JOHN 7:1-13 PODCAST
1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him. 6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”
12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders. John 7:1-13
Some six months after the feeding of the five thousand, and the Lord Jesus' discussion with those who stopped following Him, the desire to kill Jesus by the unbelieving Jews in Judea is growing. It is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. This week long feast of Israel occurred in early October. During this time the Jews built tents out of tree limbs, and many families actually moved out of their houses and lived in them. This feast was a reminder that the Lord led the people of Israel through the desert out of Egypt for forty years.
According to v.4-5, the four brothers of Jesus came to Him with advice. They told him, "You need a larger arena. Galilee is too small for you. Why stay here in the sticks? You need to get down to Judea, to Jerusalem. That's the capital, the heart of the country."
"In addition," they said to the Lord Jesus, "Your followers in Judea need to see you again. Their faith needs to be encouraged by your miracles." They said, "No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret." They meant, "If you want to be recognized as the Messiah, you have got to move out onto a real stage."
This kind of reasoning sounds normal, but, there is one missing element, which John highlights in v.5: "For even his brothers did not believe in him." Faith in the Lord Jesus as the promised Messiah was missing and that is why his brothers argued the way they did. If they had believed, they would have followed His advice and trusted in His plan.
Many Christians have this same problem today. We do not believe that God knows best. We plan and ambitiously pursue own will rather than His. I truly appreciate what the late Mike Yaconelli had to say along these lines. He said, "We'd like to have it all neat and orderly. We want to be able to measure it and control it, but the reality is that Jesus is a mystery. The Christian faith is a mystery. The disciples spent their entire time following him going, "Uhh, what the heck are you doing? We don't understand what you're doing and we don't know why you're doing it." And when he would explain why he was doing it, they still didn't get it. Such is the nature of our relationship with Him, and yet, this is what makes it exciting and worth pursuing Him. We do not know what to expect from Him next, and yet, it is the best for us.
In response in v.6-9, the Lord Jesus describes the difference between His thoughts and the thoughts of puny man. The Lord Jesus understood what God had appointed, not only for Him but for all, including you and me. Our lives are in His hands, and the key is to follow His lead, even when it seems crazy. The Lord Jesus knew that His time would not be at the Feast of Tabernacles, but at the Feast of Passover. Tabernacles is in October, while Passover is in March or April, thus there were six months left before his time was to come. He knew the ceremony in the book of Exodus of the offering of a lamb and sprinkling its blood over the doorposts so that the Angel of Death would pass over the houses of Israelites and spare them from the judgment of God, was picturing that event in which he would be the central character. This is why John the Baptist's first words when he saw Jesus coming toward him were, "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world," (John 1:29).
According to v.10, we learn why the Lord Jesus did not want to go to Jerusalem with His brothers: because that would have attracted attention to Him. Did you notice the polarization of the crowd? Some believed and others didn't. Yet no one talked openly about Him. Everyone was afraid of being hauled in before the religious leaders, so they did not speak openly but merely whispered about him.
This is the emphasis in our text: do we openly believe in the Lord Jesus or not? I have discovered that I have no choice in this matter. Well, I have a choice, but my heart has been captured. I love the Lord too much to remain quiet about Him. And, to add to this, those who walk in darkness need to see the light. This is why God has placed you and me on this earth ... to point others to Him. There are two things in this world which will endure through eternity: the word of God and the souls of people. We must be involved in bringing these two together. Will you do it?
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