Calvary Road Baptist Church

“THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES” Part 2

John 7.11-52 

Last Sunday morning we began to consider the account found in the fourth Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem for the last time. Found in John 7.11-52, we first examined verses 11-15, where the Apostle John told us about our Lord’s arrival in Jerusalem, John 7.11-13. We then addressed our Lord’s activity in Jerusalem, John 7.14. Third, we took note of the Jewish leaders’ appraisal of Him in Jerusalem, John 7.15.

Please turn to John 7.11 at this time. When you find that verse I invite you to stand for the reading of God’s Word: 

11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

12 And 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.

13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.

14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 

Keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of religious Jews are in this narrative in Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. Tension is high, with both an increased presence of Roman occupation troops and excitement associated with the Lord Jesus Christ’s presence. This despite the Jewish religious hierarchy’s hatred of Him.

Let us now resume our examination of the narrative: 

Fourth, John records OUR LORD’S accusation against His detractors 

John 7.16-19 reads, 

16  Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

17  If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

18  He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

19  Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? 

Let’s read verse 15 again to refresh our memories: 

“And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” 

Jerusalem’s religious leaders put forth a major premise and a minor premise. The major premise they advanced was “How knoweth this man letters.” The major premise is that Jesus of Nazareth knew letters, that He knew the Law. And in this they were correct. But what about the minor premise, which reads, “having never learned?” Their minor premise that the Lord Jesus had never learned (and they meant that He had never learned from one of their notable rabbis) seems technically accurate but is incorrect. The Lord Jesus Christ responded to refute them by making four claims:

Claim #1 of our Lord’s assertion regarding the doctrine; its Source, verse 16: 

“Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” 

The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is answering His critics in a public fashion suggests that their comments, which John recorded in verse 15, were made in public. And it’s likely that the comments were made with an attitude and tone of voice designed to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ in an attempt to embarrass Him. But embarrassment occurs only when there is a degree of pride. So, the scribes and Pharisees were unsuccessful in their attempt to embarrass our Lord. In response, the Lord Jesus Christ declared the Source of the doctrine He was teaching. Let me comment on the word “doctrine.” Notice that the word is not “doctrines,” plural. An important point needs to be made here: The word “doctrine” translates the Greek word, didache, that means “teaching.” And the reason it is a singular word and not plural is because the “teaching,” that is, the truth, of God is one unified and complete whole. This is easily verified. In writing to Timothy, the Apostle Paul urged, 

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine (not doctrines),” 

First Timothy 4.6. And in Second Timothy 3.16 he wrote, 

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine." 

In striking contrast to this, God’s Word speaks of “the doctrines of men,” Colossians 2.22, “strange doctrines,” Hebrews 13.9, and “doctrines of demons,” First Timothy 4.1. In these verses, the word is plural for a very good reason. There can be no unity or harmony about the teachings of men or the teachings of demons. Because they come not from God, Who is not the author of confusion, they can only be diverse and conflicting at some level. Back to the Lord’s statement that “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” In the Jewish mindset of our Lord Jesus’ day, a teacher’s authority was derived from his teacher, the teacher’s teacher. And since they could not ascribe to Jesus Christ the authority of a famous rabbi who had taught Him, they wanted to discount His words altogether. But the supposed authority of the rabbis of our Lord Jesus’ day was supposed to be an authority that reached back, generation through generation, to Moses and ultimately to God. Our Lord, however, was declaring that His authority as a teacher does not reach through a continuous lineage of human instructors back to Moses and then ultimately to God. Oh, no. His authority as a teacher of God’s Word derived directly from God Himself, as the One Who sent Him. Thus, we see that there was no comparison between the Lord Jesus and mere teachers of the Law. There is no comparison between the Lord Jesus Christ and anyone who teaches anything to anyone, be the teacher Buddha, Mohammed, Karl Marx, or anyone. In contrast to those men, Jesus Christ faithfully conveyed God’s truth.

Claim #2 of our Lord’s assertion regarding the doctrine; its certainty, verse 17: 

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” 

There are four parts to this statement worthy of our attention. This is a two-part sentence if you look in the Greek New Testament, a third-class conditional statement. A third-class conditional sentence sets forth a probable future condition, and does so using a specific Greek word that is different from the word usually translated “if.”[1] But since we have four phrases in English we will look at each of these phrases separately: 

What a remarkable test the Lord Jesus Christ established to determine the validity of His teaching, the Source of His instruction and doctrine. All His hearers had to do was incorporate what He had taught into their lives, and they would know the Source of His doctrine. And what a challenge this was to those who stood in His audience, the scribes and the Pharisees, who considered themselves to be the final arbiters of truth. Would they do as He challenged? Could they do as He challenged? Consider, as well, those sophisticates of our day who claim they have doubts and concerns about what is true. The terrible but undeniable truth is that they are all liars and hypocrites. If the doubters and deniers wanted to know for sure about the truthfulness of Christ’s claims and the Source of His doctrine, all they have to do is put into practice what He taught. But they won’t do that, will they? They will never do that because their apparent concern for truthfulness, honesty, and integrity is a pretense designed to conceal their refusal to consider the claims of Christ.

Claim #3 regarding the Lord Jesus; His faithfulness to His Father’s doctrine, verse 18: 

“He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” 

We have two possible scenarios dealt with here by the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s look at them one at a time: First, we have that person who “speaketh of himself.” There are two kinds of teachers who purport to teach the truth of God; the one who speaks of himself and the one who speaks of another. What does the Lord Jesus Christ tell His audience about the one who speaks of himself? Our Lord’s insightful pronouncement of that one’s motive is that he seeks his glory. What’s wrong with seeking your glory? What’s wrong with bragging about yourself? After all, if you don’t toot your own horn who will? This is the thinking of the world, is it not? What does God’s Word tell us about speaking of yourself? It tells us in a variety of different places that God alone is worthy to be praised, that it is right and proper and good to extoll His virtues, and that our very reason for existence is to bring Him glory.[3] Thus, anyone who glorifies himself rather than God is not a legitimate representative of God and does not properly communicate God’s truth.[4] Then, we have that person who does not speak of Himself, but Who delivers the message of He Who sent Him. This is the One who seeks the glory of the one Who sent Him. And, of course, here the Lord Jesus Christ is referring to Himself. What can be said about this kind of teacher? Two things can be said about the kind of teacher the Lord Jesus Christ exemplified: First, such a teacher is “true,” or to put it another way, “genuine.” Notice how this same descriptive is used in John 6.32 and John 15.1: 

6.32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 

15.1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 

The Lord Jesus Christ strongly contrasts Himself with the scribes and Pharisees who were standing nearby as He taught and who questioned His credentials. Contrary to them, He is true. The word used here is a form of the word our Lord used in John 14.6, 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” 

Second, “and no unrighteousness is in him.” The Savior is very strong here. Not only does He counter the conversation of His enemies by pointing out that His doctrine can be verified for its legitimacy by putting it to the test, but He has also thrust the blade of truth into the hearts of His opponents by pointing out that they do not seek God’s glory but their own, and that they are not true (as in genuine), and are unrighteous. He, of course, is both true and righteous.

Claim #4 regarding our Lord’s accusers; their faithlessness to Moses’ doctrine, verse 19: 

“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?” 

The Lord Jesus Christ here goes on the offensive. Remember, they had said things about Him in the hearing of the people. So, after masterfully answering His critics in public, He challenges them in public, by asking two penetrating questions. Had they not challenged His credentials and accused Him of being unlettered? He comes back at them by querying them about their beloved Law of Moses that they did not obey. In other words, He granted that they were, indeed, lettered men. And there is nothing in the world wrong with being well-schooled. But those men were well-schooled in a Bible they did not obey. And here we are given a lesson. These men had in their possession the truth. But they did not have hearts that were inclined to seek the truth or welcome the truth, despite the fact that they were well-schooled regarding facts and ancillary information related to the truth. Make no mistake, folks. If your heart is not for the truth, your heart is against the truth. More specifically about the situation the Savior was facing, He then challenged their intention to kill Him. Let’s refresh our memories by looking back at John 5.18 and John 7.1: 

5.18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. 

7.1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. 

How forcefully will men react to the truth they don’t want to hear? All through the Bible, we see God’s men being slain for telling the truth, from Isaiah to Stephen and Peter and Paul. No wonder He Who is truth will be slain by those who are opposed to God’s truth, with the guilt of His crucifixion being born by each of us because of our sinfulness. 

Fifth, John records the astonishment OF CHRIST’S AUDIENCE 

John 7.20 records what proves to be a shock to most who read this verse: 

“The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?” 

Remember that the crowd gathered around the Savior was comprised of people from all over, not just those who resided in Jerusalem. And those from the outlying regions had come to worship God and renew old acquaintances. So, it’s entirely possible that they entered Jerusalem with a bit of naiveté concerning the attitudes, the motives, and the dispositions of their religious leaders in Jerusalem. They would be naturally inclined to give their religious leaders the benefit of the doubt and assume good will on their part.

When the Lord Jesus Christ answered His critics, who were doing their version of catcalls from behind the assembled crowd who had heard the Lord Jesus teach and asked them why they were planning to kill Him, the crowd of mostly those from outside Jerusalem were stunned. They were horrified that someone would accuse their religious leaders of trying to kill anyone. Their response is similar to you or me saying, “You must be crazy. Who’s trying to kill you?”

But these people were speaking to the Son of God, and their words bear a significance that we must not overlook. That these people, the audience who had listened with rapt attention to the Master Teacher instruct them only moments before, are now accusing Him of being demon possessed!

“But pastor, they were shocked and horrified. People sometimes say things they are not responsible for. We have to excuse them.” To be sure, they were shocked and horrified. But had the Lord not just validated His truthfulness to them? And what about what they said? Are their wild accusations to be excused? Not according to the Lord. In Matthew 12.37 He very specifically declared that “by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” 

This is an appropriate place to pause until next Sunday, having considered our Lord’s response to the religious leaders in Jerusalem, in John 7.16-19, and then facing up to the rather surprising accusation leveled against Him by a crowd that was very sympathetic to Him only moments before, in John 7.20. Allow me to restate quickly before concluding.

It is not unusual for people who consider themselves to be moral, and even for Christians, to assume that the always proper response when being accused of wrongdoing is to be silent the way the Lord Jesus Christ was silent when He was taken from the Garden of Gethsemane and falsely accused. However, it should be remembered that our Lord’s silence before His crucifixion was the silence that fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53.7, where it is stated, “yet he opened not his mouth ... so he openeth not his mouth.”

An additional reason for not responding to His accusers on the occasions of His unjust trials before the Sanhedrin and when accused before Pilate is that it served His purpose to allow their false accusations to run their course and for Him to be crucified. However, on this occasion, at the Feast of Tabernacles, six months before His crucifixion, our Lord mounted a vigorous counterattack against His accusers.

In verse 16 the Lord aggressively asserted His doctrine was not His but His heavenly Father’s. In verse 17 He declared the truthfulness of His doctrine was verifiable by its implementation and obedience. In verse 18 He asserted His faithfulness to His Father’s doctrine. And in verse 19 He accused His adversaries of unfaithfulness to the Law of Moses and of plotting to kill Him.

Thus, there is no question but that He defended Himself against their accusations and launched a verbal counter-offensive to accuse them of wrongdoing against God, against the Law of Moses, and against Him. And what did that produce among the religious pilgrims when they heard His counter-attack? They piled on, too, accusing Him, even though moments before they had looked at Him as a sympathetic figure.

What does this show us? It shows us that those who are openly hostile to the Lord Jesus Christ and those who seem to be openly sympathetic to the Lord Jesus Christ are actually on the same side when push comes to shove, the wrong side. So much so that six months from the time of this narrative, when the openly hostile religious leaders send soldiers to apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ from the Garden of Gethsemane and subject Him to unjust and illegal trials in the middle of the night so they can level accusations against Him the next day and plead for the life of Barabbas to be spared and for Christ to be crucified, the multitudes said and did nothing to stop the travesty.

Do you know someone who is hostile to the Lord Jesus Christ and Christianity? Are you, on the other hand, sympathetic to the Lord Jesus Christ and Christianity? It makes no difference if you have not come to faith in Christ. When push comes to shove, if you have not trusted Christ as your Savior you are on the wrong side of this conflict. There is no neutrality. That is why the Lord Jesus had earlier said, “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.”[5]

Therefore, I urge you to no longer halt between two opinions. Come to Christ. Come to Christ now.

__________

[1] Ray Summers, Essentials of New Testament Greek, (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1950), page 109.

[2] Bauer, Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), pages 839-842.

[3] 2 Samuel 22.4; 1 Chronicles 16.25; Psalm 18.3; 48.1; 96.4; 113.3; 145.3

[4] Isaiah 42.8; 48.11

[5] Luke 11.23

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church