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The Inconsistence of Ungodliness

John 7:20-24
‘You are demon-possessed,’ the crowd answered. ‘Who is trying to kill you?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.’ (NIVUK)

Godliness has integrity - everything holds together, because everything that is true is held together by God.  So those who fight against God in their hearts will always be inconsistent.  The crowds were amazed at Jesus, but could not work out who He was.  He was far better than a good rabbi.  He taught with authority in a way which made sense, and His miracles were extraordinary ... but they could not see that He was the Son of God. When He rightly said that they were trying to kill Him, they assumed He was demonised with paranoid thoughts.

So, He exposed their inconsistency.  They protested that He did 'unlawful work' on the Sabbath when He healed a man, but they allowed circumcision on the Sabbath.  Using a knife was considered to be 'working', so by what logic could they allow circumcision and deny the healing of a grown man?  There was no logic or consistency because although they were religious, they were ungodly ... fighting against the Son of God and hating Him so much that they wanted to kill Him. So Jesus told them to learn to make right judgements: at the end of time He will judge all people in total fairness and utter consistency (Psalm 98:9).

They were trying to kill Him, but deflected His straight accusation in John 7:19 by accusing Him of being demon-possessed.  It was to become a recurrent blasphemous slander (John 8:48; John 8:52; John 10:20).  In their minds, as supposedly holy men of God, the only logical explanation for Jesus not conforming to them was that He was in the grip of Satan.  How blind they were and ensnared by evil – even though they were seen to be holy men of God (John 9:40-41).  In truth, Jesus was God in the flesh, filled with the Spirit of God and held in the grip of His Father God.  Attributing the work of God to the devil is the ultimate blasphemy and unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:31-32).      

Godliness brings a consistency to a person's character because their decisions are based on truth.  Those who refuse to submit to God cannot make consistently right judgements; their decisions will be crucially flawed.  The root problem is that self-centred decisions have a very limited horizon.  They do not take anything or anybody else or eternity into account, and they are unaffected by God's wisdom.  Only God knows how to fit everything together in a way that is right.  By making decisions to suit themselves they cannot make right judgements themselves, and are liable to God's judgement.  These verses may come closer to our own situation than we might like to think.  Let the Lord examine our hearts to reveal our motivation, who we listen to, and whose glory we seek.

Prayer 
All-knowing God. Thank You for bringing all things together under Christ's control one day. I am sorry when I have made decisions based on my own self-interest and forgotten how ungodliness spoils Your world and my character. Please help me to seek Your wisdom in all things and make right judgements so that I will be obedient to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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© Dr Paul Adams