Verses 1-10
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Jesus would not be pressured by those that challenged Him to show Himself openly.
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Do not let unbelieving people make you do things that you know you're not supposed to do, nor succumb to their pressure. Be led only by the Word and the Spirit.
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Verses 11-18
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Many people believed negative things about Jesus' teaching, but He replied saying that His teaching came from God, not Himself. And He spoke not to glorify Himself, but to glorify God
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Be like Jesus. When you speak or teach, speak because you want to glorify God and because you want His will to be done. Don't speak to draw attention or advantage to yourself.
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If you keep your motives correct, this will help you to keep your doctrine correct and have better understanding of the Word.
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Verses 19-24
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Jesus here exposes that the Jews' criticism of His works was unrighteous. They would perform a labor of circumcising a boy on the sabbath, but they found it sinful that Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath.
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The Jews here did not realize that they had to violate the Sabbath in order to keep the law of circumcision. A boy was to be circumcised the eighth day after birth. And if the eighth day was a Sabbath, they had to sacrifice adherence to the sabbath law in order to keep the law of circumcision.
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Always consider how you might be committing the same sin you criticize someone else for.
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And don't try to judge or correct a person based on something you see on the surface. Make sure that what you say is accurate, and make sure that you're not guilty of the very sin you're wanting to correct (Matthew 7:1-5).
Verses 25-31
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Many of the Jews and especially the Pharisees wanted to kill Him more and more, but He continued to speak boldly, affirming repeatedly that He came directly from the Father.
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And He was not afraid to be bold because He knew that He would not be killed until His time to go to the cross had come.
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Due in part to His boldness and authoritative speech, the crowds believed Him to be a prophet, and would not have wanted Him to be killed (Matthew 21:46). This intimidated the Pharisees. So, the more bold He was, the more the Pharisees hesitated to arrest Him.
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Understand that boldness will work for you, not against you. Always be bold about the truth. So long as you are acting out of love, you have nothing to fear. Have faith that God will protect you.
Verses 32-36
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Even in a moment where Jesus was about to be seized by the Pharisees, He let them know that they were not in control of His death or departure from the world. He was going to decide when He was going to leave, and He was going back to the Father. He knew that the authorities had no power over Him.
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Have this confidence! Focus on the fact that God is in control of your life, and that as long as you are walking in obedience to God, you are not a victim to anyone.
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Verses 37-39
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The Holy Spirit was given after Jesus died and rose again.
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And when the Spirit lives in a person, it brings both peace and power. Rivers of water are both soothing and powerful—peaceful and dangerous.
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The Spirit is meant to flow out of you, into your words and actions with peace and power! Take action to help others and the Spirit will be there to help you!
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Verses 40-44
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Jesus is the Prophet mentioned by Moses (Acts 3:22-23), He is the Christ, and He is a descendant of David who came out of Bethlehem.
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The people argued over these things because they were ignorant! They questioned whether Jesus was messiah over facts that they didn’t investigate themselves.
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Encourage people to do their own research if they’re looking into Christ. Ignorance causes unbelief. But if people seek and find knowledge, faith comes. For “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Verses 45-53
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Verses 45-49. Just because most religious leaders reject something doesn’t make it untrue.
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Verses 50-52. And just because something is unusual or out-of-the- ordinary doesn’t make it untrue.
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Don't judge what truth is on the basis of what most leaders think or what the popular opinion is. Always go to the Word for yourself and let the Word show you what the truth is in everything.