The One who sent Me

John 7:14–36 HCSB

When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple complex and began to teach. Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How does He know the Scriptures, since He hasn’t been trained?” Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t Mine but is from the One who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he will understand whether the teaching is from God or if I am speaking on My own. The one who speaks for himself seeks his own glory. But He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law! Why do you want to kill Me?” “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who wants to kill You?” “I did one work, and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. “Consider this: Moses has given you circumcision —not that it comes 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 won’t be broken, are you angry at Me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.” Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? Yet, look! He’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to Him. Can it be true that the authorities know He is the Messiah? But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where He is from.” As He was teaching in the temple complex, Jesus cried out, “You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me is true. You don’t know Him; I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” Then they tried to seize Him. Yet no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come. However, many from the crowd believed in Him and said, “When the Messiah comes, He won’t perform more signs than this man has done, will He?” The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple police to arrest Him. Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time. Then I’m going to the One who sent Me. You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go so we won’t find Him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does He? What is this remark He made: ‘You will look for Me, and you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’ ?”

Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.

There are three groups of people engaged in this dialogue:

Crowd of Pilgrims - had come to Jerusalem to worship, but were outside the circle of religious and political buzz about Jesus.

Jerusalemites - lived in Jerusalem, so were in the know about the conflict between the establishment and Jesus

Religious Establishment - Pharisees and chief priests. The ones planning to kill Jesus.

Jesus stood up and began to teach, but the Jews didnt think He had the right to teach because He hadnt been trained. He had never studied. He was unlearned. He was unlettered.

Jesus called them out on their own standard, the law. He pointed to their plot to kill (thou shalt not) and Sabbath rules (circumcision was allowed on the Sabbath, but healing a man was not?).

They responded by calling Him paranoid. Demon possessed.

The New American Commentary: John 1–11 (2) The Middle of Tabernacles: A Three-Part Dialogue (7:14–36)

Categorizing people is a time-honored way of refusing to take them seriously.

Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.

Fix our eyes on Jesus. When we see Him, we see with righteous judgement.

The one group not in this dialogue is us. But follow me for a sec:

When Jesus said where He was going they could not go, the Jews wondered if He meant ‘among the Greeks’. The irony of the Gospel is that the actual departure of Jesus meant the carrying of the gospel to the Greeks, and to us.

We will see in that the words posted above Jesus on the cross were actually written in Hebrew, Aramaic and GREEK. The gospel was for us. Yes, the Jews first, but also for the Gentiles.

So there it is. The Gospel for us! What will we do with it? Hoard it? Sit on it? or embrace it, live it, SHARE IT!?