How has this man become learned?
John 7:14-16 Having no other way to attack Jesus, the Sanhedrin focused on the one thing He was lacking — credentials.
“But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” So Jesus answered them and said, “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.”
John 7:14-17 NASB1995
Jesus never feared the Jewish leaders in His human lifetime, from His birth until His death on the cross. Others may have feared the Pharisees and Saducees for Him, but even with foreknowledge of how it would all turn out, He taught Scripture with the authority of God.
That’s where we are at this point in the Gospel of John. Jesus has gone to the temple during the “Feast of Booths” (Sukkot), and knowing full well that the Jewish leaders are looking for any reason at all to seek His death, He teaches the Word.
For this fall harvest festival celebrating the Exodus from Egypt, Jesus didn’t enter Jerusalem in a grand way as He would in the days leading up to His betrayal, torture, death, and resurrection. Instead, His Father told Him when and where to go to teach, and He did.
The Jewish leaders expected certain things of a person who taught in the temple. A teacher would need to study Scripture from an early age, or complete tutelage under a prominent rabbi. Think of the Apostle Paul as an example; he had studied under the well-known rabbi Gamaliel and was well thought-of by the Sanhedrin.
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So who did this lowborn carpenter from Nazareth think He was? He didn’t have the “degree or certification” demanded of the leaders. Yet Jesus went to the temple knowing all Scripture and having the ability to interpret it for anyone who would listen.
What probably frustrated and angered the Jewish hierarchy was that they couldn’t fault Jesus for either the doctrine He was teaching or for His understanding of Scripture. Having no other way to attack Jesus, the Sanhedrin focused on the one thing He was lacking — credentials.
In response to their criticism, Jesus answered the leaders the only way He could — by asking them to judge His teaching. If they listened to His teaching, they would know that it was from the same source as their learning — the Old Testament Scriptures — and was therefore from God.
Jesus ends this short conversation with the Sanhedrin with these words: “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”. I found this a bit obtuse and hard to understand until I found a succinct explanation from American New Testament professor Merril C. Tenney:
“Spiritual understanding is not produced solely by learning facts or procedures, but rather it depends on obedience to known truth.”1
Jesus essentially tells the Jewish leaders who His rabbi was — His Father. He had received His education from God. Rather than taking Jesus for who He was (the Messiah), the Sanhedrin were further angered by the upstart rabbi from Galilee, and began to seek His death in earnest.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the Holy Spirit who dwells in me, and His ministry in the hearts and minds of all of Your children. I pray that You continue to instill in me a desire to learn from Your Word, and guide me into Your Truth. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org.
Tenney, Merril C. "John: The Expositor's Bible Commentary" Volume 9 (John-Acts) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1984)