Introduction:

This morning we will discuss divine division.  This is not Godly mathematics but rather how Jesus creates division.  You heard me correctly.  Jesus creates division.  Some will say “yes” to his invitation to “Come follow me” and others will out right reject the invitation.

It is my prayer as your pastor, that you say “yes” to Jesus’ invitation and have your life transformed every day as you follow him.

Join me in reading John 7:25-44.

 

Divine Division

I read this passage and see it as one filled with divine division.  Division created by the person and ministry of Jesus.

Is he the Messiah or is he not?

Should we kill him or should we not?

Are his signs numerous enough or are they not?

Is he from the right place or the right family?

Surely this man is a prophet vs He is the messiah

Some wanted to seize him but no one laid a hand on him

Those are the reactions and divisions we find in our passage this morning.  If we looked at modern day divisions they might sound a bit like this …

How is Jesus different from other religions?

How do I know that Jesus is truth?

Aren’t all religions the same?

I’m not going to believe in some old book!

 Or perhaps these might be more familiar to the crowd in this room …

I know I worship on Sunday but can I really trust Jesus on Monday?

I’ve been praying for a long time and it seems as if I’m getting nowhere.  Do I give up?

If Jesus is so good why does this bad stuff keep coming up?

Do I really have to give this up (insert sin of choice) to follow Jesus?

Some will say “yes” to Jesus’ invitation to “Come follow me” and others will out right reject the invitation. Perhaps others will shuffle their feet or attempt to straddle a fence.

Yet, only one of those reactions is appropriate if Jesus truly is all that he claimed to be, all that the resurrection proved him to be, all that the early church and church every since preached him to be.

 

Living Water

Some will come to Jesus thirsty and receive living water.  Others people will search the world in vain looking for something to quench their unending thirst.  Jesus vv. 37–38:

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.

Some try to quench their thirst with …

• Money
• Position
• Relationship
• Addictions
• Social status
• Hobbies
• Success

And it just will not work. There will always be someone faster, stronger, smarter.  There will be always be something better and brighter.  Your things will eventually rust, rot, and break down.  The high you get from certain activities will wear off and fade away.

Jesus offers something better.

 

Woman at the Well

In John 4 Jesus approaches a well in Samaria.  He finds a woman and asks for a drink.  She responds, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.  How can you ask me for a drink?”  There Jesus goes.  Once again breaking social norms for the sake of ministry.

He tells this woman that he has something better to offer than water from a well.  He offers her living water.  Those who drink water from the well will return to the well time and time again.  Yet, the water Jesus offers will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Jesus eventually pears into this woman eyes and states that she woman has had 5 husbands and the man she is currently with is not her husband.  This revelation does not produce guilt, shame, condemnation.  Rather, it produces a confession. The woman says, “ I know that Messiah is coming.  When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you ~ I am he.”

That woman went to a well to get water that day.  But she encountered Jesus and received living water.  She was transformed that day from a shy, broken woman at a well into a forgiven, gospel-preaching evangelist.  She left her bucket at the well and returned to her village preaching the good news.

 

Jesus the Messiah

The Gospels repeatedly declare that Jesus is the Messiah—the One chosen by God, anointed by God to save His people.  It is the same as the term “Christ.”  They are interchangeable.  Jesus Christ. Jesus Messiah.

The people of the Old Testament waited desperately for the Messiah to come.  They desperately wanted the Messiah to deliver them from defeat, oppression, suffering.  They wanted the Messiah to give them victory, power, and glory.

In the New Testament that Messiah comes in the form Jesus.  He was born in a feeding trough that first Christmas morning.  He went on to call his disciples, perform miracles, and speak the very words of God.  He fed 5,000 with a boy’s lunch.  He gave sight to the blind and made the lame walk.  He said things like “Love your enemies” and “I came to give you life and life to the fullest.”  Jesus Messiah eventually died on the cross for the sins of the world.  He died for the sin in this very room.  Yet, on the third day he rose from the dead giving the church victory over sin and death.

Today, Jesus is still the Messiah—God’s chosen, anointed One who came to deliver us from sin, give us abundant life now, and the hope of heaven. As the Messiah, He offers you forgiveness for your sins. He promises you salvation and a place in His coming kingdom.  Repent and believe the good news.

 

Conclusion

Don’t reject the offer. The only appropriate response is a wholehearted “yes.”  Once you say “yes” never look back but follow Jesus with wholehearted devotion.