(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
Why do the Pharisees not “get it?”
Intro:
Today, remember a couple things about the Pharisees — they were super-knowledgable, super-strict adherents to the Law, and highly influential.
And as we continue from where we left off yesterday, remember that they’ve sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus and then…
New Testament segment:
Passage: John 7:45-8:30
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 38
Words: ~795
So when Jesus says he judges no one, what’s he mean?
Today Jesus is like, “I don’t judge anyone, but if I do, then…” So he’s not saying not to use judgment or that he never does, so what does that mean for our focus question — “Why don’t the Pharisees ‘get it?’”
Remember that yesterday we heard him say
Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment. (Jn 7:24, CSB)
…meaning he didn’t say to not judge at all, but that there’s a right way versus wrong way to do it. The Pharisees don’t “see” Jesus because they’re evaluating him through their earthly lens, and this is contrasted with the temple guards who didn’t arrest him because they’re like, “Whoah, no one ever spoke like this!”
As I often do, I’ll add one nugget in our closing Bottom Line segment about how this touches down for us today.
Old Testament segment:
A couple days ago for our OT segment that we’re in that section of Jeremiah that is a sub-genre of oracles or judgments against the nations. What I didn’t mention is that
Because these oracles appear in chapter 25 in the Septuagint version of Jeremiah, it is often suggested that they were a distinct unit that circulated as an independent body of literature before being added to the book of Jeremiah. In most cases the oracles were not delivered to the countries they targeted, because their intended audience was Israel.
Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Je 46:1.
And I think it’s good to ask ourselves why. I may be out on a limb, but one thing that’s consistent with the overall theme of the Bible and themes we see throughout the OT is that the Bible is where we learn to see God more clearly and see ourselves more and our need for Him more clearly.
Today’s chapter has a bunch of short oracles, so I’ll include the extra headers so you catch the divisions, but along the way, keep an ear out for how this fits Jeremiah’s overall message
…that God’s ultimate plan was to bless His people (29:11). God’s plans, however, are conditional on human response (18:7–10). Persistent rebellion can bring punishment when God had promised blessing. Repentance can avert disaster when God had promised judgment.
David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1992), 426.
Passage: Jeremiah 49
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 39
Words: ~1136
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Psalm 85
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 17
Words: ~279
The bottom line:
You’ve often heard me say, “Do we see the Bible through the lens of our own natural understanding or do we see the world through the eyes of the Bible?” The way that we see Jesus and see through His eyes is in His word. And a whole lot of earthly education, including even religious education like the Pharisees, can fail to see Jesus and rightly judge if we get the cart before the horse.
My final nugget for you today is a quote from Os Guinness that sums up an observation of the problem. I leave you with this in hopes that it helps you see culture through Jesus’ eyes:
In our day, it is considered worse to judge evil than to do evil. ~Os Guinness
May we all see Jesus more clearly, fall in love with him more deeply, and learn to reach out in his name accordingly.
Love you!
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 1370.