MAKE RIGHT JUDGMENTS

John 7:1-24

Key Verse: 24

“Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”

Someone once said, “One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words. It is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” That is quite true. We shape our lives and ourselves through our choices in life. Needless to say, to have right choices, we must first make right discernments and judgments. How can we discern light from darkness? How can we distinguish truth from falsity? And how can we judge righteousness from unrighteousness. In today’s passage, Jesus teaches us how to make a right judgment. Through this study, may we learn to make a right judgment about Jesus and put our trust in Jesus’ words.

Look at verse 1. “After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life.” Jesus was serving God’s work in Galilee wholeheartedly. However, he was staying away from Judea where the religious leaders were in turmoil because of Jesus. They were seeking an opportune time to kill Jesus after the event that Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. They thought that Jesus was guilty of breaking the Sabbath law first, and then of blasphemy for Jesus was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (Jn 5:17-18).

Look at verse 2. “But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near…” The Feast of Tabernacles was one of the three great Feasts in the Jewish year, celebrating the completion of the harvest and commemorating God’s grace to the Israelites during the time of their lives in the desert (Lev 23:33-43). As the Feast of Tabernacles was near, most people were stirred up with the party mood. And Galileans were ready to go to Jerusalem to join the feast.

Look at verses 3 and 4. “Jesus’ brothers said to him, ‘You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world’” Jesus’ brothers—James, Joses, Simon and Judas—came to Jesus and told him to show off his stuff and become a public figure in Jerusalem. They could not understand why Jesus who had such great power to perform miracles went around Galilean countryside and served the sick and helpless. They believed that Jesus would become a great public figure. So they wanted Jesus not to give offending messages, but to show more miracles in the big capital city Jerusalem so that the world would see how powerful and good Jesus was. Somehow, they wanted to cash in Jesus’ miracles for their advantage. They wished that Jesus became popular so that they would become very popular among people too. They were hungry for honor and popularity from people. They really didn’t know who Jesus was. They didn’t know Jesus’ life purpose. Jesus didn’t come to the world to seek honor and recognition from people. He came to fulfill God’s world salvation work and save sinners. Moreover, Jesus knew that his showing off through great miracles in Jerusalem would not help people to believe in Jesus.

Verse 5 is the author John’s comment on them, “For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” They believed that Jesus had power and authority to perform miracles. But they didn’t believe in Jesus the Messiah. They were men of unbelief. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? To believe in Jesus means to accept Jesus who came to save you and me from the bondage to sin and guilt. To believe in Jesus means to commit our lives to Jesus because of the amazing grace of Jesus who took unbearable pain and shame and shed his precious blood to rescue us from eternal condemnation. To believe in Jesus means to stop our old sinful way of life and to live a new life in Christ and his words. To believe in Jesus means to follow and imitate Jesus’ lifestyle daily. May God change us as men and women of faith who believe in Jesus and live as his followers.

What was Jesus’ response to his brothers? In verses 6-9, Jesus said to them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” In these verses Jesus repeated “the right time” twice. This shows that Jesus was very conscious of the time. Throughout John’s gospel, Jesus often spoke about his time or his hour. At the right time, Jesus came to the world. At the right time, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah of the world after having lived as a carpenter. At the right time, Jesus finished his Galilean ministry and died on the cross as the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. Jesus followed God’s time schedule step by step and fulfilled God’s world salvation work.

At this Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus knew that he must go to Jerusalem. But he followed God’s time schedule. We must know that God’s time schedule is different from our time schedule. God’s people are those who are conscious of God’s time schedule. God’s people are those who don’t follow according to their feelings and desires, but patiently wait on God’s time. However, it is never easy to wait on God’s time. Particularly, this is very difficult for young people who have boiling blood and who live in a society that demands instant gratification of every human desire. But we must learn to live according to God’s time schedule. In God’s time schedule, sometimes we can go through hardships and problems as Jesus went through the way of the cross. Yet in God’s time schedule, we can find that our hardship and problems have deep meanings and purposes. In God’s right time schedule, we will receive God’s fruitful blessings. How then can we know God’s time schedule? To answer this question, we must study how Jesus know God’s time schedule. Jesus knew God’s time schedule through prayers. When we pray, we can overcome our human desires and discover God’s time schedule for us. In God’s right time, God sent each of us to this world. In God’s right time, he will take us back to his kingdom. There is God’s right time for us to repent. There is God’s right time for us to make a decision of faith. There is God’s time for us to marry. There is God’s time for us to move or stop. Our God loves us and leads each of us according to his time schedule. May we grow as spiritual people who can follow God’s right time in our daily life step.

Jesus also explained his relationship with the world. Look at verse 7. “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.” In order to please God, Jesus was hated, rejected, and persecuted by the world. When sinful people heard his message, their sins were revealed and their pride was hurt. Because of this, the people of the world hated Jesus unconditionally. So we should not be surprised if we are hated because of the name of Jesus. As the people of the world hated Jesus, they will hate Jesus’ people. So when we go out witnessing on campus, we should not be surprised by some people who respond to us with contempt and anger. We must not be naïve about the world. We must stand on God’s side in order to make a right judgment about how to live in this world.

Jesus sent his brothers ahead of him to the Feast and stayed alone in Galilee (9). After his brothers had left for the Feast, however, he went also, not publicly, but in secret (10). Maybe Jesus disguised in sunglasses and baseball cap.  Even if Jesus went there in secret, there was widespread whispering about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people” (12,13). They needed to know who Jesus really was. Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach (14).

How did the Jewish leaders respond? Look at verse 15. “The Jews were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having studied?’” Although these Jews hated Jesus they were amazed by Jesus’ teaching. As they heard Jesus’ words, they felt strong conviction and truthfulness of Jesus’ teaching. They knew that Jesus was not formally educated. But they didn’t know how Jesus got such wisdom and understanding. They were just awestruck by Jesus’ amazing teaching and spirit. Jesus used this opportunity to help them to learn how to make a right judgment about him. What are Jesus’ criteria to make a right judgment?

First, Jesus taught the word of God. Look at verse 16. “Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.’” Jesus taught Gods’ word, not mere human wisdom and knowledge. God’s word gives light and life. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The word of God convicts us of sin and leads us to repentance. The word of God reveals God’s love and saving grace and leads us to salvation. The word of God is universal truth for all men. Jesus’ teaching was powerful because it was nothing but the word of God. The problem of the religious leaders was that their teaching was their own. It was not God’s revelation. God’s word is the basis of truth. To make right judgments we must have God’s word in our hearts. We must empty our human reason and desires until we can hear God’s word and accept it. The word of God is God’s wisdom from above that leads us to salvation and eternal life (2 Tim 3:15).

Second, Jesus taught the necessity of choosing to do God’s will to understand God’s word. Look at verse 17. “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” Jesus promises that those who choose to do God’s will receive enlightenment from above. Our choice reveals our inner desire and interest. For example, when Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God giving up his glamorous Egyptian palace life, he revealed his inner desire to value God and his people more than enjoying the pleasures of sin for a short time (Heb 11:24-25). When Moses chose to serve god and his people, he could receive God’s law and revelation from God. When Mary chose to be the mother of Jesus, she revealed her inner desire to obey God rather than to keep her marriage dream. God showed his revelation to her through his words. God knows our choice and our inner motive. When we choose to do God’s will, God knows and will show us his revelation. When God told Father Abraham, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you” (Ge 12:1), Abraham chose to obey God and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Then God showed him his great world salvation purpose (Ge 15:12-16; 22:15-18). Someone said, “Life goes through the continuation of choice.” Missionary Andrew Han chose to accept God’s missionary calling and he is a missionary. Judas Iscariot chose to exchange Jesus’ life with 30 silver coins, and he became a betrayer. We are what we choose. May we choose to do God’s will so that we can see God’s revelation through Jesus’ word. May we choose to commit our lives to Jesus. May we choose to obey Jesus’ word in our practical daily lives.

Third, Jesus taught living for the glory of God alone. Look at verse 18. “He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.” Jesus contrasts those who want to gain honor for themselves with those who work for the glory of God. Jesus’ single desire was to glorify God, that is, to reveal God through his message. Those who want to be used greatly by God must be sanctified from the sin of self-glory seeking until they have a pure desire to glorify God alone. From the contrast in verse 18, we learn further that living for the glory of God alone is not only a matter of speech, it is a matter of work. Their inner motive and lifestyle, and especially what they do when no one else is watching, are very important. Our speech can glorify God when our lifestyle matches. When we live for the glory of God not our own, we can have a right judgment.

Fourth, Jesus taught to see the spiritual world to make a right judgment. Look at verses 21-24. Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” Here Jesus’ point was that the Jewish leaders accommodated the needs of people in applying the law. A child was circumcised on the eighth day. The child circumcision was allowed even on the Sabbath. The Jews thought that the Sabbath law was not broken when they practiced the child circumcision. But they thought that Jesus broke the Sabbath law when he healed the invalid man. They were inconsistent and irrational. Those who are blinded by legalism cannot make a right judgment. So Jesus told them in verse 24, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” The Jews made judgment based on what they saw. Their problem was that they judged by mere appearances. They didn’t have eyes to see what was underneath the appearance. They saw the Sabbath law, but could not see the spirit of the law that is inside the law. They memorized the scriptures, but could not see God’s heart and love in the scriptures. They saw Jesus’ miracle, but could not see the meaning of the miracle that is that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Therefore, to make a right judgment, they should stop judging by superficial appearances and then know what is behind the appearance. Moreover, they should see God who was invisible but working powerfully. They were practical atheists. By and large, godless people judge based on the appearance. So, take care of your appearance when you deal with godless people and watch your words and actions.

However, Jesus didn’t judge by mere appearances. Jesus saw a tax collector Levi’s crying soul for God and a righteous life, while others saw him as an incorrigible sinner. So he called him as his disciples. Jesus saw a Samaritan woman’s inner thirst and invited her to the living water, while people pointed finger at her and condemned her. Moreover Jesus saw God who is powerfully working behind the scene. Therefore, to make a right judgment, we must see not only the appearance but also what is inside the appearance. Above all, we must see God who is working powerfully behind the physical appearance. To see what is under the appearance means to see the spiritual world. We must look at the things with God’s eyes. To make a right judgment, we must look at matters from God’s point of view. When we have our judgments anchored in God’s word, we can see what is underneath the appearance.

Today, Jesus teaches us to make a right judgment. We can do so when we have the word of God in our hearts and a decision to obey God unconditionally for his glory. Let’s make a right judgment before God.