John 7:25-29 - Lesson #77

Jesus began to confront those who had gathered to listen to Him teach; "Why do you seek to kill Me?" (John 7:19). Though they denied that anyone wanted to kill Him, Jesus addressed their judgment that He did not follow the Sabbath Law; "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with a righteous judgment" (John 7:24). In this, Jesus was boldly declaring the actions of the Jewish leaders to be hypocrisy.

John 7:25-29
"Now some of them from Jerusalem said, 'Is this not He whom they seek to kill? But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.' Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, 'You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.'"

Notice that the crowd acknowledged what they had just previously denied. They knew their leaders wanted to kill Jesus, but now they were amazed that Jesus would speak so boldly - in the temple for all to hear. Surely this would bring an immediate response from the Jewish leaders! But no one was saying anything. Had they learned something about Jesus since His last visit to Jerusalem? Was He the Christ?

But the crowd was quickly convinced that this couldn't be the Christ because they knew who He was and where He was from. The popular belief among the Jews was that when the Christ appeared He would do so mysteriously, being born in Bethlehem and then one day just appearing as the Christ. But everyone had heard about Jesus and His teaching, and they even knew where He grew up; "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary?" (Matthew 13:55). No, this could not be the Christ!

Jesus cried out His response - probably changing His address to a larger crowd. His response should be considered more as a question, as if to say: You think you know Me and where I am from? The answer of course is that they do NOT really know Jesus or where He is from. Jesus was sent from God because; "He was in the beginning with God" (John 1:2). He came with the word of God; "My doctrine is not My own but His who sent Me" (John 7:16). And He came to seek "the glory of the One who sent Him" (John 7:18). Jesus made a clear distinction between Himself and those in the temple: I know God and you do not!

Do we really know Jesus and where He is from? Is He the good teacher, Jesus of Nazareth? Or is He "the Christ, the Son of God" (John 20:31) who has "come down from heaven" (John 6:42)? We must answer this question - and then live according to all the answer implies. If He is only a good teacher then we are lost without any knowledge of the Father. But if He is the Christ, we must believe He died for the forgiveness of our sin so we can truly know God.