“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?”
My Notes
What Does John 7:19 Mean?
"Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?" Jesus confronts the crowd in Jerusalem with a devastating logical argument. They revere Moses and the law above all else — and yet they're breaking the very law they claim to protect by plotting to murder an innocent man. The hypocrisy isn't subtle; Jesus makes it explicit.
The question "Why go ye about to kill me?" forces the plot into the open. The religious leaders had been conspiring privately; Jesus names it publicly. The crowd initially denies it — "Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?" — but Jesus knows what's happening behind closed doors. He's exposing the gap between their public religiosity and their private intentions.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are there parts of God's law you emphasize while quietly ignoring others that are less convenient?
- 2.How do you respond when someone exposes a gap between your beliefs and your behavior?
- 3.Why is it so tempting to use religion as a weapon against others while exempting yourself?
- 4.When was the last time a confrontation made you angry — and was the anger justified or defensive?
Devotional
Jesus doesn't let them hide behind their religion. You claim Moses. You claim the law. You build your entire identity on Torah observance. And you're plotting murder. The contradiction isn't incidental — it's fundamental. The very law they weaponize against Jesus condemns their behavior toward him.
This is the problem with using religion as a weapon while exempting yourself from its demands. The Pharisees had memorized the law's commands about holiness while violating its commands about justice. They tithed their spices while plotting an assassination. Their devotion was selective — they obeyed the parts that made them look good and ignored the parts that inconvenienced their agenda.
Jesus' question is uncomfortably relevant: you claim this standard — are you living by it? Not the convenient parts. Not the parts that make you feel righteous. The parts that cost you something. The parts that apply to how you treat the person standing in front of you.
The crowd's reaction — "Thou hast a devil" — is what people do when confronted with a truth they can't refute: they attack the messenger. If someone's words about your behavior make you angry enough to lash out, it's worth asking whether their diagnosis might be accurate.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
The people answered and said,.... These seem to be the country people, who came from Galilee and other parts, who knew…
Did not Moses give you the law? - This they admitted, and on this they prided themselves. Every violation of that law…
Did not Moses give you the law, etc. - The scribes and Pharisees announced our Lord to the multitude as a deceiver; and…
Here is, I. Christ's public preaching in the temple (Joh 7:14): He went up into the temple, and taught, according to his…
Did not Moses give you the law? Here the question should probably end: and none of you doeth the lawshould be a simple…
Cross References
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