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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
In yesterday's reading, we learned of Jesus' choice to remain in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the religious leaders sought to kill Him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go to 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 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. 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." Here is the great question: where does Jesus' authority come from? He speaks with a kind of authority that comes from Himself, not from having studied with a great rabbi, nor from being approved of in some official capacity. There's an implicit question here: how can people recognize the truth in Him? My study bible notes that the simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding here, as Jesus says. And there's a question of whose particular glory one is seeking: one's own, or God's? It comes down to where our heart is, what (or Who) we truly love. My study bible says, "Spiritual blindness comes from unwillingness to know God or to recognize His authority." It quotes John Chrysostom, who paraphrases Christ as follows: "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." In these verses, Jesus refers back to His healing of the paralytic on the Sabbath during the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, near the Sheep Gate of the temple. At that time Jesus was accused because He told the paralytic to "take up your bed and walk," thereby telling him to carry a burden, forbidden in rabbinical teachings.
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?" My study bible tells us that the crowds are mistaken in saying they know where this Man is from, both in a earthly sense and a divine sense. In His human birth, they think Jesus is from Nazareth in Galilee, and are unaware that He's actually born in Bethlehem. Moreover, they can't comprehend His statements that He's come from the Father in Heaven, and as Son is eternally begotten -- His divine origin also remains unknown. Jesus once again returns to the theme that knowing and loving God the Father means the capacity to know Him. When Jesus says that His hour has not yet come, He's speaking of the time of His suffering and death. He goes to the Cross voluntarily in the time set by God, not according to the plots of human beings.
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'?" We who know His story understand where He will go; He's referring to His death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven. To go among the Greeks means to go among the Gentiles. My study bible calls this an unwitting prophecy, pointing to the time after His Ascension when Christ's name will be preached among the Gentiles by the apostles.
It's kind of astonishing to read Jesus' words as He speaks the bold truth to everyone who is listening -- to the people who are at the temple for the Festival (it is the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot). This is an autumn harvest festival, lasting eight days, and commemorates the time the Israelites spent living in tents (or tabernacles), wandering in the Sinai, on their way to the promised land. As such, it is a feast of the coming kingdom. But Christ is the One who brings the Kingdom into the world, and He speaks His truth here at the temple. Where is He from? And where is He going? Do they know Him or understand Him? At the previous festival (the Jewish Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks) He healed a paralytic, and told him to take up his bed and walk. We know of the great works He's done, and the people testify to that as well. But where does He get His understanding and authority? Who does He think He is? Do the leaders know something that they're keeping from the people? Why can't they arrest Him? Questions swirl around Jesus, reflected in the crowds and all the varying opinions of the people. In the midst, the leadership want to kill Him. He knows this, although people call Him mad. So many different opinions and impulses are in these crowds and among the people, from the leadership, from His hearers. But where is the truth? Jesus declares the truth about Himself, sparking all the speculation and division. He's boldly done His good works, only to be challenged and condemned for doing so on a Sabbath. But nothing stops the mission. Somehow His faith and His work is not just about the people there present at the festival. It's not just about the leadership, nor the people He heals, nor any who behold His great works. What Jesus is doing is for the life of the world: those who are to come, who came before, who are everywhere and not just there among the Jews. The mission goes beyond all limits that we can know or understand; His Resurrection and Ascension are for a "world" -- cosmos in the Greek, all of Creation, the universe and everything in it. The truth He tells here reveals mysteries unimaginable to these crowds. And yet, there are those who believe, who come to faith. Somehow we're all in there in that crowd, in this picture at the temple. We may be presented with mysteries that are beyond us. We may not be capable of understanding everything about Christ, of knowing all about where He comes from and what His true nature is. But we can understand what He says when He teaches that we are to judge with good judgment, that the letter of any received teaching cannot override the healing love of God, the goodness of His works, the fullness in an act of pure restoration of a human being to his life. The least of us can know what it is to love God, and to respond to God's love for us. That goes beyond words and education, beyond worldly authority. Is goes to the heart. This is the place where Christ communicates with us, the place these legalistic rulers bound up in their own jealously guarded places cannot reach. The love of God, as Jesus teaches it, roots us to a place where truth draws us and gives us hope. leads us beyond what we know and can immediately grasp. But the real "gravity" of God, the great drawing power of Christ, is bound up in love. Hope, truth, goodness, and life itself are bound up in that love, and that is what draws the world back to its Maker, the One who wants what's best for us, always. There will always be envy to contend with. There will always be the things that seek to get in the way. But we know where our heart is focused, and that takes us forward through all things. This is "righteous judgment."
