When skeptics speak politely about Jesus, they point out Jesus: never wrote a book, never built a cathedral, never married, did not owned a home, had no children, but He accomplished 2,000 years of fame with His ideals. They go on to say that Jesus understood human nature and knew how to persuade a crowd; to really work the opinions of the masses. The miracles of the loaves and fishes or miraculous healings, they would say, is Jesus convincing the crowd to share His viewpoint. The skeptics seem to follow a pattern of speech and thought because most of the skeptics do not search and reach to find the truth of Jesus. They hear another skeptic and decide that opinion pretty much sums up their own opinion, without searching themselves.For example the Gospel of John: current thought says John was too illiterate to read or write, when archaeology of Capernaum and the history of ancient economics indicate a historically different picture of the disciples. Current thought says the gospels appeared in the 4th century, when English museums papyrus indicate 125 A.D or earlier for John’s gospel. (Remember John lived to be extremely old.)
Peter's house in Capernaum, the graffiti matches the patterns and years of graffiti in the Peter's tomb found 80 feet under the Vatican altar.Today’s reading from John's Gospel does not reveal Jesus as one of the best and most persuasive crowd pleasers with ideals to sway the crowd. Today’s Gospel reveals that Jesus understands the inner working of all hearts and does not respond with weak, namby pamby polite encouragement or hypnotic mind altering speeches. Jesus lets them know they are politely, or impolitely, hypocritical and ignorant of the ways of God.
John 7:14-30
14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"
16 Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
20 "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me."
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
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