Lynne Baab

Jesus gives God glory, parts 3 and 4

Lynne Baab • Tuesday February 17 2026

Overall theme for the next few months: God’s law is love

Lesson 3: Jesus gives God glory, parts 3 and 4 (parts 1 and 2 are here)

Passage: John 7:14-24

Key verse: “Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.” John 7:18

3. Discernment comes with obedience

Jewish scholars, past and present, have counted 613 specific laws in the Old Testament. They also note that all of those laws are summed up in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Jesus quotes this command when questioned by a lawyer, and adds that the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). Jesus and the Jewish leaders agree on these points. However, they disagree on how to prioritize the 613 specific laws under the overarching umbrella of loving God.

“The righteous live by their faith,” writes the prophet Habakkuk (2:4). The apostle Paul builds on Jesus’ teaching when he interprets Habakkuk’s works as relating to trust in God’s love and grace (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11). Because “faith” in Habakkuk can also be translated “faithfulness,” the Jews of Jesus’ time interpreted “living by faith” as referring to living by faithfulness to the law. This stance was often motivated by sincere desire to give God glory, because God gave the people of Israel those 613 specific laws. However, obsessive attention to detail resulted in rigidity and, in the end, lack of faith in a God who calls us to show love.

The subject of Jesus’ argument with the Jewish leaders is the Sabbath day, specifically whether or not healing on the Sabbath is a form of work that is forbidden by Jewish law. Jesus does not go back to the argument he used in John 5:1-17 when he healed the lame man. Here Jesus makes the point that the key question is discernment. The Jewish leaders, Jesus says, have failed to discern how to engage with the law in a way that honors God’s intention. They have focused so precisely on faithfulness to every detail that they have forgotten that love reveals God’s glory. Jesus argues that we discern rightly when we desire to obey. The Jewish leaders, in their visceral anger at Jesus’ teaching and healings, have ceased to desire to obey God. Instead, they have shifted their focus to their own potential loss of power in the face of such a compelling teacher.

“Judge with right judgment,” Jesus exhorts (John 5:24), and he gives instructions for how to do that. Those instructions continue to be challenging today, because like the Jewish leaders, we find it so much easier to think about and analyze things than to step out and obey what we have heard from God.

Can you think of instances when you desired to obey God, and God gave you clarity in what to do next?

4. Stepping into the world

When reading about Jesus’ conflicts with the Jewish leaders, most Christians have moments when we think, “Thank God I’m not like the Pharisees.” We also have moments of self-awareness when we see clearly that we are too often concerned with our own power and glory. We see that we sometimes talk endlessly about what love looks like, rather than actually showing love in word and deed. To engage with Jesus’ priority in John 7:17 — doing the will of God — we must confess our shortcomings and receive God’s forgiveness so we can start anew.

Jesus desires our willingness to obey. Sometimes that willingness starts in the heart. After receiving forgiveness, we can bring our open hearts and open ears to Jesus’ teaching. We can ask God to help us know what to do next. We can listen to God’s Word afresh as we read and study the Bible and hear the Word preached.

Sometimes the willingness to obey begins with an action that we already know God is calling us to do. Maybe we are aware that God is nudging us to reach out to a neighbor or old friend. Maybe we know that patience with an irritating family member is in short supply, and we can pray each day for God’s strength to act in love. Maybe the next act of obedience involves going to an AA meeting, getting out for a prayer walk, or attending church.

God’s love is the foundation and grounding of all of our actions of obedience. Because we are beloved, we desire to obey the One who loves us. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time seem to have had a slightly compulsive aspect to their obedience, as if God would be pleased with them only if every single law was obeyed perfectly. Christians come to God in obedience because God is already pleased with us. We are safe in God’s care. We obey so that we can know how to obey further. We obey so that we can draw ever nearer to the God who already loves us and reflect God’s glory.

Jesus seeks the glory of the One who sent him to earth, and by this Jesus reveals that his words are true. We join Jesus in seeking God’s glory as we strive to obey Jesus’ words to us, and also when we try to reveal God’s love and grace to the vulnerable humans who live on this beautiful earth created by God.

What differences can you see between obeying to try to earn God’s approval and obeying God because we are already loved? In what ways does obeying God because we are already loved help us join Jesus in reflecting God’s glory?

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Next week: Jesus extends forgiveness, parts 1 and 2. Illustration by Dave Baab: Mount Rainier and Puget Sound.

Previous posts about glory:

• Patterns in God’s speech (God’s glory in nature)
• Praise to the Trinity in four movements
• Praying to Jesus, our priceless treasure

This lesson appeared in the Fall 2023 edition of The Present Word adult Bible study curriculum published by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Used with permission.

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Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christian spiritual practices. Read more »

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