Author: Jeff Englund

John 7: 18

” Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.”

This verse makes me feel very self-conscious. I occasionally have the opportunity to speak to Believers about God and His Word. For a person who enjoys the attention that being a speaker brings, there is always a danger of getting caught up in the glory of being in the spotlight. When that happens what we say becomes less important than saying what will get us more attention.  Continue reading “Glory”

John 7: 17

” Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”

Do you choose to do the will of God? How do you know what that is? Has it led to a knowledge of whether Jesus was speaking God’s word or speaking on his own?

Jesus says that a person who “chooses to do the will of God” will find out if his (Jesus’) teachings come from God or if he is speaking on his own. Continue reading “Finding Out”

John 7: 16

” Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.’”

Are you a teacher?

In fairness, I think it is safe to say that everyone is a teacher at some point in their life. Some of us take up the trade as a profession, and some teach out of necessity.

If we teach someone a skill, that is a way of passing on knowledge. I remember my dad teaching me how to hold a metal file when I was very young. He had been a machinist before he went to college and so when it came to files, he knew what he was talking about.

Likewise, Jesus shared with others what his Father had shown to Him. Oddly, this sharing of the Father’s will came into conflict with the Jewish leaders who also claimed to be teaching what God wanted people to know.

The people of Jesus’ day were confronted by two different truth claims. Continue reading “Choosing”

John 7: 14-15

” Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?'”

Hmmm… Ever wonder how smart Jesus is? Being God means never having to worry about someone else knowing more than you do. There are many reasons to believe Jesus is God. Some are subtle and some are overt. The reason in this passage is a bit on the subtle side. Jesus knows the scriptures because he saw them being written. He knows Moses and David personally. He and Abraham go way back. So when Jesus speaks about the scriptures, he is not referring to words that he has studied as a man would study them. Instead, he speaks about what he knows.  Continue reading “God Smart”

John 7: 11-13

‘ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

Among the crowds, there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.’

Jesus knows the hearts of people, and he knows what is going on when others do not. In verse 1 of this chapter, it says, “He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.” Maybe by giving his brothers the idea that he was not going to go to the festival, he was really protecting them from being put in a situation where they would have to betray Jesus to the Jewish leaders. Now they could honestly say, “He is not here,” if asked.

But what about the drama in Jerusalem? Continue reading “Deceit”

John 7: 10

” However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ”

This passage is an interesting example of why we need to be careful about how we approach the Biblical texts. What I mean is that approaching the Bible with a casual reading can be a recipe for misunderstanding and wrong conclusions.  Continue reading “Why?”

John 7: 6-9

‘ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.’

Here we have another example of Jesus’ heavenly perspective showing up in his speech. The idea that someone has an appointed time for some very personal event is unique. We might casually use the phrase, “It’s not my time…” for this or that, but we speak from the perspective of a human who is guessing or making an excuse. (e.g. – “I didn’t win because it just wasn’t my time.”) Jesus, on the other hand, speaks of a specific time that is preordained.  Continue reading “My Time”

John 7: 2-5

” But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, ‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.”

Being the oldest sibling in the family carries with it certain burdens that are unique. I know. I am one. For one thing, the oldest is the child that parents make most of their mistakes on. The oldest also seems to be the recipient of a lot of expectations. Then there is the role of helping to raise the younger siblings. Sometimes that means lots of responsibility without any authority to go with it.  Continue reading “Brothers”

John 7:1

” After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.”

Did you ever have one of those days when people were looking for ways to kill you? No? How about beat you up?

When I was about eleven years old my family moved to a small town with a rather rough pedigree. Academics were not prized there, but toughness was. Sometimes people would pick a fight for no reason at all. Stories about kids getting beat up or seriously hurt were not uncommon, and there were certain places one didn’t go if they didn’t want to risk a confrontation with someone who was just looking for a fight.

Even so, there is a big difference between being the object of a bully’s unwanted attention, and having people seriously plotting to kill you. Continue reading “Avoidance”

John 6: 70-71

‘Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)’

This is a highly unusual passage in that Jesus calls out Judas Iscariot indirectly, letting him know that Jesus knows who and what he is. The indirect approach also leaves the other disciples all looking at each other and wondering which one of them is a devil. Clearly, Jesus is not into “team building.” Continue reading “Devil”