Five Questions About Jesus | John 7:14-24

By /
Speaker: Pastor
Series:

Five Questions About Jesus

Every one of us renders verdicts every day, on people, on choices, on ourselves, often without realizing we’re doing it. We size up motives we can’t see, we measure others against rules we’ve quietly made our own, and we rarely stop to ask whether our judgment is actually right. Jesus stepped into the temple in the middle of a feast, surrounded by people who studied Scripture for a living, and within moments they were questioning everything about him, his credentials, his authority, even his sanity. What unfolds in John 7:14-24 isn’t just an ancient argument. It’s five questions that landed on me this week, and I believe they’re meant to land on you too.

The crowd marveled at Jesus’ teaching, not out of admiration but as an indictment: “You have no accredited schooling… therefore you have no right to teach.” Jesus answered plainly, “my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me,” and that answer opens up five questions I want to walk through this morning, each one drawn straight from the text, each one asking something different of us than the last.

Do I Believe That Jesus’ Words Have Authority in My Life?

The Pharisees attacked Jesus’ credentials because they didn’t like his message. “If people don’t like the message, they attack the messenger.” That’s true in our world just as it was in theirs. But here’s what struck me studying this passage: the question isn’t really academic. Most of us in a room this size would say yes, we believe the Bible is God’s Word. The real question is sharper than that.

“How much validity, authority did God’s word have in your life this past week,” I asked, “and how much will it play a part of your life this coming week?” You can sit under solid preaching, feel something, and walk out unchanged. It doesn’t touch your calendar, your giving, your forgiveness. Jesus asked in Luke 6:46, “why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not what I tell you?” That question hasn’t lost its edge.

Am I Willing to Do God’s Will?

Verse 17 is the hinge of this whole passage. Jesus says if anyone is willing to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God. “Knowledge, according to this verse, is conditional on your will and not on your intellect.” That reframes everything. It’s not that we lack information. It’s that we lack willingness.

I walked through what Scripture actually says God’s will is: surrendering your body as a living sacrifice, Romans 12:1. Living a pure life, 1 Thessalonians 4:3. A thankful heart in every circumstance, 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Submitting to authority, 1 Peter 2. Even our travel plans surrendered, “if the Lord wills.” I love H.A. Ironside’s prayer on this: “O God Almighty, I’m going to do your will no matter what it costs me.” Is that your spirit this morning?

Am I More Concerned About My Glory or God’s Glory?

Jesus said the one who seeks his own glory speaks on his own authority, but the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true. The Pharisees loved the place of honor. Diotrephes wanted preeminence. Even Lucifer desired glory that wasn’t his. Before we judge them too quickly, I asked the room some pointed questions: when you do something, why do you do it? How do you respond when someone else gets the credit? How do you respond when you’re criticized?

Our attitude has to be like John the Baptist’s: “He must increase. And I must decrease.” Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God, not your own name.

Am I More Loyal to the Letter of the Law Than to Its Heart?

Jesus confronted them directly: “yet none of you keep the law… why do you seek to kill me?” They were furious he healed on the Sabbath, yet their own tradition allowed circumcision on the Sabbath. F.F. Bruce put it well: if removing a piece of tissue can override the Sabbath, it cannot be wrong to heal a man’s whole body on that day. “Legalism gives birth to hypocrisy.”

I told our church something personal here. I came from a legalistic background, and for years my box of what a Christian was supposed to look like was far too small. God has worked on that in me since we planted this church in 2008. When our preferences or convictions become the law by which we judge someone else, that’s legalism. Be strict with yourself. Be gracious with others. The Lord stands in judgment of them, not you.

Am I Making the Proper Assessment About Spiritual Matters?

Verse 24 says, “do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” This verse isn’t condemning us for judging rightly, it’s warning us against judging what we can’t actually see, someone’s heart, someone’s motives. As Ironside said, “God reads the heart, you do not.” We can judge actions. We cannot judge motives. That distinction matters more than we usually give it credit for.

Discussion Questions

  1. When you think back over this past week, how much authority did God’s Word actually have over your calendar, your giving, or your relationships, not just your feelings on Sunday?
  2. Where in your life right now is God asking for willingness rather than more information, whether it’s surrender, purity, thankfulness, or submission to authority?
  3. Has a personal preference or conviction ever become, in your own mind, “thus says the Lord” for someone else? What would it look like to be strict with yourself but gracious with them?

Jesus stood in that temple surrounded by people with murder in their hearts, and he met them with mercy anyway. That same mercy is on offer to you this morning, whether you’ve walked with him for decades or you’re not sure yet if any of this is true. If that’s you, take Ironside’s counsel and just pray honestly: Lord, open my eyes if this is real. And if you know him, may you leave here not just having heard these five questions, but actually living the answers this week.

We hope you enjoyed the sermon and would love to see you in person. Plan your visit to Community Baptist Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee today!

Plan A Visit
Scroll to Top