John 7:1-13

Verse 1

Most scholars see this as the beginning of the final year of Jesus’ ministry

Was this secrecy or was it being wise?

Why do you think that Jesus stayed out of the limelight so to speak?

If danger is enimant, are we justified in withdrawing?

Jesus had been ministering there for 6 months or more

The “hard teaching” had squelched rumors of making Him king, yet multitudes continued to follow Him.

There are multiple references in the gospels of Jews plotting to kill Jesus:

Matthew 12:14 NIV84

But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

John 5:18 NIV84

For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

“The gospel light is justly taken away from those that wish to extinguish it.”

Verse 2

Probably about 6 months after the feeding of the 5000.

Feast of the Tabernacles is one of three festivals that all males in Israel were required to attend: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.

The Feast of the Tabernacles:

held during harvest time

reminded the Hebrew people of their ancestors’ exodus from Egypt

reminded the Hebrew people of their wilderness wandering and their ingathering in the promise land

Leviticus 23:24 NIV84

“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.

Leviticus 23:34 NIV84

“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days.

Levit

Deuteronomy 16:16 NIV84

Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the Lord empty-handed:

Deuteronomy

Verse 3

Mentions Jesus’ brothers: Can you name His biological brothers?

Matthew 12:46 NIV84

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.

Matthew 13:55

Matthew 13:55 NIV84

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

Why do the brothers want Jesus to go to Judea?

To put on a display

Because they were power hungry?

Verse 4

The brothers had obviously seen the miracles and wanted Jesus to show the world

Why is John pointing this out?

Verse 5

John 7:5 NIV84

For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

John

sibling ridicule?

Psalm 69:8 NIV84

I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother’s sons;

Could they have wanted to restore the family honor by persuading the “disciples” that had left to return?

Could they have been seeking fame for themselves?

John 7:6 NIV84

Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.

What is Jesus meaning here?

His time is set. He has purpose.

Their time is not set. they have no understanding of the Father’s purpose.

Jesus followed God’s Planner

Verse 7

We will study this again in

John 15:18–19 NIV84

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

The world hates Jesus…Why?

Fruits fall from the tree which bears them.

Apart from God, human society is dedicated to evil.

Verse 8

A reiteration of verse 6.

NIV’s use of YET indicates Jesus waiting for further instruction.

John 5:20 NIV84

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.

The Father shows (the Son) what to do

Verse 9

Staying in Galilee

Verse 10

We learn that Jesus attends in secret.

Verses 11-13

We see two types of people: those for Him and those against Him.

Deuteronomy 13:1–6 NIV84

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known,

Deuteronomy

What can we learn from the passage:

Jesus is about the Father’s work

Jesus has been and will be misunderstood

We must understand the Father’s work to fully understand the work of Jesus

What else?