Exodus 28; John 7
I will only be posting comments for one of the daily readings from now on in order to allow time for other priorities...Daily Catechism
QUESTION 51: WHICH IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT?
Answer: The first commandment is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Scripture: Exodus 20:3.
John 7
Ready:
The previous chapter included an escalating discourse by Jesus where he argued that true believer that are called by the Father will receive Jesus as their sustenance and satisfaction and they will rely on him not merely to feed their physical needs but to be the only thing they need.
Seeing what’s there:
In this chapter Jesus refuses to go up to Jerusalem publicly and perform signs during the festival of booths as his then unbelieving brothers urge him to do. Yet Jesus follows the Father’s lead and goes up in private and does not perform signs but he begins to teach at the midpoint of the festival. The Jews are amazed at his authoritative teaching and mastery of the scriptures. There was great division among the crowd and some came to believe while others contested. The Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus but they were so astonished at his teaching that they couldn't do it. The Council itself ends up divided because Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea trust Jesus, though not publicly before the rest of the council.
Key Verses:
John 7:1, 3, 5-6, 10, 14-15, 16-17, 18, 28, 31, 37-39, 44, 45-46, 50-51
Theme:
Pride, falsehood, confusion, half-truths, and ultimately spiritual blindness (Rom 11:7-10) keeps the Jews from recognizing the authority and identity if Jesus.
Thinking about the message:
v1-9. I take this passage to teach that Jesus did not operate on man’s timeline or even his own, but he was serving the will of the Father and following his lead at all times. Just as the Spirit led him into the desert, so he serves the will of the Father in all he does. He will not perform signs or cause a scene when and where he is not so directed by the Father.
v10-13. I take this to not be falsehood by Jesus, but to be timing and purpose that differed from what his brothers were asking of him. Jesus came up later and in a different mode.
v14-24. Jesus astounds the Jerusalemites with his teaching and they wonder how he has such a mastery of the scriptures. Jesus explains that his teaching, like the rabbis, is not his own. The difference is that the rabbis refer to their teachers while Jesus refers only to his Father as the source. They quote the scriptures with “Thus says the Lord”, while Jesus speaks directly with “Truly I say to you”. Jesus does not merely quote scripture…he speaks it into being. He makes it known that if a man speaks on his own authority or the authority of another man then he is seeking the glory of man. The one who seeks the glory of God will speak truth and this is the authority of God himself. This speaks to the high role and function of the preacher and how expository preaching from the scripture instead of talking from culture and news and human wisdom is the only way to speak with authority from God. Then Jesus plays on some words and pits them against their sin and deception by suggesting that they wrongly plan to kill a man, which breaks the law of God, because they perceive that this man is himself a law-breaker, which is untrue. Jesus shows them their folly by exposing that they too understand the hierarchy of law and the fact that circumcision is ok to do on the Sabbath because the covenant is supreme. Similarly Jesus heals on the Sabbath because mercy is supreme. There is no law breaking when you circumcise on the Sabbath just as their is no law breaking when Jesus heals on the Sabbath.
v25-31. There is confusion among the Jews as to the prophecies about the Messiah but it is understood that they are considering whether he could be him. They are supposing that because they know him and where he comes from (except that they are ignorant about his birth in Bethlehem) that he cannot be the Christ. Jesus corrects them and explains that their supposed knowledge of him in no way excludes his identity because he is not here (on earth) merely by his own will. He speaks of being sent into the world by the Father on a mission (John 17:18). Jesus accuses them here of not knowing the Father and this would have been a huge offense that accords to their afford to arrest him here. It appear that the Father did not allow any to be successful in laying a hand on him and some even came to believe his message.
v32-36. Jesus speaks of going away in return to the Father who had sent him but they do not understand or refuse to ascend to his meaning.
v37-39. Here Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit will be poured into the heart of the believer (Rom 5:5), who was newly born in a circumcision of the heart by the power of the Spirit (Col 2:12-13; Ezek 36:26-27; Deut 30:6; Rom 2:28-29), and then the Spirit of God will send forth fruit (Is 32:15). The Holy Spirit was at work in the world and was granting new life to the elect of the OT (Rom 11:5-7; Rom 2:28-29) but was not indwelling believers until after Jesus returned to the Father (John 16:7).
v40-52. This passage basically establishes that the Jews were divided on what they thought of Jesus and how to deal with him. There were even people on the Council that believed Jesus, like Nicodemus and Joseph (John 19:38; Mark 15:43), but others were convinced that he was a fraud. Some even spoke of the prophecy about the offspring of David coming from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) but they seemed not to realize that Jesus was born there.
Soli Deo Gloria!
