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JOHN - The Light Shines in the Darkness
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to John
PART 2 - Light Shines in the Darkness (John 5:1 - 11:54)
C - Jesus' Last Journey to Jerusalem (John 7:1 - 11:54) The Parting of Darkness and Light
1. The words of Jesus at the feast of tabernacles (John 7:1 – 8:59)

b) Disparate views on Jesus among the people and the high council (John 7:14-53)


JOHN 7:14-18
14 But when it was now the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?” 16 Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself. 18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Jesus did not fear death or harm from his foes. He went forward in harmony with the will of his Father to Jerusalem secretly during the feast. There he did not hide himself, but went to the temple court, teaching his Gospel boldly as an accredited teacher. People felt that God was addressing them directly. So they questioned one another: Whence has this young man such deep theological thoughts? He did not train under a famous scholar of the Scriptures. How can a carpenter without academic training acquaint us with the full truth of God?

Jesus answered as if to say, "True, I have teaching and am a teacher of truth. More than that I am God’s Word indeed. Every thought and wish of God is present in me. My teaching is not of myself, I am God’s voice, He dwells in me, my Father is the One to teach me. I know the fullness of His thoughts, plans, purposes and powers. I have not come with my private thoughts, for God’s thoughts alone are truth. I complete revelation where it is not clear."

Thus, he glorified his Father and submitted to Him; calling himself God’s Apostle. He did not send himself of his own accord, but he came in the name of his Father full of divine authority. So Jesus is God’s Son and Apostle at the same time, deserving our attention, our faith and worship as to the Father.

To facilitate faith in himself on the part of the Jews, he showed them a practical way to assure them that his teaching conforms to God’s will. So what is the decisive proof for the genuineness of Jesus’ teaching and person? He said, "Strive to act according to my Gospel and you will discover its greatness. Apply Christ’s words verse by verse, and you will see that his words are not merely human but divine."

The attempt to apply Christ’s teaching requires first of all your resolve. Do you wish what he wished? Without this harmony of your will with God’s you will not grasp the true knowledge of the Lord. Where your will yields to his, that is Christ’s, you will begin to rise to a higher and newer level of realization – you will know God as He is.

Whoever trains himself to do the will of the Father, as Jesus taught us, will experience the wide gulf between Gospel and Law. Our Lord did not simply lay a heavy burden on our shoulders, but at the same time gives us the required power to bear it. You will be able to carry out his will joyfully. Whoever submits to Christ’s commandment, receives the strength to live out his love. His teaching does not lead to failure, as was the case with Moses’ law, but to live in the fullness of God’s grace. Whoever wishes to apply God’s will revealed in Christ’s teaching becomes personally linked with God and realizes that Christ is not one of the human teachers, but is God’s Word incarnate. He does not come with empty philosophy, but with forgiveness for sin and he grants us the power of God’s life.

JOHN 7:19-20
19 Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?” 20 The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”

Christ’s conduct in holiness entitled him to say to the Jews, "You received the law, but no one has applied it properly!" This statement pierced the heart of the Jewish nation stressing that not one of the members of the Old Testament has ever fulfilled the requirements of the Law. Anyone who transgressed a single command is guilty of all and God’s wrath abides on him. With this declaration Jesus nullified Jewish claims of righteousness and showed that the zeal and efforts of the legalists were mere self-deception.

He announced to them that he knew their leaders’ desire to destroy him. Nothing is hid before Jesus. He warned his hearers against any surface zeal and stressed the cost of following him.

At the same he asked, "Why do you want to kill me?"

The crowd was taken aback by Christ’s words, alarmed because he said that none of them was righteous. Their reply was a cover to their plot, "No, no, who wants to kill you? God forbid!" Some even reckoned that an evil spirit had come over him. They were blind in their hatred, and unable to distinguish the Holy Spirit from the evil spirit. They had lost all feeling for the knowledge of God’s love.

QUESTION:

  1. What proofs is there that the gospel comes from God?

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