The Feast of Tabernacles

 

The midst of the feast- there is debate     John 7v10-36

 

“Then the Jews sought him at the feast and said where is he? There was much murmuring among the people concerning him, for, some said He is a good man, others said nay, but He deceiveth the people.

Howbeit no man spake openly of Him for fear of the Jews.”

 

What was playing out here was the celebrity factor.  They sought Him at the feast out of curiosity, for they had no regard for the truth.  They engaged in a whisper campaign because they were afraid of the Jews, their rulers.  They were more afraid of men than of God.  A deeply religious occasion had turned into nothing more than a gossip chamber.

 

“Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  But the Jews marvelled saying, how knoweth this man letters having never learned?”

By letters they presumably meant an accurate knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures and of the Jewish religion. They had to acknowledge he was speaking accurately, they could not criticise His doctrine, so they questioned His personal credentials.  This is typical of many today, when they cannot fault the ministry, they attack the man.  Jesus answered them, for fools in their folly need to be answered-Proverbs 26v5.

 

His teaching is from God

 

“My doctrine is not mine but His that sent me.  If any will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine and whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.  Jesus said He that speaks of himself seeks his own glory, but he that seeks God's glory is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.  Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law.  Why go ye about to kill me?  The people answered and said, thou hast a devil, who goeth about to kill thee? Jesus answered and said into them, I have done one work and ye all marvel.  Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and ye on the Sabbath day, circumcise a man.  If a man in the Sabbath day receive circumcision that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?  Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement.”

 

There is an abundance of material here to reveal the true nature of communication of the truth of God, that we must not miss the import, particularly those engaged in public work.  He said His doctrine was not His own.  He did not learn it in the rabbinical schools, but in the school of God.  He was sent by the Father, and his words were the words of the Father.  The evidence that he was speaking for God was that he was doing the will of God.  His words were authenticated by his works.  To know the doctrine is to exhibit it in living reality.  In the Old Testament there are two stark realities about service for God-in Jeremiah 14v14 and 23v21 the Lord said there were prophets He did not send and who do not speak for Him; see also Job 42v7 where Job’s counsellors did “not speak of the Lord the thing that is right.” How many are claiming to be sent from God?  How many are claiming to speak the words of God? The proof will always be, “by their fruits ye shall know them.”  It says that John the Baptist was sent from God; it also says that Jesus was sent from God.  In both cases, the evidence is there for all to see.  He came from God, He spoke for God, He lived for God, and it was only blinded eyes that couldn't see it.

If we speak of ourselves, whether of our own thoughts, or of the teachings of men, we are seeking our own glory.  Jesus sought only the glory of God.  We do not speak to draw attention to ourselves to glorify the speaker but only for the glory of God.

When a man seeks the glory of God, in speaking of Him, he will be speaking truth, accurate, genuine and there will be no unrighteousness in him.

Moses teaching did the people no good for they did not obey it and are still breaking the commandments.  When God speaks we should all be standing to attention, not paying lip service to the word.

Long neglect of the Divine word had made them insensitive to reality.  They were not aware of the plots to kill Jesus.  Typical of spiritual insensitivity is ignorance of the true state of things; this apathy was evident in the days of Malachi-2v14; 2v17; 3v7; 3v13; also in the church at Laodicea-Revelation 3v17 where ignorance of their spiritual state was rife.

Insensitivity to Divine things led to double standards based on misinterpretation, and misapplication, and misunderstanding of scripture.  He refers to the one miracle He did in Jerusalem (chapter 5) which caused them to marvel-not in a wonderful way, rather in a cynical sense, because He healed a man on the Sabbath.  He points to Moses whom they venerated.  He said, Moses gave you circumcision (not that he was the instigator of it, the patriarchs introduced it), yet Moses allowed the Sabbath to be overridden in the case of circumcision, which must be on the 8^th day according to the terms of the rite-Genesis 17.  So in following Moses, it is right to perform the operation of circumcision on a person, but not to make a man wholly fit on the Sabbath-what duplicity, and for that they plotted to kill Him!  No wonder He closes with “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment”.  Insensitivity to the word of God had rendered them faulty in judgment.  And so it is today where there is little discernment of the proper application of scripture.