June

Plots of Entrapment & Murder — June 1 ^{[Description]Overview of the Passage:
This passage details the mounting tension between Jesus and the religious leaders during His visit to Jerusalem for a feast. The leaders, jealous and fearful of His growing influence, constantly try to trap and discredit Him—yet Jesus doesn't engage in their games. Instead, He reveals heart-level truth, challenging their authority by exposing their hypocrisy and spiritual blindness.
Despite their claims to know God, the rulers resist the truth because of pride, sin, and fear of losing control. Jesus teaches that true understanding comes not just from intellectual ability, but from a heart surrendered to God's will. He demonstrates divine insight by reading their hearts and exposing their murderous intentions.
The people watching are caught between belief and doubt, influenced by both Jesus’ powerful presence and the misleading arguments of their leaders. Even temple officers sent to arrest Jesus return in awe, declaring, “Never man spake like this man.”
Ultimately, the passage illustrates a timeless conflict: truth vs. tradition, humility vs. pride, and Spirit-led conviction vs. institutional resistance. Jesus’ words invite honest seekers to look past appearances and judge righteously—through Scripture, not status.}

Spirit of Prophecy Reading

The Desire of Ages pp.455-460.3: 365D 152.1

This chapter is based on John 7:16-36, 40-53; John 8:1-11. 365D 152.2

All the while Jesus was at Jerusalem during the feast He was shadowed by spies. Day after day new schemes to silence Him were tried. The priests and rulers were watching to entrap Him. They were planning to stop Him by violence. But this was not all. They wanted to humble this Galilean rabbi before the people. 365D 152.3

On the first day of His presence at the feast, the rulers had come to Him, demanding by what authority He taught. They wished to divert attention from Him to the question of His right to teach, and thus to their own importance and authority. 365D 152.4

“My teaching is not Mine,” said Jesus, “but His that sent Me. If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from Myself.” John 7:16, 17, R. V. The question of these cavilers Jesus met, not by answering the cavil, but by opening up truth vital to the salvation of the soul. The perception and appreciation of truth, He said, depends less upon the mind than upon the heart. Truth must be received into the soul; it claims the homage of the will. If truth could be submitted to the reason alone, pride would be no hindrance in the way of its reception. But it is to be received through the work of grace in the heart; and its reception depends upon the renunciation of every sin that the Spirit of God reveals. Man's advantages for obtaining a knowledge of the truth, however great these may be, will prove of no benefit to him unless the heart is open to receive the truth, and there is a conscientious surrender of every habit and practice that is opposed to its principles. To those who thus yield themselves to God, having an honest desire to know and to do His will, the truth is revealed as the power of God for their salvation. These will be able to distinguish between him who speaks for God, and him who speaks merely from himself. The Pharisees had not put their will on the side of God's will. They were not seeking to know the truth, but to find some excuse for evading it; Christ showed that this was why they did not understand His teaching. 365D 152.5