But when His brothers [James, Joses, Judas, and Simon] had gone up, then He also went up to the feast [of Tabernacles], not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. (John 7:10-13)
Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 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 7:14-18) Remember, the Jews in Galilee thought Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55) Being a "carpenter's son", He probably wasn't able to go to Jerusalem and study, as the Apostle Paul explained regarding himself, ...from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. (Acts 26:4-5)
Jesus didn't receive His teaching from man, but as we will study in a future lesson, He is clear where He received His teaching from, For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. (John 12:49) 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. Jesus came to help the people and to glorify God, not Himself. The only person He sought glory from was God the Father, as He will pray in a future lesson, And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. (John 17:5) And as "educated" as the Pharisees, they had knowledge of the Word of God, but they didn't have wisdom and understanding, so it was of no value to them. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?” Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? [Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11] Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:19-24) AMEN!
Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.” Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” (John 7:25-31) As we studied before, everyone is seeing and hearing the same thing, but there are some who will believe and some who won't. The majority of the people back then and today refuse to believe in Christ Jesus, that He is the Son of God, and many even refuse to believe that there is a God; but as the old proverb goes, "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it must be a duck!" Sounds so silly, but it's true, and there was no mistaking Who Christ Jesus was and still is, sent by God, filled with the Holy Spirit of God, spoke the Word of God boldly, therefore He must have been the Son of God.
Some people were starting to "see" and "hear" the Truth, asking “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” But when a person is determined not to believe the Truth, no matter what the evidence shows, they are not going to believe, and they are going to do their best to stop others from believing it also. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! (Matthew 18:7) The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.” Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?” (John 7:32-36)
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” [Isaiah 44:3-4] But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” [Micah 5:2] So there was a division among the people because of Him. (John 7:37-43) Wow, to think we know so much and not realize how little we really know. Yes, Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, Galilee and raised their family there, but where was Jesus born? Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:8-11) Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them [John 3:1-21]) said to them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” And everyone went to his own house. (John 7:44-53) Stubborn as a mule! Even the officers were starting to believe that Jesus could really be the Christ, the promised Messiah. But those Pharisees, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” In other words, they are saying that the people did not know the Scriptures like they did, and if they didn't believe Jesus was the Christ, no one else should either, plus no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.
How sad, from the Pharisees, scribes, most of the Jews at that time, up to today, so many people refuse to believe the Truth. They hide behind there education they received from man, or the opinion of others they feel know so much and are "open minded thinkers". But what they don't realize is they are closed minded. They will not allow themselves to believe something they can't fully understand. (see God, Anyone, No One - Why?; Jesus + Nothing = Salvation; Science Denies God, Because It "Has" To) But there were false teachers among the people. And there will be false teachers among you also. These people will work in secret ways to bring false teaching to you. They will turn against Christ Who bought them with His blood. They bring fast death on themselves. Many people will follow their wrong ways. Because of what they do, people will speak bad things against the way of truth. They will tell lies and false stories so they can use you to get things for themselves. But God judged them long ago and their death is on the way. (II Peter 2 NLV)
But the Lord knows how to help men who are right with God when they are tempted. He also knows how to keep the sinners suffering for their wrong-doing until the day they stand before God Who will judge them. This is true about those who keep on wanting to please their own bodies in sinful desires and those who will not obey laws. They want to please themselves and are not afraid when they laugh and say bad things about the powers in heaven. Men like this are like animals who are not able to think but are born to be caught and killed. They speak bad words against that which they do not understand. They will die in their own sinful ways. This is the pay they will suffer for their sinful lives. They are not ashamed when they sin in the daylight. They speak big-sounding words which show they are proud. They get men who are trying to keep away from sinful men to give in to the sinful desires of the flesh. They promise that these men will be free. But they themselves are chained to sin. For a man is chained to anything that has power over him. There are men who have been made free from the sins of the world by learning to know the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who saves. (II Peter 2 NLV) He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
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