John 7:1-13:

Seeking Jesus

In All the Wrong Ways

By Dr. Hal Harless

Foundation Fellowship of Greenville, TX

October 18, 2009

 

I.  Introduction

A.  Please turn to John 7:1. 

B.  While you are turning....  The Christian philosopher C. S. Lewis wrote:

Then comes the real shock.  Among the Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God.  He claims to forgive sins.  He says He has always existed.  He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time.  Now let us get this clear.  Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it.  But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God.  God, in their language, meant the Being outside of the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else.  And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips....

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God."  That is the one thing we must not say.  A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.  He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell.  You must make your choice.  Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.  You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.  But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher.  He has not left that open to us.  He did not intend to.[1]

 

In setting the scene for Jesus' next discourse, John will show us several different reactions to Jesus.  These are people seeking Jesus, but seeking Him in disbelief.  They are seeking Jesus in all of the wrong ways.

II.  Exposition

A.  Background

1.  We are still in Jesus' public ministry (John 2:1-12:36a).

2.  Jesus has completed His discourse on the bread of life and many of His disciples have left Him because they found it unpalatable.

3.  Much had happened in the past six months since chapter six. 

a.  Jesus had conflicts with the Jewish authorities over ritual defilement (Matt 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23). 

b.  In the region of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus had delivered a little girl from demonic possession (Matt 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). 

c.  In the region of Decapolis, Jesus healed many and fed 4,000 (Matt 15:29-38; Mark 7:31-8:9). 

d.  Immediately afterward, the Pharisees and Sadducees demand a sign (Matt 15:39-16:4; Mark 8:10-12).  Jesus rebuked them and warned His disciples about their mind-set (Matt 16:5-12; Mark 8:13-21). 

e.  Jesus healed a blind man in Bethsaida Julius (Mark 8:22-26). 

f.  In the region of Caesarea Philippi, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus predicted His death and resurrection (Matt 16:13-28; Mark 8:27-9:1; Luke 9:18-27). 

g.  The Transfiguration occurred on either Mount Tabor or Hermon and Jesus again predicted His death (Matt 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36). 

h.  Jesus healed a demoniac boy (Matt 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43). 

i.  Jesus again predicted His death and resurrection (Matt 17:22-23; Mark 9:30-32; Luke 9:43-45). 

j.  Jesus taught the disciples lessons concerning faith, humility, responsibility, and forgiveness (Matt 17:24-18:35; Mark 9:33-50; Luke 9:46-50). 

k.  Since John's goal is to supplement the other gospels, he does not mention these events.

4.  With this chapter, the focus of John's gospel turns to Judea where it will remain until our Lord's death and resurrection.

B.  Exposition: The Feast of Booths (John 7:1-10:21)--Seeking Jesus in disbelief (John 7:1-13)

1.  Judean Jewish leaders seek to kill Jesus (John 7:1).

^7:1 After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him (John 7:1).

 

a.  Since the Jewish authorities were seeking to kill Him, Jesus continued to minister in the Galilee for a time. 

1)  "After these things" is John's characteristic way of saying that an indefinite extended amount of time has elapsed. 

2)  Jesus spent about six months in Galilee, from April to October.[2] 

3)  The phrase "the Jews" has been translated "Jewish leaders" (NET, NLT).[3] 

4)  Galilee (Herod Antipas) and Judea (Pontius Pilate) were under separate governing authorities.  If one were wanted in Judea, one could avoid trouble by staying in the Galilee.[4] 

b.  We often seek to kill those that we cannot defeat in argument.  This is the classical argumentum ad baculum fallacy.[5]

2.  Jesus' brothers seek to mock Him (John 7:2-10).

a.  The brothers ridicule Jesus (John 7:2-5).

² Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near.  ³ Therefore His brothers said to Him, "Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.  ⁴ For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  ⁵ For not even His brothers were believing in Him (John 7:2-5).

 

1)  "Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near."

a)  It was close to the time of the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) or Sukkoth. 

i)  Sukkoth was one of the three annual feasts that had mandatory attendance for all Jewish men (Deut 16:16). 

ii)  In AD 32, Sukkoth occurred on October 7-13 (Tishri 15-21, AM 3793).[6] 

iii)  Josephus called Booths "a most holy and most eminent feast."[7] 

iv)  Israelis would live in small tents set up on roofs, etc. to commemorate the wilderness wandering (Lev 23:33-36, 39-43; Deut 16:13-15).

b)  God ordained seven feasts for Israel.  All of them have prophetic meaning, and all have been fulfilled except the last three. 

i)  The first feast in the spring is Passover that commemorates the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  The prophetic fulfillment was Christ's death that delivers us (1 Cor 5:7). 

ii)  The second feast is unleavened bread that represents putting sin out of our lives (1 Cor 5:6-8). 

iii)  The third festival, first fruits, celebrated the beginning of the harvest, and represents Christ as the risen One, the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:20). 

iv)  The fourth feast coming 50 days later, Pentecost, celebrated the harvest, and was, of course, the birthday of the Church (Acts 2). 

v)  In the fall, the fifth feast, trumpets, is prophetic of the rapture of the Church. 

vi)  The sixth holiday, Yom Kippur ("The Day of Atonement") is prophetic of the day that Israel turns to her Messiah (Zech 12:10-14; Rom 11:25-26). 

vii)  Finally, the seventh feast, Sukkoth (Tabernacles) looks back to a time when Israel lived in tents in the wilderness and forward to a time when God in the person of the Messiah again lives in her midst.

2)  "Therefore His brothers said to Him, "'Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.'"

a)  Jesus' brothers taunted Him to go to Judea so that His followers might see His miracles. 

i)  Mary bore other children to Joseph after Jesus was born: "Ya'akov, Yosef, Shim'on and Y'hudah" (CJB) "and His sisters" (Matt 13:55-56; Mark 6:3). 

ii)  Our Lord grew up in a family of at least nine. 

b)  Jesus' brothers knew of the desertion of many disciples after His Bread of Life teaching (John 6:66). 

i)  Perhaps they thought that Jesus was avoiding Judea out of cowardice. 

ii)  They were taunting Jesus that here was an opportunity to regain a following.

3)  "For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."

a)  Jesus' brothers suggest that such an appearance would be good for Jesus' public image. 

i)  The Gk. word translated "secret" (kryptos) means "a hidden place."[8] 

ii)  "You can't become famous if you hide like this!  If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!" (NLT). 

b)  Three years before, Satan had offered Jesus similar advice (Matt 4:5-10; Luke 4:5-12).

4)  "For not even His brothers were believing in Him."

a)  John explains that Jesus' own brothers did not believe in Him at this point. 

i)  In the Messianic Psalm 69, David prophesied, "I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother's sons" (Ps 69:8).  Wiersbe notes that "since Jesus was not Joseph's natural son, He could not say 'My father's children.'"[9] 

ii)  Jesus' brothers did come to believe after the Resurrection (Acts 1:14); two of Jesus' brothers wrote two books of the NT, James and Jude.  However, at this time, they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. 

b)  We often seek to mock what we do not believe so that we can feel superior in our unbelief.

b.  Jesus responds (John 7:6-10).

⁶ So Jesus said to them, "My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.  ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.  ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come."  ⁹ Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.  ¹⁰ But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret (John 7:6-10).

 

1)  "So Jesus said to them, 'My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.'"

a)  Jesus explained to His brothers that the timing was not right. 

i)  Jesus was conscious of living within the prophetic time frame (the time has not come: John 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20; the time has come: John 12:23; 13:1; 17:1). 

ii)  The Gk. word translated "time" (kairos) means " a fixed period of time marked by suitableness season, (favorable) time, opportunity."[10] 

b)  He went on to explain that His brothers had no such constraints on their lives, "Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime" (NLT).

2)  "The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil."

a)  Additionally, Jesus explained the animosity that the world had for Him, but did not have for His brothers. 

i)  Jesus would later explain:

¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.  ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, "A slave is not greater than his master."  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.  ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also.  ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.  ²⁵ But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, "THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE" (John 15:18-25).

 

ii)  The Gk. word translated "evil" means "morally or socially worthless."[11] 

iii)  The word "I" is in the emphatic position.  Wuest translates this, "I alone" (NTET). 

b)  Jesus' very person by His purity contrasts with the world and reveals its sin.

3)  "'Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.'  Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee."

a)  Jesus suggested that His brothers should go to the feast, but the time was not right for Him. 

i)  In the Gk., "Yourselves" is in the emphatic position. 

ii)  It is as if Jesus said, "Take your own advice."[12] 

iii)  "Go up to the feast"--No matter where one is, in Jewish terms one always goes up to Jerusalem.[13] 

b)  Some are confused because Jesus said in this verse, "I do not go up to this feast," but in verse 10, "He Himself also went up." 

i)  There is no conflict since Jesus was only saying that the time was not right. 

ii)  He did not say that He would never go up.[14]  This is the reason that Jesus said, "My time has not yet fully come." 

iii)  Some old manuscripts have "yet" after "go up" (see HCSB, KJV, NIV, NKJV). 

iv)  This has been translated, "Go to the festival.  I'm not going to this festival right now.  Now is not the right time for me to go" (GW).

c)  Therefore, Jesus stayed in Galilee for the time being.

4)  "But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret."

a)  However, after His brothers had left, Jesus secretly went up to the feast. 

b)  Luke records that Jesus was rejected by a Samaritan village on the way to Jerusalem, and that James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume them (Luke 9:51-54). 

i)  This earned them a rebuke from Jesus (Luke 9:55-56). 

ii)  Perhaps this was when Jesus gave them the nickname "Boanerges" ("Sons of Thunder") (Mark 3:17).

c)  Jesus had some shallow offers of discipleship on the way, which He turned down because of their lack of commitment (Luke 9:57-62). 

d)  There was not much to encourage Jesus on this trip.

3.  The Jewish leaders were seeking Jesus (John 7:11).

¹¹ So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, "Where is He?" (John 7:11).

 

a.  The Jewish authorities were looking for Jesus at the feast doubtless with hostile intent (John 7:1). 

1)  The phrase "the Jews" refers to "the hostile leaders in Jerusalem."[15] 

2)  The Gk. word translated "He" is best translated "that one" (NTET), or "that man" (GW, NIV).[16] 

3)  This is a contemptuous way to refer to Jesus. 

b.  We seek to show contempt for those with whom we disagree.

4.  The crowd was confused and afraid (John 7:12-13).

¹² There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, "He is a good man"; others were saying, "No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray."  ¹³ Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews (John 7:12-13).

 

a.  "There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, 'He is a good man'; others were saying, 'No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.'"

1)  There was confusion among the crowd with some thinking Jesus a good man, and others thinking Him a deceiver. 

a)  The Gk. word translated "grumbling" means an "utterance made in a low tone of voice ... behind-the-scenes talk."[17]  The Lat. is murmur. 

b)  The Gk. word translated "good man" (agathos) means "morally good."[18]  

c)  There were many messianic pretenders in the first century.[19]  The Talmud accuses Jesus of being just one more of them:

On the eve of the Passover Yeshu[a] was hanged.  For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed Israel to apostacy.  Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf."  But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover!--'Ulla retorted: Do you suppose that he was one for whom a defence could be made?  Was he not a Mesith [enticer], concerning whom Scripture says, Neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him?  With Yeshu[a] however it was different, for he was connected with the government [or royalty, i.e., influential].[20]

 

d)  Of course, the claim of forty days of advance notice is Talmudic revisionism.  The rabbis betray a guilty conscience since Jesus' trial was blatantly illegal. 

e)  The Law prescribes death for one who leads the people astray (Deut 13:1-11). 

f)  This was a serious charge and should be taken seriously.

2)  Both sides missed the point. 

a)  Jesus cannot be merely a good man.  C. S. Lewis is right. 

i)  If Jesus were not who He claimed to be, He was not a good man. 

(a)  Jesus has claimed to be the Messiah and God the Son. 

(b)  If He were not, then He would have been a liar or a lunatic. 

(i)  If He claimed to be God and knew that He was not, then He would be a liar.

(ii)  If He claimed to be God and did not know that He was not, then He was a lunatic.

b)  However, if He is who He claimed to be, we should fall at His feet and worship Him.

b.  "Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews."

1)  People were afraid to speak publicly about Jesus because of the Jewish authorities' hostility; they feared reprisals. 

2)  Again, "the Jews" refers to the Jewish authorities, "Jewish leaders" (NET, NLT).[21] 

3)  Fear is another common reaction; many are deterred from seeking Jesus for fear of others reactions.

II.  Applications

A.  What this says about Jesus Christ.…

1.  Jesus waited on the Father's timing.

2.  Jesus' purity contrasts with the world and reveals its sin.

3.  Jesus cannot be merely a good man.

a.  Either He is God in human flesh, or

b.  He is a liar or a lunatic.

B.  What this says to us about seeking the wrong way.…

1.  Seeking to kill those that we cannot defeat in argument.

2.  Seeking to mock what you do not believe so that we can feel superior.

3.  Seeking to show contempt for those with whom we disagree.

4.  Fear is another common reaction; many are deterred from seeking Jesus for fear of others reactions.

5.  None of these are reasons for disbelief; they are reactions.