What Do You Say About Him?

WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT JESUS?

John 7:14-24

When you study the gospel of John you can’t improve on the subject because every page and virtually every verse is about Jesus!

As a man, Jesus was like any other man from Galilee; He most likely had a Galilean accent and His deity was completely invisible; what was visible was His humanity.
There was no way to see Him any different than you would see any other man; Isaiah 53:2.

What did distinguish Jesus from all others was His claims; His claims were astonishing; they were shocking; they were beyond bold!

Jesus said that He came down from heaven; that He had eternally existed; that He had been sent into the world by the Father.
He claimed to be the Savior of the world and the only Savior of the world.
He claimed to be the one who determined everyone’s eternal salvation.
He claimed to be the source of everlasting life, and the only source.
He claimed to be the only way to God.
He claimed to be One with God; He claimed to have the power to give life and to even raise the dead.
He claimed to have authority over heaven and earth; He claimed to be able to forgive sins legitimately; He claimed to be the light of the world; He claimed to be the resurrection and the life.
He claimed to be the Messiah; the Son of God.

His claims were beyond comprehension; therefore, the Jewish leaders judged Him to be a deceiver and sought to kill Him; 7:1.

But on the other hand, in spite of all of His claims some simply said that he was a “good man” and nothing more; vs. 12.

And if that wasn’t a little disheartening His own brothers did not believe in Him; vs. 5.
It seems that everyone saw Him as a man, but no one really considered Him to be what He claimed to be. (This is true today.)

So, in an effort to try to get them to believe who He is, in vs. 14 in spite of the danger Jesus arrives in Jerusalem during the “Feast of the Booths” and He goes to the temple and He begins to teach; and no doubt He draws a crowd.

And in vs. 15 the Jews, those who opposed Jesus, were “marveling, saying, “How has this man become so learned, having never been educated?”

They knew that, in appearance he was no different than anyone else, they knew that He was a man; but they realize that there is something different about Him, different in the things He taught and in the way He taught.
And so, starting in vs. 16 Jesus answers their question and at the same time He gives us reason to believe His claims; reasons to believe that He is more than just a man, and reasons why our faith in Him is not misplaced.
Just like these Jews we must make up our minds; is He just a man or is He also God?

So, let’s look at what Jesus says starting vs. 16. They ask, “How has this man become so learned, having never been educated?” Now vs. 16:

Jesus therefore answered them, and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.”

This must have once again infuriated the Jewish leaders because He is once again claiming that God sent Him!

Every day in the temple there were a lot of rabbis teaching there; men who studied at the feet of the most prominent rabbis.

And what they did is, in order to give authority to what they taught, they quoted the rabbis they studied under.

But that is not what Jesus did. He didn’t quote other rabbis.

His teaching, His doctrine, His knowledge was beyond anyone else.
His teaching, His knowledge was on a level of wisdom and understanding without equal!
Officers in vs. 46 said, “Never a man spoke like this.”
The people were dumbfounded; shocked; startled by His flawless instructions.
They were amazed by His clarity; His truthfulness; the reality of what He said.
And they didn’t like it; they didn’t like the way He was influencing the people.

So, how do you discredit Him? They couldn’t attack His teaching!

So, in vs. 15 they attacked His training; His education.
Or, in another instance they attacked His hometown: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”; John 1:46.
At one time they even attacked His character: “This man is friends with tax collectors and prostitutes.”
If you can’t discredit the truth, you discredit the truth teller and that is what they did.
And that is often what people do today. (They discredit Jesus: He was homosexual; He had an immoral relationship with one of the ladies; He was crazy)

But regardless of their attacks on His character, His hometown, or His education, they couldn’t discredit HIs teaching because His teaching was not His, it was from God!

And that is reason enough to believe in Him; to believe His claims, and that is reason enough to stay faithful to Him.

Now, look at vs. 17. Look what He says: If any man is willing to do His (God’s) will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.

Do you see why the Jews would not accept the teachings of Jesus; why they refused to accept Him?

And do you know why people today refuse to accept Jesus’ claims of being the Son of God; of being the Messiah, of being the Savior; of having all authority?
It is because they are not “willing to do God’s will.”

If any man is willing to do His (God’s) will….

Today people might be willing to do part of it His will: the part they like; the part that allows them to do what they want; but to “willing do God’s will…?”

Let me ask you, how does anyone know the “will of God?”

The only way that anyone can know the “will of God” is through His word.
But, what if a man doesn’t study the word; or read the word?
Then he cannot know the “will of God” and therefore he will not know if a teaching is from God or from Jesus, or from a man.

Today, there are several teachings on what it takes to be saved; some say they are saved by doing good works; some say by paying penance; some say by saying a prayer; others say by taking communion; and some say that you must be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins.

Why so many different ideas? Could it be the result of people not being willing to do the will of God? And not studying His word to see what His will is?

And that is why the Jews, and why people today do not believe the claims of Jesus; that is why people refuse to come to Jesus, because they are not “willing to do God’s will.”

And until they have a change of heart there is absolutely nothing you and I can do about it.

Now, look at vs. 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.

False teachers, charlatans, frauds, fakes, hypocrites, phony messiahs are all in it for personal gain; they do it for money; for power; for prominence.

And when it came to these Jews look at what Jesus says in John 5:44. He says: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”

The reason these Jewish leaders refused to accept Jesus’ claims, the reason why people today refuse to put their faith in Jesus is because they are not seeking the glory of God. They are seeking their own glory; the glory of one another; they are more interested in the praise of men than the praise of God!

And in order to get the praise of men some preachers will compromise on doctrine and the truth of the scriptures.
Ex. Preacher in Hobbs.

Jesus only sought the glory of God.

And that is the way it should be with every preacher that stands in a pulpit!

Now look at vs. 19. Jesus says, “Did not Moses give you the Law…

Of course Moses gave them the Law. They loved Moses. And they thought they honored the Law!
But look what Jesus says:

…and yet none of you (none of you, none of you) carries out the Law?

“What are you talking about? We keep the Law!”

If you do then “Why do you seek to kill Me?” (they were so self-righteous)

The Law of Moses was never intended to save anyone; it was intended to condemn and drive sinners to an overwhelming fear of divine judgment that would cause them to repent, and cry out to God for mercy and grace.

And, in spite of their best efforts, in spite of our best efforts we violate the Law; we sin; and in order to get forgiveness and to escape the judgment of God; where do we turn to?

Jesus is the only hope that these Jews had; and He is the only hope that we have; and what did they want to do? Kill Him.

How foolish it is to reject Him, to deny Him, to mentally kill Him because there is no other One to turn to.

And now look at vs. 21. Jesus says, “I did one deed, and you all marvel.

He is referring to the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda back in chapter 5.
The man had been lame for 38 years and at Jesus command the man took up his pallet and walked!

But the Jews, those in opposition to Christ, they couldn’t see the good in what Jesus did; they couldn’t be happy for the man who was healed because Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.

“You better not violate the Sabbath! If you do you will pay the price.”

Now look at vs. 22: “On this account Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.

Now Vs. 23:

23 “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken,

The Law said circumcision was to be done on the 8^th day. So, if the Sabbath fell on the 8^th day after the baby was born the baby was to be circumcised even if it was the Sabbath; so this is an instance where the two laws came into conflict
So, if necessary the Sabbath could be set aside for something more important, something better, for another level of obedience!

Since that is true, look at what Jesus says next: Are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

Do you know why these Jews rejected Jesus? It wasn’t because He had done something wrong. It wasn’t because He violated the Law.
The rejected Jesus simply because the wanted to.
And that is why people reject Him today.

Vs. 24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

These people were not judging Him based on the good things He did.
They didn’t judge Him based on what He said and taught.
They judged Him on His appearance; there was nothing stately about Him, nothing in His appearance that made Him stand out from others.

I am afraid that I often do that too.

What I need to do is not judge according to an individual’s appearance; but instead judge them the way that Jesus does.

So, the Jews said He was a deceiver; others said He was simply a “good man.” His brothers didn’t believe in Him.

What do you/I say about Him?

If you sincerely believe that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, if you are willing to do what God wants you to do and be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of you sins…come.