Gospel of John 09.vp

Session 4 Giving of Living Water, God’s Eternal Son, and the Light of the World (John 7-9)

Do You See What I See? Are You Looking At But Not Really Seeing Jesus of Nazareth ?

What are you noticing? When I took our children to Kenya to visit their grandparents, it was the trip of a lifetime: flying in jumbo jets, seeing elephants and prides of lions, and experiencing all sorts of wonderful new things. Back home, we cleared customs at the airport, and my three year-old son rushed up to his waiting father, “Daddy, guess what,” he shouted, “Granddad can take his teeth out!”

~ Marianne White. Reader's Digest .

The act of “seeing” plays a central role in John’s gospel from the very start. Christ comes as a shining light (1:5), the first requirement for visual perception to take place. John testifies, “We have seen His glory” (1:14). He asserts that “no one has ever seen God,” though the Son “has made Him known” (1:18). John the Baptist exhorts His followers to see, to regard carefully, “the Lamb of God” (1:29, 36). Jesus promises His first followers, “You shall see greater things . . . You shall see heaven open” (1:50-51). As “hearing” plays a central role in Paul’s letters (see Rom. 10:17: “faith comes from hearing”), so “seeing” is the key to knowing and trusting Christ in John. ~ Robert Yarbrough. John . p. 97.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I. Jesus at the Feast of Booths (Third Jerusalem Visit), John 7.1-24

A. Jesus’ recognition of his ministry: “My time has not yet come,” John 7.1-9.

1. Feast of Tabernacles (or Feast of Booths), a week-long celebration which occurred in early autumn (September October) (cf. Lev. 23.34), one of the three great religious observances annually

77