John 7 Verses 14-18 

John 7:14 “Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. 15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” 

As always, Jesus reveals himself when it pleases him and not when men want him to.  Here Jesus revealed himself when he went up to the temple and taught.  In an effort to try to discredit the Lord, the leaders of the Jews questioned his knowledge based on the fact that he had not been taught by the Jewish teachers: “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”  Of course, as the Son of God, Jesus had nothing to learn as he has all wisdom and knowledge.  Jesus answered them, and said, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”  Jesus clearly told them that what he was teaching came from the Father.  Moreover, Jesus taught that there is a way to know if what he taught was true: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”  By doing the will of God we know that the doctrine came from God.   

“He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.”  Jesus was not speaking of himself, therefore he was not seeking his own glory.  By seeking the glory of Him that sent him, he bore evidence that he is true and that there is no unrighteousness in him. 

John 7 Verses 19-24 

John 7:19 “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? 20 The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. 22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. 23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? 24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”   

“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?”  The Jews were taking the law, which they did not keep and trying to apply it to Jesus because he had healed on the Sabbath day.  That was the excuse they were using.  The truth is that they were envious and jealous of the attention that the people were giving to Jesus and they hated Jesus because what he was doing was upsetting their political control over the people which they had through their works system.   

“The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?”  The people knew that they were seeking to kill Jesus, but were not willing to publicly admit it and in an effort to hide their evil accused the Lord of having a devil.   

“Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.” The people were not marveling for the good deed that was done, but were marveling because it was done on the Sabbath day.   

“Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.”  Circumcision was given as an ordinance by the Lord unto Abraham.  Under the law the male children were to be circumcised when they were eight days old.  If the eighth day fell on a Sabbath, then the child was circumcised on the Sabbath. This was a work done on the Sabbath day.   

“If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”  The error of the Jews concerning working on the Sabbath day is that they were not applying mercy to their application of the law.   

John 7 Verses 25-32 

John 7:25 “Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? 26 But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? 27 Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. 28 Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. 29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me. 30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? 32 The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.” 

In this passage of scripture the confusion continues amongst the people.   

“Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? 26 But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?”  The knowledge that the rulers of the people were seeking to kill Jesus was common knowledge.  Yet, when Christ spoke boldly, the people took knowledge that the rulers said nothing unto him.  The people’s suspicion at that time was that the rulers knew that this was the very Christ.  But in their own minds, they doubted saying: “Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.”  What the people knew about Jesus is that he was raised in the family of Joseph and Mary and that he had brothers and sisters and that he was from Galilee.  What they didn’t know was that he was born of a virgin who had conceived by the Holy Ghost.  They did not know that the Father had sent him to come into the world to save his people from their sins. 

“Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.  But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.”  In this passage the Lord acknowledged to the people that there were some things that they knew, but that there were other things that they did not know and did not believe.  He told them that they did not know the Father and that he was sent from the Father.   

“Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.”  It was not possible that men could lay hands on Jesus at this time, because it was not yet his hour to go to the cross. 

“And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?”  This fact and saying greatly troubled the Pharisaical leaders, therefore: “The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.”