Scripture Daily

Context No. 3685 of 4322 · John

Context · Reflection

John 7:21-27: in context

21Jesus answered them, “I did one work and you all marvel because of it. 22Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a boy. 23If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath? 24Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” 25Therefore some of them of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this he whom they seek to kill? 26Behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is truly the Christ? 27However, we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”

Challenged for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus points out the inconsistency: they circumcise a boy on the Sabbath to keep the law of Moses, yet they are angry that he made a whole man well on the Sabbath. If a ritual act is permitted, how much more an act of healing and mercy?

And then he gives a principle that reaches far beyond the Sabbath: do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. The people judged Jesus by surface impressions, his hometown, their assumptions about how the Messiah would come, and so missed who he really was. There is wisdom for us here. It is easy to judge by appearances, by first impressions, by our own assumptions and prejudices, and so to get things badly wrong. Right judgment looks beneath the surface to the truth, weighing matters by God's standards of mercy and righteousness rather than by outward show. Jesus calls us to see rightly, not superficially.

Do I judge people and situations by surface appearances and my own assumptions, or do I look deeper to judge with the right judgment that weighs things by God's standards?

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