The Secret is Out

If Jesus wanted to be at the Feast of Tabernacles in secret, why did he begin teaching in the temple courts? This wasn’t a tabernacle out in the country with only a few in attendance. This was a major celebration week at The Temple where people from all over were gathering. If I wanted to not be seen, I think I’d avoid a prominent place like the tabernacle!

And like any other time Jesus was teaching, people were “amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having studied?’” John 7:15 They couldn’t point to a Rabbi he had studied under and yet he was able to explain Scripture like no other!

Jesus tells them very clearly where his teaching comes from. It is from the One who sent him, God himself. Then he refers back to Moses saying, “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” John 7:19 What?

It almost sounds like Jesus is trying to pick a fight here. The people deny trying to kill him, but actually, he knows very well why they are trying to kill him. From their perspective, he is breaking the Law of Moses by claiming to be God! I can just see some of them covering their ears and spitting as he claims to be from God. That would probably be why he brought up the Law of Moses to begin with. But then to accuse them outright of not keeping the Law that they put their pride in keeping was a suicidal statement in that crowd.

There are two points of the Law that are driving the people crazy concerning Jesus.

“You shall have no other God’s before me.” Exodus 20:3

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Exodus 20:8

He claims that God is his Father – that he is the Son of God and he keeps healing people on the Sabbath. The first of these is punishable by death! “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us to worship other gods,’… You must certainly put him to death.” Deuteronomy 13:6-11 And breaking the Sabbath also had severe consequences. For these reasons, they were trying to get rid of Jesus to remove the evil from among them.

But what did Jesus mean by telling them that not one of them keeps the law? Often in his teachings, Jesus takes a point of the law and talks about how they keep it and how it was intended. The Sabbath Law was very much greater than what they did on the Sabbath Day (Exodus 23). It involved giving the land a rest, it involved giving back the rights to the use of the land to the owners after a certain period of time. It involved justice and mercy among the people. And it involved an attitude of recognizing God as the One and Only True God and that all things come from him and are for his glory.

But the people in Jesus’ time were overlooking most of the law and hung up on how much you could carry and how far you could go, neither of which was specified in Moses’ recordings of the Sabbath Law. The religious leaders constantly harassed Jesus when he healed on the Sabbath (especially when he told the healed person to pick up his mat) or picked off grains in a field as he was walking through. Over the years, they had decided that those were not acceptable Sabbath practices and, therefore, Jesus was breaking the Sabbath Laws.

Jesus is pushing them to get past the petty things and get to the heart of the matter. “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” John 7:24 Here he is again, telling me to get past the behaviors and look at the motive of my heart. If my heart is in touch with God, I can make a right judgment. If it is not, I may assume the wrong thing and make a decision based on wrong information. Without God, my understanding is spotty. I don’t have the whole picture. And my actions will reflect my understanding.

I wonder how many ‘rules’ we have made in our churches that have nothing to do with relationship with God. How many rules do we enforce that we can’t even point to a Scripture that they came from? Take the idea of dress, for instance. Must we wear our ‘Sunday Best’ to church? Or is casual acceptable? Does a dress need to be below the knees? Must it have sleeves? Should a man wear a colorful sport jacket or a bright tie? Are shorts okay in the summer? Where does Scripture address any of these fine points? Yet how often do we judge others walking through the door based on these very things? Or what about buying and selling on Sunday? Is it okay to eat out at a restaurant after church? If it is a one day sale on Sunday only, is it okay to go shopping?

What is it God wants from me in terms of Sabbath Laws? For beginners, I know he wants my heart. I know he wants me to worship him and him only. I know he wants me to treat others with justice and mercy.

It doesn’t look like Jesus was keeping a very low profile on this day. He was not letting fear of being arrested or killed keep him from continuing to teach what his Father had asked him to teach. Maybe if I keep looking to the Father rather than man for my instructions, I will also have a boldness to teach what the Father is showing me. Maybe I will have a ‘heart knowledge’ of God’s Laws that will help me make better choices.