Halfway through the festival, Jesus went up to the temple and started to teach. Astonished, the Jewish leaders asked, “He’s never been taught! How has he mastered the Law?” Jesus responded, “My teaching isn’t mine but comes from the one who sent me. Whoever wants to do God’s will can tell whether my teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own. Those who speak on their own seek glory for themselves. Those who seek the glory of him who sent me are people of truth; there’s no falsehood in them. Didn’t Moses give you the Law? Yet none of you keep the Law. Why do you want to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon. Who wants to kill you?” Jesus replied, “I did one work, and you were all astonished. Because Moses gave you the commandment about circumcision (although it wasn’t Moses but the patriarchs), you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath without breaking Moses’ Law, why are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Don’t judge according to appearances. Judge with right judgment.” Some people from Jerusalem said, “Isn’t he the one they want to kill? Here he is, speaking in public, yet they aren’t saying anything to him. Could it be that our leaders actually think he is the Christ? We know where he is from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he exclaimed, “You know me and where I am from. I haven’t come on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him. I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” So they wanted to seize Jesus, but they couldn’t because his time hadn’t yet come. Many from that crowd believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man does?” On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “All who are thirsty should come to me! All who believe in me should drink! As the scriptures said concerning me, Rivers of living water will flow out from within him.” Jesus said this concerning the Spirit. Those who believed in him would soon receive the Spirit, but they hadn’t experienced the Spirit yet since Jesus hadn’t yet been glorified. (John 7:14-31, 37-39, CEB)
Do not judge by appearances…
How many times do we judge a person by how they look? I remember growing up hearing that first impressions mean the most. You have to dress for success. You need to always look your best. Well, what actually does that mean? It means if you are a guy you wear nice slacks, a button-down shirt with a tie, and maybe a sports coat with nice polished dress shoes. Well I’m sorry for those of you who actually know me, you know I don’t like wearing pants (hold on I wear shorts…) or ties. I actually do not remember when I wore a tie, not true it was July 4, 2022, for a concert that they had to give me the tie because I did not own one. This is not my best. but if I don’t wear that then I’m not making a great first impression. Unless we listen to Jesus.
Do not judge by appearances, but judge by right judgment.
Right judgment would be getting all the information needed to make a decision. It would be knowing both sides of the story and then the sides of the story neither side told you. We would need all the information and a lot of times we do not get that, we hear something and snap to a judgment. Or we see something and we snap to a judgment.
That is judging by appearances. And Jesus says not to do that.
Loving People. Loving God.
aSacredRebel 