Bible Study series: John 7:14-24. Jesus honored the festivals, but he mainly used them as teaching occasions because of the crowds.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 7:14-24
14 While it was already at the midpoint of the feast, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. 15 So the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this man know the law, though he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus, in reply, told them, “My teaching is not mine, but of the one who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will learn about this teaching, whether it is of God or I speak on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory, but the one seeking the glory of the one who sent him—this man is true, and unrighteousness is not in him. 19 Wasn’t it Moses who gave you the law? And yet not one of you practices the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd replied, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?” 21 In reply, Jesus said to them, “I did one work, and all of you are stunned. 22 For this reason: Moses gave you circumcision—not that it was from Moses but from the patriarchs—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man healthy on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with a righteous judgment. (John 7:14-24)
Comments:
14:
Jesus went up at the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles or before the feast began, and now at the midpoint he is bolder and entered the temple precinct and begins to teach. In the context of the Feast, he was showing his own authority, which is about to surprise and offend the establishment. Carson points out that Jesus was avoiding a premature triumphal entry, recalling the slaughter of the Galileans in the temple courts (Luke 13:1) (comment on v. 14). But now the time is right to teach, after he got there, privately.
“teach”: Here he was in a formal setting, the temple. He spoke with authority, unlike the teachers of the law and Pharisees (Luke 4:32; Matt. 7:28-29). This is what the Spirit does through a surrendered heart and mind. He combined a teaching and healing ministry. His insight into Scripture was profound. This is what the Spirit does through a surrendered heart and mind after a victory over Satan.
15:
Jesus was not taught by a famous teacher / Rabbi, but he knew the law—literally “letters.” It reminds me of the Sanhedrin’s reaction to Peter’s speech. “Perceiving the boldness of Peter and John, grasping with their minds that they were untrained and laymen, they marveled and took cognizance of the fact that they were with Jesus” (Acts 4:13, my tentative translation).
The establishment Jews of Jerusalem were steeped in traditions and the finer, technical points of the law. What was he was teaching throughout Jerusalem at this time? I don’t imagine he was talking about how far a man could travel on the Sabbath before he broke it, or how consecrated a man became by eating kosher food and avoiding unkosher food. Rather, he surely raised their vision more highly and taught them about God’s ways and plans in their time and to expect the Messiah The entire Gospel also gives us hints of what he taught. He was moving people away from Judaism and towards a New Covenant (Luke 22:19-20). God loves people, but he is not enamored with systems.
16:
Jesus proclaims that his teaching is not sourced from him—as distinct from the teachings of the Jerusalem religious establishment and their fellow interpreters of the law—but comes from the one who sent him, the Father. Carson says that spending years studying in rabbinic schools would substantiate one’s opinions with precedence. Avoiding rabbinic training indicated arrogance and dangerous independence. But Jesus insists he is not an “inventive upstart.” However his teaching is not rooted in a long chain of human tradition, but he teaching comes from the Father, the one who sent him (comments on v. 16)
Recall this passage at the end of the Sermon on the Mount:
28 And so it happened that when Jesus finished these words, the crowds marveled at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their teachers of the law. (Matt. 7:28-29)
Teachers of the law up in Galilee, where the sermon was spoken, were just like the Jerusalem establishment. They piled on interpretation on top of interpretation and overlooked the spirit of the law.
Now let’s look at the noun Jesus used, “teaching.”
Let’s explore this Greek noun more thoroughly.
It is the word didachē (pronounced dee-dah-khay). BDAG defines the noun as follows: (1) “The activity of teaching, teaching, instruction”; (2) “the content of teaching, teaching.” Yes, the word is also used of Jesus’s teaching: Matt. 7:28; 22:33; Mark 1:22, 27; 4:2; 11:18; 12:38; Luke 4:32; John 7:16, 17; 18:19. And it is used of the apostolic teaching: Acts 2:42; 5:28; 13:12; 17:19; Rom. 6:17; 16:17; 1 Cor. 14:6, 26; 2 Tim. 4:2; Ti. 1:9; Heb. 6:2; 2 John 9 (twice), 10; Rev. 2:14, 15, 24.
It is a doctrine or a set of beliefs which he taught. It was mostly practical, but he did teach them that his words were on an equal plane to the Torah, which hints at his authoritative and divine status. He will judge people, on that day. He will be the divine judge.
Renewalists need much more instruction and doctrine than they are getting. Inspirational preaching about God fulfilling their hopes and dreams is insufficient. We need to discern the signs of the times or seasons (Matt. 16:3). We live in the time or season of the worldwide web. The people are getting bombarded with strange doctrines, on youtube (and other such platforms). These youtube “teachers” know how to edit things and put in clever colors and special effects, but they have not been appointed by God. They do not know how to do even basic research. They run roughshod over basic hermeneutical (interpretational) principles. These “teachers” do not seem to realize that they will be judged more severely (Jas. 3:1) and will have to render an account of their (self-appointed) “leadership” (Heb. 13:17). If they destroy God’s temple, God will (eventually) destroy them (1 Cor. 3:17).
Further, my impression is that the main platform speakers on TV whose budgets are big enough to put them on TV every day don’t even know the basics about doctrine. Why not? They are too busy being corporate managers and even Chief Executive Officers of large churches. They are not turning over the practical side of church leadership to their elders and deacons. They do not spend hours a day—every day—studying nothing but Scriptures, with good ol’ commentaries. (Maybe this one can help.) They do not spend hours a day reading up on theology and doctrine. (Maybe my website can help, a little.)
A better translation of Eph. 4:11 reads: “Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teaching pastors,” not pastors and teachers. Do we have teaching pastors or management or corporate pastors who specialize in organizational leadership? Or do we have psychology pastors? These areas should be turned over to a team. The teaching pastors should do nothing but study Scripture and should have the bulk of the teaching time on Sunday morning and in other services.
We need to change our ways and follow Scripture, or else much of the church will spiritually diminish and be swept away by strange teachings. Yes, good ol’ fashioned theology and even a little apologetics about difficult passages is what the global Church needs. They need the basics—even on Sunday morning, delivered by teaching pastors, not corporate, inspirational pastors.
“sent”: the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) teach that Jesus was sent or “has come” for a purpose, but they are not as open about it as John is.
5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven
17:
Jesus says that his teaching = the will of God. The law of Moses may have served its time, but now he represents God and his message. If they will “learn” or “discover” or “find out” that his teaching comes from the one who sent him, then they will do the will of God, by obeying the teaching of the one whom the Father sent. They will do the will of God by obeying Jesus’s teaching. Moses was a stop-gap measure, filled with types and shadows.
“The point is not that a seeker must attain a certain God-approved level of ethical achievement before venturing an assessment as to whether or not Jesus’ teaching comes from God, but the seeker must be fundamentally committed to doing God’s will. This is a faith commitment. God then fills the seeker’s horizon” (Carson, comment on v. 16). Excellent. Faith commitment elevates the hearer of Jesus’s teaching, When the hearer has total commitment to him, he understands truths more clearly.
18:
Anyone seeking his own glory is not reliable in the courtroom of public opinion. If I say I am awesome, what good does that do? People will laugh. But if I represent the glory of the king and derive my authority from him, then people better pay attention. This theme of glory is related to testify and testimony, and see v. 7 for more comments. It also is embedded in an honor-and-shame culture. The one who enjoys the highest honor must get it from his deeds, not from his words alone. Yes, he can win a debate, as Jesus did many times, but his “works,” that is, his miracles, substantiated his words and earned for him public honor beyond what the Jerusalem establishment could earn. However, we just read in v. 12 that not everyone believed in him but thought he was deceiving people. No one can sustain 100% popularity all of the time. So get ready, teachers and preachers, for opposition.
Jesus is true and he has no unrighteousness in him. His teaching comes from the Father, and Jesus stands on it, so this source and foundation makes him “true” and “authentic.”
19:
Wow. Jesus drives home the notion that these nonlaw-keepers have the gall to seek to kill him. If they break the law of Moses, shouldn’t they be the ones who are put to death? We are about to read in the first eleven verses of John’s Gospel about the woman caught in adultery. The law of Moses said she should be stoned to death. What would Jesus say? He said, “Let the sinless one of you be the first to throw the stone at her.” So, what right do they have to kill him, just because he healed a man on the Sabbath? They are not seeing things clearly.
20:
They reacted badly, and they were wrong to do so. They did not connect the dots, because they realized that Jesus really did heal on the Sabbath and told the man to pick up his mat and walk. Here are the verses: “For this reason, therefore, the Jews sought him all the more to kill him, not only because he loosened up the Sabbath, but also because he was saying that God was his own Father, thus making himself equal to God” (John 5:18). Once again, they exaggerate some nonessential elements of the law and overlook or play down the weightier matters (Matt. 23:23-24). They strain out gnats and swallow camels.
Having a demon is like saying he is crazy or possessed by the gods. He is not sent from God, in their view. But we know the opposite is true. He is sent from God. See 10:20, which says that he was accused of having a demon and was insane. Jesus was accused of being demonized in the Synoptics (Mark 3:22).
See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:
Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
21-22:
Jesus’s one work or miracle that the did was to heal the man on the Sabbath. Please go to John 5 and look at vv. 1-18:
He did one great work—make a lame man healthy—and they were stunned or astonished.
“For this reason”: It directly answers why the Jerusalem establishment is seeking to kill him. The answer is about to come in v. 23. For now, Jesus is establishing that it is lawful to circumcise on the Sabbath because Moses, that is, more particularly, the patriarchs (Abraham), commanded it. More accurately, God commanded it through Abraham. So how can it be unlawful to heal a man, make him whole, on the Sabbath?
Here are the verses in Genesis:
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (Gen. 17:9-14, NIV)
It is the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. Jesus himself was circumcised, because his parents wanted him to be part of this covenant. “And when the eight days were completed to circumcise him, his name was called Jesus, the name called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb” (Luke 2:21). But he will launch a new covenant.
One Decisive Difference Between Sinai Covenant and New Covenant
23-24:
Jesus now gets to the punchline. If it is lawful to circumcise a boy (the Greek literally says “a man”), then how could it be unlawful to make a whole man (the Greek literally says “whole” man) healthy? Why a “whole” man? This stands in contrast to circumcision which ministers to a “small part” of a man. From the lesser to the greater: if circumcision (lesser) is legitimate on the Sabbath, then so is healing the whole man (greater). (Klink, comment on v. 23). The Jerusalem establishment must judge things with a “correct” or “right” or “righteous” judgment. They must not be so foolish and miss the bigger picture. Yes, circumcise the boys on the eighth day, but stop seeking to kill him for make a whole man healthy! Their perspective is shallow and shortsighted. They are blind.
He said to them, “The Sabbath was made because of the person, not the person because of the Sabbath. 28 So then the son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)
Jesus was not controlled by the establishment’s version of Sabbath keeping. He is the Lord of this commanded day off.
Categorizing people is a time-honored way of refusing to take them seriously. It is crucial to note at this point that it was the Jewish people who were designated by the evangelist as the hostile name-callers. By the end of these Tabernacle chapters, however, the hostility rises to an exceedingly venomous level, and Jesus’ death is virtually assured in the minds of the religious establishment. (Borchert, comment on vv. 19-23)
“A fair judgment would have gone deeper and recognized that he was fulfilling the moral responsibility for which the law existed. Criticism is normally irresponsible. It would rather condemn the other than find out the purpose and motivation for the person’s actions. While people ‘look at the outward appearance,’ the Lord ‘looks at the heart’ (1 Sa 16:7)” (Mounce, comment on v. 24).
Jesus said:
1 Do not judge, so that you are not judged, 2 for the judgment by which you judge, you shall be judged, and the measure by which you measure, it shall be measured to you. 3 Why do look at the speck in your brother’s eye and don’t perceive the beam in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, “Let me take out the speck from your eye,” and look! there’s a beam in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take out the beam from your eye and then you’ll see clearly to take the speck out your brother’s eye. (Matt. 7:1-5)
We can judge with true discernment, just as Jesus said here in v. 24. We can judge only the fruit of the tree. God can judge both the root and the fruit. Don’t cross over to his jurisdiction.
GrowApp for John 7:14-24
1. If you want to do the will of the Father, how do you follow Jesus’s teaching?
2. Have you ever strained at a small issue and lost sight of the bigger, more important ones? How did you correct your course?
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12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel
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3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
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