John 7:1-13
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Jesus at the Feast of Booths
Look at John 6:4 with me real quick
Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
Now look up at the Screen and look at the Israelite Calendar with the different Feasts
So, the Passover is in April
And the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacle) is in late September to mid-late October.
That tells us that what we are about to read was going on about 6 months after what we just went through in Chapter 6.
Now, lets read The Word of God this morning… John 7:1-13
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 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.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
Prayer:
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
So where is Galilee? Where is Judea? ON SCREEN
“the Jews were seeking to kill him”
I mean, I’ve had people mad at me before but they are wanting to KILL Jesus and he knows it. It says the reason “would not go about in Judea” was BECAUSE the Jews were wanting to kill him.
Context matters:
Now, when it says “the Jews were seeking to kill him” it is not saying that every individual Jew was wanting to kill him.
“but it says, ‘the Jews were wanting to kill him’”
Well, everybody in Galilee were Jews too.
His brothers were “Jews”
This is referring to all the Jewish leaders, the religious leaders, and those close to them who are heavily influenced by them for whatever reason. Those are the Jews who are wanting to kill Him.
Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.
The Feast of Booths:
This was one of the 3 major Feasts for Israel.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
The Feast of Weeks
The Feast of Booths
as the duty of each day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.
the Feast of Booths was a time when Israel remembered God’s protection over them during the time Israel was in the wilderness. In the wilderness they dwelled in little shelters.
You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
It was also a time when they celebrated the year end harvest...
“You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
Here is what the booths would look like… (ON SCREEN)
So there were two purposes for this feast (ON SCREEN)
to remember God’s protection in the wilderness
Celebrate the year end harvest
Look at verses 3-5 now...
So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him.
First lets talk about Jesus’ brothers. These are obviously his half brothers, his younger brothers since Christ was born to Mary as a virgin.
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? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
this “Judas” here is the brother of Christ who wrote the Book of Jude.
So, lets be real honest here:
Here at POTR we believe in the depravity of man. What we mean by that is that because of sin, every part of man has fallen and is held captive by their sin and are enslaved to sin. Sin has utterly corrupted every part of man. We are blinded from the things of God, we are spiritually blinded. So spiritually blinded that a person in his sinful nature cannot discern spiritual things.
This is what is meant by 1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
HIS OWN BROTHERS didn’t understand Him!
HIS OWN BROTHERS didn’t see that He was the Christ (at this time anyway)
At this point, His brothers are spiritually blinded and CANNOT see Christ for who He TRULY is.
And there are many that we know who can’t see Christ for who He is today...
So we pray that God opens their blind eyes and gives them a new heart.
Look at what His brothers say to him:
“Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret IF HE SEEKS TO BE KNOWN OPENLY”
They’re taunting Him…maybe jabbing at him because a few months ago they heard that most of those people who were following him left him.
Remember verse 66 of John 6?
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
“Go get’em back!”
“NO point in staying around here. All the BIG DAWGS are up at Jerusalem”
“If you are wanting to be some BIG SHOT go up there and show’em what you can do”
Look at verse 4:
For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”
Again…context matters!
Is the Bible telling us that every individual in “THE WORLD” was in Judea at one time?
I mean, it says “the world”
doesn’t “the world” mean “the world”
sometimes! But context matters
His brothers are saying that all kinds of people are going to be there in Jerusalm
influential people
Respected Religious Leaders
skeptics
believers
rich
poor, ETC.
EVERYBODY IS GOING TO BE THERE!
And verse 5 again tells us
For not even his brothers believed in him.
"IF you do these things…show yourself to the world”… “IF you do these things”.
How sad must it have been for Christ to see his own brothers in this state.
So what does Jesus do?
Look what He tells them in verses 6 -9
Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Let me tell you why you should be glad I wasn’t Jesus! Let me tell you why Jesus is so much greater than me and all of you...
Let me tell you why we lift up Christ here at POTR and not some man or men
Because you know what I would have done out of pride…I would have went and put on a show!
I would have reaped ALL THE GLORY at the Feast of Booths that year!
I would have done it out of pride and arrogance
But not Christ! He didn’t fall for it. ANOTHER temptation failed…but this time it was a temptation from his own family.
But HE says some PRETTY INTERESTING things in these few verses.
“you want me to go to Jerusalem and get some glory? It’s not my time for that. You can go. Its always a good time for those in the world to seek glory and praise from the world.”
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
We could stay in these two verses for A WHILE but Im just going to point out a few things:
the worlds hates Jesus because He testifies about it that its works are evil
Reminds us of John 3:16-19
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
“The world” never wants their evil to be brought to the light.
Being convicted of sin hurts. People would rather point out the sins of others instead of looking in their own hearts.
It is still the same today…the World, “everybody”, hates the light and does not come to the light because they don’t want their evil deeds to be exposed.
for those of us who are IN CHRIST know how true that is
When you come face to face with how depraved and sinful you are…only THEN do you see how HOLY He IS!
We ran from it and people today who are not in Christ still run from it today.
2. If “the world” accepts you today with open arms, if you are accepted by those “in the world” then there is something wrong.
the world hasn’t changed much as we have seen going through John’s Gospel.
the world still hates to be exposed of their sin
the world still hates the light and conviction of sin
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.
This is one of the problems with the American Church today.
we want to be friends with the world
we want to be “accepting to everybody”
we want to be “nice” and “inclusive” to everybody
And this is why our culture looks the way it does today.
We do not have enough MEN and WOMEN to stand up to the world and call sin, sin because we would rather be POLITICALLY CORRECT and accepted by the Culture instead of waging war against the culture and making disciples.
Look at verses 8-10
You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.
There are those that try to say that “even Jesus lied”. LOOK RIGHT HERE!
People can take anything out of context!
Jesus is telling his brothers that He doesn’t get his orders from them, He’s not going to the Feast of Booths when THEY say He should go…He will go when His Father says to go
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Of course he was going to go to the Feast of Booths…he just wasn’t going to go with them when THEY said he should go...
Christ was the perfect obedient Son of God...
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
He knew that if he went at the very beginning of the Feast of Booths that the Jewish leaders and their close followers would be there waiting to kill him. So, he went up a little later.
Look at verses 11-12
The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 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.”
Jesus has always been divided among the people hasn’t He?
“the People” were “muttering”, “grumbling”, or “whispering” amongst themselves about Him.
some said he was “a good man”
others, “he is leading people astray”
But what did they really know about Him?
Not much at all
He’s a “good man”
you don’t know Him…He’s not JUST a “good man”
“He’s leading people astray”?
FROM WHAT?
Religion
self-righteousness
You don’t know him either
Because let me tell you something…if THEY REALLY KNEW HIM…VERSE 13 wouldn’t be in the Bible...
Look at verse 13
Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
they feared the Religious elites more than God…more than Christ.
they didn’t know Him
So the question is:
DO YOU KNOW HIM?
‘Are we too worried to talk about Him in front of those we “look up to”
Are you too worried that the Words of Christ may “offend” someone that has a title over you?
Everybody can talk “about Him” but the question is do they REALLY KNOW HIM?
Let me tell you a little more about Him as I “LAND THE PLANE”: Let me tell you WHY Jesus didn’t go to Judea, up to Jerusalem, to seek GLORY from these men at this time…Let me tell you why He said, “My time has not yet come”.
There were 3 Major Feasts for Israel:
1.The Feast of Unleavened Bread
The Passover is the evening before the Feast of Unleavened Bread and is blended into a double ceremony.
He didn’t go to the Feast of Booths because He had to FIRST go through the Passover as our Passover Lamb…He had to be BROKEN for us…his people.
2. The Feast of Weeks (also known as the Feast of Pentecost)
This feast celebrates the first fruits of the harvest.
Before we could worship at the Feast of Booths there must FIRST come Pentecost…the firstfruits of the Church.
You see NOW why the church began at Pentecost? It wasn’t coincidence but fulfillment of what the Feast was all about!
3. The Feast of Booths (also known as the Feast of Tabernacle or Ingathering).
It celebrates the complete harvest of the year. People all over come to worship God for the full harvest.
And aren’t you now glad that Christ didn’t do what he was asked? To go and get the glory then…aren’t you glad now, that He knows when the time is right.
He knew God’s timing then and He knows the exact timing for you and what your’e asking Him to do for you right now.
If He would have went then at that time…to the Feast of Booths, where they set up booths to remember the protection God gave them in the wilderness…there would have never been a TRUE Passover and there would be no Blood for our protection.
In the wilderness they were under the booth…In Christ we are under His Blood.
The FIRST TWO FEASTS have been fulfilled in Christ and the final feast...
the Feast of Booths/Tabernacle/Ingathering will be fulfilled when the whole harvest comes in…at the Second Coming of Christ. Then we will worship…praising God for all eternity for what He has accomplished. THAT IS WHEN THE TRUE FEAST WILL BE...
So remember the promises of God:
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
So…Christ will eventually come to the Feast of Booths…but not until the whole harvest is complete...
Because of Christ, the one who lived the life we could not live…not falling for the temptation of his own brothers or Satan himself...
He was put to death on a cross for OUR SINS...
He was buried and he rose on the THIRD DAY...
He ascended into Heaven
but before He sat at the Right Hand of God the Father to mediate for us…he said
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So… go because
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;