John 7:14-53

THE OLD SABBATH CONTROVERSY RENEWED

Text 7:14-53

14

But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

15

The Jews therefore marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

16

Jesus therefore answered them, and said, My teaching is not mine, but his that sent me.

17

If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself.

18

He that speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

19

Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you doeth the law? Why seek ye to kill me?

20

The multitude answered, Thou hast a demon: who seeketh to kill thee?

21

Jesus answered and said unto them, I did one work, and ye all marvel because thereof.

22

Moses hath given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man.

23

If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath?

24

Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Queries

a.

What is the test Jesus proposes for His teaching in John 7:17?

b.

How does Jesus interpret the law of Moses here?

c.

What is righteous judgment?

Paraphrase

But when the feast was already half over, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. The Jewish rulers were filled with incredulity, saying, How can this man know anything about literature or the Scriptures, never having been a scholar in our schools? Jesus answered the rulers and said, My teaching is not the philosophy of mere mortal men, but comes from Jehovah God who sent Me. If any man is willing to surrender his will to God's will and do the will of the Father, he will be able to discern whether I teach the doctrines of God or whether I speak philosophies of men. Anyone who teaches on his own authority is seeking honor for himself. The teacher who seeks only to honor and glorify the one who sent him, this one is trustworthy, and there is nothing false in him. Moses gave you the law, did he not? Yet none of you are keeping the law for you are seeking to kill meand why do you seek to kill me? The multitude cried in astonishment, You are demon possessed. Who is trying to kill you? Jesus answered, One deed I did, and you are all taken aback and want to kill me. And for this reason I now say to you, Moses gave you the rite of circumcision (not that it originated with Moses but with the fathers) and on the sabbath you perform the work of circumcising a man. Why then, if you go to work and circumcise a man on the sabbath to avoid breaking the law of Moses, are you seeking to kill me for healing a man's body on the sabbath? Do not judge by superficial appearances, but judge justly, fairly and according to reality.

Comment

In John 7:14 we are told that Jesus did not appear at the feast until it was about half over. Evidently He spent two or three days in Samaria (Luke 9:51 ff). The priests and rulers would be occupied with services in the temple and the crowd would be concerned with the observances of the many rites midway in the feast. This diversion afforded Jesus a certain degree of safety, momentarily, from the anger of the rulers who were seeking to kill Him (cf. John 5:18). A part of the great multitude was sympathetic to Jesus (John 7:12) and so He was able to go on with His teaching. Jesus went boldly into the very courts of the temple and began to teach. As He began to speak as never man so spake, the crowd around Him grew larger. Soon many of the rulers would join the listeners. The incredulity of the rulers (John 7:15) is to be found in their amazement at the liberties this Galilean is taking. The audacity of someone like this Nazarene teaching publicly, a prerogative reserved only for those Rabbis with accredited degrees, is causing them no small amount of amazement.

According to their records the Nazarene had never attended any of their official theological schools. They derisively scorned, How can this fellow know theology, having never attended our accredited schools? To know letters was to be trained by Rabbinical schools in the science of interpreting the law and the prophets. In other words, Jesus was not expounding the accepted and orthodox interpretations of the Rabbinical schools.
Jesus answers the amazement of the Jewish Rabbis. His wisdom is divineit comes from God the Father. Jesus, Himself a member of the Godhead, knew the Scriptures because the Scriptures were His words given centuries ago by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to Moses and the prophets. What Jesus was teaching, therefore, was not the theological interpretations and opinions of a man about the Scriptures, but His words were in fact the words of God. This is another of Jesus-' many claims to equality with God.

John 7:17 is one of the many plain, yet profound, utterances of the Saviour. Being a follower of God is more than mere knowledge of what the Scriptures say. There must be that surrender of one's stubborn will to the point where we desire to do God's will. It is a disposition to do God's will. The man who willeth to do His will is the man of a good and honest heart (Luke 8:15).

The New Testament teaches that, fundamentally, doing God's will is a result of knowing Christ. In other words, as Hendriksen says, The fundamental relationship. is therefore, (a.) knowledge, (b.) love, (c.) obedience, (cf. John 14:15; John 17:26). (The N.T. Commentary, Gospel of John, Vol. II, p. 11, pub. Baker Book House.) Yet each of these three principles complement one another so that there is always an interaction between them. Knowledge of Jesus leads to love and obedience, while on the other hand, obedience leads to a full-grown knowledge and love (cf. Ephesians 4:11-16). We never quite grasp the full significance and import of some of the more profound passages of Scripture until we have obeyed them or experienced them.

A lifetime of studying the Bible is of no avail if a man's will and desire is out of harmony with God's will. Paul said the same thing in 1 Corinthians 2:6through John 3:9. The rebellious, carnal-minded man cannot discern the things of the Spirit, because the worldly-minded man has no desire to do God's will. These Jewish rulers, to whom Jesus spoke, had studied the Old Testament from their youth uphour upon hour, year after yearbut they did not comprehend that Jesus spoke God's word for they had no desire to do God's word.

It is the man who humbles himself and has, as it were, the mind of a child (receptive, willing, pure) that understands the wisdom of an Omniscient Godwhile the prideful, rebellious man who is puffed up with his worldly knowledge can never understand God (cf. Matthew 11:25-30; also Isaiah 1:18-20).

As one writer has expressed it, John 7:17 is the proper disposition for man and John 7:18 is the follow-up of that, or the proper ideal.

If Jesus was only expressing His own views He would be sure to toot His own horn like other self-appointed wisemen and prophets, But to the contrary, Jesus always sought to give the glory unto His Father, the One Who sent Him (cf. John 5:41-44). These Jewish rulers, who were supposed to sit in Moses-' seat and teach the Word of God so that God might be glorified, rather taught and practiced religion in such a manner that they might be glorified. It was, in fact, their envy of the honor the people paid to Jesus that drove them to crucify Him (Matthew 27:18; John 11:47-50; John 12:17-19).

John 7:19-23 are still part of Jesus-' efforts to get these Jews to receive His word as that which comes from God. They are judging His teaching superficially. Their judgment is prejudiced and Jesus continues by showing just how unrighteous their judgment is. They were supposed to be upholders of the Law of Moses. They pretended great reverence for the Law. Yet, in their hearts they were plotting to kill Jesus. Murder violates every moral principle given by God. He penetrated the outward sham of their righteousness and looked upon their heart (cf. Matthew 5:21-23).

The multitudes, of course, could see no outward signs of such drastic action. There were no soldiers, no one carrying weapons, no angry mobs as yet. This man from Galilee was beside himself, they reasoned.

But Jesus shows the inconsistency of their judgment. He had made a man whole on the Sabbath over a year ago (cf. John 5:1-18) and for this they sought to kill Him. Now in view of the fact that the rulers had determined to kill Him for healing on the Sabbath, for this reason, He is going to show how they themselves set aside Sabbath regulations for much lesser expediencies.

The Pharisees were fond of making Sabbath rules (not legislated by Mosaic law) for the people to be burdened with, while they themselves used all sorts of devious means to get around their own traditions. Sabbath regulations were not for the rulers. They enforced a tradition that no one was to travel over seven-eighths of a mile on the Sabbath. But the rulers could not afford to be bound by this tradition. They built little palm-leaf booths all over the countryside and on the roads between the villages every seven-eighths of a mile apart. If business or some other reason demanded it, they could travel from city to city just by going seven-eighths of a mile, abiding in the booth for a while, and then traveling seven-eighths of a mile farther toward their destination.

So Jesus, the accused, now puts them on the defensive and shows them their unjust judgment by illustrating their regulations regarding circumcision (ceremonial rite).
According to the Law of Moses, every male child had to be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. Even if that eighth day fell on the Sabbath, the priests performed the rite of circumcision.
The argument of Jesus is, if they permit this work of circumcision to be done on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses be not brokenhow can they be so unrighteous and prejudiced as to prohibit the healing of a man's body and soul on the Sabbath? God did not create man merely to keep Sabbath regulations, but the Sabbath was given for man's benefit. There are principles and actions which are higher and must supercede Sabbath regulations. God works on the Sabbath; He sends rain, sunshine, life and many other necessary things on the seventh day. So it was proper that the Son of God heal and teach on the Sabbath.

In John 7:24 Christ makes the application. Judge righteouslyjudge according to truth. Consider the real substance of the situation (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7). How different the atmosphere of many churches today if Christian people were not so quick to condemn others in those things which they themselves do. Consistency, thou art indeed a gem!

Incidentally, John 7:24 is a positive command by Jesus that men judge! So often we are told that we must not judge, yet here our Lord requires it of us. There is, however, no contradiction between Matthew 7:1, Judge not, that ye be not judged, and John 7:24 here. In Matthew 7:1 Jesus condemns censorious judgmentunfair, hypocritical judgment motivated by an evil desire to hurt another's character. But in John 7:24 He commands that men use wisdom, discretion and honesty in their judgments of both men and doctrines. Followers of Christ, must judge religious doctrines and religious teachers (cf. Matthew 7:15-20; John 10:4-5; Romans 16:17-18; Thess. John 3:14; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 1:7-11).

Quiz

1.

Why were the rulers amazed at Jesus-' teaching?

2.

Why is it necessary to have a desire to do God's will in order to understand the truth of His word?

3.

What is the natural tendency of the teacher who seeks to glorify himself?

4.

What attitude of heart by the Jewish rulers violated the Law of Moses?

5.

How did the Jews, out of necessity, violate the Sabbath regulations?

6.

Explain the principle laid down by Jesus in John 7:24 concerning righteous judgment.

7.

Have we a right to judge religious teachers?