John 7:19-23

APOSTASY OF THE JEWISH CHURCH

John 7:19-23. “Did not Moses give you the law? and no one of you keeps the law.” Do you not see the utter collapse and failure of their religion, as neither priest nor people kept the law? Can we keep it? Certainly, by the grace of God in Christ. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10) Hence, you see, all who have perfect love do, by the grace of God, keep and fulfill the law; not literally, but spiritually. “Why do you seek to kill Me? The multitude responded, Thou hast a demon; who seeks to kill thee?” Though the high priests and Pharisees had threatened to kill Him if He ever came back to Jerusalem, the respondent from the crowd did not know it. “Jesus responded, and said to them, One work I did, and you are all amazed.” That was the work of healing the invalid at the pool, which He did eighteen months previously, when last at Jerusalem. “Moses gave you circumcision: not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers; and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.” God instituted circumcision in the days of Abraham, long before Moses was born. Jesus had healed the invalid of thirty-eight years on the Sabbath-day, while attending the second Passover of His ministry. The penalty under the law for violating the Sabbath being death by stoning, consequently they are constantly maneuvering to arrest and bring Him before the Sanhedrin, and try Him for Sabbath-breaking. Here He utterly nullifies the allegation by the fact that they circumcise a man on the Sabbath. “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you mad at Me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath?” Thus He turns the argument against them, breaking their heads with their own club.