John Part 16

3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him.

Now, his brothers are trying to convince Jesus to go

And I believe this was his biological brothers

The sons of Mary and Joseph.

The Catholics would have you believe that they are his cousins

Because the word being translated as brother here

Can also mean kindred or kinfolk generically

And the Catholic church believes that Mary could not have any other children

Because she was a virgin for eternity

and the Bible just doesn’t back this idea up.

It certainly does not say it explicitly

That she was an eternal virgin

And there are many other verses that talk about Jesus’s siblings

Including, naming them by name.

James and Jude for example are named as his brothers

and Jude starts his short letting in the NT as a servant of Jesus and brother of James.

And he uses the same Greek word “brother”

That we see here in John chapter 7.

So, don’t buy into the idea that Mary is somehow miraculous an eternal virgin

and that she should be worshipped as such.

This is pure idolatry.

So, his brothers are leaving their home in Galilee

To go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths

And they are trying to convince their older brother Jesus to go too.

And I think they are pushing him to go

Because they probably heard about the miracles that he did there

And they want to pressure him into doing more miracles

so that they could see them with their own eyes

and until they see them with their own eyes

They wouldn’t believe he was the Messiah

But, to them, Jesus was just their older brother.

In vs 6, Jesus Responds…

John 7:6–9 ESV

6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

So, his brothers tried to get Jesus to go with them

But Jesus says, no, i’m not going.

Now, some manuscripts include the word “yet”

And the KJV says in verse 8,

I go not up yet unto this feast.

I think this is to prevent people from thinking there is a contradiction

but Jesus does in fact go to the feast

as we are about to see

So, if Jesus says, I’m not going

and then he does go

it makes it look like he lied without the word “yet”

However, I think the word “yet” is strongly implied already in vs 8…

John 7:8 ESV

8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

When he says “my time has not yet fully come”

I do think it has a double meaning here

1 is that he is talking about the cross

Jesus already knows he will die in Jerusalem

And he knows it is coming

but that it is not time yet

But the second mean here

Is, I’m not ready to go right now with you

my brothers

Because his brothers would not have understood the cross meaning

We understand it in hindsight

but his brothers, who his talking to in this verse,

Do not understand that

What yet do understand is that Jesus is coming to the feast

He just is not ready to go to the feast at this very moment.

He is going to go later.. And that is what he does in verse 10.

John 7:9–10 ESV

9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee. 10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.

So, he stayed behind in Galilee

But after his brothers left

Then Jesus went

but he went privately at first

He needed to sneak into Jerusalem

So that he wasn’t arrested and killed too early.

But while he is there

He does make himself publically available

And he gets more people on his side

And is able to escape without being arrested.

John 7:11 ESV

11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”

So, the Jews were on the hunt for him

They knew he wouldn’t miss this feast

So, Jesus knew what he was doing by sneaking into Jerusalem

Instead of showing up with his brothers.

and getting spotted instantly.

John 7:12 ESV

12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.”

So, the perception of Jesus at this point is divided.

Some thought he was good

Some thought he was leading people astray

This is still true today

John 7:13 ESV

13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

So, people who were talking about Jesus

Were doing it quietly

They were worried about the Jews who were hunting Jesus.

So, things are tense

And there’s all this gossip

And then…

John 7:14 ESV

14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

So, in the middle of all this tension

That is because of Jesus

And whether he is good or bad

And the manhunt for him is happening

Jesus walks into the Temple

And Stands up and starts teaching.

What a way to be covert.

John 7:15 ESV

15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”

So, now, the Jews that were hunting him

to arrest him and have him killed

Are now hearing him teach

And they are marveled by it.

Not really by what he was teaching

But by HOW he was teaching

They were amazed that He knew so much

Despite not having been brought through the normal process

that a Rabbi would have typically gone through.

They didn’t realize that Jesus was able to do this when he was only 12 years old.

He was born with knowledge of the Word of God

Because, the word of God was his own words.

Which is what Jesus proceeds to tell them.

John 7:16–19 ESV

16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”

Ok, here’s kind of the meat of this scene.

It is the point I think John included this story

They questions Jesus’s ability to teach the Word

When he was never taught the word.

They knew he was teaching accurately

But they just did know HOW he was able to do it.

And here Jesus says in vs 16…

John 7:16 ESV

16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

So, his teaching is God’s Teaching.

It is straight from God’s own mouth

And this is part of the theme John is providing us

When you see Jesus

You see the Father

When Jesus does a miracle

It is the Father doing the miracle

When you know Jesus

You know the Father

When you hear Jesus

You are hearing the Father

And on and on

And here

Jesus sees that they are amazed

That he could teach the word of God with such authority

And Yet, he didn’t go through the school the other Rabbis went through.

And Jesus says…

I’m not really the one Teaching

It is God the Father who is Teaching

And certainly God knows his own word

without having to be taught it

So, they are not just hearing a man teaching God’s word

That are hearing God teaching his own word

Then he take a jab back at them.

Because they were students of the Law

The Pharisees knew it well

And yet…

John 7:19 ESV

19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”

So, they were all guilty of the breaking the law of Moses

And yet, they were trying to Kill Jesus

They all deserved death

But they wanted to Kill Jesus who didn’t deserve death at all.

He was healing a man on the sabbath

And they wanted him dead

But every one of them had broken the Law

Because we are all sinners

we all fall short

And Jesus knew they had sinned

And that they deserved to die

But, ironically, they wanted to Kill Jesus

Who was the only innocent man that ever lived.

And this is an issue we have as humans

And you can’t really help it

until you realize it

and work to fix it

But so often we cry guilty when someone does us wrong

But we cry for mercy when we do someone else wrong

Why is that?

I think it is a built in self-preservation mechanism

That God wired into us

It seems like a paradox

We want Justice for everyone else

But we want Mercy for ourselves

And this is built into God as well.

He is a Just God

He will enact Judgment

Justice will be served

Rest assured, the Day of the Lord IS coming

But, at the same time

We have a God that is full of mercy

His true desire is for all of us to be saved

And that is why he died for us

So, that Justice and Mercy could be served on the same platter

He took the Justice we deserved

And granted us the mercy he deserved.

What a wonderful savior.

He’s so good to us

And I think we would do ourselves good

To be more and more like him

And error on the side of mercy…

Yes, I know what they deserve

Yes, I know they hurt you.

I know they were wrong

I know they didn’t say sorry

I know they don’t even think they are wrong

But we all know they are wrong…

But, even still…

Do what Jesus would do…

Have mercy on them

Even when they deserve Justice.

So, Jesus says… you have the law and yet you broke it

I haven’t broken it

and yet you want to kill me…

And this is how they respond…

John 7:20 ESV

20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”

So, the crowd is basically saying that Jesus is being paranoid.

That no one is trying to kill him

But we know, and Jesus knows, that the Jewish leaders are already seeking to kill him.

But the crowd did not know that Jesus was the man the Jewish leaders were trying to arrest and execute.

So, they just thought he was being crazy or paranoid.

But we see in the first of the chapter

There were in fact Jews seeking to kill Jesus.

John 7:1 ESV

1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

And of course, they have been trying to kill him since chapter 5

and it was a result of healing on the Sabbath.

So, instead of responding to the accusation of paranoia

Jesus goes back to that topic about healing on the Sabbath

And after this,

The crowd realizes that this might be the man

whom the Jews were seeking to Kill.

John 7:21–24 ESV

21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

So, in the covenant given to Abraham

And later enacted into the Law of Moses

Jews were required to circumsize their sons

on the 8th day of their birth

If they were born on a Friday

They would be 8 days old on a Sabbath

And they still did the work

so they would not break one law

in order to keep another law.

As an example.

There is a law that says you have the right of way when a light turns green

But there is another law that says you can’t enter an intersection that is already occupied by cross traffic

So, if you insist on keeping the law of taking the right of way when a light turns green

and you get hit by someone who is still in the intersection

You have broken one law to keep another

And Jesus is making the case that certain laws

are dependent upon other laws

and circumsicion on the 8th day

superseded the law of the Sabbath.

Now, when Jesus identified himself as the man who healed on the sabbath from chapter 5

Then the crowd says…

Maybe he isn’t paranoid

Maybe this is the one they are seeking to kill.

John 7:25 ESV

25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?

But then the question remains

If Jesus is wanted for breaking the law

Why is he out in the open teaching?

John 7:26 ESV

26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?

So, everyone else is playing checkers

And Jesus is playing Chess

He knew that coming out of hiding at the right moment

Would lead some people to believe.

They at least started thinking about it

But first they had to get over their doubts.

John 7:27 ESV

27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”

So, the doubters said,

He can’t be the Christ

We know where he grew up.

And it is funny

Because people have not changed

They will still tell you to today

that you can’t ever amount to anything

because you came from this place

or from that family

But, they get something wrong here.

And Jesus corrects it later in the chapter

But I want to point it out now

They said, we know where Jesus is from

But no one will know where the Christ comes from.

So, logically, they have proven to themselves

That Jesus cannot be the Christ

But, their logic is flawed

Because in the OT

It clearly says where Jesus would come from. He would come from Bethlehem.

So many times people who do not know the word of God

Will be so sure they have the right answers

But if you don’t know God’s word

You don’t know anything really

Because every thing you are going through

is found in his word

Everything.

John 7:28–29 ESV

28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”

So, here in vs 28…

John 7:28 ESV

28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

Jesus says, I have not come of my own accord.

Now, I do think this translation isn’t 100% right.

You have to think about the fact that

The translators are viewing the Greek Text

Through their theological lenses

And here, the word “accord” is not actually present.

The literal translation is something like…

John 7:28 KJV 1900

28 …and I am not come of myself…

And more accurately than this, it means:

I am not come FROM my self.

And what Jesus is saying is that my orgin

Is not me

My orgin is from the one who SENT me.

And who sent Jesus?

John 5:36 ESV

36 … the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

John 5:37 ESV

37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

John 6:44 ESV

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…

And that’s only the verse we have covered so far,

But there are 5 or 6 more in John saying that the Father Sent Jesus.

Remember, we have talked about that word “sent”

It means he was appointed for a position.

I sent billy to clean the bathrooms

I sent Dale to serve in congress

That is the sense of the word sent being used here.

Jesus was sent on a mission to die for us

And the place of origin was not another person in the Godhead

Jesus didn’t come FROM God the Son

Jesus came FROM God the Father.

That’s who sent him.

John 7:28 ESV

28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

John 7:29 ESV

29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”

I didn’t come from me

I came from the Father.

This is why Jesus will say if you see me, you’ve seen the Father

If you know me, hear me, follow me, believe in me, … on an on.

And the Word WAS God.

Not another persons beside God

The Word WAS God.

There’s where Jesus came from.

From the Father.

And we know that’s what he meant

Because now… guess what they try to do?

John 7:30 ESV

30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

He is claiming to be God the Father

Teaching His own word

And they want to arrest him again.

But, this was not just a spectacle

Or an attempt to show off

Jesus had a plan for being there that day

And showing up the way he did

and saying the thing he said.

Some people wanted to arrest him

but vs 31 says…

John 7:31 ESV

31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

I mean, come on…can more miracles that Jesus has done

Even be possible?

And so, many people believed that Jesus was the Christ

because of this episode.

Now, let me do the next 5 verses quickly

And we will stop at verse 36.

John 7:32–36 ESV

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Now, Jesus says I’m going back to the Father

Back to where I came from.

Back to my place of origin.

And you can’t come with me there.

He is talking about heaven

the place where God sits

The place outside of time space and matter

into Eternity.

And He says that when he goes there

These people trying to kill him can not come there

Later, he says that his disciples can come there.

And we have this promise in chapter 14

That even those most of this crowd couldn’t go where Jesus was going

He is coming back one day to take us there.

John 14:1–3 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

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