From Darkness to Light (8): Make a Right Judgment -- January 9, 2011

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having been taught?"

Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"

"You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"

Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 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? Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly."

(John 7:14-24)

I have to say, as soon as I read this passage, I thought of an old piece I read many years ago. It's called "Why God Never Received Tenure at a University".

Why God Never Received Tenure at a University:

(anonymous, taken from God's Vitamin "C" for the Spirit, K.C. Miller & D.L. Miller eds., pg.263)

And yet, look at what they say about His Son in vs.15: "How did this man get such learning without having studied?" They were amazed at His teaching! Jesus had gone up to one of the major Feasts of the year--a Feast that Jews at that time were required by law to attend in Jerusalem. So there would have been many out-of-towners there who were simply flabberhghasted at the depth and knowledge of His teaching. Everybody at that time would have known a little bit of Scripture, but evidently they were positively gobber-slapped by how much Jesus knew. At that time, the rabbis gathered around them whole hosts of students, who'd follow them wherever they went--and the rabbis, in turn, would constantly substantiate their teaching by citing the authority of older rabbis and ancient traditions. But Jesus was different. He wasn't part of a school. He didn't follow anybody around. And yet they were totally amazed at His teaching. "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"

And all of this hoopla gives Jesus yet another opportunity for, (guess what?)--more teaching! But the teaching the Lord gives centers around two key issues: #1, the origin of Jesus, His Person, and His teaching, and then secondly, this whole issue of judging by mere appearances.

First off, let's look at the origin of Jesus, His Person and His teaching. In vs.16-18 Jesus says, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If any one choose to do God will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 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." Basically, Jesus is saying that He is literally a Man sent on a Mission. Jesus is saying that He is a sent man. He's not out there on His own. He's not trying to make a name for Himself. Although His very own brothers accuse Him of that at the very beginning of this chapter. He is a Sent Man. And the Sender is none other than God Himself.

Take another look with me at vs.16, "Jesus answered, 'My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me." Pretty clear isn't it? Jesus is on a mission from God. He is a sent man. And what's so powerful about this is that we see echoes of this throughout the Gospel of John: Just before this passage in 5:36: "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me." Then in14:10, "... The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father living in me, who is doing his work." 15:15, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." 16:27,28, "No, the Father himself loves you because you have love me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." And I could go on until your eyes start to glaze over. But Jesus is a Man on a Mission sent directly from God, because He is and was God in the flesh, God incarnate--sent to us to bring us to God.

Now, you may be asking yourselves, "Chris, why are you making such a big deal about this. This is obvious. This is kindergarten stuff. What's the big deal?" The big deal is the implications of what Jesus is saying about Himself for your life and mine. If what Jesus is saying here is true, then He's It. Jesus is It. There's no other game in town ...but Him, ... but Jesus.

A trend I see both in society and even in the church is a drift away from Jesus to a more generalized, more hazy "spirituality". Oh, and any spirituality will do. We see this drift primarily in the United Church, but I'm seeing in more and more in our own denomination and in other seemingly "Christian" circles as well. Let's not focus so much on Jesus any more--He can be so arcane, so out of date, so familiar. The popular author Depac Chopra is the poster child of this shift away from Jesus. But if Jesus is right in what He's saying here and in the other passages I've cited, then He is literally our only option to get to God--and there is no other.

Fascinating, but in vs.18 Jesus doesn't merely say He speaks the truth, He essentially says that He is the truth. That's very reminiscent of how John describes Jesus in his prologue as One Who is "full of grace and truth" (1:14b, emphasis mine). It's very reminiscent to how Jesus describes Himself in John 14:6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is it. He is the way to God, the Father. He is a sent Man. John 3:16 sums it up marvelously: "For God so love the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Far from being arcane or out of date or familiar, what Jesus is saying here in John 7 is very, very controversial. It's controversial now, and it was controversial then.

Which brings us back to the second issue here in John 7--and it all centers around vs.19-24, and this whole issue of not judging by mere appearances. Now, there's a whole back-story to vs.19-24 that may be both interesting and illuminating. In vs.19 Jesus accuses them of trying to kill Him. And that goes all the way back to an incident that happened weeks if not months before this conversation in 5:1-15. Back in chapter 5, there's this pool that is said to have healing powers to it, and there's this guy who's been paralyzed for 38 years. And the deal was, whenever this natural spring kinda bubbled up, the local folklore said it was actually an angel stirring up the waters, and that was the moment to jump in and get healed. The problem was, this guy couldn't move. So every time the water stirs and the time is right, someone else jumps the cue ahead of him.

Jesus comes along and basically infers, "You don't need some 'weird or what' story to get healed, I tell you, Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." And after over three and a half decades as an invalid, the guy does just that! He's totally healed!!

But the plot thickens. The day this guy was healed is on the Jewish Sabbath, the day of rest. So some nit-pickers come along and say to the guy who's joyfully taking his mat and going home, "You can't do that. It's against the law to carry your mat on the Sabbath. Who told you you could do that?" So Jesus is found out to be doing these things on a Sabbath! Then 5:18 says tellingly, "For this reason the Jews (and we need to be careful here, we're not talking about all Jews, but just the Jews at that time and in that place) tried all the harder to kill (Jesus); not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."

So now the hunt is on! They really are trying to kill Him! So with all of that in mind, Jesus says here beginning in 7:21, " 'I did one miracle (and He's talking about healing this guy with his mat on the Sabbath), and you are all astonished. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision ...(I've said it before, I'll say it again, if you don't know what circumcision is, go home and look it up, it starts with a "c" not an "s"!) 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?'" And then Jesus says (and I love this, because it so breaks His "gentle, meek and mild" rep), "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."

His argument against His accusers is brilliant. But it also speaks a deep, deep truth for our lives as well. You see, obeying Leviticus 12:3 which states that every Jewish boy has to be circumcised on the eight day after his birth was sooooo important to them that they'd circumcise the child on the Sabbath, thereby effectively breaking that law since it obviously involved work. So if it's so important that it's okay to break Sabbath law for circumcision, why can't it be okay to heal an entire man as Jesus did back in chapter 5? And it's really important to note that Jesus isn't liberalizing the law here--instead He's breathing life back into the law by stating that acts of mercy are not only permissible on the Sabbath, they are obligatory.

What's the Sabbath there for anyways? ... To give us rest! Why is it so important to rest one in every seven days? By resting we pause, we trust God, and in that process become more whole persons. So then Jesus concludes, Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment. And as we make our first brave steps into 2011, this is counsel we really need to take serious: Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.

Romans 12:2 tells us that we're not to be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but to we're to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind". Very briefly, in kind of rapid fire fashion, I can think of at least three issues in contemporary living where we probably need to stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment--two ethical issues and one theological issue.

One of the ethical issues is living common law. Everybody's doing it. The vast majority of the pre-marriage couples that I counsel are already sexually active, already living together. A couple of months ago, I heard on the radio that in Canada there are now actually more people living common law than are actually married! So it has to be alright, doesn't it? But as my Mom used to tell me, just because everybody else is jumping off a cliff, doesn't make it right for you to do it too! The Bible says the marriage bed is to be kept pure (Hebrews 13:4). It also says that as Christians, we're to not have even a hint of sexual immorality among us (Ephesians 5:3). Jesus says, stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.

The other ethical issue has to do with "cash on the side". Ever heard that--"it's a cash business". It's all over the place. And the reason why is small business people and even not-so-small business people don't want to report additional earnings to the government. The prevailing belief is that we're taxed to death anyways, and the government gets enough! But the Bible says we're not to steal (Exodus 20:15), and that we're to support and even pray for the government (Romans 13:1-7). And Jesus says, stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.

The third is around this whole issue of the uniqueness of Jesus for salvation. And I have to say, in this regard our denomination is moving in what I believe are dangerous directions. In the last few years the emphasis on religious dialogue with what experts call the other two great Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Islam, has actually served to mute the distinctive note of the Gospel--that there is salvation found in no one nor anyone else but Jesus. At first glance, looking at appearances, it seems like a good idea to engage in respectful inter-religious dialogue. And I believe it really is! There's nothing wrong with learning more about and being more sensitive to those who are of Islamic or Jewish faith. I recently bought an English translation of the Koran, and I intend on reading it! But in our dialogue, we need to be crystal clear: When Jesus said He was the way, truth and life and no one can come to the Father except through Him--He meant it. He really did! And His Word to us is stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.

This past week I saw what I interpreted as a sort of living parable of what Jesus was really talking about. I first heard about it on the news, and then looked it up on YouTube, and I really encourage you to do the same. It's real-life story about this homeless guy in Ohio. He's disheveled. He's weather-beaten. He's wearing old, torn-up clothes. His hair is long and going every which-way--he looked like your Pastor did in December. He probably doesn't smell very good. His name is Ted Williams and he hangs out on an on-ramp to a major highway. And he even has a cardboard sign that reads, "I have a God-given gift of a great voice." And in the YouTube video this car rolls up to this mess of humanity. And then out comes this voice, this low, melodic rich voice that would make any public announcer drool: "Hi, my name is Ted Williams--it's going to be sunny today with a touch of clouds. God bless you for your contribution!"

And I think that's so much like Jesus. Lots, and lots of people just kinda pass Him by on the road of life. He's been around a long time--most don't give Him the time of day. But if you stop and hear that Voice, His Voice, I mean, really stop and take it seriously. You realize it's the Voice of Life itself--and it's the Voice that saves. And do you know what that Voice says? It says, Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment... and turn to Me!!