1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 2: Hello, and thank you for listening to your Daily Bible Verse, 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 2: the podcast that examines the Bible each day to learn 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 2: more about God and his will for us. I'm your host, 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 2: Shaka Heinz, and after this short word from our sponsor, 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 2: will dive into today's verse. In John seven seventeen, Today's 7 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 2: Bible verses John seven, Verse seventeen, Jesus says, anyone who 8 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 2: chooses to do the will of God will find out 9 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 2: whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak 10 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: on my own. Now, in the last few years, I 11 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 2: have really gotten into gardening. We have a fairly large 12 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 2: layer out with about twenty raised beds, a butterfly bed, 13 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 2: and a smaller herbal garden, and we grow everything from 14 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 2: corn and tomatoes and potatoes, strawberries and raspberries and cantilope. 15 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 2: And if you come to my house, you'll get a 16 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 2: tour and probably an earful about how even the plants 17 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:21,839 Speaker 2: we often label as weeds are. 18 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: Full of nutrients and useful for herbal remedies. Now I'm 19 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: no expert, but I love growing stuff. And if you 20 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: spent any time with me at my home, you couldn't 21 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: help but recognize that I'm a gardener. Now I want 22 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: to describe this setting surrounding the verse in John seven, 23 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: one of the three annual feasts that required attendance of 24 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: all the Jewish men in Jerusalem was the Feast of 25 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: Tabernacles or Soukote. It was celebrated in autumn, and it 26 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: was about five days after Yam Kapoor, the day of Atonement, 27 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: and it lasted about eight days. Because the Jewish leaders 28 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: were looking for a way to kill him, Jesus secretly 29 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: attended the Feast of Tabernacles, and he didn't show himself 30 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: to the crowd until about halfway through the festival when 31 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: he went to teach in the temple courts. Now, once 32 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: again he amazed his audience, and they asked how he 33 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: got such great learning without ever being formally taught. Normally, 34 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: Jewish teachers, rabbis or scribes, they were educated through an 35 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:30,079 Speaker 1: apprenticeship of sorts under recognized teachers. But Jesus amazed because 36 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: he taught with authority but had no recognized teacher, or 37 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: did he you know? Jesus answers their astonishment by telling 38 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: them in verse sixteen that his teaching is not his own, 39 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: but comes from God. In today's verse verse seventeen. He 40 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: goes further, and he says, if you want to recognize 41 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: me and know where I get my teaching from, you 42 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: must first choose to do God's will. The Greek word 43 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,679 Speaker 1: and I'm no Greek speaker, but I'm going to do 44 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: my best with the Greek word is poyeo. Poyeo is 45 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: translated into the English word do, and it means to 46 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: take productive action. What does Jesus tell them to take 47 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: productive action on God's will? The Greek word the leima 48 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: is often used in the New Testament to mean God's 49 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: will or purpose, and Jesus says that you must choose 50 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: to practice, do, or perform the will of God, and 51 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: then you will find out, recognize, or understand if Jesus's 52 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: teaching is from God. So this begs the question what 53 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: is the leima or the will of God that Jesus 54 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: speaks of. Now A chapter earlier, in John six, Jesus 55 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: speaks to the crowd who found him the day after 56 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: he fed the masses with fish and bread. They first 57 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: asked Jesus about the work God requires them to do, 58 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: and he responds that the work of God is to 59 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: believe in the one he sent now if you sentences later, 60 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: he clarifies that he himself has come to do the 61 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: will of the Father. And here it is the Father's 62 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: will is that everyone who looks to the Son and 63 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: believes in him will have eternal life. To look to 64 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: is translated from the Greek word the real, and it 65 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: means to watch closely, to perceive or experience, now experiencing 66 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: someone or something tonnote some level of intimate involvement. It's 67 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: appropriate for those who want to know Jesus to become 68 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: involved with Jesus, knowing what he taught, doing what he did, 69 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: spending time in his presence, and believe here is not 70 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: mere mental assent. The Greek word pistiwo is used here, 71 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: and it means to put one's faith in, to trust 72 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 1: in such a way that actions follow. Think of coming 73 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: to a bridge and needing to get to the place 74 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: on the other side. Leaving in that bridge, is trusting 75 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: it enough to stand on it and walk across. A 76 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: jew in Jesus's day understood that faith was expressed through obedience. 77 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: So let's take what Jesus taught in John six to 78 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: answer the question of the will of God. In John seven, seventeen. 79 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,720 Speaker 1: The first says, anyone who chooses to do the will 80 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: of God will find out whether my teaching comes from 81 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: God or whether I speak on my own. So anyone 82 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: who chooses to look to Jesus and begins seriously engaging 83 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: with his claims will learn whether his teaching comes from God, 84 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: whether Jesus's way is the way. So Jesus tells those 85 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: at the temple, if you do the will of God, 86 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,799 Speaker 1: then you will know who I am. It doesn't take 87 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: intellectual effort or feats of great strength to know Jesus. 88 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: It takes stepping out in faith, choosing to look to him. 89 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: If one were to spend time in my garden with me, 90 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: one wouldn't have to ask if I were a gardener. 91 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: In much the same way, if you choose to walk 92 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: with Jesus, you won't have to ask who he is. 93 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: He will make himself known. Let's pray Jesus, thank you 94 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: that you make it so simple. We complicate things, We 95 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: make it hard, and in our guilt and our shames. 96 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: Sometimes we just want to do a lot of work 97 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: or know what hoops to throw or jump through to 98 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: get to you, And you simply say you know follow me, 99 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: walk with me, look to me, do the Father's will, 100 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: and you will know. You will know because I'll show you. 101 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: You want to make yourself known. You aren't like hiding 102 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: yourself and you know making it super hard for us 103 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 1: to get to you. But you have done all the work, 104 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: so all we have to do is look to you, 105 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: believe in you, follow you. Thank you, Jesus for making 106 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: it simple for us. Thank you for making a way 107 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: to know the way, because you are the way. We 108 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: love you. Jesus, I pray for all of those listening 109 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: to my voice right now that you would enable our 110 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: hearts to hear the words that you're saying and what 111 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: you might be calling us to write at this moment, 112 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: and to say yes to following you, yes to our 113 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: next steps, so that we might be able to know 114 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: you better and better. We love you. It's in Jesus' 115 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: name we pray. Amen.