Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up to 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 aid 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

Yesterday we read that at this time in Jesus' ministry, He remained 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 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 to 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."  My study bible comments on this passage that the simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding it.  It says that spiritual blindness comes from unwillingness to know God or to recognize God's authority.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom's paraphrase of Christ's words:  "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."   See this reading for the incident to which Jesus refers, in which He healed a paralytic on the Sabbath, at the Feast of Weeks (Old Testament Pentecost) in Jerusalem.

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."    My study bible remarks that these crowds are doubly mistaken.  In terms of Christ's human identity as Jesus, they think of Him as being from Nazareth in Galilee.  But Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem (verse 42; see also Luke 2:1-7).  Moreover, they cannot understand that Christ has come from the Father in Heaven (who has sent Him) eternally begotten before all ages.  Therefore His divine "origin" is also unknown to them. 

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?"   Christ's hour is the time of His suffering and death.  My study bible writes that Christ is the Lord over time, which is an authority possessed by God alone.  He comes to His Cross of His own free will and in a time set by the Father, not according to the plots of human beings (see 8:20; 10:39).

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus aid 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'?"  To go among the Greeks means to go among the Gentiles; that is the "Greek-speakers," as at that time Greek was the lingua franca or common international language used for trade, commerce, literature, etc.   The Dispersion would refer to the diaspora of the Jews (the Greek word translated as "dispersion" is diaspora/διασπορά); that is, Jews who live outside of Israel proper, including proselytes and converts to Judaism.  My study bible comments that this is, in fact, an unwitting prophecy, which points to the time after Christ's Ascension, when His name will be preached among the Gentiles by the apostles.  Indeed, our New Testament Scripture was originally written in Greek, and the gospel was carried into the world using the Greek language.

It's noteworthy and interesting that Jesus' first response to the accusations He encounters is to teach, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Nicodemus will say something similar to the Pharisees:  "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" (7:50-51).  In a similar vein, in Acts of the Apostles, Gamaliel offers counsel for good judgment, when he prescribed leniency for the apostles who were preaching the gospel of Christ:  "And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God" (Acts 5:34-42).  Jesus, Nicodemus, and Gamaliel offer an insight already present in the Law:  a teaching for righteous judgment.  All too often, we fall into similar patterns of ignoring what we know are prescriptions for good judgment, and our passions and fears get in the way of practicing good judgment.  What Jesus seems to suggest is that even if they do not understand Him, even if they cannot for the moment accept His doctrine or find anything familiar in it, even if His actions seem nominally aberrant, the responsibility to judge with righteous judgment remains.  Jesus, by His suggestion, seems to assign this responsibility across the board, to all of us, no matter where we are in our religious understanding.  John's Gospel provides us with the perspective that we are all on a road, and all may be in different places regarding our depth of understanding or embrace of the faith of Jesus.  But nevertheless, such differences should not play a part in our capacity for righteous judgment, and our responsibility for refraining from judgment based on appearances.  Christ calls us to our capacity for insight and compassion.  Hardness of heart is condemned across the board in the Gospels.  Our capacities as human beings capable of discernment always remain with us, and give us a responsibility for failure to engage in humane and just behavior.  Let us consider His words and teachings, and what they imply for all of us, regardless of our understanding, or where we are on the journey of faith.  He calls us to embrace a level of dispassion that befits those created to be capable of good judgment, and of faithfulness to Creator.  Let us pay attention!  The crowds who view Christ are in the middle of all kinds of forces that seek to persuade them one way and another.  There are forces of hatred and of fear, of enmity and envy, of desire and need, and in the midst the people question and don't know which way to turn.  But good judgment, Christ suggests, remains possible, even in the midst of uncertainty and manipulation.  So we are here in this world, subject to the same forces, and assigned by Christ with the same responsibility for righteous judgment.