Who Ever Knew or Did More?

The Challenge of Jesus’ Authority and Education

Take out your Bibles with me and turn to the 7th chapter of the Gospel of John. And we are going to be today looking at verses 14 to 31. The title of today's message is a rhetorical question. Who will ever know or do more?

And the whole title didn't fit. Who will ever do more than Jesus? Who will ever know more than Jesus? Who will ever do more than Jesus did? That's the idea behind the title. An education is a good thing.

It's a great thing. It's something that we shouldn't neglect. But at the same time, it is also true that in Jesus' day, as well as in our own, it is often those with great educations who seek to be challengers to the Word of God.

If you think of Jesus' day, who is it that he was always at odds with, it seems? The teachers, the lawyers, the scribes, those who were well educated in the law, the religiously trained were often his most active opponents.

And in our day, it is still true. Challenges to Christ often come from the academy. From those in positions of high esteem. From those who have a lot of letters behind their names. When you see their names, there'll be comma, you know, doctorate or some other set of letters behind to let you know that this person has a range of degrees.

Over the past few weeks, I've seen a man rise to a pretty high level of notoriety. He's a man who is running for Senate out in Texas. And he's making a lot of ground. He's very liberal as far as his positions go, but a lot of people like to hear what he's saying because he is using biblical language.

He was trained in a seminary from the Presbyterian Church of the USA, which is the liberal Presbyterian. There's the PCA and the OPC, which are the more conservative Presbyterians, but this man was trained in the liberal side.

So he's using Mary's saying okay to Gabriel as a reason for abortion or quoting from the Gospel of Thomas to say that Jesus believed in transgenderism. All kinds of things that are just gross and an affront to the Lord and affront to Jesus Christ, but he sounds good because of his education.

And I fear is leading many people into a very dangerous direction. And I bring that up because over the next few weeks as we continue to examine John 7 and then move into John 8, we're going to see that Jesus continues to interact with the educational elite, with those who've been to school.

In fact, one of the things we're going to see today is they're going to say, where did.

You get your learning?

You didn't go to school. They're going to challenge Jesus. They're going to say, you don't have any letters behind your name. You don't have a doctorate. You don't have an education. Where does your knowledge come from?

And in the end, Jesus will assure them and remind us that he came not to reveal a substantial earthly education, but he came to reveal the Father's knowledge to us. And that's what Jesus did. So with that in our minds, let us stand together and we're going to read beginning at verse 14, and we'll read down to verse 31.

John 7 and 14 says, About the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?

So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God, or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?

Why do you seek to kill me? The crowd answered, You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill you? Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all marveled at it. Moses gave you circumcision, not that it was from Moses, but from the fathers, and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me, because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.

Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, Is not this the man whom they seek to.

Kill?

And here he is speaking openly, and they say nothing to him? Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know that this man comes from. We know where this man comes from.

And when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from. So Jesus proclaimed as he taught in the temple, You know me, and you know where I come from, but I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me. So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word, and I thank you for your truth. And I pray, oh Father, that you would, even in this moment, give us eyes to see and ears to hear what your word has to say to us.

I pray, Lord, for forgiveness of my sin and preparation for the preaching of your word, that you would keep me from error, that you would open the hearts of the people who will listen to this, to your truth, that your Holy Spirit would ultimately be the teacher, that I would decrease, that Christ would increase, as John prayed.

And Lord, I pray that those under the sound of my voice who know your word, who believe your word, who trust in you, would be edified. And for those who have not yet believed your word, that today would be the day of salvation.

We pray it all in Jesus' name and for his sake, Amen. John chapter 7 begins with Jesus in Galilee with his family, and his brothers are encouraging him, goading him, maybe a better term, to go to the Feast of Tabernacles to make himself.

Known.

They challenge him by saying that no one who wants to make himself known does so where there's no crowd. You need to go where the crowds are. You need to go where things are happening. And as we noted last week, Galilee was the more rural northern part of the area and Judea was the southern and more cosmopolitan part.

And this was the call of his brothers, go with us. Let's go to the Feast, make yourself known. The Feast of Tabernacles was an important celebration among the Jewish people. It was prescribed for them in the book of Leviticus that one time during the year they would come together, they would live together in mobile dwelling places they called booths or tents, and they would do so in remembrance of their time spent in the wilderness where they lived in tents and in tabernacles as they were traveling along from Egypt to the promised land.

So this was a big celebration and some of the things that happened was, and we're going to talk about this a little bit more in the weeks to come, there was a water pouring ceremony which remembered the time of the water coming from the rock during the time of Moses.

Remember when the rock gave forth the water for them to drink and there was a lighting ceremony which was supposed to represent the Shekinah glory of God which led them by night and by day during the time of the wilderness wanderings.

There were all of these ceremonies and celebrations and there was a time of waving palms similar to what Jesus did when he came in on the donkey on Palm Sunday. There was this long celebration, a joyous time of celebration for the people of God here at the Feast of Booths.

And the brother said, go there, make yourself known. And Jesus says, no, I'm not yet going there. I'm not going in the way you want me to go. I'm not going down there to be known. I'm not going to do that.

So the brothers went and it doesn't say this, but we know from other passages that normally they would go through a caravan. Many people from Galilee would gather together and they would go caravan down similar to what we see when Jesus is 12 years old, he's in the temple, left in the temple.

Why was he left? Because his parents were in this big caravan. One father thought the mother had him. The mother thought the father had him and they were separated by this large group of people who were traveling to Galilee.

So Jesus doesn't go down with the group, but he goes down privately. He goes down secretly. And when he goes down, the people are asking the question, where's Jesus? When's he going to get here? And there was discussion going on about what people thought of him.

Some people thought that he was a good man according to this text, but other people thought he was leading people astray. So the crowds were divided over Jesus. But it also says in verse 13 that they would not talk openly about him out of fear.

They were afraid. Why were they afraid? Because they knew the Jewish leaders had taken great issue with Jesus and many of them wanted to see Jesus killed. And if you thought Jesus was a good man and you knew the leadership hated him, well you wouldn't want to be associated with him.

You wouldn't want people to know you thought he was a good man if the leaders are wanting to have him killed. That would be sort of a sin by association. You don't want to be one of his followers in that situation.

So this leads us to verse 14. In verse 14 we see Christ enter up and begin teaching. And then comes the questioning of his credentials. So let's begin back there at verse 14 and we'll read. It says, About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

The Jews therefore marveled and said, How is it that this man has learning when he has never studied? Literally, the Greek here, the word learning there is the word grama. It's where we get our word grammar.

And this is why in certain translations, maybe the translation that you're holding, it will say how does this man know letters? Is that what the King James, something to that effect, referring to knowing how to read, knowing his letters, knowing, where did he get his education?

That's the idea behind grama, behind his understanding. Where did this man get his knowledge? And what we need to understand is the very next phrase, they make this point. Where did he get his learning when he has never studied?

You see, in the culture of the day, when a rabbi or when a person wanted to receive a religious education, they would receive their religious education from the rabbis. They would go and they would sit at their feet and they would become their disciples and they would learn and they would then, when they became rabbis, they would then quote their rabbis.

They would carry on the teachings of their teachers. In fact, this was part of the tradition of learning was, it wasn't about new ideas, but it was about carrying on the ideas, the traditions and the beliefs that you had been taught.

And so one of the questions about Jesus' ministry was, he's not quoting anyone. He's not basing his teaching on anyone else's authority. He's not quoting Gamaliel, who of course was a famous rabbi at the time of the Apostle Paul.

He was the rabbi the Apostle Paul learned from. Remember, he says, I was trained by Gamaliel. And there were others. There was Hillel and there were a few other very famous rabbis who, from the time, carried great weight and had many disciples.

Jesus didn't have that. And we understand, in one sense, kind of, we still do that today. Often times, if you hear a preacher preach, he might say, well Charles Spurgeon said. Or he might say, well John Calvin said.

And why do we do that? Well we're saying, on this particular point, here's someone who had great learning, who had great education, who was a great preacher, great pastor. This is where he agrees with this understanding.

We do this when we go to school. I don't know how many of you remember writing papers when you were in high school or in college and you wrote a fact. You had to cite your source. You had to say, well here's where I'm getting this information.

Like if you, so let's say you're writing about an infectious disease and you say, well this infectious disease, you know, 100 ,000 people in China have this disease. They would say, how do you know? You didn't do the study.

You have to cite the study. You have to cite the source. Where are you getting your information? That's the question. Where are you getting this information? And the issue with Jesus is they knew that he had not had formal education, at least as far as anyone knew.

Jesus did not sit at the feet of the rabbis. Now he did at 12 years old go and sit in the temple and have an interaction with the rabbis, but that was not formal rabbinical education. Jesus, as it were, came with no educational background as far as anyone knew.

And so the question is, well did he go somewhere else and learn this? Did he get this information from somewhere else? Because he didn't get this from us. The things that he is saying didn't come from us.

And I want you to understand something about this argument. Because really this is an argument against Jesus' qualifications. We see this in other passages in scripture. Who is this guy? He doesn't have any education.

He has no...

And they say the same thing about the apostles. Remember in the book of Acts? When the apostles come in and they're preaching, what do they say? These are untrained and unlearned men. These are agramata.

These men have no letters. That's the word that's used there in the book of Acts. What this is, and I just want to share a thought with you. This is what we call an ad hominem attack. In rhetoric and in debate, there are things that are called logical fallacies.

And you've probably heard this term, logical fallacies, especially if you've ever engaged in any type of polemics or apologetics or any engagement with someone who disagrees with you. Because you will listen to people's argument, and you will often hear that arguments are not good based upon the fact that they're using some type of a logical fallacy.

For instance, the logical fallacy of the law of non-contradiction. You can't say something is and isn't in the same relationship, and both of those be true. So for instance, I can't say, Gary, you are a man, and you're not a man.

And mean that in the same way and in the same relationship. If I say you're a man and you're not a man, and I mean it in the same way in the same relationship, one of those is false. Because I am stating a contradiction.

Right?

That's the law of non-contradiction. Someone says something that contradicts something he just said, that is a contradiction. And if you're ever in a conversation or an apologetics situation where you're talking to someone, listen for that.

Listen for the self-contradictory statements. Because that often shows you the sign of a bad argument. That's how rhetoric and conversation and polemics and apologetics, when you're engaging with people on an intellectual level, that's how that works.

Well, one of the most egregious forms of logical fallacies is called the ad hominem argument. Ad hominem literally just means against the man. Against the man. And an ad hominem argument is when they're not dealing with what you're saying, they're dealing with you personally.

You've all been in this situation. Where you're talking to someone about something and they can't overcome what you're saying, so instead of overcoming what you're saying and the argument you're making, they begin to attack you.

And if you've never had this happen, maybe you're just not on social media. And praise the Lord if you're not.

That would be great.

But if you are, and you've ever engaged with anyone where they begin to lose the argument, they'll start attacking you. They'll start attacking your person. They'll start attacking your character. They may even attack your looks.

I said a few weeks ago, if you've never been called stupid, ugly, and I forget the third word I used, but it was three things I was called in the period of 24 hours. I said if you've never been called stupid, ugly, and uneducated, then you probably have never been in ministry.

People will attack you personally. And that's what this is. This is an attack personally against the Lord Jesus Christ. They're saying, he doesn't have an education. Where did he get this from? He's not been trained.

And in a sense, there's a part of that which is saying, how do we know what he's saying is right? How do we know what he's saying is true? We don't have any, there's nothing behind it. There's no source.

He's not citing anything. Where did he get this knowledge? And so Jesus answers them. Jesus actually answers the question. In verse 15, or I'm sorry, verse 16. In verse 15 it says, The Jews therefore marveled and said, How is it that this man has learning when he has never studied?

He has no education.

So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. See, understand this. Jesus did not receive this information, this education, this knowledge, by going to school. And by the way, I'm not saying going to school is bad.

I'm not saying getting an education is bad. I don't even want anyone to think that that's the point. That's not the point. What I'm saying, though, is Jesus didn't get his education that way. I want to ask you this, and I want you to think about this.

Did Jesus learn? Yes, yes he did, yes. But I think sometimes we get a little nervous with that one. Because we say, well, Jesus is God in the flesh. Yeah, but as God in the flesh, he is literally in the flesh, and we use the phrase incarnate, he became a man.

And the Bible says he grew in knowledge and wisdom. He grew in knowledge and wisdom and in favor with God and with man. So this is where we have to begin to parse out what we call the hypostatic union.

The hypostatic union refers to Jesus' human nature and divine nature united in the one person of Jesus Christ. We say Jesus is a divine person. He is a God-man, the only God-man who has ever been. He has the full nature of divinity in him.

The Bible says in the book of Colossians, all the divinity, all the Godhead was found in him bodily.

Right?

All the fullness of God is found in him bodily. So no doubt, this is why, like Dr. White said yesterday, for those of you who weren't here, when someone wants to call Mary the mother of God, if what they are saying is that Jesus is truly God in the flesh, then there's no problem with that.

If what they're saying is that they're trying to exalt Mary, then that's where we could have a problem. But if we just simply say Mary bore the God-man in her womb, yes, praise the Lord, we have no problem with that.

Because Jesus is the God-man. But the part that we often will not realize is the man part of that is very important as well. We stress the God, but we diminish the man. No, he was fully man. The Latin fathers, you've heard me say this a thousand times.

Vera homo, vera Deus. Vera homo, Latin, truly man. Vera Deus, Latin, truly God. Everything that is God was in Christ. But yet everything that was man was also in Christ. And therefore he grew in physicality.

He was born as a baby.

He was a little baby.

Born out of his mother's womb.

And you know what?

He wasn't faking his diaper changes. You know what I mean by that? He had to go through the diaper phase. And he had to go through the toddler phase. And he had to go through all of those phases. Yet he did so without sin.

A soiled diaper is not a sin, parents.

Amen.

It can smell like it. But Jesus grew in knowledge. But we would also say, in touching his divine nature, Jesus also had access to the Father in a unique way. And we see this through, we would say, the work of the Spirit on Christ in his ministry.

Was able to say things and know things that no man could ever know. He was able to proclaim things that no man could see. And this is why he says, my knowledge is not mine. He's not denying his divinity.

Just to be very clear. Jesus is not denying that he's divine. But he's saying, in this role as the incarnate representation of God, I come to you not in my name, but in the name of the one who sent me.

And I come with the message of the one who sent me. And this is where I think we as Trinitarians have to be very careful not to get mixed up here. Because there are those who are what are known as oneness Pentecostals.

Oneness modalists. They believe that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all the same person. That is a heresy condemned in the 4th century. It is not the case. We do not say Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit are all the same person.

We say they are all one God. They share the essence of God. But we distinguish between the person of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Spirit. We say God eternally exists, one in substance, three in subsistence.

This is how we define it in our confessions and our creeds. And therefore we can say there is co-equality. And there is co-eternality between the three persons. But there is still a distinction between the three persons that we can make.

So that the Father sends the Son. And the Father and the Son together send the Spirit. This is why Jesus says I must go away. Because if I don't go away the Spirit cannot come. But when I go away I will send to you the Holy Spirit.

Right?

So we make these distinctions. And so when Jesus says I come, I'm coming with the message of the one who sent me. Because Jesus is sent by the Father. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

This is Jesus' message to them. You want to know where my education came from? Well it's the family business. I got it from my Father. Now did Jesus read scripture growing up? I'm certain He did. And was there times where even in His family, in His home, He learned things?

From His Father and from His mother? I'm certain that He did. That's why I said He learned things. I don't doubt that at all. But these divine insights that He has. This message that He has for the people of God.

This message that He's proclaiming is divine revelation. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh.

You see?

He is speaking the Word of God to them directly from God. He is an agent of revelation to them. He is an agent of revelation to the people. So, He says my teaching is not mine but Him who sent me. And then verse 17.

He makes this very important statement. He says if anyone's will is to do God's will. He will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. I want you to really think on this statement.

Because what Jesus is saying here. And this is hugely important. Please do not miss it. He's saying if your heart is to do God's will. Then you will believe in me. Now you say where do you get that?

Look at it again. Look at it with me.

If anyone's will is to do God's will. He will know whether the teaching. What teaching?

His teaching.

You'll know whether His teaching is from God or whether I'm speaking on my own authority. Because if your will is to do God's will. Then you're going to discern who Jesus is. But if your will is opposed to God which the Pharisees was.

You will not hear Jesus' message and you will not receive it. Intelligence and obedience. Jesus is actually showing us obedience precedes intellect. If we think we have to know everything before we can obey.

That's not what God says. He says trust and obey. Now we do have to have a body of knowledge to obey. There has to be some intellectual knowledge. But it doesn't begin with I have to know everything before I can obey.

If I had to know everything about God before I was obedient. I would never be obedient. And I would always have an excuse. But that's not the call of God. The call of God is trust. Trust me. Even when you don't understand.

Trust me and obey. Even when you don't all get it all. And Jesus says here. If anyone's will is to do God's will. If you truly desire to be obedient. Then the understanding will come. But if you don't desire to be obedient.

You're going to think Jesus is speaking on his own authority. You're not going to receive the message of Christ. It begins with the disposition of the heart. And we talked about this for a while. So I won't reiterate it again.

The disposition of the heart. God actually opens our heart. Because what is our natural disposition of the heart? Natural disposition of the heart is opposition to God.

As it says.

We are by nature children of wrath. We are in our natural disposition at enmity with God. But Jesus says. If anyone's will is to do God's will. He will know whether the teaching is from God. Or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

Now Jesus goes in to dive in a little further into his. Where his authority resides.

He says.

The one who speaks on his own authority. Seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true. He's speaking of himself. And in him there's no falsehood.

So he says.

The one who speaks on his own authority. Seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true. And in him there is no deceit. No falsehood. Jesus did not come to seek his own earthly glory.

Now will Jesus receive glory?

Yes.

When does Jesus receive glory? Well he ascended into heaven. Seated at the right hand of the father. And in that sense. Currently is in a position of authority. But there is coming a day. When the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2.

That he will have every knee.

What?

Bow.

And every tongue. Confess. For what? To the glory of God the father.

Right?

Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. Jesus Christ will descend from heaven. Jesus Christ will lay his enemies. To judgment. And Jesus Christ will be glorified. But when he was on earth. He came not for glory.

But he came in humility. This is demonstrated in his birth. He was born in a humble method. Through the virgin's womb. In a feeding trough. Laid in a feeding trough. He grew up in obscurity. In a rural village.

And yet. And yet. When he comes on the scene. There is this idea. Will he be glorified? What do we do with this man? Jesus says I have not come. To seek my own glory. But whose glory? I'm seeking the glory of him who sent me.

Seeking the glory of my father. Jesus will receive glory. But in this point. He's pointing to the fact. That that was not his purpose. In his earthly ministry.

In fact.

What did he say? He said he came to serve. We see that later in John's gospel. When he ties a towel around his waist. And gets down on his knees. And washes the feet. Of those. Who followed him. One other important phrase here.

That I don't think we should miss. Is at the end of verse 18.

It says.

In him there is no falsehood. In him there is no falsehood. Remember last week. I said that there are some people. Who believe that Jesus lied. Because he said I'm not going up to this feast. And then he went up to the feast.

And a lot of people will say. Well right there Jesus told a lie. And I said that's not Jesus lying. That's Jesus explaining. That he's not going up now. He's not going up yet. But he was going up to the feast.

So there was a temporary difference. Between the time they wanted him to go. And the time he did go. But for anyone who might ask or question. As to whether or not what I said was accurate. I want you to think of verse 18.

He just.

He's talking about himself. When he says in him. Notice again. Follow the language.

He says.

The one who speaks on his own authority. That's him. Or it's not him.

He says.

Seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of him. Who sent him is true. And in him. There is no falsehood. He's talking about himself.

He says.

In him there is no falsehood.

So.

Jesus tells the truth. Jesus does not lie. And why this matters so much. Is because I honestly think. In our own day. We have so many folks. Who are Christians. Who struggle with. The concept of assurance.

And if you don't think that that's true. If you don't think. Assurance is one of the things people struggle with.

Today.

Because maybe you don't personally struggle with it. I just invite you. To listen to the questions we receive every week on. On our show. Almost weekly. We get questions from people who say. I'm struggling with the assurance of my salvation.

I'm struggling. With how to know I'm saved. How do I know. That I know.

That I know. That I know.

And remember yesterday. Again I keep referencing Dr. White. For those of you who are here. We had a great time. It was almost like having a personal dividing line. He was right here with us. And he was talking to us directly.

And he was telling us some things. And he talked about the fact. That in the Roman Catholic Church. It's a sin to presume on your own salvation. To believe that you know that you are saved. You don't know until.

The end. But the Bible tells us. We are to know that we have eternal life. Not wonder. Not sit in doubt. Not sit wringing our hands all the time. Wondering whether or not we are saved. And so we go back.

To this idea. What's the number one way. To help with our assurance. It's this. This is the answer. First you have to believe. That Jesus did not lie to you. When he made that promise. You have to believe.

Jesus didn't lie to you. When he made that promise. Because if there's. If you have doubt in your heart. That Jesus is telling you the truth. Then that's going to begin to affect. Your own assurance. In fact I truly believe.

One of the most. One of the most.

Well known.

Of Jesus's. Dialogues. Is in the upper room. It's in John 14. And if you've ever been to a Christian funeral. You've heard it. Because in John 14. Jesus says. Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God.

Believe also in me. In my father's house. There are many rooms. If it were not so. I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you. I'll come again. And take you to myself.

That where I am. You may be also.

You know the way.

To where I'm going. Thomas said.

Lord we don't know where you're going.

How can we know the way. Jesus said. I am the way. The truth. And the life. And no one comes to the father. Except by me.

You remember.

Right. I've done over 150 funerals. I used to work at a funeral home. Not work there. But I worked alongside them.

As a.

As basically like a makeshift chaplain. They would call me when they needed someone. And there were years. And Mike. Mike and Danny. Remember their time. I do two or three services a week. Because they had so many people.

Who didn't have ministers. But wanted a Christian funeral. And I would go. Because it would give me the opportunity. To preach the gospel. I wanted the opportunity. To preach the gospel. So I would go.