The Authority of Jesus
John 7:14-24
John 5:18
This was why the Jews were seeking all the
more to kill him, because not only was he
breaking the Sabbath, but he was even
calling God his own Father, making himself
equal with God.
Pink
Education is an altar which is now
thronged by a multitude of idolatrous
worshipers.
Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter
and John, and perceived that they were
uneducated, common men, they were
astonished. And they recognized that they
had been with Jesus.
Morris
This seems to indicate that many of them
had never heard Jesus teach before this,
and indeed, John has not recorded any
previous teaching of Jesus in Jerusalem. . .
Many of His audience on this occasion
would be pilgrims from centers where
Jesus had never been.
You See His Authority…
When You See the Source
So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is
not mine, but his who sent me.”
John 7:16
You See His Authority…
When You Follow It
If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will
know whether the teaching is from God or
whether I am speaking on my
own authority.
John 7:17
Westcott
We do not come to God with a certain
grade point average for qualification, but
rather humble surrender, an attitude of
heart, a willingness to do the Father’s will.
Ryle
We learn from these words how greatly they err
who profess to be waiting till their mental
difficulties are removed before they become
decided Christians. They must change their plan.
They must understand that knowledge comes
through human obedience as well as through
the intellect. . . . We learn furthermore, that God
tests men’s sincerity by making obedience part
of the process by which religious knowledge is
obtained. Are we willing to do God’s will so far
as we know it?
Piper
So Jesus is saying that the basic reason why
people do not own up to the truth of what he
teaches is not that they lack sufficient
evidence, but that their wills -- or we could
say their hearts -- are against God. The
fundamental problem is not intellectual but
moral. The great obstacle to recognizing the
truth of Christ is not deficient resources but
deep rebellion against God.
John 6:44
No one can come to me unless the Father
who sent me draws him. And I will raise
him up on the last day.
Barrett
A free human decision about the claims of
Jesus is impossible.
Romans 8:7-8
For the mind that is set on the flesh is
hostile to God, for it does not submit to
God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who
are in the flesh cannot please God.
Morgan
When men are wholly, completely
consecrated to the will of God and want to
do that above everything else, then they
find out that Christ’s teaching is divine,
that it is the teaching of God.
You See His Authority…
When You Stop Inflating
Your Own
The one who speaks on his own authority
seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks
the glory of him who sent him is true,
and in him there is no falsehood.
John 7:18
Resume
•
Name: That which is above every name
•
Title: King of Kings and Lord of lords
•
Home Address: Heaven
•
Past Work Experience: Creator of the
universe; holds all things together by
means of personal power
•
References: God the Father and the Holy
Spirit
You See His Authority…
When You End Your
Hypocrisy
“Has not Moses given you the law? Yet
none of you keeps the law. Why do you
seek to kill me?” The crowd answered,
“You have a demon! Who is seeking
to kill you?”
John 7:19–20
Morris
It was a favorite cause for selfcongratulation among the Jews that they
were the recipients of the Law. But now
our Lord points out that there is a
difference between receiving and keeping
the law.
Deuteronomy 31:10-11
At the end of every seven years, at the set
time in the year of release, at the Feast of
Booths, when all Israel comes to appear
before the LORD your God at the place that
he will choose, you shall read this law
before all Israel in their hearing.
You See His Authority…
When You Stop and
Compare
Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you
all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not
that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and
you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the
Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the
law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry
with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s
whole body well?”
John 7:21–23
Ryle
Is it then just and fair to be angry with me
because I have done a far greater work to man
on the Sabbath than the work of circumcision.
I have not wounded his body by circumcision,
but I have made him perfectly whole. I’ve not
made a purifying work to one particular part
of him, but I’ve restored his whole body to
health and strength. I’ve not done a work of
necessity to one single member only, but a
work of necessity and benefit to the whole
man.
1Samuel 6:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look
on his appearance or on the height of his
stature, because I have rejected him. For
the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks
on the outward appearance, but the LORD
looks on the heart.”
You See His Authority…
When You Go Beyond
Appearances
Do not judge by appearances,
but judge with right judgment.
John 7:24
We Judge People…
• publicly while never judging ourselves
publicly, at best only judging ourselves
internally.
• with righteous indignation while
judging ourselves with mercy & grace.
• harshly while judging ourselves softly.
• with great detail, while judging
ourselves with a blind eye.