John 7:24

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. JUDGE NOT ACCORDING TO THE APPEARANCE, BUT JUDGE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT - `Rise above the letter into the spirit of the law.'...

24._Judege not according to the appearance. _Having concluded his defense, he likewise administers a reproof on this ground, that they are carried away by wicked dispositions, and do not form _a judgment _according to the fact and the matter in hand. _Circumcision _was properly held by them in reverence; and when it was performed on the Sabbath-day, they knew that the Law was not violated by it, because _the works of God _agree well with each other. Why do they not arrive at the same conclusion as to the _work _of Christ, but because their minds are preoccupied by a prejudice which they have formed against his person? _Judegment, _therefore, will never be _right, _unless it be regulated by the truth of the fact; for as soon as persons appear in public, they turn their eyes and senses on them, so that the truth immediately vanishes. While this admonition ought to be observed in all causes...

14-24 Every faithful minister may humbly adopt Christ's words. His doctrine is not his own finding out, but is from God's word, through the teaching of his Spirit. And amidst the disputes which disturb the world, if any man, of any nation, seeks to do the will of God, he shall know whether the doctrine is of God, or whether men speak of themselves. Only those who hate the truth shall be given up to errors which will be fatal. Surely it was as agreeable to the design of the sabbath to restore health to the afflicted, as to administer an outward rite. Jesus told them to decide on his conduct according to the spiritual import of the Divine law. We must not judge concerning any by their outward appearance, but by their worth, and by the gifts and graces of God's Spirit in them....

Verse 24. _JUDGE NOT ACCORDING TO THE APPEARANCE_] Attend to the law, not merely in the _letter_, but in its _spirit_ and _design_. Learn that the law which commands men to rest on the Sabbath day is subordinate to the law of mercy and love, which requires them to be ever active to promote God's glory in the comfort and salvation of their fellow creatures; and endeavour to judge of the merit or demerit of an action, not from the first impression it may make upon your prejudices but from its _tendency_, and the motives of the person, as far as it is possible for you to acquaint yourselves with them; still believing the _best_, where you have no certain proof to the contrary....

JUDGE NOT ACCORDING TO THE APPEARANCE - Not as a thing first offers itself to you, without reflection or candor. In appearance, to circumcise a child on the Sabbath might be a violation of the law; yet you do it, and it is right. So, to appearance, it might be a violation of the Sabbath to heal a man, yet it is right to do works of necessity and mercy. JUDGE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT - Candidly; looking at the law, and inquiring what its spirit really requires....

EXPOSITION Ch. 7-10. contain the record of the conflict between faith and unbelief in the metropolis. At first the narrative indicates a vast amount of critical inquiry, of unsettled opinion, of angry disappointment and a certain readiness to be convinced on the part of one section or another. The secrecy of the Galilean village is contrasted with the broad arena of the temple courts. "The Jews," or leaders of opinion and authority in Judaea and Jerusalem, who were hostile, are seen in contrast with "the Jews who believed on him" (John 8:31). There are multitudes and multitudes (John 10:12, John 10:30, John 10:31), priests and Pharisees ...

JUDGE NOT ACCORDING TO THE APPEARANCE,.... Or through respect of persons, and so as to please men, the Scribes and Pharisees; who had condemned the action of Christ, in curing the diseased man on the sabbath day, and sought to kill him for it: BUT JUDGE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT; give your sense and judgment of things, according to the truth and evidence of them; and do not find fault with that, which you yourselves allow of, and which Moses and his law, and your own practices, justify....

John 7:14. _Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught._ He was no coward, so he boldly showed himself in the midst of the throng in the temple. John 7:15. _And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?_ Or, «How knoweth he the Scriptures? How has he come to be an instructed man, having never learned of the Rabbis? He has never passed through our schools of learning, so what can he know?» John 7:16. _Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me._ «I am not the inventor of what I say; I am but a messenger, delivering the message of him that sent me.»...

RIGHTEOUS (_ See Scofield) - (1 John 3:7). _...

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. My Time is not Yet Come. (John 7:1 .)_ 2. Departure from Galilee; Sought by the Jews. (John 7:10 .) 3. In the Temple Teaching. (John 7:14 .) 4. Opposition to Him. (John 7:30 .) 5. The Indwelling Spirit Promised. (John 7:37 .) 6. The Division Among the People Because of Him. (John 7:40 .) 7. The Returning Officers and the Defense of Nicodemus. (John 7:45 .)