INTRO TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, Sarah Barry
HOW TO KNOW THE TRUTH
Passage: John 7:14~24  
Key verse: 17,24
Jesus Teaches at the Festival
14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.(A) 15 The Jews(B) there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning(C) without having been taught?”(D)
16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.(E) 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out(F) whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory,(G) but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law?(H) Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”(I)
20 “You are demon-possessed,”(J) the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle,(K) and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision(L) (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs),(M) you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”(N)
Cross references
- John 7:14 : ver 28; S Mt 26:55
- John 7:15 : S Jn 1:19
- John 7:15 : Ac 26:24
- John 7:15 : Mt 13:54
- John 7:16 : S Jn 14:24
- John 7:17 : Ps 25:14
- John 7:18 : Jn 5:41; 8:50, 54
- John 7:19 : Dt 32:46; Jn 1:17
- John 7:19 : ver 1; S Mt 12:14
- John 7:20 : S Mk 3:22
- John 7:21 : ver 23; Jn 5:2-9
- John 7:22 : Lev 12:3
- John 7:22 : Ge 17:10-14
- John 7:24 : 1Sa 16:7; Isa 11:3, 4; Jn 8:15; 2Co 10:7
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. Choose to do God's will (14-18)
The Jews in Jerusalem could not agree about whether Jesus was a good man or a deceiver of the people. Jesus told them how one could know the truth. First, he must choose to do God's will. This must be an unconditional decision, a commitment to God to live by the truth. Second, he must put God's honor and glory--not his own--first. God created man for his own glory.
2. Judge by right judgment (19-24)
The Jews judged Jesus by appearances. He was a young man from the country; his teaching was clearly God's truth, but he had no degree from Jerusalem U.; his attitude toward the Sabbath was unconventional. Those who judged by appearances did not believe; those who judged with right judgment could not but believe in him. Jesus showed them that the Jews who criticized Jesus, yet claimed to obey the law were hypocrites. It is surely pleasing to God to heal a man on the Sabbath.
Prayer: Lord, help me not to make superficial judgments, but right ones. Give me courage to live by the truth.
One Word: Make a right judgement