Opposition and Mission – John 7:1-13

1.    The ____________ is more important than you think 

“Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.” (John 6:4)

2.    ____________ looks different than you think 

“The inference is that when things are prospering “God is blessing us” and, conversely, that when things are going poorly, or unpublicized, God’s blessing is not on the work or it is unimportant…We must continually use the measure of our obedience to the guideline of his Word as the real and only standard of our success, not some more supposedly tangible or glamorous scale.” (Charles Colson)

3.    ____________ often hits close to home 

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” (John 1:11)

“Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” (Matthew 13:55-57)

“And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21)

“But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.” (Galatians 1:19)

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James…” (Jude v.1)

4.    ____________ truths about God’s Kingdom 

“And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…” (John 17:1)

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” “He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Matthew 13:31-33)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

5.    ____________ about Jesus is common… 

“I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.” (Napoleon Bonaparte)

“As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene….No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” (Albert Einstein)

“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.  On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him.  Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving.” (Elton John)

5.  ____________ about Jesus is common…but it should never… 

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-16)