The Sin of Inconsistency
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jeremy_1_08-01-2025_105147: [00:00:00] Think about how differently you react when you are honking your car horn at someone else versus when someone else is honking their car horn at you.
Now in the first example, when you are honking at another vehicle, you are likely angry, you're frustrated. You cannot believe that some idiot is doing what they're doing or not paying attention. And so we lay on the car horn and we look at 'em like, can you not figure this out without me?
But we probably have all had that experience. If you can drive where someone has honked their horn at you and we have a very different reaction to that. We get defensive. We immediately think, this is what I'm doing. Can you not see that? Why are you so impatient? Why do you not realize what I am trying to do?
But what we have to acknowledge, this is very inconsistent behavior and consistency is not something that most of us are good at, at least not all of the time, and [00:01:00] that's what we're gonna see Jesus deal with in today's passage. We're looking at John chapter seven, and we're gonna pick up the story that we began last week in verse 11.
It says the Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds, some argued. He's a good man. Others said he's nothing but a fraud. Who deceives the people, but no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.
Again, we saw how he's starting to become this wanted man among the ruling leaders of the Jews. Then midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. The people were surprised when they heard him. How does he know so much when he hasn't been trained? [00:02:00] They asked. Now here's what you gotta realize, and this is easy to overlook.
They aren't recognizing Jesus even when he starts teaching them. We just assume, of course everybody knew who Jesus was, but this text is making it obvious they don't recognize him, which means that either Jesus' looks were so average, that he just looks like every other guy walking around at this festival, or no one who was in a position to make an arrest had ever seen him personally.
So something's going on where Jesus gets up to teach and they don't recognize him. Now, fast forward when Jesus is ultimately going to be arrested, they use Judas, one of the 12 disciples to identify Jesus with a kiss because they don't know what Jesus looks like. I just find that fascinating and something that many of us, when we read these kind of verses, we forget [00:03:00] that Jesus wasn't instantly recognizable by everyone. Jesus is walking around, he's even teaching and people are going, how does this guy know what he's talking about? He hasn't been trained. Verse 16. So Jesus told them, my message is not my own. It comes from God who sent me.
Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or merely of my own. Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seek to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies. Moses gave you the law, but none of you obey it. In fact, you are trying to kill me.
Now, keep in mind as he's saying this, and as they're hearing this, they aren't recognizing that this is Jesus. So their argument is that some guy from out of town is coming in and all of a sudden, assuming this authority [00:04:00] that he has this right to teach us. And Jesus is responding, saying, look, I don't need any authority that you can give me.
I have a way greater authority. Than that. And we see that a lot of people aren't able to hear him because of this challenge of authority. It makes me wonder, who are we tempted to dismiss today? Because they don't have the right credentials. In fact, often the smarter you are, the more qualified you are, the more blind spots you have because you stop listening to other people because you're convinced they have nothing to offer you. Now, I have found that if we have, enough humility, we can learn from anyone.
Here we see they're in the presence of Jesus. And they're not able to hear his words because they're discrediting him, 'cause he doesn't have the right kind of [00:05:00] authority to be able to teach them.
And then we get to verse 20. The crowd replied, your demon possessed who's trying to kill you jesus replied, I did one miracle on the Sabbath and you were amazed. But you work on the Sabbath too when you obey Moses's law of circumcision. Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs long before the law of Moses for if the correct time for circumcising, your son falls on the Sabbath.
You go ahead and do it so as to not break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath? Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly. Now here Jesus is referring to his story we've already seen in the gospel of John. In John chapter five, he heals a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda.
And this is a callback, it's a reference to that [00:06:00] story. What you have to realize is that story created a rift between Jesus and the Jewish leaders because the Jewish authorities lived under Roman authority, and the Roman authority let the Jews do what they wanted within reason, as long as the Jews didn't, upset what the Romans were doing and the Roman way of life.
The Roman culture, the Roman religion. As long as they didn't infringe on that, for the most part, they allowed the Jews to do what they wanted. But as I looked at in that story, Jesus healed a man at a Greek place of healing. It was anion. It was a pool dedicated to the Greek God sleeps. Jesus heals him but apart from using the waters. So now you have the Jewish authority, this Jewish rabbi healing in a Greek area, not using the Greek gods. And you can imagine that created some tension, that created some fallback, and now he is caught up to Jesus and he's dealing [00:07:00] with those repercussions. Here in chapter seven, both the temple authorities and the Roman authorities are now beginning to be concerned about what Jesus is doing.
Now notice that Jesus is not arguing with them over the legitimacy of the Torah. That's the first five books of the Old Testament. He's arguing with them over their interpretation of it, which is very similar today in how Christians often debate the Bible For the most part. We're not arguing about the Bible itself.
We're arguing about how we interpret the Bible, which can be very different. And if I had to sum up what is Jesus's argument against them here? Essentially he's accusing them of the sin of inconsistency that you are right about some things, but you do not apply that across the board. You are not consistent in how you live it out.
And this is a critique of the [00:08:00] church today as well, that we are often guilty of doing the same thing. We're right about some things, but we do not apply it equally across the board. Now, one of the ideas that I say all the time, and I believe this to my core, is that good theology is theology that looks like Jesus, meaning the ideas you have, the stances that you take, the way you operate in the world should line up with what we see revealed in the person of Jesus.
And if at any point you go, yeah, I believe this thing, and it doesn't actually line up with Jesus. That should cause you to stop and reflect because that is inconsistent with what we say we believe. So is there something you believe today that's inconsistent with Jesus? Is there a belief maybe even within Christianity, that you believe and you believe it 'cause you were told it?
Or maybe 'cause the people around you believe it, but if you're honest with yourself, you don't think it looks like Jesus? Is there a group of [00:09:00] people you have considered a them and you are slightly othering them, and yet you have to acknowledge this isn't consistent with Jesus. Is there a current event that you are weighing into or have opinions about, but your opinions aren't based on the way that Jesus would react to that?
Or if there's a political issue maybe that you have a strong opinion about, but if you're honest, your opinion comes from your political party, not from jesus. All of those could be examples where we are suffering the same sin of inconsistency. The goal for us each and every day is to align what we believe, what we do, what we say with who Jesus is, and that is how we live out a better way, a way that actually is consistent in the things that we say, and that's the goal for each and every one of us.
I'll see you next week on Rebuilding Faith.
