14 When the feast was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple area and began to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and said, “How does he know scripture without having studied?” 16 Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not my own but is from the one who sent me. 17 Whoever chooses to do his will shall know whether my teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on his own seeks his own glory, but whoever seeks the glory of the one who sent him is truthful, and there is no wrong in him. 19 Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You are possessed! Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I performed one work and all of you are amazed 22 because of it. Moses gave you circumcision—not that it came from Moses but rather from the patriarchs—and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. 23 If a man can receive circumcision on a sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole person well on a sabbath? 24 Stop judging by appearances, but judge justly.”
Jesus went to the Temple area around the fourth day of the Feast of Tabernacles and began to teach for the first time. It was Jewish tradition that only those rabbinical teachers who formed an unbroken line back to Moses possessed the correct understanding of the Torah. The Pharisaic scribes wondered aloud where Jesus got his understanding of the Torah since he had not gone to a rabbinical school (v. 15). Jesus replied that he did not speak on his own but spoke what he heard from his Father (v. 16) whose glory he sought (v. 18). Jesus told them that they did not understand the teaching of Moses and were not keeping the Law because they were trying to kill him. The crowd, which was unaware of the true intention of the Pharisees, accused Jesus of being mad (v. 20). Jesus asked, if it is okay to circumcise on the Sabbath in accordance with the Mosaic Law, why is it not okay to heal (Jn. 5:1-9) on the Sabbath? If it is okay to circumcise on the Sabbath and circumcision only affects one part of the body, why are they upset if he heals the whole body and soul on the Sabbath? They should judge him justly in accordance with the true understanding of the Law.
Almighty God, teach us to hear the words of your Son and understand them in the way you intend. Help us to judge justly and to follow a path that leads to true freedom. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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