Daily Devotions
John
Knowledge of God is not confined to the classroom
Text: John 7 : 11-43
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS NOT CONFINED TO THE CLASSROOM
The Jews had virtually sneered at Jesus when they noted that He was unschooled. In their understanding, a person must go through the normal channels, and that meant their Rabbinic schools. Jesus obviously hadn’t gone to any Rabbinic school, and yet He displayed phenomenal knowledge of God and mastery of the Scriptures! How could He have arrived at such a profound level of knowledge?
To the Jews, truth was something that their Rabbis proclaimed.
THE CLAIM OF TRUTH
Truth must be one of the hardest things to claim and to prove. Facts are easy enough to prove or disprove. Facts are easily established. However truth is a whole lot more difficult to determine and confirm.
Anyone can claim that he speaks the truth. But how does one determine that he has indeed spoken the truth? Jesus offers an important insight in the following statement.
“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory;
But He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him
is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.”
John 7:18
Jesus offered all that He had taught for close examination. He suggested that the following things be examined most vigorously. Three tests may be administered:-
1. Did He speak of Himself?
2. Did He seek His own glory or God’s glory?
3. Was there any unrighteousness in Him?
If these three things were to be held up as tests, then they would be really difficult ones to pass indeed. How did Jesus measure up against His own statements?
PASSING ALL TESTS OF TRUTH
1. The Test of “Self”
It is next to impossible for a person not to speak “from himself”. The person who is skilled, the scholar who is learned, the person with vast experiences , all tend to take some measure of pride in themselves. People cannot help but speak from themselves. They promote self, sometimes most significantly.
Jesus claimed that He never took pride in anything He said or did. He had chosen to listen to His Father’s voice instead of the accolades of men. Jesus maintained this consistency throughout His life and ministry on earth. This can be verified. The person who really speaks “the truth of God” must first be divested of himself completely! If anyone could pass this test, it would be Jesus.
2. The Test of “Glory”
It is most difficult not to take some glory for self. Such is the flawed human being. He wants to be credited. He wants to be recognized for what he has done. He wants some glory for himself. Jesus however maintained that He had NEVER sought His own glory, but His Father’s. He who claims to speak the truth must prove that He can make this statement genuinely. Only Jesus could pass this test!
Who could truthfully say that he sought ONLY the Glory of God? Jesus could, and He declared this as truth! If anyone had any personal glory, it would be Jesus. Yet, most carefully, as He ministered on earth, He pointed people to God in all His glory!
3.The Test of “Righteousness”
This was the most formidable test of all. How could anyone claim that he is totally righteous? Not even the holiest rabbi would dare to make such a claim.
Yet, Jesus did! He wanted His hearers to know who He really was. He was absolutely righteous and pure! Thus He could claim that He spoke only the truth. Yes, sometimes the truth may be difficult to understand and to accept. The doctrines of Jesus were sometimes very profound and difficult. Nevertheless the hearers must recognize the ring of truth in all that Jesus said! They must know that what He said was indeed true, because the Person who spoke was perfectly righteous!
What unrighteousness had anyone found in Jesus? The fact is that no one had found any unrighteousness in Him. If Jesus passed the test of righteousness and the other two tests as well, then why could not the people believe in Him? Why did they prefer to grumble under their breath instead of embracing the truth concerning Jesus?
ADMINISTERING THE TESTS TO THE JEWS
What if Jesus were to administer the same tests to The Jews? Let us consider what Jesus said about The Jews.
“Did not Moses give you the law,
yet none of you keeps the law?”
John 7:19
If only one test was administered, and that concerned “righteousness”, The Jews would fail miserably. When Moses gave them the Law, were they truly grateful that they had the very word of God in their hands? If they did not even know how to appreciate the significance of being given the Law, then their “righteousness” was in doubt indeed.
Moses had told the children of Israel in no uncertain terms that when they received the Law, they must ever endeavour to keep it. Had the Jews kept the law of Moses at all? Not only had they not kept the Law, they were so unrighteous that they were plotting the death of Jesus. He must have startled them when He said,
“Why do you seek to kill Me?”
John 7:19
How could people who were intrinsically unrighteous fathom the truth Jesus taught?