While Paul says the Jews sought after righteousness, they did so in a manner that defended their own right to speak for God rather than acquiesce to the unexpected action of God in their midst. This was not unusual, for men will often go to any length to prove their right to speak on behalf of God. Some do so for the recognition and praise of men and financial gain. Others do so to uphold their understanding of divine truth.
Miracles
When the Lord Jesus appeared in Israel to proclaim himself the long-awaited Messiah, it was necessary to prove his authenticity by performing miracles. This ability was given to Jesus that God might proclaim He was manifesting Himself through Jesus.
In addition, the Holy Spirit gave visible and verbal assent to the Father’s approval of His son. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” was the declaration at Jesus’ baptism (Matt. 3:16-17).
As Jesus taught among the Jews, the leaders attempted to discredit him and invalidate his claims. “The Pharisees then said to him, You are bearing witness to yourself; your testimony is not true” (John 8:13 RSV). The question of authority was a dominant theme of controversy between the leaders of Jewry and the Lord until, finally, they crucified him.
What was their problem?
Their problem was their esteem of themselves. They were circumcised, they were genetic descendants of Abraham and they had established a rigid fraternity which had institutionalized religion. They had codified their own version of God’s will and they used their self-invented traditions to charge Christ with violating the will of God.
They practiced the worst form of tyranny — ecclesiastical authoritarianism!
The challenge
Jesus challenged their preconceived notions. “I know you are Abraham’s seed; but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:37, 39).
Religious oligarchies are perilous to the Truth because they do not recognize the way God works to achieve His purpose outside their defined structure. For that reason they could not recognize God’s work in Jesus. They would not admit God could achieve His will independent of their sanction; this was spiritual conceit of supreme magnitude. They endeavored to rob Deity of His sovereignty. This resulted in the denial of Christ, who was sent by God.
God’s manifestation was clear, but their preconceived ideas blinded them to the significance of his purpose.
Greater than Abraham
The Jews’ claim to a superior position was their genetic link to Abraham. But Christ raised the level of his authority above Abraham with the claim, “Before Abraham was I am” (John 8:58).
This claim is associated with the fact that Jesus was the logos (the outward expression of the inward thought, cf. Heb. 1:3; Vine’s Dictionary of N.T. Words) of God. He was the focus of God’s revelation from the beginning because the representation of God in human flesh was central to man’s salvation.
Abraham saw this fact and, far from resenting it, “rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad” (v. 56). The implication for the Jews was that their father Abraham had seen through faith what they could not see with their eyes.
Stubbornness of entrenched ideas
These words of Jesus intensified the confrontational atmosphere. The Jews’ anger was further increased by the healing of the man born blind (John 9). This miracle demonstrated clearly God acts to achieve His purpose outside hierarchal authority.
The lesson for us
The lesson for us is humanly contrived ecclesial authoritarianism should not override the principles of scripture. Otherwise we may find ourselves in opposition to God’s will while thinking we are upholding it -just as the religious leaders of Christ’s day did.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One