John 7:16-20: a reflection

16Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or if I am speaking from myself. 18He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 19Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?” 20The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”

The people are debating where Jesus gets his authority, and he gives them a test that turns the usual order around. My teaching is not mine, he says, but comes from the one who sent me. And here is how you can tell: if anyone is willing to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God.

Notice the order. We usually think we must first understand, be convinced, have all our questions answered, and then we will obey. Jesus says it works the other way. The willingness to do God's will comes first, and out of that willingness comes the knowing. Truth about God is not verified from a safe distance, arms folded; it is confirmed in the doing, by people willing to step out and live it.

So if you are stuck, waiting for certainty before you will commit, this verse gently reverses the terms. You may be waiting for a proof that only comes on the far side of obedience. What would it look like to be willing to do God's will today, in the one thing already in front of you, and to trust that the knowing will follow? Jesus promises it will. Willingness is the doorway to understanding.

Lord, I so often wait to understand before I will obey. Make me willing to do your will, and trust your promise that in the doing I will come to know.