TEACHING THE FATHER'S DOCTRINE
John chapter 7, v. 1 to 24
There was an interval of about six months since the events of the last chapter. He walked is a literal picture of the Lord's itinerant ministry, of which there are more details in the other gospels.
After the occurrences in chapter 5 He had avoided going to Judea, knowing that the Jews sought to kill Him (chapter 5: 18). The feast of tabernacles began on the 15th of the month Tisri (end of September) and was extended from seven to eight days in post-exilic times (Nehemiah 8: 18). It was one of the chief feasts of the Jews.
The brothers of Jesus (half-brothers actually, called James, Joses, Simon and Judas - Matthew 13:55) were hostile to His Messianic assumptions, although they must have been told of the circumstances surrounding His birth. Perhaps they did not believe what they had been told? This seems to be borne out by their attitude, though at first they were friendly (John 2:12).
Their impertinent advice to Him to go to Judea to show Himself openly to the world was clearly ironical. He had many disciples in Judea at the start (chapter 2:23; 4:1), and He had left it because of the jealousy of the Pharisees over his success (chapter 4:3). His brothers would have known of the defection in the synagogue in Capernaum (chapter 6:66), and since that time the Lord had gone to Gennesaret, Tyre and Sydon, and to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan (Matthew 14:34,21,19:1), so He had been away from Galilee for some months and from Judea for a year and a half (Matthew 15-18, Mark 7- 9 and Luke 9). Now He was back home.
We do not know to what works they were referring, and it seemed wise advice that a public teacher must allow inspection of his deeds, but at this time they might get Jesus into trouble. They did not believe in Him. They had the regular Jewish obligation to go up to the feast, but the precise day was a matter of indifference to them.
He, however, was conscious of the time when He must manifest himself publicly to the authorities as the Messiah (that would be when they would put Him to death, the whole purpose of His coming to earth: it would be at the time of the Passover, six months later, when He would replace the sacrificial lamb which was a symbol of Himself).
His brothers were in no danger because they sided with the unbelieving world which was His enemy, and which He had already exposed (chapter 5:42, 45), and it resented the exposure (chapter 3:19). He ordered them to go to the feast, and told them He was not going yet because the timing was not appropriate: He refused his brothers' suggestion of going openly as a leader with His disciples to be seen by all going to the feast. He would make a triumphal entry on the journey to the last Passover.
He remained in Galilee for some days, then went as well. The secrecy concerned solely the journey to Jerusalem, not his public teaching there after his arrival (chapter 7:26,28; 18:20). The religious leaders in Jerusalem were seeking to attack Him, but not the Galilean crowds (John 7:12) or the populace in Jerusalem (chapter 7:25).
The Lord had been at two feasts during his ministry (Passover in chapter 2:12; possibly another Passover in chapter 5:1), but had avoided the preceding Passover (chapter 6:4; 7:1). The leaders in Jerusalem had kept in touch with Christ's work in Galilee and anticipated a crisis in Jerusalem.
There was secret displeasure (Acts 6:1) or querulous discontent (Philippians 2:14) among the multitudes. These different groups were visitors from Galilee and elsewhere and were divided in their opinion of Jesus as the Galileans had already become (chapter 6:66). Some thought He was pure in motive (Mark 10: 17; Romans 5:7) but others argued against them saying He led the multitude astray (in the end the rulers would call Jesus "that deceiver", Matthew 27:63). They really feared the Jewish leaders and evidently did not wish to involve Jesus or themselves by speaking their opinion openly.
Midway through the feast, the Lord went into the temple and began to teach before the very eyes of the religious leaders. His learning greatly surprised them: He showed Himself familiar with the literary methods of the time, which were supposed to be confined to the scholars of the popular teachers, yet He had not attended either of the rabbinical theological schools in Jerusalem (Hillel, Shammai). He was not a rabbi in the technical sense, only a carpenter, and yet He surpassed the professional rabbis in the use of their own methods of debate (see the same puzzle of the Sanhedrin concerning Peter and John - Acts 4:13).
Probably the sneer at the Lord came from some of the teachers in the Jerusalem seminaries, for in the eyes of the Jews He could not be more than a merely self-taught enthusiast.
The Lord denied that His teaching was self-originated, or the product of the schools: His doctrine came from the one who sent me (chapter 4:34; 5:23, 24, 30, 37; 6:38-40, 44; 7:16, 18, 28, etc.) thereby implying that His teaching was superior in character and source to that of the rabbis.
Only those who wish to do God's will are able to know whether the doctrine taught by the Lord Jesus is from God (as a source), or His own - the Jews, of course, regarded Him only as a human being (John 5:46; John 18:37). Atheists of all types have no point of contact for understanding the teachings of Christ. This fact does not prove the non-existence of God, but simply that they are out of tune with their Creator, the Infinite God.
The teacher who pushes his own ideas presses his own claims for position and glory, "blows his own horn" as we say. The Lord Jesus sought only the glory of the one who sent him: He was true, there being no deceit of unrighteousness in what He taught (see 2 Thessalonians 2: 10; 1 Corinthians 13:6 for the contrast between the two).
They boasted of their own knowledge of the law of Moses, and yet they violated that law by not practising it. As an illustration of their failure to obey the law of Moses He asked Why seek ye to kill me?, a sudden and startling question.
He had previously known (John 5:39, 45-47) that the Jews really rejected the teaching of Moses while professing to believe it. On that very occasion they had sought to kill him (John 5: 18), the same language used here. Apparently he had not been to Jerusalem since then and He undoubtedly alluded to their conduct then and charged them with the same purpose now.
The people were unaware, it seems, of the endeavour to kill Jesus (chapter 5:18). It is important in this chapter to distinguish clearly the several groups like the Jewish leaders (verses 13, 15, 25, 26, 30, 32, etc.), the multitude from Galilee and elsewhere (verses 10-13, 20, 31, 40, 49), the common people of Jerusalem (verse 25) and the Roman soldiers (verse 45).
The multitude made the same charge against Jesus that had been made long ago by the Pharisees against John the Baptist (Matthew 11:18; Luke 7:33). It is an easy way out to make a fling like that. In modern language it meant: He is a monomaniac labouring under a hallucination that people wish to kill him.
The Lord alluded directly to the healing of the paralysed man when in Jerusalem before (John 5:1-16). He had done other works before (John 2:23; John 4:45), but this one on the Sabbath caused the rulers to try to kill Him (John 5: 18). It had caused some to wonder, others to be angry.
If under the law of Moses they could operate on a man, circumcising him, how could they be angry at His healing a man? They should judge righteously, not superficially.
R David Jones
1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.
2 Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
3 His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.
4 "For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."
5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
6 Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
7 "The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.
8 "You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."
9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"
12 And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."
13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"
16 Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
17 "If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
18 "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.
19 "Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?"
20 The people answered and said, "You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?"
21 Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.
22 "Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
23 "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?
24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement."