28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.” 30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
7:28
Then Jesus cried out,
In John, the words “cried out” always mean to make a public announcement. Jesus declared a clear and solemn pronouncement to people listening in the temple. He did not reply to the false teaching that no one would know where the Messiah would be born.
as He taught in the temple, saying,
Jesus made His public announcement in the temple where many people attended the feast.
“You both know Me,
The Jerusalem permanent residents knew two things: (1) they knew Jesus personally and (2) they knew His parentage. The residents of Jerusalem did know some facts about Jesus’ background, but they did not know it all.
and you know where I am from;
The Jerusalemites knew the human origin of Jesus in Nazareth. This was only half of the truth.
and I have not come of Myself,
The other half of the truth of Jesus’ origin was that He came from eternity past. The opponents of Jesus did not know this side of Jesus. Jesus did not come on His own. Rather, He was sent by the Father.
but He who sent Me is true [real],
It is true that the Father sent Jesus into the world. Jesus said in effect, “The Father’s relation to me is real. I am the commissioned Agent from the Father. I am the Messiah.”
Isa 50: 8 He is near who justifies Me; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me.
whom you do not know.
Jesus asserted bluntly here that the Jerusalemites did not know the Father. This rebuke was an indictment of the crowd because they shut themselves off from knowing the truth. They thought they knew Jesus, but their understanding about Him was superficial and shallow.
7:29
But I know Him,
Jesus knew the Father because of His preexistence with Him.
for I [emphatic] am from Him [from His presence],
Christ as the Son of God was with the Father in eternity past (Jn 1:1, 14, 18). That is where Christ came from. He was here on a commission from the Father, the mission of the Messiah.
and He sent Me.”
The Father commissioned the Son to step foot on earth for a mission. The Jerusalemites were blind to the truth that Christ originated in eternity past when He lived preexisting with the Father.
7:30
Therefore they sought to take Him;
Jesus’ assertion of His eternal origin caused the local residents of Jerusalem to try to seize Him and take Him prisoner. The word “take” means arrest. The Jerusalemites were passive about Jesus until this point, but now they sought to put Him in prison.
but no one laid a hand on Him,
The crowd tried to arrest Jesus but they were not able to do it. Most people reject Jesus as their Savior because they have distorted ideas of who He is and what He offered.
because His hour had not yet come.
No one could do anything to Jesus because the Father had a divine schedule for Him. There was a divine timing to when Jesus would be arrested.
PRINCIPLE:
Believers are under the providential care of God.
APPLICATION:
God operates on His own timetable. He is always on schedule. Nothing can violate His sovereign plan. Jesus was surrounded by danger but He was in no real danger because of the sovereign providence of God protecting Him. God has His own schedule for each believer as well.
