John 7:14-24 Who do you think you’re kidding?
The Feast of Tabernacles was established in Leviticus 23:33-43 and renewed in Nehemiah 8:13-18.
In the middle of the week, when the search for him had cooled off, Jesus appears in the Temple teaching. Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The teaching of Jesus – Matthew 7:28-29, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.” (NLT)
The Jews had many schools to study Talmud. They had the Law and the Prophets, which are gifts of God to man. However, they didn’t have God’s spirit inside them to give the life and light required to transform the scriptures from a list of do’s and don’ts to a Living Way that restores the relationship between God and man.
Deuteronomy 18:18-19 “ I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.” (NLT)
Jesus’ teaching is only apprehended by those who honestly want to know God’s will and are willing to conform to it. David said, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:1-2. and in Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.”
In the world self-aggrandizement is expected and encouraged but Jesus only sought to glorify the Father. There is truth and righteousness in seeking to glorify God in what we say and do.
Jesus told them that his message was divine in origin and that he was sinless. Why would they want to kill him? They claim this is not so but Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” This crowd would be shouting, “crucify!” in just a few more months.
Jesus remonstrates with them concerning the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda. They had taken offense that the man had been healed on the Sabbath when the commandment forbade work. But God says in Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercyand not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” The crowd and their leaders were kidding themselves about their standing before God. Far from imparting righteousness, the law convicted them as lawbreakers. As it says in Galatians 3:22, “the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.” (NLT)
brotherpayne 