Judge Not According to Appearance - John 7:24

The apostle John wrote how in the middle of the feast Jesus addressed His accusers by saying, “If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are you angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?”, and in chapter seven and verse twenty-four of his book, John shared how Jesus told the people to, “judge not according to the appearance” where we read:

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

The verse reads, “Judge not according to the appearance, ...” John began with the words, “Judge not” or “do not select, choose, approve or pronounce an opinion concerning right or wrong” “according to the appearance” which means “down from, through out and toward the outward look, face or countenance”. John shared how Jesus told the people confronting Him not to “approve or pronounce opinions” upon the outward “look or countenance”.

The verse continues, “... but judge righteous judgment.” John added the words, “but judge” which means “however and moreover they were to select, choose, approve or pronounce an opinion concerning right or wrong with” “righteous judgment” or “innocent, faultless, guiltless and virtuous opinion, condemnation or decision given concerning anything”. John shared how Jesus told the “Jewish people” who were confronting Him to employ “innocent, faultless and virtuous” “opinion, decision and appraisal” of things.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we learn how Jesus instructed the Jewish people who were “confronting” Him not to “judge” only by what they saw on the surface but rather with “innocent and faultless” decision making. God desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they yield their lives to Him, He will give them the “correct” view toward what He does. These “Jewish people” could not see how Jesus came to minister to people and to demonstrate He is the “Savior and Christ” of mankind. Not everyone “judges” Him correctly, but He is available to everyone. Those who are wise will carefully observe the life of Jesus and His deeds and yield their life to Him as they discover who He really is.

Next time John shares how some of the people in Jerusalem ask, “is not this he, whom they seek to kill?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".