John 7:19-24 “Keeping the Law
of Moses”
Introduction: To understand this passage one must realize
that there are six groups of people in the crowd on this occasion.
1. The
common people who believe Jesus is a good man.
They saw His benevolent works and could only conclude that He was a good
man but just a man.
2. The common people who believe Jesus is a
deceiver. These people saw Jesus as only
the son of Joseph the carpenter. They
could not accept Him because a prophet is not without honor except in his own
country.
3. The people of
4. The Jewish Leaders who believe Jesus is a
false prophet. These make up the vast majority
of the Jewish leaders. They are very
much self righteous. They can not see
their sin for they think that they are keeping the Law.
5. The Jewish Leaders who believe Jesus is from
God. Nicodemus and Joseph are the ones
most famous to us of this category. They
know Jesus is from God.
6. The disciples of Jesus who believe Him to be
the Christ the Savior. These have
accepted Jesus as their savior by faith.
They believe the testimony of Jesus and of the Holy Prophets. They believe the works of Jesus and the
things He teaches are in complete harmony with the Old Testament scriptures.
(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?
1.
Moses gave
A. God gave the Law to
Moses because the people feared.
B. The people did not accuse Moses of making up
the Law.
C. Moses came down and bore a true witness of
what God said.
D. Jesus came down from Heaven and bore a true
witness also.
E. Moses was human and was believed.
F. Jesus is God and should have been believed
even more.
2.
No man has ever kept the Law of God.
A. (James
B.
(Romans
C.
(Romans
3:12) They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not
one.
D. (Psalms 14:2-3) The LORD looked down from heaven upon
the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, [and] seek
God. 3)
They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there
is] none that doeth good, no, not one.
E. (John
8:7) So when they continued asking him,
he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her.
F. Jesus had said that the world could not hate
His brothers.
G. Jesus said that the world hated Him because
he reproves them.
H. Jesus did not say none of us keep the Law!
3.
Jesus gives an example of their breaking the Law.
A. Murder breaks the
Law.
B. If you hate your brother you are guilty of
murder in your heart.
C. They hated Jesus
which was breaking the Law.
D. (Lev 19;17) Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine
heart; thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon
him.
(John
7:20) The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?
1. The people react with their own
accusation. This is a common reaction
for those accused of wrong. The reaction
is to turn the spot light away from self and onto the accuser.
2.
The people accuse Jesus of being paranoid. They say He is talking crazy like one who is
demon possessed.
3.
Yet in verse 25 they admit knowledge of the plot to kill Jesus. At least those who lived in
(John
7:21) Jesus answered and said unto them,
I have done one work, and ye all marvel.
1.
Jesus here refers to the last time He was at
2.
They all had not kept the law of Moses. They all marvelled at the works of
Jesus. Every one of them was guilty of
sin. Every one deserved to be condemned
to Hell. Every one of them did not
deserve the blessings of God.
3. Is it so amazing and marvelous to
us that God is powerful? We should stand
in awe of God. But His works should not
surprise us. He is powerful, Loving,
Merciful, Kind, compassionate.
4.
I am still awed when God answers my prayers. I do not marvel at it for I know that He has
the power.
5.
What amazes me is His grace for it is not in my nature to be
gracious. It is in my nature to hate
those who hate me. This difference be me and my God humbles me before Him. He is Holy and I am common and profane.
(John
7:22) 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.
1. Jesus here gives another example
of the liberty they had taken with the Law of Moses. They circumcised babies on the Sabbath
day. The law said that a child was to be
circumcised when he was eight days old.
The Law says do not work on the sabbath. A conflict would then naturally arise. Women do not get to choose when a child is
born. If they went into labor on a
Friday and the child was born then his circumcision would fall on the sabbath day. What is
one to do when there seems to be a conflict in the perfect law of God. They rightly
concluded that it was ok to circumcise on the Sabbath. The did not carry
this to its natural conclusion. The
Sabbath is a day for men to rest and worship God. It is worshiping God when we obey His
commands. So circumcision being an act
of obedience to God is permissible to do on the Sabbath.
2.
When the man who Jesus healed carried his bed on the Sabbath it was ok
because it was an act of obedience to God.
3.
Doing good on the Sabbath is always
appropriate.
(John
7:23) 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?
1.
God says to men “come let us reason together.”
2.
If it is ok to mar the body of a man on the Sabbath is it not even more
ok to make a man whole again?
3.
They were permitted and required to rescue the Ox from the ditch on the
Sabbath is not a man better than an Ox?
4. Remember right here that the
problem the Jews had with Jesus is that He had broken the Sabbath Law as far as
they were concerned. This makes Jesus a
sinner and thus a false prophet, in their estimation.
5.
Men are never right to be angry with God. Men often are angry with God but men are
unjust in this action.
6.
How can you be angry with the very one who has not only given you life
but also sustains your life moment by moment?
7.
How can you be angry with the very person who died a cruel death for you
in your place that you might have life?
(John
7:24) Judge not
according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
1.
Be reasonable.
Judge not according to the appearance of a matter but do that which is
right.
2.
Don’t be blind. (Romans
3:3-4) For what if some did not believe?
shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect? 4) God forbid: yea, let God be
true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That
thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art
judged.
3.
The Jews were not judging Jesus fairly.
They were using a double standard.
None of them had the ability to heal a lame man. The problem then would never come up. Jesus can heal. When He does they should have judged His
actions based upon the spirit of the Law.
But instead they Judged Him saying that it was
work and thus violated the Law. Nothing
is said in the Law about healing a man on the Sabbath. The spirit of the law certainly would not
forbid one being healed on the Sabbath.
Conclusion: From this text let us learn:
1. All have sinned, none are righteous, all need a savior.
2. God is always right! When you think that He is not think again!
3. Never be angry with God. He loves you.
He does what is best for you.
4. Do not let your personal prejudice and bias
keep you from being reasonable.