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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Question: When is a door not a door? Answer: When it is ajar. Question: When is my doctrine not my doctrine? Answer: When it is of God. Jesus responded to some who questioned the source of His teaching in just this way. He spoke of His doctrine, but He said it was not His doctrine. By paying careful attention to His statements, we can learn the difference between teachings that ought to be followed and teachings that ought to be abandoned.
“Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, ‘How does this Man know letters, having never studied?’ Jesus answered them and said, ‘My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.’” (John 7.14-18).
Once again, we notice that Jesus spoke of “My doctrine,” but quickly registered a disclaimer by saying, “My doctrine is not mine!” Not only did He place a disclaimer, He went further to identify the source of the doctrine which He taught. According to Jesus, His doctrine was “His [God’s] who sent me.” In this claim, Jesus implied that there was a connection between the words that He spoke and the will of God who sent Him. In fact, Jesus implied that His very words were the words of God! Although He did not claim to be God in this text as He did in others, Jesus did claim to be a spokesperson for God. Just how unusual was this claim and what are the implications if the claim can be proven?
Perhaps surprisingly, the claim is not all that unusual amongst biblical writers and characters. Paul claimed to speak on behalf of God in a number of places (e.g. 1 Thessalonians 2.13; Colossians 1.25). Peter clearly affirmed that the prophets of old were the inspired spokespersons for the Lord when He wrote, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1.19-21). Actually, the scriptures number into the hundreds and thousands where men claimed to be speaking for God. One classic example is seen in the person of David who wrote, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.” (2 Samuel 23.2).
The doctrine of Jesus was not His own in just the same manner as the Hebrews writer could speak of Jesus being the author and finisher of our faith. Our faith is ours because we espouse it, but it is His in as much as He authored it. We don’t own it, but we share in it. Georgia is my state and the USA is my country, but neither Georgia nor the United States is mine! That is what Jesus meant when He said, “My doctrine is not mine.” He could have said, I speak it, but it originates from above.
What are the implications that come from the fact that Jesus spoke for God? The first implication is that we can implicitly trust everything that Jesus taught as being absolute and unwavering truth. The second great implication is that He was the Son of God. In fact, it would follow that when Jesus taught that He was the Son of God, it was God who was actually the author of that statement. It follows that the entire system of Christianity stands or falls on the truthfulness of Jesus’ claims to speak on behalf of His Father. He was all that He claimed to be – or He was nothing!
Questions:
1. In the New Testament, what is the difference between “doctrine” and “teachings” (use language reference books to arrive at your answer)?
2. In Jeremiah 2.2 where he said, “Thus says the LORD…” (and in 147 other places), what is to be understood about Jeremiah being a spokesperson for God?
3. Sometimes people speak of “my church.” Given today’s message, is there a sense in which this can be proper terminology? If yes, how can it be correct?
4. What would be the fallout of proving that Jesus was not a spokesperson for the Father?
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