John 7:19-24 “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” 20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment.”
 
JESUS’ conflict with the Jews and now with the crowd is somewhat difficult to understand. We can summarize it, though, with the last four words: “Make a right judgment”. “Judgment” here is not judging whether another is right or wrong but understanding what is real.
   Jesus, of course, is teaching the Jews and then the crowd that joins them that he is the real Son of God. The Jews have accused him of blasphemy. Their wrong judgment is that Jesus broke the Sabbath law when he healed a man on the Sabbath some months earlier. But, Jesus in turn, notes the Jews obey Moses’ law to circumcise on the 8th day of a boy’s life, even if that day were a Sabbath. Is it right judgment to circumcise but not to heal? To truly obey the Sabbath, Jesus teaches that right judgment understands the Sabbath’s purpose to restore. Further, the Jews demonstrate bad judgment because “not one of (them) keeps the law.”
   Also, the Teacher points out Moses did not originate circumcision. This covenant sign came with the patriarch Abraham. In essence, Jesus said, “Make a right judgment to understand that Moses received circumcision from God’s work before him.”
   Third, the crowd’s wrong judgment accused the Lord of lying. They judged a demon was controlling him. Demons did (and do) possess false prophets, creating false miracles. Jesus, they judged, was one of these.
   Jesus then urged this confused group to judge the signs of his teachings. The Sabbath healing was a sign he came to restore life to mankind. The words he spoke clarified the Scriptures. Too intent on their wrong beliefs, his people were unable to make a right judgment regarding the Lord.
   Make right judgments of Jesus. Know Scripture. Understand the Lord’s teachings. John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
   Believe in God. Believe God. 
 
Prayer: We thank you, Lord God, for teaching us your truth and giving to us the sign of your resurrection. I pray I center my mind to the right judgment of your salvation. Amen.

John 7:18 He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
 
HOW do you trust Bible teachers? Many of us have watched some “popular” or well-received teachers be tempted into sin and hypocrisy. Although they have spoken the truth, they did not act into their own teachings. They became focused on their fame to lose sight of God.
   Jesus gives us an important criteria to know a true teacher and leader. Such leaders work for God’s honor alone. They do not point to themselves as the source of knowledge or the reason a ministry is doing well.  
   Some people are very talented with speaking and writing abilities to draw thousands of people to them. They may have visual or audio talents to help them attract people. Many godly teachers are gifted to teach well. And God uses them to draw people to their churches and media. What we must discern from these leaders is their testimony of God in their lives.
   Do they honor God with all they accomplish? Or do they honor themselves? Learn and watch. Hear what they say. See what they do. Do they point to God?
   How about you? Do you praise God and credit him for the gifts he’s offered to you? Are you honoring the Lord with good work? If you say, “I’m a Christian.” be humble in your faith. Acknowledge all you have is from God. Honor God, and draw people to him. 
 
Prayer: O Lord, you are my God. All my strength, all my life is in you. Thank you Spirit, for your life power within me. I receive you in thanksgiving and joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

John 7:14-17 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” 16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”
 
JESUS has arrived at the Feast of the Tabernacle about the second or third day of the week-long celebration. We have learned that Jesus went in the Father’s time to minimize any untimely crowd response to his arrival. He needed time to teach, not to be overwhelmed with the people’s demands.
   He begins, then, in the temple courts to teach the teachers. Before him are the educated Pharisees, Priests and Sadducees. These men with advanced degrees wondered about Jesus’ credentials. How was he able to demonstrate a deep knowledge of the Scriptures?
   Jesus answered them, “My teaching…comes from him who sent me.”  Just as the Father informed the Son of the time to go to the Feast, the Son must hear from the Father to know Scripture. Jesus’ credentials are from heaven’s throne.
   Yes, we can simply say, “Jesus was God. So he would know.” But we must understand more deeply that Jesus’ divine nature and human nature were two distinct natures in one person. As a man, Jesus did not know God’s divine truth on his own. He learned, taught and acted as an obedient servant of God as he heard from the divine Godhead. Many times he speaks of working only in the authority of “the Father who sent me” as in John 5:37. This is our model as Jesus’ disciples. Our human nature must submit to Divine teaching.
   Are you learning from God through his Word and godly teachers? I pray so. But just one word of encouragement: Submit to what you learn.
   We are blessed to have countless opportunities for Bible study on various media and in our churches. Many people are willing, even eager to hear the Holy Bible’s divine Word. Then what happens? Ask someone, “How has this study changed you?” and you are often met with an empty look or confused, “I’m not sure.” Or you hear, “I want to change, but I’m not sure I can.”
   Jesus’ will for the Jews in the temple is his will for you today. He commands your faithful learning and faithful response. His will is for us to believe he has taught God’s Divine Word to mankind. His will is also we would believe the Divine. Believe in God. Believe God.
   Be of faith. Learn much of God. Trust what you learn. Act into what you learn. See God’s truth transform your life. Enjoy the ways your life changes.
 
Prayer: Father in heaven, I pray I believe what learn of you, Lord God. Amen.
  

John 7:12-13 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
 
PEOPLE whispered about Jesus. They were afraid the Jews would punish them, possibly charge them with blasphemy as they had charged Jesus during his last visit to Jerusalem. The crowd had heard their leaders debate, dismiss, and accuse Jesus. Afraid, they whispered among themselves.
   Whispering usually is a sign of uncertainty and accusation. That’s a good way to describe the debate here. Jesus was not a good man as a man would be. A good man did not call the temple “my Father’s house” (John 2:16b) A good man didn’t lie: John 2:19 “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”  Neither was Jesus a deceiver. His miracles were real. Lives changed.
   No, Jesus wasn’t a good man. He is the God-man whose every word was the spoken Word of God. It is the devil who deceives to confuse us and cause us to whisper, “Who is Jesus?” The crowd’s whispers equated Jesus with evil. The Jews were harsh and judgmental against the Lord. They all were very mistaken.
   As Jesus would soon enter Jerusalem, he would meet a very confused people. They had not grasped Jesus’ identity. The Teacher had much work to do in his city. This demonstrates why Jesus had to come to the Feast.
   Who would Jesus find as he entered his church today? Perhaps he would find people saying, “You’re a good man.” That’s how many “churches” define him. They’ve taken away his Lordship to equate him with a teacher one can chose to believe or not.
    Or would he hear the church say, “I’m not sure I trust all what you teach, Jesus.” Would he hear whispered disappointment and uncertainty? Would he find us afraid to acknowledge him as the true Lord of our lives and of his church?
   Who is Jesus to you? I hope we all are confident to stand and say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) All whispering becomes confident confession when you know who Jesus is.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for entering my life. I pray I know who you are - my Lord, my King, my Savior. Amen.

John 7:11 Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, “Where is that man?”
 
IN John, “the Jews” identifies the priests, Pharisees and Sadducees who had authority over the temple and Jerusalem’s religious laws. The Jews were looking for Jesus. Their focus was to protect the “crowd” – the general Jewish population –  from “that man” who surely is leading the people astray. They had seen Jesus months earlier, overturning temple tables, healing diseases even on the Sabbath, and declaring himself as God’s Son. Reports of his work in Galilee were also well known. Now, the Jews expected that man to come. Their purpose was to stop Jesus, even to kill him under their view of the law.
   From our view, we can accuse the Jews of ignorant minds and hard hearts. Could they not know and believe in Jesus? But if we do look at Jesus through their eyes, we can see the Jews defending God’s Word. In Deuteronomy 13, God’s law specifically warns against miracle-working prophets who will lead people to idols. God commands that such prophets be put to death.
   Do you see the Jews’ dilemma? Jesus, the man, seemed to fulfill God’s warnings. False Messiahs had come many times, causing great trouble for all the people. The Jews looked for Jesus, so they could stop what they believed to be false teaching.
   But their vision was blurred. If the Jews had looked carefully at Jesus’ words and work, they would have discovered Jesus fulfilled both the law and the prophets’ promises of a Savior.
   I think we are challenged today in an opposite way. We put grace over law, don’t we? It is easy to see God’s commands as a threat to our lives. We don’t like to be directed to “not do” this and “to do” that. We are unwilling to submit to God’s rule. Surely God will forgive us for breaking his commands.   
   The Bible tells us, though, that we will discover a great joy of God’s blessings within His law and grace. Many verses equate obeying commands with blessing and joy. Jesus is the physical view of God’s entire Bible. He is not “that man”, but he is Savior of the world. Hear John in 1 John 4:14-15 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
   Where is Jesus in your life? See Jesus is God who became man to become Savior of the world. Know all of God’s Word. You will see the law direct you to true living. You will experience the salvation of his love and forgiveness.
 
Prayer: Open my eyes, Lord Jesus, to the wisdom and knowledge of you as Savior. Amen.
  
 

John 7:9-10 Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
 
JESUS had just told his brothers, “You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” But after they left, he also went. It took about 30 hours to walk from Galilee to Jerusalem. Would it not have been more appropriate to travel with family and friends? Why would Jesus go separately with his own disciples?
   One answer is in John 7:1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. Thousands of people traveled together in caravans to the great Feasts. Surely some would have urged Jesus of Nazareth to Jerusalem’s throne. His brothers may have sought political fame for Jesus and selfishly aroused the crowd to proclaim Jesus king. Such actions outside of the Father’s will would end Jesus’ ministry at the wrong time. That time would be later at another Feast called the Passover.
   The Sovereign God is directing the Son’s footsteps. He sees the total picture. Remember, Jesus is fully God and fully man. His human nature must hear from the divine to fulfill God’s will. Jesus has said, “For me, the right time has not yet come.”  He has knowledge of his next movements the others do not know. The Son will go to the Feast in the Father’s time in a way that will serve to further reveal his divine nature.    It’s important to also note the Feast of Tabernacles was one of the three Feasts the Lord God commanded the Jews to celebrate each year. This Feast remembered how God had come to tabernacle – dwell – with his people to protect them and lead them. In addition, this Feast celebrated the harvest time for some crops. Dwelling, harvest and protection are the reasons for the Feast.
   Jesus personifies the Feast. He came to dwell on earth with his people. He came to protect his chosen from sin and reap a harvest of the righteous. In God’s love, the Son came to lead us to tabernacle with him for eternity.   
   In response, our work is to submit to God’s sovereign timetable. Rest in the assurance all things are his and his alone. 
 
Prayer: Lord God, I submit my life, even my timepiece, to you. Give to me a true understanding that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

John 7:6-8 Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 “You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”   
 
“THE world hates me.” Jesus said. Do you agree? He qualifies his charge with, “I testify what it does is evil.”  Yes, it’s easy to see in this context the many ways people express a hatred for Jesus. We do not want to hear, “You have sinned.”
   But what about those of us who walk into a church each Sabbath or say, “I’m a Christian.” Would Jesus make the same charge against us?
   I think we all need to stop and ask, “Is my life telling Jesus, ‘I hate you?’” What do you think as you consider your own heart? What I see makes me sad sometimes.
   I am grieved when I easily put Jesus off to the side. Many years he was even out of bounds. I stayed away from his church. I spoke harsh language. I spent no time with the Lord in prayer or reading God’s Word. I coveted. I saw the world through the lens of “me”.
   I thank Jesus he opened my eyes to my “hate speech” toward him. That awareness opened the door into a loving relationship with the Lord God. Through his church, his people and his Spirit, my living Savior spoke into me. I learned to pray and began to awaken to a true love the Lord. I pay more attention now to when I “hate” the Lord, so I can put that neglect out of my life. It’s easy to keep Jesus centered when I recall how much I disliked my life without him. Gratefully, I rejoice in my Lord’s loving presence. 
   Yes, people in the culture and in the church, do hate Jesus. Our rebellious hearts exclaim, “Don’t tell me how to live.” Such hate speech is declaring, “I am lord of my life. How dare you, Jesus, command me to change?” We disdain the ways his commands restrict our sinful desires. To “not hate” Jesus means we must submit to his loving words in what we think, say and do.
   Let’s pray that we truly love the truth. And we are eager to say and do, “I love you, Lord.” 
 
Prayer: Lord God, please reveal to me any form of “hate speech” toward you and others that comes from my words and deeds. Amen.

John 7:2-5 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
 
JESUS had four brothers – sons of Mary and Joseph. Matthew 13:55 “Isn't this the carpenter’s son? Isn't his mother’s name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?” At this point, none of them believed Jesus is the Christ. They mocked him as many others did. You know how it is in a family. When a sibling does well, he or she is less recognized at home than in the world.
   In their unbelief, the brothers tempted Jesus to “go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.” The disciples are not the Twelve, but people who go to Jesus whenever he is in an area. Word of Jesus’ teachings and his challenges to the authorities on his previous visit there was certainly known in all of Galilee.
   The brothers’ words sound good don’t they? “Go be famous!” But they are mocking the Lord in the same way Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4:3 “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."  It is a sin to test God, to tell him when, where and how to act.
   We praise God that the four brothers became believers. They saw Jesus’ humiliating death, his grand resurrection miracle and his glorious ascension. Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. James became a leader in the early church and wrote the epistle James. Jude is the author of Jude.
   Jesus’ “half-brothers” needed to travel the same road of faith as we all do. Just knowing Jesus wasn’t enough. They had to come to believe with all their heart he is the resurrected Lord, ascended to heaven, coming again. Such a Lord must not be tempted. We must only approach him faithfully to say, “Your will be done in your time, Lord.”
 
Prayer: Teach me humility, Lord God, so I may be steadfast and faithful to receive your good will for my life always. Amen.
 
  

John 7:1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life.

JESUS had a good reason to minister primarily in Galilee. Judea is where the highest Jewish council called the Sanhedrin ruled the religious system. Ultimately, they would be the ones to take Jesus to Pilate, who would order Jesus’ crucifixion. To this point in the gospel, John records Jesus has been to Jerusalem twice. His latter visit caused the Jews to try harder to kill him (John 5:18) because he healed on the Sabbath and spoke of God as his Father. How sad it was. The city formed to be the home of God’s temple – the earthly display of God’s presence – became the city most passionate to reject the Son of God.
    Jesus’ rejection was far different than God’s first majestic visit to the temple: 1 Kings 8:1 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David…6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim…9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple… (Solomon said) 21 I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers when he brought them out of Egypt.”
    What happened? Why was God, once worshiped in the temple, later dismissed from his own dwelling? That is sin’s affect isn’t it? Sin blemished God’s presence in Eden, in the world, in Israel and in Jerusalem’ temple. The evil one’s temptations lured God’s people away from God, into destruction.
    As a Christian, when you confessed Christ as your Lord, you became the living temple of God today. You are to be the Lord’s dwelling to demonstrate his glory to the world. You ae a stronghold against evil. You are to receive Jesus’ teachings and authority. You are to obey his commands and live in his grace. Your life is to be a living testimony of the living God. If sin is removing God from his dwelling, I urge you to repent. Turn to Christ Jesus and pray for his Spirit to fill you fresh and new. Worship the Lord. I pray there is only room for God in your soul.

Prayer: I pray I am your dwelling place, O Lord. Amen.

John 6:52-65 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”  59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
 
THE truth is often very difficult to understand, isn’t it? This happens to each of us when someone will speak such truth, “You are prideful. You anger too easily. You do not listen. You always have to be right.” These are a few mentioned to me over the years. I was often like the Jews and he disciples, “Who are you to say these things?” Hopefully, I’ve learned some things from the hard truths. But to learn and change, I had to submit to, “I believe you.”
   Can you imagine hearing, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” And, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me.” From our viewpoint, we understand this in the Lord’s Supper. But it’s little wonder many people with Jesus that day were shocked! How could they grasp Jesus’ words? As with all hard truths, we keep our ears open. Whether is a loving spouse or friend correcting us or the Lord of Heaven teaching us, we put aside our own view to listen and learn.
   Be not a “grumbling” disciple, but be eager to hear all God’s teachings. He will clarify his words. This happened here in two ways. He taught his words were spiritual truth, “(The) words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”  And then he pointed to his eternal life. “What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?” When the disciples saw Jesus’ body broken, his blood shed, his body risen and his body ascended, the Savior’s teachings became absolutely clear to them. They believed. They changed. And they began to change the world.
   Seek the Lord’s truth. Know his words are eternity changing truth.
 
Prayer: Transform my mind, Lord, from “me” to “You.” Amen. 
 
 
 
Bob James
Working Every Day for the King of Kings
One With God
www.onewithgod.website