Verify the Experts
John 7:24-36
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
New American Standard 1995
John 7:14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. 15 the Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. 18 “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
John 7:19 “aDid not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel. 22 “For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 “aIf a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but 1judge with righteous judgment.”
John 7:25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 “Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27 “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” 30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”
John 7:32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? 36 “What is this statement that He said, You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come?”
A reoccurring question that comes to light again in this passage from John’s Gospel is how a person determines if the preacher of the church is offering a valid message. The Talmud, written by the Sages of Israel to help explain the Hebrew Bible, in Bava Metzia 33B, says that the phrase “my people have transgressed” refers to the Torah scholars. These scholars create the Halakah, the laws and regulations that the people follow. Therefore, there is an additional burden on the teachers of the Bible to get it right. There is a penalty from the LORD when the teachers are wrong.
That is all good; however, how can a person determine if the preacher or teacher is giving accurate biblical information? The simplest way is to listen for genuinely unbiblical statements. The teacher must be correct in their presentations, but it is also the responsibility of the listener to verify.
Here is a good example. When I was attending Seminary, I took a one-week class on the book of Hebrews. I took the class as an audit class. Therefore, I did not have to worry about grading and papers. The class started on Monday. The instructor was the New Testament instructor for the Seminary. Since I had to take some New Testament classes, I knew that his teaching was on the left side of religious interpretation. That was ok because I could filter out some of the statements he made that I disagreed with. Oh yes, that was another good reason to audit the class.
On Wednesday, the instructor said, “there are sins I do that I like, and I have no intention to change). That was the last day I went to the class. The book of Hebrews, like other biblical books, denounces sin. We all sin from time to time. However, the Bible says that when you sin, you should repent. You should also try your best not to repeat the sin.
The repeat of the sin part is tricky. Let us be honest with ourselves. We all probably have sins that are reoccurring even though we offer repentance. After all, we are humans. The difference here is that the instructor declared that he did not want to give up the sins that he liked. That is entirely unbiblical. I can accept that that is his attitude toward sin. Nevertheless, to tell the class that we need to ignore the biblical call for repentance of sin goes against everything that Jesus teaches.
The call for repentance started with John the Baptist. Jesus had the same message and took over the spreading of the message when John was captured and murdered. Repentance and forgiveness are crucial components of Christianity. So, is this New Testament professor an expert?
In one way, he was an expert in knowing the written word. He told the class that Hebrews clearly says we must repent from sin. Repentance is a process that concludes with the removal of sinful behavior. What good is trying to repent for sin if one is simply repeating it? However, he was not an expert in his interpretation of the Bible.
There are so many people in the world who claim to be experts. They preach in churches, and they are on the internet. My message to you about this narrative from John chapter seven, verses fourteen to thirty-four, is to verify the preacher’s or author’s validity. When I listen to others preaching, I write notes about what was said. Most times, I can determine the validity of the statements. I have been doing biblical research and preaching for a long time. Most people in the pews do not know how to make quick judgments. You should take notes and verify what is being said.
I am also saying that you should examine what I am saying. I will add that if you find something that you do not agree with or think is not biblical, you need to talk to me about it. It is easy to make mistakes or make a gaffe. Before you write off a preacher or teacher, you must chat with them. We need to keep ourselves accountable to the Bible.
My last words about verifying what you read or hear are also to understand that a biblical passage can be interpreted in several different ways. That is why you need to talk to the person if you question what you read or heard. The bottom line is that our understandings of God come from the preachers and authors we are reading. A person attending a Baptist church may have a different understanding of the Bible than a person attending a Methodist church. The approach to biblical interpretation and tradition is different from denomination to denomination.
You have a responsibility to listen and interpret for yourself. The people in Jesus’s day had the absolute expert in biblical interpretation. It is good that many people during Jesus’s life discovered the truth of sacred literature through him. It is also good that for two-thousand years Jesus is still teaching us about the LORD and His Bible. Keep up your own study of the Bible. You will find it helpful in this life and the world to come.
