Daily EncouragementSample

There is no doubt that the Lord is here speaking about himself. It is part of his reply to those whose reaction when they heard him teaching was to ask, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” (verses 14-15). They meant study under a Rabbi, as Paul studied under Gamaliel. Our Lord declares that his teaching is from the God who sent him, whose glory he seeks. He is par excellence “a man of truth” and “there is nothing false about him.”

There is direction here for his servants who follow in is his steps. “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6) is a word that must apply to speaking in his Name as well as to everything else. The key question about all service, particularly the ministry of the word, is “Whose honour am I seeking?” If I’m seeking my own glory, then I am literally on my own, rather like Samson - “he did not know that the Lord had left him” (Judg. 16:20). If I’m seeking God’s glory, there will be the ring of truth about my ministry. Someone once said that the great evangelist D. L. Moody never seemed to have heard about himself.