Passage Read: John 7-8
Meditation Verses: 7:16-17
Thought
Jesus gives many reasons in these two chapters why people can't understand Him. Those who don't believe Him disbelieve because they belong to the devil. If they belonged to God, Jesus' words would be clear to them and they would be able to hear them. They disbelieve because they rely on the "experts" and authorities to tell them whether Jesus' is the Christ. They don't do their own homework; they judge by mere appearances rather than by what they actually see and hear. In these two verses, Jesus says that if anyone wants to discern whether His teaching is from God or not, the easiest and clearest way is to do God's will, then they'll know! If they actually believe and obey what God has taught, they'll recognize that everything Jesus' teaches is one and the same as the Father! But that also reveals who does the will of the Father: the one who believes what Jesus teaches! The one who does not accept Jesus' teachings as from God does not actually know or do the will of God, no matter what they may think of themselves!
Application
A person's response to the teachings of Jesus, their view of Jesus and His teachings, reveals who they are and whether they know God in truth. If I want to know Jesus in truth, all I need to do is believe and obey God's teachings and I'll recognize Jesus is from God! Jesus' teachings will become clear and I'll be able to hear what He says! All that will show that I belong to God. If I belong to God, of course I'll be eager to know and do His will, so I can't miss who Jesus is! But if someone doesn't belong to God, they won't be able to hear what God and Jesus teach, and even more, they won't be willing to believe and obey it. I can point these things out to the one who doubts and refuses to accept Jesus as from God, but that's not very hope-filled. The only hope-oriented encouragement I can give a doubter is to hear and do God's teachings, then they'll see that Jesus is indeed from God. But if they can't understand God and won't do His will, there's no hope for them. Jesus' tells the people that multiple times, as if hearing that will perhaps provoke some of them to repent. So while it seems like condemnation, it's not Jesus condemning them, but giving them the tools to understand where they are and where they need to go if they don't want to be eternally condemned. How they respond is up to them and will seal their fate. I can and should share these things with the disbelievers around me, and be assured it's not my fault if they can't understand or believe.