7:1-5
Jesus’ Brothers Taunt Him
After giving the Bread of Life Discourse in chapter 6, Jesus traveled around in Galilee. He did not go into Judea because he knew the Jewish leaders were trying to kill him.
However, the Feast of Booths was at hand. (2) This is one of the seven feasts declared by God for Israel and one of the three that were mandatory for Jewish males to attend. This meant going to Jerusalem from wherever you lived. It was a popular feast to attend because it came right after the harvest of grapes and olives. You can read about the feast in Leviticus 23.
Evidently, Jesus’ family was preparing to go. So, his brothers goaded Jesus to leave Galilee and go to Judea for the feast. They chided him for working in secret if he wanted by be known and told him to show himself to the world. (4)
They were implying that Jesus was a coward, afraid to show himself. John explained in verse 5 that Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him. And that is the reason they said these things to him.
We do know that Jesus’ family came to believe in him, probably in response to Jesus appearing to his brother James after Jesus had risen from the grave. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us about this appearance.
Your Time Is Not My Time
7:6-9
Jesus responded to his brother that his “time” had not yet come.
This passage causes some consternation because Jesus went to the feast later. So, how do we grapple with the fact that Jesus said he was not going, but later went?
The original Greek, in which the text was written, gives us the answer. We, as English speakers, suffer from having an imprecise language.
Jesus often spoke of his hour or time in the Gospel of John. He was referring to the time of his death, of going to the cross. For example, look at John 8:20, which says Jesus spoke in the temple, but no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come.
God had set the time for Jesus’ crucifixion and would not let him be arrested until the time God ordained. The word used for time or hour there is “hora”, which means the destined hour of God. It was not movable or avoidable. It was the hour at which God had decided that something must happen.
But here in this passage, John used a different word. It is the only time the word appears in John. The word is “kairos”, which means the most opportune, or best, time to do something.
So, Jesus is not saying here that the destined hour of his death has not come, but something much simpler. Jesus is saying simply: "If I go up with you just now I will not get the opportunity I am looking for. The time is not opportune."
The Phillips translation from the 1950s, meant to be a more readable version of the gospels, translates this verse as follows:
“No, you go up to the Festival; I shall not go up now, for it is not yet time for Me to go.”
William Barclay translated it like this:
“The time of opportunity that I am looking for has not yet come, but your time is always ready.”
Both of these translators were trying to capture the meaning of the Greek word “hora”.
So he delayed his going until the middle of the festival. That allowed him to arrive with the crowds all assembled and gave him a far better opportunity to slip into Jerusalem unnoticed than to go at the very beginning when the Jewish leaders were looking for him. Jesus was choosing his time with careful prudence in order to get the most effective results and to observe the time the Father set for him.
Jesus also drew a distinction between his brothers, who were of the world, and himself, who testified that the world was evil. (7) The brothers could always join the world, because they were part of it. But, Jesus could not because the world hated him. We know this to be true because John has told us that the Jewish leaders, who were part of the world, were seeking to kill him.
The word “world”, in this context, means the part of humanity that is opposed to God. Jesus’ brothers, as non-believers, were part of the world. Jesus himself was not part of the world. With the same meaning in mind, Paul also tells us not to be conformed to the world. (Romans 12:1)
So, Jesus said he was not going up to the feast because it was not the best time for him to go, given what the Father wanted him to accomplish. So, he stayed in Galilee for a few more days.
What we learn from this passage is:
- It is impossible to force Jesus' hand (or the Father’s). His brothers tried to force him into going to Jerusalem on their time table. It was what we might call a dare or a taunt. They were quite right from the human point of view. Jesus' great miracles had been done in Galilee. There was his changing of water into wine (John 2:1 ff); the healing of the nobleman's son (John 4:46); the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1 ff). The only miracle that he had wrought in Jerusalem was the curing of the crippled man at the pool (John 5:1 ff). If Jesus was ever to succeed in winning men, he could not hope to do so by hiding in a corner; he must act in such a way that everyone could see what he did. And Jerusalem was the most important place in Judaism.
7;10-25
Jesus At The Feast
Jesus later went up to Jerusalem, to the feast, but he went privately. Somehow, the Father had let him know it was the right time. (10) And Jesus did the Father’s will.
The Jewish leaders were indeed looking for him, wanting to arrest him. (11) The people were also speculating about him, since had caused a stir at the last feast by healing a man on the Sabbath. Also, the Galileans who where there were likely telling stories of Jesus’ miracles done in and around Capernaum as well as his teaching at the synagogue. Some thought Jesus was good and some did not. But all worried about the Jewish leaders and did not want to heard talking about him. (13)
In the middle of the feast week, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began teaching. (14) The Jews marveled because they knew Jesus had never studied with a Rabbi, yet he spoke as one with learning of the Scripture. (15)
Jesus explained to them that he teaching was not his, but the Father’s. He named the Father as the one who sent him. Therefore, if anyone was seeking to do God’s will, that person would discern whether Jesus’ teaching was from God or on Jesus’ own authority. (17) This statement was probably directed at the Jewish leaders, who would claim to seek and do the Father’s will, yet rejected Jesus’ teaching and his authority.
Jesus went on to say that those who speak on their own authority seek to glorify themselves. (18) He was likely speaking of the teachers of the day. But the one who seeks the glory of the Father is true, and there is no falsehood.
This reminds me of watching a preacher on television who told the hosts of the show that God had revealed something to him that had never been revealed before. The hosts were excited and begged him to tell them. He proceeded to say something that was completely unbiblical and heretical. But the hosts were impressed and complimentary to the preacher, who sat there smugly smiling. He got his glory in that moment.
But, we know that when we read the Bible, that is God speaking to us. That is why we call the Bible the Word of God. If God were to tell us one thing in Scripture, then tell us something different through a television preacher, he would be lying either in the Scripture or to the preacher. And we know God does not lie. And God does not change.
In verse 19, Jesus pressed them harder, saying Moses gave them the law, but they did not keep the law, as shown by the fact that they tried to kill him. The law said not to murder. (Exodus 20:13) The crowd ridiculed that idea, but we know it to be true. They accused him of having a demon, which was making him crazy and delusional.
Jesus then defended his action of healing during the feast of Pentecost again. He said you will circumcise a male on the Sabbath, but got angry that he made a man’s whole body well.
The command to circumcise all males on the 8th day came from the “fathers”, specifically Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham. The sign of the covenant was that all descendants of Abraham would be circumcised on the 8th day after birth. (Genesis 17)
Moses institutionalized circumcision in the law in the covenant God made with the nation of Israel. But the command came before the law and therefore, had priority over the law, including the observance of the Sabbath. Therefore, they circumcised even on the Sabbath.
So, the Jews recognized exceptions to the law for necessity and for obedience to God’s commands. They also saw circumcision as a perfecting ordinance. The person circumcised was perfected in the covenant and had to be perfected on the eighth day.
Jesus, in healing the man, perfected the man’s whole body. So, in a way, Jesus’ healing of the whole man was a fulfillment of the Old Testament rite of circumcision. Jesus was fulfilling the redemptive purposes of God set forth in the Old Testament.
Jesus urged them to judge rightly and not just by appearance. The Jews judged Jesus based on presumptions about him and the Old Covenant law.
If, on the other hand, they sought to do God’s will by faith rather than works, they would discern that Jesus did not break the Sabbath, but fulfilled it as he fulfilled the rite of circumcision. And they would believe in him.
It is interesting to see the Jews focus on smaller things and fail to grasp the greater thing, which is Jesus coming as the one God anointed to bring salvation to the world.
Yet, we see the same thing today. People reject Jesus and his salvation as they focus on smaller things. Church people do this too, at times, and lose the joy of knowing Jesus and his salvation because the focus on works and extra-Biblical rules.
Focus on Jesus this week. Rejoice in knowing him and his salvation.
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