John 7:1-9

John 7:1-9

And after these things Jesus was walking into Galilee, for He did not desire to walk around in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.  And now the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles was near.  Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Depart from here and go along into Judea in order that your disciples will also observe the works that you are doing.  For nobody does anything in secret while he also seeks to be publically known.  If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.”  For not even His brothers were believing in Him.  Therefore Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet come.  But your time is in a state of readiness at all times.  The world is not powerful enough to hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.  You go up into the feast.  I am not going up into this feast because my time has not yet been fulfilled.”  And after he said these things He remained in Galilee.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Take a bold look at the words in these verses while remembering the context.  Jesus just lost most of His following.  Most of His disciples have just abandoned Him.  Now the challenge comes from His biological family.  It is His family that comes to Him and tells Him to go into Judea in order to attend the Feast of the Tabernacles.  His family did not yet believe.  Even Jesus’ own biological family was an antagonistic presence in the very moment when Jesus could have used the support the most.

Are you ever hurt by the ones who should love you?  Why are we often hurt by the ones to whom we should be close?  What can this passage in conjunction with the last few days tell us about the difference between acquaintances, friends, family, and spiritual family?

Second Thought:

Furthermore, look at the verbs that Jesus’ family employ.  These are not invitations or suggestions.  These are commands.  These verbs are clearly in the imperative mood.  Jesus’ brothers haven’t come to Him to offer up a hand of support or to speak a word of encouragement.  They have come to command Him into action.  For the record, the action into which they desire to command Him is contrary to God’s will.  We cannot command the Son of God, but we often think that we can.

Why do we occasionally think we can command God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?  When we take that tone, what are we really saying about our ability to be humble before God and listen to Him?

Third Thought:

Jesus’ brothers desire that He should be publically known.  In other words, they want Him to prove whether He really is or isn’t the Messiah.  They want the same thing that crowd wanted of Jesus after the feeding of the 5,000.  They want to make Jesus the conquering King in order to defeat the Romans (See John 6:15).  But Jesus tells them that the time is not right.  The opportunity is not right.  Jesus did not come to be the public king at this time.  The time will come when He will return and demonstrate His kingship.  But His first coming was about going to Jerusalem to die for the sin of humanity, not taking control of the world by force.

Why is it important that Jesus die for our sins before demonstrating that He is the ruling Messiah of this world?  Why do you think so many people in Jesus’ day missed that message entirely?  Why do so many people in our own modern world miss their own need for a dying Messiah?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 7:10-15