Authority

Before we get into the rest of John, we should probably talk about what we’ve already talked about.

Do you remember anything from our John series before the summer?

Gospel of John is the story of Jesus.

Jesus is God.

He’s the Way, truth, and Life

We have a new life and new identity in Him.

So now, we’re going to get back into the Book of John until Christmas!

John 7:1–24 ESV

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

There’s a lot going on in this passage: Jesus says He won’t go to the festival and then He does, people seem to love or hate Jesus; but I think that one thing runs throughout this passage, and that’s the authority of Jesus and the authority of the Jews.

The “Jews” in this passage does not mean anyone who’s Jewish, but the religious leaders of the day, and they didn’t like Jesus because He’s so vastly different from them.

So, what I think that this passage is saying to us is to stop following religion and start following Jesus.

Human Authority

You can see form the beginning of this section that everyone assumes Jesus is like everyone else.

His brothers are sarcastic about His miracles.

Vs. 4 “No one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly.”

They’re saying, “If You really are who You say You are, show it to everyone.” They don’t believe Him.

Then, the religious leaders of the day question Him and intimidate the crowds into avoiding Him.

Vs. 13, 15

Why are they so hostile towards Jesus?

Because He doesn’t operate in the way that they do!

You see, the Jews, like us, found their worth in a system

They believed that their Law (the first five Books of the Bible) was the way that God could love them, that they could find acceptance if they could just follow the rules well enough.

So, they made the Law their entire lives. They even added rules to the Law just in case they got it wrong.

And by the time Jesus showed up, they were so obsessed with rules that they go upset when Jesus healed a paralyzed man on their day of rest.

That’s what Jesus talks about in vs. 22-23.

The Jews had a ceremony called circumcision for Jewish boys, it was supposed to be a sign that the Jews were set apart for God, but if the day for that ceremony happened to land on a day of rest, they thought that it was worth it to circumcise the boy because it was made necessary by the Law. But, they can’t handle it when Jesus decides to fully heal a paralyzed man on the same day!

They were too focused on the system of religion to see God.

We do the same thing too!

We get so focused on the rules of our system that everything else falls away.

You have to be popular, so you don’t talk to the people who are alone and need love the most.

We love to look or act a certain way, so we pretend to be someone we’re not.

We do it in church too!

These people can’t be holy, so we don’t talk to them.

Don’t raise your hands during worship because it would be weird

The thing is, the authority that the Jews had, that our culture has, is based in a system.

We tell people they have to believe it because other people believe it and they’re bad people if they don’t believe it, so then we make a system.

A belief based on a system is sexy, it solves all of our problems, because, if we just follow the system, we’ll be alright.

But Jesus works a different way.

Jesus’ Authority

The Jews hit on Jesus authority when they asked, “ How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” (V. 15)

Jesus wasn’t talking like the rest of the leaders, and He wasn’t educated like the rest of them. So, they ask, “How can He talk in the way He does?”

He didn’t go to the right school! He’s not in our club!

But Jesus answered where He got His authority from.

Vs. 16: His teaching is from God.

God is not a God of systems, but of relationships.

That’s why Jesus healed people on their day of rest, that’s why He talked to people no one wanted to talk with, and loved the people who were unlovable.

That’s why He came to earth and died for you! He’s a God of relationships. He knew that we were broken and in need of a Savior, so He saved us!

It’s like what He said in v. 24.

He tells the people to stop judging by appearances. It’s as if He’s saying, “I know I look like this shabby carpenter, but if you look beneath the surface, you’ll find a power greater than you can imagine.

So, don’t define your life by a system, whether that’s by popularity, success, or religion. Instead, define yourself in a relationship with Jesus.

Questions.

If you had to have a thousand of one animal, what animal would you pick?

Read vs. 8-10. Did Jesus lie? How is this ok?

What is an example of culture or religion telling you to do something that Jesus wouldn’t have you do?

What is one system you buy in to? (Popularity, romance, success, etc.)