If Jesus alone was from above – where did, we come from?  The answer may surprise you.

Welcome to the – Come Follow Me – podcast.

This review from the LDS, Come Follow Me manuals for Sunday School, Families, and Individuals covers the lesson plan for John 7 through 10.

The manual begins with an overview of today’s lesson: “Although Jesus Christ came to bring ‘peace and good will toward me’ (Luke 2:14), there was a ‘division among the people because of him’ (John 7:43).  People who witnessed the same events came to very different conclusions about who Jesus was.  Some concluded, ‘He is a good man,’ while others said, ‘He decieveth the people.’ (John 7:12).  When He healed a blind man on the Sabbath, some insisted, ‘This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day,’ while others asked, ‘How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?’ (John 9:16).  Yet despite all the confusion, those who searched for truth recognized the power in His words, for ‘never man spake like this man’ (John 7:46).  When the Jews asked Jesus to ‘tell us plainly’ whether he was the Christ, He revealed a principle that can help us distinguish truth from error.  ‘My sheep hear my voice.’  He said, ‘and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27).’”

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I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said something like “There are really only three options we are dealing with here: 1. If He claims to be the Son of God and He is not, then He is a liar.  2. Maybe He thought He was the Son of God, but He’s not, then He’s a lunatic.  Or, 3. He IS who He said He was, the Son of God.”

Okay, it is the Fall season now, and Jesus will be crucified and resurrected in the spring.  He is traveling and teaching in Galilee but will go to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Tabernacles.  As John begins in chapter 7, he informs us that many of the Savior’s own close relatives do not believe He is the Messiah until after the resurrection.  His brother, James became the leader in Jerusalem and wrote the Book of James.  Judas – not Iscariot – changed his name to Jude and wrote the book of Jude. 

In Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple and taught.  Verse 15 “And the Jews marveled, saying How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”  They were looking for His credentials.  He never attended Rabbinical theological school.  How does He know so much?  Of course, this was Jesus – the Word of God – made flesh.  So, if anyone would know what was truly taught in the Law and the Prophets by the mouth of God it would have been Jesus.    Verse 16 “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”  In other words, “my teachings are coming from God, who is in heaven, and that makes everything I say, divinely inspired.” 

Then, He adds a passage rich in meaning.  Verse 17 “If any man will do his will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”  We must ask here – “What is God’s will?”  For those who do not know Him His will is singular in nature – to believe, to have faith upon His Son.  Back in John 6:29 Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”  And in 1 John 3:23 “And this is his commandment, ‘That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.’”  So, to “do his will” – God’s will – is to believe and to love.  Take note here, that Jesus was working to bring men to God’s doctrine – not a man’s doctrine.  The invisible God was not known to us, so His Word became flesh, and dwelled among us, and revealed to us the will, and ways, and words of the invisible God.  Jesus is saying, “I’m not here to teach you heavenly things from my flesh, from my humanity – but as I receive them from God.”

Verse 28 “Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, sa