John 7:15

John 7:15. The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never leaned? The marvelling on the part of the ‘Jews' (see note on chap. John 5:20) is not an astonishment that compels further inquiry and leads towards belief. They are baffled, and forced to acknowledge against themselves what they would fain have denied. It was only after a long series of years spent in study that the Jewish scholar was permitted to become a teacher, and was solemnly ordained a member of the community of doctors of the law. Jesus, it was known, had not been taught in the rabbinical schools, nevertheless He was proving Himself, in such a manner that His enemies could not gainsay the fact, a skilled and powerful teacher. Jewish learning dealt chiefly with the letter of the written Word (especially the Law), and with the body of un written tradition. The words which crown our Lord's teaching at this feast enter into the very heart and express the inmost spirit of the whole Old Testament revelation (John 7:38-39).