What does John 7:16 mean?

In John 5:17, Jesus claimed to be equal to God in His works. In John 5:30, Jesus claimed to be equal to God in His judgment. Here, Jesus claims to be equal to God in His teaching. Rather than Jesus' knowledge being grounded in some religious school or self-study, God the directly gives the teachings. This is one reason He can discuss the Word of God with such skill, despite not being formally trained (John 7:15).

This represents an interesting and important distinction between Jesus' ministry and that of Christians today. Jesus here claims that His teachings, specifically, are those of God Himself. Since what's written in Scripture is the Word of God, this makes sense. This also provides context for Jesus' later comment that only those willing to obey God can successfully determine whether these teachings are valid (John 7:17). Christian believers, on the other hand, can only appeal to the spiritual authority of the Bible, and not to our own teachings. While we have the Bible—the written Word of God—we don't have the same divine authority which Jesus possessed.