LEARN BY DOING – John 7:17-18

Bible sermon, john 7:17-18

INTRODUCTION:

A man in northern Italy was urging the owner of an orchard to accept the truths of the Bible.  “You tell me it’s the Word of God”, said the owner, “but you can’t prove it.”  As they stood admiring the fruit trees, the visitor said, “What fine-looking trees you have.  Too bad they’re of such poor quality.”  “Of poor quality!”, exclaimed the owner.  “Obviously you haven’t tasted them.  Pick one and try it.”  The visitor accepted the invitation, picked a pear from the nearest tree and began to eat it.  “Yes, you’re right”, he said, smacking his lips, “these pears are excellent!”  Then he made his point.  “Sir, you must do the same thing with God’s Word as I have done with your fruit.  Taste and see that it holds the secret of the abundant life.”

I.  THE CHALLENGE (vs. 17)

Here in John 7:17, the Lord Jesus is in the temple.  It’s the Feast of Booths and He is challenging the people to put His teachings to the test.  He has already told them, in verse 16 and many other times in John’s Gospel, that His teachings are not His own, but came from the One who sent Him. Now He says, “If any man is willing to do His will, He shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.”

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, He said the following words in His sermon on the mount:  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)  The one who hungers and thirsts after God will recognize God’s messenger.  In John 7:15, Jesus’ hearers had raised the question of His competence as a teacher.  Here in verse 17, Jesus raises the question of their competence as hearers.  It’s not as if the Lord Jesus is teaching them a new principle.  We find this principle stated, in one form or another, in many places in the Old Testament Scriptures.  Let me give you just a few of them.  Psalm 111:10 says, “A good understanding have all who keep thy commandments.”  Proverbs 1:7 states:  “The fear of the Lord is he beginning of knowledge.”  The word “fear” has the connotation of awe, worship, and obedience.  The apostle Paul found that attitude among the Jews in Berea when He arrived there in Acts 17 and began to teach in the synagogue of the Jews.  Acts 17:11 describes their response:  “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.”  A willing submission to God was the foundation for understanding the Source and the truth of his teachings.  The hymn writer, John Sammis, captures that thought with these words:  “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way!”  Oswald Chambers, in his book entitled “My Utmost For His Highest”, made this observation:  “Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance.  Spiritual darkness comes because of something I do not intend to obey.”

All the Rabbi’s who were standing there listening to Jesus teach, could relate to what Jesus said in verse 17 from many years of their own personal experience.  What Jesus just said is a reflection on their own personal, life-stories.  Each one of them, at some point in his life, wanted to become a rabbi.  Each one completed his required schooling.  Then he chose a particular rabbi that he wanted to be like, went to that rabbi, and asked him if he could be one of his talmidim (disciples).  By making this request, he is telling the rabbi that he wants to be like him, and will gladly do everything the rabbi tells him to do without questioning it.  After a period of questioning and testing, if the rabbi becomes convinced that this young man has the potential of becoming like him, the rabbi will approach him and say to him, “Follow me”.  What he means by those words is:  “Come with me as my disciple and submit to my authority and my teachings.”

After several years of submitting to his rabbi and learning only his teachings, this young man will also become a rabbi who will think, act, and teach just like his teacher.  Therefore, his authority as a rabbi will not be his own, but the authority of the rabbi who discipled him.

Do you see the comparison?  The authority of these rabbis is not their own either.  They are emulating the rabbi who taught them, so their authority comes from their teacher, and these rabbis would be quick to admit it.  Not only that, but their willingness to submit to their rabbi opened the door of opportunity to learn from him.  The challenge that Jesus has just given the crowd in verse 17 runs parallel to the experiences of their religious leaders, and now these rabbis were training disciples of their own.  I believe that the Lord Jesus is not only challenging the crowd to learn by doing as they put His words into practice, but He’s also reminding the leaders that this is the way it has always been done.  Every one of those leaders is living proof of the validity of that principle.  American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, once said:  “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

II.  THE PROPER MOTIVATION (verse 18)

Now that Jesus has given them the challenge to do what He suggests, and has told them what will happen if they accept the challenge, He now focuses His attention on motives.  Verse 18 begins with these words spoken by Jesus:  “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory.”  The Lord Jesus is telling them about two different kinds of teachers and this is the first kind and the worst kind.  The teacher who “speaks from himself” is one who speaks by his own authority.  He teaches his own ideas and opinions that are not based upon, nor consistent with the Word of God.  He does not represent God.  On the contrary, he represents himself and “seeks his own glory”.  To such a person, being a teacher is a popularity contest, and his reward is the recognition and praise of others.  His motivation is pride, not humility; and self, not God and God’s Word.  The attitude of these teachers was proof that their teachings were not from God.

Indira Gandhi, the former prime minister of India, once said, “My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people:  those who do the work and those who take the credit.  He told me to try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.”  Based on what we’ve learned so far in this passage of Scripture, that was good advice to his granddaughter!

By contrast to the teachers of the Law, Jesus uses Himself as an example of the second kind of teacher.  He says, “but He who is seeking the glory of the one who has sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  For him, life is not a popularity contest.  It’s a quest to know and obey the truth.  Such a person is not an impostor.  There is no falsehood nor deception in him.  On the contrary, instead of deception there is transparency.  This is the description of the perfect teacher, the kind of teacher you would want to follow and learn from.  Jesus offered knowledge and a personal relationship in exchange for obedience.

A man named Adam Clarke was an assistant in a dry-goods store, selling silks and satins to a wealthy clientele.  One day his employer suggested to him that he try stretching the silk as he measured it out; this would increase sales and profits and also increase Adam’s value to the company.  Young Clarke straightened up from his work, faced his boss courageously, and said, “Sir, your silk may stretch, but my conscience won’t!”  God honored Adam Clarke by taking him from the dry-goods store and equipping him to write a famous commentary on the books of the Bible.  That commentary bears his name.  God gave Adam wisdom and understanding of the Scriptures in return for his obedience, and his life’s work continues to draw others to a deeper understanding of his Lord and Savior.

CONCLUSION:

Are you willing to do God’s will?  Maybe you’ve shut the door to Him in the past, but now you’re ready to open that door again, find out more about Him, and give Him His rightful place in your life.  Let me share with you a brief and true story of a person who had shut God out of his life but was challenged to re-think his position, and what happened as a result.  Many years ago, a very popular teacher at Yale University expressed atheistic views on some topics of discussion and agnostic views on other topics.  An atheist believes that there is no God, whereas an agnostic believes that it’s impossible to know whether God exists.  During a special series of meetings at the college, a visiting preacher engaged the brilliant professor in conversation.  “Doctor”,  he said, “If the things I have been preaching are true, and if Christ really forgives men who trust in Him, wouldn’t you like to know and experience this reality, since it has brought peace and joy to so many people?”  After a thoughtful pause, the professor answered, “Yes, I believe I would.”  “Well, you can come to a certain knowledge of God if you will be sincere and honest with yourself and with the Lord.  Simply accept the challenge Christ offered in John 17:7, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God.”  “But”, said the learned doctor, “I wouldn’t know where to begin.  I don’t even know if there is such a being as God.”  “Start like this”, said the preacher; pray, ‘O God — if there is such a Being — give me light.  I promise to follow such light wherever it leads.’  Then read from the Gospels and thee Psalms every day with an open mind and a willing heart.  If you do that, professor, you will find God!”  Three years later, that same man of learning stood in the chapel before all the students of Yale and said, “I have long ridiculed preachers and churches, but I have made a discovery that they were in the light, and I was in the dark.  I have put God to the test.  Now I know that Christ is my Savior.  By His grace He shall be my Friend, and I will be His disciple forever!”

If you have any doubts about God, you may want to follow that professor’s example.  God always speaks loud enough in His Word to make the willing heart listen and respond.  Obedience is the one qualification for further insight into God’s Word.

If you are a Christian, here’s a question for you to think about:  Would you be willing to live and work anonymously?  In other words, would you be willing to live your life and do your work in such a way that God always gets the glory; that the focus of attention is on Him, and your joy comes from serving Him and pleasing Him?  Would you be willing to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ in the same way that Jesus was an ambassador of His Father?  That’s a tall order, isn’t it?  It’s certainly not an overnight experience!  Let’s ask our heavenly Father each day to provide us with the desire and the power to move one step closer to the image and example of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED  

Welcome to this completed construction site:  John 7:17-18!  God wants us to be fellow-workers, and the study and application of His Word is part of His life-long building project in our lives.  Let’s willingly and eagerly put our hands to the task!

 

TEACHING WITHOUT A DEGREE – John 7:14-16

John 7:14-16, john 7:14-16 sermon

INTRODUCTION:

Do you have any “post-nominal letters”?  These aren’t letters that you write to one another or receive from one another in the mail.  The words “post-nominal” mean “after a name”.  The Wikipedia online encyclopedia gives the following definition:  Post-nominal letters are letters placed after a person’s name to indicate that that individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, or honor, or is a member of a religious institute or fraternity.  Some examples of post-nominal letters used in the field of education are:  BA [Bachelor of Arts], MS [Master of Science], and PhD [Doctor of Philosophy].  There are also “pre-nominal letters” (“before a name”) which are used mainly for a religious title or military rank.

What does this information have to do with the passage of Scripture we are now studying – John 7:14-16?  There were no scholastic degrees given in New Testament times!  True, but there were requirements to be met, especially for teachers of the Law of Moses in Judaism.  Learning those requirements is important for our understanding of these three verses of Scripture in John, Chapter 7.  Let’s take a good look at this passage of Scripture and you will soon see what I mean.

I.  THE SETTING:

In the previous passage of Scripture, John 7:10-13, we learned that Jesus went to the feast secretly in order to find out what people were saying about Him.  For several days He moved about and overheard many muffled conversations about Him.  Jesus learned what He wanted to learn.  There were many among the crowds of people who thought well of Him.  They were impressed with His character, and attracted by His personality and genuine concern for people.   It was now time for Him to come out of hiding.

II.  JESUS’ APPEARANCE IN THE TEMPLE (John 7:14)

Verse 14 says, “But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach.”  It was the middle of the feast – the fourth day, and many Bible scholars believe that it was also the Sabbath day; so the crowd would be larger than at any other time during the feast.  Many of these worshipers would also be assembled in or near the temple.  Jesus enters the temple unrecognized.  By this time the people were no longer looking for Him and didn’t expect Him to be there.  Then the news starts spreading quickly around the temple area and throughout the city of Jerusalem.  Jesus was in the court of the temple and was boldly teaching God’s Word.  People were flocking to the temple to listen to Him.  The words, “began to teach” are in the imperfect tense in the Greek, indicating that Jesus was teaching formally and continuously.  By so doing, He was winning the hearts of the people by His teaching before the Jewish leaders could put a stop to it.  His listeners were awed by His teaching. This may have been the first time that Jesus taught in the temple. but it won’t be the last time He does so.  Before His arrest, Jesus said, in Matthew 26:55, “Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.”

II.  AMAZEMENT AND CONFUSION (verse 15)

In verse 15, the apostle John focuses our attention upon the Jewish leaders.  They have arrived at the scene and are standing together at a distance, watching and listening.  What they see is a man dressed in a peasant’s robe, a lowly carpenter from Nazareth, of all places.  But they hear Him teaching the Scriptures from memory, with skill, with ease, and with authority.  The Lord Jesus was expounding the Old Testament Scriptures clearly and convincingly.  John tells us the words that are coming out of their mouths in their amazement:  “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” 

This was not the first time the leaders of the Jews stared and listened in wide-eyed amazement.  Twenty years earlier a group of elders in that same temple had similar looks on their faces and responded in the same manner, as a twelve-year-old boy sat in their midst.  Luke 2:46-47 describes that scene:

“And it came about that after three days they found Him [Jesus] in the
temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them,
and asking them questions.  And all who heard Him were amazed at
His understanding and His answers.”

A few of those teachers may still have been alive and standing among the leaders in John 7:15.  We aren’t given that information.  But if there were any of those teachers in this audience, apparently they didn’t put those two events together and realize that they were looking at the same Person.  In both those instances, they were standing in awe of the One whom they chose to reject as their Messiah.

Without realizing it, they have just paid Jesus a compliment when they said, “How can this man be learned”.  They weren’t saying that Jesus was illiterate, but were wondering about the source of this knowledge and wisdom.  As they listened to Jesus, they had to admit that He was an excellent teacher because His knowledge of the Scriptures, and His ability to interpret the Scriptures, excelled their own!  Jesus had all the qualifications of a rabbi; He just didn’t obtain those credentials in the usual way.  What was the usual way?

At that point in human history the proper way, and the only way to become a teacher of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings was to go to rabbinical school.   At home and in the synagogue, Hebrew children learned the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament Scriptures).  They read it, wrote it, and memorized large portions of it.  By the age of 12 the young men were ready to pursue their careers (usually the family business or trade).  The best students continued their studies in secondary school, called “beth midrash”, which was usually in the synagogue, where they studied the Prophets and the Writings.  They also learned the interpretations of the Law.  The very best of these students could seek to become the disciples of a rabbi so that they might become rabbis themselves after the training.  The goal was to become like their teacher.  These disciples did not teach their own interpretations of Scripture.  They taught their rabbi’s interpretations.  New Testament scholar, William Barclay, described the practice with these words:  “No rabbi ever made a statement on his own authority.  He always began:  ‘There is a teaching that . . . “.  He then went on to cite quotations and authorities for every statement he made.”

That’s the background to their question as they watch and listen to Jesus teach the Scriptures.  It doesn’t make sense to them that Jesus can interpret the Scriptures on His own authority without the benefit of having all their years of study and training.  The perception that their teachings were “secondhand”, and His were “firsthand” must have enraged them.

III.  JESUS’ SOURCE OF AUTHORITY (verse 16)

The Lord Jesus overheard their conversation, or knew what they were saying to one another, because He proceeds to answer their question concerning the source of His authority.  I would have expected Jesus to say something like the following:  “I don’t need any authority other than Myself because I’m God.  I don’t need a teacher because I’m self-taught.”  However, that’s not His reply to them.  Rather than place the focus of attention on Himself, Jesus focuses the attention upon His teachings and His Teacher.  Verse 16 says, “Jesus therefore answered them, and said, ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.’ “  I was taught, “Whenever you see a ‘therefore’, find out what it’s there for”.  The apostle John uses that word to indicate that Jesus is going to be correcting their words and their thinking.  He didn’t want them to come to the conclusion that He came up with those teachings on His own.  Rather, He is telling them that He has a Teacher, and those teachings come from Him.  The One who sent Him, the One He’s been telling them about, is His Teacher.  In a similar manner to their method of teaching, Jesus teaches only what the Father Who sent Him has imparted to Him.  So He’s saying, “My teachings are not original.  God has sent Me, taught Me, and commissioned Me to say what I have been saying.”  You might say that the Father who sent Him is the Author of His words and holds the copyright to them, whereas Jesus is the publisher – the One who proclaims them.

It’s not only His teachings that are under the authority of His Father.  His miracles, His schedule, His whole life is under the authority of His heavenly Father.  This realization has given me a new perspective on the Roman centurion’s words to Jesus in Matthew 8:5-9.  Here is that conversation:

And when He had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him
entreating Him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home,
suffering great pain.  And He said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
But the centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to
come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say
to this one ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and I say
to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”  Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled.

I used to think that the centurion was saying that he was a man “with authority” but that’s not what the Scripture says.  He describes himself as being “under authority”.  He knows that Jesus has described Himself as being under the authority of His heavenly Father, and he’s telling Jesus that he is under authority also.  He was able to give orders and have them obeyed.  His soldiers obeyed his orders because they knew where his authority came from.  It was delegated to him by the tribunes, who received their authority from the two consuls, who were appointed by the emperor himself. Being “under authority” gave him authority (delegated authority).  By disobeying him, they were disobeying the emperor, and there would be serious consequences after it was reported.  Do you see how this applies to Jesus?  He was also under authority, the authority of His heavenly Father, and there is no higher authority!  His training and His teachings were superior to theirs, and they knew it.  Yet Jesus was humble, and this surprised them.  Humility was not a typical characteristic of the rabbis of His day.  Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:6-7:  “They love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called by men, Rabbi.”  The title “Rabbi” comes from a Hebrew word which means “great”, “great one”, “master”.  Jesus allowed people to call Him by that title because He alone fit the description.  He goes on to say to His disciples in verse 8, “But do not be called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.”

Seventeen hundred years later, there is another story about true greatness.  In 1717, King Louis XIV, who preferred to be called Louis the Great, died.  His court was the most magnificent in all of Europe, and his funeral was the most spectacular.  In the church where the ceremony was performed, his body lay in a golden coffin.  To dramatize his greatness, orders had been given that the cathedral would be very dimly lit, with only one special candle that was to be set above the coffin.  The thousands of people waited in silence.  Then Bishop Massillon began to speak.  Slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, “Only God is great.”

How true and appropriate were the words and actions of Bishop Massillon.  Only God is truly great and worthy of adoration.

CONCLUSION:

The study of these three verses of Scripture, John 7:14-16, has been a lesson in pride and humility.  Have you ever said something, out of jealousy or envy, that you wish you hadn’t said, or done something that you wish you hadn’t done?  Former president Ronald Reagan shared the following experience from his own life:

Ronald Reagan, recalling an occasion when he was governor of California
and made a speech in Mexico City:  “After I had finished speaking, I sat down
to rather unenthusiastic applause, and I was a little embarrassed.  The speaker
who followed me spoke in Spanish — which I didn’t understand — and he was 
being applauded about every paragraph.  To hide my embarrassment, I started
clapping before everyone else and longer than everyone else until our ambassador leaned over and said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
He’s interpreting your speech.”
(quoted by Gerald Gardner in “All the Presidents’ Men”)

How embarrassing!  The ambassador saved him from even further embarrassment!  Like that ambassador, Jesus is doing these Jews a favor.  He answered their question before they could say it out loud to the crowd and then wish they had never said it.  He stopped the course of their jealous thinking and mumbling before it got out of hand, thus saving them from embarrassment.

Mr. Reagan would have been quick to admit that his actions were motivated by envy and jealousy, which are both manifestations of pride.  He felt he deserved a better response from the crowd because of the position of authority he held as governor of California, and because of the content of his speech.  How do you and I handle authority?  Some of us may have credentials before our names or after our names.  We’ve worked hard to earn those credentials and they give us a degree of authority.

Are you and I under authority?  Do we live life the way we please or are we subject to authority?  If you were pulled over by a police officer for speeding, and you said, “You can’t do that to me; I’m under my own authority!”  Whose authority is going to prevail in that situation?  That police officer’s authority was delegated by the city, which received that authority from the state.  I’d want to show some respect and obedience to that authority!  Only Monopoly games have get-out-of-jail-free cards!

Our credentials, no matter how many of them we may possess, do not give us the authority to enter the kingdom of heaven.  That’s not something we can merit, nor is it something we have a right to possess.  No human credentials can give us that authority or earn us that right.  It’s God’s heaven and we have to enter it God’s way.  The only acceptable entrance requirements include humbly acknowledging our own sinfulness (Romans 3:23), repenting of our sins, believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Mark. 1:15) who paid the price that our sins deserved (I Peter 2:24), and placing ourselves under His authority by following Him and obeying Him (Ephesians 2:8-10).  Are you ready and willing to place yourself under His authority?

If you are a Christian, having already made that commitment, can you honestly and humbly say that God’s Word, the Bible, is the final authority in your life?  Do you believe and teach nothing that is contrary to the Word of God?  Is the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses in your life, and the love you have for Him, evidenced by the place that God’s Word holds in your life, and your wholeheartedness in loving and serving Him and others?

May you experience the fullness of following Him as His beloved children.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

Thank you for visiting and reading this sermon on John 7:14-16.  I hope this passage of Scripture has been an encouragement to you today.