Article September 30, 2013 Issue

Appearance or reality?

For the Lesson titled "Unreality" from September 30 - October 6, 2013

Mary Trammell

Despite enemies determined to kill him, Jesus boldly comes to the Jerusalem temple to teach at the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, the fall harvest festival. As he speaks, some ask how he can preach so powerfully without rabbinical training. Others complain that he’s violated Jewish ritual law by healing a paralyzed man on the Sabbath day. The Master’s response forms the Golden Text for this week’s Lesson titled, “Unreality”: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Or as J.B. Phillips puts it, “You must not judge by the appearance of things but by the reality!” (The New Testament in Modern English).

What is “righteous judgment”? The first verse in the Responsive Reading answers that question with the words of Job’s young friend Elihu, who passionately argues that despite all the tragic losses Job has suffered, he and his friends shouldn’t lose faith in God’s righteousness. “Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good,” he urges in a declaration that’s repeated in Section 1 (Job 34:4, Responsive Reading and citation 2).

The rest of the Responsive Reading, drawn from the lengthy meditation on divine statutes in Psalm 119, defines true judgment as God’s totally good law. “Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments,” the final verse (137) in the Responsive Reading asserts, a statement that’s repeated in Section 2 (cit. 6). This law has nothing to do with legalism or ritual. Instead, it’s what helps a person find “one’s best self formed by God” (Harper’s Bible Commentary, p. 487).

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