him. Then said Jesus unto
them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that
sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not
find me. Where I am, thither ye cannot
come." Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go
that we cannot find him? Will he go under the disperse
among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles? What manner of
saying is this, that he said, ye shall seek me and shall not
find me, and whether I am, ye cannot come? In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. But this is fake of the spirit
which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy
Ghost or Spirit was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet
glorified. Many of the people, therefore,
when they heard this saying, said, of a truth, this is the
prophet. Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of
Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among
the people because of him. And some of them would have taken
him, but no man laid hands on him. Now, in that, several things
that were mysteries to people that heard our Lord speak. Perhaps I need a little bit of
explanation to make clear the title of this message. That when
we use the word enigma, that something is an enigma applied
to a person or to a thing, we mean that that thing is in the
part of a mystery. that it is a puzzling thing,
that we do not fully understand how it operates, that something
is baffling unto our mind about it, even a thing that is obscure
and hard for us to grasp or to understand. And it raises questions
that are not easy to answer, questions that are not yet answered
in our mind, and so it is a perplexing unto them that hear it or unto
them that see it. Thus an enigma is a thing that
is a mystery in a way. Now with that definition behind
us we say that Jesus of Nazareth was the most unusual and the
most unique personage to ever appear in the midst of Israel. More mysterious than Moses or
Elijah or Elisha or John the Baptist. The most unique person
to ever appear not only in Israel but also in the world, never
another like him before nor since, nor shall there ever be. For example, consider some things
about this wonderful Lord of ours. He had a human mother,
but no human father, none at all. And he insisted that God
was his Father and that he had come down from above, that he
had come down from heaven. And he appeared in the likeness
of men, but claiming an equality with God and claiming to be the
Son of God. He was God manifest in the flesh,
but like Isaiah said, when we shall see him, There is no beauty
that we should desire in him. Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 2. He was incarnate and yet he had
no place to lay his head of his own. Matthew 8 and verse 20 and
Luke chapter 9 and verse 58 speak to us about that. Here's the
one who made the world. He made the world and all things
therein. but he had no ownership of property
or house or possession in this world. And as Paul said, he actually,
though he was rich, became poor. Thus it was, in the exercise
of our Lord's public ministry, the Lord did encounter very many
who found his person and his teaching to be imperceptible
to their natural human ears. They could not realize what was
the meaning of many things that our Lord had said. They could
not understand the sense of our Lord's Word, for at times they
could be taken in one or two ways. And so they said out loud
and to Christ, and even among themselves. How can a man be
born again when he is old? John chapter 3 and verse 4. And they heard that great discourse
on the bread of life in John chapter 6. And they said in verse
40, 52, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? In John
6 and 42. Is not this Jesus, the one whose
father and mother we know? How does he then say that he
has come down from heaven? Thou art not yet fifty years
old, hast thou indeed seen Abraham? John chapter 8 and verse 57. Pilate asked the question of
our Lord in John 19 and verse 9, Where did you come from? From which cometh thou? By what
authority do you do these things? Some ask in Matthew chapter 21
and verse 23. John's inquiry as he's sent to
our Lord. Are you he that should come,
or do we look for another? In Matthew chapter 11 and verse
3. Now, how often we read, Of some
of whom it is said, such as when the Lord said to his disciple
that he would be delivered into the hands of men, especially
the hand of the Gentile, and that he would be killed, and
that he would rise again on the third day, Mark 9, verse 31. And in the 32nd verse, they understood
not the saying and they were afraid to ask him about it. Now when he told Mary and Joseph
He was 12 years old at the time. I must be about my father's business. Luke chapter 2 and verse 49. Then we read in the 50th verse
of chapter 2 of Luke, they understood not the saying which he spake
unto them. His own mother and stepfather
Joseph did not understand the saying of our Lord that he must
be about the business of his father. Now again, Luke records
the same incident as does Mark, and in Luke chapter 9, and verse
45 says the saying was hidden from them. In John 8 and verse
27, they could not understand the Lord's declaration that He
came from God and was speaking the things that He had heard
of the Father. Therefore, it is not the least
bit surprising that we read here in our text, in John 7 and verse
43, so there was a division among the people because of him, on
account of him, for the sake of him. Or back in John 7, 11
and verse 12, then the Jews sought him at the feast and said, Where
is he? And there was much murmuring
among the people concerning him, for some said, He is a good man,
and others said, No, he is a deceiver of the people. Now how opposite
an opinion could you have concerning our Lord Jesus Christ? Thus was
fulfilled the words of the Lord, in Luke 12 and verse 51, that
He came not to give peace on earth, but rather a division
and to bring a sword. And in Matthew 10, 34 and 35, Think not that I am come to send
peace on the earth, but a sword, for I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. We
have seen these divisions play out over the doctrine of Christ
the person of Christ and the religion of Christianity. Spurgeon wrote on this text these
words concerning the Prince of Peace, that quote, in the act
of producing the peace of heaven he arouses the rage of hell. Truth produces opposition, purity
excites enmity, and righteousness arouses all the forces of wrong
in the world. The words of Charles H. Spurgeon a long time ago. Now,
this is a rebuke to those gentle and those also misguided souls
who are perplexed today that all professing Christians cannot
find a common ground and all march under the banner of, quote,
sweet Jesus, unquote. Now, the reason that we cannot
is the different views that men hold of our Lord and of our Savior. Different views of our Lord that
are held by different sections of Christendom. Christ is somewhat
an enigma to those today who profess to be Christian. In other
words, the question has raised in our lifetime, could Christ
have sinned or not? There's a good question, and
it raises a lively discussion. Is He a man, or is He God, or
is He a little of each? Is He the eternal Son of God,
or is He the created Son of God? Is He the Son of God only, or
is He very God and equal with the Father? Did He die for all,
or did He die for His precious and wonderful elect? Was ever
there a greater enigma or mystery than Christ Jesus in the flesh
among men? And seemingly by the many, many
divisions that have arisen because of Him and of His teaching, some
who saw and heard the very same thing from our Lord, some heard
the same thing that our Lord had spoken took him to be a prophet,
maybe John, maybe Elijah, maybe Jeremiah, or one of the great
prophets. Others who heard and saw the
very same thing took him to be that great prophet. that was
spoken about by Moses in Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15. And others said, This is the
Christ, without hesitation. John 7 and verse 41. And some said, Is not this the
Christ? Could not this be the Christ? John 4 and verse 29. Others saw
him as a deceiver. John 7 and verse 12. Others saw him as a blasphemer
against the things of God and of Moses. Matthew 26 and verse
65. And some said in John chapter
7 and verse 12, he is a good man. Others said, No, he is a
deceiver of the people. So the mystery of Christ among
the people basically consisted in three things that we want
to look at and to stretch out this morning. The thing that
made Christ a mystery to so many are the three things that we
want to look at this morning. Number one, his claim that he
came down from God out of heaven. Did he ever make that claim and
establish it before? His claim that he came down from
God out of heaven. That means that he existed before
he was born of the Virgin Mary. He said the Father, even God,
had sent him and that he was one with the Father. And some
were confessing him indeed to be the Christ. Now, look again
at our text in John 7, verse 41 and verse 42. When some confess
this, this one is the Christ, meaning the anointed one of God,
the Messiah, the Savior who has come down from heaven. Some quickly put on the brakes
and dug in their heel under the pretension of honoring Scripture. For look at the end of verse
41, if you will. come out of Galilee. And in verse 42 they reason,
Has not Scripture said that Messiah would be a descendant of David
out of the village of Bethlehem where David was? Micah chapter
5 verse 2, Matthew chapter 2 and verse 6. Their argument being,
This man cannot be the Christ because Scripture has foretold
that he would be a Bethlehemite. And Jesus is from Nazareth in
Galilee. Of course, he was born in Bethlehem
according to the prophecy of the Old Testament Scripture,
Luke 2, 1-7. An old-timer, J.C. Ryle, wrote on these verses here
in John 7, quote, Even the common people among the Jew knew that
Messiah was to be of the family of David and to be born at Bethlehem
and the well-known birthplace of David would be his." It is
called in Luke 2, 4 and 11, the city of David. And you see that
in 1 Samuel chapter 16 in the Old Testament. But there's another
thing that mystified or was an enigma or a mystery unto the
Jew concerning Christ's claims that He came down from heaven
and from the Father, and that he was equal with the Father,
according to John chapter 10 and verse 30. And that mystery
was the fact that when he went into his own country, that is,
Galilee, and taught with great wisdom. There he did many mighty
and wonderful works, according to Matthew 13, 54 through 57,
and Mark 6, 1 through 4. We read that the people were
astonished, they were amazed, they marveled, saying, How does
this man have such words at his command? Is not this the common
carpenter's son? Matthew 13 and 55. And was he
not a carpenter himself? In Mark chapter 6 and verse 3. They said, we know his mother.
She is called Mary. And his brothers we know. and
they are James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas, and his sisters
we know, and they all live among us. In other words, they took
him to be a commoner from a common family, and again, as Charles
Spurgeon put it, quote, his pedigree seemed to be to them the lowliest
His father, so-called Joseph, a common laborer, a carpenter,
his mother an ordinary woman, his brothers and his sisters
in the flesh of no great fame or notoriety. How could such
majestic things be claimed by him when he had a common origin
or beginning and life among them? How did he speak so eminently? How did he do such a great thing? When as they suggested by their
words, he was a nobody. That is, nothing or no one of
importance. He was not from a noble family,
but from a nobody family, which was known to be so by all that
lived in that country and that had been acquainted with the
family. Now, strictly speaking, and strictly
from human reasoning, who would expect the great Messiah from
God to appear among such a stock as that? What a mystery it must
have been that Christ lived among them and lived in such a lowly
and a common fashion. Who could fathom that such a
one as that could be the Christ? Who would ever think that a tired
and a thirsty man sitting on the curb at Jacob's well alone
would be the Messiah, having been sent from God? Who would
have thought to have met Messiah on Emmaus Road as the two disciples
did? Who would imagine that one that
had been born in a stable and of a peasant woman who was the
wife of a carpenter would be the Messiah that had come down
from God. So we note something here. It
was upon the occasion of the division about Jesus that arose
among the people that our Lord said in Matthew 13, 57 and Mark
6 and verse 4, A prophet is not unhonored except
in his own native town, and in his own house, and among his
kinsmen and friends, that if one is familiarly known by all
round about, he will not in their eyes be one highly esteemed."
Now, pardon an illustration, but how often do we hear of a
man who goes on a killing spree, serial molester or something
of that nature, drug dealer. The neighbors are interviewed,
and they say, we seem like a regular guy. He seemed like an ordinary
man. He was friendly with all of the
neighbors, coach of the little league, church-going man, and
all of that. Who suspected him of being a
mass murderer or pedophile or a drug dealer? Now, in the other
direction, who would believe or expect that Messiah would
be raised up in such an ordinary family and in such a small and
disliked village. This was perplexing to many of
the Jews. that the Messiah came for in
His ministry from such surrounding and such a background as that. Remember, in John 1, I think
it's verse 46, Nathanael asked, Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth? Now, this question Nathanael
asked because Philip, in John chapter 1 and verse 45, had said
to him, Come, come see, we have found him of whom Moses in the
law and the prophets did write about, Jesus of Nazareth, the
son of Joseph. And Nathaniel was ready to stumble
at Christ because of the place of his residence, Nazareth. And just from that, Nathaniel
would be prejudiced against Jesus being the Messiah come down from
God. John Gill said, that Nathanael
himself was a Galilean. Gil also said that the whole
country of Galilee was looked upon with contempt by most of
the Jews. Other commentators agree. Not
only was Nazareth not a prominent place in prophecy, but it held
a name or reputation of ill repute, as a place with a bad reputation,
as well as being an obscure city, and with no claim to fame at
all, except in a bad way. And as a result, it seemed therefore
a mystery that the Anointed One of God, the very Christ of God
and of Heaven, should dwell there in that place. Well, that brings
us then to the second great point that was a mystery and that stumbled
many in our Lord's day, and particularly the Jew, which was the Lord's
claiming His authority to forgive sin. My, they had a hissy fit
when they heard that, when they heard our Lord saying to a man,
Thy sins be forgiven thee. One such incident you have. It
wasn't long ago we preached on this man in Matthew 9, 2 through
8, Mark 2, 3 through 12, and Luke's account is in chapter
5 beginning at verse 18. Remember? Some men brought a
palsied man to the Lord on a bed or a cot because He could not
navigate himself. Remember, not being able to get
in for the crowd, they took the roof off and let the sick man
down into the room where our Lord was. And the Lord responded,
not only by healing the man, but by saying unto him, Thy sins
are forgiven unto you. And the scribes and the Pharisees
reckoned that they had heard open blasphemy. Christ said to
the man, your sins are forgiven. Take up your bed and go home.
The Pharisees said, blasphemy. This man is a blasphemer. And they reasoned and that soundly,
who but God only can forgive sin. None but God is able to
forgive sin, they reasoned among themselves. And in Luke 5 and
verse 21, who is this? Who is this that blasphemes and
claims to forgive sin? None but God can forgive sin. whoever he claimed to be, they
reckoned him to be a blasphemer because of this statement, claiming
the authority to forgive sin of men. And, of course, these
self-righteous hypocrites would claim that they were standing
upon Scripture in limiting the forgiveness of sin unto God. Or consider in Exodus chapter
34 and verse 7, I am the Lord thy God, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin. Isaiah 43 and verse 25, I, even
I, am he that blots out thy transgression
for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sin." Micah 7 and
verse 18. Who is like God that pardons
iniquity and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage
and delights in mercy? Who else but God is able to do
that? Thus those men reckon the Lord
Jesus to be guilty of blasphemy in claiming the right and the
authority that belongs to God only to forgive the sins of men. Claiming an authority that belongs
to God and to God only. There are some great and profitable
spiritual lessons here that we might glean from this place in
the Scripture. For example, the men who brought
the palsied man to the Lord Jesus had not first and foremost in
their mind brought him because he was a sinner in need of forgiveness,
but because he was sick in the flesh. They had not brought him
to have his soul cleansed, but if peradventure his body might
be healed by the power of the Lord. And Jesus commended their
faith, but notice something. Even as one expositor said, a
blessing was bestowed upon the man that was not asked for. The first thing the Lord said
and did was to say to him, Thy sins are forgiven. Now let me quickly refer to another
person and another occasion And it is to be found in Luke chapter
7. That is of a woman in verse 37
who was a sinner. A woman which was a sinner. This woman had lived a sinful
life until that point of time or until recently. Her public
reputation was not good. Her public reputation was that
of an open sinner. Many knew her, and they knew
her to be a lewd woman. But this is the woman who wept
enough tears on the feet of Christ to wash them with her tears,
and to dry them with the hair of her head, and anointed the
Lord with costly ointment. When the Pharisee, who was host
to Jesus, said to himself, Is this the prophet? If this was
a prophet, he would know that this woman is a sinner. Could
this be the prophet, not knowing the sinful reputation of the
woman? Whereupon the Lord speaks the
parable of the two debtors, if you remember, then says in verse
47, her sins which are many are forgiven. And he says then directly
to the woman in verse 48, your sins are forgiven. Therefore Christ, claiming authority
to forgive sin, amounts to a claim of deity. He's claiming to be
God. He's claiming equality with the
Father when He says to one, your sins are forgiven, and puts them
away. Well, we've come to the third
great mystery about our Lord that troubled and stumbled many
in the day of His ministry. Now, thirdly, The last third
or final mystery is found in Christ who claimed to be the
Messiah and the deliverer of his people and a mighty ruler
and one to rule kingly in their heart, kept on predicting and
speaking of His death. If this is the Messiah, why is
He constantly predicting and speaking of His death? You have
to remember that even His own disciples did not at the time
understand, nor could they reconcile this in their mind. We believe,
we are sure, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, they
confessed unto him. But they could not reconcile
that in their mind that he would soon be put to death. Mark 9,
verse 31 and verse 32. What a mystery that the apostle
Peter himself so soon after his great and fundamental confession
in Matthew 16, would hear the Lord predict his death and in
verse 21 and verse 22, rebuke the Lord and tell him, ìThis
shall not happen unto you.î The Lord spoke of his death and Simon
said, This shall not be, Lord. And I think insinuating, I'll
see to it that this is not the case with my trusty sword. And tell him this shall not be. You shall not be taken and put
to death. in that manner. Already Peter
is acting like a pope in his life. Now the closest of the
Lord's disciples could not at all reconcile his predictions
of an awful death at the hand of the Gentile upon the cross
and their expectation of Messiah's works, rule, reign, deliverance,
and salvation. We don't have time to turn there.
But in Luke 2.50 and 9.44 and 18.34, it was a mystery hid from
them in Luke 9 and verse 45, and it remained a mystery and
an enigma until Christ was risen again from the dead, and then
they remembered. John chapter 2 and verse 22. Only then. when they saw him
risen from the dead, then saw with their own eyes him ascended
yonder at the right hand of God. And soon thereafter, pouring
out the Holy Spirit, did his own disciple and apostle gain
a full appreciation and an understanding of the things that the Lord had
told them and that He had said. What a mystery it was unto them
that Christ must suffer first and then enter into His exaltation
and glory, that it was by or through death and suffering that
our Lord would enter into His glory. Luke chapter 24 and verse
26, that Christ will gain and give life unto many by means
of that death that He died upon the cross, that He laid down
His life, that He might save many from spiritual death. He
gave His life that He might give life eternal and everlasting. Out of His death comes life. Is that not a mystery, an enigma
indeed? Or saying this, The Lord was
mocked at the cross when he hanged upon that cross in all of his
agony and the suffering and groaning. They who passed by cried out
in mockery and in sarcasm. He saved others. He can't save
himself. Others cried out to him, Save
thyself if you be the Son of God. If your claims are what
you say they are, then prove it by the saving of yourself. But the truth of the matter is,
Christ could not save himself from the cross and save us from
our sin and condemnation at one and the same time. Thus the Christ,
long expected, long hoped for, came and appeared and was a mystery,
many things mysterious about him, until the Spirit of God
opens the understanding that we might know. Yes, a mysterious
one indeed. Now, in closing, I will say that
Christ is still a mystery unto many in Christendom. There are
some very strange views of Christ that are set forth in the world
and in the churches. We stated some of them earlier. But to know Christ, who He is,
heaven must reveal it unto us. It is not something gained by
education. It is by revelation. How shall we know? How shall
we understand except God reveal Him unto us as He is set forth
in the Word of our great God, that He is the Son of God, that
His death is for others and for the sins of others, that He was
very God manifest in the flesh, though he wore humanity. He assumed
the likeness of sinful flesh, but not sinful flesh. The likeness of it, but not depravity. None at all. Yes, Christ was
a mystery to many, so he will be. as long as the world stand. But to those who have their understanding
open, He is the Son of God, He is the Lord, He is the Savior,
He is the Sovereign One, He is the Lord at the right hand of
God, making intercession for us even now. Thank God we have
an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.