CLICK HERE FOR JOHN 7:19-24 PODCAST
19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” 20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” ~ John 7:19-24
In today's text the emphasis is on the difference between saving faith and unbelief. The Lord Jesus redirects our attention back to the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. In response, the religious leaders of the Jews were accusing Him of being a lawbreaker because He healed the man on the Sabbath.
In v.19 the Lord Jesus questions the religious leaders, essentially saying, "You break the Law as much as you accuse me of doing." In v.20, the crowd enters the conversation by saying, "You are demon-possessed. Nobody is seeking to kill you."
In v.21-24, the Lord Jesus reminds these accusers that they were equally guilty by circumcising eight day old boys on the Sabbath. Then the Lord Jesus informs these ill-educated onlookers that they fail to observe life in a realistic way by God's definition of things. Only then can a correct judgment be arrived upon.
The difference between belief and unbelief is a matter of eternal life and death. Of course the object of our faith is of ultimate importance, and this is what makes us right before the just God of the Bible.
In addition, the only faith that saves anyone is the type of faith that endures. This kind of faith lasts by feeding on the word of God. We come to faith through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17), and we remain in the faith through the word of Christ. This is the subject of abiding as seen in John 17.
In v.24 of today's text, the Lord Jesus gives us the where with all to size up something as true or not. He is answering the question: How can you know if anybody is true? The answer is when our desires are God’s desires, when our pursuits are God’s pursuits, then our minds will be able to see the Lord Jesus for who He really is. When our will is aligned with God’s will, we will be in sync with the truth.
The evidence that we have arrived upon the truth is when we have a passion for God-exaltation rather than self-exaltation. When we stand for the will of God, we will grow in our love to live for His glory. This is why these religious leaders did not know the Lord Jesus as the Messiah. They couldn't because their will was not surrendered to God.
Finally, rather than focusing on the failure of these religious leaders, we do well to take inventory of our own souls. The deepest obstruction to knowing the truth is heart-obstruction rather than head-obstruction.
This is an issue of our will, not an issue with our understanding. This is why the Lord Jesus puts such emphasis on our need to give safe haven in our souls to humility. We need to will God-exaltation more than we will self-exaltation. We need to love making much of God more than we love making much of ourselves. Being opposed to this is the greatest obstacle to knowing God. We can not know the Lord Jesus until our will is to do God’s will.
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