People of Truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

PEOPLE OF TRUTH

John 7:10-19

10 However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, "Where is that man?" 12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, he deceives the people." 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. 14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?" 16 Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 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. 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. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?" 

NIV

There is more to this exchange between Jesus and the Jews, who John most likely is referring to the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, or the priests or all of them, which are the ones who think they are abiding, or at least hiding under the pretense of following the Law of Moses. However, first, we should consider this idea which John gives us about the discussion or whispering of the people about Jesus. We have the pros and cons. Some said that Jesus was a good man while others said he deceives people. That whispering has continued through the ages and continues to this very day. However, neither of those people who were whispering considered if Jesus was the Messiah. They were just considering if he was a good man or a deceiving man. There are many people today all over the world who think Jesus was a good man and maybe even a prophet, while there are also many who simply reject Jesus entirely, perhaps not giving him any thought or thinking his teaching is false therefore deceptive. Then there are some, maybe not as many as we think, that see Jesus as the light of the world, the Savior, the Messiah, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Son of God, the truth, life, and the way, the one and the only way to eternal life. The second truth within this exchange is the Jews were amazed at his teaching, at the truth, the depth of his teaching because from their perspective, he had not spent years, as they did, in the study of the Law, the Torah, and the prophets. That is not much different today, in fact, many, if not all, denominations require years of study in order to give anyone their credentials to go into the temple, or church and teach, or preach. There have been men who are considered revelation knowledge preachers, but most mainline denominations do not give them any credence or see them as crackpots of a sort. Why do we have to rely on the words of man to teach us, rather than rely on the Holy Spirit? Although many people are very learned and have great knowledge about aspects of the scriptures, they still are only teaching their interpretations of the truth. They are not without certain bias, certain traditional views, such as those views of men of the past, like Wesley, Calvin, and Arminius. Great divisions have arisen between current believers over these teachings of these three men. Then there are people around the world who ascribe to the teachings of other men such as Mohammad, Gandhi, Buddha, and others. Still, the fact remains the truth of the Word of God remains the only source of pure teaching and the Word of God, in fact, the words of Jesus, tells us that it is the Spirit of truth who will lead us or guide into all truth. Unless we listen to the Spirit, which seems would require being baptized in the Spirit, as the disciples were, we cannot see the pure truth. This truth comes from God and as we teach or preach this truth has to always bring glory to the God, and not to self. So many men have glorified themselves even with a false glorification of God. The point Jesus was making is not to diminish study, but that study without the enlightenment of the Spirit is nothing more than study based on the traditions of men. So we need to make sure we are people of truth.