Category: John

Clamping Down on the Resurrection (John 11:17–44)

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

—John 11:23–27

Signs signify. John wrote this gospel, highlighting particular signs so that what was signified thereby would be believed. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31). What is signified by this specific sign is that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. By belief, the life that you have is the life that is in Jesus. Believing that Jesus is the Christ means believing that He is the Resurrection and the Life and receiving that life. This sign is for faith in Jesus as the Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life.

“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus tells Martha. D.A. Carson says this is a “masterpiece of planned ambiguity.” This is not a conventional comforting condolence, though it is easily mistaken as such. In a time of grief 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 gives us not only some of the most comforting words for the bereaved, but commanded words to share with those who have lost one in Christ.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage [NASB “comfort”] one another with these words.”

Martha takes Jesus’ words just as such words of comfort. They are not. Jesus is telling her that the future hope is about to be demonstrated in the here and now. Martha again replies with an answer of faith (v. 24). She believes in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus says to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus hasn’t come to simply give her the comfort of truth. He has come to be the truth that comforts. This sign is pointing to the bigger reality of the resurrection on the last day. But, as a sign, that future reality is present. The resurrection that is to be on the last day, is a resurrection in Jesus. The Resurrection is present with Martha.

Here is how present resurrection is with not only Martha, but with anyone who believes in Jesus: “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (vv. 25b–26a). If you believe in Jesus, you live even though you die. If you believe in Jesus, you live such that you never die. Jesus again and again has said that whoever believes in Him has eternal life (3:26; 5:24; 6:47). This is because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in Christ are in union with Christ. They have died in Christ and they have risen a new creation. When the spiritually dead believe, they have risen with resurrection life.

Saints, you already have this resurrection life. Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life is present with you. Though you die, you shall life. Those who live in Christ, shall never die. You already possess a life that death cannot touch, for death has already touched it and lost. You possess a life from the other side of death. A life that undid death.

Jesus here directs Martha’s faith away from focusing on an abstract doctrine to focusing on Himself as the embodiment of that doctrine. Doctrine is precious and true, but don’t treat doctrines as truths that float out there, independent of the being and work of Christ. It is as though the wire connections of Martha’s faith are weak. There are gaps. The sparks of faith are jumping, but Jesus is working to clamp Martha’s faith directly onto Him. Believe doctrine, but believe your doctrine in Christ. It is not faith in the doctrine of Christ that saves, but faith in the Christ of that true doctrine that saves.

The Logic of the Lord’s Love (John 11:1–16)

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

—John 11:5–6

Jesus loves Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, so, He stays. Jesus stays. Why? Because He loves them. Jesus staying is given a fourfold emphasis. Note all the time references: “He stayed, two days longer… then, after this,” vv. 6–7. Marvel at the peculiar logic of the Lord’s love. Why does Jesus stay? Because He loves.

“How is this love?” you might object. If so, ask yourself, “What does my objection or puzzlement say I love?” We love our health and wellbeing and ease and comfort and peace. If Jesus loved us, He would work for these things, so we think. It is telling to place Jesus’ motivations for staying alongside those of the disciples (v. 8). Jesus’ motivation puzzles us. The disciples’ make sense. “Oh yeah, they’re seeking to kill Jesus. Perhaps they should stay.” When the first puzzles us, and the second doesn’t, it reveals that our real objection to Jesus’ actions is our selfishness, not Jesus’.

How is this love? Jesus said this illness was not for death, but for the glory of God (v. v. 4). The most loving thing God can do for us is to make much of Himself. The most loving thing God can do to us is to lead us not to a shallow puddle of joy, but to the infinite ocean of delight. The most loving thing God can do for us is shatter our mirrors and move us to look out the window. The most loving thing God can do for us is not to make much of us, but much of Himself. It is more loving for God to display His glory to and through us than to spare us from all suffering. This is for the glory of God, and so, because He loves them, He waits. John Piper writes, 

“Oh, how many people today—even Christians—would murmur at Jesus for callously letting Lazarus die and putting him and Mary and Martha and others through the pain and misery of those days. And if people today saw that this was motivated by Jesus’ desire to magnify the glory of God, how many would call this harsh or unloving! What this shows is how far above the glory of God most people value pain-free lives. For most people, love is whatever puts human value and human well-being at the center. So Jesus’ behavior is unintelligible to them.

But let us not tell Jesus what love is. Let us not instruct Him how He should love us and make us central. Let us learn from Jesus what love is and what our true well-being is. Love is doing whatever you need to do to help people see and savor the glory of God in Christ forever and ever. Love keeps God central. Because the soul was made for God.”

Oh the peculiar and glorious logic of the Lord’s love. Oh how He loved Job and Jacob and Joseph. Oh how He loved David and Daniel. Oh how He loved Martha and Mary. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

Understanding this kind of love puts this kind of steel in one’s spine, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

When the peculiar providence of God works suffering into your life, remember the logic of the Lord’s love. This is for glory.

Closing Arguments (John 10:22–42)

24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me.

—John 10:14–25

“Who is Jesus?” is a unique question. When asked, you may think it is Jesus who is on trial and that you are acting as judge. In reality, we all sit in the dock already condemned. The question is not an opportunity for judgment, but an offer of pardon. If we answer sinfully, we bring even greater condemnation on ourselves. Sinner, you sit in the dock today. The Holy Judge of heaven, by His living word asks you, “Who is Jesus?” Pardon unto life eternal or condemnation to an eternal hell are certain based on your answer to this singular question.

This episode begins to close the end of the first half of John, known as “the book of signs” which runs from chapters 1–11. In this “book” we find seven signs. These signs, John expressly tells us, are central to the purpose of this gospel. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30–31).

Beginning with chapter 5 we came to a distinct subsection of the book of signs called “the festival cycle.” With this text that cycle comes to a close. Throughout this cycle “witness-testimony-judgment” language have been so constant that they have created a legal atmosphere, a courtroom ambiance over all of Jesus’ interactions with the Jews. In John’s narrative, this is the last interaction Jesus will have with “the Jews” —meaning, the leaders. These are the closing arguments.

The next chapter serves as a transition between the two halves, with the seventh sign, the resurrection of Lazarus. This is the final sign in John, save for the sign of signs—the death and resurrection of our Lord, which is the sole focus of the second half of John. In Chapter 12, Jesus will interact with the crowds some, ultimately pronouncing the same judgment on them as he does on the leaders in chapter 9, leaving them to their blindness.  In chapters 13–17 Jesus interacts intimately with the disciples before His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. So again, this is the last interaction of Jesus with “the Jews.”

John records no trial before the Sanhedrin like the synoptics do. We will see Jesus brought before the high priest, but quickly the baton is passed to Pilate. John, instead of highlighting that later private trial, has this earlier and extensive “public trial,” and He brings it to bear on us. In John’s narrative, these are the closing arguments. And the testimony is brought to bear on you. Who is Jesus?

They think they are putting Jesus on trial. But it is Jesus who is the judge. It is they who sit in the dock as condemned. Pardon is set before them. But they are blind. And believe their places are switched. Sinner, “Who is Jesus?” I ask you this not because I’m interested in who you say that Jesus is as though you were some authority. I ask you out of concern for your soul.

Pardon is set before you with this question. Scripture is telling you the answer. Who is Jesus? He is the Bread of life. Eat and Live. He is the Light of the world. Turn to Him, be delivered from darkness and walk in the light of life. He is the Door. Enter by Him and find salvation and life. He is the Good Shepherd, He laid down His life for the sheep. He is one with the Father. The life He gives to His sheep is absolutely secure. He is one with the Father and the Father is one with Him.

These men demand that Jesus plainly tell them if He is the Christ (v. 24) . He has been telling them so much more. He has been telling them that the Christ is God. He is not a man making himself God (v. 33). He is God who has made Himself man.

Sinner, this might be your last interaction with Jesus. Do not harden your hearts, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and receive secure and certain eternal life in the Son of God.

The Door because the Shepherd (John 10:1–21)

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

—John 10:7, 11

Jesus as the door gives life to the sheep. Jesus as the good shepherd lays down for the sheep. Jesus not only gives life; He lays down His life. Jesus can give life to the sheep, because He laid down His life and took it up again.

Those who enter by Jesus are “saved,” (v. 9). This is a rare use of “salvation” language in John. John predominately uses the language of “life” and “eternal life” instead. The parallel between the two can be seen in John 3:16–17.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Having entered, the sheep then go out to find pasture (v. 9). Through Jesus, the door, the sheep find both protection (entering the sheepfold) and provision (going out to pasture). Jesus as the door gives life to the sheep. Through the Door there is provision and protection. Through the Door there is life.

Jesus can be the Door because He is the Shepherd. The Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Carefully read the verses following His declaration “I am the good shepherd.” Five times Jesus speaks of laying down His life. He both lays it down and He takes it up again. The Shepherd is able to give life to His sheep, because He laid down His life as a lamb. But a merely dead lamb cannot by itself give life. Jesus took His life back up, that He might give life to those whose death He bore. The Lamb who was slain is the Shepherd who lives. He dies their death. He rises with resurrection life to give.

Jesus is the Door of the sheep because He is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the Sheep. He can give life to because He laid down His life for.

Blind so that the Blind Might See (John 9:1–41)

John 9:35–39 (ESV)

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

—John 9:35–39

Jesus’ interactions with the blind man frame this narrative. In between those interactions Jesus is absent, and yet, central to all that unfolds. In the gospel of John, attention has been so intensely focused on Jesus, that this absence is dramatic. The camera has been locked onto one character for so long, and His person and work are so amazing, that the change of focus, once noticed, startles. 

This absence heightens those two interactions of the blind man with Jesus. In each instance, the blind man receives sight. How gloriously different are this man’s interactions with Jesus in contrast to those with the Pharisees. Two times Jesus gives this man sight. And the climactic work of Christ comes at the end. When the camera pans back around to Jesus, we are not disappointed.

This is the sixth sign we encounter in the gospel of John. John falls neatly into two halves. In the first half, chapters 1–12, there are seven signs, thus it is known as the “book of signs.” This is the penultimate sign in the “book of signs.” John has selected his signs carefully. John ends this gospel telling us, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

Think of how the signs have grown in glory. First there was the quiet act of turning the water into wine. Second, Jesus healed the official’s son from a great distance. Third, there was the healing of the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda. Fourth, we have the feeding of the five thousand plus. Fifth, there is a cluster of wonders as Jesus walks on the water to His disciples and then upon getting into the boat the storm ceases and immediately they arrive at their destination. And now, with this healing of the blind man, do not think that we have something more commonplace and lesser than the feeding or the walking on the water. John has selected these signs carefully. They grow in glory. This one is exceeded only by the raising of Lazarus in the book of signs which then anticipates the sign of signs central to the second half of John—the death and resurrection of our Lord. “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind” (v. 32).

But this is not the greatest marvel. John has chosen these signs, he tells us, “so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name,” (John 20:21). Believing is spiritual sight. John has written these signs so that you might see. John has written of this sign in particular, so that you might see! This man was born blind not for sin, but for glory. This man was born blind so that blind men might see. Better to receive the second sight the blind man received than to see the wonder of the blind man receiving his first sight. It is the second sight that sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

This is also the last sign of what is often called “the festival cycle.” This cycle began with an unnamed feast in chapter 5 and the third sign of healing the invalid man. In chapters 5–10 we have four feasts and four signs wherein hostility towards Jesus grows. Since chapter 5, all of Jesus’ interactions with the Jews in Jerusalem have a particularly legal connotation about them. There is a lot of talk of witness and testimony and judgment. This courtroom setting is sustained throughout this chapter as well. But whereas all the legal proceedings have been directly with Jesus, now, an additional witness is called in. Nonetheless Jesus still who they believe they are trying. And it is nonetheless Jesus still who is the true judge. And what Jesus extends in judgment is sight and blindness.

A Wicked Switcheroo and Gracious Substitution (John 8:48–59)

The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

—John 8:48

Since the serpent hissed his lie in the Garden, man has vainly tried to pull the ultimate switcheroo.

“…the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil,’” (Genesis 3:15).

“You will be like God.” This was the promise of sin. The serpent was seeking to reverse creation order in speaking this promise to the woman, placing her over her husband. And under them all—God. And over them all—the serpent.

John 8:12–59 is all about the question “Who?” It looks at the question of who in a judicial sense. Supremely it is about who Jesus is. This is the paramount question in vv. 12–30. Jesus declares, “I am the Light of the world.” The leaders object that He is bearing witness about Himself, therefore His testimony is not valid. Jesus masterfully steers the conversation so that they unwittingly ask Jesus to do just that—bear witness to Himself. In v. 25 they ask, “Who are you?”

In vv. 31–47 Jesus exposes who they are. While He is the Son of the Father, they are children of the devil. Now, in this third section of chapter 8, they try to switch places. They have claimed God as their Father, (v. 41). Now they say that Jesus has a demon. 

In the wake of the first switcheroo, the promise of salvation was given as God cursed the serpent saying, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). As man tried to switch places with God; so he tries to switch seeds.

The seed of the serpent tries to trade places with the seed of the woman, and he does so, as do these Jews, in the name of religion and truth. Sometimes the spawn of Satan call the darkness light and the light darkness, not in the name of knowing evil, but in the name of knowing good. Such is the nature of this switcheroo, that evil is cloaked as good.

Evil man tries to put Himself in the place of the good God. In mercy, the good God puts Himself in the place of sinful man. God the Son answers man’s wicked switcheroo with gracious substitution.

Who Are You? (John 8:31–47)

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

—John 8:31–32

Who are you? 

Who is Jesus?

The opening arguments of John 8 concerned the latter question. At verse 31 there is a turn to the former. John Calvin opened his Institutes with a chicken or the egg conundrum, pondering which of these came first: knowledge of self or knowledge of God. He begins by saying, “Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern.” First he answers, 

“Each of us must, then, be so stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness as to attain at least some knowledge of God. Thus, from the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and—what is more—depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone. To this extent we are prompted by our own ills to contemplate the good things of God; and we cannot seriously aspire to him before we begin to become displeased with ourselves. For what man in all the world would not gladly remain as he is—what man does not remain as he is—so long as he does not know himself, that is, while content with his own gifts, and either ignorant or unmindful of his own misery? Accordingly, the knowledge of ourselves not only arouses us to seek God, but also, as it were, leads us by the hand to find him.”

So first there is this knowledge of our own depravity then that makes way for a true knowledge of God. But Calvin goes on to say,

“Again it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself. For we always seem to ourselves righteous and upright and wise and holy—this pride is innate in all of us—unless by clear proofs we stand convinced of our own unrighteousness, foulness, folly, and impurity. Moreover, we are not thus convinced if we look merely to ourselves and not also to the Lord, who is the sole standard by which this judgment must be measured.”

Calvin then leaves the question hanging without resolution except to say, for the matter of teaching, we must begin with the knowledge of God. But in doing so I do believe he has answered the question. There is a sense in which these are simultaneous, and yet, there is a priority given to the knowledge of God. It is by His light that we see the answer to both of these questions.

We know the darkness within by means of the Light without. But then, once illuminated, we must admit the darkness that is exposed in order to proceed in any knowledge of the Light. Jesus unfolds something of who He is in 8:12–31. He is the Light of the world. Many seem to receive this truth and believe in Him, but once the Light begins to expose their own darkness, they refuse the Light for refusing to own the darkness of their own hearts and parentage.

Who are you?  Who is Jesus? Jesus is the light of the world (v. 12). You are full of darkness. You love the darkness. You are under the dominion of darkness (v. 44). You belong to the kingdom of darkness. Own this. Come humbly to Christ confessing this and pleading His mercy, and light will not only expose, it will transform. Believe that you are a sinner and come to Christ as the Light and you will know the truth of Colossians 1:13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”

Who are you? Who is Jesus? Jesus is the eternally begotten son of the Father. You are a rebellious creature of God most high, subjected to sin through Adam. Jesus is the Son; you are a slave (vv. 34–35). You are in bondage both to the practice sin and to its condemnation. You cannot not sin. Jesus cannot be convicted of sin (v. 46). Look to Jesus and you will see your sin. You will see all your righteousness to be as filthy and full of hypocrisy as the sham righteousness of the Jews and religious leaders who wanted to kill Jesus. But as you look, know that He took on flesh to live as a sinless man that you might be clothed in His righteousness. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Son will set you free and you will be free indeed.

Who are you? Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son doing what He has seen with His Father—God (vv. 28–29, 38). You do what you have heard from your father—the devil (v. 38. 41, 44). Murder and lies brood within your heart. Anger and deception abound. Hatred and willful ignorance proliferate. You lie and murder. Jesus not only speaks the truth, He came to lay His life down, pleading even as He was dying, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” You need not fear the deep darkness, the unspeakable that lies within your own chest, for Christ not only made atonement that you might be forgiven, but so that you might be cleansed. In Him there is not only justification but sanctification. There is not only propitiation, but purification. You can own who you are in repentance when you own who Jesus is in faith. The darkness within isn’t greater than the Light without. No matter how much evil you’ve done, no matter how much darkness lies within, no matter how many murderous and hateful thoughts you entertain, it is as nothing compared to the righteousness that Christ accomplished and the righteousness that abounds in Him.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will no longer be who you are. You will be a new creation in Him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be justified, you will begin being sanctified, and you will one day be glorified. You will not longer be a child of darkness, but a child of light. You will not longer be a slave, but a son. You will no longer be a child of the devil but a child of God. All because who you are will no longer be found in who you are but in who Christ is so that you may boast as Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” (Galatians 2:20). This will be true of you: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come,” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Dear soul, if you have believed, you are now in union with Christ and Romans 6 speaks of who you now are:

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 6:5–11).

And so I ask you once more, who are you?

“Your Witness Is Invalid… Who Are You?” (John 8:12–31)

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”

25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.

John 8:12–13, 25

The judgment-witnesss-testimony themes first introduced in chapter 5 and dominating chapter 7 are sustained throughout chapter 8 as well. The first portion of which, divides into two scenes. In the first there is a movement from who to where (8:12–20). In the second there is a movement from where back to who (8:21–30). In each section they ask a question by which they seek to invalidate Jesus but which really masterfully serves to invalidate themselves.

In the first instance, they ask “Where is your father?” Indicating that they don’t know who has sent Jesus (7:28–29), they don’t know from whence He has come (8:14), they have judged before learning anything about Jesus (7:51). They have judged according to appearances (7:24). They have judged according to the flesh (8:15).

But it is the second question in the second portion that is really the most glorious. The first builds toward the second. Look back. Jesus has opened the “trial” with this opening statement as to who He is: “I am the light of the World.” They say this testimony is invalid. He is bearing witness to himself. But now, in this second round of arguments, here they are asking Jesus to do just that. “Who are you?” Just as He has been telling them from the beginning. He is the I Am.

“I am the Light of the World” (8:12; cf. Psalm 27:1).

“I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” (8:24; emphasis mine; the “he” is supplied by the translators).

“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me” (8:24; emphasis mine; the “he” is supplied by the translators).

Judge Rightly that You Be Not Judged (John 7:1–24)

“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

—John 7:24

Many have submitted that Matthew 7:1 has usurped John 3:16 as the most known and quoted verse of the Bible. “Judge not that you be not judged.” The irony is, the verse is quoted in bad judgment. Jesus there was a warning against hypocritical judgment. Any other use of the text is a misjudgment.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye,” (Mathew 7:1–5).

Jesus doesn’t recommend altogether ignoring the speck in your brother’s eye, but a hypocritical judgment thereof. Further, Jesus follows that admonition with a judgment-necessitating command: “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you,” (Matthew 7:6). Jesus is not anti-judgment. Judgment is inevitable.

While we shouldn’t presume to act as a god, standing in judgment, dealing out condemnation where we are given no authority, we must recognize that a creaturely discernment kind of judgment is necessary on a variety of levels every day. Try drinking milk from this point forward without ever making judgment beforehand. If you don’t judge it before you drink, I’m certain you will once it is in your mouth. Judgment is inevitable. Sour milk is bad.

In this text, Jesus calls for the crowds, and us along with them, to make right judgment. Astonishingly, He calls for us to make a right judgment about Him. This is not to say that we are the judge of Jesus. It is to say that in the courtroom of our soul we do make a judgment, a determination. You discern and decide. Discern rightly. Judge rightly.

If you judge rightly you will realize this: you don’t stand over Jesus to condemn Him; you stand under Jesus as one condemned. Right judgment about Jesus comes to this conclusion: He is the eternally begotten Son of God, the Christ who took on flesh, who was crucified for sinners, who rose conquering death, who is seated in the heavens at the right hand of the Father, and who will come again to judge the living and the dead.

How do we make right judgment? We must not judge according to appearances (7:24). We are short-sighted. We cannot trust our perception. We need the testimony of another. We need the testimony of an authority. The greatest judgment we will every make must be determined by the greatest authority. Because we are making judgment about the ultimate authority, we need the testimony of none other than that ultimate authority. Our triune God has born witness to Himself. Do not trust your perception. Receive His revelation.

Judge wrongly who Christ is, and you will be truly judged. Judge rightly who Christ is and you will never face judgment, for Christ has born it in your stead.

Rejecting Jesus for a Little Truth (John 6:41–59)

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

—John 6:41–42

Very often truths can be the worst of lies. Partial truths can be twisted into whole lies. Yes indeed they know His parents. Joseph is indeed His father, but He is His adoptive earthly father. Mary is indeed His mother, but hers was a virgin conception of the Christ child. They know his parents. This is the “come down” part. It is absolutely and marvelously true, but it is gloriously true because it is not all the truth.

Jesus has come down as He who is from heaven. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth,” (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is God the Son incarnate. Remaining what He was He became what He was not. He is Yahweh tabernacling among us in a tent of flesh. He is the bread that came down from heaven.

Knowing a little truth about Jesus can be dangerous. It can result in grumbling instead of gratitude. It can mean the difference between feasting with gratitude and enjoying eternal life, and grumbling about the bread of heaven to know spiritual famine eternally. Beware a little knowledge of Jesus. How often the atheist or the pagan rejects Jesus as the bread come down from heaven for a little truth about Jesus which they then regard as the whole truth. How many find out a little about Jesus, a little about Bible manuscripts, a little about creation, a little about science, a little about history, a little about the church, and then they draw big conclusions and make big decisions with big consequences all for that little knowledge.

The Lord Jesus Christ, because He is God the Son, is incomprehensible. You cannot exhaustively know Him. You cannot ever master Him. Eternity is not enough to plumb infinity. It is folly for the finite to try do so in time. But do not fail to be thoroughly acquainted either. Strive to know the Lord Jesus Christ as He has revealed Himself in the word as much as you can. Do not reject Jesus for a little truth. Zealously seek out He who is the Truth.