“But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, ‘He is a good man,’ others said, ‘No, he is leading the people astray.’ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, ‘How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?’ So Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?’ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?’ Jesus answered them, ‘I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.’ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, ‘Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.’ So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.’ So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, ‘When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?’ The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, ‘I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.’ The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, “You will seek me and you will not find me,” and, “Where I am you cannot come”?’ On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Sin Cannot Understand Righteousness or The Darkness Cannot Understand the Light

There’s a war that’s existed since the fall in the garden. It is illustrated again and again throughout the Bible, and it’s as active in the world today as ever. While many are blind to it, or pretend it doesn’t exist, there is a clear, dividing line between the two sides of the conflict. On one side are those seeking God, answering His call and His authority and righteousness. On the other side are those seeking the things of the world, worshippers of their own desires and certainty. It’s those spoken of in Romans 1:18–23

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

Many think of idols and imagine pagan statues of false gods, and while this isn’t inaccurate, there’s far more to it than that. Our jobs, bank accounts, houses, cars, hobbies, the certainty we have in scientific discovery or medical advancement – even our relationships with family and friends can become idolatrous. As I heard a Pastor say recently, “show me the thing that holds your highest devotion and I’ll show you your idol.” While a relationship with God does require faith, it’s not belief in empty air. As it says in Romans 1, “… his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world…” God provides evidence for Himself, He affirms our faith when we seek Him. Proverbs 3:5–8 says,

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

So, we have those who are in submission before God, made wise not by their own works or brilliance, but through the inner and outer works of the Truth, and we have those who are fools in their own understanding, preyed upon by rampant sin.

What we’ve seen repeated in recent passages, and particularly on display in today’s section, is a deeply rooted lack of comprehension for what Jesus is teaching. This seems to be largely out of willful blindness, or a commitment to wrong teaching, but it goes to show the depth of the disconnect between minds aimed toward worldly things, and those that look to God. John 1:5 says,

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

But the Greek word used for “overcome” can also be translated as “to lay hold of, to seize upon, to take possession of or to detect, to catch, to lay hold of with the mind to understand, to perceive, learn, or comprehend.” The NIV says that the darkness has not understood the light, while the NASB says that the darkness cannot comprehend it. Both interpretations are true and powerful. The darkness has not and cannot triumph over the Light of the world, but in this the Light is alien and unknowable to what is evil.

“But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.”

Before diving too deeply into today’s section, I’d like to make sure we start off clearly, as I can imagine some skeptics using the start of this passage to question Jesus’s purity. In John 7:8 Jesus says He’s not going up to the feast, but here in John 7:10 we see that He did go to the feast – so did Jesus lie? If we look at John 7:3-4 we see that what His brother’s were encouraging, and what Jesus is turning down is an open, public attendance. Also, other translations (namely the NIV and KJV), actually have Jesus saying that He’s not going up to the feast yet, not that He’s not attending at all. It also makes sense, given that this was one of three feasts that required all Jewish men in the region of Palestine to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, that Jesus wasn’t outright refusing to go, but was not taking His brother’s encouragement and going publicly.

“The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, ‘He is a good man,’ others said, ‘No, he is leading the people astray.’ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.”

While it’s not surprising to see that Jesus was right, this affirms the wisdom and foreknowledge behind His decision. The ruling Jews who seek to kill Him are actively looking for Him, waiting for Him to turn up for the feast. The people as well, who seem to hold a mixed opinion, are looking for and discussing Jesus, but the fear of their religious enforcers keeps the conversations discrete. Note that neither group is professing Jesus as the Christ, but that some think Him “a good man,” and others think His teachings are wayward. Even those who are looking upon His ministry with favor are watering down the truth of who He is.

“About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, ‘How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?’”

This isn’t the first time that Jesus has surprised teachers of the Law with His knowledge and insight. After attending the Passover in Jerusalem with His parents, He stays behind without their knowledge when everyone else departs. Luke 2:46–47 says,

“After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

When John and Peter are brought before the Sanhedrin for healing a man and then proclaiming Jesus resurrected, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks eloquently, proclaiming Christ raised before the council. Acts 4:13–17 says of their reaction,

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, ‘What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.’”

It’s sad how Acts 4 shows that for many Jews, the death and resurrection of Jesus only intensified their obedience and obsession with twisting the Law, rejecting the will of God, and denying Christ. Here, as in their dealings with Jesus, they are stunned by the wisdom of those who stand before them in the name of God, yet they plot against them, only deterred from harming them by the will of the crowd.

1. Sin Cannot Understand the Truth

“So Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.”

Jesus’s teachings and the profoundness of His wisdom are shocking to the religious leaders. They are supposed to be the educators, it is their responsibility and honored duty to teach the Law. It’s stunning to them that Jesus, who has no formal Rabbinical training, has the command of the Law that He does. But they are wayward and obsessed with the Law for the sake of moral superiority, not honoring God. Jesus, who is the Son of the Living God and fully obedient to the Spirit, reveals that despite the vastness of His teaching, it’s not necessarily complicated. Proverbs 2:6–15 shows this dividing line,

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.”

If we are sincerely seeking the things of God, then the Truth of God will be apparent to us, and if we are leaning on or looking to worldly, self-serving teachings, then the false teacher will go undetected. James 4:1–3 addresses the lack of proper understanding behind sinful behavior like this,

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

To sin, to the darkness, the Truth is a complete mystery, an incomprehensible unknown. God shows no desire to leave us lost and confused, but generously offers understanding when we come to Him.

2. Sin Cannot Understand the Law

“‘Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?’ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?’”

Jesus says to both the crowds and His disciples in Matthew 23:2–3,

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.”

The scribes and Pharisees, the Sadducees and any who make up the council of the Sanhedrin are teachers of the Law. They hold a position of power and authority, and should be of great significance in sharing the news of the coming kingdom. But their aim is so wrong, and their works are so counter to the Law that when the Law is fulfilled and prophecy comes to pass and the Messiah is before them, they seek to kill Him. When Jesus calls them out on this truth, the crowd steps in and questions Him pointedly. This is strange, because given His public ministry, the open confrontations He’s had with the Jewish rulers, and the fact that the crowd was actually afraid to openly speak about Jesus when the feast began, it should be apparent where the threat against Him stems from. This accusation that He has a demon is petty and foolish and once again shows the peoples complete lack of understanding. If they or their teachers had any proper comprehension of the Law, they would know this is not true, but they still throw it at Jesus to attempt to discredit and belittle His words. In Matthew 12, after Jesus liberates a demon-oppressed man, the crowd in amazement asks in verse 23, “Can this be the Son of David?” In a jealous response, the Pharisees claim in verse 24, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Jesus, having divine perception and knowing their thoughts replies, in verses 25-28

“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

If they could understand the Truth, they would understand the Law, and if they understood either of these things they would know the foolishness and inaccuracy of their words. Sadly, this tactic is used again in John 8:45–50

“‘But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.’ The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.’”

It’s like seeing someone backed into a corner with reason and logic, and they’re only rebuttal is to hurl insults, and call their accuser a crazy person. I read a quote once that seems to fit here, “Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesn’t matter what you do, they’ll knock all the pieces over and strut around on the board like they won.” As we continue on, we see that Jesus doesn’t even bother to address their foolishness and continues on in explaining the hypocrisy of those who accuse Him.

“Jesus answered them, ‘I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?’”

The covenant of circumcision is originally established by God with Abraham in Genesis 17:10–14,

“This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

The Law concerning it is recorded by Moses in Leviticus 12:3,

“And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”

The covenant of circumcision was such a big deal that in Exodus 4, God is ready to kill Moses before he ever reaches Pharaoh, and the reason seems to be that Moses’ son had not been circumcised. Far from just being a super fun medical procedure, circumcision was so important, as it marked God’s people in a significant and unique way. The Jewish rulers in Jesus’s time, with their strict legalism would have a strong adherence to any rule or law regarding circumcision. This is to be performed on the eighth day after birth, and if that falls on the Sabbath, then it takes place on the Sabbath. The idea of this being a violation of the day of rest wasn’t even on the table, but when Jesus honors the Spirit of the Law and heals a man on the Sabbath (presumably the man by the sheep pool in John 5, though if we look to the other gospels, there were other Sabbath healings), they seek to persecute Him for it. Another of these Sabbath healings takes place in Matthew 12:9–14

“He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”

Witnessing a miracle, they seek to kill Him. They cannot understand Jesus because in their devotion to sin they are blinded from the Truth, and it is this Truth that gives the wisdom to understand the Law.

“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

This is a call to look at things in the Spirit and not the flesh, to seek to see things as God does. 1 Samuel 16:7 says,

“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’”

We do not have the eyes of God, but in seeking His will and His kingdom, we are given insight and wisdom beyond our flesh.

“Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, ‘Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?”

This confirms what we addressed earlier, that the rulers aiming to kill Jesus was no secret, but was at least some degree of common knowledge. The response that He was given, “who is trying to kill you?” was nothing more than gaslighting. The teachers of the Law should have been the first to acknowledge and rejoice in who Jesus was as their Messiah, however we know from their conduct across the gospels and beyond that they were blind to the reality of His station. Passages like Matthew 21:24-27, where they question Jesus’s authority affirm that their focus is on maintaining their position before the crowd instead of seeking the Truth,

“Jesus answered them, ‘I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?’ And they discussed it among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “From man,” we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’”

They should know that the Christ stands before them, but their aim is wrong and so they don’t.

“But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.’ So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, ‘You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.’ So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”

This assumption, “when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from” is wrong from the start, but it’s something we do with God even now. Prophecy clearly pointed to the Messiah coming from the line of David, and Micah 4:2 actually indicates Him coming from Bethlehem,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

If the people were properly familiar with the Law and the Prophets, or if they had been properly instructed in them (to direct at least some of the blame back to their teachers), they would have known that the Christ was not supposed to appear as some magical, mystery person, but would have a clear lineage. It’s the fulfilment of this prophesied lineage that helps in part to validate that Jesus is in fact the Christ, and not someone just claiming the title. People now will say things like, “if God really wanted me to do this or that, then I would just know, He would tell me” or they’ll make bold claims over world events like, “God would never do that.” The problem is that they don’t know the Word to know what God would or wouldn’t do, so their expectations of God’s character are based off how they feel or what they want, instead of His Truth. Jesus speaks of this discord, that they don’t understand His origins, because they don’t understand the One who sent Him. To not understand the will of the Father is to not understand the message of the Son. We see that throughout this the rulers seek to arrest Jesus, but the hand of God is sovereign, and His hour has not come.

“Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, ‘When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?’ The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.”

Here again is the divide in the crowd, that while some question the validity that Jesus could be the Christ, some look to His evidence and question how the Christ could possibly do more. It seems to be this that prompts the Pharisees to go from plotting and seeking to arrest Him to actually moving to take Him into custody. The “officers” sent would not have been Roman, or from Herod’s guard, but would be temple police. These were guards taken from the Levites who were responsible for maintaining order in the temple and surrounding area. The fact that the Pharisees sent them tells us that they meant to accuse Jesus of some kind of criminal act. While nothing comes of this in John 7, it shows us a precursor for the same sort of thing the Sanhedrin would do when the time came for them to push for Jesus’s crucifixion. Their jealousy when parts of the crowd begin to adopt the truth about Jesus seems to consistently push them to extremes.

3. Sin Cannot Understand the Spirit

“Jesus then said, ‘I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.’ The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, “You will seek me and you will not find me,” and, “Where I am you cannot come”?’”

Up to this point, Jesus has spoken of who He is, where He is from and the authority of the mission He is on earth to do. In the other gospels we see Jesus foretell His death and resurrection, but this is the first time we see Him speak of the ascension that will come afterward, albeit in veiled terms. It is a terrifying proclamation (or at least it should be), for those He addresses, as He says that in His going to the Father, He goes where they cannot come. In rejecting Him, they reject the Father, and despite their rigorous legalism, they will find themselves barred from His presence. We see them turn to earthly explanations, but these point back to one of the problems that has lied at the heart of Judaism throughout its history. When they hear Jesus say that He’ll go, not just where they can’t find Him, but somewhere that they cannot come, their first thought is into the dispersion, among the Greeks. While Old Testament Judaism doesn’t hold the same call to evangelism that Christianity does, the fact that the Jews were willing to accept converts, but on the whole, were so unwilling to spread the message of God with non-Jews shows us a heart issue. This is on display most prominently in their hatred for the Samaritans, their neighbors who are primed with knowledge to receive the teaching of the Law and Prophets, and yet the Jews largely hate and shun them. It’s not surprising that they can’t understand that Jesus is speaking of greater, Spiritual matters, when their hearts are so hard. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus tells a lawyer among the Pharisees that the greatest commandment in the Law is,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

This is the greatest commandment – the entire teaching of the Old Testament rests upon understanding this. But the teachers of the Law don’t show love for God, or for their fellow man – they love the Law, and the authority it grants them. And so in their love for worldly things they have no knowledge or understanding of the Spirit.

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

The Feast of Booths began and ended on the Sabbath, lasting eight days in total. It is on the last day, a holy day of rest that Jesus rises and cries to the people that any who thirst may come to Him and receive living water. God has the ability to meet all needs, physical and spiritual. In John 4, He offers the Samaritan woman at the well, water that sates spiritual thirst forever, and wells up inside as a spring of eternal life. Revelation 22 also speaks of something similar, saying in verse 1,

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb”

From the distinction made in John 7, we can see that the living water that flows from the Heart of Christ is the Holy Spirit. The “Helper” that Jesus speaks of in John 16:7,

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

While the Holy Spirit is present and active in the world since the beginning of creation, “hovering over the face of the waters” in Genesis 1:2, It had not manifested in the way that Jesus speaks of it. This event takes place for the first time in Acts 2:1–4,

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

While this doesn’t take place every time someone accepts Christ and receives the Holy Spirit, we do see it repeated twice more in the book of Acts. The first occurrence showed the Spirit falling on the Jewish believers gathered at Pentecost, the second, in Acts 8, shows the Spirit descending on Samaritans who have heard the gospel and been baptized in the name of Jesus, proving that true salvation was extended to them as well. The final time happens at the end of Acts 10 when the entire household of the gentile Roman centurion Cornelius hears the gospel from Peter and the Spirit falls upon them before they’re baptized (complete sidenote, but for those who insist that baptism is required for salvation, the example of the thief on the cross is often offered as pushback that someone can be saved without being baptized. The example of Cornelius’s household has never occurred to me as another example, where we see the Holy Spirit given before baptism is performed). This gives firsthand proof to Peter as one of the chief apostles that the gift of salvation in Jesus is open to even the gentiles. John 15:26-27 says,

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Creation bears witness to the existence and glory of God, as stated in Romans 1, but the Holy Spirit, the Helper, bears witness to Christ as It works in and through us, sanctifying us and bringing forth Its fruits. This is a reality defining truth for the believer, the presence and work of Christ in our lives serves as our cornerstone. But to the one chasing sin, to the worldly minded, it is a mystery, a way of living, thinking and interacting that is so foreign as to be completely incomprehensible. The Light of the world shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it, cannot understand it, and will not prevail against it – ever.

Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72HsU_hB1hQ