We must be willing to do His will

John 7 for the read Johnin July Challenge 

After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. ² Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. ³ Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His brothers were believing in Him. ⁶ So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. ¹¹ So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” ¹² There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” ¹³ Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴ But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ¹⁷ If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. ¹⁸ He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹ “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel. ²² For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. ²³ If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

²⁵ So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? ²⁶ Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? ²⁷ However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” ²⁸ Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ²⁹ I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” ³⁰ So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. ³¹ But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. ³³ Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. ³⁴ You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? ³⁶ What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

⁴⁰ Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵ The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? ⁴⁸ No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹ But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ⁵² They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” ⁵³ Everyone went to his home.

In today’s text it says:   Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him… “Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”  Those who spoke these things against Jesus may have been experts in scripture, but they did not know Jesus. Jesus fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophecies through His birth, His life, His death and resurrection. Jesus was both from Galilee and Bethlehem. In the same way, there are many today who think that they can disprove things in scripture by what scripture says. They take things out of context or fail to understand that what they see as contradictions are actually different sides of the same truth. Just as Jesus was from both Galilee and Bethlehem, God is both a loving and compassionate God and a just judge of sin. 2 Timothy 3:16 says:   All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.  In our culture and society we take sound bites, headlines, click bate  and catch phrases. Scripture should not be read and cannot be interpreted that way. All of scripture should be viewed and interpreted as a whole. From Genesis to Revelation God’s plan of redemption runs throughout all scripture. It is in that light that we should read and interpret scripture. What is God saying that aligns with what He is doing?

In Matthew 24:4-14 Jesus says:  “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”   The greatest deception, the thing that misleads many as we await the return of Christ, is not those who do not believe in Jesus, but rather those who have been deceived to believe that Jesus has changed His mind about sin. The love that grows cold is the love that is the first and foremost commandment. In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus says:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.”  When this first and foremost commandment has been abandoned, lawlessness is increased. That’s where we find our society and culture today.  

Jesus says:  “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  We must be willing to let God’s word bring us into alignment with His will, rather than trying to adjust God’s word to satisfy our desires. We must be willing to do His will, seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, as You are one, may I be one with You. May the revelation of Your will bring me into alignment with You, as I read and know Your word. Amen.