Who Are We Representing?

Throughout John’s Gospel, we see Jesus repeatedly claiming to be God.  This was amazing for some; unbelievable for others; shocking and blasphemous to those who thought they had a special connection with God on their own terms.

As C. S. Lewis writes in his book, Mere Christianity:  A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or 0something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Interestingly, before Jesus came to earth; while Jesus was on earth; and even today, there seems to be more people who refuse to believe that He is God than who choose to follow Him as Lord and Savior.

Just who is Jesus?  Is He indeed God?  Is He indeed Savior for all who will believe?  Let’s go to the book of John and look carefully at chapter 7.14-24.

We need to be certain that we are representing and presenting Jesus.

Authority - 7.14-16

But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.  The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”  So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

Last time in John, we saw that Jesus knew what His Father’s timing was, that He was obedient to it, and would not be swayed by His unbelieving brothers.  Here, in verse 14, it is obvious that Jesus did, in fact, go to the feast of booths; but He did it in the time frame He should have done it.  He went up literally in the middle of the feast which is what the Greek word for midst means.  

But He didn’t just go to the feast.  He went to the temple as would any rabbi.  He didn’t just go to observe, but to actually teach.  He continued to show His authority.  Even by the fact that He appeared publicly, shows His authority.  Even though the Jewish religious leaders may have wanted to snuff Him out quietly, they were no longer able to do so with His appearance at the feast.  

Read how John describes the listeners here and in other places; they were astonished.  Rather than deal with what Jesus had taught, the self-righteous Jews began to question the credentials of Jesus.  Today the questions might have sounded like: What Bible college did he attend?  What was his ranking in the seminary?  Has he ever planted a church or pastored a church before?  If he doesn’t have his doctoral degree from the school we choose, then he can never serve as a pastor in this church.

It’s the same idea of much of what goes on in Christendom today.  You see, they weren’t truly amazed or astonished by Jesus' astounding ability as a teacher. They were upset and tried to minimize Who He truly was.  They hadn’t given their official stamp of approval to Him.  They tried to cause people to think that Jesus was merely expressing His opinions, since He had no formal training approved by them.  We know this by the context of the entirety of the book of John, as well as the other three Gospels.  Gerald Borchert states:  The rabbinic method of learning was by recitation of the opinions of the teachers of the law (their authorities). When one was sufficiently knowledgeable of past opinions (precedents), then one might dare to express one’s own opinions on issues.

However, Jesus responded directly to their questions and insinuations.  He let everyone know that they were in error by thinking that this was His opinion.  He states, My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  In other words, His authority and words, which He spoke, came directly from God the Father.  I appreciate Warren Wiersbe’s comments on this:  Education is a blessing, but it is better to be taught by God than to borrow the ideas of men. Christ’s doctrine comes from heaven; man’s teaching comes from his darkened mind.  In other words, Jesus was condemning the religious leaders’ teachings as not from God the Father.  Instead, they were disagreeing with Jesus and going against Him.  Only those who were against God the Father would do that.  

Jesus was not just some great teacher.  He spoke with the authority of God.  He had more authority than the prophets who would say, Thus says the Lord.  He had more authority than Billy Graham or any preacher today who would say, The Bible says.  Jesus’ authority was so great that He could say, But I say to you.  

Jesus shows Himself to be God by speaking and teaching the very words of God.  He indeed had astonishing authority.  Yet, many looked for further proof.

Affirmation - 7.17

If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

Sadly, there are still too many people today who think that it is their right to demand a sign or further proof or revelation that Jesus is God.  Of course, the reality today, as it was then, is that it doesn’t matter what one does or says; if a person demands further proof, most likely, they are not going to be willing to accept it.  

However, in this verse, Jesus lets it be known that if a person will simply be obedient to what God requires, that individual will know if something is genuinely from God or not.  Isn’t that the way it is for us today?  If we will simply humble ourselves and be obedient to the Word of God, we will see how obvious it is that Jesus is truth and that God’s Word is truth.  The Holy Spirit of God will reveal to those of us who are saved, what the Word of God requires of us and what God wants us to do.  

For anyone to reject or refuse to accept the truths of Christ does so at their own peril.  What Satanic arrogance for anyone to dare to demand of Christ that He prove He is God; how foolish to question if all He taught is truth; How foolish it is to dare suggest that the Bible is not truly God’s Word.  There are promises throughout the entirety of the Bible that for those who genuinely, earnestly, and humbly seek God, that He will be found.  He will reveal Himself.  He will affirm the truths of the Bible.  

This is an internal proof which cannot be quantified on a scientific basis.  It can only be believed by the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment.  Yet, what other proof do we have that Jesus is truly God?

Attribution - 7.18

He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

This is one of those situations where you can often tell what something or someone is by what they are not.  Jesus takes some time here to use this form of reasoning and explanation.  The first part of this verse shows two things that typify a false teacher or someone who is not truly representing God. One is that they speak[s] from [them]sel[ves]; secondly, they seek[s] [their] own glory.  

False teachers will create whatever formula they need to in order to attract a crowd and a following.  They will use subjective experience as their criteria.  For we all know that it is nearly impossible to argue against something a person says they have personally experienced.  The objective truths of the Bible are then kept at arm’s length.  In fact, if the Bible is used, it is usually out of context and used with proof texts that becomes pretext.  One writer stated: Their goal is not to feed the flock, but to fleece it.  This is nothing new; for we read about this throughout the entirety of the Bible; from the Old Testament prophets to the writings of the New Testament.

But it is also to bring honor to themselves.  They may feign honor to God by pointing their fingers heavenward or by ascribing things which they say and do as if it’s for God, in order to try to bring credibility.  However, if it does not match up with the Bible 100%; if it is a detraction from Jesus Christ, then most likely it is all about themselves. 

The focus must always be on our Lord, never upon ourselves or our ministry activity.  Jesus was always seeking to bring glory to His Father.  Jesus often did the behind the scenes, menial tasks, so as to bring glory to God.  Jesus truly [was] seeking the glory of the One who sent Him.  This showed that He is the true Messiah; He is truly God.  He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Now, you and I would think that the Jewish religious leaders would get it and accept the message.  However, they decided to try a new tactic.  Let’s look at the next couple of verses.

Accusation -7.19-20

“Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”  The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?”

These questions by Jesus definitely did not win Him any points with this crowd.  However, don’t think it was an attack just against this group of people.  This is a truth that applies to all of us.  Yes, the Law was given specifically to the Jewish people.  Yet, according to the Bible, there is not one person without sin.  There is nobody who can keep the Law in all areas.  But for our purposes today, and for what Jesus was dealing with here, it was aimed at the religious leaders and those listening right there.  They thought they were the favored people.  They thought they could attain salvation by doing or not doing.  But you and I know that not one single person has ever, nor will ever, make it to heaven by what we do or don’t do.

Paul reminds us in Galatians that the Law was never designed to save anyone. Galatians 2:16 “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”  Its purpose was to reveal our sinful condition.  It was meant to show us clearly our hopelessness and our need for a Savior.  However, over the centuries, the Jewish people had manipulated the Law and made it a code and a formula which they hoped would get them into heaven.  

The purpose of the Law acted as a judge’s finger, pointing out the guilt and the required penalty of death.  It was to have been the tool which gave the evidence of a certain conviction.  To avoid this death penalty, required faith in God’s grace and His provision.  

The sad reality was that the One Who could set them free from this condemnation, they wanted to kill.  Can you see the irony in Jesus’ question?  Everything they were doing was completely contradictory to the Law.  Even in their desire to kill Jesus, they were running afoul of the Law, proving that they didn’t carry out the Law.  The Law was painfully clear about the prohibition of murder.  They were actually participating in their own death sentence.

Notice their response was not at all in dealing with the reality of the facts.  They had paid no attention to the teachings Jesus had shared.  Instead, they began to assassinate Jesus’ character.  They accused him of being demon-possessed.  One who was demon-possessed would have insane ranting and raving.  Today, they might have suggested that Jesus was crazy or paranoid. 

How similar to our world today.  Rather than deal with what the Bible teaches and surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and live according to His teachings; people, (even some who call themselves Christians today), choose to attack by name-calling or acting like their intellect is on a higher plain than God Himself.  One other thing to note is that the crowd may not have been aware of the plotting being done by the religious leaders.  However, we’ll see later in John, how they join the religious leaders in wanting to silence and kill Jesus.

Well, let’s go on and see how Jesus responded to their ridiculous accusations.

Adjudication - 7.21-24

Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel.  For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Jesus didn’t even bother to address their ridiculous charge against Him. He had no need to defend Himself.  He was there to do His Father’s will.  So, what is the one deed to which Jesus is referring?

It appears that it was the Sabbath day when the healing of the man by the Bethesda pool took place.  That should have been an obvious proof that Jesus was Who He said He was.  Instead, it caused the religious leaders to go on a rant and a vindictive rage, bent on killing Jesus.  Instead of believing Jesus was the Messiah, they set out to prove He wasn’t.  They knew they couldn’t really do that without killing Him.  

You recall that earlier, Jesus explained that the healing on the Sabbath was acceptable because He and the Father were equal in authority.  Here, he goes even deeper.  He shows them how wrong they were in their interpretation of the Sabbath Law.  First, they thought that circumcision was given to them by Moses.  The reality is that this was given by God long before Moses ever came onto the scene.  We see this already in Genesis 17.  Now, according to the Law, circumcision of Jewish males was to take place when he was eight days old.  What happens if the male is eight days old on the Sabbath?  They would circumcise the child anyway.  In other words, circumcision trumped the Law.  Gods grace trumps the Law, as well.

Jesus then takes them to the obvious logical conclusion.  If circumcising a male child could be done on the Sabbath, then why would it be a problem to make an entire person well on the Sabbath?  John MacArthur explains it this way:  If they did not object to the ceremonial cleansing of one part of the body on the Sabbath, how could they object to His healing the entire body on the Sabbath? Jesus made it clear how their thinking was completely muddled and hypocritical.  He showed them that it is always acceptable to do good on the Sabbath.  One doesn’t avoid doing good just because it’s the Sabbath.

Then Jesus lets them know that they are spiritually and theologically inept by their conclusions.  He does this by pleading with them to do adjudication or judgment with true righteousness, not based upon outward appearances.  If they truly wanted to know who He was, then look at Him with spiritual eyes, not self-centered, self-created ideas and philosophies.  

Reflections

It is easy for some to get caught up in trying to be acceptable to others and not be seen as a fanatic.  For others, it is equally easy to get caught up in creating formulas and dogmas that people have to fit into, in order to get to heaven.  

Legalism and self-righteousness have always been an abomination to God.  It is the death knoll of many churches.  Those churches may be functioning, but not in the way in which God wants them to function.  

When we teach and share with others, we must be certain that what we present is Jesus and not just our ideas.  We dare not get caught up in that which is pseudo-spiritual; or the idea that if something is emotional it is of God.  We cannot suggest that rules and regulations show whether or not someone or something is of God.  It must simply be what the Bible teaches.  This is not to denounce experience or tangible evidence; rather, it must never contradict or bring into question God’s revealed Word, the Bible.

The religious leaders were certainly sending mixed and confusing signals.  For all their piety, self-righteousness, and attempts to follow the Law, plus all those rules they invented, they were not turning people to the Messiah.  They were not causing people to want to live for God.  

I like this sentence you see on the monitors: 

The goal of discipleship is to become like Jesus Himself: to think as He thought, to feel as He felt, to act as He acted, to desire what He desired.  

That should be the desire of every person.

Be certain that we are representing and presenting Jesus to a lost and confused world.