John 7:10-24

Jesus ended up going up to the Feast. One might ask whether He lied to His brothers, since He told them that He was not going up to the Feast because His time had not come.

 

I'm going to assume for now that He did not lie. I'm not going to make any arguments to prove it yet. Instead, I want to see what Jesus did.

 

He went up to the Feast, but He went up in secret (His brothers had urged Him to make a big show of things). Apparently those at the Feast were debating about Jesus, trying to judge whether He was good or bad. Jesus did not present Himself publicly until midway through the Feast.

 

Who knows what kind of opposition Jesus would have faced if His opponents had known He was coming? But they didn't know. And by midway through the Feast, they probably had let down their guards, not expecting to see Him there. Then He began to teach publicly at the Temple. The crowds were amazed at His knowledge – a knowledge that came without the kind of education that other teachers had.

 

Jesus' answer was that He was teaching the thoughts of someone else. In particular, He was teaching the thoughts of the One who sent Him, of God the Father. Jesus challenged His hearers to do as He taught in order to find out whether Jesus' teachings were from God or not. Jesus was seeking the Father's glory, so there was no reason for Him to teach anything but the Father's words. (So often we shy away – I shy away – from speaking the truth. Why? Apparently it is because I am concerned too often for my own glory.)

 

And then Jesus concluded with a challenge: "You don't really follow Moses. You don't keep the Law. If you kept the Law, you wouldn't be trying to kill Me." When the crowds ask who is trying to kill Him, Jesus points back to the miracle of making the paralyzed man walk on the Sabbath. And He justifies having done the miracle on the Sabbath. Yet it was well-known that this miracle was a major reason there was debate about whether Jesus was good or not. His awareness of the Jews' motivations for hating Him was a part of His teaching strategy. He revealed to people the secrets of their own hearts so that they would be confronted with their own sinfulness.

 

Contrast our sinfulness with His perfection. He always spoke the words of the One who sent Him. He always sought the Father's glory.

 

Father, forgive me for not doing the same!