If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  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.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  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?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and  then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"

- John 7:14-36

On Saturday, we began chapter 7 of the Gospel of John.  (The lectionary has skipped over chapter 6 which we will read next week.)  At this point in His ministry,  Jesus chose to walk in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  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.  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."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.   Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  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."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."  My study bible explains that the simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding it.  It notes that spiritual blindness comes from the unwillingness to know God or to recognize God's authority.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom, who paraphrases Christ: "Rid yourselves of wickedness:  the anger, the envy, and the hatred which have arisen in your hearts, without provocation, against Me.  Then you will have no difficulty in realizing that My words are actually those of God.  As it is, these passions darken your understanding and distort sound judgment.  If you remove these passions, you will no longer be afflicted in this way."

"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.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  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?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  We recall Jesus' healing of the paralytic by the Sheep Gate on the Sabbath during the Feast of Weeks (see Rise, take up your bed and walk).   We look also to Matthew's Gospel, in which Jesus demonstrates that the law is not absolute over human need or service to God (see Matthew 12:3-5), citing Old Testament examples.   In verse 7 of that chapter in Matthew, Jesus quotes from Hosea 6:6:  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice,"  suggesting to us that to judge with righteous judgment is to truly understand this command.  We must also note that instead of discussing their motivations and what is truly happening, as Jesus brings into the open, the people deny that anyone seeks to kill Him.

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  My study bible says that these crowds are mistaken, both in an earthly sense and a divine one.  Humanly speaking, they think that Jesus is from Nazareth of Galilee, and are unaware that He was actually born in Bethlehem.  More than this, however, it's incomprehensible to them that He's come from the Father in Heaven, is eternally begotten before all ages (as we're taught in John's Prologue).  So this divine "origin" also is unknown to them.

Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"   My study bible suggests that Jesus' hour is the time of His suffering and death.  It says, "Christ is Lord over time, an authority possessed by God alone.  He comes to the Cross of His own free will and in His time, and not according to the plots of men."  Again we note the tension in the crowds; their opinions are varied and mixed, as some ask whether the Christ will do more signs than what they've seen from Jesus.   Yet, reliance on "signs" isn't the kind of faith Christ is all about.

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and  then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"  Jesus alludes to His death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  To go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks is to go among Gentile populations (that is, among those who speak Greek, which was the universal language of the time).  My study bible says, "This unwitting prophecy points to the time after His Ascension when Christ's name will be preached among the Gentiles by the apostles." 

One observation we could make about today's reading is that no matter what the issue might be, Jesus always turns back to the "One who sent Him."  People may be disputing about Jesus' identity, whether or not He is the Christ, but Jesus Himself always refers people back to the Father.   They wonder how He could possibly be a real teacher in the temple.  I mean, He hasn't studied with a famous rabbi or anything.  He doesn't have what would be the equivalent of a degree, or a great credential of any kind.  But what does He say?  "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me."  He focuses completely on the will of the Father.  He doesn't bother to argue about anything, such as why He might have the right to speak, or isn't violating the law, or any sort of defense.  He just points back to the will of the Father, the words of the Father that Jesus gives to others.  And that means that there is even more to it:  if they loved God, they'd recognize God's word in the things Jesus teaches.  He says, "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."    The people wonder if He could be the Christ.  But that's dismissed, they know where He is from, so they think.  (And then again, it makes us remember the question, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?")   But how does Jesus reply?  Does He defend His birth, or birthplace?  No.  He tells them,  "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Everything goes back to the Father, the true Origin of what Jesus teaches, who He is, where He's come from, and where He's going.  And eventually, back to the Father is His final destination, in every sense of what it means to journey:  "I shall be with you a little while longer, and  then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  While it's paradoxical to think about, these sayings - firstly -  give us a picture of what is quite exclusive and unique about Jesus.  He's the Christ, He has been sent from the Father.  He's the only-begotten.  And then at the same time, the words He gives us are examples for us to follow.  He doesn't claim exclusivity.  He doesn't claim uniqueness in these statements.  That's not the point.  He is Who He is.  But He does say, "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."  Now that is some kind of a statement!  He's not claiming He's the only one who can recognize something that is of God.  On the contrary, He is inviting all with ears to hear -- or perhaps more closely, all with the love of God in them -- to discern what He teaches, and whether or not it comes from God.  The love of God is simply the will to do God's will.  He may uniquely be the one and only Christ.  But He invites us in to do the same as He does.  He invites us in to discern and to know what is of God.  He offers us the opening to His wisdom.  The key is just simply "if anyone wills to do His will."  We, too, are of God, as creatures of the Creator, but also as adopted children.  We, too, may speak God's word as it comes to us.  We, too, may journey toward God.  In all things, the Incarnation sets the example.  It's such a powerful speech, in today's reading, that both things are true at once:  Jesus is speaking exclusively about Himself, and yet the same words also apply to us.  That is the way that Scripture works.  Both things are true at once, at the same time.  Truth works in many dimensions.  But if we remember and keep in our hearts in the place He takes us, into that invitation to desire to do the will of God ourselves, then we are following in His footsteps, and opening the door to real discernment, to good judgment.  This is the key, and He's saying that it's placed in our hands, it rests on us to choose.  Just like it rests on that crowd to do the same.  He asks the crowd, and He asks us, to judge with good judgment.  What is good judgment but the discernment that comes from participating in the grace -- the mercy -- of God?  Isn't that God's wisdom, the gift He's so willing to share?  Ironically, it's only in the willingness to judge good judgment ourselves that we can follow Him to the place He is going.  It's the failure of those who should know better that means they will not be able to go where He is going.  We are all invited.  How do we respond?