John 7:14-36 | What's the connection?

There is a very important connection to the broader context as a whole. Coming out of John 6 and this earlier section in John 7, we have seen a lot of rejection of Jesus and very little belief taking place. In the section we are studying this week, John makes a couple of distinctions. One of which is the nature of who believes and who doesn't. We had the crowd that was fed by Jesus in the feeding of the 5,000 who turned away from following Him after He delivered a difficult teaching. When Jesus was with His family, His brothers brazenly rejected Him as well. Being in the temple and teaching, contention arises. Again, He is on the onset of rejection, and to this He highlights why.

16 Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
-John 7:16-17

The issue at hand is a rejection of the Father's will. It is not simply Jesus that is being rejected. If you reject one who is sent, you also reject the sender. Jesus was sent by the Father and so any rejection of Christ reflects back to the Father. The undertone of the whole text is highlighting this very relationship. Jesus' authority is from the Father, and the Father is the One who sent Him, and the Father is to Whom Jesus is going.

As we are coming from a multitude of rejections of Jesus, it is essential to what John is writing for the reader to know what this rejection really entails. Jesus is not doing this on His own accord. He is acting on behalf of the Father.

What connections are you seeing?