Jesus At The Feast of Booths

Introduction

Outline

Point 1: Show Yourself to the world, Jesus. v.1-5

Point 2: Jesus’ Testimony about the world v.6-9

Point 3: The world’s testimony about Jesus v.10-13

Point 1: Show Yourself To The World, Jesus (v.1-5)

John 7:1–5 ESV

1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 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.

Jesus continues his ministry (v.1)

John 7:1 “1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.”

In Galilee

After this (v.1)—Previous narrative (Bread of Life Discourse in Ch. 6)

Took place during the time of the Passover (April)

Ch. 7 occurs at the Feast of Tabernacles…(Oct)

Roughly 7 months later.

Avoiding Judea

Where Jerusalem was

Where the majority of the Jewish religious leaders were.

they wanted to kill him.

1) For healing on the Sabbath

2) For claiming equality with the Father

Jesus was a blasphemer and a law breaker…not someone who should be followed…let alone worshipped.

Explain the Feast of Booths (v.2)

John 7:2 “2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.”

Celebrate the harvest of grapes and olives.

7 day long feast

Booths (Tabernacles)

reminded God’s people of God’s faithfulness to them as they sojourned in the wilderness for 40 years after the Exodus.

Josephus a First Century Jewish historian says that of the three main feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) this feast was the most popular.

Feast has two major ceremonial acts (rites)

Water drawing & Lamp lighting

Remember these because they will come into play in upcoming weeks.

Booths, Feast Of (חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת, chag hassukkoth, σκηνοπηγία, skēnopēgia). Also known by its transliteration, Sukkot. One of Israel’s three great annual festivals, celebrated at the time of the agricultural harvest, in gratitude for Yahweh’s present and historical provision.

Purpose and Date

During this festival Israel gathered luxuriant boughs and built booths in which to live for the span of the festival. These acts were meant to remind them of the time spent wandering in the desert. The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the seven feasts described in the Pentateuch, starting four days after the Day of Atonement. It begins after the completion of grain threshing and pressing grapes, on the fifteenth day of Tishri (the seventh lunar month, which falls in late September to late October).

Benjamin M. Austin, “Booths, Feast of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).His brothers encourage him to go to Judea (v.3)

Brothers testing Jesus

John 7:3 “3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.”

His brothers are testing Jesus because they didn’t believe

John 7:5 “5 For not even his brothers believed in him.”

Luke 4:12 “12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ””

Brothers: Who were they?

Matthew 13:55 ESV

55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

James, Joseph, Simon and Judas

They don’t believe in him at this point (v.5)

Later they’re converted.

Now they think Jesus is crazy

Motivation for encouraging him to go to Jerusalem

So that disciples can see Jesus’ works

John 7:3 “3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.”

Who are the disciples (v.3)

Larger group than the 12

What works was Jesus doing?

Fed the 5K, healing,Don’t put the Lord your God to the test

Prove it to us Jesus

Had they not seen the other miracles?

Did they want to be first in the kingdom?

Their motives weren’t pure…because they aren’t following Jesus.

Unbelief is a matter of the heart

Not a matter of Jesus needing to prove it to people.

If someone has a hard heart towards God…they will always find a way to remain in their unbelief.

His brothers are eventually converted:

Acts 1:14 “14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

Show yourself to the world

John 7:4 “4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.””

Stop operating in secret.

Do you want to be known by the world?

Then show yourself to the world.

Different meanings of world

Define world: openly to everyone

Why did Jesus operate in secret?

His time had not yet come.

His desire wasn’t to draw the biggest crowd possible.

Application

Rejected by family for following Jesus?

Jesus was.

Many disciples were.

Many people around the world are.

Some of you may be.

Our desire shouldn’t be to draw the biggest crowd possible.

Or to flaunt what we’re doing.

Our desire should be to seek the will of God for our own lives and for our church.

Jesus was absolutely secure in his

Identity & Mission

Therefore

He wasn’t pushed around by other people’s agendas, and he didn’t need to “Show himself to the world” when others told him to.

2 Questions for you:

Are there areas of life where you see doubts in your identity and mission…which leads to insecurity?

What ways might we be tempted to show ourselves to the world?

To put our best foot forward.

What things do you find yourself saying about yourself.

Tooting your own horn.

You’re on repeat

Prove yourself

Do you feel the need to be known by others?

If you regularly find yourself running through your own credentials…this may be a sign that you’re desiring the approval of man…more than the approval of God.

Patience with his timing.

Don’t you sometimes sit there and think: Jesus show yourself to the world! Come back. Prove that we’re right. Jesus will show himself to the world at just the right time.

Gandolf: “A wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”

Transition to Point 2

Jesus’ brothers tell Jesus to show himself to the world.

Let’s see what Jesus’ testimony is about the world.

Point 2: Jesus’ Testimony About The World (v.6-9)

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.

Jesus’ Time Hasn’t Come

John 7:6 “6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.”

Brothers can go to the festival whenever they want…

No one is opposed to them…they don’t really have a set mission to accomplish.

Jesus is going at a precise time

And his time has not yet come.

His time for what?

To reveal himself to the world…and ultimately to go to the cross.

The world cannot hate you…what’s this mean?

John 7:7 “7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”

The world: representative of the world, lost in sin, and opposed to Jesus.

The world doesn’t hate its own…and Jesus brothers…don’t believe…therefore, they stand in opposition to Jesus and his mission.

So the world isn’t going to hate his brothers.

The world hates Jesus

On the other hand…the world hates Jesus.

And, we find out later on in John, the world will hate those who are true disciples of Jesus.

John 15:18-19 “18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Why does the world hate Jesus?

Jesus is the light shining into the darkness.

And the darkness is exposed when the light shines…and those who want to remain in the dark…hate the light.

Illustration: Light when you’re sleeping

When you’re dead tired and the light pierces through your window…and you hate it…you don’t want morning to come.

That’s where we are by nature…lost in our sins.

But…when God gives us hearts that long for the light.

Something changes.

the light shining in the darkness…means hope and salvation

Illustration:

Drainage tunnels...

big drainage tunnels in Albuquerque NM

Get back in the tunnels and it was pitch black.

You’d start heading back the way you came in…and every time I saw the light shining in the tunnel…A feeling of relief and safety and security would rush over me.

I no longer wanted to be in the tunnel…I wanted the light....

Jesus came to expose the evil of the world

By being a light.

Not only expose…but to offer salvation from the judgment that the evil deserved.

By taking that judgment for us on the cross.

Light - darkness

good - evil

truth - lies

Here is the testimony the Light Brings:

Jesus’ testimony about the world (v.7)

John 7:7 “7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”

It’s works are evil.

The world is lost in sin...

For this reason and other reasons…the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus (v.1)

Jesus response to His brothers (v.8)

John 7:8 “8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.””

I’ve never quite understood Jesus response here.

On one level it seems like Jesus is deceiving his brothers.

Here’s what I think is going on here:

Additional note: Jesus’ ‘deception’ of his brothers

Was Jesus lying when he told his brothers that he was not going up to the feast and then did so? Dealing with this issue, Wesley notes the frequent references to deception in Genesis (fifteen times) and that, while the majority of them are depicted negatively, three of them are treated positively, particularly Joseph’s deception of his brothers prior to their reconciliation. Was there, then, a positive use of deception on Jesus’ part? Wesley suggests that had the brothers known that Jesus would follow them to the feast later, they would have sought to ‘orchestrate opportunities’ for him to display his power and to bring honour to their family. This may have brought on prematurely the opposition to Jesus that in the divine plan was not to culminate until the next festival. Wesley further notes that if Jesus did knowingly employ deception, it conformed to the three criteria for deception that restores shalom: it is limited to the person who caused the original wrong, it must not disadvantage the deceived person, and it must not advantage the deceiver beyond his or her status prior to suffering the original wrong. It can be shown that Jesus’ ‘deception’ of his brothers met these criteria.

Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, Second edition., vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2017), 208–209.Keener comments:

In general, ancient peoples, both Jewish and Gentile, condemned lying, but those who commented on it sometimes allowed exceptions. Scripture certainly permitted deception under extreme circumstances, especially to save life and sometimes (with prophets) to let the wicked remain in their folly. Later Jewish teachers also approved of deception to fight oppressors (Judith 9:10, 13) or to save one’s life from oppressors. Telling the truth could merit damnation if this act constituted betrayal of another to an oppressor. But whereas Jesus might have left an impression different from his plans, he does not explicitly lie here; he did remain in Galilee until it was time for him to go to the festival (7:9; 8:20, 59).

Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, Second edition., vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2017), 209.You go up to the feast…in Judea.

I’m not going up to the feast

I’m not yet going…I’m not going in this way.

In the way you’re telling me to go there.

To display my works and to openly declare myself to be the Messiah and to be killed.

I’m not going in that way.

You can’t force me into operating according to your timeline.

I’m operating according a definite plan…the plan devised by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before time began.

When the time comes for me to be crucified

It’s going to be at the exact hour…the exact minute…the exact second that God planned.

No a second sooner or a second later.

And my time has not yet come.

Jesus remains in Galilee (v.9)

At least for a little while longer.

Application

World is evil

Our ultimate goal as Christians is not to be liked by the world.

Our ultimate goal as Christians is not to be winsome

Our ultimate goal as Christians is not to put our best foot forward.

We can be surprised when the world thinks we’re declaring a hateful message.

We can be surprised when the world thinks we’re intolerant and unloving.

And if we think our goal is to be liked by the world…well, then the mission of the church changes.

That’s actually a pretty easy mission to accomplish…to be liked by the world.

You do what a lot of big corporations do…take a cultural poll and jump on the latest cultural bandwagon…try to get on the right side of history.

Our ultimate goal as Christians

Our ultimate goal is to bring glory to God by following Jesus in the way we live and by declaring His truth.

That’s the essence of our purpose statement as a church: We exist to glorify God by displaying (in the way that we live and follow after Jesus) and proclaiming (declaring the truth of the gospel and God’s word) Jesus.

Want to do it in a loving way…Aren’t trying to be intentionally offensive…We check our hearts for pride and arrogance and self righteousness…Yes…Certainly.

But if we think our job is to be liked...

That will necessitate changing the message.

Because we follow in jesus’ footsteps and make the same declaration that he did:

The world is evil!

Persecution will come

2 Tim 3:12 “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

Don’t let others set your agenda.

Not saying live a selfish life.

I am saying…determine what things in your life are most important...

What has God called you to? What roles are you playing? Husband Father, Wife, mother, friend, co-worker, church member.

Look at those roles and ask yourself, how can I be faithful to God and glorify him and find enjoyment in these roles.

It’s going to mean saying “yes” to some things, and “no” to other things.

And it will probably mean disappointing some people...

But you’re living to please God, not man.

Festival was the Biggest Stage

His brother are saying: hey Jesus…look you’ve lost all kinds of followers. Your disciples are leaving you…why not do this miracle on the biggest stage possible and you will have the crowd of your life.

Jesus wasn’t about drawing big crowds. He was about being faithful to the Father and about drawing people in, not to a spectacle, but into a relationship with himself.

A spectacle…many people are drawn in with the wrong motives.

For Jesus: this mean people followed him for a free meal and a ticket into the coming kingdom.

Didn’t produce faith.

Transition to Point 3

Jesus brothers tell him to

Point 1: Show yourself to the world (v.1-5)

We’ve seen

Point 2: Jesus’ testimony about the world (v.6-9)

Now let’s look at

Point 3: The world’s testimony about Jesus (v.10-13)

Point 3: The World’s Testimony About Jesus (v.10-13)

John 7:10–13 ESV

10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 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.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

Jesus does go to the Feast (v.10)

John 7:10 “10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.”

In private, not in the way that His brothers wanted Him to go.

The Jews were looking for Him (v.11)

John 7:11 “11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?””

Jewish religious authorities.

were looking for him.

Not because they were honestly seeking him.

But because they hated him and they wanted to kill him.

Inquisition

Where is he?

Different responses:

John 7:12-13 “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.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.”

Options:

Good man (v.12)

Leading people astray (v.12)

Unbelief (v. 5) (brothers)

Seeking to kill him (v.1)

Application & Conclusion

What’s Your Testimony About Jesus

Who do you say he is?

C.S. Lewis…referenced before…but you see it here.

Liar, Lunatic, Lord.

Don’t patronize him by calling him a good man.

The Jews were right here…Either he was leading people astray…and he was dangerous…and should be stopped by whatever means necessary.

Or Jesus truly was the Messiah, The Son of God, and the Savior of the World.

Who do you say He is?