The Gospel of John - part 19
preached March 17, 2019
At the Feast of Booths
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.
John 7:1-2
The Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) was a harvest celebration that also commemorated God’s provision during the wilderness journey. Jews today still celebrate Sukkot (this year is in October) the same way—building temporary enclosures using leaves and branches. Many families will just use a quick four posts and a lattice covering as the base, then decorate with foliage. Murray notes in his commentary the celebrations would go into the night with music and dancing.
The Feast of Booths:
Commemorates God’s provision during the wilderness journey.
Celebrates God’s provision of the harvest
To summarize: it’s a fun time.
Jesus’ Family
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[b] going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
John 7:3-9
In verse 3, we get an interesting glimpse into Jesus’ family life. His brothers tell him he should go to Judea for the festival so that he can perform miracles and gain a larger audience. Verse 5 tells us they didn’t actually believe in Jesus, but they did seem to recognize he had miraculous powers. Why is that?
Jesus’ brothers did not believe He was the Messiah until after the Resurrection.
Well, there is the simple notion that brothers are usually each other’s worst critic. Brotherly love is a great thing, but it doesn’t stop the competition or the wedgies. Likewise, we should note that in the centuries leading to Jesus’ arrival and in centuries following (even today in some areas) lots of people would travel performing supposed miracles. When Irenaeus would write his books against the various heresies, he actually spends considerable time explaining how these false teachers would trick people with their ‘magic.’ He may have been the first successful debunking skeptic. For whatever reason, Jesus’ brothers would not place their trust in Him as the Messiah until after the resurrection. Two of them would contribute to the New Testament (James and Jude).
Two brothers, James and Jude, became believers and contributed to the New Testament.
Jesus tells them in verse 6 that his time has not yet come. John uses this phrase a few times to mark when Jesus was asked to do something that would bring him fame, but it wasn’t in the Father’s will. Here, Jesus is asked to ‘make himself known’ at the festival, but it wasn’t time for that. Earlier in chapter 2, Mary asked Jesus to help the wedding couple, but he said that his time had not come. Interestingly, in both cases, Jesus first rejects what is asked, but then follows through in secret. At the wedding feast, he did perform a miracle, but only a few saw it. Here, he will go to the festival, but he will sneak in rather than making a spectacle.
Then, in verse 7, Jesus makes a statement that we should not pass over lightly.
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil”
There will always be enmity between those who follow Christ and the rest of the world. People don’t like it when you point out their flaws or sin. Now, as Christians, we are not called to point and ridicule sinners, we are called to love them and share the Good News of salvation. However, there is an inner guilt for sin—even in the lost person’s heart, there is a deep understanding their life is broken somehow. But, until they come to Christ and repent, they will not see Christians as whole people trying to show how they can be whole. They will see Christians as just as flawed self-righteous people, or hypocrites, or judgmental, or the host of other adjectives thrown at us. They hate us, because they hate Christ. It has been that way since Jesus walked this earth, and it will remain that way until He returns.
As Christians, it is not our goal for people to hate us, but if we are following Christ, it will be an inevitability.
We are seeing this truth played out today with our Methodist brothers and sisters. Recently, the United Methodist Church leadership voted to uphold their stance against homosexuality. Unfortunately, though, their own Code of Discipline has not been upheld in the US for several decades. Now, they are facing the dilemma of local churches who disagree with the ruling. The members who follow the plain teachings of the Bible on this matter are having to deal with their denominational brothers who do not follow the Bible. And even though the leaders have rightly determined what Scripture teaches, there are many clergy who are leading their congregations astray. It’s a giant can of worms, but it boils down to the choice between following Christ or bowing to societal whims. If you haven’t been praying for our Methodist neighbors, you should.
Jesus goes to the festival after all
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.
John 7:10-13
The crowd is divided over Jesus. It’s fascinating to me the conversations. Some say, “He’s a good guy.” Others say, “He’s leading the people astray.” It’s the same today. Some people see Jesus as a good guy, maybe a little eccentric, but he’s alright. Others say Jesus makes people crazy or deny truth. But the ones who knew Jesus was the Messiah would not come out and speak, because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.
I’m concerned we are in the same boat today. The two loudest positions spoken today about Christ is that he is either just a good guy teaching a good morality, or that he was a nut and people who follow him are nuts, too. I don’t hear enough Christians speaking out the truth that Jesus is the Messiah come to earth to save us. I don’t believe it’s because no Christian is speaking out, I know some are, but they are being drowned out by the other voices.
Church, we have to live out the truth of Christ and live it loudly. Don’t be afraid to proclaim “Christ has risen!”
Jesus steps up to teach
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
John 7:14-24
14-18 : Jesus speaks from the Father and needs no education
Jesus is following the will of the Father and speaking what the Father tells Him to speak. Even the Jewish leaders are marveling at His teachings. They’ve spent their whole lives studying the Scripture, but Jesus has been a carpenter’s son. And yet, He’s teaching the Scripture with authority and better than they’ve seen.
Now, the takeaway here is not that you don’t need an education. Do not abuse these verses as a “Get out school” card. It does mean that when God calls you to speak to someone about the truth of Christ, whether a neighbor, co-worker, or whomever, if you will listen to the Holy Spirit, He will give you the words to say. Compare this to Luke 12:12 where Jesus tells his disciples, when they are brought to the synagogues for questioning, the Holy Spirit will give them the words to say.
In witnessing, listen to the person talking, listen to the Holy Spirit, then speak what the Spirit has given you.
In verse 19, Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. They don’t like what Jesus is teaching, because they aren’t actually following the law. If they were, they wouldn’t be trying to kill him.
The crowd objects! “Woah, there! No one said anything about killing!”
Which, of course, isn’t true, because if you look back at 5:18, after Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath and taught that He was God’s Son, the Jews were ready to kill him. Ironically, we don’t seem to hear anything from the Jewish leaders at this point.
Then Jesus reminds them. He did one work and they marvel. However, if the Jews are ready to follow Moses and circumcise on the Sabbath in order to obey the law of Moses, they should be willing to allow Jesus to make a person whole on the Sabbath. There’s an irony there, but I’ll let you figure it out.
Then, we get another key verse:
"Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement."
The Jewish leaders, by all appearances, were following God’s commandments. They kept the rituals, they had the right clothes, and they learned the Scriptures. But Jesus says in verse 19 that ‘none of them keep the Law’. The word ‘keep’ in the Greek is a present active, meaning Jesus is telling them, not only have they not kept the law in the past, but they are actively not keeping now. There’s a sense of ‘perpetually not keeping the law’.
However, if they had used right judgement:
Then Jesus’ teachings would make sense. The Father is speaking to us through the Son. He does not need the traditions of the rabbis’ interpretations, because we hear directly from God through Jesus.
The hypocrisy of the Pharisees would be evident. They tell the people everything they are doing wrong, but fail to show justice, mercy and love as God commanded through the prophets.
And Jesus’ identity would be plain. He teaches the Scripture with authority, and He performs miracles, because He is God Incarnate. He is the Messiah, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.
Right Judgement shows:
Jesus’ teachings makes sense.
The hypocrisy of the Pharisees is obvious.
Jesus’ identity is plain.
We will continue the story next week, but today I want to stop here and ask what kind of judgment you are using.
Are you relying on appearances and what seems right on the surface?
Or are you using sound judgement which only comes from Christ?
Many things may seem right in this world, but there is one Truth that rules all other truth:
Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Son of God who came to us about 2000 years ago so that He could lay down his life on the cross for our sins. He paid the penalty that we owed. He was raised to life on the third day proving He is God and has authority to give eternal life.
If we want to be whole, if we want to be forgiven, and if we want eternal life, we must trust in Him.
Trust in Him today. Pray to God now, asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins and wash you clean. Trust in Him for salvation and repent of your old way of life and way of thinking. Let Him teach you the Truth, because Jesus is the Way to the Father, He is the Truth, and He is the Life. The only way to Heaven is through Him.