A Study of John 7:19-24

““Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.””

John 7:19–24 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

As Jesus taught in the temple at Jerusalem, He pointed out that although the crowd claimed to revere the law of God given through Moses, none of them kept it. In saying this He also implied that He, in contrast to them, did keep the law, and then He asked, “Why do you seek to kill me?”. The crowd responded by telling Jesus He had a demon and then asked who was seeking to kill Him. Jesus then referred to His miraculous healing of a man on the Sabbath that had driven the religious leaders to the point of seeking to kill Him because His actions and words challenged their man-made power structures, and exposed their sinfulness (John 5:1-18). Jesus also spoke of how they themselves allowed for the work of circumcision to be done on the Sabbath, and then asked, if they allowed the rite of circumcision on the Sabbath, how could they seek to kill Him for healing a disabled man on the Sabbath? In closing, Jesus then urged them not to judge by appearances, but instead to exercise “right judgment.”

Implication (what does this mean to us):

In this passage we find Jesus teaching in the temple in Jerusalem during the week-long celebration of the Feast of Booths, also known as “Succoth.”. This was a time of the year when Jerusalem was packed full of people who came for the holiday celebration. The discourse in this passage happened about halfway through the week of the feast, and up until this point Jesus had been keeping a low profile to avoid the attention of the religious leaders that wanted to kill Him. But now, in accordance with the Father’s will, Jesus made a public appearance and began to teach in the temple court.

In the verses previous to these, the crowd who heard Jesus were amazed by His mastery of the Scriptures and how He taught with such authority when He had never studied under one of the prominent rabbis of the time. As they marveled and muttered among themselves, Jesus answered their spoken and unspoken inquiries by telling them the teaching He gave was from God the Father. Also, He told them anyone who truly desired to know and do God’s will would be able to discern His teaching was true. For, those who seek their own glory speak in their own fallible, human authority, but Jesus, who sought the glory of God the Father who sent Him, spoke in the authority of the Father and in His words there is no deceit.

Following that statement, in verse 19 Jesus says, “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.”. The first question about Moses and the law was a rhetorical question meant to further explain Jesus’ point from verse 17 about the people being unable to discern the truth of His words because they did not do God’s will, i.e. they did not keep the Law of God they claimed to so revere. The proof of their insincere reverence for the Law is given in His next question, “Why do you seek to kill me?”. Not everyone listening to Jesus in the temple court was trying to kill Him, but the religious leaders were (John 7:1), and any large crowd of people in the temple courts would certainly have included the religious leaders. These are the people Jesus said were breaking the law by trying to kill Him. The Law of God given through Moses forbade murder, but they were trying to kill Jesus who was an innocent man.

In verse 20 the crowds responded by telling Jesus He had a demon, and then asked who was seeking to kill Him. Again, Jesus’ comment about people trying to kill Him was directed at the religious leaders, not everyone in the crowd. While many people were aware of the authorities disdain for Jesus, it seems most were not aware of their plot to kill Him (John 7:13). Jesus had committed no crimes punishable under the law, so their plans remained covert as they plotted and schemed over how to fabricate evidence and charges by which they could seize and execute Him. For this reason, being unaware of the murder plot, the crowd accused Jesus of being demon possessed because of what they judged to be paranoid, insane behavior. This is made clear by their incredulous question, “Who is seeking to kill you?”.

In verse 21 Jesus responded, but instead of offering evidence for the plot to kill Him and of the broader disregard for God’s Law among the people, He referenced the incident which brought the authorities to the point of seeking to kill Him. In John 5:1-18, while Jesus was in Jerusalem, He miraculously healed a man, who had been disabled for 38 years, on the Sabbath, and then told Him to pick up his bedroll and walk. While this miraculous healing and carrying of a bedroll did not violate the Law of God given to the people of Israel through Moses to rest from work on the Sabbath, it did violate the man-made tradition that the religious authorities had added to God’s Law.

The Sabbath day of rest was meant to be a gift from Yahweh (Jesus is Yahweh incarnate) to the people, but the rulers had turned this gift of rest into a religious burden wherein it was even considered work to for a man to move his bedroll from one place to another. Jesus’ violation of this man-made restriction seen in His miraculous healing work should have brought out a response of awe and wonder, but instead it only provoked the leaders to rage. If they truly loved and served Yahweh, they would have rejoiced to see this miraculous healing. However, because they really only served themselves and sought their own power and influence, they were enraged to see their little sandcastle of man-made ritual and strictures kicked over.

In verse 22 Jesus compared His miraculous healing on the Sabbath to the law which said all Jewish males must be circumcised on the 8th day after their birth, even if that day fell on the Sabbath. John the gospel writer also provides a parenthetical statement clarifying that circumcision preceded Moses and the Law given at Mt. Sinai because it was first given to Abraham. John does not mention this because He wanted to explore the historicity of circumcision in great detail, but rather, to rightly diminish the overly hallowed view many Jewish people had of Moses, and also to point out that circumcision preceded the Sabbath law given at Mt. Sinai by a few hundred years. Therefore, the command to circumcise took precedence.

The reason Jesus mentioned this legal precedent in conjunction with His miraculous Sabbath healing was to point out that there were laws that even these religious leaders rightly acknowledged the precedence of so as to allow the “work” of circumcision to be done on the Sabbath. Next, in verse 23 Jesus will build upon this point and connect it to what He had done that evoked such hatred from the leaders.

Continuing His discourse, Jesus went on to say, “If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?”. In the previous verse Jesus established that there are certain works which even the religious leaders deemed necessary and right to do on the Sabbath. In this case the work was a negative one, meaning it involved the cutting away of flesh that is done in the act of circumcision. It was something commanded by God for His covenant people of Israel under the old covenant, but it was not a life saving medical procedure or anything. Jesus’ point is, if this negative act was allowed on the Sabbath, even by them, then how can they say Jesus’ miraculous, positive or additive work of healing a man’s whole body was not allowed on the Sabbath? The logic within their added man-made restrictions, was inconsistent and made no sense. If it was okay to circumcise a male baby on the Sabbath, how could it be wrong to heal a man who had been disabled for 38 years when the divine prerogative to do justice and to heal also preceded the Mt. Sinai covenant law?

In closing Jesus tells the crowd, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” Many of the people, and most of the religious leaders, wrongly determined that Jesus was a sinner and they were righteous, but they were incorrect because their judgment was based on appearances related to their culture and society. They did not base their judgment on what was truly right. The religious leaders of Israel had led and taught the people to judge what was right based upon a flawed understanding of the Old Testament Scripture which they had modified and added to. It  was through this flawed human lens that they judged Jesus’ character. Because they did not rightly understand God’s Word which they had added to and obfuscated, they were unable to judge rightly. They were blinded by their man-made religious rituals and rules that had not come from Yahweh. If they had been true students of Word of God, they would not have been blinded by cultural, man-made perceptions, and would instead have been enlightened by the wisdom that only comes from God, and thus been enabled to rightly judge or determine the perfect moral character of Jesus.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

As we read this we should think about what our cultural blinders are. Where does the way we think and function in our present culture conflict with God’s Word? Do we come to this inspired text ready to have our cultural norms challenged by a good, perfect and holy God? Or do we come to the Bible ready to challenge God with our flawed cultural norms? The crowd in this passage, particularly the religious leaders, came to Jesus, the God-Man; the incarnate Word, and they expected Him to conform to their fallible man-made standards. Outwardly they appeared very pious and religious, but inwardly they only sought their own selfish gain. They were not as they appeared to be. Are we?

We need to be humble and wise enough not to merely judge by appearances, meaning what our society and culture have taught us is right. We need the humility and wisdom that is only given by God to those who sincerely seek Him. As we do so, we will be challenged. God’s Word is like a mirror, and as we behold Him by faith, humbly respond to His Word as faithful students or disciples should, we will increasingly learn, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to obey Jesus’ command to, “not judge by appearances,” but instead to, “judge with right judgment.” In other words, we will increasingly begin to see things like Jesus does.

Self Reflection:

1. Am I willing to humbly defer to God’s Word when He challenges what I judge to be right based on the time and culture I live in? (When I disagree with God’s Word, He is right and I am wrong)

2. Is there anywhere in my life or spiritual practice that I have let what may even be a good tradition or ritual, supplant the supreme Word of God? Have I added to God’s Word in any way like these religious leaders had?

3. How does the fact that wisdom and right judgment only come from God affect my daily life? Am I pursuing a humble, teachable character that is reliant on Jesus to make right moral judgments?

4. How does the boundless grace of God give me confidence in His love and mercy for me even when I fail to make right moral judgments?

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Moses: “Μωϋσῆς”, “Mōusēs”; noun, nominative, singular, masculine | proper name – Moses = “drawing out”, the legislator of the Jewish people and in a certain sense the founder of the Jewish religion. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, commonly referred to as the Books of Moses.

-Law: “νόμον”, “nomon”; noun, accusative, singular, masculine | direct object – of the Mosaic law, and referring, according to the context, either to the volume of the law or to its contents.

-Keeps: “ποιεῖ”, “poiei”; verb, present, active, indicative, third person, singular | finite verb – to do, to carry out.

-To Kill: “ἀποκτεῖναι”, “apokteinai”; verb, aorist, active, infinitive | infinitive of purpose – to kill in any way whatever.

-A Demon: “Δαιμόνιον”, “Daimonion”; noun, accusative, singular, neuter | direct object – a spiritual being, a being inferior to God, superior to men.

-Work: “ἔργον”, “ergon”; noun, accusative, singular, neuter | direct object – an act, deed, thing done.

-You [All] Marvel: “θαυμάζετε”, “thaumazete”; verb, present, active, indicative, second person, plural | finite verb – to wonder, wonder at.

-Circumcision: “περιτομήν”, “peritomēn”; noun, accusative, singular, feminine | direct object – the act or rite of circumcision, “they of the circumcision” is a term used of the Jews.

-Sabbath: “σαββάτῳ”, “sabbatō”; noun, dative, singular, neuter | prepositional object – the seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on which the Israelites were required to abstain from all work.

-Are You Angry: “χολᾶτε”, “cholate”; verb, present, active, indicative, second person, plural | finite verb – to be angry, enraged.

-Judge:  “κρίνετε”, “krinete”; verb, present, active, imperative, second person, plural | finite verb – to pronounce judgment; to subject to censure; of those who act the part of judges or arbiters in the matters of common life, or pass judgment on the deeds and words of others.
-Appearances: “ὄψιν”, “opsin”; noun, accusative, singular, feminine | prepositional object – the outward appearance, look.