NOTES for Joh 7:40-53

The logic of the Pharisees and chief priests is astonishing. What difference does it make how This Man speaks? There is one main criterion: what have the authorities said? This way of thinking completely rejects such notions as inner perception and feeling... There are official directives, and those are what one must follow. But the Lord acts first of all in people’s hearts, and no theoretical instructions will help us recognize Him. If we close our hearts, if we do not listen to God, our relationship with Him remains pure theory.