JOHN 7:14-17
14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?" 16 Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 "If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
Because GOD is Almighty (omnipotent; JER 32:17,26) people believe that there is nothing He can’t do. Mechanically speaking this is true – because He possesses all power (and wisdom; REV 5:12), GOD can do anything!
At the same time, because GOD is GOD – there are some things He can’t do!
He can’t travel – GOD exists everywhere already (1 KINGS 8:27; PSA 139:7-12). He can’t lie because He is truth (DEUT 32:4; JOHN 14:6). He can’t learn because He knows everything already (ISA 46:9-10; MATT 10:29-30; 11:27; 1 JOHN 3:20). He can’t sin because He is holy (PSA 92:15; 106:47; ISA 48:17; 1 PET 1:16). He can’t fail because He is perfect (DEUT 32:4; 2 SAM 22:31; PSA 18:30), etc.
Yet when GOD became flesh and dwelt among us, He became human – Jesus the son of Mary, the Nazarene. And as the perfect Man, there were some things He had to learn:
HEBREWS 5:8-9The depths of the knowledge that the LORD Jesus Christ possessed impressed the religious leaders of His day. Since He was never schooled in any of their disciplines, they were baffled as to how He could know the things He expounded upon.
8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
The LORD Jesus explains:
“This isn’t any doctrine that I’ve made up. This is doctrine that I received from the Father – the One Who sent Me”. Jesus the Man – the GOD-Man received all of the doctrinal teaching from the Father and only those with the desire to do the will of GOD (PSA 40:8; 119:35) would recognize the authenticity of the LORD’s teachings as legitimate truth, come from GOD.
And recognizing that the LORD’s doctrinal teaching is in fact from GOD, they would understand where the LORD’s authority came from. This was a question that the Pharisees had in Matthew’s Gospel account:
MATTHEW 21:23-27Were the religious leaders willing to answer this question truthfully, they would have to concede the fact that John the Baptist’s ministry was indeed from GOD. Rather than come to the correct conclusion however they approached the matter politically. They judged that if they were to deny the ministry of the Baptist, they would lose credibility in the eyes of the people, but if they said his ministry came from heaven (from GOD Himself) then they would admit their rebellion against the One they claimed to serve, by denying the Baptist and his ministry ordained of GOD.
23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?" 24 But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: 25 "The baptism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 26 "But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
When they lamely replied, “We don’t know”, they left without having their question answered, because the LORD’s authority came from the same place – heaven!
Truth is a GOD given commodity – the most precious resource in or out of this universe. And GOD has given a certain level of truth to every soul by means of revelation in its two fold aspects: general revelation (as revealed through nature and the conscience of human minds – this is universal knowledge) and special revelation (as acquired by the inspired Scriptures, “GOD breathed” (2 TIM 3:16; 2 PET 1:20-21) – this is only granted to those who are exposed to the Truth of GOD as given in the Word, by the Spirit).
To whatever degree GOD grants His truth to each and every individual, we hold that truth in stewardship. GOD observes how we treat that truth given. If we live in the light of that truth, we are proper stewards and GOD rewards faithful stewardship by granting even more truth. He will keep providing more and more truth as long as any individual is faithful to submit to and obey that truth.
If such truth is disparaged, then such a one should never be expected to receive anymore truth as they prove themselves to be unfaithful stewards, who are doubtless those who are careless about the Holy Word that GOD exalts even above His own Name (PSA 138:2; JOHN 8:42-43). Those who ultimately disparage the Word of GOD and specifically, the Gospel of Jesus Christ are portrayed as the unfaithful and slothful servant who ended up in “outer darkness” (MATT 25:14-30).
This is sometimes why Christians can find the Word “dry” to them. They read the Holy Scriptures and “getting nothing out of them”. Not always, but many times, it’s because GOD has already given them quite a bit of truth and understanding from the Word, but the recipient isn’t implementing that truth into their lives.
Fresh revelation (that is to say, new understanding of the truth, and not ‘new truth’) isn’t as forthcoming, and thus, the Word can become dry, rather than spiritually “juicy” and refreshing. If you find that this is the case with you, then ask the LORD what it is you should be doing to live in the Light that He has already given to you – He will!
It’s very much like the Keith Green song,
“My eyes are dry, my faith is old.
My heart is hard, my prayers are cold.
And I know how I ought to be:
Alive to You, and dead to me.
But what can be done,
For an old heart like mine?
Soften it up, with oil and wine.
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love.
Please wash me anew.
with the wine of Your Blood.”
The Word tells us our condition as fallen humanity:
ISAIAH 53:6If any desire to know GOD and His truth, it’s by the wooing of the Holy Spirit Who always testifies of Jesus Christ and will faithfully lead us to this blessedness that is in the LORD.
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (PSA 119:76; 1 PET 2:25).
MATTHEW 15:18
"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 "These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."
See also: GEN 6:5; 8:21; PROV 6:14; JER 17:9; MK 7:21; JAMES 3:6.
PSALM 16:11You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.PSALM 17:15; 21:6; 36:8
It isn’t that they are forced to receive Christ and the salvation He offers, but they are compelled to face Christ and to render an answer to His question: “Who do you say that I Am?”
And if any desires to do the will of the LORD, to have GOD in their life in a deep, satisfying relationship, the LORD will ensure such a one will be granted sufficient discernment to recognize truth when they hear it, even if it’s only on an intuitive level (which for those who are yet lost but seeking truth, is often the case).
To think upon the idea that GOD would deign to bend low from His glorious and most Holy and Lofty position, seated upon His Throne and teach us specks of dust with His truth is an awesome and incredible act of grace!
May we always hold the Holy Bible in our serving hands as well as our humble hearts with a sense of reverence and awesome “trembling”!
Next time in JEWELS From The GOSPEL Of JOHN we shall look into GLORY, HALLELUJAH! – JOHN 7:18
And if any desires to do the will of the LORD, to have GOD in their life in a deep, satisfying relationship, the LORD will ensure such a one will be granted sufficient discernment to recognize truth when they hear it, even if it’s only on an intuitive level (which for those who are yet lost but seeking truth, is often the case).
To think upon the idea that GOD would deign to bend low from His glorious and most Holy and Lofty position, seated upon His Throne and teach us specks of dust with His truth is an awesome and incredible act of grace!
May we always hold the Holy Bible in our serving hands as well as our humble hearts with a sense of reverence and awesome “trembling”!
ISAIAH 57:15Remember the first two letters of the word “doctrine”, and as we are “doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (JAMES 1:22), let’s also remember that we do, not out of a cold sense of duty, but with a fervent and passionate heart of loving obedience!
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
ISAIAH 66:1-2
1 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist," Says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.
Next time in JEWELS From The GOSPEL Of JOHN we shall look into GLORY, HALLELUJAH! – JOHN 7:18
1 comment:
Another great commentary, James; you are very gifted!
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